Recent images of a cruise ship limping back to port after an engine malfunction didn't do the cruise industry any favors heading into the summer vacation season. And cringe-worthy accounts from passengers who had to make do without power or working toilets for five days may have turned some travelers off cruising for good.

George Orwell, in his “1984” book, used the word “groupthink” to mean the making of sheep-like decisions as a group while discouraging individual thought. Well, here’s an antonym I call “Reverse-Think,” meaning to NOT think like the group.

It's not really news that Arnold Schwarzenegger is back this year. Everybody else in Hollywood is, too, so why not the former California governor?

The Musical Instrument Museum invites families to ring in the new year with a Junkanoo festival — a Bahamain street festival celebrating Boxing Day (Dec. 26) and New Year’s Day. Activities, including mini tours, jazz performances, story time and crafts, run throughout the day.

Highland split a pair of games in pool play at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic on Friday.

Christmas may be over, but Holidays at the Heard are still going strong.

Children can learn about air quality in a fun way, thanks to a new coloring book released by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. The book, “Winter in the Desert,” was designed as a tool for students to learn about air pollution and to take preventative actions and become good environmental stewards, according to a release by the department.

Bargain-hungry Americans will need to go on a post-Christmas spending binge to salvage this holiday shopping season.

It'd be hard to top Mesa's boys soccer team's start to this season.

Prescott’s already a Christmastime destination in Arizona, thanks to its old-fashioned courthouse square and Victorian homes decorated in lights.

The stage is set at Gilbert Learning Foundation and Performing Arts for students to find success and a creative outlet or sport.

For me, eggnog season can't come soon enough. As soon as Halloween is packed away, I buy a quart of my favorite eggnog at the grocery store. I drink it little by little, spiked and not. I make eggnog cappuccinos in the morning and eggnog milkshakes at night. On the weekends, there is nothing like French toast made with eggnog.

The act of giving clearly doesn’t go out of style.

It's easy to have romantic visions of the holidays - cozy fires, perfectly wrapped gifts, your house decorated like a magazine spread, all your friends gathered to celebrate, marveling at your culinary prowess.

A bauble here or a bell there isn’t going to cut it for a holiday “ugly sweater” party.

For free and festive light displays Ahwatukee Foothills residents don’t have to go too far. Many residents have decorated their homes with lights and inflatables to bring in the holiday spirit.

Let your light shine.

Almost a year after surgery that removed a four-centimeter tumor from her brain, 16-year-old Maddy Dill is still battling complications that requires extensive physical therapy.

From elaborately decorated trees to drive-through lighting displays to boat parades and train shows, a variety of holiday spectacles are being staged through the end of December and into early January around the country. Here are a few of them.

We race into the 2012 homestretch following a record-breaking Thanksgiving weekend, where blockbuster franchises like “Twilight” and James Bond weren’t the only ones to do gangbuster business. Oscar-heavyweights “Lincoln” and “Life of Pi” both exceeded expectations in wide release, while independent fare “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Hitchcock” saw decent numbers in far fewer theaters.

As a kid on his way home from elementary school, Neil Goldberg would pull tinsel and forgotten ornaments off discarded Christmas trees put out on the curb in his New York City neighborhood.

Among many of Albert Schweitzer’s notable sayings is, "There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."

Here are The Associated Press’ reviews of selected holiday albums:

WASHINGTON – Holiday spending is expected to increase by 3.5 to 4 percent this year, as a rising number of consumers plan to spend more and fewer expect to pull back, according to a new national survey.