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…

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…

The final day onboard Holland America Line's ms Noordam started out with a bit of excitement. As I mentioned in yesterday's report, the captain came on the ship's public address system looking for volunteers willing to donate O- blood to a passenger in need of a transfusion. About an hour…

We're into the final 48 hours of this Southern Caribbean cruise on the Holland America Line ship ms Noordam. Day 9 is the first of two sea days as we make our way back to Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. [caption id="attachment_63082" align="aligncenter" width="2448"] One of the best views…

As far as the Dutch “ABC Islands” are concerned, the ms Noordam has stopped in “B” (Bonaire), “C” (Curacao) and today we're in “A” - Aruba! [caption id="attachment_63040" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] No stop in Aruba would be complete without stopping for a selfie![/caption] We arrived in the Paardenbaai Bay in Oranjestad,…

Day 7 aboard the Holland America Line cruise ship ms Noordam and we found ourselves docked in Willemstad, Curacao, the place known for the blue liquor that we love to consume in a refreshing alcoholic beverage. [caption id="attachment_62980" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Yours truly in Curacao with the Holland America Noordam in…

Day 6 aboard Holland America Line's ms Noordam has come and gone and there are four days left to this incredible journey through the Southern Caribbean. After spending a day at sea, we arrived in the first of the Dutch “ABC Islands” - Bonaire. The “A” stands for Aruba which…