Would You Book This ‘Bad Balcony,’ Take 3?

As noted in previous “bad balcony” posts, there’s no such thing as a truly awful verandah — though some are definitely worse than others. On a blustery Atlantic crossing on HAL‘s Maasdam, there was nothing physically wrong with our balcony, but the gale force winds made it impossible to go outside. I’m just not a [...]

Six Months After: Where Has Costa Concordia Taken Us?

This July day, which eerily enough is also Friday the 13th, marks six months — we hesitate to use the word anniversary, which typically is a more joyful occasion — since Costa Concordia capsized off Italy’s island of Giglio. If anyone really thought that the tragedy would have receded in our minds after a half [...]

In a Rush? This Passport Mistake Could Cost You

One oft-forgotten rule of international travel is that many countries won’t allow you to enter if your passport’s expiration date is less than six months away. It certainly was a rule that I forgot about until I was reminded by a cruise line that my European voyage next month would be null and void if [...]

Would You Book This ‘Bad Balcony?’

I’ve long subscribed to the sentiment that there’s no such thing as a bad cruise ship balcony — but my opinion might be changing. Onboard the brand-new MSC Divina in a forward-facing balcony cabin, you understand the need for the pictured wall of windows: It’s to protect occupants from the blustery winds that front-of-ship cabins [...]

Is MSC the New Norwegian?

Over on Facebook and Twitter, we had some fun discussions about MSC Cruises and its newest ship, Divina, which departed from the shipyard at St. Nazaire, France, on Saturday. One Cruise Critic poster called the Switzerland-based MSC the Carnival of Europe. It’s not. Costa, which is actually owned by Carnival Corp., gets that nod; it [...]

Live From Riviera: Does the Godmother Fit the Ship?

In Barcelona, I’m onboard the 66,084-ton, 1,250-passenger Riviera, the newest ship from luxury-mainstream straddlers Oceania Cruises. In preparation for Friday’s christening ceremony, our dock is literally ringing with the sounds of hammers and chisels as workers install stages, lighting towers and a massive flat-screen television to create a mini-arena. No doubt the star of tomorrow’s [...]

Where Are We Now: European River Edition

It’s the beginning of tulip season here and our port of call today is a town that is also a name of a cruise ship. Oddly, its second most popular tourist activity, according to TripAdvisor, is having your photo taken in native costume. Where are we? The first correct response – city and country both [...]

The Viking Invasion: 6 Riverboats Take Shape

For Viking River Cruises‘ new 190-passenger Longships, what a difference a day (week, month) makes. Intriguingly, Viking, which will ultimately build a dozen boats on the innovative Longship platform, is in the process of building six at once! During a visit to Amsterdam this week, we’re here to celebrate the launch of the first two [...]