How many times have you encountered people who tell you they are going on a cruise, but then you find they don’t have any idea of the name of the ship they are going on, or where it’s going to take them?
Most people I know also know I write about cruising, so when they book [...]

Celebrity Solstices sails out in Germany.
The brand new Celebrity Solstice, the first of a new generation of new-build ships, sailed out of it ship yard in Papenburg, Germany yesterday. Celebrity says the ship is 98% complete as pictures from the media attest.

So far, the parts of Solstice I like best are the beautiful pool  and [...]

Deutsche Bank downgraded Carnival Corp. from a “Buy” to a “Sell”. That is like shifting a Porsche from “fourth” to “reverse” as you cruise the Autobahn.
Cruising is considered a “leisure” business as far as Wall Street is concerned. And as far as that goes, it is impossible not to be aware of the credit and cash crunch [...]

The truth is, the cruise industry always experiences a doldrums every summer that precedes a Presidential election. This year it’s even more of a distraction because it is such an interesting race.  So. what happens now? We get Cruise Sales - and they are out there now!
The current hot one from NCL is the “Pity the Procrastinator [...]

Kuki knocking Oasis of the Seas?  It isn’t how big you make them, it is how you make them big. Calling it a “Really Huge Sucker” is not way to refer to what will the the ship that changes the prardigm of cruising forever!  Oasis has about the same passenger/space ratio as Queen Mary 2, and [...]

 About 2 years ago there was a revolution in the cruise industry and somehow, amazingly to me, it went by almost unnoticed — and certainly as contentious as I thought it should be — uncontested.
Suddenly most of the cruise lines put policies in place that prevented travel agents from advertising prices different than those a [...]

A freelance writer on assignment to the Boston Globe contacted me to request an interview about “the hidden cruise costs” I agreed, but sadly found myself sorely misquoted. What to do? The article is out there and the damage is done.
Click here to read the article Beware Hidden Costs Aboard Ship, on shore by Paul Kandarian.
His said he [...]

Hello CruiseMates…
This is your editor, Paul. I just want to welcome you to our cruise blog and get right to posting.
Times are tough right now, economically, and many of you may not be cruising as much as you used to. I am curious how dutracted from your favorite vacation you are right now?
First of all [...]

Regardless of which side of the fence you are on, I decided to take a look at which candidates have initiated more legislation for what I would consider positive changes for the cruise industry. here is what I found…

Politics and Cruising
by Paul Motter
We went to Alaska on August 13 and asked locals what they thought [...]

It appears I’ve hung around CruiseMates long enough that they’re showing faith in me by giving me my very own space to Blog, unedited. We’ll see if they live to regret it… of if you do.
In the coming weeks and months I’ll be trying to share my views, opinons, and my own slant on cruising, [...]