USA TODAY’s Gene Sloan recounts a lovely trip across the Atlantic last week with his family on Cunard’s flagship, the Queen Mary 2.

Passengers aboard the Pacific Sun this week when it hit a monster storm in the Pacific say it was one of the most harrowing experiences of their lives.

Cruises, by their inclusive nature, are lauded as dollar-stretching vacations. But along with fuel surcharges, which continue to soar, cruise passengers could soon be hit with a host of other charges as municipalities increasingly slap new fees on cruise passengers and cruise lines.

The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public meeting to discuss the probable cause of the May 2007 grounding of the Empress of the North in Alaska, more than a year after the incident occurred.

Carnival’s newest vessel officially debuted today in Dover, England. The 3,006-passenger ship is the line’s largest ever and its first to sail in Northern Europe.

Click on the links below to read USA TODAY Cruise editor Gene Sloan’s first-hand reports of sailing on cruise ships around globe Carnival Live blogging from Carnival Splendor (July 2008) Cunard Line An early look at Cunard’s Queen Victoria (December…

River cruise operator Uniworld will launch its 10th and 11th ships next spring, one as its first vessel to sail outside of Europe, and the other as the largest ship in its fleet.

Orient Lines, the destination cruise line that lost its only vessel in March and seemed destined to the ranks of lines in the sky, may get a new lease on life.

USA TODAY’s Gene Sloan will be among travel writers and agents getting a sneak peek of the vessel this weekend before it is christened on Tuesday. Have a question about the ship? Leave it here.

USA TODAY’s Gene Sloan is reporting live from Europe this weekend as Holland America unveils its newest ship, the 2,104-passenger Eurodam.