Royal Caribbean’s new "Genesis" class cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, arrived this morning in Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale, Florida). 

It looks big. 

Here are two videos.  The first by the Miami Herald shows the arrival of the cruise ship in port.  The second by CBS News, featuring Peter Greenberg, is an introductory piece.

Prayers for

Over the past week, those of you who read my blog but don’t Twitter missed the remarkable phenomenon of bickering between a small group of travel bloggers invited by Princess Cruises to promote cruising under the hash tag #followmeatsea – and a larger group of green travelers who could not stomach the wow-cruising-is-amazing tone of the tweets.  

"Bickering" may be an understatement.  The

This morning I read an interesting article regarding the cruise industry’s nasty practice of dumping raw sewage just three miles offshore and, sometimes, in state waters.

Fox News ran an article entitled "Federal Agencies Raise Alarm About Cruise Dumping."  Its "fair and balanced" report included some disturbing facts:

"Raw sewage contains disease pathogens and toxins, impairs the respiratory

Earlier this month, I announced that I will be awarding the "Worst Cruise Line in the World" award to the cruise line demonstrating the worst in gross negligence and indifference towards passenger and crew member health and safety. This will be a monthly award. 

Over the past month, we have received many e-mails nominating a variety of cruise lines and a

Today Carnival issued a press release which reported profits of $1,100,000,000 for the third quarter ending August 31, 2009. The cruise line collected revenues from passengers of over $4,000,000,000 in the last three months.

This announcement of Carnival’s over-a-billion-dollars-in-profits comes two days after the Carnival dominated "Alaska" Cruise Association filed a lawsuit against Alaska over the $50-a-passenger tax.

Four days ago, the

The cruise industry has picked a fight with Alaska over the $50 tax designed to protect the state. The lawsuit, which is posted online, indicates that the lawsuit was filed by a trade organization called, interesting enough, the "Alaska Cruise Association."

"Alaskan Cruise Association" – Made in Miami, Florida 

There is nothing remotely "Alaskan" about the "Alaska Cruise Association" (ACA).  The ACA is