Margaritaville poured millions of dollars into updating its older cruise ship. I'm not convinced it did enough.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ryan Gutridge, an IT professional who spends more than 300 days a year on a cruise ship. It has been edited for length and clarity.

A Carnival cruise ship rescued a couple from a sailboat stranded near the Bahamas early Monday morning, a spokesperson for the cruise line told Insider. 

During my six years working for two different cruise lines, I learned how much a cruiser's cabin can affect their onboard experience.

A photo of two children who appeared to be sitting on the railing of a cruise ship's balcony went viral, and people are calling for the operators to ban the kids' parents.

From major European cities to small US ports, coastal communities around the world are attempting to curb the number (and size) of massive cruise ships looming over their shores. 

Every year, retired cruise ships are sold to ship-breaking yards in Turkey and India where thousands of workers painstakingly dismantle the massive vessels and sell their parts for scrap. 

Packing for any type of vacation can be stressful, but packing for a cruise, where you likely won’t be able to pop into a Target or schedule an Amazon delivery to replace a missing item mid-trip, only adds to the anxiety. Frequent travelers are likely to have a cruise packing list that outlines what outfits to wear in each port, swimsuits to sport at the pool, and comfortable shoes to wear around the ship, all waiting to be marked off as you place them into your suitcase.

It’s a basic premise of savvy loyalty-program participation that the best return-on-investment is to be had by redeeming points for the program host’s own services. Airline miles are best redeemed for flights, and hotel points are best redeemed for free room nights. Sure, all major programs offer alternative award opportunities—consumer electronics, clothing, event tickets, and on and on—but when you do the math, it inevitably turns out that such options offer very poor value.

Enter the Wyndham “Have Points, Will Travel” sweepstakes by March 31, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: 1 million Wyndham Rewards points.

Yesterday’s crash landing of Emirates flight EK521 in Dubai generated a flood of images of panicked travelers, loaded down with their carry-on bags, fleeing the burning B777-300. The headline of Bloomberg’s coverage of the incident said it all: “Crashing, Burning Planes Don’t Stop Passengers From Grabbing Their Luggage.”

Enter the Conde Nast “Readers’ Choice Awards” sweepstakes by June 1, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a 15-day Viking River Cruises trip for two from Amsterdam to Budapest, including air and transfers.