Waking up knowing I'm going on a cruise that day always feels great.  Interestingly, knowing the ship wasn't scheduled to set sail until 7:00pm made things feel a bit less rushed, even though 4:00pm sailings out of South Florida give us plenty of time to get to the ship ahead of schedule.  We had some breakfast, double-checked our packing list (we don't need a repeat of this day) and got into a Lyft to head to the port around 1:00pm.

Over the years cruise ships have become bigger and bigger - bringing attention and fanfare with every superlative.  On the news, on social media, and in ads it seems cruise lines are constantly trying to "out-build" each other.  While there is no doubt that many consumers are excited about these giant vessels, did you know that they don't represent the majority of new ships?  Let's talk about why mega-ships are so popular, and what the average new cruise ship size actually is.  

Could pain at the pump extend to your next cruise?  This week, oil prices closed at $65 a barrel, and we have to wonder if cruise lines will soon begin charging fuel supplements as they have in the past.  About ten years ago operators of cruise ships and airlines had a big problem: the rising price of fuel.  To solve it, they started passing unexpectedly high fuel costs along to guests in the form of “fuel supplements.”  Even though it’s been years since cruise passengers were charged any of these fees, the option for lines to do this never went away, and we have a hunch you may soon be throwing in some gas money for the next time your ship commences bunkering operations...

Travel insurance can be a great way to protect against the "what ifs" on your next cruise.  Like any insurance, the policy is useless if it doesn't cover the circumstance you're looking to account for.  All too often, we read about people unhappy with a policy because they simply assumed the policy covered specific circumstances, instead of fully understanding what they were buying.  Are you covered if you can't make it to your cruise?  What if you need to leave half-way through your cruise?  How much will it cost to go to a doctor on the ship, or in another country?  Let's look at some of the questions you should ask when looking into an insurance policy, and chip-away at some common misconceptions. 

Many cruise lines are offering sailings with stops in Cuba, and now, Carnival Cruise Lines is expanding their offering to include stops in Havana from Charleston and other East Coast homeports.  This represents a significant increase in options, especially for those looking to sail out of Charleston, where options had previously been somewhat limited.