Cruise Watch: Surviving Sandy

If you love Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, get ready for the all-new ... well, there's no name yet, but Royal Caribbean is in talks to build a new Oasis-class mega cruise ship. The cruise line just announced the mega news, which is especially exciting for us here at CT+L because our superstar Caribbean experts love the Oasis of the Seas (see Zach's photo gallery). In fact, our resident cruise expert ...

Think "Caribbean cruise" and mega liners populating harbors in The Bahamas and St. Martin immediately come to mind. But what if you could take a more intimate cruise, stray miles from the charted course, and be treated to a week aboard an architectural masterpiece with the cuisine and shore excursions to match?

The new Carnival Breeze spent the summer in the Mediterranean. But the ship is coming to Miami, and its designers have left no doubt about its new destination. Cabins are “Caribbean-ized,” with sun-washed hues and doors with plantation shutters; hammocks, palm trees and “beach” umbrellas embellish the adult-only oasis, the Serenity retreat (welcome respite from the kid-magnet water park); and even the stairwells are adorned with tropical imagery. As part of the CT+L Ultimate Cruise Guide, see the photo gallery we just posted for a photo tour of the Carnival Breeze. Onboard eats are also ... 

If there's one thing I love as much as a cruise, it's a cruise deal. So imagine the thrill I got when I turned the calendar this week and realized that it's National Cruise Vacation Month. Which means that we're quickly coming up on the cruise industry's big coordinated sales event, National Cruise Vacation Week, which kicks off on Oct. 21. Virtually every cruise line participates in some way, either by offering discounts, upgrades or credits, so if you've been looking for a good excuse to take a cruise, you're welcome. Here's a sampling of the cruise deals that await, plus ...

I’ve got this nifty little widget on my phone that counts down the days to my next cruise. It’s handy, but also a bit of a downer — no matter how many times I check, it keeps telling me I’ve got weeks until the fam and I are boarding the Disney Fantasy. Even worse, I booked early, so although we got a great deal, the wait has seemed interminable. To keep from going crazy — or stealing away to Port Canaveral to stow away in the luggage hold — I’ve been noodling around for the best way to spend our day in port. Now, luckily, my coworkers are perpetually returning from assignment in St. Somewhere, and I’m not above cornering them in the break room to get the inside scoop on paradise. In the spirit of doing unto others, here’s a tip from a colleague for those of us sailing to St. Thomas.