Why You Should Take A Windjammer Cruise

We’ve always loved E.M. Forster’s great “travel romance” A Room With a View (not to mention the beautiful film adaptation), in which a young Englishwoman’s life is forever changed when she agrees to swap hotel rooms with a fascinating young Englishman in Florence in order to have, yes, a room with a view. We love the way that expression can mean, quite literally, a window that affords gorgeous scenery, but also the way those words can sum up a transformative travel experience. Speaking of transformative travel: River cruises have been very much on our radar lately because of the way they can broaden your cruise experience, taking you down iconic rivers such as the Rhine, the Danube, and the Mekong, and getting you up close and personal with the cultures and cuisines of the historic, beautiful cruise ports along the way. We’ve also noticed that Avalon Waterways’s unique staterooms offer, you guessed it, “a room with a view” like no other: Avalon’s Panorama Suites are 200 square feet, with 11-foot-wide and 7-foot-tall wall-to-wall windows and a bed angled so that you can get a perfect view out the window. (You can also open up your window to create an Open-Air Bbalcony, but they’re designed to work all year long, regardless of the weather outside.) Some of the Avalon river cruises we’re yearning to see from a Panorama Suite include: Essential Holland & Belgium, an unforgettable eight-day odyssey from Brussels to Amsterdam, with guided sightseeing in Antwerp, Ghent, the Keukenhof Gardens, and other must-sees; The Legendary Danube, from Prague to Budapest, with guided sightseeing in Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and other cities; and Fascinating Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Mekong River, from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to Siem Reap, Cambodia, gateway to the stunning temple complex at Angkor Wat. TALK TO US! We’d love to hear about your river cruise experiences, especially those that have included “a room with a view”!

Is all that money burning a hole in your pocket? Do you have 129 days to kill? We've got just the cruise for you! For just $54,499 per person—I know, I know, mere pocket change—you can embark on a glorious 128-night cruise around the world, dock in more than 60 ports on six continents, and visit 31 countries along the way with 499 of your new best friends.  This special bargain price also includes sweet perks like first class airfare, shore excursions, suite accommodations onboard the Regent Seven Seas Navigator, as well as complimentary WiFi, meals, and beverages (except for premium-level drinks). Plus, you'd be at sea for a little over four months, so you would basically be trading in four months' rent for the same amount of time in your brand new, all-inclusive sailing apartment! On the bright side, you've got some time to start saving up, as the cruise doesn't actually depart from Miami until January 5th, 2017. As for me, I'm filing this one under "things to do if I ever win the lottery" for the time being, but it's still fun to think about. What do you think? If money was no object, is this something you would want to do?

Well, it's official. As of May 2016, Carnival Corporation's new brand of ships, Fathom, will be sailing to Cuba as part of their move toward creating more meaningful cultural experiences between the American and Cuban people. The 710-passenger ship, MV Adonia, would set sail from Miami each week. Exact cruising itineraries have yet to be released but so far we've learned that prices for seven-day trips to Cuba will start at $2,990 per person without taxes, port, or government fees, while all meals, onboard activities, and certain cultural immersion shore excursions will be included. A similar Fathom cultural exchange program starting in April 2016 with a seven-day trip to the Dominican Republic will start at $1,540 per person (depending on the season) and include accommodations in an oceanview cabin, all meals, onboard activities, three social impact activities in the D.R., taxes, fees, and port charges. Before you start having visions of lines of super-mega-sized cruise ships full of tourists stationed in the waters outside historic Havana, keep in mind that Fathom ships are much smaller and programs are geared toward people interested in volunteering and interacting with the local people in the places they visit, not for those who just wish to dock and spend the whole trip in the nearest Señor Frogs. We want to know: Do you think this is one giant leap for the travel world or Cuba's first step toward becoming Cozumel 2.0? Sound off below! 

This article originally appeared on Fox News Travel. Carnival Cruise Line is expanding its fleet with four new ships that will transport a record number of passengers and crew members. Setting sail between 2019 and 2022, the new cruise ships will be able to carry up to 6,600 guests in addition to hundreds of crew members. Cruise ships today average about 4,000 plus passengers, but despite the increased capacity Carnival stressed that the high-volume vessels won’t feel more crowded. “A major part of the innovative design involves making much more efficient use of the ship's spaces, creating an enhanced onboard experience for guests,” the company said in a statement released Monday. Though the new ships will have an “an extensive number of guest-friendly features,” they will unlikely house the large scale attractions like bumper cars, skating rinks, or full size basketball courts, according to Bloomberg. “It won’t feel congested, it won’t feel confined,” Carnival Chief Executive Arnold W. Donald assured viewers in a Bloomberg interview yesterday. “People will find it to be a great experience.” Rooms and suites are likely to stay the same while extra space will be taken from the ships’ common areas. The largest ship by size currently in commission is Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the seas which is scheduled to set sail next spring. That ship boasts a capacity of 5,479 passengers. The line’s Oasis class ships are about seven feet shorter but can carry considerably more passengers—up to 6,300 guests and almost 2,400 crew. Carnival is also stepping into the "green cruising" space as the new ships will be the first ever cruise vessels powered by Liquefied Natural Gas. This type of gas is already used municipal buses and airport shuttles as it reduces soot emissions and cuts down on mechanical carbon footprints. More From Fox News Travel: The scariest water slide ever may be in Texas Why America's air travel liberation may finally take flight this year The most hated hotel chains in the US, according to social media Virgin Cruises to launch in Miami in 2020