I’m sure I’m not the only cruiser who occasionally worries about failing to reach a cruise ship before it sails.  So I can imagine how awful it was for a troop of girl scouts who couldn’t make their airline connection and missed their Carnival cruise.  Instead of spending a week sailing the warm waters of [...]

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I’ll show you mine if you show me yours!  Here are my cruise tips for saving wear and tear on body and soul.  I’d love to get a few tips from you as well.  And, because air travel is so unpredictable, several tips are especially important and noted as a NEW RULE.
1.  To arrive with wrinkle-free [...]

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Every ship’s officer I’ve queried has admitted that the most difficult cruise of the year is the Christmas cruise.   Not only are ships full of passengers expecting a fabulous holiday — hey, you paid enough! — but the staff and crew, who miss their own families, work overtime.
One year, aboard Celebrity Cruises’ Galaxy, I walked into the [...]

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Like most of us, I’ve become accustomed to bad news about the economy.  Therefore, it was hardly surprising to learn today that consumer confidence is at a 41 year low.  And I’m sure no one is jealous of cruise line CEO’s trying to steer clear of the shoals in a force ten gale!
But what I [...]

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“Does your health insurance cover you in Liberia?” a doctor aboard a ship asked me. When I responded that of course it didn’t, he said “Well, you’re in Liberia right now.” Like all but a handful of cruise ships, this vessel was a foreign flag ship. But most Americans don’t realize their regular health insurance [...]

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Many of us only have time for a three- or four-day cruise.  And, if you’re flying to the port of embarkation, you may use up some of the valuable sea days burned out from the ordeal of just traveling to the ship.   Air travel, which was once a no brainer, is frequently an obstacle:  delays, [...]

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Today on the Cruise Log, journalist Gene Sloan cites a report of a man getting kicked off a Carnival ship in Roatan, Honduras because he was sick.  The unfortunate passenger had to pay thousands of dollars to get himself home in order to get the medical care he needed.
That’s the way all cruise lines handle passengers [...]

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Few items can run up the final tab of a cruise like shore excursions.  A couple on a one-week Caribbean cruise spending an extra grand on activities they purchased from the cruise company?  No problem.
Cruise lines impose a huge markup in the tours they sell to passengers.  Don’t be surprised if you find a tour [...]

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For months I’ve been working to build a new web site, Cruising From New York,  which finally opened today!
After 15 years of traveling all over the planet, I’ve come to the conclusion that New York is the best city on earth.  And, the number of ships has mushroomed to the point two additional ports — one in Brooklyn, [...]

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My job is giving advice to travelers. Hey, I’m the expert, right?  Now it’s confession time: I’ve learned everything I know first-hand, by making really dumb mistakes.  Ok, I really do have blond hair but is that the reason I’ve goofed so many times?
In other words, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
Packing [...]

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