Travel Blog

December 7, 1941, is remembered annually for the attack on Hawai’i’s Pearl Harbor that drew the USA into World War 2. But September 2, 1945, is just as important in American history. That date in 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, with the formal Japanese surrender ceremony aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Two moving battleship memorials at Hawai'i’s Pearl Harbor symbolically bookend America’s War in the Pacific. The USS Arizona, sunk during the attack...

Three cheers to the yachting lifestyle!  Emerald Cruises’ yachts are warm-weather cruising on a whole different scale: small! With only 100 guests, you feel like you’re aboard your own private yacht – that’s designed to make you feel immediately at home as you spend lazy days chasing the sun… and relaxing with something cold in your hand that reminds you: you’re on holiday! WATCH THE VIDEO SHIP TOUR ABOVE: The Best Places on an Emerald Yacht Cruise to Relax Over a...

Beginning January 8, 2025, American and Canadian travelers to the United Kingdom will be required to apply - in advance of your trip - for the UK’s new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). The digital application process opens November 27, 2024 for anyone planning to arrive in Britain from January 8, 2025 and onwards. The British government has been introducing the new digital entry permits in a phased approach to a goal of fully digitizing entry into its borders by 2025. Americans...

Rosewood Exuma opens in 2028, bringing Rosewood’s elevated experiential travel and authenticity to the Exumas. The pristine archipelago of 365 islands in the Bahamas is the destination of the latest addition to Rosewood’s Caribbean portfolio. The private island resort offers next-generation luxury while honoring the character of the Exumas. Rosewood Exuma Within the Exumas, there’s a 124-acre private island called East Sampson Cay, the home to Rosewood Exuma and its 33 suites, all offering dramatic views of the island's pink and white...

The Britannic Explorer, A Belmond Train, is a new way to indulge in slow travel in the lap of luxury. Debuting in the summer of 2025, it’s the first modern luxury sleeper train to allow you to discover some of the UK’s most spectacular natural landscapes and hidden gems on its three inaugural, three-day routes. Timeless Routes Through the English CountrysideDeparting from London, the Britannic Explorer takes guests to Cornwall, The Lake District, or Wales. The routes are scheduled to allow...

If the world seems noisier and more chaotic than ever to you – you’re not alone. As life gets more stressful, online searches for ‘quiet travel’ have shot up like your blood pressure. One of the first places savvy travelers look to disconnect and rediscover tranquillity in nature is Costa Rica. The Central American country’s famous way of living, called ‘Pura Vida,’ has more appeal than ever, embodying a simple, joyful life connected to nature and loved ones. ‘Pura Vida’ translates...

Is Antarctica on your travel bucket list? The White Continent is the ultimate expedition cruising destination: literally at the end of the earth, and able to be reached only by ship, with its epic scenery of glaciers, icebergs, and surprisingly rich wildlife, including several varieties of penguins, elephant seals, whales and more, Antarctica has remained just a dream destination for most travelers. Well, that’s changing, with luxury expedition cruising that allows you to achieve one of the travel experiences of a...

The Riverside Mozart is the ultimate floating luxury boutique hotel on the river – as you can see in the video, it’s about double the size of almost all other river cruise ships in Europe, but there aren’t double the guests. That’s a game-changer!  To me, it felt more like sailing on a luxury, small ocean ship that just happened to be in a river. A completely different – and upgraded – river cruise experience. You’ll see all the benefits of that...

The holidays are just around the corner, and nothing gets you into the spirit of the season like a pre-Christmas trip to Europe, where so many of our favorite festive traditions originated. Europe’s Christmas markets, many of which have been around since the Middle Ages, are magical places to embrace the holiday spirit and celebrate in the month leading up to Christmas. Immerse yourself into the Christmas spirit by laying your head just wandering distance from the market, soaking in the ambiance...

Sun Princess has arrived in Ft. Lauderdale for her first winter season after the 4300-guest ship’s inaugural Mediterranean season. The latest “Love Boat” to join the Princess Cruises fleet has arrived in her new homeport, to begin sailing a series of seven-day Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises, roundtrip through early April 2025. Guests are already raving about Sun Princess’ innovative design, culinary experiences, entertainment, advanced technology and more. New for the inaugural Caribbean season, Sun Princess is launching the Sanctuary Collection –...

There’s the North Pole… and there’s the “North Pole of Inaccessibility.” Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot has done something no ship of any kind has ever done before. In the 21st century, it’s hard to imagine there’s a place on earth humans have never been, but close to the end of the 2024 Arctic cruise/ sailing season, the polar expedition cruise ship pulled off a ‘Star Trek’ of an accomplishment, going “where no man had ever gone before.” That place was the...

On safari in Africa, it’s the ‘Big 5’ signature species. But on the other side of the world, in another extraordinary landscape, the can’t miss, iconic wildlife is summed up on the ‘Big 15’ list. Many are found nowhere else on earth other than in the Galapagos islands. Their unparalleled biodiversity famously inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution. No wonder these remote Ecuadorian islands are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a protected marine preserve, and the ultimate travel aspiration for nature lovers. Here’s...

That was fast. Just a month after a wave of media stories about arriving travelers being dinged with hundreds of dollars in duties for their devices, Mexican authorities say they have eliminated the controversial – and dated - rules. As you likely read here in September 2024, Mexican customs regulations stipulated that anyone arriving in the country was allowed one ‘portable computing device.’ Customs officers – especially at the Cancun airport, Mexico’s busiest - were apparently interpreting that to mean one...

New digital border processing and hall at SXM airport mean arriving for your next trip to the Caribbean’s famous twin-nation island will be faster, easier, and better than ever before. But you do have to get online and fill out the new forms before you check in to your flight to St. Maarten.Mandatory Digital Forms for Travel to St. MaartenSt. Maarten has implemented a new Digital Embarkation/ Disembarkation (ED) Form. As of October 8, 2024, all visitors arriving at Princess Juliana...

Following the recent inauguration of its pioneering coastal China cruises, Viking has announced six new itineraries in Asia that will expand exclusive access for its guests to Japan and China, with Tibet in 2025. The new voyages will explore iconic destinations in China, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Xi’an and Lhasa in Tibet (Xizang), as well as Osaka, Japan. Each voyage will offer guests signature Viking-style immersive, destination-focused experiences, insightful lectures, and regionally inspired cuisine.The new voyages will operate from September...

Silversea is taking a groundbreaking approach to ultra-luxury Antarctic expedition cruising – literally! The cruise line has broken ground on a hotel in Puerto Williams, Chile, to create a seamlessly deluxe experience for its guests on their voyages to the White Continent.Silversea is the only cruise line that homeports from Puerto Williams during the Antarctic season. And the new, 150-room hotel will provide a seamless, ultra-luxury-all-the-way experience for Antarctic expedition cruise guests. The cruise line already operates an innovative ‘Antarctic Bridge’ fly-cruise...

If you thought sailing to small islands and boutique harbors in idyllic tropical places was just for billionaires in their private yachts, think again. Even you can feel like a billionaire on one of Emerald Cruises’ two new mega-yachts. We sailed aboard the Emerald Sakara on a ‘yachtsman’s itinerary’ from San Juan, Puerto Rico, weaving through the U.S. and British Virgin Islands to St. Kitts and St. John’s, Antigua. And even if you’ve cruised the Caribbean many times before, this is an...

The first and only luxury hotel company to take to the sea has welcomed Ilma, its second newbuild, ultra-luxury ‘superyacht’. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s latest small ship is host to fewer than 500 guests in its 224 ‘airy and intuitive’ suites, all with private terraces providing direct access to the sea. The Ilma also offers guests world-class dining curated by MICHELIN-starred restaurant chefs, a sweeping pool deck offering spectacular views at sea, new itineraries, bespoke amenities, among the highest guest-to-staff ratio,...

During a spectacular naming ceremony in Civitavecchia – the port for Rome, Italy – Explora Journeys launched Explora II. The September, 2024 event marked the debut of the second of six ships by the lifestyle ocean travel brand of the MSC Group. Explora Journeys promises guests the opportunity to experience an “Ocean State of Mind,” connecting you with both the sea and the growing cruise line’s curated destinations. The traditional maritime ceremony featured the symbolic cutting of a ribbon to break...

Atlas Ocean Voyages, the small-ship cruise line that expanded the concept of expedition cruising from remote, polar exploration to include concepts like its ‘Epicurean Expeditions,’ has debuted “The Explorer’s Table.” It’s a new, specialty dining option only available to guests on its ships in Antarctica and the High Arctic. An exclusive Omakase-style dining experience, The Explorer’s Table will present global culinary highlights from Spain, Korea, France, Argentina, and North America in The Dome observation lounge. Prepared for only ten guests in an...