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The Herald Scotland
21 hours ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
How cruises are planned: Go behind the scenes with Holland America
"Even in the harsh conditions of January (everything was frozen and snowy - shows the grit of our Pacific Northwest cruise line to do port research in the Norwegian winter!), it was clear it would be the perfect stop during a cruise of the fjords, sailing past the region's apple orchards and offering some excellent shore excursions," Grigsby told USA TODAY. That's all part of the itinerary planning process. Well before guests embark, many months of preparation go into crafting the routes they'll take during their trip. Here's how cruises are planned. How are Holland America cruises planned? When creating new itineraries, Grigsby said guest feedback informs the team's thinking. "We take seriously the surveys that we do," he said. "We do a couple of those a year where we get a sense of what destinations guests are interested in." They ask about preferred ports, how long they'd like to visit and more. The cruise line also keeps an eye on industry trends and "what's motivating people to travel these days." Grigsby cited astrotourism, for example, which has shown up in itineraries designed around seeing solar eclipses or the Northern Lights. After developing the concept, the cruise line incorporates it into an itinerary plan, utilizing the expertise of its team members. "I have a couple of navigators that came off the ships that are the ones that are really essentially designing these cruises to make sure that they are, let's say, navigable, right? That you can actually sail these things," Grigsby said. The cruise line's port operations team is typically the "boots on the ground" when it comes to scouting out new ports the cruise line hasn't visited before, while its marine team investigates whether these ports can accommodate its ships. "Not just if it's a dock, but also if it's an anchorage, they need to make sure that the tender docks are adequate and meet the expectations of our brand," Grigsby said. Because Holland America is part of Carnival Corp. - which includes Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn and other brands - he added that even if their team hasn't visited a given destination, they can tap their colleagues elsewhere in the company who may have. "And we'll use some of their research to help guide us," Grigsby said. Some destinations also demand a certain amount of flexibility. "We have a few cruises that go to Greenland, and you really never know until you get to a couple weeks before a departure what the ice conditions are going to be like," he said. "So, what we do is we build in some buffers. We add some slow speed - slow steaming, as we call it - so that the ship can adapt to whatever ice conditions they may be dealing with." The planning isn't limited to what happens on the ship, either. The cruise line has a dedicated shore excursion team that helps build out a selection of land-based activities to accompany the ocean-going adventures. How long does it take to plan a cruise? Itineraries usually take between two-and-a-half to three years to plan, according to Grigsby. Sometimes the process can take even longer. What makes a good cruise itinerary? Some cruises - such as Alaska itineraries, where there are only so many ports ships can visit - are more straightforward. Those satisfy guest expectations, but Grigsby particularly enjoys planning voyages that have something extra thrown in. For example, he designed a 2025 sailing through the Coral Triangle - the most diverse marine ecosystem on Earth - in collaboration with a marine biologist. The cruise, which is available to book again for 2027, incorporated programming about wildlife, volcanology and indigenous cultures. "I think that the best itineraries are those that have various layers of stories and themes, and not just a collection of ports," Grigsby said. Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@
Graziadaily
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Graziadaily
Meet Chloe Kelly's Greenskeeper Husband Scott Moore
The world watched with bated breath last night as the Lionesses as they soared to victory in the Euros quarter finals. The tense match saw England beat Sweden in a break taking quarter-final penalty shootout. Although all the Lionesses put in an amazing performance, Chloe Kelly certainly stood out as making an impact. She came off the bench, and played a part in goals from Lucy Bronze and Michelle Agyemang, before scoring in the shootout. But alongside her sporting prowess, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that Chloe Kelly shared a sweet tribute to her husband, Scott Moore, spotting that her shin pads bore a picture from their wedding day. Scott Moore is Chloe Kelly's husband, and he currently works as a greenskeeper at a golf course. Scott and Chloe got married in a beautiful ceremony at Merrydale Manor in Cheshire last July - with their anniversary falling over the Euros tournament. However, Chloe recently opened up to say she sorted anything for the celebration yet. 'I haven't even got a card, to be honest. I'm sure in the moment, I'll think of something and get my mum to sort it,' she said. 'But no, we are just taking it each game as it comes and we've got a huge game coming up and we know that we need to be at our best for that, so not looking too far ahead. I'm sure Scott has, but I definitely haven't.' The couple got engaged in December 2023, set against the backdrop of the Northern Lights in Finnish Lapland. Moore proposed to Kelly during a private husky ride, with Kelly describing the moment on Instagram as 'the easiest yes ever.' Chloe and Scott first met while she was playing for Everton, and he had a job as a groundsman. Sparks flew after she held a door open for him, and he went on to message her on Instagram. The couple have previously revealed that their first date involved a trip to IKEA. In an interview with The Sun, Chloe said: 'We got a little monkey and every time I see it, it reminds me of when we went to IKEA.' No, Scott prefers to keep a low profile away from social media. However, he's regularly spotted supporting Chloe at her matches, including at the Euros final at Wembley. Alice Hall is the Staff Writer at Grazia UK. She was previously a Junior Features Writer for The Daily Telegraph. At Grazia, she writes news and features about pop culture, dating, health, politics and interiors.
USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
How are cruise ship itineraries planned? Inside the years-long process
Holland America Line will visit a maiden port in 2026, stopping for the first time in Odda, Norway. Before the town was added to more than a dozen itineraries, Paul Grigsby, the cruise line's vice president of deployment and itinerary planning, had to see it for himself. He and Robert de Bruin, director of deployment and itinerary planning, traveled to Bergen in January 2024 and on to Odda, where they surveyed the port's conditions, met with officials and explored the surrounding region. 'Even in the harsh conditions of January (everything was frozen and snowy – shows the grit of our Pacific Northwest cruise line to do port research in the Norwegian winter!), it was clear it would be the perfect stop during a cruise of the fjords, sailing past the region's apple orchards and offering some excellent shore excursions,' Grigsby told USA TODAY. That's all part of the itinerary planning process. Well before guests embark, many months of preparation go into crafting the routes they'll take during their trip. Here's how cruises are planned. How are Holland America cruises planned? When creating new itineraries, Grigsby said guest feedback informs the team's thinking. 'We take seriously the surveys that we do,' he said. 'We do a couple of those a year where we get a sense of what destinations guests are interested in.' They ask about preferred ports, how long they'd like to visit and more. The cruise line also keeps an eye on industry trends and 'what's motivating people to travel these days.' Grigsby cited astrotourism, for example, which has shown up in itineraries designed around seeing solar eclipses or the Northern Lights. After developing the concept, the cruise line incorporates it into an itinerary plan, utilizing the expertise of its team members. 'I have a couple of navigators that came off the ships that are the ones that are really essentially designing these cruises to make sure that they are, let's say, navigable, right? That you can actually sail these things,' Grigsby said. The cruise line's port operations team is typically the 'boots on the ground' when it comes to scouting out new ports the cruise line hasn't visited before, while its marine team investigates whether these ports can accommodate its ships. 'Not just if it's a dock, but also if it's an anchorage, they need to make sure that the tender docks are adequate and meet the expectations of our brand,' Grigsby said. Because Holland America is part of Carnival Corp. – which includes Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn and other brands – he added that even if their team hasn't visited a given destination, they can tap their colleagues elsewhere in the company who may have. 'And we'll use some of their research to help guide us,' Grigsby said. Some destinations also demand a certain amount of flexibility. 'We have a few cruises that go to Greenland, and you really never know until you get to a couple weeks before a departure what the ice conditions are going to be like,' he said. 'So, what we do is we build in some buffers. We add some slow speed – slow steaming, as we call it – so that the ship can adapt to whatever ice conditions they may be dealing with.' The planning isn't limited to what happens on the ship, either. The cruise line has a dedicated shore excursion team that helps build out a selection of land-based activities to accompany the ocean-going adventures. How long does it take to plan a cruise? Itineraries usually take between two-and-a-half to three years to plan, according to Grigsby. Sometimes the process can take even longer. What makes a good cruise itinerary? Some cruises – such as Alaska itineraries, where there are only so many ports ships can visit – are more straightforward. Those satisfy guest expectations, but Grigsby particularly enjoys planning voyages that have something extra thrown in. For example, he designed a 2025 sailing through the Coral Triangle – the most diverse marine ecosystem on Earth – in collaboration with a marine biologist. The cruise, which is available to book again for 2027, incorporated programming about wildlife, volcanology and indigenous cultures. 'I think that the best itineraries are those that have various layers of stories and themes, and not just a collection of ports,' Grigsby said.
News18
2 days ago
- News18
Discover Fairytale Villages: Escape Urban Life With These Global Gems
1/7 Hallstatt, Austria: Tucked along the shimmering Hallstatter See and surrounded by the Dachstein Alps, Hallstatt feels like a storybook come alive. With pastel-coloured homes, cobblestone alleys, and lakeside charm, this UNESCO World Heritage village is one of Europe's best-kept wonders. (Image: AI-generated) Kalpa, India: Perched high in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district, Kalpa offers jaw-dropping views of the Kinner Kailash range. Apple orchards, ancient monasteries, and the ever-changing hues of snow-covered peaks make this Himalayan village a peaceful dream for slow travellers and soul searchers alike. (Image: AI-generated) Giethoorn, Netherlands: Known as the 'Venice of the North,' Giethoorn swaps roads for canals. This car-free village is a whimsical water world of thatched cottages, wooden bridges, and canoe rides, perfect for those who crave serenity with a touch of fairytale magic. (Image: AI-generated) Oia, Greece: Perched on the cliffs of Santorini, Oia's whitewashed buildings and blue-domed churches are iconic for a reason. Whether you're watching a golden sunset or wandering its boutique-lined alleys, this village redefines romantic coastal living. (Image: AI-generated) Shirakawa-go, Japan: Famous for its traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses (some over 250 years old), Shirakawa-go is stunning in every season, be it the snow-covered winters or the lush green summers. This UNESCO-protected village is a time capsule of Japan's rural heritage. (Image: AI-generated) Reine, Norway: Located in the Lofoten archipelago, Reine is where Arctic beauty meets architectural simplicity. The red fisherman cabins, deep fjords, and Northern Lights views make this remote village a bucket-list dream for nature lovers and photography buffs. (Image: AI-generated) Kadamakkudy, India: A cluster of tiny islands nestled in the backwaters of Kerala, Kadamakkudy is a tropical secret just outside Kochi. Framed by paddy fields, Chinese fishing nets, and coconut trees, the village is a photographer's delight and an oasis for those seeking quiet, nature-rich escapes. (Image: AI-generated)
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Weird space weather seems to have influenced human behavior on Earth 41,000 years ago – our unusual scientific collaboration explores how
Our first meeting was a bit awkward. One of us is an archaeologist who studies how past peoples interacted with their environments. Two of us are geophysicists who investigate interactions between solar activity and Earth's magnetic field. When we first got together, we wondered whether our unconventional project, linking space weather and human behavior, could actually bridge such a vast disciplinary divide. Now, two years on, we believe the payoffs – personal, professional and scientific – were well worth the initial discomfort. Our collaboration, which culminated in a recent paper in the journal Science Advances, began with a single question: What happened to life on Earth when the planet's magnetic field nearly collapsed roughly 41,000 years ago? This near-collapse is known as the Laschamps Excursion, a brief but extreme geomagnetic event named for the volcanic fields in France where it was first identified. At the time of the Laschamps Excursion, near the end of the Pleistocene epoch, Earth's magnetic poles didn't reverse as they do every few hundred thousand years. Instead, they wandered, erratically and rapidly, over thousands of miles. At the same time, the strength of the magnetic field dropped to less than 10% of its modern day intensity. So, instead of behaving like a stable bar magnet – a dipole – as it usually does, the Earth's magnetic field fractured into multiple weak poles across the planet. As a result, the protective force field scientists call the magnetosphere became distorted and leaky. The magnetosphere normally deflects much of the solar wind and harmful ultraviolet radiation that would otherwise reach Earth's surface. So, during the Laschamps Excursion when the magnetosphere broke down, our models suggest a number of near-Earth effects. While there is still work to be done to precisely characterize these effects, we do know they included auroras – normally seen only in skies near the poles as the Northern Lights or Southern Lights – wandering toward the equator, and significantly higher-than-present-day doses of harmful solar radiation. The skies 41,000 years ago may have been both spectacular and threatening. When we realized this, we two geophysicists wanted to know whether this could have affected people living at the time. The archaeologist's answer was absolutely. For people on the ground at that time, auroras may have been the most immediate and striking effect, perhaps inspiring awe, fear, ritual behavior or something else entirely. But the archaeological record is notoriously limited in its ability to capture these kinds of cognitive or emotional responses. Researchers are on firmer ground when it comes to the physiological impacts of increased UV radiation. With the weakened magnetic field, more harmful radiation would have reached Earth's surface, elevating risk of sunburn, eye damage, birth defects, and other health issues. In response, people may have adopted practical measures: spending more time in caves, producing tailored clothing for better coverage, or applying mineral pigment 'sunscreen' made of ochre to their skin. As we describe in our recent paper, the frequency of these behaviors indeed appears to have increased across parts of Europe, where effects of the Laschamps Excursion were pronounced and prolonged. At this time, both Neanderthals and members of our species, Homo sapiens, were living in Europe, though their geographic distributions likely overlapped only in certain regions. The archaeological record suggests that different populations exhibited distinct approaches to environmental challenges, with some groups perhaps more reliant on shelter or material culture for protection. Importantly, we're not suggesting that space weather alone caused an increase in these behaviors or, certainly, that the Laschamps caused Neanderthals to go extinct, which is one misinterpretation of our research. But it could have been a contributing factor – an invisible but powerful force that influenced innovation and adaptability. Collaborating across such a disciplinary gap was, at first, daunting. But it turned out to be deeply rewarding. Archaeologists are used to reconstructing now-invisible phenomena like climate. We can't measure past temperatures or precipitation directly, but they've left traces for us to interpret if we know where and how to look. But even archaeologists who've spent years studying the effects of climate on past behaviors and technologies may not have considered the effects of the geomagnetic field and space weather. These effects, too, are invisible, powerful and best understood through indirect evidence and modeling. Archaeologists can treat space weather as a vital component of Earth's environmental history and future forecasting. Likewise, geophysicists, who typically work with large datasets, models and simulations, may not always engage with some of the stakes of space weather. Archaeology adds a human dimension to the science. It reminds us that the effects of space weather don't stop at the ionosphere. They can ripple down into the lived experiences of people on the ground, influencing how they adapt, create and survive. The Laschamps Excursion wasn't a fluke or a one-off. Similar disruptions of Earth's magnetic field have happened before and will happen again. Understanding how ancient humans responded can provide insight into how future events might affect our world – and perhaps even help us prepare. Our unconventional collaboration has shown us how much we can learn, how our perspective changes, when we cross disciplinary boundaries. Space may be vast, but it connects us all. And sometimes, building a bridge between Earth and space starts with the smallest things, such as ochre, or a coat, or even sunscreen. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Raven Garvey, University of Michigan; Agnit Mukhopadhyay, University of Michigan, and Sanja Panovska, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences Read more: Earth's magnetic field protects life on Earth from radiation, but it can move, and the magnetic poles can even flip 2 solar probes are helping researchers understand what phenomenon powers the solar wind 'Man, the hunter'? Archaeologists' assumptions about gender roles in past humans ignore an icky but potentially crucial part of original 'paleo diet' Agnit Mukhopadhyay has received funding from NASA Science Mission Directorate and the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School. Raven Garvey and Sanja Panovska do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
