What Is Onboard Credit (OBC) & How Can You Use It?
Onboard credit may be completely new to you, but even if you’re a seasoned cruiser there are probably things we can shed some light on. Commonly abbreviated as “OBC” or referred to as "shipboard credit", onboard credit can be thought of as a gift card of sorts for a specific cruise - money that you can use on your cruise for any number of things, including beverages, shore excursions, retail purchases, and more. What many people don’t realize is there are actually different types of onboard credit, which can affect how you can use it. Let’s look at how you get onboard credit, what you can do with it, and what happens if you don’t use it...
The first day of your cruise is filled with excitement as you explore the ship and start your vacation, but safety is the priority, so you'll invariably be participating in a muster drill. It may not be the most fun part of your vacation, but let's go over what muster drills are, why they're important, and how you can make the best of this "lost time" on embarkation day.
While cruising is about relaxing, fun, enrichment, and telling your office that you’ll be completely unreachable for a week, for the crew and the cruise line there is another important element: safety. The last line of defense is the lifeboat, but it’s far more than a wooden dinghy out of a Hitchcock film. Modern lifeboats have evolved for enhanced safety, reliability, and even visibility - let’s look at how.
Today in New York Celebrity Cruises revealed impressive new details about their upcoming flag ship, the 
Today at D23 in Anaheim, CA, an annual Disney fan event, Bob Chapek, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts announced an additional build for the cruise line, bringing her planned ship count to seven. This adds to DCL's announcement last year that they'd be bringing two new and larger ships, scheduled for delivery in 2021 and 2023. The additional build will be a member of the same new class of ships, slated to come in at 135k gross tons and be released in 2022, with all three ships being built at Meyer Werft in Germany. 
Most cruises are about both the fantastic onboard experience as well as the ports of call you visit. Whether sailing the warm Caribbean or historic Mediterranean, you’ll likely want some sort of plan for while you’re in port. From guided tours to resort passes, or even helicopter rides to glaciers, you can book a number of tours through the cruise line - but should you book independently instead? Let’s look at the risks and benefits of each.
Have you ever thought about how much it costs to “park” a cruise ship? When you book a cruise, you’re paying not just for the ship’s staff, your meals, whatever they use to keep the brass railings so shiny, etc – but also taxes and fees, many of which cover the cost of the space and services used while in the port at which you’re starting and ending your cruise. Let’s look at who is being paid, what that money goes towards, and of course, how much it all costs.,,
An iconic step in the life of any new ship is the keel laying ceremony, when the first piece of steel is put in place. Today in Saint-Nazaire, France the foundation was laid for the innovative new structure of the Celebrity Edge. In front of leaders of Celebrity Cruises and STX France shipyard, an 875 ton block was lifted into the air and a coin was placed on the dock before lowering the metal section into position. Now the vessel will begin to take shape as additional blocks can be joined to the newly-laid foundation...