Spirited Victory for Holland America Line | Cruise News – Mar. 27, 2015
Spirited Victory for Holland America Line Cruise News – Mar. 27, 2015 The clash of the cruise cocktails has been decided. The winner of the Bacardi Cruise Competition 2015 is Gerome Firmalo, bartender aboard ms Oosterdam and creator of the Passion Blossom 13 – a drink that defeated more than 2,5
Cruise Exec Spotlight: Jan Swartz
The Princess and the Sea Jan Swartz is not your typical soccer mom. Or is she? By Fran Golden Meet Jan Swartz, president of Los Angeles–based Princess Cruises, Harvard MBA, and… soccer mom. At work, she runs a cruise line with 18 ships and more than 25,000 employees around the world. At home, sh
Holland America Line introduces new eats – Cruise News — Feb. 13, 2015
Holland America Line introduces new eats Cruise News — Feb. 13, 2015 When ms Koningsdam joins the Holland America Line fleet in February 2016, the ship will debut a new specialty restaurant, a beefed-up Culinary Arts Center program, and other upgrades geared toward foodie passengers. The new resta
Top cruise cocktail competition heats up – Cruise News – Feb. 6, 2015
Top cruise cocktail competition heats up Cruise News – Feb. 6, 2015 With more than 2,500 entries received, it’s a great achievement in itself to be selected as one of just five finalists for the 2015 Bacardi Cruise Competition Bartender of the Year. For the 10th annual competition, for which Por
More Alaska coming aboard Princess – Cruise News – Jan. 16, 2015
More Alaska coming aboard Princess Cruise News – Jan. 16, 2015 When the Alaska cruise season gets under way in May, Princess Cruises passengers will find themselves sampling Alaskan delicacies and mingling with locals including members of the daring crew of the popular Discovery channel TV show Th
Porthole Cruise News Briefs – Jan. 16, 2015
Porthole Cruise News Briefs – Jan. 16, 2015 Kathie Lee Gifford is once again affiliated with Carnival Cruise Line, but this time not as a spokesperson, but as a purveyor. Her California-estate-grown GIFFT wine is now available fleetwide on Carnival ships. Gifford surprised guests aboard Car
Five Faves: Cruise Ship Re-Creations
Porthole’s Five Faves Cruise Ship Re-Creations Shipyards will probably continue to use steel and teak wood, but not all cruise-ship builders fall back on the standbys. The intricately gorgeous design of a cruise ship has been a muse for decades, inspiring people to explore the globe with iconic tr
Cruise Ship Review: Tauck Inspire
Tauck Inspire, the newest class of ships from Tauck, raises the bar in river cruising. By John and Sandra Nowlan As ocean cruise ships get bigger and bolder, various lines try to outdo each other with innovations such as giant atriums, poolside movie screens, skating rinks, and bumper cars. River cr
Escape into the Holiday Spirit. Cruising the Danube can re-awaken your childlike joy of the season.
Monday Mantra DECK the halls…DECK the halls…DECK the halls… Escape into the Holiday Spirit Cruising the Danube can reawaken your childlike joy of the season. They say Christmas is a magical time filled with family, friends, warmth, and wonder. And it certainly is, if you’re abo
Amber Cove Welcomes Carnival Next Fall – Cruise News – Dec. 19, 2014
Amber Cove Welcomes Carnival Next Fall Cruise News – Dec. 19, 2014 Cruisers will be able to visit the new destination of Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic beginning next October. The first ship to call at the North Coast port will be Carnival Victory, which arrives on October 6, Carnival offici
Five Faves: Caribbean Bars
Five Faves Caribbean Cravings Cruise up to these tropical hotspots to really get into the spirit of the islands. You don’t have to do an excursion in every cruise port you go to. In fact, I personally sign on for only one or two excursions per cruise. The rest of the time, I create my […]
Five Faves: Rums of the Caribbean
Five Faves Rums of the Caribbean A guided tour through the finest spirits of the islands. If I say the words “cruise vacation” to you, chances are you immediately get a picture in your mind that has three things in it — a ship railing, an endless blue horizon, and someone sitting in the sun [&
10 Reasons to Cruise the Danube
River Rendezvous 10 Reasons to Cruise the Danube By Bill Panoff I’ve been cruising for 35 years. I’ve sailed on hundreds of today’s big, bigger, and biggest megaships plying the world’s oceans. But, believe it or not, I had yet to sail on a river ship. So when the opportunity arose to sail
Oasis of the Seas Gets Dynamic Dining – Cruise News, Oct. 17, 2014
Cruise News – Oct. 17, 2014 Oasis of the Seas Gets Dynamic Dining The world’s largest cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, has emerged from a two-week dry dock in Rotterdam with a bevy of new amenities … including in the culinary realm. As on the soon-to-debut Quantum of the Seas, Oasis of
Deals of the Week: CLIA Cruise Week Brings Savings…and more – Cruise News, Oct. 3, 2014
Deals of the Week: CLIA Cruise Week Brings Savings Cruise News – Oct. 3, 2014 [sf_iconbox image=”ss-star” character=”” type=”left-icon-alt” title=”Porthole’s Featured Cruise Deals of the Week!” animation=”fade-in” animation_delay=”
What’s in the Blue Lagoon? … and more – Cruise News, Sept. 19, 2014
What’s in the Blue Lagoon? Cruise News – Sept. 19, 2014 Porthole is in Reykjavik this week, attending the Society of American Travel Writers annual conference. So we took the opportunity to visit the Blue Lagoon, Iceland’s manmade, geothermal spa. While we feared it might be overly tourist
Five Faves: Culinary Keepsakes – dining experiences at sea
Porthole’s Five Faves Culinary Keepsakes Five favorite dining experiences at sea Ask any cruiser and chances are they will admit that food is key to their overall shipboard experience. While there’s no doubt that today’s cruise ships serve cuisine that rivals top-notch, land-based restaurants
Cruise News — August 29, 2014 – Construction begins on new Holland America Line ship
Cruise News — August 29, 2014 Construction begins on new Holland America Line ship No name yet, but construction on the first Holland America Line ship since 2010’s Nieuw Amsterdam is underway at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard in Italy — the first 680-ton block lowered by crane into
Cruise News – August 22, 2014
Cruise News – August 22, 2014 Carnival Cruise Lines beefs up Baltimore options Carnival Cruise Lines will, for the first time, operate a one-of-a-kind series of 10- to 14-day Caribbean cruises from Baltimore on Carnival Pride. The line is also adding a pair of 5-day Bermuda, 6-day Bahamas
Cruise News – July 25, 2014
Cruise News – July 25, 2014 Norwegian Updates Cuisine With cruise passengers increasingly moving into the “foodie” category, Norwegian Cruise Line is updating its culinary offerings—part of its NEXT upgrade program. Among the changes: Gone is the old-fashioned chocolate buffet, n
