The cruises are coming to Philadelphia and I’m thrilled! Philadelphia will once again become a port city for the cruise industry when Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) sails into the city this year with the NCL Jewel and the NCL Pearl. The city last saw a passenger cruise ship in 2011 […]
Sailing from Southampton Cruise Terminal gives cruise passengers many options to get to their cruise at different price points, risk levels and timing. On a summer Sunday, there are thousands of cruise passengers, generally with the big checked bags and extra luggage, making their way to multiple ships leaving port […]
Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) pioneered the solo studio cabin with lounge inside their ships more than a decade ago and continue to recognize the solo traveler and cater to their needs much more so than other cruise ships and lines in my experience. The studio cabin is generally 100 sq […]
My sister was horrified when she came to pick me up for the airport and I hadn’t purchased my Disney Genie+ or Individual Lighting Lane tickets (it was already 8am) so she took my phone out of my hand and tapped a bunch of buttons and said “now you are […]
I had the typical GenX childhood with public water fountains and the trusty garden hose in the neighborhood as my source of water when I was thirsty. In grade school, we had scheduled breaks to line up at the water fountain but otherwise I don’t remember being thirsty. We rarely […]
It’s been many years since I sailed with Royal Caribbean but the cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver on Ovation of the Seas seemed to be a perfect mix of port and sea days. As I hadn’t visited Hawaii before it was the winning option for vacation. Traveling from Philadelphia to […]
Priority access isn’t new, the “skip the line” access started at theme parks many years ago and now a cruise version – The Key on Royal Caribbean – has entered the market as a pay for access and convenience product. Over the years, the Disney priority access model has evolved […]
I visited Lahaina in Maui in May on the Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver. This was to be a different post to tell you how to navigate Lahaina – arrive in port, sail the boats, book the tours of the island, shop the stores […]
I haven’t given much thought to my travels and how some years there tends to be a theme around the trips. One year I focused on international film festivals (Toronto, Karlovy Vary and Avignon) and the next year my travels brought me to wellness resorts (Miraval and Red Mountain Resort […]
It’s “wave season” and you are likely seeing a lot of cruise commercials everywhere (that dumb jingle is stuck in your head) so let’s talk about cruises. Cruises lines were hit hard during the pandemic and restarted sailing in July 2021 offering cheap cruises to anyone willing to take a […]