This item was written by Fran Golden, a cruise expert and Trip Coach for Budget Travel magazine. Golden is serving as Guest Editor of The Cruise Log while USA TODAY Cruise Editor Gene Sloan is away. For those who find waiting to get on a ship akin to watching paint dry, Crystal Cruises has introduced [...]

” This was certainly a tragedy. So why in the world is the opening quote to this article “January is not a pleasant season in the Mediterranean,” the Willoughby travel agent said. “I would never book a passenger on a cruise there at this time of year.”. Are you saying that the people on this [...]

PRLog (Press Release) – Jan 17, 2012 – Premier River Cruises (PRC) introduces its new and improved website, www.premierrivercruises.com, America’s best online resource and travel agency for river cruise vacations in Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia, China and Egypt.  No other site on the internet has a more comprehensive and user-friendly approach to finding the latest [...]

Tickets for a cruise with Kate Gosselin, 36, are selling like hot cakes. The reality TV star recently announced that she would take a Caribbean cruise in August with her fans. Ticket prices range from $1,575 to $5,500 per person. Would you pay to take a cruise with Kate? She would not be my first [...]

This item was written by Fran Golden, a cruise expert and Trip Coach for Budget Travel magazine. Golden is serving as Guest Editor of The Cruise Log while USA TODAY Cruise Editor Gene Sloan is away. When you book a cruise you’re offered the option of travel insurance, for a fee – either directly through [...]

Enlarge image Concordia Rescue Lacked Officers’ Leadership, Witness Says Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images The Costa Concordia ran aground after 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 13 within hours of leaving a port near Rome to continue a Mediterranean cruise. The Costa Concordia ran aground after 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 13 within hours of leaving a port near Rome [...]

Like us on Facebook The economic impact of the cruise business has been significant. In 2010, the North American cruise industry generated almost 330,000 jobs which, in turn, contributed a $15.2 billion wage impact upon the U.S. economy, a 5.1 percent increase in employment and a 7.0 percent rise in wages over 2009, according to [...]

The news of the cruise ship disaster off the coast of Italy was particularly noteworthy for my family. On April 1, we set sail on a seven-day Caribbean cruise. My daughter is already freaking out, and my son is not helping matters. He’s plastered pictures of the Costa Concordia all over the house. One issue [...]

Days after escaping the sinking Italian cruise liner, a Lakeville woman and her sister are back in Minnesota grieving for lives lost and hoping for those still missing, including a White Bear Lake couple. Authorities on Wednesday said rough seas had forced them to suspend the search for the 21 people still missing in the [...]

Canadian Charlene Good happily embarked on a 10-day Caribbean cruise aboard the Costa Atlantica from the Port of Miami Wednesday, her husband, sister and sister’s boyfriend in tow. Despite carefully following news accounts of the grounding of sister ship Costa Concordia off Giglio, Italy, the travelers said they were not worried about their safety at [...]