In recognition of Veterans Day, Princess Cruises is promoting the line’s onboard credit program for active and retired military personnel. The credit, which ranges from $50 to $250 per stateroom depending on the length of the cruise, is available to members of the U.S. and Canadian armed forces with appropriate service identification.

The offer applies to active personnel currently serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, Reserves, Canadian National Defense. Military verification is required.

Retired personnel is defined as enlisted personnel or officers with a minimum of 20 years of service, medically retired or 100 percent disabled. Required is a blue or tan uniformed ID card or Canadian white N.D. 21 ID card.

The offer also includes veterans with an Honorable Discharge serving a minimum of two years or six months in an active war zone in any of the U.S. service divisions or Canadian National Defense. Required is DD 214 plus current photo ID.

The onboard credit is $50 for cruises six days or less, $100 for cruises of seven to 13 days, or $250 for cruises of 14 days or longer.

To request the military personnel onboard credit, eligible persons should apply no later than one week prior to the cruise departure date. Passenger and sailing information should be accompanied by proof of eligibility and provided to either the passenger’s travel agent or to Princess Cruises. For more information, call 800-PRINCESS or visit www.princess.com

Royal Caribbean International’s newest cruise ship, Allure of the Seas, received a welcome from more than 8,000 guests and crew members aboard sister ship Oasis of the Seas on Nov. 13 in Fort Lauderdale. The world’s two largest cruise ships were together for the first time at sea just two days after Allure of the Seas completed a 13-day trans-Atlantic journey from Turku, Finland. In a friendly case of sibling rivalry, Allure of the Seas’ captain, Hernan Zini, confirms that his ship is five centimeters longer than Oasis of the Seas. For more information, visit www.royalcaribbean.com.

Princess Cruises announced that maritime author and public speaker John Maxtone-Graham will join a number of sailings to South America and Europe in 2011. Maxtone-Graham is well-known to cruise enthusiasts as he has chronicled the history of ocean travel from the early days of passenger shipping to today’s modern cruise vacation. Among his many books are “The Only Way to Cross,” a bible for ship buffs that has been in print for more than 35 years; and “Titanic Survivor.” His most recent book is about the SS Normandie. He tells stories of famous ocean liners, performs a recreation of the Titanic’s final night, and shares tales from the historic explorations of the North and South Poles.

Maxtone-Graham will appear on the following 2011 sailings: Jan. 26 to March 9, Star Princess, three 14-day cruises between Santiago and Rio de Janeiro around Cape Horn and Tierra del Fuego; March 9 to 24, Star Princess, 15-day “Brazilian Adventure” from Rio de Janeiro to Fort Lauderdale; May 7 to 22, Crown Princess, 15-day Western Europe cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton with calls in Portugal, France, Belgium and Holland; July 2 to 20, Ocean Princess, 18-day Dover roundtrip to the northern coast of Norway and Russia; July 20 to Aug. 7, Ocean Princess, 18-day “Top of the World” cruise from Dover to New York by way of Iceland and Greenland, featuring passage close to the site of the Titanic’s sinking; Aug. 7 to 25, Ocean Princess, 18-day cruise from New York to Dover including calls in Iceland, Greenland and Scotland, plus the Titanic sinking site.; Oct. 19 to Nov. 6, Ruby Princess, 18-day trans-Atlantic crossing from Venice to Fort Lauderdale including Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. For more information, call 800-PRINCESS or visit www.princess.com

Holland America Line has launched a fan-friendly Facebook contest called “Win the Key to Half Moon Cay.” Named for the line’s private Bahamian island, the contest runs through Jan. 3.

To enter, registered Facebook users must “like” Holland America Line’s Facebook page and then upload a favorite vacation photograph of themselves to the page at www.facebook.com/halcruises. The photo should depict what the entrant feels captures the essence of “living the good life on vacation” and does not have to be from a cruise.

“Facebook is a vital way for us to interact with our fans, and this contest not only thanks our past guests for their loyalty, but it also is the ideal way to welcome new fans to our social media community,” said Richard D. Meadows, executive vice president-marketing, sales and guest programs.

Visitors to the Facebook site will vote on their favorite submissions from Dec. 6 through Dec. 26, and the entries will be narrowed down to the top 10 finalists. Fans will then vote again to select the winning photo that best reflects “living the good life on vacation.” The winner will be announced Jan. 4.

The prize includes a seven-night Holland America cruise in a suite for the winner and a guest, plus a verandah stateroom for two more friends on an itinerary calling at Half Moon Cay. Roundtrip airfare also is included for four. The winner can choose among select Eastern Caribbean cruises aboard Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam or Westerdam departing February through April 2011, subject to availability.

Once on Half Moon Cay, the winner will be presented a key to the island in a ceremony presided over by the captain of the ship or another senior officer. In addition, the winner’s party will have a butler to help with the transfer from the ship to the island and to serve them ashore, as well as use of a private cabana for the day, unlimited beverage service, a picnic lunch and a shore excursion for four.

Shipboard prize amenities for the winner include a $500 shipboard credit, $150 spa credit, Pinnacle Grill dinner for four, Tamarind dinner for four (on Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam only) and 250 minutes of Internet access. The total prize package is worth approximately $13,367.

Half Moon Cay offers a two-mile crescent of beach, an interior lagoon, private beachside cabanas with butler service, showers and misters, and all manner of water sports and activities, including a children’s aqua park, swim-with-the-stingrays lagoon and a buoyed personal watercraft course. To enter and for details, visit www.facebook.com/halcruises

Crystal Cruises introduces a complimentary, participatory shore excursion program that helps guests and crew assist with charitable projects in destinations during their cruise. On every 2011 itinerary, Crystal has planned one “You Care, We Care” Crystal Adventure in which a limited number of guests can assist a local project and educate participants on local community needs. Guests donate their time and Crystal covers all logistical arrangements and costs.

For example, in Cartagena, Colombia, guests can do crafts with the elderly, play soccer with children, or work at an urban farm with an emphasis on organic agriculture. In Puerto Vallarta, guests can assist the PEACE organization in beach and neighborhood cleanup, and perhaps light construction at a local green space.

Crystal challenged its worldwide tour operators to craft excursions that contribute to meaningful local causes. “Initially, some of our ground operators questioned whether these experiences would have enough of our typical Six-Star tour amenities,” said John Stoll, vice president-land and port operations. “We reminded them that we understood that these opportunities would be less refined. The contribution is selfless, yet the wonderful by-product is that these experiences will surely be authentically enriching and rewarding.”

“You Care, We Care” precedes another new program the line is developing to promote awareness, preservation and support of the world’s most significant historical sites.

Celebrity Cruises announced plans to add new Solstice-class features to the Celebrity Infinity during a scheduled dry-dock in early December 2011. The Infinity will get AquaClass accommodations; the Mediterranean-themed specialty restaurant, Blu, offered exclusively for AquaClass guests; more verandas with the Celebrity Suites; the Celebrity iLounge, an authorized Apple reseller; new ocean-view and inside staterooms; the Tuscan Grille steakhouse; the Bistro on Five creperie; a new ice-topped Martini Bar; Café al Bacio and Gelateria; Cellarmasters wine bar, which lets guests choose a glass of wine by pushing buttons; more suites, with new furniture, flat-screen TVs, upholstery, bedding and carpeting; restyled staterooms, with new carpeting, flat-screen TVs, upholstery and bedding; and new color schemes, carpeting and upholstery reflective of the Solstice-class modern design in every public venue.

Celebrity currently plans to similarly refurbish Celebrity Summit in January 2012, followed by Celebrity Millennium in April 2012. Bookings for the newly refurbished Celebrity Infinity open Nov. 22.

Taylor Swift is scheduled to perform aboard Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, which is slated to debut Dec. 1. Big Machine Records, Clear Channel Radio, Pop2Life and Royal Caribbean International are partnering to award 100 sweepstakes winners and their invited guests with access to a rare performance by Swift aboard the ship’s seven-night Western Caribbean cruise, departing Jan. 16.

To enter “The Allure of Taylor Swift” radio and online sweepstakes, listeners need to tune in to participating Clear Channel radio stations across the country on weekdays, Oct. 18 to 29, listen for “The Allure of Taylor Swift” keyword, and submit the keyword via text message or online at the local station’s website. A complete list of participating stations is available at www.theallureoftaylor.com/stations and www.royalcaribbean.com.

National radio show “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” is also rallying audiences and inviting concert-goers to enter online at www.ryanseacrest.com, from Oct. 18 to 24. Consumers can also enter online at www.theallureoftaylor.com. For cruise reservations, call 800-745-6198 or visit www.royalcaribbean.com and click on “The Allure of Taylor Swift” banner.

The Port of Miami has set a new world record for cruise traffic in the fiscal year from Oct. 1, 2009, through Sept. 30, 2010. Approximately 4.15 million passengers traveled through the port over the past year. This was the third year in a row that the port has set a world record. Last fiscal year, the port processed 4.1 million passengers. These numbers were boosted by a particularly strong fourth-quarter performance, with passenger traffic up nearly 10 percent year over year for the July-September period. Port officials attributed the strong summer season to dollar-conscious vacationers opting for cruises.

The strong summer season included the arrival of Norwegian Cruise Lines’ mega-ship, the Norwegian Epic, which inaugurated seven-day Caribbean cruises from the Miami port in July. This month, the port kicks off its 2010-11 cruise season with two additional new ships in the line-up -- the Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Cruises’ latest Solstice-class vessel, which arrives Nov. 13, and Oceania Cruises’ Marina, which will be christened in Miami on Feb. 5, 2011. Additionally, Costa Cruises will return to Miami after an absence of several years when the Atlantica arrives in January. For more information, call 305-347-4800 or visit www.miamidade.gov/portofmiami

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth hosted is first marriage engagement, thanks to Susan Mirabito, travel operations manager for Travel Network in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Mirabito had received a request from Jim McCracken, mayor of neighboring Freedom Township, who wanted to propose to his girlfriend, Lisa Lehman of Lancaster, Pa., during the voyage. The ship’s crew reserved a table in The Verandah, to be followed with a reserved Theatre Box later that evening. The couple met a business conference, where they were partnered and directed to look into each other’s eyes for 15 seconds. At the end of the performance aboard the Queen Elizabeth, McCracken asked Lehman to again look into his eyes for 15 seconds, at which point he got down on one knee and proposed. For more information, call 800-728-6273 or visit queenelizabeth.cunard.com