If you love Carnival Cruise Lines, plan to have a lot more fun starting Sept. 12, 2009 when the 130,000-ton Carnival Dream enters service. The largest “Fun Ship” in Carnival’s fleet will carry 3,646 passengers and boast new features such as an indoor/outdoor Piazza, a cafe with live music; expanded children’s facilities including a Water’Works aqua park; whirlpools extending over [...]

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In what may be a sign that cruise lines are already anticipating difficulty filling Europe cruises next year, Carnival Cruise Lines announced that Carnival Freedom won’t be returning to the region as scheduled.  Instead, the ship will sail on year-round Caribbean cruises from Fort Lauderdale.
Effective Nov. 22, 2008, Freedom will sail on six- and eight-day itineraries.  The eight-day [...]

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Carnival Cruise Lines will position the 2,124-passenger Carnival Pride year round in the port of Baltimore with seven-day cruises departing Sundays.  Effective September 13, 2009, the ship will sail on alternating one week cruises to the Caribbean, Florida and the Bahamas.
The ship’s Eastern Caribbean cruises visit Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport.   The alternating itinerary [...]

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A few years ago, I never thought any ship would surpass Royal Caribbean’s 3,500-passenger Voyager-class ships in size. Cunard Line’s 148,528-ton Queen Mary 2 was even larger (in size, not passenger count), although she was built for transatlantic crossings and longer voyages.   Then, in June, 2006, Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas, 158,000 tons and [...]

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Celebrity has announced that, beginning October 1, 2008, a no-smoking policy goes into effect in staterooms and verandas.  Passengers who are caught smoking will find $250 added to their tab, a charge for cleaning the stateroom. 
Designated indoor areas where guests can smoke cigarettes include the port side of one lounge per ship and a designated [...]

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This is a case of good news, bad news. 
Carnival Corporation, parent company of Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Holland America, Cunard Line and Seabourn Cruises, will increase its fuel surcharge from $5 to $7 per person, per day.   In addition, third and fourth passengers in a stateroom will now pay $2 per person, per day.   [...]

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Carnival Cruise Lines is teaming up with Whodunit Productions, the leading organizer of mystery cruises at sea, for a series of “Whodunit Cruises” aboard the 2,052-passenger “Fun Ship” Carnival Paradise from Long Beach, Calif., in 2008 and 2009.  Eight different three-day “Mystery Cruises” will be offered, the first of which will depart, appropriately enough, on Halloween - [...]

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You’ve planned this cruise for years and finally the dream comes true: boarding the ship you set set sail for glamorous ports in ________ (Asia, South America, the Greek Islands, wherever) with equally-excited fellow passengers. 
Three days into the cruise the weather gets bad, the seas high.  The Captain’s voice over the ship’s public adress system is tentative: “Ah….ladies and [...]

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* Holland America has announced that its next new ship, the Eurodam, will make a ten-day inaugural voyage from Rotterdam July 5, 2008 visiting Norwegian fjords and Scottish highlands.  A three-day preview cruise from Rotterdam to Copenhagen is scheduled Aug. 29, 2008 before the ship repositions to New York to commence its season of New England/Canada voyages.   The 2,104-passenger Signature-class [...]

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Like most cruisers, I hate being nickeled and dimed to death.  And while surcharges and extra fees feel like that sometimes, they’re really fare increases that reflect the rising cost of doing business. 
There’s a reason cruise lines call them as “surcharges” and “extra fees”. They pay travel agents a 15% commission on the price of the cabin.  [...]

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