Planning

Picture this: You’re having such a good time at Senor Frog’s with your new friends and that third margarita that you lose track of time. Or maybe your tour bus gets stuck in traffic on the way back to the ship, which is something totally out of your control!

You're probably wondering whether a cruise ship will wait for you or not. Missing your cruise ship and getting stranded in a foreign port is one of the top concerns of first-time cruisers, and while the chances of the ship leaving you behind are low, it does happen.

Sometimes, you are not in need of a large family vacation. The thought of trying to coordinate dinner plans or shore excursions might sound too stressful!

There's nothing wrong with wanting to get away by yourself for a little while with no schedule to follow and no mother-in-laws to please!

With that, though, you don't want to take a solo cruise that ends up being stressful, so you want to be prepared for your upcoming cruise by yourself. 

There's a lot to consider when you're trying to figure out which cruise line is the best. It's not a simple question to answer because it depends on the interests, personalities and budgets of you and the people with whom you'll be traveling.

When determining how to pick a cruise line, check out our superlatives below, which are designed to point you in the right direction. Simply find the things that matter most to you, and see which cruise line falls under most of them.

After you pick the perfect cruise line and ship, you will want to start thinking about how you want to spend your days in port. 

You cruise line will offer various excursions that can be pre-booked through their portal or once you board at their shore excursions desk, however, you also have the choice to book via third party. This is often much cheaper than booking similar tours through your cruise line.

Think this is the year you will take the family to the Last Frontier and go on an Alaska cruise? Sounds like a great plan, but you might be wondering which is the best ship to go on an Alaska cruise.

There are a lot of great ships that will traverse the Inside Passage from May through September, each with their own assortment of amenities, activities and fun things to do.  In fact, you will find a great range of value with options that run the gamut of ship size and offerings.  

Here are our picks for the best ships cruising to Alaska this summer.

Effective today, the Trump administration imposed significant new travel restrictions on visits to Cuba by U.S. citizens that appears to mean the end of cruise ship visits to the island.

The Treasury Department announced that the U.S. will no longer allow cruises to Cuba or the group educational and cultural trips known as “people to people” travel to the island. This ends a heavily used form of educational travel.

If you are going on your first cruise vacation, here are ten rookie mistakes to avoid. Not only will these tips help you have a better vacation, but you will feel like a cruising pro!

Booking a flight too early after the cruise

Typically we see first time cruisers book a return flight home that cuts things too close.  The problem is guests see that the ship returns to the port at some early hour, like 6am, and assume that is when they can get off the ship.