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Komodo Is the Cruise Stop People Only Half Believe Is Real
There is a lizard the size of a golf cart living on an island in Indonesia. Your cruise ship can take you to see it. Most people never book the sailing that gets them there. Komodo is a national park in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago, tucked between the islands of Sumbawa and Flores.…
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The Cruise Date That Matters More Than Sailing Day
There is a date on your cruise booking that most people never look at. It is not the sailing date. It is the final payment date. Miss it and your reservation can be cancelled outright. Here is how it works. You book with a deposit. The rest of the fare comes due weeks before you…
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When a Cruise Line Sells a Ship Nobody Tells You What It Means
A cruise line selling one of its ships sounds like bad news. Most of the time it is not. Ships get sold constantly. A line trades an older vessel to a smaller operator, pockets the cash, and puts the money toward a newer ship. This is normal fleet housekeeping. It is not a distress signal.…
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The Guarantee Cabin Is a Bet and the House Usually Wins
You can book a cruise cabin without knowing which cabin you get. The cruise line picks it for you later. This is called a guarantee, and people book them all the time without understanding the deal. Here is how it actually works. You pick a category, say a balcony. The line promises you that category…
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The Ship Lecture Program Is the Ticket You Already Paid For
Somewhere on your ship, a person who has climbed Everest is talking to a half empty room. Down the hall, the trivia game is packed. This happens on almost every sailing. Most cruise lines run an enrichment program. It is guest speakers, lectures, and talks, and it is included in your fare. You are already…
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Small Ship Cruising Is the One Most People Never Try
The ship you sail on decides where you can go. A big ship cannot fit into a small harbor. A small ship can dock in the town square and let you walk off into the middle of it. That is the whole pitch for small ship cruising. Fewer people, smaller ports, and time to actually…
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Cunard Queen Anne Is a Different Kind of Big Ship
Cunard added a new ship in 2024 for the first time in more than a decade. It is called Queen Anne. She is the fourth ship in the fleet, and she carries about 3,000 guests. That number matters. Queen Anne is not small. She is bigger than her sisters Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth by…
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Cartagena Is the Caribbean Port People Treat as a Layover
Most people think the Caribbean is islands. Cartagena is not an island. It is a walled colonial city on the coast of Colombia, and it is one of the best ports in the region. The old town is the reason to go. You can walk for hours inside the walls, wander past the forts, and…
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Pack a Carry On for the First Day or Regret It by Lunch
Here is the thing nobody tells first time cruisers. When you hand your suitcase to the porter at the terminal, you might not see it again for six hours. Your checked luggage gets tagged and sent through the ship. It shows up outside your cabin sometime that afternoon or evening. Your cabin itself may not…
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What a Dry Dock Actually Does to Your Cruise
Every cruise ship gets pulled out of the water on a schedule. It goes into what the industry calls dry dock. The ship stops carrying passengers for a few weeks and gets worked on. Most people never think about this until it lands on their sailing. Then they get an email that their cruise was…