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What exactly is a group cruise? When I offer a group cruise to someone, I often get looks of puzzlement or replies like "I don't like to travel in herds" or "nope, don't like crowds of tourists". What many people - those who have never experienced group cruising - don't realize is that a "group" reservation doesn't mean that you have to follow one another around the entire trip as if you were attached at the hip. For some, the term ‘group’ conjures up images of eating every meal together, doing every excursion together and doing every onboard activity together. On the contrary, you are absolutely free to come and go as you please and are never required to follow the crowd anywhere, if you choose not to. However, many groups are formed by families, friends or communities with the intent of enjoying the experience together - and do enjoy the comraderie a group provides. But for those who don't necessarily like the idea of cruising as a posse, rest assured that the real reason you are choosing a group is to take advantage of the special amenities that come with it - onboard credit, gifts from your agent and other group perks. If you happen to enjoy the company of your fellow group mates, all the better! As an example - if you don't know - CruiseCrazies is organizing our 3rd annual group cruise for community members next summer: Caribbean Princess 10-day Canada/New England-August 9-19, 2019. As a member of our group, you are never required to participate in anything with the group - though we would love it if you would (it's kind of why we have a great community in the first place, right?). In fact, beyond one or two shore excursions and a cocktail hour, we don't plan anything as a group. We let the group - or individual members - decide what they want from their cruise, and how and with whom they want to spend it. So reserve that group cabin and enjoy the benefits and amenities you get. Invite your friends and family, and hang out together - or don't. No pressure. It's your cruise. It's your choice. Just relax, sit back and enjoy! For more information about our CruiseCrazies 2019 Summer Cruise, go to: Our Community Group: Reservation Link: https://7seajourneys.com/mbg/canada-and-new-england-summer-cruise-2019/

Just curious ... who likes to prepay their gratuities (service charges), and who prefers to wait and have them added later to your onboard account?

In attempt to keep the costs down for this cruise, we initially booked an inside cabin. However, the price dropped and we were able to upgrade to a standard balcony at no extra cost. I wondered, would a balcony even be usable on a cruise like this, one in which driving rain and wind kept everyone inside? First things first ... get the balcony door open. We pulled and yanked to no avail, but finally the door slid open so that we could barely see the skyline and Statue of Liberty through the mist. Come to find out, when we had trouble with the door later that evening, we were told by our very gracious cabin attendant, Grace, that the wind makes it hard to pull the door open, to lean into the door and then pull. Whew ... what a relief! I didn’t want to gaze at the scenery through a rain-slicked window! Once we looked around the cabin, I realized what I love about Princess staterooms - the fact that the space is much more functional and usable than the Norwegian cabins we’ve become accustomed to. I like having a desk more than a couch, for instance. The couch becomes a place to throw stuff, whereas a desk has drawers to hide things away. Love the Princess beds, as well, and their comfy beds are everything they advertise. The bathroom is compact but leaves enough room to move. The large flatscreen TV is mounted on the wall directly across from the bed, freeing up precious counter space and making TV viewing convenient without having to strain your neck. This ship is absolutely gorgeous, and even though the weather kept most people inside, it didn’t feel crowded. The decorating scheme is tasteful, done in muted colors, using lots of mirrors and creative lighting to make it look ever so elegant. Artwork throughout the ship is sophisticated, matching the elegant tone and design of the ship. The Atrium is absolutely stunning. A special mention goes to the Seawalk, a very cool walkway extending out from the upper decks over the ocean with views at your feet 15 decks below to the water. Pretty awesome, and not as scary as I thought it would be. We have recently learned, after many a cruise, to head to our muster station about 15 minutes before the required drill alarm is sounded. In this case, our muster station was the Concerto dining room, to which we leisurely made our way, and had our choice of seats. We have also discovered other like-minded seasoned passengers who do the same - we saw one couple playing cards to occupy their time. We had intended on stopping by Club 6 for the Elite cocktail party at 5:00 pm but found ourselves at the Wine Bar, instead, off the Atrium for sail away. The weather was too nasty for a proper deck party, so the festivities were moved inside. Being our first time in a wine bar, we decided to try a “flight”, which we learned was a set of three 2-ounce wine samples. Even though the menu showed 8 different groupings, strangely enough, only two were available. I chose the European, and David chose the Italian. We were soon joined by three other friendly people From Long Island, adding some great lively conversation to our wine sampling. Due to the storm, sail-away was delayed by about 90 minutes. By then, some of the mist had cleared, and we had a decent view of both the NYC skyline, Lady Liberty and the Norwegian Breakaway heading into port.

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 saw the Regal Princess was sailing a 5-night cruise to the Canadian Maritimes from New York in late October, I convinced my husband to juggle his schedule around in order to accommodate this short cruise, and it didn’t take much to convince my brother Norm and his wife, frequent cruise buddies, to join us! The big day was finally here. The only slight blip on the horizon was the forecast of a nor’easter heading our way, threatening our sailing. As a result, instead of the 4-hour drive from Rhode Island to Brooklyn on the morning of the cruise, we drove down the night before with a stay an hour away from the Red Hook port, in Stamford, CT. This was a good move, because it made for a much less stressful drive for my brother, and we arrived relaxed and ready to cruise! We arrived at the port at 11:00 am in pouring rain, where Norm dropped off us and our bags, and went to park the car. Being Princess Elite, I was able to escort us all through priority embarkation quick and easy, and we were on board and in our cabins by noon. One of those fabulous things I love about Princess ... the rooms are always ready after boarding. No need for schlepping your stuff around while occupying your time until rooms are ready. We dropped off our stuff, checked out the room (more about that later), admired the fog, rain and mist from the balcony (I think I spot the NYC skyline ever so slightly), and is that Lady Liberty peering at us through the haze?). In just a short time, we were off to explore the ship!

Great article Jan!

In our early years of cruising, it was the destination and price, but later, years after cruising on different ships it was the ship and the destination. Always more than just one thing though...price always comes into it also, but really do look at the ship today.

This is welcome news, and I hope Carnival will enforce its new policy. I occasionally still notice people defying rules and smoking on their balconies - not just Carnival, and they should be the first ones booted off the ship.