Cruise ship door decorations are one of those traditions that either make you smile or make you wonder how we got here. Some people keep it simple with a family magnet or a birthday sign. Others turn their stateroom door into a full-blown craft fair with lights, garland, ducks, dry…
People often ask me about Royal Caribbean's casino loyalty program, Club Royale. When it comes to casino programs at sea, this is the one I'm most familiar with. It's also widely considered one of the best in the cruise industry. I've spent years researching and experiencing it firsthand through trial…
There are certain ports that make cruisers excited the moment they see them on an itinerary. Nassau is usually not one of them. That may sound harsh, but spend five minutes in any cruise group, forum, or comment section and you’ll see it pretty quickly. Nassau is consistently one of…
There are few things cruise passengers complain about more consistently than chair hogs. No, it's not the so called "smart" elevators, or Carnival only offering bacon every other day at the buffet, and it's not even the insane prices for WiFi. It’s the people who head to the pool deck…
Holland America’s Project Evolution is officially moving from just a press release to "here's a deck plan to look at," and today we're getting our first look at just how massive an undertaking this is by checking out the first ship to go under the knife, Oosterdam. On May 6,…
Well, Carnival has finally put the terms and conditions out there for its new Carnival Rewards program which everyone must agree to and accept, and if you’ve been anywhere near cruise social media lately, you already know this new program has not exactly been met with a warm round of…
Well, I don’t know about you, but “suspected hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship” was not on my 2026 bingo card. Norovirus? Sure. That one makes the cruise news cycle every couple months. Somebody uses the bathroom, skips the handwashing station, heads straight for the buffet tongs, and suddenly half…
If your cruise is stopping in Nassau on Tuesday, May 12, there’s one important thing you need to know before you start planning your day ashore. The Bahamas is going dry. Well, temporarily dry. As part of The Bahamas’ general election day, alcohol sales will be prohibited nationwide during election…
If you’ve followed along with any of my daily cruise reports, you already know that one of my favorite things to do during a port stop is simply wander. Not wander aimlessly into questionable situations, of course, but wander in the best possible way. I like getting beyond the immediate…
For those who followed along with my MSC World America cruise last week, one theme came up several times throughout the sailing: crowds. MSC World America is a very large ship. At full capacity, she can carry nearly 7,000 passengers. Our sailing was below that, with passenger counts in the…
