Advice & Tips

Cruise travelers who sail roundtrip from a U.S. homeport to the Caribbean, Mexico, or Canada have a choice many international travelers do not: They can travel with or without a passport.

The passport exemption is part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) that allows cruisers on a “closed-loop” sailing (one that begins and ends at the same U.S. port) to substitute alternative forms of identification, such as a driver’s license and birth certificate, for a pricey passport. 

When booking a cruise, you might be overwhelmed by all the cabin options. Sometimes, it is not as easy as simply choosing an interior or balcony. There might be different room categories and layouts, ranging from spacious rooms that are able to accommodate larger families to balconies that overlook the interior of the ship versus the ocean.

Cruises are a fun vacation, but like any trip, there are some weird things that can happen which may not make top 10 articles, but are still something you should be aware of.

Like all forms of travel, nothing ever goes exactly perfect, but being aware of certain pitfalls can make the fallout far easier to handle should it happen to you.

Check out this list of things that might happen to you on a cruise that no one really talks about.

Perhaps no other question has been asked as often as when can I get back on a cruise ship again.

For months, cruise ships were prohibited from operating in the United States due to the No Sail order by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  That was lifted in October, but the new Conditional Sailing Framework is not an open call that some hoped for.

Cruising is on the verge of resuming, and when it does, we can expect cruise lines to take new precautions -- everything from additional cleaning and improved air filtration to the enforcement of mask-wearing and social distancing.

Cruises have many nuances and moving parts that make planning more confusing than what you'd experience with a land-based vacation. You might be wondering, "Should I book my cruise through a travel agent?"

You can find a lot of great cruise tips out there, but tips from a former cruise ship employee come from a lot of experience onboard.

Kabir Rathaur-Bageria is a former Cruise Director for Carnival, P&O Australia and Marella Cruises on Celebrity Cruises, and has been working on ships for 5 years. He now runs his own podcast, Keeping Afloat.

Cruise directors have pretty much seen it all on a cruise, having had many years of experience in so many areas of a ship.

Since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's no-sail order went into effect in March, cruise lines have axed thousands of voyages to all corners of the globe, leaving those who are still booked wondering what to do. Should you cancel or take a wait-and-see approach?

We enthusiastically recommend the latter. Here are six solid reasons why you should avoid canceling your cruise right now.

The last thing you want to do is make a major mistake on your first cruise vacation. Avoiding common pitfalls is a smart way to set yourself up for a great vacation.

Unfortunately, a lot of first-time cruisers do not take a little bit of time to learn about these all too common blunders, and they always regret it later.

Here are the top ten cruise mistakes to avoid for anyone going on a cruise or thinking about planning a cruise vacation.