Friday File: Beaches With A Difference

So many places visited by cruise ships have beaches, or beaches nearby, because — let’s face it — everybody’s thinking about finding somewhere warm with the coming months of winter. But beaches are more than just silk sand and warm water, as you will see from a few that we’ve discovered from cruising… Perhaps the… Continue reading Friday File: Beaches With A Difference

Carnival Commits to Mobile

Carnival was first celebrated in Mobile 312 years ago, before there were cruise ships bearing the name. There is a Carnival season in the Alabama seaport, the state’s third-largest city. It starts in November and runs through February or sometimes March, depend on the date of Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Carnival arrived… Continue reading Carnival Commits to Mobile

Cuban Cruising Causing Angst in Florida

The fight to cruise Cuba is on and the battleground, which may or may not surprise you, is Florida. As the U.S. and the Communist country 90 miles from its southernmost shore inch towards normalizing relations, Florida sees some of its cruise stakes slipping away, like fragments of driftwood floating into the Gulf of Mexico.… Continue reading Cuban Cruising Causing Angst in Florida

Cruise Schedules Sometimes 'Mobile'

Life is anything but a Carnival for the world's biggest cruise line. In fact, it's getting to be a joke… On Sunday, a tugboat sinks in the Mississippi River. The waterway is closed for 10 miles, starting at the mouth. Fifteen ships line up, waiting to go up the river. Carnival, which has had lots… Continue reading Cruise Schedules Sometimes 'Mobile'

Triumph (or Tragedy) Ship Returns

A cruise ship slipped out of a port quietly this week, or as quietly as a cruise ship can slip away from anywhere, and the reactions ranged from "Good riddance" to "Sorry you're leaving." The ship was the Carnival Triumph. That's the much-maligned Carnival Triumph. More than any cruise ship this side of the Costa… Continue reading Triumph (or Tragedy) Ship Returns