It's the final day of this four-day Thanksgiving cruise on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas. We left Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Thanksgiving day and visited one port-of-call, Cozumel in Mexico. Before heading to bed last night, we both agreed that we were not going to set…

Day 3 on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas found us docked in Cozumel, Mexico for a full day of.... well, for me not much. The ship pulled in around 7:30am and passengers were cleared around 8am. It was a beautiful day, albeit a bit on the breezy side. Overnight…

It's Day 2 onboard Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas and this is our first full day at sea as we travel to Cozumel, Mexico, the only port-of-call during this four-day western Caribbean cruise. The sea overnight was flat calm and made for a restful sleep. I mentioned yesterday that…

Last Thanksgiving, I was onboard Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas for the ship's inaugural sailing out of Bayonne, NJ. Quantum, at the time, was Royal's newest and most technologically advanced ship with a price tag of one-billion dollars. This Thanksgiving, I'm on another Royal Caribbean ship, Independence of the…

Unless you're very, very good friends with the Captain of the cruise ship you're on, chances are you're not going to get the opportunity to check out the Navigational Bridge or other parts of the ship that are labeled as “crew only” during your cruise vacation. A few lines like…

Last Thanksgiving I was on the inaugural sailing of what was then Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Quantum of the Seas. This year, I'll be celebrating another Royal Thanksgiving on Independence of the Seas on quick four-night Western Caribbean cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. Independence of the Seas is one of…

For the past three days, Joe Palko has been guest blogging from a four-day Western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Paradise from Carnival Cruise Line. Today we have his final installment from onboard as the cruise ship makes its way back to Tampa, FL after a port call in Cozumel,…

This week, Joe Palko is guest blogging from the Carnival Cruise Line ship, Carnival Paradise. Joe left on October 22, 2015 for a four day cruise out of Tampa, FL where there will be one port call, Cozumel, Mexico. [caption id="attachment_10493" align="aligncenter" width="800"] The Tampa skyline as seen from the…

It's Day 2 on the Carnival Paradise from Carnival Cruise Line and Joe Palko is guest blogging from the ship which is currently enroute to Cozumel, Mexico, the only port of call during this four-day Western Caribbean cruise. [caption id="attachment_10502" align="aligncenter" width="800"] The Fun-nel of the Carnival Glory[/caption] Joe says…

Joe Palko is currently onboard the Carnival Cruise Line cruise ship Carnival Paradise on a four-day Western Caribbean cruise from Tampa, FL. Joe has been gracious enough to once again guest blog about his time onboard and share with us some photos of the ship and his adventure ashore in…