Ships That Offer Relief from Recession Realities

Recession-weary people need a vacation, too, so here’s a collection of best buys for families, singles, seniors, honeymooners, first-time cruisers and just about everybody else.

The big, big cabins on Admiral’s Emerald Seas, plus low fares for the passengers in third and fourth berths, make it a great bargain for families with one or two children. On the three-day sailing from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas, kids travel for $190 each; on the four-day, $250. Prices are good for cabin categories 1-8 only and do not include air fare.

Admiral’s Azure Seas charges third- and fourth-berth passengers $645 per person for a seven-night cruise, good for all cabin categories and including round-trip air fare. A new children’s menu runs the gamut from peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches to popcorn shrimp and pasta.

For Thanksgiving, take two family members along for free on Holland America’s Caribbean cruises when they occupy the third and fourth berth in the same stateroom with two full-fare adults. While the two adults will have air fare included, the third and fourth passengers can buy a supplemental air package for $300 each. The offer is good on both the seven-day Nov. 23 sailings of the Westerdam and Nieuw Amsterdam and the Nov. 28 10-day cruise on the Noordam.

American Hawaii will let children accompanied by adults sail for free around Hawaii during the summer of 1992, if passage is booked before Dec. 31. The offer is good in cabin category F or higher, and requires sharing the cabin with two full-fare adults. Air fare is not included.

A single parent can travel with a child under 15 as a second occupant of the cabin on the much-cheaper third-person rate aboard Crown’s Crown Monarch. The offer is limited to a maximum of one child per adult.

Premier’s family packages for the Christmas holidays include Santa on board with a Christmas morning gift for all passengers under 17, plus special trees and decorations and a Christmas Eve pageant presented by crew members. For only $195 per person--more than the rate for sharing a cabin with their parents--the kids can have their own quarters in a second cabin.

Royal Caribbean has introduced a new special menu for children, with cartoon graphics, games and puzzles to play at the dinner table.

Carnival’s Guaranteed Share combines four over-18, same-sex passengers in a quad cabin for $275 each on a three-day cruise, $395 for four days and $650 on a seven-day sailing. The lavish Fantasy is slightly higher at $375 for three days, $495 for four days. Air fare is extra; tips and port taxes are to be paid in advance.

On Crown Cruise Line’s handsome new mid-size Crown Monarch, there is no single-supplement charge, but the number of available cabins is limited.

Windjammer Barefoot Cruises is selling six-day sailings on the tall ship Flying Cloud for only $600 a person, with cabin choice on a first-come, first-served basis. Sailing dates are Oct. 14-19 from Grenada to St. Lucia; Oct. 20-26 from St. Lucia to Antigua, and Oct. 27 to Nov. 2, Antigua to Tortola.

Tall Ship Adventures, which operates the Sir Francis Drake year-round in the Virgin Islands, guarantees singles the minimum double rates of $420 for a three-day cruise, $545 for a four-day sailing and $895 for seven days. If the line doesn’t find another passenger to share, the booked passenger gets the cabin alone at the same price. Rates are good through Nov. 1.

Fantasy’s Amerikanis promises senior saver fares from now through Oct. 28, and again on the Dec. 16 sailing. Share a cabin with a full-fare companion of any age and those over 65 get their fares for half-price, including round-trip air fare.

Club Med 1 offers $300 discounts for honeymooners on cruises of seven days or longer, now through Dec. 14. The vessel returns to the Caribbean Oct. 4.

Admiral’s Emerald Seas and Azure Seas can arrange a wedding ceremony and reception for from 45 to 300 people on board the ships. At the end of the reception, the guests disembark and the honeymooners set out on their cruise. A lavish party for 100 guests will cost from $3,500 to $5,600, with open bar, shrimp and lobster canapes, several hot main dishes and cake and champagne. Simpler options are also available.

American Hawaii’s six-day, Sunday-departure packages give honeymooners a two-day resort stay before a four-day cruise. Prices start at $989 per person.

Celebrity Cruises gives discounts for honeymooners who book 90 days in advance. The honeymoon package includes a bottle of champagne, cake, a fruit basket, a cocktail party with other honeymooners on board and a souvenir photo album. Honeymoon staterooms have double beds; some also have skylights and a Jacuzzi. And there’s 24-hour room service.

Regency Cruises offers a special honeymoon package for an additional $50 per couple that includes a bottle of chilled champagne waiting in the cabin, a pair of engraved champagne flutes, a special breakfast in bed, souvenir photo from the shipboard honeymoon party, certificates for savings on shore excursions, gift shop purchases and beauty treatments, and a discount on an anniversary cruise.

Admiral’s Azure Seas starts the cruise week with a day at sea, giving new cruisers a great chance to get their sea legs and learn their way around the ship. The next day everybody goes to the line’s private beach at Labadee for water sports, games and a beach barbecue, which helps everybody get to know their fellow passengers. The seven-day Caribbean Sampler cruise sails every Sunday from Ft. Lauderdale, offers popular ports (San Juan, St. John and St. Thomas) and comfortable, larger-than-average cabins. Prices, with round-trip air fare included, start at $945 per person, double occupancy, from now through Dec. 15.

Crown Cruise Line’s Crown Monarch is discounting $100 to $700 off brochure rates on air/sea prices for sailings now through Dec. 14.

The sixth season of Epirotiki’s popular Caribazon cruises, which make 12-day Amazon and Caribbean cruises between Manaus and Martinique, starts Dec. 18. Passengers booking with a deposit by Oct. 1 get $500 off per cabin.

NCL’s Cruising in Pairs program lets the second passenger cruise for half-price when sharing a stateroom with a full-fare passenger. The program is good through Nov. 3 on the Starward and Skyward sailings from San Juan.

Special Expeditions offers some moderately priced, four-day getaways in the West. The 70-passenger Sea Lion will sail the San Francisco Bay and San Francisco Delta on Nov. 10, 14, 17, 21 and 24 for as little as $600 per person, double occupancy.