From transatlantic crossings to a permanent berth in Dubai, the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) retains a legacy as one of the greatest ocean liners of all time. Now a floating hotel under the Accor flag, the public at large can step aboard and rediscover its remarkable legacy through guided QE2 Heritage Tours.
By Wallace Immen/ Want a unique winter experience? How about sailing from Barcelona to Rome – in January. Or, trading ski season for a cruise in the Greek Isles? While most cruise ships migrate to warmer oceans in the winter. Windstar is joining a new homing trend with plans to sail its newest ship, Star Explorer year-round in Europe.
By Wallace Immen/ Celebrity Xcel features the line’s widest variety of entertainment, with some of it steered by guests. With three brand-new theatre productions, two interactive club shows, music experiences, high-energy dance parties, interactive activities and surprises in between, every moment onboard will spark connection and delight from morning to night, Celebrity Cruises promises.
Viking named its nine newest river ships – including the company’s 100th ship – during a simultaneous ceremony last week that spanned six countries. The main celebration took place in Basel, Switzerland, on board the Viking Honir, and was connected virtually to the eight other new ships located across five additional countries.
By Wallace Immen/ With a secret announcement to insiders, Scenic Group revealed its latest luxury exploration ship – Scenic Ikon – will join the Scenic Discovery Yacht Fleet for its inaugural season in 2028. And its inaugural voyage from Venice in April 2028 is apparently already sold out.
The final cruise ship of the 2025 season, Coral Princess, departed from the Canada Place cruise terminal in Vancouver today (Tuesday) marking the end of a cruise season in which 301 cruise ships called in the city, delivering 1.2 million passengers since March 5. The successful 2025 season follows several record seasons, with preliminary bookings indicating another strong year to come in 2026.
By Wallace Immen/ Did you know that Royal Caribbean Cruise Line came within hours of being bought by its rival, Carnival? Know what made them decide to cut ships in half? Or why the Swedish Air Force was ready to shoot down a thrill ride planned on the Oasis of the Seas?
In the latest sign of the times, Virgin Voyages and Google Cloud have announced a strategic partnership to embed generative AI across the cruise line’s business, with more than 50 specialized AI “agents” on Gemini Enterprise now deployed company-wide. “Email Ellie,” the first agent from this collaboration, has already driven significant business impact, contributing to a record-breaking sales month and validating the company’s ambitious AI strategy, says the cruise line.
By Wallace Immen/ Dressing up for dinner is something that’s always been special about cruising. Ships are their own floating worlds and every night can be a party where people are dressed in their best. Now, even the most upscale ships are relaxing dress codes into “suggestions.”
With Royal Caribbean’s new Legend of the Sea preparing to set sail next July in the Mediterranean, followed by Caribbean Island hops from Fort Lauderdale in November, the cruise line is offering the latest look at – and opened bookings for – its new Icon class vessel, which it promises will raise the bar for guests with more dining spots, new entertainment and ways to play.
Virgin Voyages is introducing VoyageFair Choices, a new fare model, starting this week. The cruise line says the tiered system was created directly in response to customer feedback and features four primary goals: better price transparency, make fares easier to compare across the industry, offer more flexible and competitive options for different budgets, and to respond to clients’ and travel advisors’ call for more choice.
By Wallace Immen/ Iconic fashion and costume designer Bob Mackie and Julien’s Auctions will join Cunard’s ‘Transatlantic Fashion Week’ voyage aboard flagship Queen Mary 2 this fall. Following Paris Fashion Week, this extraordinary journey will celebrate the world of fashion and style on the high seas.
By Wallace Immen/ John Waggoner is taking a Victory lap. The CEO of Victory Cruise Lines says its inaugural season on the Great Lakes was a race run from a literal standing start, but Victory lived up to its name. He’s confident lessons learned this year will make the 2026 season even stronger.
By Wallace Immen/ Riviera Travel is taking a singular approach with one of its European river ships. Beginning in 2027, its MS George Eliot will exclusively sail solo departures on the Danube, Rhine and Moselle rivers, marking the first time a cruise ship has devoted its entire season to solo guests.
By Wallace Immen/ Looks can be deceiving. While Oceania Cruises’ newest ship Allura is a near twin of fleet-mate Vista, she’s got a personality of her own. That’s especially evident in the innovative cuisine on board.
With the return of its refreshed sailing yacht Wind Star, Windstar Cruises is doubling down on Tahiti starting March 2027, when the vessel joins the all-suite Star Breeze to sail year-round in French Polynesia – making it Windstar’s most expansive South Pacific deployment yet.
By Wallace Immen/ In a sign of surging demand for ultra cruising, Emerald Cruises is set to more than double its ocean-going luxury yacht fleet. Parent company Scenic Group has announced the inaugural season of Emerald Kaia, launching in April 2026. Meanwhile, it celebrated the start of construction for another yacht, Emerald Raiya, aiming to debut in June, 2027, and announced there’s another ship on the horizon for 2028 to sail in Asia.
By Wallace Immen/ A long-held secret is out! With open decks and elevated spaces, Celebrity Cruises plans to transform the shape of cruising on the Rhine and Danube rivers. Two new ships due to arrive in 2027 will combine the iconic design of Celebrity’s Edge Series ocean ships with European charm, and feature industry-leading design that offers more space to vacation, all while ensuring a smoother, more relaxing sailing experience, the company revealed.
Viking has welcomed two new ships, enhancing its fleets in both Portugal and Egypt. The cruise line says the additions reflect long-term growth plans as part of a strategy toward maintaining a leadership position in experiential travel. Based on Viking’s committed orderbook, the company expects to take delivery of 26 additional river ships by 2028 and 10 additional ocean ships by 2031. With these orders, Viking will have 112 river ships in 2028 and 23 ocean and expedition ships in 2031.
Talk about a Big Fish Fry! The grill tonight features a grouper so massive it’s almost larger than any of the cooks who are grilling it. But it will somehow vanish like magic into scrumptious filets over the course of a sunset dinner on the Sea Cloud Spirit. It’s just one taste of why dining on the world’s largest fully rigged sailing cruise ship, which carries only 136 pampered guests, is among the most varied and inventive at sea.
By Cindy-Lou Dale/ Burgundy isn’t just a place – it’s a feeling, a flavour, and a memory in the making. And for travellers seeking a week where time slows to walking pace, European Waterways’ L’Impressionniste offers a six-night voyage through the heart of French region’s wine country, gliding from Escommes to Fleurey-sur-Ouche along the tranquil Canal de Bourgogne.
By Wallace Immen/ Dare we say super star? Royal Caribbean’s biggest-ever ship promises even more of the “adventures for all ages” than her sister in the fleet.
Mariah Erkloo remembers as a child watching massive, gleaming vessels glide into her hamlet of Pond Inlet, Nunavut, bringing strangers to her Arctic home for a few hours before vanishing over the horizon. It wasn’t an altogether positive experience, she recalls.
In a fantastic daily choreography, teams of skillful deck hands climb rope ladders to do tightrope walks along spars and unfurl sails by hand. We’re suddenly sailing in stillness, beneath dozens of huge white sails that billow from three tall masts.
By Wallace Immen/ In a significant shift, Costa Cruises has cancelled the Middle East program of Costa Toscana due to ongoing uncertainty in the region, and another line is closely watching the political situation. Meanwhile other cruise lines are avoiding the Red Sea and Suez Canal and it’s creating an unprecedented winter cruise season in the Mediterranean.
Forbes Travel Guide – the only independent, global rating system for luxury hotels, restaurants, spas, ocean cruises and ocean cruise restaurants – has announced it will begin rating river cruises, a cruise industry first. The inaugural river cruise ratings will be released in 2027, when the respected publisher unveils its annual Star Ratings in more than 100 countries.
By Wallace Immen/ What to gondoliers do in their time off? I had a unique chance to glimpse behind the scenes of the daily lives of those ultra-fit boat jockeys from my quintessential room with a view in Venice.
Royal Caribbean has opened bookings for the first-of-its-kind beach club experience in The Bahamas. The all-inclusive Royal Beach Club Paradise Island will be available to guests visiting Nassau beginning late December with day passes now available to be purchased on the company’s website.
Cunard has “come together” with Abbey Road Studios to bring a new and exclusive Listening Lounge experience to music lovers on board Queen Elizabeth. The luxury cruise line has partnered with the famed recording studio of The Beatles to create a series of curated playlists packed with iconic recordings, each specially handpicked by the Abbey Road team.
A long-running experiment in green roofs is coming to an end. Like a growing A-list of Hollywood celebrities who have ripped out real grass and gone to synthetic greenery around their homes, Celebrity Cruises is phasing out the half acres of lawn on upper decks of its Solstice Class ships to install a high-tech artificial turf.