Recently, Celebrity Cruises recently announced that the much-anticipated Celebrity Edge is ahead of schedule and will begin sailing earlier than expected.  While this is generally great news, there are some who may be less than thrilled, and this made us stop and wonder - what is a "maiden voyage?"

Those of us in English speaking countries talk about cruise vacations, cruise ships, cruise lines, etc.  In many other parts of the world the verbiage is a bit different.  In Romance languages you'll notice the words for cruising all sound very similar to one another:
Cruceros, croisières, crociere, and cruzeiros.

Why?  It actually has more to do with the history of cruising than you might think.

On your cruise (and our Periscopes) you'll hear all sorts of terms you wouldn't otherwise use on a daily basis, and no, we're not talking about the lyrics Bob Marley's song "Kaya".  Let's cover some of the more common (or, in some cases, just some of the more interesting) terms, especially as they relate to cruising.  The list certainly isn't all inclusive, but we think it's a good start.   

If you've been on a cruise you may have heard the captain explaining what time you'll be, "picking up the pilot", or maybe you've seen a small boat that says, "Pilot" pulling away from the ship.  Maybe you've just heard me annoyingly mention them on my Periscopes.  What is a pilot boat?  Who are the pilots?  Isn't the captain piloting the ship?  We'll go over the answer to these questions and surprise you with a method of taking on a pilot that you've probably never seen.