2010 and 2011 is only round the corner. I know for sure an ideal cruise vacation dream can become a reality for you and me. It all starts with a dream. Can you follow me along ? Yes as we embark on exotic destinations visiting fascinating cultures and places across the globe. What a way to take on 2010 or 2011 as we travel to Asia, Africa & India, South America, Hawaii, Tahiti & the South Pacific, Australia & New Zealand! Are you with me? Can you see yourself and see the world from Cruises?

If you are planning a cruise trip to a country that requires a visa, plan ahead and obtain your visa. You may not be allowed to board the ship, even if you did not intend to go ashore. This happened to a number of passengers sailing to South America from Miami recently.

Carnival denied boarding because many passengers had not obtained a visa for Brazil. Brazilian visa does not come cheap to the American traveler. This visa fee is $131. That’s the way it is for now.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) does it again, they have come out with an innovative and personalized approach to pre-cruise information with the debut of its "Welcome Aboard" booklet.

This is a 21-page booklet customized cruise guide for you the passenger. The front cover features your name, ship and sailing date, stateroom number and the name of your travel agency. On the inside you will find shore excursion information pertaining to the specific itinerary, personalized luggage tags with your name and stateroom number pre-printed, deck plans for the specific ship and cruise advice.

Legislators in Alaska have introduced a bill to ease wastewater discharge for cruise ships. If the bill passes cruise lines would no longer have to travel three miles offshore to discharge wastewater.

The current laws requires testing of wastewater at the point of discharge and could discourage cruise lines from operating in the state. Alaska also has a $50 head tax for cruise passengers.

Royal Caribbean announced recently it was taking one of its ships out of the Alaska market and Cruise West was taking three ships out of the market.

Good news for New York area residents. Carnival will be sailing a new nine-day itinerary from New York to Quebec, according to the February 12 issue of the Cruise St. Lawrence newsletter. There will be three ports of call along the St. Lawrence River, Quebec City, Baie-Comeau and Havre-St. Pierre.

When planning your first cruise vacation my first tip to you is that you work with a travel agent and tap from their wealth of experience planning cruise vacations. This will help you to avoid costly mistakes others have made and a good cruise consultant will help you find better deals than you can get from other advertising or online. You may think this service is going to be very expensive and will cost you some money. Actually this should save you, as you do not have to pay a well established cruise consultant any fee.

Britain's Advertising Standards Authority is working with cruise lines to make sure cruise brochures reflect more accurate rates. Two people contacted the ASA over Fred Olsen's brochure rates saying they were misleading because no-one ever paid the full brochure price. When the ASA contacted Fred Olsen they were told that historically it had always set full brochure prices as a starting point but offered early booking discounts, reverting to full brochure rate after approximately a year, followed by late discounts.

Yes 2009 is here and we are going to see new ships added to the existing fleets. In November this year Royal Caribbean will roll out the long expected “Oasis of the Seas”. This is going to set record as the largest ship in the world.

Can you picture a 220,000 ton 10 story lady which can carry 5400 passengers? In this ship you can find 300 balcony cabins. This ship takes its lifestyle wherever it goes, with themed neighborhoods. Even if the ship does not sail any where you can still have fun onboard. Imagine a bar that is an elevator, and zip-line rides.

The man jumped from the ship as it was slowly cruising off Vanuatu. He was seen jumping from the ship by a staff member. As the ship was going slowly it was able to turn around in about 10 minutes. Staff dropped smoke flares and a lifebuoy in the water to mark the spot. The 22 year old man was in the water some 45 minutes before being rescued and was always in sight. He was taken to Vila and left there in the interests of his emotional wellbeing. P & O Cruises are investigating the incident.

Royal Caribbean has added a surcharge of $3.95 per room service order delivered between midnight and 5 a.m. fleetwide and was effective January 1. Although the cruise line did not announce the policy change it is clearly stated on its web site.

Are we seeing the start of a la carte pricing when on board? The cruise lines are following the airlines who have gone from an all inclusive fare to charging for almost everything and passengers have gone along with it.