Japanese hot tubs and amenities on the Diamond Princess
The on board Izumi Japanese Bath features indoor and outdoor bathing experiences ($15 for 90 minute visit), including misted steam room, sauna, Jacuzzi and hot tubs, some open to the sky.
On a cruise – options for dining vary on taste and budget
Like other cruise lines, Princess offers specialty restaurants on board for which you pay an extra fee.
Like on other cruise lines, the specialty restaurants offer an enhanced experience.
Shore excursions: Cranes, marshes, pluses and minuses
We’re in Kushiro, Japan, on the island of Hokkaido, and are visiting the Japanese Crane Reserve on a shore excursion from the Diamond Princess, which is spending the morning here.
East meets West on a Princess Cruise in Japan
Until I came aboard in Yokohama, I hadn’t thought much about the cruise experience being educational but here, with more than 1000 Japanese passengers, we westerners are getting a lesson in Japanese culture and food.
On a multigenerational cruise with Windstar in Scotland
The 91-year-old had chosen the Windstar Star Legend, a 212-passenger ship for a cruise with her 17-year-old grandson— one of three yachts without the line’s famous sails that the company has recently acquired from Seabourn
Cruise shore excursions: go with a group or on your own?
When you take a cruise, you can opt for a shore excursion offered by the cruise line, or you can take your own, often booking local guides.
At Scotland’s Fort George: a youth bagpipe band
Tour buses took us to Fort George, where the Inverness Youth Band with 30-plus members –drummers as young as nine and led by adults are “Beating Retreat,” performing a traditional military ceremony 16th Century England.
At sea with Windstar – connecting families and generations
Of the 204 passengers, there are 117 who have sailed Windstar, some as many as 11 times. While you may think of this as a cruise line for adults, I’ve been thinking of this as a way for grown and mostly grown kids to connect with parents and grandparents, sharing new experiences.
A hidden gem of a restaurant in Scotland
Three Chimneys Restaurant and six-room inn is on an out of the way stretch of road on the Isle of Skye where you brake for sheep crossing the road and the fish you eat for lunch might have been caught that morning, the lettuce just harvested.
Learning about the origins of the Titantic in Belfast
We are on day two of our cruise aboard the Windstar yacht Star Legend – the Gaelic Explorers tour. We’ve anchored in Portrush and taken an excursion bus for the one-hour trip to Belfast to learn about the building of the Titantic.