An early morning sun sweeps off a shroud of wispy fog as the American Queen paddles her way along the Mississippi River. In the J.M. White Dining Room, I’m savoring a big Southern breakfast while a friendly dining staff delivers coffee, tea and cheerfulness. Read more...

The countdown to the new Royal Princess is on, and this week, Princess reveals what’s new and updated for the kids on board. After all, a great vacation for the families isn’t quite the same without great activities and events for kids to enjoy too! There’s a whole host of new features for the little ones on the Royal Princess. This time, the ship was designed with them in mind! Read more...

It’s a taste of the South Pacific without needing to bring the passport along. Hawaii easily makes our list of top destinations for 2013. Frankly, there’s so much to see and do that it would arguably make our list year after year. But this year in particular, there are so many great ways to see our 50th state, and birthplace of President Obama that it only makes sense to visit. Read more...

It’s been a rough year for Costa. But after a year with a lot of bad news, Costa seems to be ending the year on a very positive note, starting the construction of their newest upcoming ship, the Costa Diadema. True to its name, the future flagship of the Italian cruise line will be a crown jewel of the industry too. Read more...

The Serenade of the Seas is back on the seas! Having completed is 29 million dollar renovation this month, the ship is back and sailing and there are a whole host of new reasons to take this classic Royal Caribbean ship out for a spin. A lot of times, people think newer and flashier is the way to go, but Royal Caribbean is taking steps to make every ship its best ship, and the Serenade is no exception. Here are five good reasons to sail on the Serenade in the next 12 months. Read more...

Our dining table aboard the Wilderness Explorer had no dinner menu. Must be misplaced, I thought. Then I discovered that the ship does not print daily menus because of its efforts to be “green.”

“We take our commitment to conserve and protect the environment very seriously,” said Debi Heins, hotel manager for the Wilderness Explorer. “We do everything we can to be ‘green.’” Read more...

Taking a family vacation on a cruise is a great idea for people of all ages. Unfortunately, sometimes, people just need to get away from the kids. Dropping them off at the kids program is a start, but sometimes being away from kids, means being away from kids, not just your own. Princess pioneered an adults-only area on a family friendly ship, with the Sanctuary. Read more...

Cruises are great vacations for families, this is something that pretty much everyone can agree on. But the question is what cruise line is best for families? The truth is that there are a lot of choices out there for this, and pretty much every major cruise line has something great that the family can agree on, but according to one influential travel website, one cruise line – Royal Caribbean – stands out. Read more...

Cruise ships are as much museums of modern art as they are anything else these days, and that is very much apparent in the new Celebrity Reflection, which finally set sail from US waters last week. As part of our continuing coverage on the ship, we wanted to share about the fantastic artwork onboard. Read more...

Norwegian Cruise Line hasn’t even launched the New York themed Norwegian Breakaway on the high seas yet, but they can’t seem to keep a lid on the excitement that they’re building from the Norwegian Getaway. Like the Breakaway, the Getaway is going to be themed around its homeport which for this ship is Miami, and they’ve chosen Miami artist Dan “LEBO” LeBatard to design the hull art for the ship, scheduled to launch in early 2014. Read more...