I imagine one of the biggest pluses is that a company took care of all the details… all the mother, bride and wedding party had to do was show up.

Best of all, the options are boundless: a shipboard wedding on embarkation day followed by a honeymoon for two; a shoreside wedding on a tropical beach; or a sunset marriage ceremony at sea with everyone in the wedding party enjoying the entire cruise are among the many choices.

The two easiest — and most popular — ways of arranging a wedding aboard ship is through your travel agent, who works with the cruise line’s wedding planners or working directly with companies that specialize in cruise ship weddings.

There are two companies that specialize in arranging weddings aboard ship or on land when the ship is in port: A Wedding for You and The Wedding Experience (click links). My advice is to ask your travel agent for a quote from the cruise line and then compare prices and services with the two companies above.

*** If you live outside Florida and want to tie the knot in that state aboard ship before it leaves port, you’ll need an outside company to arrange a license and official before departure.

*** NOTE: If your heart is set on getting married in a country like Bermuda or St. Thomas during a port stop, I recommend avoiding hurricane season.  If the ship has to bypass a port because of bad weather, you probably won’t get a refund for the missed service.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) advises the options and programs with each cruise line.

AZAMARA CRUISES
Azamara offers legal, captain-led wedding ceremonies, vow renewals and in-port wedding programs. Partnering with The Wedding Experience, a variety of packages feature everything from private receptions in the ship’s specialty restaurant to cake, Champagne and more. Guests should book in advance to ensure processing of legal documents and licenses.

CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES
Some 2,300 couples will take advantage of Carnival’s all-inclusive wedding packages this year, a 50 percent increase from a decade ago. Carnival’s wedding programs include an official civil ceremony, reception and other value-added features and can be tailored to the couple’s wishes. Shipboard ceremonies are available on embarkation day in Carnival’s U.S ports and many Caribbean destinations. Vow renewal packages are also available.

CELEBRITY CRUISES
Celebrity’s most popular wedding package is the “Nautical Nuptials” program featuring a captain-led wedding ceremony at sea offered on all Celebrity ships except Celebrity Xpedition. Other packages available include a “Bridesmaids’ Tea Party,” a “Cigar and Cognac Party,” a “Test the Waters” package and a “Welcome Reception.” Vow renewal celebrations are also offered.

CRYSTAL CRUISES
Crystal offers captain-led wedding vow renewal ceremonies and it is rare that one of the company’s ships sails without at least one honeymoon couple. Focusing on helping guests plan and enjoy a completely customized honeymoon rather than a pre-packaged program, Crystal offers such romantic options as a candlelight dinner on a suite’s verandah, onboard florists, a portrait studio and private shore excursions.

DISNEY CRUISE LINE
Guests on Disney Cruise Line can exchange vows onboard the ship or step ashore for a romantic beach-side ceremony on the line’s private island paradise, Castaway Cay. With a magical Fairy-Godmother functioning as wedding planner, Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings handles all the details, including floral arrangements, elegant cakes and Champagne toasts. For many couples, Disney is also the ultimate honeymoon experience.

HOLLAND AMERICA LINE
Holland America offers a Wedding Package as part of its Group Advantage Program (GAP). The wedding couple enjoys a free stateroom upgrade and a commemorative wedding cake with at least eight staterooms booked and the entire group enjoys numerous amenities, including a Pinnacle Grill lunch, private wine tastings, and chocolate-covered strawberries and Chase Limogere Brut in their staterooms.

NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE
Norwegian offers two wedding packages – “Onboard Aisles” and “On Shore Aisles” – available in ports in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, Mexico and Bermuda. Both include a ceremony conducted by a local official plus all the features of a wedding, from music to wedding cake and sparkling wine. Norwegian also offers vow renewal packages and an “Engagement Aisles” program for the ultimate proposal at sea.

PRINCESS CRUISES
Princess pioneered weddings at sea more than a decade ago, and since then ship captains have married thousands of couples while sailing in locations around the globe. The unique “Tie the Knot at Sea” program offers ceremonies in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Alaska and other exotic locales, which couples can customize with live music, flowers and reception options. In addition, a harborside option enables couples to be married in port, and ashore weddings are available in a variety of scenic ports.

REGENT SEVEN SEAS CRUISES
Guests wishing to make customized wedding plans in conjunction with a Regent Seven Seas cruise may use the services of Royal Ocean Events, which can handle all the details and requests. A honeymooner package features a letter of congratulations from the captain, Veuve Clicquot Champagne and caviar, in-suite canapés every afternoon, a miniature wedding cake and Leonidas chocolates and more.
ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL
In addition to a “Royal Romance” package featuring a one-hour wedding ceremony onboard ship or on shore on embarkation day, couples on Royal Caribbean can exchange vows while climbing the ships’ rock walls or ice-skating or even catching the waves on the shipboard Flowrider. Shoreside wedding venues include the glaciers of Alaska, European castles, rainforests and an Italian vineyard.

SEADREAM YACHT CLUB
SeaDream offers two wedding vow renewal ceremonies – one designed for couples only, the other for as many as 12 guests – and both conducted by the yacht’s captain. Iced Champagne and canapés, a cake and flowers add special touches to the elegance of an elegant luxury yacht experience. SeaDream points out four couples who have completed the legal process at home, the shipboard vow renewal ceremony can serve as a wedding.

WINDSTAR CRUISES
Windstar invites couples celebrating honeymoons, renewing wedding vows or honoring a special anniversary to discover romance at sea. Chilled Champagne, chocolate-dipped seasonal fruit, breakfast in bed, “Time for Two” massages and elegant dinners for two at sunset are among the amenities featured on the line.

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A decade ago you had to take a pricey luxury vessel carrying fewer than 700 passengers to find single, open seating while today it’s an option available on nearly every vessel. And, you’ll still find plenty of cruisers – roughly half, the cruise lines report – opting for the traditional style of cruise ship dining.

As one cruiser told me “I love traditional. I love having the waiter remember I like having two glasses of ice tea, the fact that I love chilled soups. You don’t get that when you have to wait an hour to dine in a ship’s restaurant after you’re rushed back to shower and reach the restaurant before it gets packed.”

And, many cruisers have noted that the service is better in an assigned seating restaurant. Typically, the pace is more consistent and waiters form a bond with people they’re going to be serving over a period of time.

However, open seating is so popular because many cruisers prefer to dine when and with whom they please. And the enormous size of modern cruise ships ensures that there’s enough space for cruise lines to please everyone. Today, you note which dining plan you prefer and register it on the cruise line’s web site, along with shore excursions and spa appointments.

If you’re a first time cruiser and don’t know which dining option to pick, I recommend the assigned plan for those traveling with children and groups with six or more people. Otherwise, you may have to wait longer until a large enough table opens up. And, families typically opt for the assigned 6:30 dining so that children can get to bed earlier.

Among the new dining features we’ve seen this year and next:

** In 2009, Carnival Cruise Lines, Crystal Cruises Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Holland America moved to flexible dining by offering the choice of assigned or open seating.

** Royal Caribbean’s gigantic Allure of the Seas (sister ship of Oasis) which will enter service this December with 24 dining options. Nine restaurants will have either a surcharge of up to $35 per person or a la carte menu options including Johnny Rockets and the Ice Cream Parlor. The cruise line also introduced an expedited 40-minute dining experience for chilled aged 3-10 for passengers choosing the assigned 6:30 plan. A youth counselor will escort kids from the main dining room entrance back to the Adventure Ocean facility so they can resume playing with their friends.

** On Aug. 31, 2009, Celebrity Cruises announced that a flexible dining program will be available on all ships starting in January/February 2010. Cruisers may book their preference — single, open or traditional assigned seating — prior to departure on Celebrity’s website.

** Oceania Cruises’ new Marina, scheduled to enter service in January 2011, will boast six restaurants aboard the premium-class ship, none with a surcharge, including one designed by renowned chef Jacques Pepin. Even more revolutionary, Marina will offer passengers the chance to learn new cooking skills in an onboard school boasting 12 individual stations, each with its own oven.

** Carnival Dream, which entered service last December, hosts several new restaurants, including one that serves only pasta. In addition, in the “Taste of the Nations” Lido restaurant you’ll find fixed stations with Asian and Indian cuisine. The expanded room service menu will offer gourmet delicacies like Roast Beef on a French Baguette and grilled fresh mozzarella and Portobello mushrooms on focaccia.

** Norwegian Cruise Line, which offers “Freestyle Cruising” aboard all ships, will add to its roster of restaurants on Norwegian Epic, which entered service this July. The “Manhattan Room” is a two-story art deco supper club with a dance floor and live evening music. The cruise industry’s first Churrascaria will feature skewered meats presented by table-side servers.

Do you prefer open or assigned seating?

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Ironically, lots of people die nasty deaths in the bucolic English countryside … at least in the popular British TV series “Midsomer Murders” and in many of the much-loved 80-plus mystery novels of Dame Agatha Christie.

We know because we’re addicted to murder and mayhem in the British Isles and have watched every episode of the 14-year run of the Midsomer series as well as faithfully followed frumpy Miss Jane Marple and pompous Hercule Poirot, creatures of the Queen of Crime’s fertile mind, in their pursuit of crime and many a victim’s untidy end.

But our knowledge has been from afar, from 3,000 miles across the pond and in front of the TV.

So we decided the best way for a pair of rough-edged, Brooklyn-born New Yorkers to ease our way into a British mindset was to plan a “surf & turf” vacation — cross the Atlantic aboard Cunard’s quintessentially British Queen Mary 2 (QM 2) then drive along England’s south coast in pursuit of Agatha Christie’s trail from Torquay in Devon, where she was born and lived in the years before she wrote voluminously, to the very posh Art Deco hotel on Burgh Island off the tip of Bigbury-on-Sea, where she was inspired to write “Ten Little Indians,” also known as “Then There Were None.”

Our choice of QM2 also was appropriate to the mood and time of Dame Agatha’s books and life. The shy and ever-modest author was born at the tail end of the Victorian era in 1890 and grew to maturity in and, wrote about, murder in Edwardian times and the Jazz Age.

Crossing on the tastefully appointed flagship is like setting your metronome back by several beats and your clock to yesteryear, a time of luxury and refined dining. On a QM2 transatlantic, for example, formal wear is required four nights of seven.

Indeed, the 2,620-passenger vessel feels like a well-to-do London estate where even the entertainments display the nation’s typical Anglican understatement. Don’t expect million-dollar Broadway or Las Vegas revues, nor dancers plumed in feathers and glittering costumes.

Instead expect genteel inducements. For instance after dinner one evening, about 50 guests were invited into the private Queens Grill Lounge for a harp recital and evening of poetry readings from Rudyard Kipling, and Dylan Thomas, among others. Another evening, a smart cast of talented actors performed “The Taming of the Shrew.”

Lectures also are integral to the QM2 agenda. In one dubbed “Molecules of Murder” given by Dr. John Emsley, we learned that poisons were the weapons of choice prior to modern chemistry because they were undetectable.

Despite the bad rap the English get for their cooking, there was nothing to grumble about with the gourmet dining experience in either the Princess Grill, reserved for suite passengers, or in the Britannia, the main restaurant for all other passengers.

Ritual, too, plays its part. Each afternoon at four, we splurged on scones and clotted cream at the line’s white-gloved tea service, which offers (count them!) 15 varieties of tea.

By the time the vessel docked in Southampton, England, we thought we had absorbed enough culture to qualify as Brits, but apparently not their accompanying driving skills.

Renting a pint-sized car near the port, we soon discovered that driving on the left side of the road in an auto with a steering wheel on the right and a manual shift on the left, along roads, in some cases, narrower than a New Jersey driveway, could be harrowing.

While we didn’t injure anyone, we certainly did scare quite a few as we wended our way toward Torquay, one of three villages along the so-called English Riviera, a slip of coastline blessed with mild winters, gentle breezes, and a rainbow of subtropical plants.
Along the way, the English countryside offers a rainbow of colors: hillsides a patchwork of green fields and yellow rapeseed; promenades lined with profusions of pink rhododendron and golden forsythia; and paths brightened by purple-petal asters.

At Victorian Torquay, a shrine to the Queen of Crime, we stayed at the still elegant Grand Hotel just below suite 216, where Agatha honeymooned with aviator husband Archie Christie on Christmas
day in 1914.

When visiting Christie’s seaside honeymoon suite (only one room in her day), we had the sense of communing with the author. Indeed, walking along the same Strand where Dame Agatha swam and skated as a child only helped intensify her presence.

It was here in Torquay that the novelist on a bet by her sister began her prodigious writing output, said Joan Nott, an intimate of Dame Agatha’s daughter Rosalind and founder of the official “Agatha Christie Mile Tour” that journeys visitors through the author’s life in this beachside resort, something akin to Coney Island meets Monte Carlo.

Designated the best-selling author of all time by the Guinness Book of World Records, Agatha Christie churned out 80 novels, 160 short stories, 15 stage plays, a half-dozen romances, and two autobiographies. “Only the Bible is known to have outsold her collected sales of roughly four billion copies of novels,” notes Wikipedia.  Her play, “The Mouse Trap” is the world’s longest running play, going strong for 58 years.

The inspiration for her works often came from her life’s experiences.  For instance, Dame Agatha, a qualified apothecary, worked for two years at the Torquay dispensary and volunteered as a nurse at the beginning of the war in 1914. There she learned how to both heal with drugs and kill with poisons — which she put to apt use in her novels.

At Torre Abbey, a medieval monastery built more than 900-years ago, we saw an assortment of poisonous plants used by the author in her novels – foxglove for digitalis, poppy for morphine, ornamental rhubarb for deadly oxalic acid.

In a section of the Abbey’s gardens, the author’s poisonous beauties are presented as literary mysteries in themselves. In each of the garden’s quadrants, you are invited to guess in which novel Christie employed the plants grown there. Ricin, for example, was chosen for “The House of Lurking Death,” and aspirin willow in “Then There Were None.”

Clues to Chritie’s personality abound in the author’s lush 375-acre estate at Greenway in Brixham, which became the family’s homestead with her second husband, Max Mallowan, an archeologist whose travels inspired such novels as “Death on the Nile.”

Now part of the National Trust, the estate, a short drive from Torquay, has recently opened to the public.

Though Dame Agatha had amassed great wealth by the time she bought her estate in 1938, both the house and its furnishings are quite modest, and, probably wouldn’t fetch much even on Ebay. Collectibles abound everywhere — inlaid tables, mille-fleurs, China bowls, as well as treasured family memorabilia, such as the rugs she acquired when she traveled with Max on his digs to Egypt and the Middle East.

A docent told us that so much unexamined “stuff” remained after her death that at an auction someone bought an unopened suitcase that actually contained piles of the author’s valuable jewelry. (It was not returned!)

The home also is rich in Christie trivia: a leaflet notes the author’s favorite foods — lobster and blackberry ice cream. Her presence is made tangible by the upholstered chair in the library to which she retired daily after breakfast; it sits just where it had in her day.

On the private tidal island of Burgh with steep cliffs plunging to the sea, remains another stop off of Christie’s, a cloud-white Art Deco hotel sits just below a promontory that is separated from mainland Bigbury-on-Sea by a spit of beach that floods twice daily with the wash of tides. At low tide, guests either walk or be shuttled across the beach to the hotel by SUV. When the beach floods, they are ferried to the hotel by an insect-looking contraption called a sea tractor.

Built by multimillionaire Archibald Nettlefolk just prior to the Great Depression in 1929, the hotel served the likes of the Duke of Windsor and Noel Coward and continues to cater to the cricket crowd.

Even if Christie had not written “Ten Little Indians” here, this place is so period-piece perfect (or at least an evocation of it) you’d expect that, at any moment, Poirot might come popping out from behind a potted plant in the conservatory.

“You can feel the ghost of Poirot, the cigarette holders, the laughter,” observed the hotel’s longtime bartender Gary McBar (Agatha herself couldn’t have given him a more apt name.)

At first blush, our island mates appeared a bit frosty or, indeed, extremely proper; but after cocktails and dinner, a feisty Edinburgh judge peeled back the facade and tinkled the ivories ‘til the wee hours, while we all sang vintage songs, the words of which hardly any of us remembered.

Agatha would find no mystery in our pleasures and we’d gladly follow in her footsteps again.

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• 8-14 Hurricanes
• 3-7 Major Hurricanes

Should You Cruise During Hurricane Season?

The captain of a Princess ship once told me, “any cruise ship captain who gets caught in a hurricane would have to be pretty stupid.” The good news is that officers have access to the most advanced hurricane centers. Remember, hurricanes are slow-moving bodies; if a storm threatens an island on a Caribbean itinerary, the captain will change course and cruise to other areas instead. I’m certain you won’t mind missing a port when it’s being plummeted by 100 mph winds and driving rain.

The Atlantic Ocean is a different matter. Hurricanes that don’t go ashore typically hug the coastline which means ships sailing from New York, Boston, Baltimore or Charleston to Bermuda or the Caribbean may have move to a Canada/New England itinerary instead.     There are no islands to hide behind and if a storm is in your path you may miss Bermuda or have to go North when you thought you were cruising South.

So, should you sail during hurricane season? I wouldn’t hesitate a second to book any ship during hurricane season because during the fall, especially, rates are ridiculously low and kids are back in school.  Add to that, I don’t particularly care if the ship has to skip a port.

Will you get seasick? It’s very unlikely because ships steer clear of the path of a hurricane.   I’ve cruised in the Caribbean when another area was hit hard by a hurricane.  The skies were blue, the winds calm during the entire cruise.

Who may want avoid sailing during hurricane season? If your heart is set on visiting Bermuda I suggest booking a cruise early in the season.   It doesn’t have to be a full hurricane for the Captain to decide it’s wiser to head for Canada.  The reason is because ships can’t dock during major storms and don’t even try to because wind and high seas will smash the ship against the dock, causing damage.

I’m always shocked when passengers complain that a ship’s itinerary changed to avoid a hurricane. You mean you WANT to be tossed about in high seas and wind so bad even officers get seasick? Of course there are threats of lawsuits, even though storms fall into the “acts of God” category which means the cruise line isn’t legally responsible. Not to mention, the small type on your cruise ticket also says the Captain can change itinerary or cancel a port for any reason whatsoever.

The point is, the weather is too uncertain to let it affect your vacation plans. And the big advantage of a cruise is that a ship can move away from a large storm whereas in a hotel, you’re stuck. As someone who rode out Hurricane Hugo in Puerto Rico’s El San Juan hotel, let me tell you: It’s pure hell. Even worse than enduring that Category V hurricane, was being stuck in San Juan for three nights with no electricity or air conditioning because the airport was shut down.

Does the prospect of a hurricane keep you from cruising during the June through November season?

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Public opinion polling firm StrategyOne recently surveyed more than 1,000 Americans about a range of topics and found that less than 3 in 10 Americans (28%) plan to take a summer vacation this summer.  Some 16% say they have not decided whether they will take a summer vacation or not, and more than half, 56%, have already ruled out taking a summer vacation.

However, according to CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association), the cruise industry experienced 103% occupancy in 2009. (NOTE:  In 2007, the cruise industry realized 105% occupancy)   Now keep in mind occupancy is not revenue.  To lure people cruise lines slashed prices significantly and based on what I see ahead, that will continue.

Returning to the StrategyOne survey, the reasons so many Americans are forgoing travel this summer is concern about the price of gasoline (72%) and, of course, the economy.  Some 48% say they are spending less on vacations this year than last year.

So why do cruise ships continue to go out full in the worst economy since the great depression?

1.   In the airline industry, when occupancy drops, you park planes in the Mojave Desert and lay off crew.   You can’t do that with a cruise ship which must sail no matter what.  But by by dangling cheap fares ships fill up quickly.  And while revenue from ticket prices decreases, passengers are spending money aboard ship and the crew is getting paid.

2.  Homeland cruising.   As we all know, airfare prices are obscenely high and the experience of flying is awful.    Since 9/11, cruise lines learned that if they reposition cruise ships to different parts of the country, they’ll attract many people who wouldn’t ordinarily take a seagoing vacation.    Today cruising from New York is so popular the Manhattan piers couldn’t accommodate all the ships and passengers.   Royal Caribbean sails year-round from Bayonne, NJ and Cunard Line and Princess Cruises home port in Red Hook, Brooklyn.   Add to this ships sailing year-round from Baltimore, Charleston, New Orleans, Mobile and Jackson, Miss.     So millions of Americans have the option of parking their car for days as they run away to sea.

3.  During the last decade families have taken to cruising by the millions because it gives the biggest bang for the buck in travel.   Cruise lines go overboard building kid-friendly attractions (water slides on deck are ubiquitous) and incredible separate programs for children ranging from tots to teens.   The big news is none of this costs a nickel more; there is no charge for rock climbing on the New Norwegian Epic or zip line on Oasis/Allure of the Seas.  Kids can spend most of the day with children their own age in supervised activities while teens make new friends in private clubs that exclude adults.

What I learned after September 11 is that the cruise industry is the most resilient segment of the travel industry.    People won’t cruise from Istanbul?  No problem, we’ll just move the ship to the U.S.   So I know that however long the economy is in trouble you’ll continue to have the option of boarding a cruise ship.

Have your travel plans altered because of the economic downturn?

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The two early-evening shows offer fun for the whole family while the later performances will feature adult-oriented comedy.   Located in an aft lounge, the clubs will showcase the talents of established comedians as well as rising stars, with approximately 10 shows per voyage offered on short cruise itineraries and approximately 20 shows per cruise on longer length departures.

Comedy clubs are currently featured on Carnival Glory, Carnival Pride and Carnival Sensation and Carnival Dream with the concept being incorporated into the remainder of the fleet over the next several months.  When Carnival Magic enters service in May 2011, a Punchliner Comedy Club will also be featured on the line’s newest “Fun Ship.”

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Here are readers picks for large ship cruise line.  (Note:  Crystal, Regent, Oceania & Azamara ships carry fewer than 1000 passengers and, in my opinion, shouldn’t be in this category)

1.  Crystal Cruises

2.  Regent Seven Seas Cruises

3.  Oceania Cruises

4.  Disney Cruises

5.  Azamara Club Cruises

6.  Cunard Line

7.  Celebrity Cruises

8.  Holland America

9.  Royal Caribbean Cruises

10.  Princess Cruises

Best Small Cruise Lines

1.  The Yachts of Seabourn

2.  Silversea Cruises

3.  Lindblad Cruises

4.  Sea Dream Yacht Club

5.  Windstar Cruises

World’s Best River Cruises

1.  Abercrombie & Kent

2.  Avalon Waterways

3.  Tauck

4.  Viking River Cruises

5.  Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection

Any surprises?   Do you agree?

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MyBestFareFinder bring deals right to your inbox and eliminates the need to hop around the Internet searching for the best cruise prices.  After registering at the web site you simply fill out a form with your preferences (itinerary, ship, stateroom, departure date, etc.). After it is submitted, travel agents will bid for your business by offering the lowest price.

What is especially appealing is there is no fee and or requirement to buy anything.   Your personal information, such as email, never appears until you decide to book with a specific travel agent.   And, MyBestFareFinder screens all travel agents who sign up to participate in the reverse auction to insusre they are legit.

You’ll start receiving no-obligation offers in a few hours to a few days.   After a half dozen so quotes arrive by email from travel agents eager to get your business, it’s pretty safe to assume you’re getting a terrific deal.

As an added perk, you’ll find a travel agent who is more likely to be experienced in selling cruises.

Happy bargain hunting!

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*** Rosemary Roberts’ family decided it was time she enter a nursing home, but Roberts had a better idea of a future dwelling?on board a cruise ship. Roberts eventually cruised and lived aboard the former Royal Viking luxury liners for 18 consecutive years, transferring to another vessel in the fleet when her “home” ship entered its annual dry dock. She banked and voted by mail, and when her family decided to pay her a visit, they merely consulted a Royal Viking brochure. Roberts pointed out “it’s cheaper than a nursing home,” and, at a $400 per diem for her room, board, and entertainment, she may have been correct. It was certainly a lot more enjoyable.   In the early 1990’s, shortly before the demise of the Royal Viking Line, the cruise company evicted Rose Mary, citing psychological problems. She was 89 at the time.

*** In 1996, an 18-year-old inebriated passenger aboard Carnival’s Celebration decided to relieve himself while standing on a high deck, shortly after the ship left San Juan.  As his shocked traveling companions looked on, he fell several decks off the Celebration into the Caribbean. His buddies immediately notified Celebration’s senior officers, who contacted the U.S. Coast Guard. A massive search immediately got underway , involving dozens of boats and helicopters. In a strange turn of events, the passenger turned up safe and sound, on a beach near San Juan, having swam four miles to shore. He spent two nights in a local hospital and returned home in excellent condition. However, he may opt to use restrooms in the future.

*** Morgan Robertson’s “The Wreck of the Titan,” is an unusual novel describing the doomed voyage of the luxury liner Titan, the largest and most glamorous liner ever constructed. Carrying the wealthy and prominent of her time on her April maiden voyage between Southampton and New York, she set out to break a nautical speed record. In the middle of the night, the Titan struck an iceberg and sank, killing most of the passengers as a result of an insufficient number of life boats. Sound familiar?

Yet, “The Wreck of the Titan” was published in 1898, fourteen years before the Titanic sank!  (I have a reprint of this book)

***  Between 1972 and 2007, Queen Elizabeth 2  made a yearly ninety day world cruise, carrying 1,200 passengers, whose median age is 72. In addition to carrying more than a ton of caviar, the QE 2 transported 27 coffins during its annual circumnavigation of the globe. Let’s hope they’ll run out of the caviar and not the latter!

*** In the 1970’s, before cruise lines worried about polluting the oceans, passengers aboard a now-defunct Royal Viking Line cruise ship sailing off the coast of Brazil, were invited to put a message in a sealed bottle and toss it in the ocean. A year later, one couple was contact by a boy in Indonesia who had discovered their bottle on a local beach. They exchanged mail for a while and the couple eventually went to Indonesia to visit him. They paid for his visit to the United States, later for his college and medical school expenses.

***In the 1960s, Holland America’s Rotterdam was sailing between Nassau and New York when a worried woman informed the ship’s officers that she couldn’t locate her husband. The staff scoured every inch of the ship and determined that he must have fallen overboard. Turning the ship around, they charted a course for their most recent port of call, where he had last been seen aboard the vessel. To everyone’s amazement, especially the Rotterdam’s captain, the elderly gentleman was found alive, treading water in the ocean, a full 18 hours after he had fallen from the ship. He did not request a refund for the time he wasn’t able to use the ship’s facilities.

*** Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE 2) entered service in 1968, and during her early years as a transatlantic liner, she carried many celebrities. Among them was artist Salvador Dali, who booked two suites — one for himself and the other for his two pet cheetahs. During the first night at sea, the cheetahs completely destroyed their penthouse suite and after a brief stint in the dog kennel, they were evicted from the ship. Apparently the QE 2 was not up to the cheetahs’ typical speed.

*** In “The European Discovery of America,” Samuel Eliot Morisson described what he considered the first pleasure cruise in history. It took place around 1536, when a London merchant chartered two vessels to set sail to Newfoundland, with the dual goal of catching codfish and enjoying the cruise. Sixty persons signed on, but the excursion was hardly a success. The first ship was lost soon after setting sail, and although the second eventually reached its destination, the voyagers found nothing but misery and had to resort to cannibalism. When the ship eventually returned to England, there were few survivors. As a leisure-time activity,  cruising was set back several centuries!
Any “amazing but true” stories to ad?

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Absurd Cruise Policies? Consumer advocate Chris Elliott frequently tackles cruise line policies that he believes aren’t consumer friendly.  In a recent column in the Orlando Sun Sentinel,  troubleshooter Elliott criticizes alternative restaurant surcharges, airline deviation fees, cruise contracts and maritime law in “Crazy Cruise: Seven Absurdities of the Sea”.   See if you agree.  To read his article, click here.

*** Carnival’s New Round-trip Hawaii Cruises. After Carnival Cruise Lines announced its first round-trip Hawaii cruises from L.A. and San Diego, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Hawaii editor, Jeanne Cooper,  points out that the 15-day voyages include four days at sea in each direction.  Add to this, “interior cabins start at $1,199 base rate for the Los Angeles route, $1,299 for San Diego, per person with double occupancy (plus government taxes, fees, gratuities and excursions.) Ocean-view rooms cost another $300, balcony staterooms an extra $600 per person,” writes Cooper.   Does this appeal to you or are you like Cooper, who prefers to fly and skip the long time at sea.  Click here.

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