Blog contributor Jackie Sheckler Finch loves river cruising, and recently spent some extra time in Memphis before her American Queen river sailing.

Since Memphis is the American Queen’s new homeport and Priscilla Presley is the boat’s godmother, I thought I’d visit the home of the city’s most famous son when I arrived a day early for my cruise. Read more...

That red-eye finally got into JFK. Somehow that coach seat was actually comfortable, and here it is 7 AM, and there’s a full day to kill before the cruise and no need for a nap. But having such a short time to spend in such a huge city is a little overwhelming. Need to know the major things to hit in the city that never sleeps? Here’s our best 24 hour schedule for New York City. Read more...

Here at the office, we relish the thought of being completely off the grid. Disconnected, and unable to be reached is a dream for many people that never seems to pan out in reality. The call of the cell phone and internet can just be too alluring, too necessary and too familiar to stay offline for many. And although cruises offer the ability to log on, the prices can be very high – and it can keep connectivity down to a bare minimum. However, Regent is looking to change that, believe it or not. Read more...

With the new year, our thoughts are turning to new ships. In particular, the Norwegian Breakaway. Now granted, with offices near New York City, we’re partial because of its location. After all, it isn’t too often that brand new ships make New York City their homeport – but there are some truly unique features that make the Breakaway worth sailing on. We’ve come up with three great ones that we thought we’d share today. Read more...

We could hear him screaming all the way down.

When he reached the bottom of the water slide, the muscular guy with the shaved head and tattooed torso stood up with an embarrassed grin, took a sheepish half bow and walked off to the applause of onlookers. Read more...

The rumors are true, and Royal Caribbean made it official. Look for another Oasis of the Seas type ship to hit the waters in 2016. The cruise line made the announcement last week in St. Nazaire, France where the ship will be built. It’s going to be an exciting few years for the cruise line too, as the list of new ships for Royal Caribbean seems to be growing pretty rapidly! Read more...

With the new year set to begin in just a couple days, vacation planning season is about to begin. Given the strength (or lack of it) of the economy these days, a lot of travelers are looking to get the best value possible on their upcoming vacation. As always, we’re here to help, and our advice? Book today! Some of the best deals are available when booking early, and there are plenty of good reasons to book far ahead of time, we’ve just got three of the best reasons why the best deal is today’s deal. Read more...

It’s the big open secret in US travel these days. Not enough people know about it, but they should. American travelers can see Cuba again, despite the general embargo on our neighbor to the south. Now, there is a catch – this isn’t going to be the normal “fun in the sun” beach holiday that most Caribbean travel becomes. Cuba is open for US citizens to see, but only in person-to-person cultural exchange programs. Read more...

A few years back the US government introduced the REAL ID act. This was an effort to get states to place enhancements in state identification that would make forgeries more difficult to make, and provide more information to law enforcement agencies more easily. The government refers to these as “Secure Drivers Licenses.” Coming next month, it is supposed to get a bit more difficult for travelers without these secure identification cards to fly or travel by ship. This could be a problem because 37 states do not currently meet the requirements set in the REAL ID act. Read more...

We’re going to admit this, and it isn’t easy. When we were in the office compiling the list of travel destinations that would be on our lists for 2013, the movies had an affect on us. Well one movie, at least… The Hobbit. Filmed in New Zealand, it ended up putting a wonderful focus on the small, oft-forgotten cousin as an exciting, exotic destination that isn’t so far as you might think. Read more...