In Part Two of our Cruising Series, Douglas Ward, author of Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships, takes us to the optimal cities for cruising in to and out of, and he offers his list of cruise lines that consistently offer the best quality.  If you missed Part One about the trends in River Cruising, click here to catch up.

Photo: (cc)Counselman Collection via Flickr

Are there some cities that are better to cruise from than others?

Some simply have better access and connection to airports, rail stations, and roads, such as New York’s Manhattan Cruise Terminal or Brooklyn’s Red Hook Point. Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades) is also good, as are Seattle and San Francisco, and Canada’s Vancouver. I won’t include Los Angeles and Miami because I (and countless other passengers) mostly come across staff with ‘attitude’ – like the tip-seeking porters and check-in and security staff, more into the hostility business than the hospitality business.

There are so many good ports from which to cruise in the rest of the world that space would not permit listing them all. However, my choice would probably include (in alphabetical order) Auckland (New Zealand), Barcelona (Spain), Bergen (Norway), Cape Town (South Africa), Copenhagen (Denmark), Hong Kong (China), Istanbul (Turkey), Melbourne (Australia), Palma de Majorca (Spain), Singapore, Southampton (UK), and Stockholm (Sweden).

Least favorite check-in ports: Athens (Piraeus), Civitavecchia (Rome, Italy), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Rio de Janeiro, and Sydney (Australia), mainly due to a lack of hospitality or location.

Which cruise lines are consistently ranked best in quality and value?

As for value, I believe that you get what you pay for.  And that’s precisely why, in automotive terms, Rolls Royce doesn’t discount! I am of the opinion that all cruise lines offer some perceived value for money.

For quality, the list should include Asuka Cruise, Crystal Cruises, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, SeaDream Yacht Club, Seabourn, and Silversea Cruises.

At the end of the day, what you get is a comfortable, hassle-free vacation – that’s value for money in itself.

For more information about Berlitz Cruise and to keep up to date with the latest cruise news, visit the Insight Guides website or sign up for Douglas Ward’s CruiseLetter. “Like” us on Facebook and enter our Travel Giveaway Sweepstakes to win a copy of Berlitz Cruising and Cruise Ships 2014.

Bon Voyage!

Photo: Flying Clean

On Monday, Flying Clean, an alliance launched by several nongovernmental organizations seeking to reduce carbon emissions from airplanes, hosted a panel of United Airlines’ most frequent elite flyers, including billionaire investor Tom Steyer, imploring the big airline to stop blocking climate change actions.

Read the full story here.

Photo: (cc) Ryan-o via Flickr

When you think of niche travel, options, such as theme cruises, safaris and bicycling tours come to mind.  Well, there’s a new game in town and it’s spinning out of control.

“Welcome to the world of tornado tourism, led by companies such as Extreme Tornado Tours, which promises customers an ‘exhilarating, life-changing’ tornado chasing vacation,” reports NBCNews.com.

“Some people just do it for the adrenaline rush and some people are kind of obsessed with weather,” said Dave Holder, one of the tornado tour guides.

Read the full story here.

Did you know that more than 20 million people set sail every year on a cruise vacation?  That’s roughly the entire population of Sri Lanka!  With summertime upon us, and vacation planning in full swing, we asked Doug Ward, a 48-year cruise industry veteran and author of Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships 2013, to help us navigate popular industry trends and give us his best takeaways for smooth sailing.  Enjoy Part 1 of our 2-Part Cruising series where we explore River Cruising, the hot new way to enjoy and experience the interior of a foreign destination.

Photo: (cc) Gordonaz via Flickr

River cruising is on the rise.  Can you talk a little about this option and how it is different/better than traditional ocean cruising?

Indeed it is – around 1 million people took a river cruise last year. River cruises provide a unique way of seeing the interior of a country rather than by its coastline. The scenery aboard a rivership is at eye level; on an ocean-going ship it isn’t — you may have to take an elevator to go up and out to see the scenery. Although the majority of river cruises are taken in Europe, and the Russian rivers, there are plenty of river cruises available in China and southeast Asia, plus Egypt’s Nile, and the USA’s Mississippi, Columbia and Snake rivers.

Because you pay in advance, you know what you will spend on your holiday without any hidden surprises. River cruises provide up-close cruising that is impossible aboard large resort ships. There are no casinos, no bingo or horse-racing, wet tee-shirt contests or other mindless parlor games, no art auctions or other revenue-generating items. When your rivership docks, you simply walk off – there are no shore tenders to take or wait for. However, there may be times when the water level is so low that even a shallow-draft rivership, cannot travel. Finally, you won’t get seasick!  The most trusted names in European river cruises: AMA Waterways, Uniworld, and Viking River Cruises.

Come back next week for Part 2 in our series.  Doug will offer his take on the best ports to cruise into and out of and his list of the best cruise lines where quality is top priority.  “Like” us on Facebook and enter our Travel Giveaway Sweepstakes to win a copy of Berlitz Cruising and Cruise Ships 2013. Bon Voyage!

Sign on Maho Beach, St. Maarten

According to a post by Weather.com, St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport and Gibraltar International Airport are among a top 15 list of the world’s scariest airport runways.  Read the full story here.