I see the lucky folk on Silversea's new ship Silver Spirit, cruising from New York to Southampton on an April/May transatlantic, will be calling at Plymouth, that well-known cruise mecca where Sir Francis Drake is said to have played bowls as the Spanish Armada approached.
I can't help wondering why. I was brought up "over the bridge" from Plymouth and can't think of a single reason to visit the place. The Pilgrim Fathers had the right idea. They left. And that was before the post-war architects got their hands on it and created an ugly concrete jungle.
Interestingly, next port after Plymouth is Southampton, so maybe there will be an opportunity for a few favoured guests to see the ship if there's no time when it comes out of the shipyard in December.
Plymouth aside, there are some great cruises in a new dedicated Silver Spirit brochure. An amazing 91-night Grand Inaugural round South America from January to April 2010, cruises through the Western and Eastern Med, into the Black Sea, lots of overnights in many of my favourite places - Sorrento, Venice and Istanbul.
The ship returns to the Caribbean at the end of October.
Jane Archer
