Cruise Needs' Tweets of the Week

NEW VIDEO: You may be surprised to find a piano player in your elevator on the @RoyalCaribbean Anthem of the Seas: https://t.co/YRxMv1yMV2

— Attractions Magazine (@Attractions) July 25, 2015

The #DisneyMagic atrium #DisneyCruise #DCL #Nikon pic.twitter.com/CbzCuUwXEZ

— Scott Sanders (@TheDCLBlog) July 30, 2015

The backside of a waterfall on @CarnivalCruise Sunshine. #cruise #travel pic.twitter.com/r55IhK802U

— Doug Parker (@CruiseRadio) July 26, 2015

W/ @DrGuyHarvey & @nclandy on-hand, hull artwork being applied to @CruiseNorwegian #NorwegianEscape. pic.twitter.com/jWPga42G2D

— Stewart Chiron (@CruiseGuy) July 29, 2015

#CostaCruises announces an order for 2 next-gen #cruise ships w/largest capacity (6,600 pax) in the world. #TTOT pic.twitter.com/TYfqirMqi5

— Costa Cruises (@CostaCruises) July 28, 2015

Time's tips for Disney Cruise Line

Professional reviews always have a different tone than reviews you might find on Cruise Critic or Cruiseline.com. Because of their experience, access to the ship's leadership, and compensation, the writers often don't experience or notice the same things a regular cruiser would. That is why some of the best professional reviews come when the writer is cruising for the first time. That's what happened in this review of the Disney Dream from Time/Travel + Leisure's Stephanie Wu.

Wu mentions the usual cruise tips about packing and carry-on bags. She also knows that some excursions require early booking. With regards to tips and thoughts on this particular ship, Wu writes that the quality of the food was a pleasant surprise and loved the access to the Disney movie library (we enjoyed this same little detail when we took a Disney Cruise).

Like all good reviews, Wu sets the stage, gives some unique details but moves everything along. We're glad she had a good time and glad she shared her review.

Cruise Needs' Instagrams of the Week

Admit it, you've always wanted to try this. Great photo by @halliemauldini. #WindstarCruises #Cruise #Ship #Travel #IGtravel #Travelgram #Ocean

A photo posted by Windstar Cruises (@windstarcruises) on Jul 22, 2015 at 5:12pm PDT

Beautiful view at #chateaufrontenac from Insignia cruise ship in Québec city/ Superbe vue du #chateaufrontenac prise du navire #insignia #portdequebec #oneofakindview

A photo posted by Port De Québec (@portquebec) on Jul 24, 2015 at 7:20am PDT

#CarnivalPride gives us major #atrium envy. A week ago, we disembarked this beautiful ship. We will have a #blog on our experience tomorrow 😎 keep your eyes peeled for it, shiptalkers 😉

A photo posted by R&R (@letstalkship) on Jul 26, 2015 at 8:38am PDT

Time for some relaxing by the pool #freedomoftheseas

A photo posted by Royal Caribbean Blog.com (@royalcaribbeanblog) on Jul 27, 2015 at 12:24pm PDT

Morning stroll in Central Park. 🌳🌳 #AllureoftheSeas Photo by @marianne_dahl1.

A photo posted by Royal Caribbean UK (@royalcaribbeanuk) on Jul 28, 2015 at 12:03am PDT

Kathie Lee and Carnival together again

Outside of the Love Boat, no other TV presence did more for cruising than Kathie Lee Gifford. Throughout the '80s and '90s she served and the face and voice of the growing cruise line in their ever present commercials. Now she's working with Carnival on a different project: her own line of wine.

Now Carnival passengers will be able to buy various wines from her GIFFT wine collection on all ships. The bottles are all under $20.

Gifford isn't moving back into Carnival commercials, but she will be talking about the wine and ships on the Today show and continues to serve as godmother to two Carnival ships.

For old time sake, here is one of Gifford's old commercials.

TheStar.Com: buy your airfare through cruise companies

TheStar.com posted a Q&A regarding cruises and addressed one of the most frequently discussed topics: airfare. They advise (and we agree) that you should buy your plane tickets through the cruise company whenever you can. With most of the major cruise lines, the prices will be nearly identical to what you can find elsewhere, plus you get the cruise's commitment to getting you and your luggage to the ship.

If you get to the ship on your own and experience any issues, the cruise company is not obligated to help you out. They will leave without you if it comes to that and won't be too concerned about your bags getting to the next port (if needed).

You might pay a little more for this piece of mind and commitment from the cruise company, but it is worth it.

Despite fire, Freedom of the Seas passengers had a great time

The surest sign that a cruise line is delivering good service: passenger still raving about their trip after a fire on board. Sunday, Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas made its scheduled return to Port Canaveral. The ship also passed the Coast Guard inspection with no real signs of Thursday's fire. Meanwhile as passenger's disembarked, they had nothing but good things to say about their trip.

Aside from putting out the fire and cleaning up, passengers consistently mentioned how safe they felt during the fire. That is a testament to the crew and Royal Caribbean for handling what could have been a scary and dangerous situation well.

Carnival's Behind the Scenes video Episode 2

Power, paint and propellers are all featured latest episode in Carnnival's YouTube series Behind the Scenes: Carnival Vista.

This Episode still gets a bit too much into the technical and engineering of the ship, instead of just showing Carnival fans what they can expect. However, it does give a sense of Carnival's investment and commitment to new technology. You can infer that if they are implementing cutting edge technology to power the ship, they will also invest in the best possible passenger experience.