We know the economy is slow, but are there cruise bargains out there, and how much pain are the cruise lines feeling right now?
I just read the British version of Travel weekly offering a story that read, “Oasis of the Seas bookings slow down.” At first I thought, “Ouch, that is bad. This is a [...]

Earlier this month travel agencies Cruise Value Center, and affiliate Cruises of Distinction ceased operations, leaving thousands of people who thought they had booked, and in some cases who had made final payments on future cruises, stuck, ready to pack their bags, with no actual cruises booked. Sadly, many were left literally “holding the bag”, [...]

Carnival Corp. announced fuel supplement rebates if the price of oil is $70 or less for 25 days in a row. It has been 15 days. To be exact, the company said you will get a full refund on your fuel supplement payment if the price of oil is $70 or less for 25 days in a row at [...]

We are living in interesting times, and cruising reflects it as well as anything. On the one hand people are filled with “hope” and excited for “change,” yet simultaneously there is palpable fear, uncertainty and doubt. There are two major players in the cruise world, Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean International (with apologies to NCL [...]

Cruise ships are still sailing full, and cruise lines are still optimistic about the future, but naturally the economy is having its effects on the industry, so here is an update on some of the inside stuff happening.
Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) announced its first profitable quarter in two years, actually reporting a $171.2 million profit [...]

I’ve spent much of today trying to convince the higher ups I need to spend more time on the ship, in order to do a more thorough evaluation of the ship. Unfortunately it seems my request is being met with some hesitancy; at least I think that’s what “No Way Jose” means. Apparently the budget [...]

We cruised into Cozumel this morning rather than Roatan. As noted in a previous blog entry, the change in our itinerary was made because of civil demonstrations in Roatan. That probably turned out to be a bit of good luck on our side, as a hurricane is now in the area of Honduras.
As the itinerary [...]

This morning we woke to beautiful blue skies, and abundantly warm temperatures, anchored off the coast of Belize. It’s hard to imagine that a Tropical Depression, moving slowly towards Hurricane status, is bubbling not far from this area (closer to Honduras where we were supposed to be heading tomorrow). It’s likely that we went through [...]

For most of the day, both yesterday and today, I have been e-mailing and speaking to my family at home about my father’s condition. There’s been a bit of positive improvement in his condition. I normally don’t include the trials and tribulations of my personal life in my writings, or postings on our message boards, [...]

Norwegian Cruise Line has one of the very best ideas in the cruise industry; it’s a small wheeled device on the wall next to the cabin doors to indicate the status of the passengers inside. It probably sounds crazy to you that I think this is the best idea in the industry, but it’s so [...]