By the time I felt like having breakfast, most of the Garden Cafe had closed, but there were still a few items available, so I had raisin French toast, fried potatoes, sausage, and the salmon mousse I had become so fond of on the Escape. While I was dining, L, one of a group of Canadians I had met the night before walked by, so we chatted for a bit.  This was a relatively slow start to a day full of activities...

After having gotten off a cruise ship just a week ago, it was a little surreal to be packing for another cruise. On the upside, I really knew what I wanted to pack, so it didn’t take long. I arrived at Port Canaveral around 11am and found several spots on the ground floor of the parking garage and easily walked to the terminal entrance. After checking in, I waited in the terminal for about a half-hour until my group number was called. Then I walked on board and directly to Shakers martini bar...

If you’ve ever seen cruising in the news, there is an unfortunately high chance that you heard about an outbreak of Norovirus (gastrointestinal illness) on a ship. This leads many to believe that this is the result of unsanitary conditions and “cruise ship illnesses.”  The reality is that the story is frequently reported inaccurately, and based on data provided by the United States Centers for Disease Control, you’re far more likely to fall victim to Norovirus on land, than you are at sea...

One of the things I prefer about a cruise vacation over traveling by air is that your luggage travels with you. The risk of getting separated from your bag is much slimmer on a cruise than on a plane, but that doesn’t mean the risk is zero. Plus, you may be transferring bags from cabs, hotels, shuttles, and planes just to get to the cruise terminal.  Luckily there is a simple step you can take to reduce the risk of being separated from your bag...

Just one week after my cruise on the Norwegian Escape, I’m cruising on the Norwegian Epic, and for the first time, I’m cruising solo.  After Hurricane Irma, cruise prices started dropping a lot, and NCL was offering solo cruisers balcony cabins with no single supplement. Usually, booking solo in a cabin other than one designed for one person comes with an increased per-person cost...

In the middle of the night, around 3:30am, I woke up and decided to take one last tour of the ship before I had to say goodbye.  This may be a good time to mention something I left out of the Day 7 blog post. When SP and I were touring The Haven ship-within-a-ship suites area, the Hotel Director’s Secretary, Pamela took us out into The Vibe sundeck. While there, she offered us...

By day 7, SP and I were feeling a bit of cruise fatigue. I didn’t want the cruise to end, but at the same time, I missed my bed. On the other hand, I don’t have a balcony with a view of the ocean at home. When I gave SP the outline of what I wanted to do in Nassau, he balked at the amount of walking, so we decided to have a very slow day on the ship...

Earlier in the week, the Hotel Director, Jovo Sekulovic, invited me and SP to have dinner at The Haven Restaurant which is part of the ship-within-a-ship concept Norwegian has developed. Because we had reservations at Teppanyaki the evening of Day 6 and Cagney’s on Day 7, I asked the Hotel Director’s Secretary, Pamela, if we could dine at The Haven Restaurant for lunch instead...

Our day started off with an announcement from the captain that due to a passenger’s worsening illness, we would need to divert to Cozumel, Mexico for emergency medical treatment. This would mean we would not be able to call on Great Stirrup Cay on Day 6 and instead would proceed...

We love travel tech, and have talked about how we pack for cruises.  If you’re looking to invest in luggage for your next trip you may have seen bags with built in batteries – but we think you should avoid them.  In addition to some conceptual flaws we’ve noticed, you may soon have trouble flying with these bags...