CRUISE RECIPE: SeaDream Yacht Club’s Cream of Pumpkin Soup
Hungry to Sail Again Like everyone else, I’m just about up to HERE with lockdown. I want to whip off my mask, plan my next cruise, meet up with friends, go to the gym, the hairstylist, concerts and sporting events and stop worrying where my next roll of toilet paper will come from. But who [
Carnival Cruise Line Releases Plan To “Phase-In” Service
In a press release this morning, Carnival Cruise Line released their plan to phase-in cruising operations beginning on August 1, 2020. This is the first concrete plan we’ve heard from any cruise line for a return to service. The line also acknowledged that all cruises until that time would be
Cruise Stoppage Costs Alaska $800 Million
The economic toll of COVID 19 on the cruise industry is devastating, but the people of Alaska may be the biggest losers in the whole ordeal. Mike Tibbles, a Cruise Lines International Association Alaska representative, spoke to the Alaska Board of Marine Pilots this week and explained that with the
Choose Your Cruise – May 1, 2020
Most of the time, mayday on a cruise ship is a bad thing, but not on May 1st! Today, we’ve got some pretty cool cruises from three of our favorite cruise lines to celebrate May Day 2020. Choose which cruise you’d take and let us know in the comments below! Cruise A This cruise take
CRUISE RECIPE: Princess Cruises’ Linguini Al Pesto Alla Moda Ligure
Hungry to Sail Again Admit it. After a few nights of filet of beef Wellington, butter-dipped lobster tail, foie gras and maybe even caviar, we start to yearn for a steaming bowl of pasta. And if you’re aboard Princess Cruises, you’re in luck! In Princess Cruises’ Linguini al Pesto Alla M
Could Cruise Lines Make Passengers Wear Masks?
We’re starting to see what travel in a post-Coronavirus world will look like and for JetBlue passengers, that means masks are mandatory for all passengers beginning May 4th. In a press release, JetBlue became the first airline in America to institute a policy requiring face coverings, but chances
No Holding Back Cruise Industry Built on Exceeding Expectations
While the dark cloud of the health pandemic hovers above each of us, the cruise industry looks optimistically into the future. In spite of a doom and gloom portrayal in the media, the facts of the past point to a resurgence of enthusiasm for cruising. The PortMiami alone saw an all time high o
Happy Anniversary, HAL!
Social distancing is making celebrating a little different these days, but we wanted to give a big Happy Birthday shout out to Holland America Line, who turned 147 years old over the weekend! Way back in 1873, the Netherlands-American Steamship Company started sailing goods and people from the Nethe
CRUISE RECIPE: Norwegian Cruise Line Pretzel Rolls
Hungry to Sail Again After this pandemic, I know I’ll never take the following things for granted: Restaurants, movie theaters, bookstores, concerts, medical professionals, bars, hairstylists, eyebrow waxers, toilet paper …and Norwegian’s pretzel rolls. Any other year, I’d either be cr
Carnival Extends Pause on Operations Once More
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a 100 day extension on the no-sail order from earlier in March. The order did leave some wiggle room for a return to cruising before the 100 day period, but as we commented last week, it was highly unlikely that the conditions for a re
CRUISE RECIPE: Viking’s Pastel de Nata
Hungry to Sail Again Today, I’m whipping up a sweet reminder of my glorious Viking Helgrim cruise down Portugal’s Douro River last summer. And I have all the ingredients on hand! The 262-foot, 106-passenger Viking Helgrim, is a baby longship, custom-built to navigate the short and narrow l
CDC Issues Extension On No-Sail Order
In an order filed to the Federal Registry yesterday, the CDC shut down any hope that the cruise industry would return soon, extending the no-sail order for another 100 days. The order also outlines other measures cruise lines must comply with regarding anyone currently on board their ships to keep t
CRUISE RECIPE: Lobster Pad Thai by Oceania Cruises
Hungry to Sail Again We all love Norma and Dave, the Australian couple who were content to re-create their cancelled cruise by donning bathrobes, toasting each other and watching videos of a rolling blue ocean on their living room TV. Well, sorry, Norma and Dave, but I’m hu
Tourism Outlook: US Virgin Islands Check In
Continuing our series of interviews around the Caribbean, today we interviewed Joseph Boschulte Commissioner of Tourism for the U.S. Virgin Islands about COVID 19 and what life is like on the islands. The Governor of USVI issued a state of emergency for 30 days around the time cruise ships stop
Cruise Passengers Barred From Commercial Flights
New protocols instituted by the Trump Administration and the Centers for Disease Control restrict cruise ship passengers from flying commercial airlines. Passengers or crew getting off cruise ships looking for a way home can still fly, but they need their cruise line to charter a plane or shell out
Choose Your Cruise – April 3, 2020
Last week, we debuted a new column called Choose Your Cruise, where cruisers are faced with three different itineraries all over the world and asked to choose which they would most like to book. We chose three awesome cruises last week, one to Alaska, one to the Bahamas and a cruise around the Medit
Coast Guard Tells Cruise Lines to Arrange Private MEDEVAC
In a Marine Safety Bulletin sent by the U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday, Rear Admiral E.C. Jones of the 7th District told cruise ships contacting Miami for assistance with sick passengers that they’re more or less on their own. The increased demand for medical evacuations via helicopter (MEDEVAC) has c
45 Years at Sea! An Interview with Cruise Director Gary Hunter
For the past month, we’ve been sharing some of our favorite cruise memories from our readers and from the Porthole team. When Porthole Cruise Magazine Editor-in-Chief Bill Panoff was working on board Carnival ships in the 1970’s, one of his best friends on board was entertainer Gary Hunter.
Zuiderdam Crew Jam Out To Their Own Radio Station
Anyone looking west from the beaches of Great Harbour Cay today might see something unusual; a gathering of cruise ships. In fact, eight ships from three different cruise lines have chosen to wait out the cruise delay in the calm, Bahamian waters, including Holland America Line Zuiderdam. Sinc
Cruise Memories with Bill Panoff: The Tom Jones Years
Welcome to the second installment of cruise memories with Bill Panoff! Yesterday, we asked Bill about his first memories of cruising on board TSS Carnivale where he worked as a magician. One of the events on board the ship was a talent contest and that’s when Bill decided to try his hand
