When booking a cruise you'll inevitably have to decide what type of cabin (aka stateroom) you want.  What's the difference between an inside and an ocean view?  What are all these numbers? G1, B13? Are we playing bingo or going on vacation?  It can be confusing, but it's important to really understand the differences, at least conceptually, so that you not only book the right room for you, but recognize value and see through some promotional gimmicks.  We'll look at the differences between stateroom types and categories and explain other things you'll run into, like guarantee rooms.

Today, Celebrity Cruises announced that their captains are now able to perform same-sex marriages at sea.  This is great news - but why isn't everyone doing it?  It has to do with flags...sort of.  Let's learn a little but about about today's announcement and dig into why we don't see it happening across all cruise lines...

As excitement builds for Celebrity's newest ship (and class), Celebirty Edge, the line, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line has announced big plans for it's Millennium and Solstice class ships.  

“Celebrity Cruises has always been recognized as an innovative, trend-setting brand, and the Celebrity Revolution is just another instance in which we keep raising the bar in modern luxury travel,” says Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, who arrives in Sydney on Tuesday for her first ever visit down under. 

“This is the largest investment the brand has ever made to modernize our fleet, and...

It’s easy to long for the way things used to be, but equally easy to miss great advancements in front of you while looking behind you.  More dining options, larger cabins, cashless cruising, and more.  We may not think about these every day, but you’d quickly long for them if you stepped (or sailed) back in time.

I was somewhat “born into cruising”, my experience coming about in the way that someone whose parents have a cabin in the mountains will always head to the hills to relax and reflect – but my relaxation had a midnight buffet and a muster drill.  I’m fortunate, and this fortune has offered me a long-term view of cruising that few are lucky enough to have.

I’m sitting now in the serine solarium aboard the Harmony of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship.  This ship is similar to some of the earliest ships I sailed, in that it floats, and the people in charge are known as “officers”.  A lot has changed...

If you participate in our interactive broadcasts you may have seen us in Peppers of Key West back in May.  We were visiting on our Cuba cruise and had a great time with our friends and the staff as we tried some of the hottest sauces around.  It was a fun broadcast to watch, so we've included it later in this post.  Why are we bringing this up now?  As you're probably aware, the Florida Keys, like several places, were dealt a devastating blow by Hurricane Irma, and Peppers of Key West, a great local business, is donating 25% of all sales through September 30th to local charities helping those in the Keys most impacted by the storm...