Drinking water and staying hydrated on a cruise is very important. Most cruisers are spending their day out in the sun with a cocktail in hand. This is especially true if you spend most of your days at the beach or exploring ports of call throughout the warm, sunny Caribbean or Mediterranean.

Brand loyalty can run deep, especially when it comes to cruise lines. Many avid cruisers remain loyal to one specific cruise line, as each brand offers its own unique cruise experience. Trying a new cruise line can be exciting - but it can also solidify your loyalty to one cruise line over another.

Though I love exploring new ports of call and enjoying the ship's amenities, part of my pre-cruise excitement is knowing I'm days away from unloading the dishwasher and making the bed one final time before some time off. 

Instead of being responsible for day-to-day tasks, I know I'll be attended to by friendly crew members, from the Main Dining Room wait staff to my cabin steward. 

We share lots of cruise updates and advice here, and this is a weekly roundup of everything you may have missed from this week.

If you are busy but want to keep up with all the helpful cruise advice we share, this is an easy-to-digest look at the recent articles and updates we've shared

What comes to mind when you think of Carnival Cruise Line? You might immediately picture a wild, party crowd; some might even dare to call the onboard experience rowdy.

For many years, I avoided Carnival like the plague. I would even roll my eyes if I was docked next to a Carnival cruise ship. Not only did their ships look outdated and drab, but the blasting music was enough to turn me off.

Nobody wants to receive an unexpected bill on vacation. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened to Vincent Wasney and his fiancée, Sarah Eberlein, while cruising on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas. Before they were allowed to disembark, they had to pay over $2,500 in medical bills for services that Wasney received onboard as a result of a series of seizures. 

Millions of travelers embark on cruises from Port Miami annually. In 2024, over 8.3 million passengers watched Miami's skyline disappear as they sailed toward the Bahamas or Caribbean. 

As one of the most popular cruise ports in the world, Miami welcomes guests from all over the world. As such, many cruisers rely on pre-cruise hotels to ensure they don't miss their ship's departure due to delayed or canceled flights. 

Last month, I embarked on my first Transatlantic cruise sailing onboard Norwegian Epic. Preparing for this voyage felt a bit daunting at times when it came to packing. After all, I would be gone from home for 2 weeks and was planning on taking only a carry-on suitcase! 

This cruise was a 14-day sailing that embarked in Orlando, Florida and disembarked in Civitavecchia, Italy with two scheduled stops at Gibraltar, United Kingdom and Alicante, Spain. 

Though unexpected events like the onset of a sudden illness or death in the family can deter vacation plans, calling customer service to find out that the cruise line's system canceled your reservation days before you were set to depart isn't exactly how you'd want to begin your vacation.