Bermuda, Booze, Horizon: Three ingredients to a killer cocktail
The Monthly Mantra Hitting the bottle … Hitting the bottle … Hitting the bottle … People cruise for all sorts of reasons: to visit exotic ports of call, to relax poolside, to enjoy the fine dining and to meet new friends. I, meanwhile, cruised to Bermuda aboard Carnival Horizon last week to pi
Mmm Mmm Marina!
As a first-time visitor to French Polynesia aboard the 1,258-passenger Oceania Marina, I must admit that culinary pursuits were the last thing on my mind. I’d found an idyllic sun-drenched paradise here with a sparkling sea in a million shades of turquoise, overwater bungalows bordering emerald la
Exploring Carnival Horizon
The Monthly Mantra Just a Tease … Just a Tease … Just a Tease … It’s not possible to do everything there is to do aboard Carnival Horizon in 18 hours … I really tried. On May 23rd, I found myself strolling up the gangway of the newest member of Carnival’s fleet. That’s the good [&helli
Isn’t it good? Norwegian Bliss!
The Monthly Mantra Yeah Yeah Yeah … Yeah Yeah Yeah … Yeah Yeah Yeah …. If you ask people which period of history they would have loved to experience, chances are you’ll get some highfalutin responses: The time of Christ, the Renaissance, the Middle Ages. Not me. If I could travel back in his
Carnival Salutes Military Couples with “Day Date” of Fun!
Cruise News – May 1, 2018 Carnival Cruise Line, which carries more active and retired military personnel than any other cruise operator, joined forces with Operation Homefront Sunday, April 29, 2018, to host a “day date” event for 100 military couples aboard Carnival Miracle at Port Tampa
In Brief: Cruise ship in D.C., Viking boosts Picasso, and more…
Cruise News – Apr. 27, 2018 For the first time since the 1950s, a cruise ship was docked at The Wharf on D.C.’s Southwest Waterfront last Sunday. American Cruise Lines’ American Constitution called at the port during her inaugural cruise, a 10-night Chesapeake Bay sailing that was also the lin
Crystal Reveals Most Spacious Suites In Expedition Cruising
Cruise News – Apr. 25, 2018 If you think of expedition cruising is “roughing it,” you haven’t been following the development of Crystal Endeavor, Crystal Cruises’ 19,800 grt, 200-guest expedition yacht slated to debut in 2020. And today, Crystal wowed us with the first glimpse of the luxur
ROCK & ROYAL: Trio of Music Cruises on Royal Caribbean
Rock Music Cruises – Cruise News – Apr. 24, 2018 Classic rock? Prog rock? Heavy metal? Whatever floats your boat, On the Blue is singing your tune with a 2019 rock music cruise filled with round-the-clock performances by music legends and tons of artist events and meet and greets. FOR TH
My Head’s in the (Sea) Clouds
The Monthly Mantra My Head’s in a Sea Cloud…My Head’s in a Sea Cloud…My Head’s in a Sea Cloud… A pair of Christian Louboutin red-soled stilettos A quilted black leather CHANEL drawstring hobo with chain straps A sailing with the uber-exclusive Sea Cloud Cruises Those are really the only
A Little Luxury Becomes Me
There may be higher-level accommodations aboard Oceania Cruises’ Marina but my way-more-affordable Concierge-Class stateroom and all its perks knocked my socks — or should I say flip-flops — off during my amazing 12-day French Polynesia sailing. Let’s begin with my Marina cabin itself:
Theme Cruise: Grape Expectations
By Judi Cuervo It’s 10:30 a.m. and I’m at the 20-acre Mt. Hood Winery, Oregon’s 2016 Winery of the Year. In the glass before me is a gold medal–winning 2015 Estate Pinot Noir that bears aromas of ripe cherry, pomegranate, and raspberry accented by subtle cedar overtones. I swirl. I sniff. I
Total Eclipse: Celebrity Cruises is the perfect backdrop for a music cruise.
The Monthly Mantra I loved the Eclipse! … I loved the Eclipse! … I loved the Eclipse! And I’m not talking about that thing last August where, in New York at least, we all piled out of our office buildings with silly glasses on to watch something that turned out to look like nothing mor
Cruising Then and Now
Monday Mantra I want to cruise TODAY…I want to cruise TODAY…I want to cruise TODAY… I’m an old-fashioned kind of girl. There’s not a whole lot in today’s world that I consider superior to what existed 35 years ago. Except for the ATM Machine. And cruising. Memories of my early sailings a
Wear-everrr! Why does cruising bring out our inner fashion plate?
Monday Mantra All decked out…All decked out…All decked out… Wear-everrr! Why does cruising bring out our inner fashion plate? Confession #1: Sometimes I go to work wearing clothes that are so wrinkled they look like I just grabbed them out of my laundry bag. Confession #2: I did just grab them
Glorious Food – Singing the Praises of Cruise Cuisine
Singing the praises of cruise cuisine I’m hungry for a cruise…I’m hungry for a cruise…I’m hungry for a cruise… One of the most vivid memories I have of my first cruise is a towering Statue of Liberty carved out of butter. She stood majestically at the foot of Carnival Mardi Gras’ midni
The 2017 Judi’s Choice Awards
Monthly Mantra Judi’s Choice Awards…Judi’s Choice Awards…Judi’s Choice Awards… And the Winners Are! Cruising has plenty of biggest, first, and most wonderful accomplishments. The Judi’s Choice Awards recognize the best of the rest. Best cuisine. Best service. Best entertainment. Yawn.
Go Small – The big advantages to small-ship cruising with UnCruise Adventures
The Monthly Mantra A Whole Lot of Un … A Whole Lot of Un … A Whole Lot of Un … Go Small The big advantages to small-ship cruising “No key card?? No big metal key attached to a 6-inch slab of plastic?? No little gizmo that electronically opens my cabin door as I approach […]
Popular On-Air Personality Elvis Duran Named Godfather for Norwegian Bliss
Popular On-Air Personality Elvis Duran Named Godfather for Norwegian Bliss Cruise News – Nov. 29, 2017 Norwegian Cruise Line has announced that Elvis Duran, nationally syndicated radio and digital personality and on-air host of iHeartMedia’s top rated, “Elvis Duran and the Morning Show”
A Trio of Exciting Cruise Soirées
Monthly Mantra I Love New York…I Love New York…I Love New York… A Trio of Exciting Cruise Soirées There’s been a flurry of New York–based cruise events lately, and since I’m here in the Big Apple, and the fine folks of Florida-based Porthole Cruise Magazine are not, I’m often their gi
My Cruise Calling … or Not
Monthly Mantra The Not-So-Specialist…The Not-So-Specialist…The Not-So-Specialist… My Cruise Calling … or Not In 2008, I, along with many workers in the United States, found myself unemployed. In my case, it was after nearly 30 years in the corporate publishing world, where I watched as human
