There was recently a rather large dust up when it was disclosed that a major cruise line had given away some free cruises to a core group of its fans who posted regularly on a large cruise community site.  There were many cries of “foul” and “reverse censorship”.  While this may have been blown a bit out of proportion, it does open the door to a question lots of novice cruisers ask.  And the question is “Should I trust the reviews I read on sites like Cruise Critic?”  The answer is Yes and No. Why the ambiguity?  Because the most...

If you don’t know a USB device from a motherboard and are otherwise “electronically challenged”, then this news from Crystal Cruises will be welcomed.   The cruise line has just announced that they are placing on-board technical concierges to assist guests with all types of personal electronics from iPods and iPhones to Blackberrys and plain old laptops.  The concierges will provide consultation at no charge to anyone onboard. They'll be located in the ships' computer centers, where guests can check e-mail and use the Internet, beginning in April aboard Cry...

Norwegian Cruise Line posted some really incredible pictures of the new bow for the Norwegian Epic being lowered and welded into place. The ship is being constructed at the STX Europe shipyard in St. Nazaire, France, It is amazing how much that one section visually transforms the project into a unique ship. Here is a link to the Norwegian Facebook page with the photos. You can also check out our Facebook page while you're there. It is packed with cruise deals, blog updates, a user cruise discussion board, links, and cruise photos and videos. Source: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/notes....

Cruise pricing in general this year has shown some of the lowest rates in a decade, which is no surprise given the economy. It also has to do with the fact that there are around 30 new ships entering the market in the next couple years and the lines have to fill them. The good news for the cruise lines is that they are still filling their ships to capacity by dropping the rates. They make most of their money in onboard revenue anyway and the most important thing to them is sailing full. They lower the rates when sales are slow and raise the rates when sales are good. Simple supply and deman...

There’s all sorts of hoopla about the gigantic cruise ships that are being introduced over the next 18 months or so, but what about their smaller cousins in the deluxe and luxury sectors?  It seems that growth spurts are not confined to the mega liners.  Even the luxury ships are getting a little bigger as they strive for economies of scale.  For example, although three times the size of her smaller 10,000-ton sister ships, Seabourn Pride, Spirit and Legend,  the Seabourn Odyssey will carry just over twice as many guests and boast the same ratio of hospitality st...

Carnival Cruise Lines has launched “Your Choice Dining” which provides a selection of three different dinner seating options for guests aboard the line’s 22-ship fleet. In addition to Early or Late assigned seating, the cruise line is rolling out “Your Time” open seating to accommodate individual guest preferences. Also, under the new Your Choice Dining program, dining assignments will be confirmed at the time of booking Your Time open seating, currently available on five ships, will be implemented one vessel at a time over the next several months as modificat...

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) today revealed another industry first to debut on its next generation of Freestyle Cruising ship, Norwegian Epic, which will include an expansive Aqua Park with the only tube slide and largest bowl slide at sea -- The Epic Plunge. The line also unveiled seven decks of Freestyle Family Fun with highlights including a 33-foot high, 64-foot wide extreme rock climbing wall and the first ever rappelling wall at sea; the most bowling lanes at sea with six in two venues; a mixed-use sports deck with the ability for guests to engage in eight different athletic activities...

Ask anyone who has been around the cruise business for several years about the low prices being promoted right now.  They will all probably agree that we are seeing some of the lowest prices ever for some destinations that previously commanded premium pricing.  Take Alaska for example.  This week NCL is offered cruises during a one day sale to Alaska for as low as $379.  And Celebrity followed suit with Alaska voyages starting from $429.  Perhaps the most enticing deal is a Celebrity CruiseTour – cruise plus land at only $989. Europe has also been on &ldqu...