The icy breath of winter followed me all the way to Cuba. I have been heading south from Ohio since Jan. 2, and finally, yesterday afternoon, off Cuba’s northern coast, I found the 60s, full of wind and churning seas. The air contained enough warmth that I sat outside, wrapped in a blanket, and gave thanks.…
Midnight at the Oasis, send your camel to bed. Shadows painting our faces, traces of romance in our heads. Heaven's holding a half moon, shining just for us. Let's slip off to a sand dune, real soon, kick up a little dust. Or so I was singing (thank you writer David Nichtern), long about midnight,…
The $1.4 billion megaship–the largest passenger ship ever made, with room for 6,296 guests–is nearly half again as big as the last biggest cruise ship, RCL's Freedom of the Seas. She's as big as a supertanker or a container ship. Flatten the deck and you could launch F-18s off it. If you were sitting on…
By now, everybody knows her name. Thanks to morning television, and twitters and blogs by the hundreds, Royal Caribbean's new giant of the seas is the talk of the vacation world — a floating resort city, the largest cruise ship ever built, with beds for more than 6,000 passengers. Today, she will be named officially Oasis of the Seas,…
As airline prices, delays and travel hassles increase, cruise lines are adding new home ports so passengers can drive to their voyage instead of flying. This winter (2009-2010), ships will be operating regularly, snow storms and all, from New York and Baltimore, on Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise lines. Even though this means…
One of this year’s sleekest new cruise ships stakes its reputation on style and food. Celebrity Equinox, second of five new ships planned by Celebrity Cruises, poses the question: Can a big ship provide service and dining that is equal to a vacation on land? So far, the answer is yes. Reviews have been solidly…
Prices have fallen this year on most cruises to the Caribbean, but one ship — the new Oasis of the Seas — is raising rates, says Mike Driscoll, editor of Cruiseweek, a cruise industry newsletter. Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world — with 16 decks to carry at least 5,400…
After starring at an amateur talent show, Big Al Ernst has built a career as a cruise ship comedian on Carnival.
Best outdoor tables on the Carnival Fantasy, now out of drydock cruising from New Orleans