Updated June 24, 2026: We’ve refreshed this article with the exact points we used, the November 4 concert date, and clearer notes on how this Marriott Bonvoy Moments redemption fits into our real-life trip reports. Sometimes points are about saving money on a hotel room. Sometimes they are about making a trip easier. And sometimes…
Royal Caribbean is one of the cruise lines we expect to research more over time. We have not built the same depth of Royal Caribbean content yet that we have with Norwegian, and we are not going to pretend we have deep personal experience where we do not. But Royal Caribbean is too important in…
We first saw Choir of Man on Norwegian Escape, and it quickly became one of those cruise ship shows we knew we would happily watch again. So when we saw it was part of the entertainment lineup on Norwegian Bliss, it immediately became one of the shows we wanted to work the rest of our…
Some cruises are built around the obvious destinations. Alaska. The Caribbean. Europe. Mexico. The Mediterranean. And then there are repositioning cruises — the sailings that quietly move a ship from one part of the world to another when the cruise line is shifting seasons. They may not always get the same attention, but repositioning cruises…
Princess Cruises makes its fare structure look simple at first. You can book the standard cruise fare, or you can add one of the bigger bundled packages: Princess Plus or Princess Premier. But the real question is not, “Which one has more stuff?” The better question is: Which one would we actually use enough to…
Oceania Cruises is one of those cruise lines we think is worth understanding, even though we are not going deep into full personal reviews yet. We have spent a lot more time writing about Norwegian Cruise Line because that is where much of our personal cruise experience has been. We have also started building out…
Some cruises are about the ship. Some cruises are about the ports. And some cruises are about realizing that a trip does not have to be long, expensive, or packed with paid excursions to feel like a really good travel decision. Our 5-night Norwegian Bliss repositioning cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver in April 2026…
Cruise specialty dining sounds simple until you actually have to decide where to use the credit. Do you go familiar? Do you pick the steakhouse? Or do you try something a little outside your comfort zone? On our April 2026 Norwegian Bliss repositioning cruise, we finally tried Le Bistro for the first time. Since we…
Basic Economy can look like a great deal when you are booking a flight. The price is lower.The flight time is the same.The destination is the same.And at first glance, it feels like an easy way to save money. But Basic Economy is one of those travel decisions where the cheapest price is not always…
How Road Trips and Remote Hotels Can Stretch Your Points Further When people think about traveling with points, the images that usually come to mind are big cities, luxury hotels, and aspirational stays. But one of the biggest lessons we’ve learned over the years is this: Some of the best trips — and some of…
