Barbara Push, Associate Editor of Jewish Times, has an excellent article on in the do’s and don’t of kosher cruises and passover travel. It’s a good read even if you’re not Jewish, since it could come in pretty handy if you find yourself in the company of orthodox Jews on board a cruise.

She says that Kosher cruise companies work with cruise ship lines. They take over part of the ship’s kitchen, which is then kashered. They bring on board their own food, plates, cutlery and mashgiah. A section of the dining room is reserved for them; fresh food is served daily.

The article focuses a lot on Baltimore and Kosher cruises departing from Baltimore, but we’ll follow along, since it has some rather surprising revelations, and it’s also a major cruise departure point for travelers from Washington DC, Virginia and Delaware.

For starters, the article reveals that in 2008, nearly 13 million Americans went on a cruise, a figure that represents about 8 to 10 percent of all vacations, according to Paul Motter, founder of Cruise Mates (cruisemates.com).

Secondly, the big news in cruising is the arrival next November of a new ship, Oasis of the Sea, by Royal Caribbean. The largest ship in the world by a whopping 40 percent, Oasis will have a “park” with grass and trees, an aquatheater and multiple restaurants. It will accommodate 10,000 people total — 6,000 of them passengers.

Now that’s a first. Parks and trees and restaurants? The darn ship has a boardwalk and 10,000 people? What’s next? Provide people with cars to help move around the ship? Extended stay motels or condos with your own private parking, maybe? It’s a virtually self-sufficient floating island.

Photo courtesy & copyrights - Oasis of the Seas (SM)

Posted on February 10th, 2009 by Thomas
Filed under: Art & Museums, News