Travel Tips & Trends

New Cruise Ships

New cruise ships for 2007

If you're thinking of a cruise, this year brings some new options.

Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Freedom went into service in March. The ship has 22 lounges and bars, a 13,300-square-foot spa, a jogging track and internet café. The Lido deck has four swimming pools, a 214-foot-long water slide and poolside movie screen. Dining choices include two formal restaurants, a 1,400-seat casual poolside eatery featuring a 24-hour pizzeria, and a reservations-only supper club serving prime steaks and other upscale cuisine. Of the ship's 1,487 staterooms, 60% offer an ocean view. Carnival Freedom's inaugural destinations include the Greek Isles, Turkey and a variety of Mediterranean ports.

Cunard Line's Queen Victoria will make its inaugural cruise in December 2007. Designed to be reminiscent of luxury ocean liners of the past, the ship's innovations include private viewing boxes in the Royal Court Theatre, a museum of Cunard memorabilia and a two-story library with 6,000 books. Queen Victoriaalso features Cunard's "Queen's Grill" and "Princess Grill" staterooms with private dining rooms.

Queen Victoria's first voyage will be spent in the Canary Islands, Morocco, and ports along the Iberian Peninsula. The 16-night voyage will leave Southampton, England on Dec. 21, 2007. The newest Princess vessel is Emerald Princess, which started service in April with a series of Greek Isles and Mediterranean cruises. Emerald Princess accommodates 3,080 passengers and has one of the largest casinos afloat. Princess's "Personal Choice Dining" features traditional or anytime seating, a variety of alternative restaurants, and casual dining venues in an atrium with a street café environment. Other features include digital golf simulators, a 24-hour internet café and five pools.

Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas will begin sailing to the Caribbean on May 19. Liberty of the Seas, along with its sister ship Freedom of the Seas, holds the title of largest cruise ship, holding 3,634 passengers. Amenities include a casino, surf simulator, aqua park, ice-skating rink, boxing ring and rock climbing wall. The Royal Promenade, four decks high, is a bustling boulevard of shops, sidewalk cafés and street performers. Liberty of the Seas will alternate between seven-night Western and Eastern Caribbean itineraries departing on Saturdays from Miami.