Already popular for the fine cuisine served across its fabulous fleet of luxury liners, Regent Seven Seas is taking the flavors farther with culinary-inspired shore excursions on its sparkling new Seven Seas Explorer inaugural season in the Mediterranean, which begins tomorrow, July 13.

The one-of-a-kind, flavorful epicurean adventures ashore will feature several exquisite gourmet restaurants and the hands-on Culinary Arts Kitchen. The new collection of Gourmet Explorer Tours will enhance and expand upon the curriculum offered at the Culinary Arts Kitchen aboard the ship by providing adventures that allow guests to explore the destination and local culture through its epicurean offerings. Each tour, which will be escorted by the chef instructor from the Culinary Arts Kitchen and a local guide, is a wine and food lover’s dream come true.

When you call your newest cruise ship “the most luxurious ship ever built,” you must be able to back it up. So what sets Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ 750-guest, 55,254-ton Seven Seas Explorer apart … and is it truly above and beyond?

There are the obvious features. Consider that the Regent Suite, the biggest and most opulent on the ship, measures a whopping 4,443 square feet. Not only does it boast a $250,000 custom-designed Steinway Arabesque grand piano, the bed is worth more than many homes. It has a Savoir No. 1 mattress worth $90,000, and between linens, the duvet, pillows and installation, the bed alone ended up costing about $150,000.

While those are over-the-top luxury features, the important thing is that the luxurious feel extends throughout the ship, not just in the fanciest suite.

What happened on cruise ships used to stay on cruise ships -- at least until the boat reached the next port.

One of the remaining Internet-free places on the planet, passengers could spend days wallowing in isolation unless they spent serious cash on a telegram or ship-to-shore call.

Then, in 1999 Norwegian Cruise Lines introduced the first on-board Internet café.

And nothing much changed.

Because, even though cruise lines have been rolling out connectivity at sea ever since, coverage has been frustratingly patchy, slow and expensive.

It's changing now though.

Over the last few years, cruise lines have been improving their satellite technology to boost connection speeds and working out ways to accommodate different budgets.

Super luxury line Silversea is expanding its popular Silver Select platform to a dozen more voyages during 2017. The creative program allows passengers to personalize their voyage with a choice of three savings options such as a $1,500 per suite on board spending credit that you use for spa treatments, shore excursions or boutique buys (tips and drinks are included in Silversea fares). You can also score a two-category suite upgrade, or 50% off a second suite. For select expedition voyages, the line is offering the choice of a two-category suite upgrade or 50% off a second suite.

Swiss-based MSC Cruises — the largest privately owned cruise line and brand market leader in Europe, South America and South Africa — just announced details about its next-generation ship, MSC Meraviglia, which will debut in the Mediterranean on June 4, 2017.

The super ship offer plenty of innovations such as a 315 foot long indoor promenade with LED dome. Here are some other highlights:

It’s not your grandpa’s riverboat, no siree. Luxury travel company Crystal Cruises has revealed the latest wow factors of the first of seven super-elegant riverboats, the highly innovative Crystal Mozart.

The new ships, set to launch in spring and summer of 2017, is expected to set a new standard for luxury river cruising experiences. Crystal River Cruises' new river yachts will showcase stylish and elegant design, creative itineraries and experiences ashore, and unmatched genuine service, the cruise line says. 

Expanding on its Galapagos Islands product, Celebrity Cruises is launching new itineraries and expedition ships, upping the fleet to three. Joining the Celebrity Xpedition are the Celebrity Xploration and Celebrity Xperience in March 2017. The trio of ships will provide six itineraries to 15 islands and over 30 total ports.

In preparation, the eight-stateroom Celebrity Xploration catamaran and 24-cabin Celebrity Xperience yacht will each receive multi-million dollar refurbishments to bring them up to Celebrity Cruises standards. The Xploration features window or veranda accommodations, and both come outfitted with luxurious bedding, LCD televisions and high-speed internet connections. Fine dining will also be crafted by the line’s Michelin-starred chef, delivered by attentive service.

A couple of years ago, when you heard people say they were going on a cruise you would normally picture retirees in straw hats, sandals and brightly colored and flowered shirts.

Nowadays cruise travel passengers include the young, middle aged and, of course the retirees.

But what has changed? Well for beginners, cruise ship companies have made it very attractive for passengers, and the younger, hipper crowds are starting to realize that maybe it makes sense to go on a cruise, see several different countries in one trip and eat, drink and party to their heart's content.In addition to this, cruise companies have done extensive market research and turned out many new destinations, new activities, both on-ship and onshore, as well as created themed cruises, increased the length of cruise trips and are putting water slides, rock climbing and even bars operated with robotic tenders on new ships, all in an effort to facilitate the changing patterns of the cruise ships travel market.

Better start saving that vacation time: Regent Seven Seas Cruises has announced a new 137-night Navigate the World cruise for 2018 on the luxe 490-passenger Seven Seas Navigator. 

Beginning and ending in Los Angeles, the 38,528-nautical-mile, five-continent voyage departs on January 18, 2018, and is focused on the southern hemisphere, with stops in 28 countries and 64 ports of call.

After a gala at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, the ship will sail for Hawaii, French Polynesia, American Samoa, and Fiji; hit several ports in Australia and New Zealand; and then head to Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia.

Next up are several stops in South Africa, followed by Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil in South America, and Aruba and Curacao in the Caribbean. Finally, the ship will make its way through the Panama Canal and up the Central American coast to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Guatemala before docking in L.A on May 25, 2018.

A visit to Seattle often means taking some time to enjoy Elliott Bay, Puget Sound, and the surrounding islands or peninsulas during a day trip. One of the easiest ways to do this is to hop onto one of the numerous ferries that operate in the region. You can walk onto any of them as a passenger, or take your vehicle for an interesting day trip, and spend less than $10 per person, it really is superb value for money. However, if you want to have more time to explore the local waterways of Seattle and take a pretty awesome vacation at the same time, then a cruise is definitely an option for you to consider.

There are quite a few tempting options out there when it comes to Seattle cruise departures, but some stand out more than others. These are our picks on the 5 best cruises to take from Seattle…

American Cruise Lines

Norwegian Cruise Line

Victoria Clipper

Princess Cruises

Holland America Line

Half Moon Cay is a slice of heaven just floating in the Caribbean. Half Moon Cay is one of the 700 islands that make up the archipelago of the Bahamas. Less than 100 miles from Nassau lies the private island Half Moon Cay, a tropical paradise for those cruising with Holland America Line. Our first taste of the Bahamas was with on our Holland America Line Eastern Caribbean cruise, which included a day at Half Moon Cay.

Holland America purchased the island in 1996 for a steal for only $6 million, and has since invested $15 million to create the private island paradise for passengers on the line’s Caribbean and Panama Canal sailings. Carnival ships sometimes visit as well, as Holland America is part of the Carnival Corp. The island wasn’t always called Half Moon Cay, for most of its existence the island was known as Little San Salvador Island.

We’ve all been there.

The trip is all set, but things aren’t fitting together quite as smoothly as one might like. Between this, that and the other thing with connecting flights, drive time to and from the airport and all sorts of life’s little hurdles, you’re left with hours — sometimes a full day — between getting to Florida and the departure time for that dream cruise. 

Don’t stress out or hole up in a boring hotel room. Instead, enjoy the best of what Cape Canaveral and the surrounding area has to offer. This is vacation! You’re supposed to have fun! Start now and do it in style.