Yesterday MSC Cruises marked an important milestone in the building of MSC Seaside with the celebration of the traditional maritime coin ceremony held at the Monfalcone shipyard in Italy.

 As the first of the Seaside Class of ships, MSC Seaside has a revolutionary architectural design inspired by a beach condo concept, bringing guests and the sea closer as well as enhancing the beauty of the natural surroundings while at sea. Every element of the ship has been designed to enable guests to enjoy the outdoors in every aspect of their life onboard, from cabins and suites with outdoor spaces, eating and drinking al fresco through to outdoor fitness facilities and luxury cabanas for spa treatments in the fresh air.

 MSC Seaside will be the first ship in the MSC Cruises’ fleet to be christened in the United States, sailing in the Caribbean year-round from the Port of Miami starting in December 2017. MSC Seaside will be the fifth MSC ship offering cruises in the Caribbean.

Luxury travel brand Cunard partnered with the largest provider of wine and spirits qualifications in the world, WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust), to launch certified wine and spirit courses for its passengers.

The partnership with Cunard is the first time WSET courses will be available to guests on a Transatlantic and round-world cruise line with WSET courses initially available on Queen Mary 2’s westbound Transatlantic crossings and world voyages. Courses are expected to be available on Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth later in 2017.

Guests aboard crossings from Southampton to New York can embark on a 5-day course to achieve WSET Level 1 Award in Wines. The course gives a hands-on introduction to the world of wine in an interactive and relaxed atmosphere for beginners, while covering the basics of wine types and styles through sight, smell, and taste, as well as how to store and serve wine and pair with food.

When thinking about where you want to go to escape the winter blues, why not take a cruise? 

“Aside from the chance to escape to tropical destinations on a floating vacation, there are plenty of other enticements to cruise in December, January and February,” reports U.S. News and World Report’s Tanner Callais. 

One reason to consider a winter cruise is the price. 

As more and more people go on a cruise aimed at individuals who share a specific interest, we take a look at the increasing phenomenon.

Show-stopping rock band Kiss were always going to go the extra - nautical - mile.

Not content with filling stadiums around the world, and selling more than 100 million records, the face-painted, fire-breathing US hard rockers also have their own navy.

Every autumn Kiss hire a huge cruise liner to sail around the Caribbean for a week with 2,300 of their diehard fans. This year will be their sixth voyage, or Kiss Kruise VI.

The band perform two shows on the ship, and fans get to meet and hang out with the four band members.

Currently on its way to Miami, Florida for the first time from the Mediterranean, Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ brand new Seven Seas Explorer is preparing for the Caribbean with a series of Gourmet Explorer Tours.

Beginning in December, the liner, said to be “the most luxurious ship ever built,” will make its North American and Caribbean debut sailing on 10- and 14-night voyages this winter and next spring. Besides the special shore excursions, the ship will also present new courses at its onboard Culinary Arts Kitchen.

The Culinary Arts Kitchen is ideally situated on deck 11 with scenic ocean views and 18 individual cooking stations.

While there’s been lots of buzz about big cruise ships as of late, it’s not just the gargantuan floating palaces of the sea that offer a wonderful cruise experience. In fact, I’d argue that most of the cruisers I meet (myself included) count small ships among their favourite cruise experiences. And one of my favourite small-ship lines is Windstar Cruises.

Based out of Seattle, Windstar has a fleet of six unique ships. Wind Star, Wind Spirit and Wind Surf are all known as “motor-ship-yachts” thanks to their masts of billowing white sails, but decidedly cruise-like on-board amenities. Of the three, Wind Surf is the biggest, with a capacity for 310 guests. Wind Star and Wind Surf are smaller; these identical sister-ships carry just 148 guests apiece.

Windstar also has three “power yachts” — small, luxury cruise ships that the line recently acquired from Seabourn. Known as Star Breeze, Star Legend and Star Pride, these ships have just 212 guests and no sails — but what they lack in sail power, they make up for in terms of lavish accommodations. Suites are, on average, larger aboard these power yachts, which longtime cruisers might remember better under their former names of Seabourn Legend, Seabourn Pride and Seabourn Spirit.

New ships are entering service at a rapid rate this year and one of the most anticipated in the industry, Seabourn Encore, was delivered to Seabourn today during an official handover ceremony at the Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera, Italy.

Seabourn Encore joins the fleet of ultra-stylish ships operated by Seabourn that offer all-inclusive fares, exceptional cuisine, seamless service and a chic but not stuff country club-like onboard ambience. 

The ship begins pre-inaugural sailings this Sunday and on Dec. 20 with VIPs, travel writers and a small number of guests as it gets ready for its christening Jan. 7 in Singapore.

Seabourn president Richard Meadows calls Seabourn Encore "a stunning ship that will set a new standard in ultra-luxury cruising."

The 600-passenger, all-balcony-suites Encore will deliver the high levels of personalized service expected by the line's upscale clientele along with a high staff to guest ratio.

Alternative cruises: what's available for the cruiser who's done the usual Caribbean & Mediterranean cruises? The Travelling Boomer looks at 5 alternatives

In my last post, I surveyed the cruise itineraries that are the biggest favourites with North American cruisers. But what about some alternative cruises for those who’ve already been to the Caribbean and the Mediterranean? One of the dangers of cruising is that after you’ve done a few cruises, it’s hard not to retrace your steps. So let’s go looking for something different.Happily, there’s no shortage of alternative cruises in the wide world of cruising. Even the major cruise lines now ply almost every part of every ocean. There are cruises that choose one region to explore, and others that cover thousands of nautical miles to show you an entire part of the world — or even the whole world.

I have a generous friend who always likes to send his relatives or pals Bon Voyage gifts to enjoy on board their ship and he always calls for advice on what to send. “They charge so much for wine,” he says, “and also many of my friends don’t drink, so what else is there?”

Well, Princess Cruises has the answer. The line has introduced “Sailabration” packages that can be booked online at Princess's Cruise Personalizer or at princess.com/gifts.

You can spoil them with the “Pamper Me” package, which includes a day at the Lotus Spa, or the “Breakfast Lovers” that includes their morning meal served on their private balcony.

Carnival Cruise Line said it has improved its shore excursion program, adding some excursions exclusive to Carnival and creating a program of free excursions for children younger than 5.The Only on Carnival tour options are available in Cozumel, Mexico; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; and St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. An example is the Photo Safari & Beach Expedition in Cozumel, which takes place over two days. The tour begins with a one-hour photo seminar onboard led by the ships' photographers who offer tips on camera equipment, lighting, photo composition and more. The tour continues the following day with a visit to Mexican beaches and a national park where participants are offered a hands-on demonstration to "Capture the Moments that Matter."

We stress the importance of buying travel insurance, and you should not buy it from the cruise line or tour company you are dealing with. If they should go bankrupt, you have lost your insurance. This might sound unlikely, but we did have 21 companies declare bankruptcy the same day so it does happen. Use a third-party company.

Your cruise holiday is a voyage of a lifetime and we can help you protect your valuable investment.

__Q: Last November, my wife and I and another couple took a Viking cruise, Portraits of Southern France, on the Saône and Rhone rivers. Of the seven nights of the cruise, we spent six tied to a dock because of high water caused by abnormally heavy rain the week before. We were bused to most of the places we were supposed to visit.

I looked online and discovered this was a frequent problem, and this ship often did not cruise for the seven promised days. I also spoke to a crew member, who admitted, quietly, that it happened at least 50 percent of the time.

When I contacted Viking after returning home, they offered us about $240 each toward another cruise. After paying almost $7,000, that is unacceptable. We booked a Viking cruise because we believed it would offer us an exceptional journey through southern France. Instead, we spent six days tied to a dock and had two-hour rides on a bus. Could you help us secure more substantial compensation? —Paul B., Vero Beach, Florida__

A: As I said to Paul in our initial reply, we don’t usually pursue river-cruise cases that are affected by high or low water levels. This is true even when they become, in many ways, bus tours. We know cruise lines are not obligated to offer compensation when they must change itineraries for reasons outside their control.