Cruise Lines

I'm just back from a travel convention in Malta, when sadly no one told the weather the island was on show to the UK's travel trade.

Rain, gales, stormy seas. You name it, Malta threw it at us. When I went for a ship visit to Azamara Quest, which called at Valletta on Wednesday morning, I learnt they'd had an unpleasant night rocking and rolling around the Med before they docked, only to find the wind still blowing furiously.

"We wanted to make you feel at home," one of the staff told me as I checked in at the Hilton in Portomaso on Monday, having just got soaked walking a couple of yards from the taxi into the hotel. Funny man.

Apart from the weather, my brief sojourn was memorable for one of the debates at Tuesday's cruise forum called tradition vs innovation service, which revolved around the importance or otherwise of getting tickets in faux-leather wallets.

No one cares, the man from Carnival UK said, revealing they have saved £3 million a year by getting passengers (or their travel agents) to print tickets on-line.

Not true, said the travel agent, who reckoned many of his older customers only book a cruise for the smart ticket wallet they get (that was a joke by the way - or at least I hope it was! - but the point is they want their tickets presented formally in a wallet and not just a piece of paper they have had to print out themselves).

I had to feel sorry for him. He says his printing costs have escalated since cruise lines switched to sending all documents by email, the killer being when his customers want the shore excursion booklet - maybe 64 pages - printed as well.

Personally I am happy to check in on-line but object to the way cruise lines see this as a way to glean as much information about you as they can. Things they really don't need to know and are frankly none of their business.

Not to mention the fact their systems are often not up to the job. I remember trying to fill in the Carnival Cruise Lines' Fun Pass for a visit to Carnival Dream last November. The one thing it was not was fun.

What do you think? Do you want wallets or is online OK? Let us know.