New riverboats are cruising in Cambodia and Vietnam. These vacation voyages are an eye-opener, not only to the famed stone Angkor ruins, but also to the lives of rural villagers who are emerging from decades of warfare and deprivation.

What happens when you rediscover your fear of heights while standing on a six-inch-wide beam jutting 180 feet over the open ocean?

The American Queen Steamboat Co., which launched steamboat cruises on the Mississippi River last spring, has bought a second riverboat that will sail the rivers of the Pacific Northwest starting in April 2014. The company, named for its Mississippi River paddle wheeler, announced last week that it had purchased the former Empress of the North and will rename it the American Empress.

Cruise ships have a reputation for encouraging a measure of gluttony.

Norwegian Cruise Line’s upcoming Miami-based ship, which will be delivered in January, will feature a Latin-themed ballroom dance show, a rotating cast of comedians and a musical about a blonde.

Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line celebrated the christening of its newest ship with pomp, pageantry — and some high kicks.

Take a cruise ship, the Disney Magic, that was a pioneer in the world of family cruising and is headed for a new assignment. Order up a rehab. Call in the Imagineers.

Royal Caribbean’s next ship, Quantum of the Seas, will include a simulated skydiving experience, bumper cars, roller skating, a circus school, and a Ferris wheel-inspired ride. It will also have studio staterooms for single guests, a feature that Norwegian Cruise Line introduced on Norwegian Epic, and “virtual balconies” in interior rooms that show what’s going on outside, similar to the virtual portholes on Disney Cruise Line’s newer ships.

Capt. Barry King is wrapping up his “welcome aboard” speech in the galley of the schooner Mary Day when he gets around to the question everyone has regarding the trip’s itinerary.

Good news for travelers: Singapore, a gateway to vacations in Southeast Asia, and one of my favorite home ports for boarding cruise ships, is anticipating an expanded fleet of big, modern vessels. They will be based at new and enhanced marinas, built here at a cost of half a billion dollars.

Ahita Keshmirian placed bits of broken yet colorful glass into a pendant. Outside, beyond the natural grass on the top deck of Celebrity Cruise Lines’ Silhouette, the mosaic-decorated churches of Ravenna, Italy, were visible.

The first rule about traveling between America and England aboard the Queen Mary 2, the flagship of the Cunard Line and the world’s largest ocean liner, is to never refer to your adventure as a cruise. You are, it is understood, making a crossing.

Elise never saw her coming.

The newest ship from Princess Cruises will have a nightclub that the line’s other ships don’t: Club 6, a DJ-hosted dance club, the line announced Wednesday. The newest ship from Norwegian Cruise Line will have a a magic dinner show and a weekly fireworks display.

Cruise lines from mass-market to luxury increasingly are designing shorter voyages, both to introduce their ships to vacationers who have not been to sea and to provide getaways for busy world travelers who may have only a few leisure days to spare.

Major cruise lines and small-ship operators are beefing up their Alaska offerings this summer, giving vacationers more choices and promising to boost the passenger count above one million for the first time in four years.

Seabourn, which in recent years redefined its luxury fleet with the addition of three larger ships, has sold its three older ships to Windstar Cruises and announced it will build a fourth ship.

Seabourn, which in recent years redefined its luxury fleet with the addition of three larger ships, has sold its three older ships to Windstar Cruises and announced it will build a fourth ship.

Sailing into the heart of Yangon and Myanmar’s fragile new democracy

The naked lady with large hat, accompanied by a crying cherub, hangs outside a Deck 5 restroom on the Oceania Riviera, one of the newest ships cruising out of Miami.

I’ll never forget where I learned to drink like a Cossack. It was on a river cruise. In Ukraine.

Powered by a new owner, new leadership, and $18 million of renovation, Windstar Cruise’s three ships are sailing again with vim, vigor, a contemporary interior, and a batch of new sails that total the size of seven football fields.

The popular TV show Dancing With the Stars is going to sea. Holland America will conduct six theme cruises featuring Dancing With the Stars events in 2013 and early 2014. In addition, the line will conduct an exclusive Dancing With the Stars program on every sailing of all 15 of its ships.

The Celebrity Reflection that arrived at PortMiami last month had changed so much from the original ship in its class that it was two feet wider in order to balance the weight of an additional deck and other new features.

It’s easy to work up a thirst on a cruise. Some guests quench that feeling with soda, fruit juice, a latte or tea. Others may order a glass of wine or a beer with lunch, a cocktail or two before dinner and share a bottle of wine with their companion during the evening meal.

Consolidated in one Miami-Dade office, the two cruise lines under Prestige Cruise Holdings will grow — and continue — as distinct brands.