Resumption of Cruising

The return to service for cruise lines has just begun, but despite the significant logistics involved, things are starting to move quickly.  One of the largest and best known lines, Carnival Cruise Line, has announced that they'll be brining even more ships back in September and October - with a total of 15 vessels sailing, and plans to have the rest sailing by the end of the year... read more

This is the first In the very first episode of Billy's Cruise Takes I weigh in on NCLH suing Florida, Carnival's smoking policy changes, Canada allowing cruising, and the state of the Conditional sailing order... read more

Cruising is back, and we could all use a vacation. Depending on the cruise you take, and whether you’re fully vaccinated, the available cruise experiences can be very different.  Will you need to wear a mask?  Will you have access to all the spaces and services you expect?  It’s not as easy as we’d like to tell what the restrictions will be on any given cruise, but we’ve got some tips that can help clear things up... read more

Celebrity Cruises finest accommodations come as part of The Retreat experience, which offers exclusive lounges and dining options, top-notch service, and other perks.  We were recently enjoyed The Retreat on Celebrity Edge, aboard the first cruise to return to service from the US in over 15 months.  In this video we highlight our Sky Suite, and discuss various parts of what makes The Retreat experience much more than just a larger stateroom. read more

Florida is home to the three busiest cruise ports in the world, so a safe return to cruising is in the best interest of the state.  Despite this, and the overwhelming evidence that vaccines play a critical role in a "return to normal", Florida imposes significant fines each time a business requires proof that a patron is vaccinated.  Now, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (parent company to NCL, Regent Seven Seas, and Oceania Cruises), is suing Florida over this so called "vaccine passport ban", and the entire industry will be watching... read more

Some places are synonymous with Caribbean cruises, and Nassau, Bahamas is one of them, with more than 3.3 million cruisers visiting in 2019 alone.  For 15 months however, that number fell to nearly zero.  While on two of the first cruises to resume from the US, we called on the iconic port city, and we were excited, and a bit nervous, to see how things were going with local businesses... read more

On June 26 Celebrity Edge became the first cruise ship to sail from the US in over 15 months.  We’ve been on board four days now, and as a cruise blogger, I keep getting asked about restrictions.  This makes sense, as myself and every other traveler with a keyboard has been trying to predict the future for a year – and we were all wrong... read more