Norwegian Breakaway: First Impressions

So after an enormous buildup and endless reveals, Norwegian Breakaway is finally here. Norwegian Cruise Line‘s latest ship set sail from Rotterdam yesterday, making her way to Southampton, where she’ll stay for a couple of days before setting sail for New York Tuesday evening.

A Fitting End to a Fine Ship

I spent a night on SS Rotterdam last week as part of Holland America Line’s 140th anniversary celebrations, a wonderfully restored piece of history.

Quantum of the Seas: The Cruise Critic Members’ Verdict(s)

In the words of the late, great Oscar Wilde, “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about at all.” And if Royal Caribbean is using that as its yardstick, then it will be very happy with the number of comments about Quantum of the Seas (though perhaps not all the [...]

A Pleasant Breeze: Touring Carnival’s Newest Ship

The following piece was written by Adam Coulter, Cruise Critic U.K.‘s editor. Cruise Critic is in Miami for the biggest year’s biggest on-land shindig about at-sea travel – Cruise Shipping Miami (CSM). It’s a four-day event featuring meetings, press conferences, panel discussions, a massive tradeshow, more meetings and — perhaps most interestingly — ship visits.

Should a Cruise Line Tell Passengers Who Else is Sailing: Part 2

Live From Celebrity Reflection: First Impressions on Suites, ‘See-Through’ Showers and Cabin Stuffing

I’m onboard the 3,030-passenger Celebrity Reflection, the fifth and final ship in Celebrity Cruises‘ hugely successful Solstice class, for a pre-inaugural cruise along the coast of Holland. For me, Reflection marks the absolute high water mark in terms of design refinement. The idea being, take the best pieces of the previous four Solstice-class ships and [...]

Live From Celebrity Reflection: The End of an Era?

The 3,030-passenger Celebrity Reflection has generated the most new ship buzz we’ve seen in a while. And rightly so. The launch of Reflection marks the final stage in a five-ship journey for Celebrity Cruises which started with Celebrity Solstice in 2008.

My Date With a Royal Princess (Part II)

The last time I went on a shipyard visit was to see Seabourn’s final Odyssey-class ship, Seabourn Quest, in Genoa. Quest was about a month or so from sea trials, so largely complete. There were wires hanging from ceilings and a lot of men banging, polishing and finishing off things, but it was very clear [...]