If you’re planning a Virgin Voyages cruise, you might be feeling overwhelmed. Are reservations necessary on Scarlet Lady? Does Virgin Voyages have a sailaway party? Maybe some activities seem a bit risqué for your taste. After sailing Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady several times, we decided to put together a list of seven “dos and don'ts” to prepare you for your cruise... read more
There is a new cruise line in town - or at least a new cruise experience, and this one builds on a popular brand: Margaritaville. Let’s look at the brand, the ship, and talk about why we’re so interested in this new venture (no, it's not because I'm a big Jimmy Buffett fan). read more
On April 27, 2022 Celebrity Beyond’s maiden voyage will sail from Southampton, England. Ahead of this, Celebrity has released new details about the onboard entertainment options that guests can look forward to on their newest Edge series ship. This is particularly exciting, as entertainment has been one of the stand-out features of this series... read more
Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas is the world's largest cruise ship. We are onboard for her maiden voyage, and wanted to take this opportunity to give you a quick peek at three of the things that we noticed right away that we're different and unique on this amazing vessel... read more
I’m writing this from the world’s largest cruise ship, the new Wonder of the Seas. I’m also very much a “small ship” person (by today’s ship size standards, at least). I like knowing I’m on the water, I enjoy everything being close by, and sailing with a small number of other guests. Ships like Oceania Regatta, and new kid on the block Scarlet Lady are in my wheelhouse. So,how have I felt stepping on this absolutely mammoth, nearly 7,000 passenger Oasis-class Wonder of the Seas? read more
On March 4th the largest ship in the world, Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas, will set sail with guests for the first time from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We’ll be onboard for this maiden voyage and are excited to share this experience with you... read more
Watch our live broadcast from just outside of Port Everglades. We started on another stream but there were some connection issues, so below, you can watch ships sailing out as we talk ship, and then finally watch the grand finale: the 239k GT, 6,988 passenger Wonder of the Seas arriving for the very first time.. read more
When cruising out of Port Canaveral, it’s convenient, and often more relaxing, to get a hotel in Cocoa Beach the night before you sail. We’ve stayed at multiple hotels near the port, but we keep going back to one of them, Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront. Let’s look at what frequently makes this hotel the right choice for us, so you can see if it is right for your next trip... read more
This week the US Centers for Disease Control issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice (THN) for cruise ship travelers - an improvement over recent guidance. Still, as has been the case for a long time, the CDC’s guidance lacks context in a way that may be problematic for those choosing NOT to cruise... read more
Since the resumption of cruising, there has been a lot of talk about the types of rules and restrictions that have been put in place. The nuances of these can vary by ship and sailing, but there are three main components that are semi-consistent: masks, testing, and vaccines. As we change how we live with COVID on land, there are expectations that the rules for cruising will loosen up soon. Will they? Well, maybe… read more