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Holland America World Cruise 2026
holland america line | Life On Board | World Cruises & Grand Voyages

Holland America World Cruise 2026

The Holland America World Cruise 2026 has one of the most interesting World Cruise itineraries available – largely because of a recent itinerary change. The World Cruise. The Grand World Voyage. I’ve been lucky enough to sail on several Holland America World Cruises, plus a few Grand Voyages, and I’ve spent the last few years…

Holland America in Bahamas
holland america line | Life On Board

9 Ways to Get Extra Onboard Credit on Holland America (Read before booking!)

These ways to get extra onboard credit on Holland America will help make sure you don’t leave any money on the table and get the most out of your Holland America cruise. You’re thinking of booking a Holland America cruise. That’s awesome! I’m a huge fan of Holland America having sailed with them to nearly…

Holland America Alcohol Policy
holland america line | Life On Board

Holland America Alcohol Policy

Thinking of cruising Holland America Line and have questions? We break down the Holland America Alcohol Policy so you are in the know. Holland America is a premium cruise line offering cruises from the Caribbean and Alaska to round-the-world adventures. Having been lucky enough to sail with Holland America on itineraries around the world on…

what to pack when working on a cruise ship
Crew Life | First Cruise Ship Contract | Packing

What to Pack When Working on a Cruise Ship

Wondering what to pack when working on a cruise ship? We’ve got space-saving hacks and must-have items for your life at sea. Whether it’s your first cruise ship contract, your 50th, or somewhere in between packing to work on a cruise ship can be a challenge. Over the past decade as a crew member I’ve…

cruising with a baby
Life On Board

Cruising with a Baby: What To Expect, Tips & More From A Mom

Thinking of cruising with a baby? With a bit of planning it can be an incredible family vacation. I’m a mom, former crew member, and I started cruising with my baby at 6 months old. Cruising is a great way to see the world and can be an incredible family vacation or multi-generational family vacation….

Holland America Loyalty Program Guide & Perks Overview
holland america line | Life On Board

Holland America Loyalty Program Guide & Perks Overview

A frequent cruiser and love points? The Holland America Loyalty Program, or Mariner Society offers multiple ways to earn points and includes free dinners, discounts on drinks, laundry service and more. I love points and I love a discount – especially if you can get them on something you were already spending money on anyways….

Is Holland America Line's Have It All package worth it?
holland america line | Life On Board

Is Holland America Have It All Worth It? Your Guide to Nearly All-Inclusive Cruising

Is Holland America Have It All worth it? This premium package from Holland America makes for nearly All-Inclusive cruising and can be worth it for the right passengers. Is Holland America Have It All Worth It? This premium package is among the best deals in cruising for the right guest, but it’s not for everyone….

Circumnavigate Australia Cruises
Australia | Travel | World Cruises & Grand Voyages

Circumnavigate Australia Cruises 2024 & 2025

It’s time to set out on that dream cruise in the land down under. And what better way to do it than a circumnavigate Australia cruise? These cruises bring you from Sydney to Perth to Darwin and more. Each year Australia becomes an even more popular cruise destination. Australia is a lot of things –…

Holland America Line's 2025 Pole to Pole Grand Voyage
holland america line | Life On Board

133-Day Holland America Pole-to-Pole Cruise

The Holland America Pole-to-Pole Cruise is set to offer their longest Grand Voyage yet – 133 nights onboard m/s Volendam in 2025 On the Holland America Pole to Pole cruise you have a chance to explore so much of the world from the comfort of the beautiful mid-sized ship, Volendam. I’ve been lucky enough to…

My Blog is in a Book!
Land Life | Life On Board

My Blog is in a Book!

I’m in a book! Or more specifically, this blog is in a book! Last year I got a message from Paul Thornton, author of previous books on cruising The Joy of Cruising, and Cruising Interrupted. He was wondering if I would be interested in being interviewed for his next book, The Joy of Cruising Again….

Around the World Cruises 2024
Itineraries | Life On Board

World Cruises 2024

Thinking about cruising around the world in 2024? It may surprise you just how many cruise lines will be offering an around the world cruise in 2024. From mainstream cruise lines to ultra-luxury lines there is a lot of variation in itinerary, length, and budget within these grand voyages. If you’ve ever thought about going…

World Cruise Segments
Life On Board

Which World Cruise Segments are Still Available in 2023?

There’s something different about being on a World Cruise. An element of luxury and exploration. After all, when you say “World Cruise” it brings to mind grand voyages of those well-to-do or adventuresome crossing oceans and exploring distance lands. However, with World Cruises taking months and costing tens of thousands – how can you get…

Holland America Grand Voyages 2024-2026
holland america line | Life On Board | World Cruises & Grand Voyages

Holland America Grand Voyages 2024-2026

If you are looking at an immersive journey, Holland America Grand Voyages will take you around the world and back again. Holland America Line has the best itineraries (in my opinion) of any premium mainstream cruise line. Their itineraries range from just a few nights all the way up to a 133 Night Pole to…

Royal Caribbean Round the World Cruise
Life On Board

The Ultimate World Cruise – A Look at Royal Caribbean’s Round the World Cruise 2023

World Cruises are an incredible way to get a taste of the world, see incredible architecture, historical wonders, experience different cultures, and be awestruck by breathtaking natural beauty all while on a cruise. Each year 13 or so cruise lines offer World Cruises. And, starting in winter 2023-2024 we can count one more. The draw…

Which cruise line is the best to work for?
Crew Life | Understanding Ship Life Structure

Which Cruise Line is the Best to Work For? Questions to Ask Before Accepting a Job

Deciding which is the best cruise line to work for – even which cruise lines you want to apply to work for – should not be a simple decision to make. Just like there isn’t one cruise line that is right for all passengers, there isn’t one cruise line that is right for all crew….

World Cruises 2023
Life On Board

World Cruises 2023

It’s hard to imagine that we’re already talking about the World Cruises set to sail in 2023 – truth be told though many of these voyages went on sale months ago. World Cruises are often planned years in advance due to the complexity of the sailings – many times offering a full circumnavigation of the…

5 perks of working on a cruise ship
Crew Life | Understanding Ship Life Structure

Five Perks of Working on a Cruise Ship – From a Former Crewmember

There are a lot of perks of working on a cruise ship. Here we take a look at the top five. You see pictures of crew members partying, exploring the world, hanging out on a beach, and helicoptering onto glaciers. That can’t possibly be reality. Can it? As a former crew member that has done…

Best Laundry Detergent Sheets for Travel: EarthBreeze Review
Crew Life | Life On Board | Travel Tips and Tricks

Best Laundry Detergent Sheets for Travel: EarthBreeze Review

Laundry detergent sheets are among my favorite packing hacks for travel and Earth Breeze makes it easy. Check out my review of Earth Breeze laundry detergent sheets. I regularly pack my life into a suitcase for months at a time – and now I do that with a baby in tow. Anything that I can…

Reframing Misconceptions of Cruise Ship Officer Perks
Crew Life | Understanding Ship Life Structure

Reframing Some of the Misconceptions of Cruise Ship Officer Perks

Sometimes in life it can be a little too easy to think the grass is greener on another side. That job is better, my job is worse, etc. I recently ran into someone with a bit of this attitude in a Facebook group. He had some opinions about cruise ship Captains and Officers “only” working…

Travel Essentials
Packing | Travel | Travel Tips and Tricks

What’s the Most Important Travel Essential to Bring With You?

In my network of friends and past coworkers there are a lot of world-travelers. Many have been to over 100 countries and places like Antartica more times than they can count. So, when I posed the question, “What’s the most important travel essential to bring with you?” I got a myriad of answers. Some of…

How to Find Awesome Places To Visit In Scotland
Scotland | Travel

How To Find Awesome Places to Visit in Scotland

There are so many incredible places to see in Scotland. Castles, lochs (their word for lakes), the Highlands, incredible natural beauty, so many sheep, historical monuments, battlefields, and more. While driving around it’s not uncommon to see a castle off on a hillside and the sheep are in fact too numerous to count. In this…

2022 World Cruises Overview
Life On Board

2022 World Cruises Overview: More Common Than You Think

There was some big excitement recently when Viking Cruise Line announced their 136-day World Cruise. And, for good reason. We’re all living in this lock-down world and the promise of 4 months of pampering on Viking seems pretty incredible. Here’s the thing though – World Cruises are more common than you might think! These round…

Understanding Cruise Ship Officer Stripes
Crew Life | Understanding Ship Life Structure

Understanding Cruise Ship Officer Stripes

Let’s talk about stripes, baby. Nope, we’re not talking about zebras, we are talking about the stripes on the shoulders and sleeves of so many uniforms onboard a cruise ship. These stripes, more formally known as epaulettes, denote not only what rank an officer is, but can also offer insight into which department they work…

Getting to the Ship
Crew Life | First Cruise Ship Contract

Your First Cruise Ship Contract: Getting to the Ship

While it might be a little while still before cruising on a large scale resumes, (although, with the vaccine(s) and CDC Conditional-Sail-Order, who knows!), I am optimistically looking towards the future. In that spirit, I am starting a new series about what someone might expect and experience on their first cruise ship contract. This one…

Living Together on a Cruise Ship
Crew Life | Falling In Love At Sea

Falling in Love at Sea: Living Together On a Cruise Ship (By a Crew Member)

First comes love, then comes… living together on a cruise ship and in a tiny cabin for months at a time! Living together with a partner on a cruise ship is a wild experience. I met my husband working onboard and we still spend many months a year living together onboard. While Dating On a…

port days vs sea days
Crew Life | Life On Board

Port Days vs. Sea Days

At the beginning of my career working on cruise ships I was offered a contract that was going to Hawaii. I thought it was an incredible once in a lifetime experience. What I found was that my naïveté of cruise ship life was showing. The reason being, that while Hawaii is beautiful and wonderful, if…

The Jones Act & PVSA
Life On Board | Travel

What Is The Jones Act Cruise Ships Rule or Passenger Vessel Services Act?

The Jones Act cruise ships rule – officially called the Passenger Vessel Services Act – what does it mean for cruises? I worked onboard cruise ships for years and spent a contract going back and forth from San Diego to Hawaii. Each cruise we’d sail the 4 sea days across the Pacific, and then before…

Petra
Travel | Where I’ve Been

Al’Aqaba and Petra

In 2019 I had the opportunity to go to Petra, Jordan. To any Indiana Jones enthusiast, it’s also known as the location of the Holy Grail from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Petra in itself is not that close to the water. It’s about a 3-hour drive from the Port of Al’Aqaba, Jordan. We…

Two Days in Paris
France | Travel | Travel Journal

Two Days in Paris

A whole idea came about a while back for a couple of my girl friends to come stay in Scotland with my husband and I, and from there, “we should do a girls trip!” came about shortly after. After a bit of a stay in Scotland, Paris became our girls trip. We hopped on an…

Travel | Travel Journal | Travel Tips and Tricks

My Opinion on “Once In a Lifetime Experiences”

Today my friend and I were walking towards the Edinburgh Castle. For so many people they would consider that a Once In a Lifetime Experience. Edinburgh. Scotland. Castles. Bagpipes. Woohoo! For me it certainly isn’t, as I spend a good chunk of my year in Scotland, and for this friend I certainly don’t think it…