If you’ve ever been out on deck for sail-away, you know the whistle is coming. And yet, it still gets you every time. One second you’re casually leaning on the rail, watching the lines come off and pretending you’re not checking the app to see if your drink package has…

If you’ve ever sailed with Holland America Line and walked into your stateroom on the last night to find a blue-and-white tile waiting on your bed, you already know the feeling. This isn’t your average "thanks for spending money with us" freebie. It’s not a cheap logo keychain. It isn’t…

If there is one thing Disney fans are really good at, it is turning a simple snack or drink into a full-blown obsession. It can be a cupcake, a popcorn bucket, a glow cube, or a drink with a fun name. Once it hits Disney, it is suddenly a must-do,…

Smart glasses have come a long way since the days of Google Glass (yes, I had a pair!), and I say that as someone who jumped on that bandwagon way back when. Fast-forward to today, and I rarely travel without my Ray-Ban Meta glasses. They are my go-to sunglasses, my…

Carnival’s first Excel-class ship, Mardi Gras, just came out of her first dry dock looking fresh and polished after a little time in the yard. Like any ship hitting dry dock for the first time, she got some much-needed TLC — paint touch-ups, system upgrades, deep cleaning, and a few…

There’s something deliciously eerie about being at sea in October. The ocean seems darker, the nights stretch a little longer, and when the moonlight hits the waves just right, you could almost swear you see something watching from the mist. Onboard, pumpkins glow in the atrium, cobwebs hang from railings,…

Cruise lines are pretty forgiving. They’ll tolerate you complaining about sub-par food in the dining room, removing tips on the last day of the cruise, or "reserving" your deck chair at 5:30am but not putting your butt in it until 10am. But there are a few things that will get…

At the end of September and into early October, Mother Nature did what she always does during hurricane season - she stirred things up. A storm system along the East Coast and in the Caribbean forced several cruise ships to adjust itineraries. Some changes were minor - skipping a port…

Virgin Voyages has shaken up the cruise industry with its adults-only policy, all-inclusive dining, and entertainment that runs late into the night. While many traditional cruise lines still focus on formal nights and production shows, Virgin takes a completely different approach — yet one thing that remains consistent with other…

Florida is the undisputed gateway to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. On any given day, ships are sailing from six homeports: Port Canaveral (Orlando), Port Tampa Bay (Tampa), Port of Palm Beach (West Palm Beach), Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale), PortMiami (Miami), and JAXPORT (Jacksonville). Five of these — Miami, Fort…