Singer-songwriters at sea on Cayamo cruises

Cayamo concerts are different in several ways. They start on time. They last only an hour. And the speakers hanging from the ceiling tend to sway. Sometimes the musicians do, too. “Usually I go where I want on stage,” John Prine said. “But here I go where the ship takes me.” Cayamo is an annual [...]

Norwegian Epic full of Vegas-style entertainment

It’s not the largest cruise ship in the world, but the newly launched Norwegian Epic, making its maiden port call to Miami this week, has plenty of firsts and superlatives to brag about. It’s the first ship to offer studios for single passengers. It has the largest spa on any cruise ship. And its entertainment [...]

Crazy cruise: 7 absurdities of the seas

There’s something for everyone on a cruise. And I don’t mean that the same way your travel agent or cruise line does. Whether it’s a silly upsell, like asking you to pay extra for fine dining on your “all-inclusive” vacation, or dumb laws that prevent you from boarding or disembarking your vessel, you won’t fail [...]

Mixed outlook for vacation prices

There’s good news and bad news for Americans itching for a change of scenery in 2010. Travelers tripped up by the recession are getting back in the game, and prices reflect their growing appetite in key areas. Still, rising prices for airfares and cruises probably won’t go as high as they were before the economic [...]

CDC makes no-sail recommendation for cruise ship

The Centers for Disease Control is making a no-sail recommendation for at least four full days for the Celebrity Mercury cruise ship to investigate recurring outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness, a CDC spokesman said Monday. “The CDC and the cruise line corporate staff have not yet determined why the controls that they were following have not [...]

Virus outbreaks on cruise ships mirror trend on shore

Suffering a bout of gastrointestinal illness in a cramped cruise ship cabin ranks pretty high on the scale of vacation nightmares. And given the bug going around this year, illness at sea is likely to spike. Last week, Celebrity Cruises’ Mercury ship returned to port in Charleston, South Carolina, from a sailing during which more [...]

4 secrets for upgrading your next vacation travel

Think this is bad? It could get worse. Much worse. Travel is still at the beginning of its long descent into mediocrity. Airlines seem to invent new surcharges and passenger-hostile rules every week. Hotels aren’t far behind. Just the mention of the word “customer service” in the back office can be enough to evoke cackles [...]