About

Eighteen Knots Travel can help you plan your cruise adventure. Just fill in the form to get started. Kevin Gilhooly is certified by a number of cruise lines to help you find your next adventure.

Eighteen knots is a comfortable speed when on a cruise. Yes, it’s less than 21 miles per hour, but cruise ships just don’t go that fast. So, a cruise ship at eighteen knots can cover 497 miles in a day. A 24-hour day. Still, when sailing into a good breeze, it can seem fast, even though people drive at higher speeds down my alley. (The Cutty Sark had a maximum measured speed of 17.5 knots, according to Wikipedia, and she was fast in her day.)

Kevin and Virginia Gilhooly started cruising in 2009, and were immediately hooked. We are both Latitudes Platinum members at Norwegian Cruise Lines, we’re Diamond level in MSC’s Voyagers Club (thank you status-match!), and we’re always either on a ship or planning when we will be. Sometimes, we’re on a ship, planning when we will be on our next ship. It’s an addiction.

Our first cruise was at Christmas in 2009. Virginia wanted to go away for Christmas, and Kevin refused to go to Orlando again. So, what to do? A cruise was a good compromise – out of the house, little chance of snow, not favoring either family. We had a long discussion before we went – how long should the cruise be? (Kevin wanted short, Virginia refused to go unless it was at least a week.) Where should we go? (Luckily, at Christmas, there weren’t a lot of options available – it was either the Caribbean or Hawaii, and Hawaii was much more expensive.) How do we not go out of Miami? (We found the Norwegian Spirit in New Orleans.) After our first trip, we started taking annual Christmas cruises. Then, in 2013, we took the Norwegian Breakaway’s inaugural cruise from Southampton to New York (Kevin’s idea of a proper Transatlantic cruise) and Virginia discovered that a cruise with only sea days was not such a bad thing, after all. So, now we’re doing Transatlantic cruises.

Bucket List Cruises

  • Panama Canal (in plan for 2021)
  • Alaska (in plan for 2018)
  • Bermuda (called with Norwegian Epic in April 2017)
  • Around the Horn
  • Around the World

Cruise History (and Plan)

  1. 2023 Apr – Allure of the Seas (Galveston to Western Caribbean)
    • First Royal Caribbean Cruise
  2. 2022 Oct – Carnival Dream (Galveston to Partial Canal Transit)
    • First Panama Canal Cruise
  3. 2019 Dec – MSC Divina (Miami to Eastern Caribbean)
  4. 2019 May – MSC Seaside (Miami to Eastern Caribbean)
    • First MSC Cruise, protecting status match
  5. 2019 Feb – Norwegian Bliss (Miami to Eastern Caribbean)
    • First cruise with friends from another cruise
  6. 2018 Dec – Norwegian Breakaway (New Orleans to Western Caribbean)
    • First cruise with kids (nephews)
  7. 2018 Aug – Norwegian Bliss (Seattle Alaska)
    • First Alaska cruise, First cruise with in-laws (sister-in-law, niece)
  8. 2017 Dec – Norwegian Jade (Miami to ABC islands – rerouted by hurricanes)
  9. 2017 Apr – Norwegian Epic (Transatlantic – Port Canaveral to Barcelona)
  10. 2016 Dec – Norwegian Getaway (Miami to Western Caribbean)
  11. 2016 Sep – Carnival Freedom (Galveston to Western Caribbean)
    • First Carnival Cruise, First non-Norwegian Cruise, First Galveston cruise, First “I gotta get out of here” cruise
  12. 2016 Feb – Norwegian Jade (Houston to Western Caribbean) [with Mom]
    • First “spur of the moment” cruise
  13. 2015 Dec – Norwegian Jade (Houston to Western Caribbean)
    • First Texas cruise, First Houston cruise
  14. 2015 Apr – Norwegian Epic (Transatlantic – Miami to Barcelona)
  15. 2015 Feb – Norwegian Getaway (Miami to Eastern Caribbean)
    • Vow renewal
  16. 2014 Dec – Norwegian Pearl (Miami to Southern Caribbean)
  17. 2014 Apr – Norwegian Epic (Transatlantic – Miami to Barcelona)
    • First cruise with Mom
  18. 2013 Dec – Norwegian Jewel (Miami to Western Caribbean)
  19. 2013 Apr – Norwegian Breakaway (Transatlantic – Southampton to NYC)
    • First Transatlantic cruise, First non-Christmas cruise, First inaugural cruise
  20. 2012 Dec – Norwegian Epic (Miami to the Eastern Caribbean)
  21. 2011 Dec – Norwegian Pearl (Miami to the Western Caribbean)
    • First family cruise (son and daughter-in-law)
  22. 2010 Dec – Norwegian Dawn (Miami to the Southern Caribbean)
    • First Miami cruise
  23. 2009 Dec – Norwegian Spirit (New Orleans to the Western Caribbean)
    • First cruise, First Christmas cruise, First New Orleans cruise