I remember my husband and I being aboard the Ocean Princess back in 2012 and watching a preview of the soon to premier Royal Princess. The new design looked so beautiful, with her large open atrium and understated elegance, and I knew it wouldn’t be long until we would sail this new class of Princess ship. However, it wasn’t until sister ship Regal Princess entered the picture a few years later that we were finally able to consider a cruise aboard the biggest ship in the Princess fleet. When I s
Did you know? Repositioning cruises are a unique and affordable way to vacation and experience a number of ports around the world!
Low prices, lots of relaxing sea days and interesting itineraries make a repositioning cruise an attractive vacation option. Most often taking place during the shoulder seasons of fall and spring, this interesting cruise option allows you to sail to unusual and off-the-beaten track locations when a cruise ship relocates to another region for the new season.
One of the most confusing things for travelers when booking flights are the names on the reservation. As we all know - or should know, especially if booking our own flights - airline reservations require names to exactly match those on the guest’s passport or ID. But what about middle names? According to theTSA and Homeland Security travel requirements, middle names are not required, even if the middle name is spelled out on the passenger’s passport or traveling ID. In fact, by omitting the mid
As of October 2, 2018, Norwegian has released the new base price of their Unlimited beverage package to USD 99.00 per person per day! The beverage package on Norwegian includes soft drinks, beers, spirits, cocktails, wines by the glass and bottled or draft beer up to and including USD 15 during your entire cruise. Bottled water is NOT included in this package. Now in addition to the USD 99.00 per person per day, a 20% gratuity surcharge will be added to your package.
Norwegian offers a prom
Cruise Ship Crayz is sailing onboard the Harmony of the Seas in 8 days, and it will be our largest live onboard experience broadcast EVER! Click below to learn more about how you can follow our journey and discover why an Oasis-class ship should be your next cruise!
Discover Back to ROYALITY
While aboard the Norwegian Epic a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes when a guest angrily complained to the lido bartender about the lack of a drinking straw for the frozen concoction she was holding. In the scheme of things, a plastic straw seems like a non issue, really, but it has become a hot topic since Norwegian did away with them as a step in an environmentally-friendly direction. The new line, Virgin Cruises, has similarly announced a similar ban on straws as well as other g
I was cleaning out some old clothes the other day and came across a box of T-shirts, purchased from various past cruises and land trips at a time in my life when I liked wearing T-shirts. Most in the pile were too small and never (or hardly) worn, and should have gone out to the donation collection a long time ago. This re-discovery got me to thinking about small regrets about my vacations past.
By regrets, I don’t mean missed flights, excursions gone wrong or hotels from hell, but those me
How I love this quote:
"Travel is like a giant blank canvas, and the painting on the canvas is only limited by one’s imagination." – Ross Morley
When I was in the planning stages of my first cruise back in 2001, I combed through every book, magazine, website, review, video and photo I could find in order to choose the perfect cruise. Through others' eyes, I learned of the best ships, the best cabins, the best food, and the best destinations. I listened while others touted their advice
[Updated 2018]
Now that summer has officially arrived, so has hurricane season in the Caribbean, lasting from June through November, affecting tourists and residents from the Southern Caribbean, and on north to the coast of Maine. Should that stop you from booking a Caribbean or New England cruise in late summer or fall? No, and here’s why.
Caribbean cruise rates are never better than they are in fall, especially from late August through mid-December. Crowds diminish, the kids are back
Fun on board the P&O Australia ships.
Even on the smaller ships they have been able to utilize as much space as they can. Flying fox, rock climb, walk the plank, waterslides and so much more.
before i go on, i would love to know in the comments what you guys might have done on ships that you have been on that was fun!
I know that when I worked for Carnival they were starting to install a bunch of cool ropes courses, and Royal Caribbean has so many extra activities. I have nev
After 25 cruises it shocked me that I had not yet sailed onboard Norwegian Cruise Line and I knew I was way overdue to experience "Freestyle Cruising." Fast forward a few months, and I find myself on a train racing toward Grand Central Station to Board the Norwegian Escape to Bermuda! Perk number 1 of NCL departing out of Manhattan, it is the most convenient departure port for New Englanders that is a train, bus or car ride away. With the taxi, Uber and Lyft drop off directly in front of the te
This past weekend I got to go on another themed cruise.
This was called the BIG LAUGH COMEDY FESTIVAL. It was a 4 day cruise on the P&O Pacific Explorer from Sydney to Moreton Island (outside of Brisbane) and back. I have been on "comedy" cruises before. Typically its your normal 1 or 2 comedy shows and a couple little workshops, but this one was different. This really was like a festival. On the 2 sea days it was wall to wall comedians, 14 total, converting some of the rooms into comed
So the reason this title is "not Elvis" is because the real theme is "Tribute to the King"
This was a themed cruise I went on recently. Apparently the Presley Estate doesn't give out the rights to Elvis easily. Which I thought was funny because no matter how you wordplay it people are going to say Elvis. Check out the video and then come back to read more.
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=7nbcLL6xmY8
I got on this cruise in a weird way... I thought I was on to play,
I opened up my facebook and instagram to anyone with questions about ship life.
I got some great questions, and some silly questions, and of course questions that had nothing to do with ship life.
So I made this video to answer those questions including... "do they have a morgue?"
The biggest question of all is when people watch this video and they want to work on ships, I am a big fan of anyone wanting to work on ships because this has changed my life in so many amazing ways. So
I had the honor of being invited to the naming ceremony of the Carnival Horizon! Carnival Cruises newest ship is 133,500 GRT and holds 5,056 guests. She will sail from New York City to Bermuda and the Eastern Caribbean before repositioning to Miami, FL to sail Eastern, Western and Southern Caribbean.
SMLXL
You think you know Carnival? Think again! Once you step onboard you will think to yourself "Wait, this is a Carnival ship?" The Carnival Horizon is the new flagship of the fleet a
So there have been a lot of magical sail aways ports...
Venice, Antigua, Auckland, Messina, Athens, Singapore, and probably even more that I haven't done yet.
Today I wanted to talk about Sydney Australia. I have sailed away at this port over 30 times and it is always something amazing... Going under the Sydney Harbour bridge and passing the opera house. I posted a couple of cool video of the experience...
Before you take a look at those, I would just love to know which are your f
I had the good fortune to visit some great places and experience new activities while on a recent visit to Fort Lauderdale for an event hosted by the Florida Convention and Visitors Bureau. Many of us who live in colder climates come to Fort Lauderdale for its pristine beaches and charming intercostal waterways. In fact, we had the opportunity to view several beachfront hotel properties in town including Sonesta, the W, Westin and the B Ocean - all of which have their own identity, style and bud
So a lot of people wonder what happens behind the scenes on ships...
the next few blog posts will be dedicated to giving you some insight to behind the scenes....
First of all if you haven't seen any of my videos on youtube... check them out
So there are 5 things that musicians on ships typically do during the day...
SLEEP
NAP
SNOOZE
HIBERNATE
REST
Sensing a theme? Most musician find themselves staying out late at night, doing their
Since I started this blog back in 2011 working for Carnival Cruise Lines… I wanted to reflect a little about my time on ships. Although its only fair to say that over 8 years ago when I started ( Jan 2010 ) on the Carnival Freedom, I have actually only been on ships a total of 30 months ( 2 1/2 years) out of 8.
The other 5 1/2 years I have been traveling and visiting all of the people I met on ships and playing gigs to cover that cost. This was my new life… driving, staying with friends/fam
Working on P&O Australia recently I have been promoted to a new position. I have been classified as a "fly on" entertainer now, which means I come on for 1 or 2 cruises at a time to entertain the guests, and then I go home until my next short contract. It is a great position and gives me the ability to have more guest privileges. So I wanted to check out all of the restaurants on board and try the food out.
I made a video about it too.
FOOD ON SHIPS <- click to watch
A cruise with most or all of its stops spent in a new port each day can be a rewarding and enriching experience. It can also be an exhausting one. I love cruising Europe and being introduced to new scenery and cultures, but I also like my moments to kick back and relax. How does a cruiser enjoy a port-intensive cruise without burning out? Try one of these 5 remedies:
1. Instead of filling an entire day with a worldwind tour, focus on one or two particular attractions, or simply park yoursel
One of the favorite things about cruising is the ports you’ll visit, the sights you’ll see, and the new experiences you’ll gain. To access the ports and all the fun, your ship will either dock right there portside, where guests can walk right off the ship, or it will “tender” passengers to shore in small boats while the ship is anchored off shore. It’s important to know the difference so you can plan ahead, especially if you have something special planned in port.
Going ashore from the Doc
It's Friday - my day off, meaning that I have three full days before the hubby and I fly to Ft. Lauderdale for a CruiseCrazies group cruise leaving for Panama on Tuesday. My packing/to-do list is printed, waiting for items to check off. However, in typical fashion, I am suffering from packing paralysis. I have a lot of loose ends to tie up, laundry to do, and bags to pack, and instead of starting this process, here I sit at the computer writing about it. My middle name begins with "P" - really.
