Maximize Your Cruise Vacation With Europe Express: Exploring Beyond the Ports

Two days into a Disney World vacation with my husband Anthony, our two daughters, and my in-laws, I became very sick. With a fever of 103, I shook with chills, ached all over, and dry-heaved repeatedly.

When I told my family I was planning a trip to Hong Kong, they responded, "Why? Isn't Hong Kong similar to Singapore?"

It was the summer of 2022 when my family of four descended, via bus and train, from the relatively temperate and isolated peaks of Switzerland into a hot, crowded, Italian summer. My Pacific Northwest children, then 7 and 9, were not built to handle heat. When I pulled out my camera on a crowded ferry my daughter let her head loll back and moaned, "Document my misery!"

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Hotel pools in Greece could be filled with seawater this summer as the country’s parliament debates new legislation to tackle drought.

Jan 16, 2025 • 12 min read

Family vacations are one of those things I plan yearly that bring excitement and nausea.

By the time my kids, Mila and Joe, were tweens, they’d become pretty savvy travelers. We had traveled as a family all over Mexico and Central America, to French Polynesia, and around Southeast Asia—Joe had even tagged along with me on a work trip to Egypt. But a family trip to Europe? Nope. I had been urged by a few well-traveled friends to save Europe for a time when my children would really appreciate it, when they could enthusiastically spend not just hours but consecutive days wandering museums and historical sites, when their palettes could handle sophisticated flavors, and when 10 p.m. dinners wouldn’t destroy the following day. I’m not sure why I chose to listen to this parenting advice while cavalierly ignoring all sorts of other cautionary tales and whispered warnings, especially since my kids ate everything, had been visiting museums since their toddler days, and frequently stayed up to 1 a.m. But I did, and year after year, kept punting on a family trip to Italy or Greece, countries I knew and loved and couldn’t wait to share with my kids when the time was right.

Princess Cruises is setting sail with country music in an exciting new collaboration with the Academy of Country Music (ACM). In early 2025, the partnership is launching its ACM Live from the Red Barrel Lounge concert series, bringing intimate live performances by emerging country artists aboard the Regal Princess. Guests cruising the Western Caribbean on select voyages departing Galveston from February 9 to March 17, will enjoy unforgettable shows and personal meet-and-greets with breakout country music artists. 

Adding hotel stays before and after your cruise might seem like an unnecessary expense, but travel experts suggest these bookends can transform your vacation experience. While cruise vacations already represent a significant investment, the benefits of pre- and post-cruise accommodations often outweigh their costs.

Up until a few months ago, if someone had asked me if I had ever been to or heard of Bonaire, an island in the Dutch Caribbean, I probably would’ve given them a puzzled look and answered, “Bon-where?”

NATO member states will have to find ways to increase joint purchases and use existing infrastructure, or face an increase in defence spending of up to 3.7% of their GDP. The transatlantic military alliance's secretary general, Mark Rutte, told the European Parliament on Monday.