After years of market testing and product evolution, Norwegian Cruise Line executives think they have hit a sweet spot with regard to number of passengers (half as many as some of the megaships coming out today) balanced with variety and passenger comfort. NCL's latest ship, Norwegian Aqua, is an example of what mainstream cruise ships…
Updated January 20, 2025
…
Azores Airlines does not issue electronic boarding passes, so counter check-in is required. Trouble is, since the airline operates only a few flights per day, it only gets counter space a few hours before takeoff at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
I learned that the hard way when I arrived in Toronto 4.5 hours before my flight…
The Las Vegas Strip is big on endless construction and it's hot on imploding older buildings. But when it comes to creating memorable visual landmarks, modern Vegas usually folds. After the 1990s heyday of iconic Strip architecture passed, most of the towers erected on Las Vegas Boulevard have looked like lightly themed columns of rooms…
Heidi Sarna is the co-founder of QuirkyCruise.com, a guide to small-ship cruising. The Douro River starts in north-central Spain and zigzags some 500 miles into Portugal before eventually reaching the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, the curving, rock-lined river cuts through a landscape characterized, above all, by its connection to generations of winemaking. A cruise…
Heidi Sarna is the co-founder of QuirkyCruise.com, a guide to small-ship cruising. In business for decades, family-owned American Cruise Lines (ACL), which devotes itself exclusively to the rivers and coastal areas of the United States, is well known for small-ship voyages in traditional U.S. cruising territory—the mighty Mississippi River, coastal Maine, and the Columbia and…
Like all of the city's observation decks, Top of the Rock offers timed-entry tickets. It adds a free weather guarantee, allowing visitors to switch their entry times and even dates at no extra cost—a big plus.
But prospective visitors must navigate a murky online maze of fees, with a range of entry prices ($40–$61 for…
A United Airlines 737 Max 8 Leslie Josephs | CNBC United Airlines said the Federal Aviation Administration has cleared it to start adding new aircraft and routes months after the regulator stepped up its scrutiny of the carrier following several safety incidents. "Today, we got some good news: after a careful review…
The annoyances start here, with what the airline jauntily calls “Our tailored fares: travel à la carte.” Translation: We’re going to play every mind game in the book to get you to spend more than you intended.
Travelers are first shown a very low price, but that’s only for a painfully no-frills “Basic” ticket. From…
Norse flies the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Yes, those were the jet that initially had issues, like igniting batteries and fuel leaks, when they first hit the world's runways in 2011. But in the many years since the Dreamliner's debut, the kinks have been worked out, and today this aircraft has the same safety record as…