Ready for a bit of musical trivia? This performer has been dead for 40 years but his legacy still lives on in the 104 songs and 21 albums he recorded.

His birthplace and mausoleum are a popular tourist spot. In the photo, my tour guide is taking a smoke break. Read more...

By Jackie Sheckler Finch

It wasn’t the rhythmic Caribbean music or the tumbling waterfall or the devilish looking masks that caught 6-year-old Angela Thompson’s attention. It was the replica of a prehistoric lizard trapped in amber thousands of years ago. Read more...

Shore excursions are part of the fun of cruising. Going ashore and taking a tour is an exciting option on cruises. And, almost always, there are more tour options than I can do. Makes for hard choices.

But Carnival Cruise Lines has now come up with a cruise industry first to be sure passengers get the best shore excursions possible. Carnival just announced a guarantee that guests who book a Carnival shore excursion and find a comparable tour at a lower price will receive an onboard credit of 110 percent of the difference. Read more...

The view was breathtaking. As was the ride to get to the top of St. Thomas Island.

Whenever I return, this will be an island trip I will have to take again. And again.

First, we caught an island shuttle for a winding trip to the top of St. Thomas Island, appropriately named Mountain Top. Our driver “Toothpick” (“because I’m so skinny”) expertly guided the vehicle up the narrow road to the highest peak on the island and gave us a history lesson at the same time. Read more...

Miami has always been known for its warm weather, with summer like temperatures all year long. Norwegian Cruise Line is set to change that perception however, with its newest cruise ship, the Norwegian Getaway, set to sail from the Magic City this February. Like its sister, the Norwegian Breakaway, and fleet mate, Norwegian Epic, the Getaway will be outfitted with a bar that’s made entirely out of ice. Read more...

Golfing and cruising are two things that go pretty well together. Think about it, some of the best courses in the world are on islands, and accessible by ship – Bermuda, St. Martin, St. Thomas, to name just a few – and that’s not even considering all the great golf available in the British Isles and elsewhere in the world. In 2014, Celebrity Cruises is teaming up with the TOURAcademy to bring golfers on the high seas with a series of cruises designed to offer guests a chance to play amazing courses, improve their game and have a lot of fun. Read more...

Fun in the sun and sea is something that we love here at the office. We dream about getting away on a daily basis… after all, selling vacations all day can do that to a guy. With the weather finally turning warmer, our mind has turned to the beach – and specifically finding the best beaches for a Caribbean vacation. We’ve found five beaches that we think are just outstanding and help make the perfect Caribbean getaway. Read more...

We won’t lie, we’re big fans of Club Med. We’ve definitely talked about it before, and we had a fabulous time when we were at Sandpiper Bay in Florida. But with spring coming upon us, people in the office are getting itchy to get away from it all for a while… and the more we think about where to go, the more we’re drawn to Club Med again, this time at Turkoise – the adults only all-inclusive resort at Turks and Caicos. Read more...

The deeper our submarine sank, the less colorful the underwater world became. That was a surprise for me aboard my first Atlantis Submarine dive.

For some reason, I thought life down deep would be like in the movies – vibrant Technicolor. Not so.

Our submarine guide Dan explains that colors begin to fade the deeper we go into the ocean. “The vibrant colors you see in photographs of the underwater world are the result of using artificial light,” Dan says. Read more...

Holland America’s Half Moon Cay turns 15 this year. This private Bahamanian island is widely considered to be among the best private beach islands that cruise lines use today, and this year Holland America is upping their game by offering guests the biggest private island upgrade yet, a beach villa. Read more...