HAL fans, if you’re thinking about taking one of of popular Alaska CruiseTours, we wanted to share with you that we rebranded them and they are now called Land+Sea Journeys! This change reflects substantial program updates designed to appeal to the desires of today’s travelers. Now our guests will have more opportunities than ever to explore and personalize Great Land ...

I know this island well, one might say ‘intimately’, for not only did I call here on the ‘Mail’ run, but I also spent over a week here, after abandoning my ship, along with 83 others, we were brought back here by the tanker which sighted our lifeboats and rescued us. Having nothing but a rather dirty-white uniform to my ...

Holland America Line just announced that in keeping with the majority of guest preferences, a change is being made to the shipboard smoking policy on its fleet of 15 ships effective for sailings departing on or after January 15, 2012. The new smoking policy now designates staterooms as nonsmoking areas in addition to the indoor public areas already defined as ...

We received these cool photos from Rotterdam’s Signature of Excellence dry dock upgrade. …

Having left the country charm of Beaver Creek behind we find ourselves in Fairbanks, Alaska. Fairbanks is a moderately large city and has all the trappings of modern life. That being said, it’s a nice break from the countryside as it offers us a chance to stop for supplies and things we need for the trip. The Westmark Fairbanks towers ...

Merabella is a new fine jewelry shop just installed on Veendam during the Signature of Excellence Phase 2 dry-dock. Shop manager Matt Gibson explained that the Merabella experience is about finding a unique piece of jewelry and that the intimate space can be used for private showings and guests can join him over champagne and caviar to look at the ...

Global Pilotage Most ports in the world require pilotage, the practice where a pilot comes on board near the entrance of the port and then assists the ship's captain with bringing the ship into port, and docking or anchoring in the designated anchorage. The pilot also helps provide safe passage when the ship departs. The role of a pilot is ...