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Posted Oct 28, 2026
Carnival just announced it is pulling Carnival Luminosa out of Australia, and her farewell sailing is a beauty. On March 15, 2028, Luminosa sails from…
Posted Oct 27, 2026
Carnival Firenze sails from Long Beach to Miami the long way, and almost nobody is talking about it.
Posted Oct 26, 2026
I just put a hold on a cruise for ME. That does not happen as often as you would think. Carnival Liberty. Fourteen days. Caribbean…
Posted Oct 24, 2026
Every Panama Canal cruise out of Texas makes you fly home from somewhere. This is the only one where that’s the best part of the…
Posted Oct 24, 2026
Not every cruise with “Panama” in the name goes through the Panama Canal. This one does not, and I would book it anyway. Let me…
Posted Oct 23, 2026
A thirteen thousand dollar cruise out of Galveston is real. Regent Seven Seas Splendor sails 17 nights round trip over Christmas, and the fare includes…
Posted Oct 23, 2026
One cruise. 18 Caribbean ports. Round trip from Miami. Holland America Line Zuiderdam sails a 28-day Pan Am 100th Anniversary voyage from Miami, October 30…
Posted Oct 22, 2026
Most people think getting to Europe means a long flight in a middle seat. It doesn’t have to. Cruise ships cross the Atlantic every spring…
Posted Oct 17, 2026
Fourteen Nights, Seven Ports, One New Orleans Departure: Carnival Liberty This is more interesting than another quick run to Mexico. Carnival Liberty has a 14-night…
Posted Oct 16, 2026
Wait a minute. The 4 night cruise costs more than the 5 night? It does, and it is exactly why Galveston is the port to…
Posted Oct 13, 2026
Icon of the Seas is coming to Galveston. Sail January 9, 2028: 7 nights to Roatán, Costa Maya, and Cozumel from $1,101.70 per person, taxes…
Posted Oct 9, 2026
Fly to Miami, cruise Aruba, Curaçao and Grand Cayman, then sail home to Galveston aboard Margaritaville at Sea Beachcomber! 9 nights · September 25–October 4,…
Want help with this cruise? Include its name in your Cruise Planning Request.
Carnival just announced it is pulling Carnival Luminosa out of Australia, and her farewell sailing is a beauty. On March 15, 2028, Luminosa sails from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles, California. 23 days. One way. The slow way home.
Here is the whole itinerary, and it is mostly ocean: Sydney, then Papeete in Tahiti, Moorea in French Polynesia, Honolulu, and Kahului on Maui, then Los Angeles. Four port stops. The other 16 days are sea days. She crosses the International Date Line on day 5, so one calendar day simply repeats itself, and crosses the Equator on day 13.
This is the kind of sailing that usually belongs to the luxury lines at luxury prices. A true Pacific crossing, Tahiti included, on a Carnival ship is a different conversation.
Luminosa is not the only Pacific news in the announcement. Carnival Adventure leaves Sydney on March 20, 2028 for Tokyo, then sails a Tokyo roundtrip, then crosses from Tokyo to Seattle on April 16, 2028. Sydney to Seattle in three legs, if you want the long way north instead.
These farewell sailings are one-time repositioning cruises. When they are gone, they are gone, and the ships settle into their new North American seasons.
Thinking about a crossing like this? Start Planning with me and we will look at your options, cabin by cabin, before the good ones disappear.
Carnival Firenze sails from Long Beach to Miami the long way, and almost nobody is talking about it.
Everybody knows the short way from California to Florida. You fly over it, or a ship cuts through the Panama Canal and calls it done.
Carnival Firenze is doing neither.
In January 2027, Firenze leaves Long Beach, California, turns south, and just keeps going. Down the whole Pacific coast of South America. Through the Chilean fjords. Around Cape Horn, the bottom of the world, where the Pacific and the Atlantic argue with each other. Up the other side past Brazil, into the Caribbean, and home to Miami.
Forty-five nights. One ship. No flights in the middle, no changing ships, no hauling your suitcase across a foreign dock at midnight. The legs click together like train cars, because each one sails the same day the one before it arrives.
Here is the part that got me: you do not have to take all 45 nights. The chain is built out of three separate cruises, and you can ride one, two, or the whole beautiful thing.
Cristi flagged this ship back in December 2025:
Departs Monday, January 4, 2027.
This is the Pacific side, top to bottom. Acapulco first, a warm-up. Then a crossing of the Equator, with all the silly ceremony that comes with it. Manta, Ecuador. Callao, the port for Lima, Peru. Coquimbo, Chile. Then Valparaiso, the port for Santiago, on January 19.
Long, lazy sea days in there too, and I mean that as a selling point. This leg is a slow slide down a continent most of us have only seen on a globe.
Sails Tuesday, January 19, 2027, the same day Leg 1 pulls in.
This is the leg people dream about and almost never book, because it is hard to get to. Unless your ship is already there. Which yours is.
Darwin Channel. The Chilean fjords. Amalia Glacier. The Strait of Magellan. The Beagle Channel. A stop in Ushuaia, Argentina, the city that bills itself as the end of the world, and it has earned the title. Then scenic cruising past Cape Horn itself. Puerto Madryn. Montevideo, Uruguay. Buenos Aires on February 2.
I have written a lot of itineraries. Fjords, a glacier, two famous channels, and the Horn, all in fourteen days, is a stack that does not happen by accident. Carnival put this ship on this route on purpose.
Sails Tuesday, February 2, 2027, again the same day the ship arrives.
Rio de Janeiro. During Brazilian Carnival. Let me say that slower, because it matters: the ship is in Rio while the biggest party on earth is happening in the streets.
Then a solar eclipse, watched from the deck at sea, which is the correct way to watch one. Maceio, Brazil. A second Equator crossing, because this trip collects them. Grenada. Martinique. St. Maarten. And Miami on February 18, where Firenze starts her new life as an East Coast ship.
One heads-up on this leg, because I will always tell you the fine print: the inside and ocean view cabins on Leg 3 are already gone. Balconies are what is left. If Rio during Carnival plus an eclipse sounds like your kind of story, this is not the leg to think about for a month.
It is for the person who reads a 45-night itinerary and feels something happen in their chest instead of reaching for a calculator.
It is for anybody who has said “someday I want to sail around South America” and watched someday stay put. This is the shape of it. One mainstream ship, one familiar cruise line, prices that live in the real world, and a route that used to belong to world cruises and retirement money.
And it is modular, which is the quiet genius of it. Fourteen nights around the Horn. Fifteen down the Pacific. Sixteen up through Carnival and an eclipse. Stack the pieces that fit your life.
How do I know these sailings are real? I have access to Carnival’s booking engine, and I pulled every price on this page from it myself on October 27, 2026. What I do not have is a link to live pricing for this chain, because my website backend is not pulling these three sailings yet, so you will not find them in the online cruise search. Do not go hunting in there, it will hand you other Long Beach cruises and waste your time. If you would like current pricing, please contact me. My phone number and email are at the bottom of every page of this site.
Prices pulled October 27, 2026, per person, taxes included, double occupancy:
| Leg | Interior | Ocean View | Balcony |
| Leg 1, Long Beach to Valparaiso, 15 nights | $1,284 | $1,764 | $2,144 |
| Leg 2, Valparaiso to Buenos Aires, 14 nights | $1,398 | $2,068 | $2,518 |
| Leg 3, Buenos Aires to Miami, 16 nights | Sold out | Sold out | $3,090 |
Solo prices, one guest in the cabin, taxes included, same pull date:
| Leg | Interior | Ocean View | Balcony |
| Leg 1, Long Beach to Valparaiso, 15 nights | $2,464 | $3,424 | $4,184 |
| Leg 2, Valparaiso to Buenos Aires, 14 nights | $2,656 | $3,996 | $4,896 |
| Leg 3, Buenos Aires to Miami, 16 nights | See note below | See note below | See note below |
Leg 3 is not pulling as a solo option in the booking engine at all. And as of a few hours after I pulled these prices, this leg appears to be sold out entirely, but things change. Cabins come back. If you want that last leg, as a single or for two, contact me and I can call Carnival to verify what is actually there.
Each leg books on its own, so tell me which pieces you want and I will put them together in order.
Leg 1, Long Beach to Valparaiso, Jan 4 to Jan 19, 2027
Leg 2, Valparaiso to Buenos Aires, Jan 19 to Feb 2, 2027
Leg 3, Buenos Aires to Miami, Feb 2 to Feb 18, 2027
Want the full tour first? Take the pretty version, with the map and the whole chain in blocks:
Ready to price it and book it with Cristi? Start here:
One ship. Two oceans. The bottom of the world in the middle. January will be here before you know it.
#CarnivalFirenze #SouthAmericaCruise #CapeHorn #CruiseDeals
Note: the cruise search does not carry these three Firenze sailings. The prices are on this page, and Cristi can price the chain for you.
I just put a hold on a cruise for ME. That does not happen as often as you would think.
Carnival Liberty. Fourteen days. Caribbean and Panama. Sailing out of New Orleans on November 28, 2027.
Look at this lineup: Montego Bay, Aruba, Curaçao, Cartagena, Colón, Limón, Cozumel. Aruba and Curaçao are the two ports everybody wishes their western Caribbean cruise would swap in, and this one just hands them to you in the middle of fourteen nights.
Full honesty, because that is the deal around here: the ship docks at Colón. It does not sail through the Panama Canal. If you want the locks, there is a ferry excursion that does them. I knew that going in and I picked it anyway. The full transit is a someday trip. This one is about the route.
And the part that got me: I have never sailed out of New Orleans. Never even been to New Orleans. I have sent a small army of you down that river and never once stood on the dock myself. That ends next November.
The hold is mine until Tuesday. Then the deposit makes it real.
Want this same route? Price it here: https://book.myagentgenie.com/swift/cruise/package/1606972–Journeys—14-Day-Caribbean—Panama?siid=1246551&lang=1
Every Panama Canal cruise out of Texas makes you fly home from somewhere. This is the only one where that’s the best part of the trip.
On April 25, 2027, the Disney Magic leaves Galveston for 14 nights and does not come back. She sails to Cozumel, then Cartagena, and on May 1 she does the real thing: a full transit of the Panama Canal, 4:00 in the morning to 4:00 in the afternoon, Atlantic to Pacific, locks and all, with your kids watching from the rail and Mickey on board for the whole ride. Then it’s four slow Pacific sea days, Cabo San Lucas, Ensenada, and on May 9 she docks in San Diego, California.
San Diego. As in, Disneyland is up the road in Anaheim.
Read that the way a Disney family reads it: you sail with the characters, TO Disney. The ship is the first half of the vacation and the park is the second half, and no other cruise line on Earth can sell you both halves, because no other line owns the ship and the park.
This is also the honest Panama. Plenty of cruises put “Panama” in the name and mean a port stop at the Canal’s entrance, which is a fine day out but it is not crossing. This one crosses. Your family will be able to say they sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the locks, because they did.
The route, so you can plan around it:
Fares for this sailing, per person, taxes and fees included: inside from $3,010.52, ocean view from $3,402.52, verandah from $5,082.52, suites from $15,960.52. Fourteen nights of Disney, a Canal crossing, and a California landing at about $215 a night on the lead fare. The booking link shows live pricing, so what you see there is what’s real today.
One piece of straight talk: this is a one-way trip, so somebody in your party is flying home from California, or better, staying a few days and doing the parks first. Build that into the plan and the budget from the start and it’s a feature. Forget it and it’s a surprise.
Want every photo, deck plan, and port detail? Take the full tour. Ready to see your cabin price? Price it & book it.
Cristi Gilcrease, Waves of Fun Travel. I do the research. You take the trip.
Not every cruise with “Panama” in the name goes through the Panama Canal. This one does not, and I would book it anyway. Let me tell you why, because knowing the difference is the whole ballgame with Panama sailings.
This is the Carnival Liberty, a Carnival Journeys sailing, 14 days round trip out of New Orleans, November 29 to December 13, 2026. Journeys is Carnival’s limited series of longer, special sailings. When they’re gone, they’re gone.
Here is what “Panama” means on this one, straight: on December 8 the ship docks at Colón, Panama, from 9:00 AM to 6:30 PM. Colón sits at the Atlantic entrance of the Canal. Your ship does not sail through the locks on this itinerary. What you get is a full day at the Canal’s front door, with excursions that take you to the locks and the visitor centers to watch the ships that are transiting make the climb. For a lot of people that is the right amount of Panama: you see the engineering up close without spending a whole sea day in the ditch. Just know which one you’re buying. A transit cruise and a Colón cruise are cousins, not twins.
The rest of the route is why this sailing earns the push:
That is the ABC islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, and the Canal on one trip, with no flights. You drive to New Orleans and the ship does the rest.
And then there’s the part nobody puts on the flyer: leaving New Orleans is not like leaving Galveston. You don’t sail straight into the Gulf. You sail down the Mississippi River for hours first, riverbanks on both sides, before you ever see open water. It is the best sailaway in the Gulf and it isn’t close.
Come a day early and eat. It’s New Orleans. You know what to do.
Fares for this sailing, per person, taxes and fees included: interior from $976, balcony $2,206. It sails in five weeks, so this is a pay-in-full, pack-your-bag kind of decision, not a someday one. The booking link shows live pricing, so what you see there is what’s real today.
Want every photo, deck plan, and port detail? Take the full tour. Ready to see your cabin price? Price it & book it.
Cristi Gilcrease, Waves of Fun Travel. I do the research. You take the trip.
A thirteen thousand dollar cruise out of Galveston is real. Not a typo. Not a timeshare pitch. Regent Seven Seas Splendor, 17 nights round trip, and you wake up Christmas morning in George Town, Grand Cayman.
And before you ask, no, it does not just go to Cozumel and back three times. Here is where this ship actually goes: Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Punta Cana, San Juan, Tortola, Philipsburg in St. Maarten, Gustavia in St. Barts, St. John’s in Antigua, and George Town. Nine ports. So the next time someone tells you Galveston only does Cozumel runs, you can smile and know better.
Here is why Regent sailing from Galveston is a big deal. Cruise lines vote with steel. MSC built a terminal there. Disney winters there. Carnival parked its biggest ship class there. And now Regent, the fancy one, is sailing out of Texas. Galveston got audited by the cruise industry and passed.
So what is Regent, exactly? An all-suite ship, about 750 guests, no lines, no chaos, no fighting for a deck chair. The fare includes excursions in every port, drinks, specialty dining, Wi-Fi, gratuities, and even laundry. You get off the ship and there is no second bill waiting at home. That is the whole pitch.
Now the honest math. Take a cheap cruise, then add 17 nights of drink packages, specialty restaurants, excursions, Wi-Fi, and tips for two people, and the gap between that total and Regent’s fare gets a lot smaller than you think. Who is it not for? The waterslide crowd. And that is fine. It is not trying to be. If your perfect sea day involves a zip line and a belly flop contest, keep scrolling with my blessing.
Price stated plainly, because I hate guessing games: from $13,099 per guest for this sailing. Everything I listed above is included.
Sailing fast: 1 stateroom left at the $13,099 fare.
Want every photo, deck plan, and port detail? Take the full tour. Ready to see your suite price? Price it & book it.
Rather have me handle it? Drop me a line and I will take it from there. I do the research. You take the trip.
One cruise. 18 Caribbean ports. Round trip from Miami.
A hundred years ago, Pan Am’s flying boats, airplanes with boat hulls that landed on water, hopped these same harbors, back when the Caribbean had harbors everywhere and runways almost nowhere. In October 2027, Holland America Line’s Zuiderdam sails that same route to mark Pan Am’s 100th anniversary. Nine of these ports are original Pan Am Clipper stops.
Ports in order: Miami, Nassau, RelaxAway Half Moon Cay, Ocho Rios, Santo Domingo, San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Curacao, Aruba, Santa Marta, Cartagena, Colon, Puerto Limon, Belize City, Cozumel, Progreso, and back to Miami.
Some routes are too good to leave in the history books.
Rather have me handle it? Start Planning instead.
Most people think getting to Europe means a long flight in a middle seat. It doesn’t have to.
Cruise ships cross the Atlantic every spring and fall as they reposition for the season. Sail over on one ship, spend a few days in Europe, and come home on another. I matched 86 of these two-ship crossings ship to ship and date to date, and Alex and Jordan explain how it works in the first episode of Waves of Fun Weekly, posted on our Waves of Fun Facebook page.
The matched crossings, with maps, are in the Ship-Hop Atlas: https://wavesoffuntravel.com/ship-hop-atlas/
It is $39 at launch.
Catch ya on the next wave.
Fourteen Nights, Seven Ports, One New Orleans Departure: Carnival Liberty
This is more interesting than another quick run to Mexico. Carnival Liberty has a 14-night Carnival Journeys sailing from New Orleans, November 28 to December 12, 2027, with seven port calls across the Caribbean and Central America.
Carnival’s live itinerary page displayed an interior starting fare of $1,219 per person for a two-person room when checked October 14, 2026. Taxes and fees are included. That is a $2,438 starting room total for two before gratuities and optional extras. It is an advertised starting fare, not a cabin held for you or a promise it will still be available on Saturday.
Prices move, so check the live pricing for this exact sailing on my booking engine: https://book.myagentgenie.com/swift/cruise/package/1606972–Journeys—14-Day-Caribbean—Panama?siid=1246551&lang=1
You leave from New Orleans and get a much wider route than the usual short cruise: Montego Bay, Aruba, Curacao, Cartagena, Colon, Puerto Limon and Cozumel. If you can drive to New Orleans, you can consider this itinerary without adding a flight to another cruise port.
Aruba and Curacao together are enough to make me look twice. Add Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica, and now there is something worth actually researching. There is time before departure to plan the trip, unlike a last-minute sailing with barely enough time to find your suitcase.
November 28: Leave New Orleans.
November 29 and 30: Sea days.
December 1: Montego Bay, Jamaica.
December 2: Sea day.
December 3: Aruba.
December 4: Curacao.
December 5: Sea day.
December 6: Cartagena, Colombia.
December 7: Colon, Panama.
December 8: Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.
December 9: Sea day.
December 10: Cozumel, Mexico.
December 11: Sea day.
December 12: Return to New Orleans.
The itinerary labels Colon as the Panama Canal gateway. This is a port call. It does not say Carnival Liberty sails through the canal. If seeing the canal is your priority, compare the excursions, their timing, what you will actually see and what they cost before booking.
The $1,219 headline is the starting interior fare for two sharing. The displayed fare includes taxes and fees. Gratuities, drinks, specialty meals, Wi-Fi, excursions, travel protection, parking and travel to the port are separate budget considerations unless the selected offer expressly includes them.
A balcony, solo cabin price or family price is a different quote. Cancellation terms, deposits and payment dates also depend on the rate you select. No deposit amount or promotional bonus is promised in this post.
At the displayed starting rate, the fare is about $87 per person per night. That is a way to understand the fourteen-night cost, not a claim that this is the lowest price in the market or a discount from a verified previous fare.
This is for someone who wants a longer cruise, several different ports and a New Orleans departure. It is less useful if you only have a week off or would rather have fewer decisions about excursions. Fourteen nights also means thinking through the full vacation budget, not just getting excited about the fare badge.
Want me to check YOUR cabin and rate? Text CRUISE to 972-503-9910 or start at https://wavesoffuntravel.com/start-planning/
Fare checked October 14, 2026. Prices, inventory, port order and times can change. Your quote must be confirmed before booking.
Wait a minute. The 4 night cruise costs more than the 5 night?
It does, and it is exactly why Galveston is the port to watch right now. Four Royal Caribbean ships are sailing Western Caribbean out of Galveston, and the prices do not line up the way you would expect.
Liberty of the Seas: 5 nights, Cozumel and Costa Maya. From $359.94 per person, sailing January 9, 2027. That is $71.99 a night.
Mariner of the Seas: 4 nights, Cozumel. From $497.55 per person, sailing October 22, 2026. A shorter cruise at a higher price, and that date is this month, so it will not sit there long.
Symphony of the Seas: 7 nights, Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Roatan. From $607.44 per person, sailing February 28, 2027. At $86.78 a night, this is the value sleeper of the four.
Icon of the Seas: 7 nights, Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Roatan. From $1,101.70 per person, sailing January 9, 2028. Yes, Icon sails from Galveston. No flight to Miami required.
All four prices are inside cabins, per person, double occupancy, and they include taxes and fees. Select sailings, subject to availability, and cruise prices move without asking anybody.
See the live Galveston Royal Caribbean sailings and current prices here: https://book.myagentgenie.com/swift/cruise?siid=1246551&lang=1&cruiseline=8&destinationtype=All&departureports=GLS&durations=7-9,4-6&sortColumn=price&sortOrder=asc
Want one of these watched or booked? Text CRUISE to 972-503-9910, or start here: https://wavesoffuntravel.com/start-planning/
Texas… it’s HAPPENING. 🚢
Icon of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, is coming to GALVESTON, and you can sail on January 9, 2028!
Skip the flight to Florida. Drive to the port and set sail for:
🇭🇳 Roatán
🇲🇽 Costa Maya
🇲🇽 Cozumel
🌊 Plus THREE sea days to explore the world’s largest cruise ship!
Sunday, January 9 to Sunday, January 16, 2028 · 7 nights, round trip from Galveston
Day 1: Galveston, departs 4:30 PM
Day 2: At sea
Day 3: At sea
Day 4: Roatán, Honduras, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Day 5: Costa Maya, Mexico, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Day 6: Cozumel, Mexico, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Day 7: At sea
Day 8: Galveston, arrives 6:00 AM
Inside: $1,101.70
Oceanview: $1,301.20
Balcony: $1,302.20 (yes, a balcony is just $200.50 more than an inside)
Suite: $2,901.70
Prices and availability can change until booked.
At Waves of Fun Travel, I can help you book Icon of the Seas from Galveston based on your dates, budget, and cabin preferences.
Want live pricing? Book or check live pricing for this sailing here.
Looking at other dates? Browse all Icon of the Seas sailings here.
Cruise amenities, promotions, and inclusions are subject to change. Always verify the specific sailing and fare before booking.
⚓ Waves of Fun with Cristi
Fly to Miami, cruise Aruba, Curaçao and Grand Cayman, then sail home to Galveston aboard Margaritaville at Sea Beachcomber!
9 nights · September 25–October 4, 2027. Starting fares per person, double occupancy, including taxes and fees: Interior $749 · Oceanview $929 · Balcony $1,599 · Suite $2,999. Prices and availability may change.
Sailed with me before? I already have your ships, your cabin likes, your people's names. Nobody here repeats their history.
No. Same price as booking direct. The cruise line pays my commission out of their side. Book direct and they just keep it.
You can, and half my site is built for exactly that. Book through me and you get a person who knows these ships, watches your sailing, and picks up when something moves.
The cruise, and the research. The maps, the crossing homework, the free guides in the groups. Bookings fund all of it.
Booking with me is the best way to support the work. You get honest advice, a real person who remembers your last sailing, and homework done before you ever ask, while the commission the cruise line pays me goes straight back into the maps, the research, and the free guides and answers everybody here uses.
My answers in these groups are free for everybody, booker or not. The folks who book with me are the ones who make that possible.
