Cruise Radio: Weekly Cruise News & Travel Tips

Princess Cruises today announced a first-of-its-kind cruise industry partnership with three-time Oscar winner and composer of Wicked, Pippin, and Godspell;  Stephen Schwartz . The cruise line's new relationship with such a major creative talent from Broadway and Hollywood includes a multi-year agreement to oversee the creative development of four new musicals to debut across the fleet over the nex...

On this episode, Ben Souza from CruiseFever drops by to talk about 16 cruise hacks that every cruise vacationer should know. Ben covers everything from onboard dining, before you cruise tips, drinking on your cruise, and excursions.  Cruise Guy stops by with Cruise News on Virgin Cruises lawsuit, Royal Caribbean's new ships Anthem of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas, Holland America's upcoming shi...

Is the journey about the final destination – or the actual journey itself? Carnival Cruise Line answers that question with the launch of a new cruise program that encompasses longer voyages with destination immersion. Senior vice president of itinerary planning, Terry Thornton is on the show to tell us all about Carnival Journeys. Matthew Clark and his family just returned from a seven-night Weste...

Listener Kabir just returned from a sailing aboard Norwegian Epic, taking him on a seven-night jaunt around the Western Caribbean. Kabir gives us a full Norwegian Epic review, including embarkation, the stateroom, dining options, entertainment, and shares his tips and secrets. Bill Panoff, president and CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based PPI Group, began his career as a cruise director and went into cru...

To welcome Carnival Freedom to Galveston, Texas on Valentine's Day, Carnival Cruise Line teamed up with Operation Homefront, a nonprofit organization that supports military families. During the event aboard the ship Carnival Cruise Line gave over 1,000 military members a free concert by country star Martina McBride, dinner in the main dining room, and a full evening of entertainment onboard the sh...

Ben Souza, from CruiseFever, just returned from a two-night Bahamas cruise aboard MSC Divina. On this cruise Ben got to take part in the MSC Cruises experience and share what it's like. In this episode, Ben does a bow to stern review of MSC Divina, including: food, entertainment, cabins, service, the ship, and Nassau, Bahamas. Stewart Chiron The Cruise Guy has Cruise News: Cunard ships meet in Lon...

Craig Storm and his wife just returned from a two-night cruise to nowhere, thanks to a 40th birthday gift from his parents. Being a first time cruiser, we ask Craig a lot of questions about his experience, if he had any preconceived notions about cruising the Norwegian Breakaway and the overall cruise experience. Craig goes into detail about the dining aboard Norwegian Breakaway, the food options,...

Don Bucolo and his wife just returned from Royal Caribbean's brand new Quantum of the Seas, based in Bayonne, NJ - for now. This cruise ship has it all; from almost two dozen dining venues, indoor skydiving, robotic bartenders to bumper cars. This is one ship you'll want to take a cruise vacation on!   Thoughts or reviews? Email me:  doug@cruiseradio.net   Find in-depth cruise news and ship review...

On January 22, 2015, all the details of Carnival Vista were revealed at Lincoln Center in New York City. The ship has a lot offer like a brewery on board, a skyway, a brand new water park, more dining options like a Lobster Shack and more! The food part alone made my mouth water! On this episode, we talk to: John Heald, Sr. Cruise Director of Carnival Jim Berra, Chief Marketing Officer of Carnival...

January has proven to be a busy month for the cruise industry with the reveal of Norwegian Cruise Line's upcoming Norwegian Escape, Carnival Cruise Line announcing a new smartphone app and brand new internet at sea packages, and New Orleans hitting one million cruise passengers.  We were in New York City aboard Norwegian Breakaway when they revealed more details about the upcoming Norwegian Escape...

Kathie Lee Gifford, former spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line, returned to Carnival on  Sunday  to introduce her GIFFT Collection of wines at a tasting event for cruise guests on Carnival Breeze at PortMiami. The wines are now available for sale fleetwide on Carnival's 24 ships. Hear about the Kathie Lee Gifford wine partnership. On this show, we talk with: Kathie Lee Gifford Eddie Allen, VP of...

Jason Leppert returns to talk about his latest family vacation aboard Disney Cruise Line's Disney Fantasy. Jason discusses his experience aboard Disney Cruise Line, what it's like traveling during the holiday season on Disney, and goes into detail about the dining experiences. Hear his Disney Fantasy review on this episode.  It's officially Wave Season - that means there are a lot of great cruise...

On this episode, we check in with the cruise editor for TravelPulse.com and Vacation Agent Magazine, Theresa Masek, to give us a cruise rewind of 2014. We cover some of the big news that hit the headlines like Carnival LIVE, Quantum of the Seas, Margaritaville on Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean dining partnerships. Plus, we look ahead at new ships in 2015. Cruise vacations were great in...

Earlier this month President Obama announced a new travel-friendly policy with Cuba. This a big step for the United States getting into Cuba since the embargo was put in place over 50 years ago. With 11.6 million North Americans cruising in 2013, this could be huge for Cuba's economy. I recently had a chance to sail on Costa Cruises' Costa Mediterreana to the Caribbean. Our 11-night voyage went to...

On this episode, Jason Leppert from Popular Cruising drops by to chat about the major differences between luxury cruises and a mass market cruises. Having never sailed on a luxury cruise before, this interview was very eye opening. Travel expert, Jason Coleman, tackles some listener questions on what cruise is the "right" cruise for a family, tipping with infants, and suggestions for using a smart...

Listener Joe Tolley from Charlotte, North Carolina just returned from a seven-night Eastern Caribbean sailing aboard the 2,974-guest Carnival Conquest, a Conquest-class cruise ship based currently based in Miami. Joe talks with us about his family's cruise to Nassau, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk. Stewart Chiron ,  The Cruise Guy ®  has Cruise News: Celebrity orders two new ships Carnival o...

Nancy Schretter from the Family Travel Network just returned from a sailing aboard Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Breeze where she participated in one of the cruise line's signature Carnival LIVE sailings. This particular sailing had country music/Top 40 group Lady Antebellum. Hear all the details of this sailing.  Stewart Chiron,  The Cruise Guy ® stops by with Cruise News: Norwegian Cruise Line...

"The Canada/New England itinerary had been on our to-do list for several years. We chose this particular sailing because it started in Quebec City, and we really wanted to spend time there pre-cruise (instead of NYC). It also offered more stops in Canada than New England, though it did have the tradeoff of Saguenay/Gaspe vs Saint John NB. This was also our opportunity to book one of the highly des...

This week we are broadcasting aboard Royal Caribbean's brand new Quantum of the Seas. On this sailing, we put all the brand new features to the test like the RipCord by iFly indoor skydiving, Northstar pod that takes you 300 feet above sea level, and the Seaplex, complete with bumper cars, roller skating, a trapeze school and more. We also push technology to the test on this voyage where we link o...

This week, we are broadcasting aboard Princess Cruises latest ship, Regal Princess. She was first launched May 2014 in Europe and is now spending the winter and spring in the Caribbean. The 3,560-guest  Regal  Princess  now begins her maiden season of Caribbean cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale. Among the special features found onboard the ship are a dramatic multi-story atrium serving as the social h...

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sail the Columbia or Snake Rivers in the Pacific Northwest? These rivers are practically untouched and have some of the best scenery that America can offer, not to mentioned a ton of American history.  This week, we are broadcasting aboard the 88-guest SS Legacy, a coastal replica steamer that sails with UnCruise Adventures. Take a journey with us! O...

This is a not-to-miss episode as we chat with the folks at MTN Communications and talk about staying connected at sea. MTN just launched the website ConnectAtSea.com and it's a portal filled with great information when it comes to your cruise vacation. Whether you're just texting, Facebooking, calling or surfing the web - everyone has to be connected these days. Brent Horwitz, Senior VP & General...

For years, the cruise industry has asked boarding passengers to fill out a health questionnaire, primarily to help stop the spread of norovirus. In light of the Ebola concerns, cruise lines today began asking more pointed questions about whether they've had contact with a person with Ebola or someone who helped care for such a patient, according to the CLIA. Theresa Norton Masek is the editor-in-c...

On this episode, Jason Leppert, editor of Popular Cruising joins us to talk about his latest experience aboard Princess Cruises' Star Princess, a cruise ship based seasonally on the West Coast. Jason gives us a full review of the itinerary and a bow to stern review of this 950' cruise ship. This Star Princess review includes: dining, entertainment, ports, embarkation, public areas, and first time...

On this episode, Jason Leppert, editor of Popular Cruising joins us to talk about his latest experience aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America, a cruise ship based year-round in the Hawaiian islands. Jason gives us a full review of the itinerary, the ship, dining venues and entertainment aboard the ship. Finally, a cruise that over-nights in different ports! MSC Cruises has launched  Incl...