We aren’t normally ones for tooting our own horns, but just this one time – please forgive us. We’re just excited about our latest nomination for the World Travel Awards. Crown Cruise Vacations has been nominated for World’s Leading Cruise Travel Agent for 2012. Read more...

The Carnival Destiny is about to get a very major transformation. So major, in fact, that Carnival has even decided to change the name of the ship – so come April of next year, say hello to the Carnival Sunshine! This $155 million top to bottom refurbishment will change virtually every aspect of this ship from top to bottom. Here are some of the highlights! Read more...

There’s finally a new answer to one of the most common cruising questions. We get a lot of guests asking us if they can bring their own alcohol aboard ship to enjoy in the room without having to pay the mark-up of bar prices. The answer has almost always been, no. There have been some exceptions, of course, but they often involved corking fees that cost as much as buying the bottle of wine on the ship to begin with. Read more...

Ok, so this might not be the usual post we put up here, but while we were out traveling in the past week, this album “Cape Dory” by Tennis kept appearing and reappearing on our iPods. The album is definitely nautical in theme and really upbeat. The more we thought about it, the more we realized this is just excellent music to take aboard and listen to while riding the waves on board ship. Read more...

I was a bit skeptical of it at first. Definitely something I wouldn’t like, I thought when the idea was presented to me at lunch. But as I pondered over my pasta, I decided to take the plunge. After all, we aren’t talking about Trapeze School here, one of those Club Med activities that gives me agita at the mere thought of. No, we were talking paddleboarding on Sandpiper Bay. Read more...

It has been a busy week for corporate offices across the cruise industry this week. Earlier this week, Norwegian Cruise Line announced its plans to build another Norwegian Breakaway type-ship in the near future. Royal Caribbean announced its plans to build another Oasis type ship for 2016, and today Carnival announced another Breeze-type ship for delivery in 2016, and a new Holland America ship in 2015. Read more...

Art is always a focus on cruises. In fact, many ships might as well be art museums with the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of orginal works that hang throughout cruise ships today. Add in the art auction, and sometimes a ship can almost feel like an episode of Gallery Girls. Read more...

Cruising in the late summer and fall can be a fantastic deal. Part of that reason is because the weather doesn’t always cooperate – it is hurricane season after all. But the truth is that when a storm isn’t in your area, the weather is fabulous and the ports of call are as vibrant as they are at any other time of the year. However, there are some things that you can do to minimize the impact of a storm on your travel plans – even without changing your schedule. We’ve put together a list of three things that anyone can do to ensure the best possible experience for a cruise. Read more...

Cruising the Caribbean, its hard to get excited about those private island destinations sometimes. It might just feel like another day at the beach when in reality, the ship’s pool might work just as well. But cruise lines are making these private destinations a real attraction and something worth visiting. Royal Caribbean has Labadee, off the coast of Haiti, and they make the client experience very special. Here’s a quick video about all the fun that Labadee has to offer. We’ll see you on the zip line! Read more...

This is the start of an irregular series on our blog where we will take a fantastic port of call and get the most out of a short stay in an amazing city. We’re starting with London.

Let’s be honest. There’s no way to even scratch the surface of what London has to offer in just 24 hours. With literally thousands of years of history around every corner, and some of the most exciting cultural experiences in the world an arm’s reach away, a city like this could take weeks to get a good sense of. But even with just one day, a taste of what makes London so amazing is still possible. Here’s our custom 24 hour itinerary for London. Read more...