Cruise Lines

The International Herald Tribune reports that Royal Caribbean International president and chief executive Adam Goldstein was in Singapore to announce plans to base a ship in Singapore starting autumn 2009.

The line dipped a toe into Asian waters this year, so I guess this decision is proof that the experiment was successful. Either that or they just can't think what to do with all the cruise ships they keep building.

Let's face it, the Caribbean might be popular, but when the giant Oasis of the Seas hits the region in December 2009, it's going to soak up an awful lot of passengers - 5,400 on each cruise if all goes according to plan - so Royal's other ships have to fill somewhere else.

And why not Asia? Star Cruises is there year-round, Costa Cruises bases a ship there for part of the year and Princess Cruises has a big selection of exotic cruises there in winter, but generally it's somewhere the big lines only dip in and out of on their way around the world.

On Carnival Splendor last weekend, I heard Carnival Cruise Lines president and chief executive Gerry Cahill rule Asia out as an option, so seems Royal might have it all it's own way - for a while at least. Smart move.

Science was never my strong subject at school so imagine my glee when I was able to answer the question "what is ice?" posed by Steffen Biersack, the geologist and lecturer onboard this Fram cruise in Greenland.

No trick. The answer is frozen water - and I did get it right! - but I have to admit some of the rest of his lecture on ice went straight over my head. Still fascinating though.

And it's what this Hurtigruten expedition cruising is all about. No shows with didn't-quite-make-it dancers and singers, no napkin-folding or wine-tasting classes; just a nice ship - Fram holds 318 passengers and was launched last year - with big windows so you can always see the view, which at the moment happens to be icebergs. In fact it has been icebergs of varying sizes for the past two days.

There are all sorts on board, young and old, mainly Danish and Norwegian but also a smattering of Brits, Americans and Australians, all here for the excitement of seeing somewhere really different rather than wanting a luxury cruise with crew racing around to cater for their every wish and whim.

No one dresses for dinner and you are expected to clear away your plates and cups if you have tea and cakes in the little self-service.

I can't see cruise traditionalists enjoying this, but I I've never seen so many happy, excited faces, and certainly not on a cruise. Just proves what they always say. There is a cruise for everyone. Get it right and you have one satisfied customer.

This is me, at my sartorial best, about to set off on a RIB boat ride in the Stockholm archipelago.

I've been wanting to do this for years - well since 2004, when I first saw it - so my thanks to Tina Brännström at the Stockholm Visitors Board for getting it booked for me and making my dream come true.

I'm always amazed how few people know what a great city Stockholm is - pretty and with the amazing Vasa Museum to see. And then there are the sightseeing boats that have running commentary as they chug along under the bridges that connect this city's island.

Interesting, but not nearly as much fun as the RIB. And as the boats hit 40-45 knots at high speed, bouncing over waves, banking around nothing in particular (just for the fun of it), you'll forget how daft you look and be very grateful for the wind and waterproofs and silly hat!

Interesting to see on Cruise Critic that Disney Cruise Line is considering offering Alaska cruises from 2010.

Apparently, the cruise line has applied for a 10-year permit to cruise in Glacier Bay National Park, where there are tight restrictions on the number of ships allowed in.

All the more interesting as it was also suggested to me this week that the Baltic might also be on the Mickey radar. With two new big ships coming 2011 and 2012, guess it has to find somewhere to cruise other than its well-trod Caribbean home.

Land sailing in Bonaire caught my eye as I read about the new Action Ashore excursions that Ocean Village is offering in the Caribbean this winter.

I remember doing something similar to this - except it was sand yachting in Le Touquet in France. It was wet and windy and our yachts kept going every which way except around the course.

After about 30 minutes, the owner, fed up with putting us back upright, gave a Gallic shrug and walked back to his office, leaving his hapless assistant in charge of a bunch of out-of-control journos. Sadly it meant he missed the spectacular pile-up at the end, memories of which kept everyone in hysterics for the rest of the trip.

I hope Bonaire land sailing is as much fun.

It's also nice to see a zip-wire adventure in Barbados adding a touch of spice to the rather tame island tours, jeeps and botanical garden visits.

Bales Worldwide is adding a fourth dahabiyya to its Egypt programme for 2009/10.

Dahabiyyas are small sailing boats modelled on 19th-century vessels used by aristos and others with money to cruise the Nile.

They hold just 12 passengers in six individually decorated cabins, have their own private moorings away from the big Nile boats that are moored sometimes six and seven deep, and you are waited on hand and foot by a wonderful crew who will be waiting to greet you back from an excursion - of course there is a guide to take you around the temples and tombs - with cold towels and an even colder beer (all drinks are included in the price).

It really is the only way to do the Nile.

Costa Cruises' Costa Mediterranea has inaugurated a new $13 billion cruise terminal at St Petersburg.

I heard about the new terminal, which is open but not finished - completion is scheduled for 2010, when there will be three terminals and seven berths - when I was cruising the Baltic on Princess Cruises' Crown Princess a couple of weeks ago.

Apparently this new facility is closer to the city than the cargo port, which most ships use, but still not really walking distance.

Sadly I was there too early to see it and Princess tied up in the cargo port.

I say sadly, but it was great fun to get from there into the city - you do need visas if you want to go it alone - taking the port bus (which is actually for the workers but tourists can hop on), getting through security at the other end of the port, about three miles away, and then negototiating for a taxi into the city. And then you have to do it all in reverse to get back to the ship.

Of course, if the new port is not walking distance, visitors with visas will still have to do battle with the taxi drivers who have a bad reputation but were most pleasant and certainly knew enough English to negotiate prices and get us into the city and then back to the right port. One had even spent his downtime as a taxi driver learning English, German, Italian and Japanese.

In between the travelling to and fro, we had a lovely day wandering the city, doing lunch and riding the metro.

It is such as shame that most visitors are scared off doing St Petersburg on their own, partly by the effort and cost of getting a visa, but also by the guides, who give the impression that all the locals are out to rob and mug you. But let's face it, they have a vested interest in keeping everyone together in a flock.

Maybe this new terminal is the start of much-needed change of attitude. I would love to think so.

This has to be the party of 2009.

Next August, Hapag-Lloyd's exploration ships Bremen and Hanseatic are cruising the Northwest Passage in opposite directions - Bremen from Greenland and Hanseatic from Alaska. If all goes well with the weather they will meet in the middle and stop for an icy beach party and reciprocal ship visits.

On the way over - in either direction - passengers will be able to take Zodiac excursions to get up close to icebergs and glaciers, and hopefully spot polar bears.

Hapag-Lloyd is a German company and there will be a lot of Germans on board, but the cruises will be bilingual.

Wonder what's happened to my invitation?

When I tried to find out some information about Indian Ocean Cruises earlier this year I was told by Uwe, my contact there, that its ship had been deployed elsewhere and that cruises were therefore temporarily suspended. Ondeed the website was a blanck, inviting people to call back later.

He said he would tell me when they managed to find another and got things started again.

He didn't - maybe he has moved on? - but I read in Travelmole that not only does IOC have the 200-passenger Ocean Odyssey back, but that the ship has had a $10 million refurb.

I was on the ship last November and had a great cruise, sailing from Goa down the west coast of India, out to the idyllic Lakshadweep Islands, and enjoyed fab food and charming service, but boy, was that ship in need of some tender loving care. I would love to see what they have done with it.

IOC is also extending its operations beyond Goa. It will cruise there in winter and base the ship in Port Louis, Mauritius, in summer, sailing to Madagascar, Reunion and the Agalega Islands.

Cunard's Queen Mary 2 set off on its 100th transatlantic crossing yesterday, sailing from Southampton to New York. By the time she moors in the Big Apple, the ship will have sailed 711,288 nautical miles, clocking up 316,729 of them on transatlantic crossings alone, and served 206,200 bottles of Champagne.

Queen Mary 2 has carried Donald Trump, Rod Stewart, John Cleese, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Queen Noor of Jordan, Hillary Clinton, George Bush senior.

But not Jane Archer. Could 2009 be the year I finally add my name to this roll call of the rich and famous? I'll keep you posted.

Cruise Business Review says the Russian government is considering a visa exemption for visitors arriving by cruise ship and staying in the country for fewer than 72 hours. It will apply to certain ports and St Petersburg is expected to be one of them.

That would be brilliant news for cruise passengers, who might finally be persuaded to leave the comfort of their ships' excursions and find out there is more to St Petersburg than being whizzed around in large groups to look at palaces and paintings

Incidentally, I had news yesterday that "cruise fans can surf the ports" thanks to a new addition to the Cumbria Cruises website. I hurried along to look.

There is a new section, all about the ports. Well, when I say new, that is an exaggeration. There is nothing new or informative here - time zones, local currency, nearest shops, a coupls of lines on key attractions.

Yawn ....

Nothing for anyone who wants some real information about how to get around on their own. That if you are docked by the ferry port in Helsinki you can walk, if you're in the other dock there is a bus for just over two euros. Much cheaper than the shuttle. That in Gdynia you can take a train to Gdansk for a fraction of the cost of a taxi. And what does it say about St Petersburg?

Organised excursions are recommended and sometimes compulsory.

Compulsory? Only for those who have not got their own visas. So what a shame it doesn't explain that if you get one you can explore alone. It's not that difficult and it is great fun. I know, because I did it this summer when I was there with Princess Cruises, just as I did the train to Gdansk and the bus into Helsinki.

A port guide with real knowledge and tips on getting around and prices instead of repeating information you can get elsewhere. Now that really would be news.

After our jolt getting into Kepez, Turkey, earlier on my Spirit of Adventure cruise, it was a pleasant surprise when the captain came on the tannoy in my cabin this morning at 7.30am - yes, really, and in the cabin too; there is no sleeping in on this cruise - to announce we had tied up. I hadn't even noticed we had stopped moving.

But imagine my shock when he announced we were in Malta. We had only left Sevastopol late the previous night and were supposed to be in the Black Sea. Was I mistaken? Was it his Aussie burr? Not if half the passengers on this cruise can be believed.

Naturally it was a great joke and the talk of breakfast.

Anyway, the truth is, we had arrived in Yalta, the third and last port in our Black Sea odyssey. Most of us spent the morning at the Livadia Palace, the summer residence of the last Russian Tzar, Nicholas II, and famous as the place where the Big Three - US president Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin - met at the end of World War Two to carve up Europe.

According to Irina, guide of bus 6, both Western leaders got tired of Stalin's oneupmanship - he even provided a lemon tree for a US delegate who complained there wasn't a slice of lemon in his drink - so they decided to play a trick on him.

One morning Roosevelt told Stalin he dreamed he was leader of the whole world, Churchill that he was ruler of the universe. Quick as a flash, Stalin said he had also had a dream: that he was the person who refused to sign the papers appointing each of them to these positions.

"It's just a joke," Irina emphasised, having just told us what a kind, hospitable man Stalin was. Or maybe that was the joke?

I have to admit I had a long debate with myself before I left home for this Spirit of Adventure cruise in the Black Sea, deciding whether I really wanted to spend my evening in Sevastopol watching the Russian Navy Black Sea Ensemble doing their thing. Am I glad the cynic in me lost.

It was a fabulous show, full of singing and dancing - yes, the kind of stuff that usually leaves me cold, especially on a cruise ship. But then cruise ships don't have singers and dancers like this.

When the show, at some officers' club in town, ended we all sat there, waiting for them to come back. Instead we got Neil, our much-loved cruise director, reminding us there would be food in the Verandah self-service when we got back on the ship.

Groan. Not more food, the audience chorused as one (we had, after all, had an early dinner before leaving for the performance). Then they rushed up to the Verandah as soon as they were back on board. Unlike a fool and his money, a cruiser and his food is never parted.

I seem to be spending my life underground on this Spirit of Adventure cruise in the Black Sea. On Saturday in Odessa I was down in the catacombs under the city, seeing where resistence fighters lived during the Second World War; on Sunday I was in tunnels dug after the Second World War to hide a submarine base in Balaklava, just outside Sevastopol.

Yes, the very same Balaklava made famous for the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War, so we learned all about that too while we there.

The history in this area is fascinating. Odessa, I was surprised to discover, is a very elegant city, best known for the Potemkin Steps - 200 steps that lead from the city to the harbour that featured in Eisenstein's film Battleship Potemkin.

It was great to see them, and I walked up and down them, but the catacombs are far more interesting - 2,500km of mad-made tunnels (it's where they took the limestone from to build the city) that would stretch from Odessa to St Petersburg if laid in a straight line.

Up to 250 resistance fighters lived for a year in the tunnels we wandered through under the town of Nerubaiskoye, coming out at night to blow up German trains, trucks and garrisons. Because they lived underground, they were very pale, so they had to make themselves up before they went out on sabotage duty or the Germans would easily spot them.

Nest day I was in the submarine tunnels - much bigger obviously as they had to hold a nuclear sub. These are the stuff of James Bond - I could just see Daniel Craig racing through them, blowing everything up as he went. Or maybe that was wishful thinking.

The tunnels were dug by brigades, which each did their bit and were then sent away - shot, I suggested, but Mariya, our guide said no - so no one knew the full extent of them. She reckons the people of Sevastapol, just down the road, didn't even know they existed.

The subs and nuclear weapons have all gone now - after all this area is now the friendly Ukraine, not the Russian bear (you don't even need a visa to visit). And anyway, the subs got too big to fit in the tunnels and no one had any money to expand them.

...but not really in the way Spirit of Adventure intended. As we arrived at the port, in Turkey, there was a sudden jolt, followed by an apology from the captain. Apparently the tug had not been doing its tugging bit as we came into dock. Result, one alarmingly big gash in the side of the ship.

Cleverly it was patched up so we could continue on our way, into the Black Sea, heading for the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Sevastopol and Yalta.

Spirit of Adventure - it's also the name of the ship - is scheduled to go into dry dock after this cruise anyway for its annual spruce-up. Could the timing have been any better?

It was hinted to me this summer when I was in Stockholm, but now it's for sure.

In 2010, Disney Cruise Line is positioning the Disney Magic in Scandinavia in 2010, operating 12-night cruises that will visit Germany, Russia and Sweden.

All-American mouse meets St Petersburg history and culture. What a thought.

It had to happen given how successful Costa Cruises seems to have been operating cruises from Dubai around the Gulf.

Between January and April 2010, Royal Caribbean International is positioning Brilliance of the Seas at the emirate, presumably also sailing around the Gulf, although itineraries have not been announced.

Brilliance is the ship chosen to operate cruises in the Med this winter - the first time Royal has stayed in Europe year-round. If Brilliance is also staying for 2009/20, it's for a very short season. Does this mean winter Med has not been a success? I hope not, but wait to find out.

This time it all happened as we were leaving Yalta late last night in the hands of an L-plated tug boat driver. It was his first tugging job, apparently, and seems to have been a minor disaster, leaving us standed for a while as the tug failed to do its tugging thing. Thankfully, though, this time there were no piers for Spirit of Adventure to hit.

So today we've been all at sea, heading back over the Black Sea towards Istanbul in Turkey, where we are due to dock around 8am tomorrow.

We've had four lectures, a Ready Steady Cook with cruise director Neil and Captain Frank Allica that got the smoke detectors on red alert, a gala drinks do, formal night, crew show and we've got to be on deck at 6am tomorrow for the magical dawn sail through the Bosphorus.

Who says cruising is a holiday?

Casual cruiseline Ocean Village is offering one week in the Caribbean for £749 per person (from £99 for kids under 12) - an incredible deal given that it includes flights and transfers.

The low, low price is on a December 17 departure - a seven-night Corals and Coconuts cruise on Ocean Village Two - which is a bit of an awkward time for agents to sell I guess because it's so close to Christmas for those who want to be back for festivities with family and friends.

But you know, Christmas has a habit of coming around every year. Deals like this might not. Blue skies and Caribbean sun or the grey skies and rain? A bit of a no-brainer really,

I've often reported that Vietnam is the next big thing in the world of cruising.

For 2009, at least nine major cruise lines will be visiting the country, still best known to most people for the war with the US.

But that was all a long time ago and these days the Americans are gathering on the shoreline for altogether more peaceful reasons - to see this amazing, exotic little country that was such an important part of their history.

Princess Cruises, Silversea, Seabourn, Crystal and Royal Caribbean International are among the cruise lines that will be calling on Da Nang, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City and other stops along the Vietnamese coast.

It's long been on my list of must-see places. Maybe 2009 is the year it will happen.

Sky Travel reports that Thomson Cruises has dropped plans to base a ship at Liverpool after just two departures.

It's nothing to do with the cruise that never was, but rather because instead of allowing Thomson Celebration to use the city's new cruise liner terminal, the port people said the ship had to tie up at Langton Dock, which overlooks the biggest scrapyard in Europe.

Somehow they managed to build a new terminal that doesn't have the customs and baggage-handling facilities needed for turnaround days, when one set of passengers disembarks and the next lot come on.

Thomson Celebration would have been the first ship to be based at the port in 50 years and contributed £4.5 million in port fees and related spending to the city's coffers.

There must be some very red faces in the city's council offices.

Silversea has pulled the South Pacific cruises planned for exploration ship Prince Albert II in summer 2009 and instead will be bringing the ship back to the Arctic, cruising around Greenland and Spitsbergen.

Reading between the comments from Silversea president and chief executive officer Amerigo PerassoIt, the South Pacific cruises were not selling, mainly because of the cost of getting there, but also because people didn't connect with a ship built for polar waters sailing around sun-kissed islands.

Operating our vessel in close reach of our three leading markets (United States, United Kingdom and Continental Europe) is all the more justified in the present economic conjuncture. With its ice-strengthened hull, Prince Albert II is quite naturally associated with polar sea ice regions, rather than other attractive, exotic destinations.

Prince Albert II will sail nine Arctic cruises between June and August before heading back to the Antarctic for winter 2009/10.

After several seasons in Antarctica, Voyages of Discovery is leaving the White Continent and cruising to South East Asia and the Far East in winter 2009/10.

I wrote a little on this for the next TW Cruise, due out soon, but since then the brochure has come out bearing more information and some magnificent itineraries that will take you around India, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and South Africa.

VoD's ship Discovery takes its time as it cruises through all these places so there's lots of time ashore. Anyone with the time and money could put some of these itineraries back to back and have an ultimate round-the-world trip.

OK, you won't make it to Australia so it's not quite RTW, but at least you would see the world as you went instead of spending endless days at sea, as is the norm on a standard world cruise.

There is no single supplement on a number of cabins and guaranteed no fuel surcharge on all bookings. All the cruises will have guest lecturers on board to add some insights into the places being visited.

VoD says it has switched to Asia to give passengers who have done Antarctica something new for winter 09/10. Makes sense. I cruised Antarctica with Voyages and much as I loved it, it's not something I would do twice with the same cruise line as I'd like to see how others cope with the harsh environment down there.

On my cruise, most of the passengers agreed they had done Antarctica and would not go back. After all, it's not cheap and makes more sense for them to spend their money seeing new places and cultures.

QE2 arrives in Dubai this morning, November 26, the last stop on her last cruise.

An Emirates double-decker A380 aircraft will be making a grand flypast to welcome the ship as it arrives at The World islands and a flotilla of small boats will be waiting to escort the ship to her new home at Palm Jumeirah.

At 3pm tomorrow, Cunard will hand over the keys to new owner Nakheel in a traditional flag-changing ceremony.

And so the chapter ends - just in time for a new one to begin.

Hot on the heels of Silversea's decision to bring Prince Albert II back to the Arctic for summer 2009, Hurtigruten has added capacity in Spitsbergen for June, July and August for 2009.

The additional cruises are on the 120-passenger Expedition, which is owned by Gap Adventures and has been chartered on a crew basis for four years by Spitsbergen Travel, which is a subsidiary of Hurtigruten.

Expedition will be sailing 13 nine-day Kingdom of the Polar Bear cruises for Hurtigruten from Longyearbyen, circumnavigating Spitsbergen, weather permitting.

Hurtigruten's head of commercial Kathryn Beadle said demand has outstripped capacity on the line's two other ships in Spitsbergen.

"Our main nine-day Spitsbergen voyage is already close to being sold out for 2009 and we still have more than six months' selling time."

Expedition, which has an ice-strengthened hull, was built in 1972 and is currently undergoing modernisation. When it enters service it will have a panorama lounge, expedition lounge, restaurant, library, bar, fitness room and sauna.

Cold is clearly the new hot for British cruisers. Just a month ago Titan HiTours announced it had signed an alliance with National Geographic which enables Brits to travel on the company's expedition ships, operated by Lindblad Expeditions, to Antarctica, the Arctic, Alaska, the Galapagos and other such exciting places.

Cruise Critic reports that Fred Olsen is considering pulling its Liverpool departures because of the scrapyard scenery and "abysmal" facilities its passengers have to put up with at Langton Docks.

Thomson Cruises has already voted with its fleet and decided not to offer cruises from Liverpool after a trial run this summer.

The problem? Cruises that start and end in Liverpool have to use Langton Docks, while cruiselines just visiting for the day get to use the shiny new terminal.

The reason? The powers that be managed to build the new terminal that doesn't have the customs and baggage-handling facilities needed for turnaround days, when one set of passengers disembarks and the next lot comes on.

The result? Huge loss of potential earnings to the city.

How clever was that?

One of the problems of being on a ship with so few passengers (I'm on Windstar Cruises' ship Wind Surf in the Caribbean with another 68 people instead of the full complement of 315) is that most of the shore excursions have been cancelled because they haven't reached the minimum numbers.

It has been very disappointing, so full marks to Leia, the shore excursions manager, for finding out that we would be in Grenada alongside Princess Cruises' Emerald Princess on Friday - and for getting in touch with the ship to see if they happened to do the river tubing trip I wanted to do.

They did - and so full marks to Princess also, for allowing me to infiltrate the group.

It was great fun - you sit in a big tube and float down river, through rapids, bouncing off boulders, going backwards, forwards, spinning; really just as the water and tube takes you because you don't have any control.

I felt rather like a human pinball. But a lot wetter. Especially after the guys from the company running the trip - Adventure River Tubing - got us all corralled at one of the ropes strung across the river where they collect everyone every so often, surrounded us and let loose a barrage of splashing.

Until then I had just been wet; after that I was drowned!

These guys - there were lots of them - did a fantastic job making sure we were all absolutely safe, and rescuing us when we got beached, which happened to several of us a few times. As I said, you have no control on these tubes.

Jude, the guy on the right here, said ours was the second group of the day; sometimes they have four.

All too soon it was over and we were back on dry land for a rum punch (it is the Caribbean after all). "Was it good?" the guy with the bottle asked. I said I had only one complaint. It was over too soon.

By the look on his face I got the impression that was not very original.

One of the highlights of my Windstar cruise was the barbecue on the beach at Pigeon Island in St Lucia - burgers, hot dogs, salads .... and the ubiquitous steel band.

It was all going very well, and then they started playing Christmas carols. December 3, on a beach in the Caribbean, with the sun blazing down.

Too early. Out of place. Bah humbug. I went for a walk.

Far better was the discovery that a woman playing a steel drum is called a pimp. At least that's what one of the other band members told me. I just hope he wasn't joking!

I'm pleased to report that this cannon, trained on Windstar's ship Wind Surf, is British.

This is the view from Fort Rodney on Pigeon Island in St Lucia. Behind where I'm standing, clearly visible (but not in this picture - here you are looking at St Lucia), is French Martinique. So back in 1778, our man Rodney realised this hill was a perfect vantage point for keeping an eye on the marauding French so he had this fort built.

But how did they get the cannons up there?

The weather has been doing a grand job trying to make the Brits on Wind Star feel at home. It was raining when I landed in Barbados on Sunday and was pouring down on and off while we were moored off Bequia. But two days on, the Caribbean is back to its hot and sunny best.

I expected mine to be the only English accent on the ship. In fact, there are loads of us. Well relatively speaking. There are actually only 69 passengers anyway, on a ship that holds 315 (15 are British passport holders and there are other Brits from other places around the world), so it feels a lot like the Marie Celeste, especially in the evenings.

On the first evening, the ship was deserted by the time I left the dining room just before 10pm. Things have picked up though. Last night, in the Compass Rose, my favourite bar (pictured), there were eight of us. A busy night for the barman!

Craig and Nicola, who together make up the band Rain and have been singing their socks off to an empty room, looked thrilled.

The upside of having so few passengers is that we are all loving having our own private yacht and the top service that comes with it. There are 188 crew. That's more than two for each passenger - a ratio the luxury lines can only dream of!

I'm even greeted by name as I get in and out of the tender and the barman remembered my cabin number before me.

For those not in the know, Wind Surf is a sailing ship, with five masts and seven big sails. They switch off the engines if there is enough wind - apparently they saved 30 tonnes of fuel on the transatlantic crossing a couple of weeks back by using wind power - but today, the third evening of my cruise, is the first time I have seen them billowing in the wind, and then only four sails are up.

Sadly there weren't any muscle men heaving and straining to hoist the canvas either, as everything is done at the push of a button.

Ah. The romance of technology.

Costa Cruises has marked the start of its third season of cruising around the Gulf from Dubai by announcing new ship Costa Luminosa, launching in June 2009, will be homeported in the Middle East port in winter 2009/10.

That's quite a commitment given this is still such a new market. Usually, somewhere new has to put up with the smaller, older ships for quite some time, until they have proved themselves.

I guess Costa feels Dubai has already done that. When they launched Dubai cruises in winter 06/07, they had one 1,680-passenger ship and carried 44,000. Last winter they put on a second ship and carried 70,000.

This winter there are also two ships - the 1,680-passenger Costa Classica and the bigger 2,394-passenger Costa Victoria - and they expect to carry 100,000 passengers.

The numbers are made up of Europeans, including Brits, but also increasingly passengers from China and the Far East.

But maybe also Costa is making sure it is in a good position to head off competition from Royal Caribbean International, which is positioning Brilliance of the Seas in Dubai in January 2010, also to operate cruises around the Gulf.

The 92,700-ton Costa Luminosa carries 2,828 passengers and will have all the mod-cons you expect of a new ship including 772 balcony cabins, a luxurious spa, 4D cinema and Grand Prix driving simulator.

MSC Cruises took delivery of MSC Fantasia in a ceremony at the STX Europe shipyard in France yesterday. The STX Europe and French flags were lowered and the flags of MSC Cruises, Italy and Panama were raised.

The ship has now left the shipyard and is sailing to Naples by way of Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona and Marseilles. It will be named in Naples by Italian diva Sophia Loren on December 18.

I'll be there to watch the ceremony and also staying on board for a two-night cruise to Genoa so look out next week for reports from the ship.

Considering its launch is only a year away, we know very little about Silversea's new ship Silver Spirit, which merits just two paragraphs on the cruiseline's website.

Compare that to Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas, which comes out at roughly the same time, has its own website and has already had journalists nosing around it in the shipyard.

But in response to a question about world cruising in 2010, I am told Silver Spirit will be sailing a Christmas voyage from Barcelona to Lisbon in December 2009, a transatlantic in January 2010 and a Grand Voyage around South America, starting in January 2010.

So now you know.

Apparently more information will be released in the next couple of weeks. I hope so. The ship carries 540 passengers and none can book unless they have some itineraries and prices.

Just to prove there is no such thing as bad publicity, USA Today's Cruise Log reports hits on the Oceania Cruises website went through the roof on news of the attempted attack by pirates.

Not only has the world now heard about Oceania Cruises, but one agent is reported as saying the great American public has now discovered where the Gulf of Aden is and is interested in going there.

And here are the cruiselines thinking they have to sell at rock-bottom prices to get people to book.

It's official. QE2's red funnel is to be sliced off, restored and become the central attraction of a new maritime museum close to the vessel full of memorabilia taken from on board.

After months of speculation, details of QE2's new look were released at this week's Seatrade Middle East Cruise Conference by Manfred Ursprunger, CEO of new owner QE2 Enterprises, which in turn is owned by Dubai-based Nakheel.

"QE2's arrival in Dubai is not the end for the most famous liner in the world but a new beginning."

"New" is certainly the word. Essentially the ship's insides are to be ripped out to create a new luxury hotel with 200 rooms, 110 apartments and five restaurants, serving menus created by celebrity chef Michel Roux. There will be a theatre where once there were engines.

A replica funnel will, as predicted, house an apartment that the new owners hope will become one of the most sought after addresses in Dubai.

The bridge, captain's cabin and Princess Grill will be kept, to become part of a heritage trail around the 40-year-old vessel. Hardly the most exciting day out, but no doubt plenty of people will stump up to see the QE2's rather paltry remains.

All the work is being done locally, at the Drydocks World repair yard, and is expected to take up to three years. An incredibly long time given they they build new ships in 18 months.

I'm off to Dubai with my daughter tonight, to join Costa Cruises' ship Costa Victoria. We're doing a cruise around the Gulf, calling at Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Oman and Bahrain.

This is Costa's big new destination - so big they are putting new ship Costa Luminosa there next winter, when Royal Caribbean International is quitting winter cruises in the Med and moving into the Middle East with Brilliance of the Seas.

Naturally I am very keen to see what it's all about.

If all goes according to plan, my next blogs will be from the ship, with news and pictures about the vessel and the destinations. Fingers crossed the internet works.

Thank goodness we at least had the good news that one of its F3 new-build ships is back on track, because otherwise it's not been the greatest December for Norwegian Cruise Line.

On Christmas Day it was reported that Star Cruises is getting out of NCL America, suggesting Star has no confidence in its future although the brand sails on. The following day Cruise Critic said a passenger was missing, presumed overboard, from Norwegian Pearl. She disappeared while the ship was at sea east of Cancun, Mexico.

Sadly there was no sign of the woman, 36-year-old Jennifer Seitz, from Florida, during a four-day sweep of the area by the US Coast Guard and Mexican Navy. The search was called off on Monday and the FBI is now investigating her disappearance.

Seatrade's Insider News website reports that Star Cruises, which owns 50% of NCL (Apollo Investment owns the other half), is pulling out of Norwegian Cruise Line's ill-fated NCL America operation.

It's no surprise. NCL America started with such a great fanfare. A US-flagged operation with three ships all sailing within Hawai'i, cutting out the need for the four days at sea - in both directions - for ships sailing to the islands from the US east coast. It sounded brilliant.

Only problem was, it wasn't making any money and having a mainly US crew also produced massive staffing problems. So one ship came out, then another, leaving just Pride of America to continue to fly the Stars and Stripes. Papers were drawn up in September 2007 allowing for either or both parties to exit or disband NCL America at the end of 2008.

In the event it is just Star that wants out so it doesn't mean the end of NCL America. Its Hawai'i programme has been confirmed until 2012 and it is making money, according to NCL president and ceo Kevin Sheehan.

Armed with the worse-than-useless map provided by Costa Cruises, we hit the streets of Manama City, the capital of Bahrain, this morning. Mission: To see the Grand Mosque.

Go out and right, we were told by the security man at the yet-to-be-finished Harbour Mall. As there was nothing for as far as the eye could see but building work and cranes, I asked a passing American. It's that way, he said, pointing the opposite direction. But a long way. Too far to walk.

He called over to a friend to confirm what he thought as he had only lived in Bahrain a couple of months. The friend pointed to a building straight across the street from us. "Take the road in front of that building. It's down there." He sounded so positive, we crossed the street, walked to the front of the building. No sign of said road.

At that point we gave up and took a picture of the World Trade Centre instead. An amazing piece of 21st-century architecture and such a contrast to the narrow streets, alleys and shops in the nearby old souk.

It was quite amusing because it didn't hugely matter to Ilana and I if we saw the mosque or not. But it's not funny if this is your holiday and your one chance to see the highlights.

We finally discovered the mosque is a two-mile walk from the centre of Manama, about halfway between the city and the ship. We had seen it when we drove in, but decided it was not the Grand Mosque as it was not where indicated on Costa's map. How stupid of us to think it would be.

Especially after a couple of Brits we spoke to at reception last night said they had gone in search of the souk and fort indicated as places of interest on the map of Abu Dhabi. They found both. The former is a construction site; the latter is closed for renovations.

"They need to update their information," one said. Update and improve, I would say. These are all new ports for most passengers and those not keen on rather over-priced shore excursions (and they are crippling for us Brits now the pound is so weak) would appreciate a bit of help getting around.

I realise that doesn't make any money for Costa, but with a little bit of help we would all be going home with a much more positive feeling about the cruiseline.

I think it took about two minutes in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and third stop on our Costa Victoria cruise from Dubai around Arabia, before I decided I loved this place.

Was it the stunning skyscraper skyline - they call it the Manhattan of Arabia - the blue sea, the sandy beaches, far more trees and grass than you'd ever expect to see in the desert, being driven in style through the city in a silver Mercedes by Nile, our driver for the day, kindly provided by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.

All these things, I guess.

First stop was the huge Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Mosque, where I had to join other women and put on an abaya (gown) and shayla (head cover) before going in (entry and robes are free, by the way).

Then it was on to the Emirates Palace Hotel, which has a central accommodation area with one floor for rulers from the emirates and another for visiting VIPs. There are two helipads (popular with visiting sheikhs), while VIP suites have a private drive and entrance so they don't have to mix with the riff-raff.

Not that your average riff-raff could afford to stay here. The hotel, opened 2005, cost $3 billion to build and is quite stunning. It's done out in colours that reflect the desert. Carpets come from Iran, flowers from Holland, there are 13 types of marble and showers big enough to fit two or three couples - at once! None of that comes cheap.

"All the suites have a dining room," Mirjam, from guest relations, explained as she showed me the the top places to stay. "That glass cost 750 dirham." That's about £150. For one small glass. I inched away from the table..

Last evening, Costa Victoria's daily newletter Today, left each night in the cabin by our stewardess Ruby Gail, had useful information on Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates, the next stop on our cruise around the Arabian Gulf.

There would be a free bus to take passengers to the port gate or a shuttle bus to the Safeer supermarket for €6 return per person. I consulted the city map left in the cabin, which helpfully did not show the whereabouts of the supermarket.

"It's just a supermarket," a receptionist explained, marking an x on the map. "There's nothing to see in Fujairah. But take the port bus and walk to the souk. Sometimes it can be nice to look at new things even if they are not interesting."

I think I know what she meant.

So my daughter Ilana and I took the port bus and started to walk. One and a half hours later we reached the souk that was supposed to be 15-20 minutes away, risking life and limb on what passes for a pavement here.

Actually I enjoyed the walk, but Fujairah is just a building site. It'll probably be very nice when it's finished. The souk is two rows of shops selling veg and clothes (we skipped the meat and fish bit). After five minutes trying to look interested, we took a taxi back to the ship.

My daughter Ilana wasn't the only one to get that sinking feeling when we went on a 4X4 desert safari in Oman on Monday.

There were 12 jeeps in our convoy, each with four passengers from Costa Cruises' Costa Victoria, and we all had a good laugh as this one went nose first into the sand.

"He didn't follow my tracks, you have to follow the lead car because the sand are always shifting," our jeep driver Waleed told us. Then promptly blazed his own trail, slip-sliding across the sand. But not before telling us he had been doing this for 11 years.

Those who had been in the jeep found it less amusing, but emerged unscathed. Amazingly they managed to get the car out so we could carry on our way.

The excursion lasted nine hours and it was interesting to see a bit of Oman, which is basically made up of mountains, desert and drivers with a death wish. Costa had done a good job pairing up the English speakers so we were able to make some new friends on the trip, but overall the day out didn't quite live up to its billing.

We had only barely 10 minutes skidding around the sand in the jeep, 20 minutes to take pictures while they figured out how to get the car out and 45 minutes at Wadi Bani Khalid for packed lunch and a wander.

The rest of the time - and remember it was nine hours - Waleed was hammering along tarmaced roads and motorways, dodging would-be Schumachers, to make sure we got there and back on time. At £122 each, it was quite an expensive day of driving. 

One of the nice things about Costa Cruises' Middle East cruise itinerary is that you have a bit of time to see Dubai. We had all day Saturday, when guide Wahid, from Lama Tours, took my daughter Ilana and I on a tour of the city, and Sunday morning. And we'll have more time to explore on Friday afternoon, when we get back.

The city is a strange mix of new and, well, new. It's famous for skyscrapers, stunning hotels and cranes, and it certainly has plenty of those. It also has lots of cars, but Wahid skillfully manoevered us through the traffic, letting us out here and there to take pictures.

The Burj Al Arab Hotel, that's the one designed like a sail, is a must-see of course, and is excess in every sense of the word - no entry without a reservation and deep pockets, and a strict dress code to keep out the riff-raff.

We admired it from the outside and instead joined the sightseers in the new Atlantis Hotel on Palm Jumeirah, one of the man-made islands off Dubai's coast. It's another byword for excess - think Atlantis in the Bahamas or Disney to get an idea of the OTT design - and was full of tourists having a look-see and paying a fortune to get into the aquarium, which costs an extortionate £20 per person.

It contrasts rather with the Dubai Museum, in the Mina Bazaar area, a buzzing part of the city with shops, people and cars. For an altogether-more-affordable 70p you get an interesting insight into the history of this booming little emirate.

And it really is little. Abu Dhabi covers some 87% of the territory of the United Arab Emirates, while Dubai - the second largest of seven - covers just 4.9%. It's 4,000 square kilometres - about the same size as Cornwall - and there are 1.5 million people. And it feels like at least as many cars.

Low-rise Mina Bazaar was the last stop of our tour. Next morning at breakfast, sitting in the al-fresco bit of Costa Victoria's buffet, Ilana and I looked across to the Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, around 160 storeys, 780 metres high. It's not finished, although I gather there is just a spire to add on the outside and work to do on the apartments, offices and Armani Hotel inside.

"Isn't that rather a target...." Ilana mused. A room at the top certainly doesn't appeal to me, but I put it down to my fear of heights.

At lunchtime on Sunday, Costa Victoria's bottom started to pull out from the pier while the front end was still tied up. Never seen a ship leave like that before. But it worked and we are now on our way to Muscat.

As our transfer car from Dubai airport approached Port Rashid, what did we see lurking next to the ship with a yellow funnel and big C?

None other than QE2, which is still tied up in port, presumably waiting to move to the shipyard where conversion work will turn the vessel into a luxury floating hotel. How sad to see people coming and going from the Costa Victoria as the 40-year-old veteran sat quietly in the corner, ignored.

Or so I thought, until a security guard leapt out to stop me going near to take a picture. I finally managed to persuade him to let me get a bit closer, but had to leave my daughter with him as a guarantee. Of what I have no idea.

Poor P&O. Yes, I know. It's the second time in as many days I've written that at the start of my blog. It's really not their week.

Cruise Critic reports a passenger on Oceana died while on a scuba-diving excursion in Tortola, in the Caribbean.

Puts the whole bad behaviour episode into perspective, doesn't it?

It's nothing to do with the weather, but rather John Binkley, executive director of the Alaska Cruise Association, who has been forecasting doom and gloom to the Chicago Sun-Times.

He tells the paper that cruiselines are discounting tickets by up to 40% because they are suffering some of the worst sales they have ever encountered.

The businesses he represents in Alaska must be delighted. It's just the kind of upbeat message you need from your trade association.

Did tax or pricing prompt Royal Caribbean International's decision to downsize in Alaska, asks Seatrade Insider.

Effective 2010, Serenade of the Seas will be exiting the 49th state. A company official cited RCI's global policy, which basically means they want to put it somewhere else, the $50 head tax and Alaska's tough discharge rules.

Maybe they also read John Binkley's words of doom and gloom. He's the upbeat president of the Alaska Cruise Association who told the Chicago Sun-Times that cruise lines are suffering some of the worst sales they have encountered.

It's not so surprising. Alaska is an expensive place in the best of times and these, according to the so-called experts - the ones who never even saw this coming - are the worst of times.

Time to consider being somewhere else then.

Cunard's president and managing director Carol Marlow is getting ready to fly out to Auckland, to join Queen Mary 2 as it sails the New Zealand-Australia leg of its world cruise. Once it arrives in Sydney (pictured below, with QM2 tied up) on February 26, she'll be hosting a dinner at a special location on land for passengers going all the way around.

It's an annual world cruise highlight all Cunard circumnavigators look forward to and the location remains a big secret until the voyage starts. On Queen Victoria, the dinner is in Singapore on March 19. And yes, Carol will be there for that too.

"All the most frequent world cruisers sit at my table," she informs me. "I've been doing it for four years and I've had the same passengers each time."

Now that's what I call loyalty.

The Cruise Cafe reports that Royal Caribbean International will be repositioning Adventure of the Seas to Malaga for five months in 2010.

The move is an incredible vote of confidence for the Spanish port, which is a new departure point in Royal's 2009 brochure. Adventure's sister Navigator of the Seas will be sailing six five-night cruises from Malaga, but as they don't even depart until October this year so there's been no chance to see that all runs smoothly when it comes to getting passengers - and their luggage - from the airport and on and off the ship.

It's also an incredible vote of confidence in the UK office - this is an obvious top departure point for the Brits, after all - and the European market, suggesting a firm belief that we'll sail through the recession on this side of the Pond.

The Cruise Cafe says Adventure of the Seas will be operating 15 seven-night cruises around the Western Med between June and October 2010, followed by 10 five-night mini breaks - five heading south to Tenerife and Funchal, five calling at Ajaccio in Corsica and Villefranche.

Adventure of the Seas has sailed exclusively from San Juan, Puerto Rico, since it was launched in 2001, raising much speculation on Cruise Critic message boards as to what happens there when the ship departs.

Maybe nothing. Cruise Critic says San Juan has suffered negative feedback from cruisers in terms of the port experience. It's also not the greatest place in the world to get to. Flights from the UK have been cut and there are no direct service from the UK.

More to the point, I have nightmare memories of the airport check-in experience. Queues? Made Gatwick on a strike day look civilised. It was Third World chaos in a country that's part of the US. I wonder even half of the passengers managed to get their flight.

Chronicles, the daily "what's on" book (I kid you not, it has to be the biggest newsletter I've seen on a cruise ship) delivered each day to my suite on Silversea's Silver Wind bills Visakhapatnam "the Jewel of the East Coast".

Hmmm. Can't help thinking that was written by someone who had never been there. By the time my friend Steve and I made it into the city just before 12 noon, every other passenger seemed to be coming back, greeting us with grimaces and the words "good luck".

They were harsh. It's true the city doesn't have a great deal going for it in the looks department, we had a lovely few hours there, enjoying a real slice of Indian life.

We had fun watching the chaos as the buses and tuk-tuks honked and hooted their way through the streets, swerving around pedestrians who had no intention of moving out of the way. Even our Italian captain Ignazio Tatulli had to admit the Italians were mere novices behind a wheel compared to the Indians.

Somehow a policeman was almost managing to control the chaos - and as we returned to the shuttle bus he even held up the traffic for us to cross.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. We wandered down the street, wondering if there was anything to see other than this phone - wired into the telegraph pole you'll notice....

...when we chanced upon this market. It was fabulous. Fruits and veg, some of which I didn't recognise, sacks of chillis, packs of leaves that are used as plates, coloured powder which they throw into the air when worshipping. And the people were so friendly despite a bit of a language barrier. These young lads just loved having their picture taken.

Getting off the Silver Wind was not such a lark, mind. It took more than two hours for the Indian authorities to clear the ship - and there are only 213 of us on board, incidentally being looked after by 219 crew so I've struck gold again in the brilliant service stakes.

The shuttle bus into the city arrived just as our feet touched terra firma, but took 15 minutes to get going as there was much debate between the driver and the crowds of port workers who had clustered around the ship. I'm told they get two cruise ships a year so it's a bit of a novelty. I've no idea what they were debating but eventually the driver gave up and drove off.

But then we had to get out of the gate. Official-looking people came on, got off, more official people came on. We brandished the immigration forms we'd been given but no one was remotely interested. They got off and more people came on - and got off. The bus moved - but only to let a lorry around us. But finally we were on the way.

This was a maiden visit for Silversea and I'm pretty sure they won't be back. The long time for clearance was tough for the officers and crew, and I reckon most passengers stayed in town only long enough to decide they wanted to get back to the ship.

I'm left pondering why people would spend a lot of money coming on a luxury cruise ship around India if they don't want to see it.

After a first day in India, two questions spring to mind. Did we really need to teach the Indians to do everything in triplicate and why aren't the roads a sea of dead bodies?

This latter question was all more significant as at the time, Kumar, my tuk-tuk driver, was zig-zagging his way through the traffic, taking on motorbikes, coaches, vans, people. In fact anything that came in his way. "Parp-parp" went his little horn and he just kept on driving, smiling and repeating "no problem".

There are no such things as white lines here and the word stop just doesn't exist (it is sprinkled around on road signs but no one bothers to read them). If Kumar is joining a busy road, he just drives out; he relies on everyone else missing him.

Which thankfully they did this morning as he took me on a great three-hour tour of Chennai's highlights - Kapaleeswarar Temple, St Thomas Basilica and Marina Beach, a huge stretch of white sand that was baking hot and deserted at noon - temperatures today were around 35C - but apparently comes alive in the evening, when the sun goes down.

Sadly I won't get a chance to see that, as an hour after Kumar returned me safely to the Taj Cormorander Hotel, it was time for the transfer to Silversea's ships Silver Wind. This will be home for the next 10 nights as we cruise around to Mumbai.

I've been upgraded to the Owner's Suite so I have a sitting room, separate bedroom, bathroom and guests' toilet. I also have a butler. But more of this tomorrow, a day at sea as we head north to Visakhapatnam.

By the time you read this, I'll be on my way to Chennai (what we used to call Madras), where I'm joining Silversea's newly refurbished Silver Wind for a cruise around the coast of India.

Internet connections willing, I'll be bringing you news and pictures from the ship and the places we visit.

Sadly, a visit to Colombo in Sri Lanka has been cancelled due to the "situation" (to quote the letter informing me of the change). A real shame as I was so looking forward to revisiting the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage there.

Instead we'll be calling at a place called Tuticorin (it's also known as Thoothukundi, but I think I'll stick with Tuticorin!), which my research tells me is the third-largest container port in India and home to one of the country's oldest railway stations. Wikipedia says the city is also called a nursery of volleyball. Whatever that might be.

I'll reserve judgement but I'm thinking we'd all be better off taking our chances with the elephants in Sri Lanka.

The cruise also calls at Visakhapatnam, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao and ends in Mumbai.

Keep tuned.

Did I say I have seen it all when it comes to driving in India? That was before Mumbai, formerly Bombay, which makes everywhere else I've been on this Silversea cruise around India on Silver Wind look amateurish when it comes to bad driving.

Not that the driving was my problem on my day in the city. I left that to my taxi driver Gurcharan Singh, who I promised to recommend if anyone is visiting the city. His car is clean and in good nick, he speaks English well and he'll make sure you see all the must-see sights (you can call him on 9821375607 but be prepared to bargain a bit!)

No. My problem was crossing the road to get from the cab to see the colourful fruit, veg and spices at Crawford Market. Going one way I sheltered behind a local who was making the death-defying trip; on the way back I was on my own. Thing is, they don't stop, but weave around you, leaving you an island amid all the cars.

In desperation I resorted to holding my hand up as a stop sign, hoping they would take pity on me. They didn't exactly stop, but as you see I lived to tell the tale.

Mumbai is an amazing place. If you visit be sure to go to the Dhobi Ghat, or laundry (below), where 4,500 people live and work keeping the 16 million citizens of the city clean. Gurcharan explained that smaller laundries, acting as agents, collect the washing and bring it to one like this. He claims they never lose anything.

You also have to see the Gateway of India, built 1911 to commemorate a visit by King George V and Queen Mary; the last British troops left India from here in 1948.

In the days of empire, this is where important people - governors and the like - disembarked after sailing from the UK with P&O; these days it's full of hawkers trying to sell you stuff or spin a bad-luck story so you'll hand over wads of cash. It's irritating but the way of the world here so grin and bear it - and hang on to your money!

The Taj hotel so badly damaged during the terrorist attack in November is just to one side of the gateway. They've done a great job fixing it up and it's good to see life going on as normal all around.

My tour took me into the red light district, past some of the famous Mumbai slums, now even more famous thanks to Slumdog Millionaire, and to the Victoria Terminus.

Like so much in India, the station has been renamed. It's now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vaastu Sanghralaya. Don't panic, though, because like so much in India, the locals still call it by its original name. Can't think why.

And yes, they do still call Mumbai Bombay. "It's much easier to say," Gurcharan explained.

"There are three things you need when driving in Goa", Mario, our guide for the day, informs us as our rickety old bus puffs and wheezes its out of the port of Mormugao on the temples and spices tour. "A good horn, good brakes and good luck."

This is the fifth port in India that Silver Wind has visited on this Silversea around India and I reckon I have seen it all when it comes to driving in this country.

Drivers who fit their vehicles through gaps as long as there is a paper width of space on either side, overtake in the face of oncoming traffic, hoot horns in the hope it will save them from meeting their maker, and motorbikes that weave in and out of cars and tuk-tuks, often coming to a sudden stop when there is no more space.

Yet it all seems to work.

Mario was full of interesting information about Goa, which was Portuguese rather than British, and only got its independence in 1961 - 14 years after the rest of India.

Part one of the tour was a Hindu temple, which was interesting, but the highlight for me was the spice farm. I've been there before and knew that after a walk through the spice plants they serve a proper spicy curry - something I have been dying for every since joining the ship.

This poor man has to shin up and down a beetle nut tree every time tourists walk by to show how it's done...

...and this is Sandhip, our guide at the plantation, with a cashew nut flower. It's soft and smells of peaches. The skin is used to make the local fire water, which was not bad. but it smelt vile.

The food on Silver Wind has been really very good, but why oh why, on a cruise around India, is there not at least one curry option on the menu each evening?

I had a curry on the galley lunch day (this is an amazing event on all Silversea ships where they open the galley as a self-service restaurant) and another a couple of evenings ago, which French executive chef Laurent Austrui squeezed in among the veal and duck due to popular demand.

I have always thought cruise ship menus should better reflect the places they visit - spicy jerk chicken in Jamaica, tapas dinners in Spain, crispy duck in China, and so on.

Seems a lot of passengers might just agree with me.

Silversea's Silver Wind is a lovely ship, but by the third sea day after leaving Visakhapatnam, I was starting to dream of containers (you know, those big boxes that any port worth its salt has in spades) and silos.

So I was thrilled and relieved in equal measure to arrive in Cochin, where we have been for the past two days.

I had booked a tour to the Kerala Backwaters for the second day, so decided to go exploring in Cochin on day one. What an experience. First you have to run the gauntlet of the taxi drivers who are allowed in the port. A second tier of taxi and tuk-tuk drivers is waiting as you get out of the port gates; past another barrier, it's the third rank tuk-tuk guys.

I began to get an idea of what honey pots must feel like as drivers swarmed around, followed me, and drove past me, waiting until I got near so they could pounce again. It sounds awful, but they were not at all threatening, just a bit of a pain.

By walking quite a distance from the port, I not only got a good price for a ride into the city and back, but also travelled in style - in this air-conditioned Ferrari (that's what he said it was anyway) driven by Wahab.

He took me around some of the highlights - these fishing nets, the spice shops - waiting for me at each and then delivered me safely back to the ship.

Day two was a trip to the Backwaters. The first time I did this, the excursion was a transfer to Alleppey and a two-hour cruise on a tourist boat before returning to our cruise ship, and I loved it so much - so beautiful and peaceful - I decided to go again despite the rather scary (at current exchange rates) $199 price tag.

But boy, was this different. The 90-minute drive to Alleppey was in a mini bus with just eight people (there were more people in other buses) and we cruised for two hours on one of these houseboats. Just us eight. How exclusive is that!

These have anything from one to five bedrooms, and tourists come on usually for a night, but longer if they wish. There are around 500 of them plying the Backwaters.

Then it was off to the Marari Hotel for a lunch - a curry at last! - and paddle in the sea before returning to the ship. Two hours later the ropes were cast and we're now off again. Next stop New Mangalore.

Sixties band The Merseybeats have signed up to be on Black Prince's farewell cruise from Liverpool on September 9.

The Fred Olsen ship is retiring in October after more than 40 years of sterling service because it's too expensive to do all the work needed for the vessel to meet new SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) regulations coming in 2010.

The Merseybeats were in the charts when Black Prince set sail, which means its members must be at least as old as Fred passengers (average 60-plus) - unless of course this is the Merseybeats mark 2 (or 3, 4, 5).

That was the case on P&O Cruises' Aurora last year. We had the Batchelors. Well, actually one Batchelor. The other two were imitations, but still no spring chickens.

If the Merseybeats have also plucked some ageing singers from obscurity to make up numbers, I guess Black Prince will sail gracefully, rather than rock, into retirement. But that's just perfect for dedicated followers of Fred.

Prices start from £1,045 for the 10-night cruise, which visits Belfast, the Hebrides, Chatham, St Peter Port in Guernsey, Falmouth and Dublin.

Princess Cruises is back in the Med in force in 2010 and offering a new selection of seven-night cruises, which are great for anyone desperate to cruise but short on time and money.

These week-long "Interludes" are on Ocean Princess (that's currently the Tahitian Princess but the ship is being renamed Ocean Princess in November 2009). The ship holds just under 700 pasengers and the Interludes will be around the Greek Isles, Scandinavia, Norway, Ireland, Scotland and the Western Med.

There are also more overnight options. The ships will be staying two days in Israel, Egypt and St Petersburg (a regular two-nighter) so there's more time to explore these fascinating places. Pyramids in Cairo anyone? Or a day floating in the Dead Sea?

There are also some interesting new ports lined up - Cephalonia (made famous by Captain Corelli), the Greek island of Khios, Koper in Slovenia, for days out in Ljublijana, and Constanta in Romania to name but a few.

Princess will have six ships in Europe next year. Itineraries include the signature Grand Mediterranean Voyage - a brilliant cruise for ticking off some of Europe's most iconic cities. Athens, Istanbul, Rome, Florence, Naples. I'll be doing it in August on their newest ship, Ruby Princess, pictured here at the very red naming ceremony last November, and can't wait.

The RMS St Helena was in the UK this week, making the first of two annual calls into Portland - a blustery spit of land off Weymouth.

The ship is a bit special on several counts. It is one of the last working Royal Mail Ships and a lifeline for the people of St Helena, a small and remote island in the South Atlantic - find Nambia in south-west Africa, look to the left and you'll see it.

Everything the Islanders need is brought in by ship (see the crane, to lift everything in and out of the hold); if they want to leave, this is the only way.

When I went to see the ship on Wednesday, they had just finished loading the cargo for yesterday's departure. There were cars, a minibus, concrete and an "unpacked" cat.

Being "unpacked", the cat didn't have to spend the crossing in the hold, which is good as it takes 14 days for the ship to get to Ascension Island, from where it's another 72 hours to St Helena. No one told me where the two crocodiles they once carried lived. Not really the sort of passengers you want wandering the decks.

The vessel's final role is as cruise ship, for people who want a "blue water" cruise experience. There's no glitz, no glamour. They sleep in ferry-style beds that pull out of the wall (my cabin, on B deck, was a good size but with a tiny porthole), bathe in the communal bath (but there was a toilet and shower of sorts in the cabin), and spend their days in one of the two lounges, reading a book, having a drink and watching the waves go by.

Come evening, the crew, mainly "Saints", lay on games in the lounge (we were treated to the joys of turtle racing) and I imagine most people turn in early, conserving their strength for another day of eating, drinking and basically doing nothing.

As Kedell Worboys, St Helena Line's sales and marketing director, put it: "This is an experience rather than a cruise."

Because of the ship's schedule, sailing from Portland to St Helena, between St Helena and Ascension Island, and between St Helena, Walvis Bay and Cape Town, you can go on for a few days a couple of weeks or a couple of months, depending how long you want to get away from it all. Bookings can be made through Andrew Weir Shipping.

There's no internet, but you can send emails. At £1.50 a minute, I guess most people stay out of touch.

Some 4,000 people live on St Helena, a British Overseas Territory, which measures just nine miles by five miles.

It's main claim to fame is that it's where Napoleon was exiled in 1815, after he was defeated at Waterloo, because it is so remote and inaccessible, making it impossible for the French to mount a rescue.

Even now, nearly 200 years on, it's still remote and inaccessible. They have their ship, but no port - the St Helena has to anchor and ferry all its passengers and cargo ashore. Likewise, passengers on passing cruise ships have to tender. That's if the sea is playing ball.

When P&O Cruises' Aurora arrived in January on its world cruise it was too rough to get anyone ashore so they just waved and then sailed on to Cape Town. Holland America Line's Rotterdam is due there in April. Let's hope it's passengers have more luck.

Disney Wonder is to move from Port Canaveral, Florida, to Los Angeles in 2011, making way for the two new ships, Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy, joining Disney Cruise Lines in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

An agreement was expected to be approved yesterday for the ship to operate from the Port of Los Angeles for three years, with an option to extend for another two years.

The move makes a lot of sense for Disney Cruise Line. With all the additional capacity coming along (each of its new ships will carry 4,000 passengers when all berth are full), it needs to explore new markets outside its traditional Port Canaveral base.

Los Angeles is a logical new homeport as it allows passengers to combine a cruise with a stay at Disneyland in Anaheim, but it is also testing the waters on this side of the pond again next year with a series of Scandinavian and Mediterranean cruises on Disney Magic.

For the Scandinavian cruises, the ship will be based in Dover - the first time a Disney ship has been in UK waters.

I was once told by one of the Disney people over here that the cruise line was not interested in the UK market because the ships could easily be filled with Americans.

Was she taking the Mickey? I don't think so, judging by the total lack of information about the cruise line that comes from the UK press office.

But times have changed and recession is upon us all, so now they might be pleased to have a few Brits filling their berths. Having a cruise ship in Dover is a terrific opportunity for them. I just hope they get their act together and spread a little Disney Magic so would-be cruisers and agents can get to see the ship.

The Los Angeles Times reports that a bipartisan group of senators has predicted the travel ban on Americans visiting Cuba is close to being lifted.

Seems they've finally noticed that a policy put in place 50 years ago to undermine Castro's regime hasn't worked!

If it's true, get ready for a rash of new Caribbean itineraries from American cruiselines. They've had to sail past the island while their passengers dream whistfully of Cuba's lovely beaches and classic Cadillacs. Once they can go, the flood gates will be open.

It would be great for Cubans finally to benefit from the tourist euro (although presumably Cuba would have to stop turning its nose up at the dollar?), but I would advise a trip there now, before it happens.

The "real" Cuba will surely disappear under the weight of 3,000 or more passengers disembarking in Havana, and racing to buy the "I love Cuba" t-shirt and cheap jewellery.

People booked to cruise on Hebridean Spirit, just sold by Hebridean International Cruises, have become hot property.

We've had Swan to the rescue offering them a 5% discount, Silversea to the rescue offering a 10% discount and now SeaDream Yacht Club has stepped in offering 15% off the "book today" prices for 2009 and 2010.

Decisions, decisions.

SeaDream's two 112-passenger vessels are closest in size to Hebridean's 98-passenger Hebridean Spirit (and they have the added advantage of being all-inclusive, as was Spirit) but they only sail in the Med and Caribbean.

Silversea's Prince Albert II, with capacity for 132 passengers, is also pretty close, and also all-inclusive. But at the moment it only sails in the Arctic and Antarctica.

If passengers want greater choice of exciting destinations, it has to be Swan. Minerva is bigger - 350 passengers - and unfortunately you have to pay for drinks on board, but you do get to visit places such as North Africa, the Black Sea, South Africa, Turkey and Mozambique. And that's just the sort of thing that Hebridean Spirit did too.

The way things are going, though, the best thing is probably just to sit tight and wait for the next "rescue package". Judging from past experience it will be offering an even bigger discount!

News that The World - that's the cruise ship that sells apartments but also carries "ordinary" passengers - will be cruising the Sea of Cortez in May had me scurrying for a map.

It transpires the Sea of Cortez is actually the Gulf of California and is the area of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexico mainland.

The sea is just 868 miles long and 130 miles wide; The World will be taking 10 days to voyage up and down on the cruise from Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, which is at the tip of the Baja California Peninsula. That means the ship will be cruising just 86 miles a day!

That's still faster than John Steinbeck (Author of The Grapes of Wrath). He took six weeks to sail the sea, but he was on collecting marine specimens for a non-fiction book.

It's the marine life that attracts people here; over 10 days the people of The World should have time to see some of it while they are hiking, kayaking, diving and snorkeling, especially as there is an expedition team on board to help them with sightings.

Catch it at the right moment and you get humpback whales, killer whales, manta rays, leatherback sea turtles, even the blue whale, the world's largest animal, passing through. And there are lots of smaller fish and marine mammals.

The World is sold through The Cruise Line. Call 0800 008 6677 for more information.

P&O Cruises might not have achieved the bookings it was hoping for on day one of Azura being on sale, but managing director Nigel Esdale wasn't looking too glum at the Azura day on Saturday.

Especially when he revealed that the 29-night Christmas and New Year cruise, departing December 10 or 11 2010 and taking in 17 ports in the Caribbean, sold out in less than five days. That's 3,080 passengers booked - and the ship doesn't even launch until next April.

If you missed out, don't despair. They have started a waiting list. But with demand like that, you'd better get your name down fast.

The US might be poised to drop a 50-year travel ban and let its citizens visit Cuba, but will Cuba want the Americans, asks the US-based News and Observer.

It questions whether the infrastructure in Cuba - an island the size of Pennsylvania with about as many hotel rooms as Detroit apparently - is up to coping with a stampede of American tourists when its hotels are already full with Canadians and Europeans.

It also suggests the prospect of such a stampede might prompt the Cuban government to impose new visa rules on visitors, whether they arrive by air or on a cruise. It would show the world the Americans don't always get what they want, but more to the point it would be a good money-spinning venture.

If anyone pays, that is.

In my blog earlier this month, I forecast cruise ships would flock to the island if the travel ban were lifted, but I reckon they will be less keen on calling on Cuba if it starts to cost too much, especially during this economic downturn.

Consider what is happening in Alaska as a result of the $50 per passenger tax introduced in 2006. Raul Castro, now president in place of brother Fidel, would do well to take note.

No sooner had I located the exotic-sounding Sea of Cortez after reading that The World is going to be there, than Azamara Cruises announced that it's going there too.

The World is spending 10 days in the Sea of Cortez next month; Azarama will be visiting on several voyages during the 2010-11 season, on cruises from Miami and San Diego.

It will be the first time any Royal Caribbean brands - the others are Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises - have ventured into the sea, also known as the Gulf of California, which is famed for its marine life.

I suspect it is also the first time any large cruise brand has been there. But just wait. It only needs one cruiseline to take the plunge for a destination to zoom from zero to hero and a place on the next new hot spot list. Any bets on who will be next?

News from Princess Cruises that its passengers have voted Los Angeles top turnaround port (that's one where one cruise ends and another starts) in 2008 got me thinking about what makes a good port.

For a turnaround port it has to be efficiency - its ability to get passengers in and out of the port and on and off the ship quickly - and the friendliness of staff has to count a lot.

Sorry, but for me that last bit puts all US ports out of the running. The staff all trot out the formulaic "have a nice day", but from experience I know what they really mean is "how can I irritate you most". Now they have such stringent security, they are really in their element.

My classic experience has to be an embarkation at Fort Lauderdale last year. There's a group of us waiting to get into the Holy Shrine (what we normal people call a terminal) and just to achieve this our names have to ticked off a list. Imagine that at Southampton or Dover? But I guess we all looked pretty suspect with our suitcases and happy faces.

The queue is moving slowly, then suddenly out pops one big scary lady. "Who's name is not on the list?" (note the emphasis on "not") she booms.

As none of us could see the list, how could we answer that? Or should I say, how could we answer without being arrested?

But back to the ports. Here are my votes for ports generally.

Southampton. Most irritating. I queued more than 45 minutes last year to drive a couple of hundred yards to get to the terminal so someone could take my car and park it. In that time I could have parked my own car, walked across the road to the terminal (yes, I really can park a car and yes, the car park really was just five minutes from the check-in) and boarded the ship. But for some reason no one was allowed to do that.

Civitavecchia. Most disappointing. Unless you like containers, of course. Especially if you are expecting your first taste of Italian chic

Hong Kong. Most disorientating. The terminal doubles as a shopping centre, which is great if you like shops, a pain if all you want is to get on and off your ship and out to the city (actually I did manage to blag my way through the dock gate once, saving myself about 15 minutes wandering among the shops, but didn't dare to try it twice).

Have to say, though, that Hong Kong was a good embarkation port. Dropped near the ship in a Rolls Royce (courtesy of the fabulous Peninsula Hotel), in through the side door to check-in, out onto the quay and quickly onto the ship. And there was not a shop in sight.

Barcelona. Most convenient (but note this award only applies if you are moored at the World Trade Centre). Five minutes and you are in Las Ramblas. Fantastic.

Odessa. Most convenient (without a precondition). Through the terminal (where I think there was one rather unmemorable shop), over the walkway, cross the road (if you dare; there is an underpass if you don't) and you are at the bottom of the Potemkin Steps, one of the city's main attractions. Walk up - or take the lift - and you're in the city.

This picture is taken from the top of the Steps, looking across at my cruise ship, Spirit of Adventure, and this is me sitting on the Steps ... just to prove I really was there.

In fairness to the Americans, I must also mention that once in the Port of Miami I was in the door (no being ticked off a list first), checked-in and boarding the ship in 30 minutes. And that was for a full cruise on Royal Caribbean's 4,000-passenger Freedom of the Seas and after extra passport checks for us "aliens". Proves they can do it if they want to.

I was in good company when I stayed at Orient-Express' Hotel Splendido in Portofino this week, following my visit to see the new Seabourn Odyssey.

Winston Churchill, Richard Burton, Liza Minnelli, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Egon Ronay, Larry Hagman, Billy Joel, Steven Spielberg and Naomi Campbell have all passed through the hotel's doors over the past 50 or so years. I trust they will now be adding my name to the list.

Seriously, I'm not surprised so many famous people have been there. It is a truly gorgeous hotel - the rooms, the service, the food. As ever I was the fussy one at dinner, but three courses of delicious pasta and vegetables just for me were produced alongside the set menu without anyone even batting an eyelid.

When I mentioned that I had always looked at the hotel from afar when in the area on a cruise, Angelica Aliberti, the PR manager, said cruisers visiting Portofino or Saint Margherita are welcome to visit and they will happily show you around the hotel. Combine that with a walk in the woods between the two towns and you'll have a fabulous day out.

In case you're not going to be there soon, here are some pictures to whet your appetite - a suite, similar but not the same as mine, the view from the balcony, the Terrace restaurant at night and the hotel as seen from Portofino.

Just a word of warning. Before you fall too deeply in love, you might want to check out the rates. I was planning a romantic weekend there as soon as I saw my suite, but on second thoughts I think I'll just hang on for the pay rise.

After a series of delays, caused first by rocky seas in the Mediterranean, and then by the Libyan authorities (of which more another time), my excursion from Benghazi to the ancient city of Cyrene finally set off.

Originally we were supposed to leave at 8.30am but our arrival in Benghazi had to be rescheduled when we lost time rocking across from Alexandria. As the morning ticked on, it was delayed again and again, until morning became afternoon and the authorities just ran out of reasons why we shouldn't set foot ashore.

So five hours after the original time we were supposed to leave and more than three and a half hours after the rescheduled one (if you're still with me), we were finally on our way.

A quick aside. As we passed the morning reminiscing about the bumpy crossing the day before, one woman revealed she made the mistake of saying she didn't think they got such bad weather in the Med. Apparently that was the cue for the "I remember when..." brigade to pop up - something they do with alarming regularity on Minerva.

But more of life on board this Swan Hellenic ship another day.

Mohammed, our guide, was very apologetic for the delay, said a few words about Libya's coastline and then did the unthinkable. Sat back and said almost nothing until we arrived at the site. In fact, he was at a total loss when one person asked if he could tell us about life in Libya. I was not alone in thinking the trip was going to be a disaster.

We were all wrong. As soon as we got to Cyrene, Mohammed (pictured below) came alive. He told me he was involved in the excavation work there for 40 years, in between working at the university, and was passionate and knowledgeable about everything to do with Greek and Roman archaeology.

He taught himself English - and Italian and a bit of French - because they don't teach any languages in school and now, having had to retire (62 and you're out in Libya), he takes the few tourists who get to Libya around the site.

Leptis Magna is the best-known Roman site in Libya, and we will be visiting there in a couple of days, but Cyrene has to be a very close second.

I won't go into the historical detail as you can look that up, but in a nutshell it was built by Greeks from Santorini, taken over by the Romans, destroyed during a Jewish uprising, rebuilt and destroyed again in an earthquake in 365AD which destroyed all the cities along the North African coast, which sank four metres.

The site is huge - and they have only excavated 20% of it - and there are some fascinating remains to see. Temples, columns, a huge gymnasium, which was built as a forum by the Romans, theatres, amphitheatres. Below is the Gymnasium, which became the Forum under the Romans, the running track, overlooked by the gods, and me with one of the remaining statues. Mohammed said they reckon up to 25,000 people once lived here.

What was as fascinating for me, though, was the three-hour drive there from the port, which gave just a small glimpse of life in Libya. Good roads, hardly any cars, no road signs (I am intrigued as to how anyone finds their way around), no arrows to indicate a bend or roundabout (so how do they know what to do), and just two pairs of traffic lights - and they weren't working.

As I am walking around the site, a voice in my ear says, "I remember when..." As I said, they pop up everywhere.

Getting to Alexandria and on board Swan Hellenic's Minerva was rather like a military operation, which was very fitting given my first excursion was to El Alamein, famous for the battle that proved the turning point of Britain's fortunes in the Second World War.

My flight landed in Cairo at 12.40am, by 1.15am I was in a car and heading out of the airport, 4am I checked into the Hilton hotel in Alexandria, 7am I checked out again and by 8am I was stepping on board Minerva. At 9am I disembarked again for the excursion.

It was a good two-hour drive from the port to the museum and cemeteries at El Alamein, which was a good chance to see what the countryside is like. Amazingly, it's almost one big building site, with one resort after another going up along Egypt's the north coast.

What was even more surprising was that they were all called Marina, which must be very confusing if you are trying to find your way back one evening, and that they all looked deserted. I know it is out of season - the chill wind bore testament to that - but there was no sign of life at all. To be honest, the area anyway looked so bleak, I can't imagine who would want to go and stay there.

That bleakness, without the hotels, is what met our army during the war. It's hard to think what the young lads must have thought about being stationed in an area many had probably never even heard of.

First stop on the excursion was El Alamein Military Museum, where there are displays of what life was like and some of the weapons that were salvaged. It was all done at a bit of a gallop, but was interesting, and then it was on to the British cemetery, where a wreath was laid and a prayer said for the people who died.

Some 7,367 men from Britain, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Greece, France and Malaysia are buried in the Commonwealth cemetery, which is beautifully looked after by the War Graves Commission; another 11,900 are names on the wall because their bodies were never found. It's a very moving sight. 

By now the wind was whistling across the cemetery so hard that we were almost blown back to the coach. "It's not usually like this," Farouk, our assistant guide, assured me (in Egypt, everyone comes in pairs, which is a brilliant way of keeping unemployment at a minimum).

Mind you, when he picked me up from the hotel that morning he said it was going to get into the 80s!

Two hours later I was back on board Minerva and at 6pm that evening, we sailed out of the port at Aexandria, leaving Egypt and on the way to Libya.

That's it for land-based blogs from me for a few days as I'm off to join Swan Hellenic's Minerva for a cruise around Libya.

I'm visiting three ports in Libya - Benghazi, Al Khums and Tripoli - then Corfu, Delos and Myknos in Greece, before flying home from Athens.

Remember to keep checking back as, Internet willing, I'll be posting details every day about the ship and the sights including Leptis Magna and Sabratha.

These hungry fellows were the unusual guests at a little gathering this week organised by Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery - the former to promote this winter's coming season of cruises to Antarctica, the latter to remind us of their fast-approaching first season of cruises to the Far East.

And no, you don't get too many penguins in the Far East - actually you don't get too many in London either, but we were all mustered in the Komodo Dragon House at London Zoo and Komodo Dragons, the largest lizards in the world, are found in Komodo, Indonesia, which is one of the stops on the Voyages of Discovery's route around the Far East.

Sir James Hodge, a retired diplomat and former ambassador to Thailand, was brought in for the evening to tell us what a fascinating region it is.

I was just about to suggest to Swan's managing director Colin Stone that Sir James would be a great lecturer for Swan - his short talk was informative but lively and humourous, unlike most I saw on Swan last week - when it transpired he has been snapped up by Voyages!

It was also confirmed that this will be Swan's last winter in Antarctica - the driest, coldest and windiest place on the planet but stunning too, so you really should go and see it before all the decent ships pull out - and after that it too is going East. You read it here first.

It's all change on the no-fly market from the UK again, with Holland America announcing it is to sail three cruises from Dover to the Baltic and Norwegian fjords next summer.

The line has been testing the UK waters with a couple of mini cruises from Dover on Eurodam - they are in July but sales have clearly been good enough for HAL's US lords and masters to agree to the longer cruises.

Interestingly, just a month ago I reported the line has been having its best year ever for sales in the UK. Not bad going in a recession!

The 2010 cruises will also be on Eurodam, which will be operating 12 and 11-night sailings to the Baltic on May 29 and June 9 respectively, each with an overnight stay in St Petersburg, and also an eight-night Norwegian fjords voyage on June 21. Prices start from £939 per person.

It's good news for the UK no-fly market, which is losing a lot of capacity next summer, when NCL pulls its cruises from Southampton and downsizes the ship it is sailing from Dover to the Baltic.

What next? I guess if things continue to go so well a full season of HAL cruises from the UK is not so unlikely.

One of the most unusual sights on Minerva are the inflatable Zodiacs that adorn the top deck of the ship. They've not been used on this Swan Hellenic trip around Egypt and Libya, but they are an essential piece of kit when the ship relocates to Antarctica for winter as they are the only means of getting ashore in the White Continent.

Minerva will be back there this winter - if you book now there are still cabins for £2,995 per person for departure in December, and that's with all flights, transfers, meals and drinks included - but it then joins the procession of ships that are quitting Antarctica.

Sister line Voyages of Discovery and Saga's Swan look-alike Spirit of Adventure are both pulling out of the White Continent this winter and sailing instead to the Far East, while Hurtigruten is cutting back to having one ship there.

Destinations do fall in and out of fashion, and it could be Antarctica has had its day for a while, but I wonder whether it's not also getting very difficult - and too expensive - to operate there, just as Alaska, which is also seeing a mass exodus of ships at the moment.

The environmentalists are keen to see all the cruise ships leave Antarctica, the US has been talking about tighter regulations and there has been a spate of potentially serious accidents recently, not least when Gap Adventures' Explorer hit ice and sank in November 2007.

A note I've had in my cabin about 2010 itineraries says the plans is for winter Minerva to sail to India and the Far East in winter 2010/11 - as I said, destinations come in and out of fashion and right now the east is hot stuff.

So hot, that Royal Caribbean International has not only decided that Brilliance of the Seas will stay in Dubai for a second season in winter 2010/11 - this before it has even completed one season cruising the Gulf states - but has added two 12-night itineraries that will be calling at Mumbai, Mormugao and Cochin in India.

Having just been to all three ports with Silversea, I admit to being more than a little intrigued by what Royal passengers will make of them. And indeed what the locals will make of Royal passengers.

But back to Swan. Before Minerva embarks on its as-yet-not-finalised Far East tour, it will be spending summer 2010 back in the Med and Northern Europe, sailing from Dover, which is good news for anyone not keen on flying.

The ship will be back in Libya in May and November; in July there's a lovely (if, like me, you love France) French Vintage cruise, with five ports in France including an overnight in Bordeaux; in September, there's a Venetian Republic cruise from Naples that includes a transit of the Corinth Canal. I've never been through but the pictures of ships going through with inches to spare fascinate me.

Minerva will also be making a return visit to Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, as Minerva sails from Aqaba to Dubai. I suspect the rules and regulations there - and the much stricter alcohol policy - will make Libya look like chicken feed.

You can find out more at Swan's website or call reservations on 01444 462 180 for more information.

Nearly 48 hours after leaving Tripoli, Minerva reached Greece yesterday, tying up in Heraklion, Crete, just before lunchtime. Today's blog should have been all about Knossos, which was the main attraction we all trooped off to see.

My coach started with around 20 people; by the end of the tour we had dwindled to seven as people got bored, fed up, older passengers were unable to cope with the steps and so on. Back on the coach I overheard the woman behind me say: "So that was Knossos; I won't be going there again."

I stuck with the tour through to the bitter end, sure there must be something really good lurking around one of the corners, but I think we had all been so spoilt on this Swan Hellenic cruise by the wonderful sights in Libya.

So I will just say Knossos is the site of an old Minoan palace, destroyed in the 14th-century BC, when the Minoans - who came from the Middle East - also died out, and tell you instead some more about the passengers on board Minerva.

There are 347 of us - including the lecturers and their wives - so the ship is pretty full (it holds a maximum of 352).

I have met one other Hebridean refugee - regulars readers will remember I was supposed to visit Libya last month on what as then called Hebridean International Cruises, before the company sold the ship - and she tells me there is at least one other couple who were saved by Swan, possibly a few others but we have not found them.

Most of the people I've met are charming, well-cruised and well-travelled sorts, quite elderly, but I heard tonight there is a couple on their honeymoon.

Many have only ever cruised with Swan Hellenic and have no desire to try another line; a few are happy to shop around. Some have been on since Mombasa and came through Pirate Alley; this morning I met a couple who have been on for seven weeks, since Minerva left Cape Town in South Africa.

Another couple I met today were on a Spirit of Adventure cruise I did around South Africa a couple of years ago (SoA, by the way, is a Swan lookalike, started by Saga, but for all ages, when it looked like Swan would disappear for ever).

We were happily reminiscing about the day we were supposed to visit Durban, but it was so rough that the pilot, who risked all to get on board, had to be winched off by helicopter. We never got to Durban and finally ended up in Maputo, in Mozambique, which I now feel able to happily strike from "must-visit" list (note - actually if you never go there it won't be a great loss!).

As Walt says: "It's a small world after all."

This morning Minerva docked in Tripoli for the third and final call to Libya on this Ancient Wonders cruise on Swan Hellenic.

The excursion options today were between Sabratha, another ancient Roman city, or the Jamahiriya Museum in Tripoli. There was also a coach transfer to the city, to spend a couple of hours in the medina.

That last option was tempting, but I was finaly won over by the thought of seeing the theatre at Sabratha. It was rebuilt by the Italians between 1926 and 1936, is still used for concerts (Mussolini attended the first one in the reconstructed theatre in 1937) and is simply stunning.

As I saw it for the first time I was reminded of my Ephesus moment, when I saw the façade of the ancient library there for the first time, and the fact that it was reconstructed as opposed to having survived the centuries did nothing to detract from it for me.

Our guide Toriq explained that the three levels were for the different roles being played by actors. If they were playing gods, they were at the top, if they were emperors they were in the middle and ordinary folk were at the bottom.

The centuries have not been as kind to Sabratha as they were to Leptis Magna and you do need to use quite a bit of imagination (and Toriq's books) to picture things as they were.

For instance, this was the main road in Roman times, stretching from Carthage in Tunisia to Alexandria in Egypt. About 3,000km. Not quite the M25 is it?

Now that we have left, here are some final thoughts about Libya.

It was somewhere I'd always wanted to go, to see the ancient Roman sights, and I was certainly not disappointed. The sights were wonderful, and I was also very impressed by the guides, who all spoke good English and really knew their stuff, and by the coaches, which all had air-con (sometimes too much) and were in far better condition than many I've been on in America.

Mind you, they obviously haven't got many as the same coaches and drivers - and actually the guides as well - were at each port.

It is incredible - and amazing - that at all these ancient sites you can clambour over the remains to get that perfect picture and touch the mosaics and no one tells you off! It's so very refreshing.

But there are some frustrations. The delay I mentioned in Benghazi was caused by the authorities insisting everyone on the ship - passengers and crew - have their temperature taken to make sure we were not harbouring swine flu.

That's fine, but the helpful thing would have been for the immigration lot to clear the passport side of things while the medics did their bit. It seems that was asking too much. As a result, my feet did not touch Libyan soil until 1.20pm that day - more than four hours after we had docked.

Once we were back at sea, Hugh Leslie, our cruise director, thanked us all for our cooperation with the medical checks and said the chief medic had said "only the British" would have submitted to that in such good humour. Was it a test or am I being too cynical?

Also, because Libya is a strict Muslim country with no alcohol allowed, bars have to be locked while ships are in port. At least that's the theory. In practise, anything can happen.

In Benghazi they allowed the bars to open, in Al Khums they not only had to be locked but stay shut for the overnight cruise to Tripoli, and only open again once our ropes were cast and we were away from the land.

The no-alcohol rule is hardly a problem, but I can see it would annoy less-tolerant people than the lot on this cruise - and of course it's not great for cruiselines that rely heavily on sales of booze.

It's a fabulous destination, but ready to take its place on the cruising map? I don't think so. It's been hard work for the shorex team on Minerva so full marks to them for getting it all sorted - and still smiling at the end of the day!

Judging by the comments on the coach, today's visit to Leptis Magna was not just a dream come true for me. "I've been wanting to come for so many years," one passenger told me later. "Fabulous."

That one word just about sums up Leptis Magna, in the city of Al Khums, about 15 minutes by coach from where Minerva tied up this morning for our second stop in Libya on this Ancient Wonders cruise with Swan Hellenic.

Today there was no messing about with the Libyan authorities and we were off the ship within 30 minutes of the scheduled time and on site before 9.30am, which gave us a whole morning to do justice to the place.

It's an enormous site, founded by Phoenicians, once ruled from Carthage and finally Roman (that's the very abbreviated version, by the way, because I got very lost somewhere in the 4th century BC).

It became a colony of Rome in 109AD but really shot to prominence in 193, when Lucius Septimius Severus, who came from Leptis, became Emperor of Rome, and set about turning his home town into a city to rival any other along the North African coast.

What's so amazing about this place is how much has survived the centuries and attacks, first by the Vandals and then by the Berbers.

Our visit started at the baths, where there are the usual hot, cold and tepid rooms, all once covered head to toe in marble and heated by the fuel produced from the residue of olive oil manufacture, according to our guide Ziad, and what must be the most public public loo in the world, with seating for 70 people.

In front of the toilets there is a channel with clean water for washing - except just how clean it was after 70 people had been using it is anyone guess.

From there we walked through the sports ground, past the Nymphaeum, where once there was a fountain (water, nymphs, geddit?), into the colonnaded street, once lined with covered shops, and then into the Forum - a huge area measuring 60 metres by 100 metres and in Roman times with two storeys.

We also visited the Severan Basilica, the harbour (experts reckon it was only just finished when the 365AD earthquake hit so was actually never used), the market and the spectacular theatre. This is me in the plebs' seats!

Apparently the 1957 film Legend of the Lost, starring Sophia Loren and John Wayne, was filmed in Leptis Magna and gives a good picture of what it looked like before all the statues were removed for safe keeping. I suggest Blockbuster dusts off its copies as there'll be a rush on when we all get home next week.

What was almost as interesting as the ruins was the number of locals milling around the site. There were teenagers hanging out and what seemed like hundreds of school kids, all smiles and laughing, who were definitely more interested in trying out their English on us than learning too much about the history.

I was also enthralled by the immaculately-dressed traffic cops stationed at the busy junctions between the ship and Leptis Magna. At one junction, he had our coach and two cars to cope with. On leaving the site, I noticed three cars had been halted to allow us to pull out.

A tough job but someone has to do it!

You've got to hand it to MSC Cruises for a worthy attempt at putting a positive spin on the fact they have changed course and will now be cruising up the west coast of Africa to avoid another encounter with the Somali pirates.

MSC Melody was attacked by pirates last month; a potentially serious incident was averted thanks to the quick thinking of a few passengers who spotted the bandits trying to board the ship and threw deck chairs and tables at them.

To avoid another such incident, MSC Sinfonia will be sailing "exciting" (so the missive says) new itineraries around West Africa, calling at Morocco, Senegal and Namibia.

I gather gather sand-boarding in Namibia is good fun but none can replace the amazing sights in Jordan, Yemen and Egypt that you visit by cruising though the Gulf of Aden.

Be interesting to know what the passengers think, especially after meeting the gung-ho lot on Swan Hellenic who were so disappointed to have sailed through Pirate Alley and not seen a single miscreant. I'd say that was the Brits for you, except for this report on Silversea's venture through the pirate-infested waters.

It was another day of wind and rain - and even hail - in Norway yesterday, but everyone on Ventura was being very British about it, dusting down our stiff upper lips and bringing out the rain coats and umbrellas that have been as vital to the packing as the formal gear on this cruise of the Norwegian fjords.

This being Norway, the weather could have gone either way. Captain Keith Dowds was really delighted when the pilot bade him farewell the other night with the words, you should be here next week, when apparently a ridge of high pressure is on its way.

"I really didn't want to hear that!" the captain admitted, having just had to cancel our call to Alesund due to high winds.

It's not just that bad weather upsets plans - and stomachs - but it can also be very costly. About a dozen coaches, each with a driver and guide, were waiting for our arrival into Alesund that never was. They still have to be paid, but not with passengers' money as the cost of the missed excursions had to be refunded. And then there were the extra port fees for Olden.

As I forecast - actually it was supposed to be in jest - a few people have tried the "I only came on this cruise for Alesund" trick to try to get some money back. I think they have been told where to go, politely of course. This is P&O after all.

Stavanger, the last port on this P&O Cruises voyage, turned out to be an sweet little town (well actually it's the fourth largest city in Norway), but fairly dripping money thanks to the oil and gas industries.

My daughter got very excited when she found an H&M and Mango, but instead of allowing her time for shopping, we dragged her off on a boat excursion along the Lysefjord to see the Pulpit Rock (that's the one high above a fjord, open on three sides, always pictured with people sunning themselves on the top).

There were a few disappointed faces when we finally reached the rock (it's the one with the flat top to the right of the picture). Did we really get so wet to see something so small?

No matter. It was a nice trip through the scenic islands around Stavanger and we also got to see three goats that live on a patch of grass at the foot of the rock (I never quite worked out why they were there) and so close to a waterfall that they filled a jug and handed around cups of water for us to taste.

We arranged our boat trip ashore, but P&O does sell excusions to the Lysefjord and Pulpit Rock. I see their excursion booklet warns the rock will look small because it's such a long way up. Just proves you should always read the small print!

Back on Ventura, the ropes were cast and we headed back out to the North Sea for the return run to Southampton.

Last night, after my first dinner in the dining room, I just caught Elton John and Dusty Springfield performing in the Havana Lounge. Not the real thing, you understand, but a couple of tribute acts. Elton, aka Jimmy Love, was actually quite good, Dusty, aka Maxine Mazumder, was blond, which was probably a good thing as just a couple of days before she had been Lulu.

Coincidentally, the real Lulu will be performing on Fred Olsen's Boudicca in November. I hope she is a little more authentic!

It took four hours on Monday for Ventura to sail down the Nordfjord to Olden, which turned out to be a pretty little village that has only made it on to cruise itineraries because it's a good place from which to go and visit the Briksdal Glacier.

Judging by the packed theatre on the ship last night, no one went ashore to sample the nightlife, which somehow didn't surprise me. As overnight ports go, it's not really up there with Venice and Barcelona, especially not when you have to take out a second mortgage for a drink. Thinking about it, though, you have to do that these days in both those cities too.

Anyway, I can't see P&O adding Olden to its selection of iconic overnight ports.

But as they say, any port in a storm - and I for one appreciated taking cover there instead of killing time going round in circles on the North Sea.

Naturally, my family and I had to go to see the glacier, but rather than just take the walk-there-and-back excursion, we took one that threw in a boat ride on the lake in front of the ice.

It cost more but was a good move, even if it meant putting on a silly hat, wellies and a very tight lifejacket, and enduring daft questions ("is the water cold?") and Titanic jokes as we paddled through the ice.

We had a great guide who was able to tell us all about the glacier. Back in the mid-90s, it extended over what is lake today. It shrank back to roughly where it is now, but apparently is starting to grow again so the boat trip could once again become a glacier trek.

If our collective paddling efforts are anything to go by, that might not be a bad thing.

At 7.40 Monday morning, just as we were expecting to see the port of Alesund on this P&O Cruises' voyage around the Norwegian fjords, news came through from the captain that it was too windy to dock Ventura.

As the ship was shivering and shuddering and the sea was grey and stormy, I was not too sorry to hear his next announcement - we were going into Olden, our next port, a day early and staying overnight. As the town is down a long fjord, we would be in calm waters and protected from the worst of the wind by the high mountains on either side.

Needless to say, my teenage daughter managed to sleep though the announcements, even though they were made into the cabin. When she finally came to soon after 9.30, she was a little baffled that there was no sign of land out the window.

I brought her up to date on the day's news, adding that while there didn't seem much to see in Alesund, I was quite sorry not be going there because "sometimes it's nice to see new things even f they are not interesting".

"A bit like Fujairah really," she said, smiling, remembering they were the words of the receptionist on Costa Victoria when we were cruising the Arabian Gulf in January.

I'm now just waiting for the first compensation claims from passengers on the grounds they "only came on this cruise because they wanted to go to Alesund".

It's a shame the weather has turned on us as yesterday in Bergen was quite pleasant. We planned to take the funicular up to the top of Mount Floyen, to get a good view down over the town, but unfortunately half of Norway had the same plan (it was a Sunday) and after calculating we would queue for an hour for the seven-minute ride to the top, which was a little too disney-esque for my liking, we - daughter and partner - decided to walk.

So there we were, puffing our way up the hill while locals who looked twice our age came sprinting past. It's back to the Wii Fit for me if I ever get home long enough!

The views from Mount Floyen were stunning, as was the price of a drink at the top - £7 for a 40cl beer. "You'll have to stick to drinking on the ship," Mark said. A pint on Ventura costs £2.90.

Of course, Norway is renowned for its expensive booze, but I did a piece in the Telegraph recently proving that across Europe it's cheaper to drink on board than ashore now the value of sterling has fallen through the floor.

The cruise lines must be rubbing their hands with glee!

Here's something a bit different for anyone looking for a break from the cruising norm - the chance to see a total eclipse of the sun on the Aranui 3, a cargo ship that take passengers.

The lights are due to go out across the South Pacific next July, as the ship is sailing to the remote French Polynesian islands of Tuamotus.

The cruise departs Papeete on June 29 2010, stops off in the Marquesas Islands (famous for being the most remote pieces of land in the world) to deliver supplies - everything from cars and cement to school books and livestock - and then heads back to Papeete by way of the Tuamotus Islands.

On the way, there'll be lectures about the solar eclipse, and Marquesan history, culture and art, and you'll be able to dip in the swimming pool and keep fit in the gym.

The cruise costs from 3,730 euros per person for a cabin with private facilities but excluding return flights from the UK to Tahiti. Contact The Cruise People on 020 7723 2450.

Having just been cruising around Norway, this one is close to my heart.

To celebrate Norway' stunning victory at the Eurovision song contest a couple of weeks ago, Hurtigruten is giving travel agents who make a booking for an Opera-themed cruise next January a £10 HMV voucher so they can go and buy the CD.

The cruise is priced from £1,230 per person including flights; bookings have to be made by July 31 to qualify.

In case anyone does buy it, can they please tell me if there are any words other than "I'm in love with a fairytale" as that's the only bit I've heard. Several times.

After much deliberation, I hear Norway has decided to hold next year's contest in Oslo - actually I'm entirely sure where else would have had facilities for such a big event.

I trust Hurtigruten will be organising a Eurovision-themed cruise, with a big screen on the ship so passengers can watch all the excitement live.

Or maybe not.

The island of St Helena, where Napoleon was exiled, is remote enough, but in January 2011 the RMS St Helena, the cargo-cum-passenger ship that is its lifeline - it's the only way in and out of the island so everything the Saints need has to arrive on the Royal Mail Ship - will be making a return visit to Tristan da Cunha.

Tristan is 1,320 miles south of St Helena, itself 1,200 miles off the west coast of Africa, and said to be the world's most remote inhabited island, home to just 272 people. The RMS St Helena was last there in February 2006 and has no plans to be back other than this one time, so this really is a bit of a one-off trip.

The 20-day Tristan da Cunha voyage departs Cape Town on January 25 2011. It will spend three nights at Tristan and then sail on to St Helena, an overseas territory of the UK, for two nights, returning to Cape Town on February 13.

Prices start from £2,716 per person including all meals on board the ship (passengers stay on board at Tristan) but excluding international flights. Call 020 7575 6480 for more information and to book.

Next time you book a cruise that either starts or ends in Venice, be sure to add a night or two at the Cipriani.

It was my home for the night before the Azura float-out and it is wonderfully romantic, on an island across from St Mark's Square so you are away from the madding crowds but as there is a launch to take you back and forth 24 hours a day you can take on the hordes whenever you feel like it.

The service is truly classy (I asked the man who showed me to my room about using wifi and when I went downstairs 10 minutes later he had already arranged an access code for me) and my bedroom was gorgeous, with a bathroom big enough to get lost in. I think it has to be the only hotel I've stayed in that has ceramic holders for the pens.

Of course none of this comes cheap, but it is a perfect add-on to a ultra-luxury cruise. And as the luxury lines have so many deals around at the moment, you can always treat yourself to the hotel with the money you save on the cruise.

Just remember to take the one you love.

Cunard has lined up another Royal rendezvous in New York on January 13 2011. Exactly three years to the day since the last time it happened, its three Queens will meet in the Big Apple.

Except this time Queen number three will be Queen Elizabeth, launching in autumn 2010, not the QE2.

Queen Elizabeth will be there on her maiden world cruise, which departs from Southampton, Queen Mary 2 will be starting her fourth round the world, departing from New York, and Queen Victoria, taking a break from globetrotting in 2011, will be about to set off on an 18-night Mexican Adventure.

And you can be there. You could just join one of the cruises, of course, but Cunard has also put together a three-in-one world cruise - Southampton to New York on Queen Victoria, New York to Sydney on Queen Elizabeth and Sydney back to Southampton on Queen Mary 2.

Sounds great, but just think of all that packing and unpacking.

Queen Elizabeth's maiden world cruise sets off from Southampton. From New York it goes to the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia and then comes back to Southampton via the Far East, Middle East and Suez. A total 103 days away and prices from £9,999 per person.

Queen Mary 2 will sail from New York to the Caribbean and then turn left, heading to South Africa the Indian Ocean, Australia and New Zealand and Asia - a mere 96-day voyage. Prices start from £8,999.

The 2011 world cruises go on sale July 1.

After the fun, if soggy, bike ride in Belgium, yesterday's excursion in Cherbourg was disappointing, to say the least.

I thought originally it was my bad choice, except that other journalists with me on this Eurodam mini-cruise, who went on different trips, said the same thing. I'm not sure when - or if - Holland America Line will be back this way again, but I reckon it's something that needs to be addressed first.

Mine was an excursion around the Val de Saire region to the east of Cherbourg, with stops in the harbour towns of Barfleur and St Vaast la Hougue, and starting with a visit to a lighthouse, which we stood and looked at because there was no time to go up it (and anyway I doubt few people on my coach would have been able to climb the 350 steps to the top). It was a really pointless exercise.

Our guide was Nicole, who was the mistress of no information (which I suppose was better than another journo's excursion with a guide who was the master of mis-information, and this about the Second World War).

In fact the most interesting thing I discovered was that the British so annihilated the French military fleet at St Vaast la Hougue in 1693 that the French never really recovered their sea power. Nicole's observation, not mine.

Getting back on the ship, I noticed we were moored right next door to La Cite de la Mer, which I have visited previously and thoroughly recommend if you are ever passing this way. It's an aquarium, and a very good one, but the highlight is being able to go aboard the Redoutable, a submarine now open to the public.

A truly unforgettable experience, the brochure says. How right. I will never forget how claustrophobic it felt. The sleeping areas make cruise ship bathrooms look like pure luxury. And sailors live in this confined area under the sea. Scary. And just a little humbling as well.

This morning we are anchored off St Peter Port in Guernsey. The announcement came at 7am (ridiculously early) to say we could now go ashore, along with the long instruction of how you have to get a tender ticket and wait to be called. Blah, blah.

At 8am there was another announcement, saying this really was the best time to go as there are absolutely no queues but it will be really busy at 9am. We've just had the 9am one and guess what? It's still the best time to go.

I hope they get some takers as we've bothered to come all the way here.

When I went down to the theatre on Holland America's Eurodam to pick up a sticker for my cycling excursion from Zeebrugge I was sure they would say it was cancelled.

While working in my cabin, I had been watching my balcony flood with all the rain that was pouring down. Even if that didn't put them off, surely the fact that I was wearing a pair of sandals (wot, no protection for your toes!) would break all the health and safety rules.

Wrong on both counts. So an hour later, I found myself in Bruges, doing some practice turns on my bike during a break in the clouds. There were quite a few such breaks, and the sun even came out at times, which was very welcome as in between, we looked like a group of drowned rats.

Actually despite the rain, the trip was really good. Jos, the manager of the bike company QuasiMundo in front, Rony, who had picked us up at the port, bringing up the rear and doing a grand job of stopping the traffic by taking off his clothes and lying in the road.

OK, that was Jos' joke. But Rony really did stop the traffic for us when we needed to get over roads - just a formality really as the Belgian drivers are all very polite and stop anyway when they see a bike (actually I think it has a lot to do with the fact they are always to blame if they hit a cyclist, but whatever, it works).

Our bike ride took us from Bruges to Damme, a thriving port until the entrance from the sea silted up and the port was moved to Zeebrugge. Now it's a pretty little village with a handful of people and cobbled streets, which are not a lot of fun when you're on a bike.

On the way we learned that Belgian Blue cows are white and have been so inbred to create stocky little cows with lots of meat that they can't give birth naturally and always have to have a caesarean. We learned about windmills, bridges on ropes that are rolled up to let boats through, the canals around the city that were dug by Napoleon (there's me in front of one, in one of my drier moments) and the German officer who became a hero because he ignored orders given in the last war to destroy Bruges.

Jos was very lavish in his praise for our cycling abilities, which struck me as strange until he explained a lot of people come on the tours who can't ride a bike. How odd is that?

Back on board Eurodam, I sat in while Diana Moran, otherwise known as the Green Goddess, gave an inspiring talk on the importance of staying fit and healthy despite growing old. As I had just cycled about 15km, I felt very virtuous.

Next stop on this mini-cruise is Cherbourg, where hopefully the weather will be a little kinder.

Holland America Line's Eurodam leaves Dover today for the cruise line's first round-trip sailing from the UK - and I'll be on board.

It's only a short cruise - four nights visiting Zeebrugge in Belgium, Cherbourg in France and St Peter Port in Guernsey - but it's been so popular that HAL has been inspired to do more from the UK next year.

In May and June 2010 there will be three full-length cruises, also on Eurodam, visiting the Baltic and Norwegian fjords.

I last saw Eurodam when it visited Southampton for one night last year just before sailing to Holland to be named so it will be good to see it again and get more of an impression.

Keep checking in for my thoughts on the ship and the destinations.

I said before I left the UK for this Lindblad cruise around Svalbard that I wanted to see Polar bears and I have not been disappointed.

The first was spotted just after breakfast on the first morning, the second just after lunch, as we were on our way to the end of a fjord to go kayaking. Yes, as well as Zodiacs to take us ashore there's a fleet of infatable kayaks on board our ship, National Geographic Explorer.

The expedition team strings a platform between two Zodiacs and then we can get in and out of the kayaks with ease - well almost.

Unfortunately the rudder on the one Ilana and I were in got stuck so we spent a long time going around in circles! Finally someone came and took the rudder out of the water, which helped, but we are not planning to enter any kayaking competitions just yet.

We were warned not to go too close to the big icebergs, which was useful as one split and then turned over. Spectacular but a little scary when you are underneath. But it was fun trying to kayak over the small bits of ice.

We were also kitted out with emergency alarms in case a Polar bear came up to the kayak. They are a constant danger so the expedition team guides always carry guns when taking us on hikes ashore. This is Jason, our guide, on a short tour ashore yesterday.

But back to the bear spotting. This morning's 7am call alerted us to yet another Polar bear, so it was on with the hats, gloves and cameras. This was the picture I got with the help of a telescope and my camera zoom (naturally the ship doesn't get too close and upset the animals).

What a great way to start the day.

We're sailing up the east coast of the island of Spitbergen, ice floes all around us and feeling the occasional loud thud as we hit one, on day two of my cruise in Svalbard. And what a couple of days it has been.

Wildlife tally so far: Three Polar bears, two walrus, one Arctic fox and lots of birds (some people are getting very excited about seeing Kittiwake gulls, but I'm afraid unless we see eagles, vultures or the like, they are all just birds to me).

"It's not really a cruise ship," one of my breakfast companions observed when, as was inevitable, we got onto the subject of cruising over the eggs and bacon this morning. I know what he means.

As the name suggests, our ship, the National Geographic Explorer, is very much geared for exploration - we have Zodiacs on board to take us on landings, at dinner we turn up in the jeans and jumpers we have been wearing all day and we are woken at 7am by the expedition leader, broadcasting in all the cabins.

On the other hand, there are Filipino crew, there is plenty of food and someone comes and cleans our cabin each morning and turns down the beds every night. So it must be a cruise ship.

After landing in Longyearbyen on Sunday, we had a tour of the town with Claudio. Not a very Norwegian name, I remarked. That's because I come from Italy, he replied. He makes this remote outpost, population 2,000, his home in summer and was full of information.

The town, which owes its existence to coal mining, sits on permafrost, which means the houses don't have any footings and pipes have to run on top of the ground.

It also means that dead bodies have to be flown to Tromso, on the Norwegian mainland, because they can't be buried deep enough. This was discovered when coffins in the graveyard started to pop out of the ground. There is a hospital, but it's for emergencies only. Any routine stuff also necessitates a flight to Tromso.

This Polar bear sign outside town is a constant reminder not to wander off alone without a gun. Apparently it's the only sign in the world with a black background! Wonder why...

One day at home after Eurodam and now I'm off to Spitsbergen. It's a one-week cruise, departing from Longyearbyen and going wherever the ice allows us in search of Polar bears and big bergs. I'm cruising with Lindblad, which is sold in the UK through Titan Tours.

As I write this I am waiting for their VIP home transfer service taxi to arrive and whisk me to the airport. How civilised is that?

I would say it's the only cruise I've ever been on where Wellington boots were on the packing list, except that I had to take them when I cruised to Antarctica. You need them for getting out of the Zodiacs as the chances are you'll have to wade through icy water to get ashore.

My daughter is with me on this one - a teenager, so she'll be able to report on the cruise from her perspective.

I've already been warned that the internet might be sticky, so don't be surprised if there are not regular posts, but I'll do my best so keep checking in.

 The ship I am sailing on in Svalbard, Lindblad's National Geographic Explorer, was once a passenger/vehicle ferry called Lyngen that sailed the Norwegian coast between Bergen to Kirkenes for Hurtigruten.

It was acquired in 2007 by Lindblad, a US company that specialises in small ship exploration cruises, completely gutted so instead of carrying 500 passengers it carries 148, and had a super class 1A ice-strengthened hull added that can take on sea ice.

Or at least that's what the captain told us as we smashed our way through the ice floes. And I guess I am still here to tell the tale.

The ship itself is simple but functional, designed to ensure you never walk in a straight line, as one passenger observed!

There is a lounge, an observation lounge-cum-library, a sauna and two spa rooms where you can have all sorts of treatments with fun names such as Marine Iguana salt glow and Sea Lion relaxation massage. I had a very deep Humpback Whale deep tissue massage.

There are two bars and one restaurant where you help yourself to breakfast and lunch, and dinner is served. It's always open dining, so we can sit with different people each night; dinner is served in one sitting, usually at 7.30pm.

Where the car deck used to be is the mud room, possibly the most important place on the ship, as this is where you get on and off the inflatable zodiacs that take you ashore. The ship carries 11 ordinary zodiacs, one with a glass bottom and a last one used to take a remotely-operated camera deep down to see what's happening below the surface.

We've had three film shows courtesy of David, who even went diving one morning to bring us footage.

Each day we have had a wake-up call at 6.30am to 7am, during the day there are non-landing zodiac cruises that get us up close to glaciers or icebergs, or go in search for seals, hikes ashore, hours spent looking for - and watching - Polar bears and whales, and talks. And of course the chance to have a spa treatment.

All very exhausing - at least the business of getting ready is, as you lots of need layers of clothes, hats and gloves to stave off the cold.

By 10pm each night, unless there is a walrus or bear sighting, the ship has been like the Marie Celeste as everyone is in bed getting ready for the next busy day.

Day two of our cruise in Svalbard, the inflatables were lowered into the water and we all went on a non-landing zodiac cruise in search of wildlife.

No sooner had we cast off from our ship, Lindblad's National Geographic Explorer, than we hit the jackpot - three walruses sitting on an iceberg apparently only too content to have their pictures taken.

They are frighteningly big animals. Mike, our zodiac driver and one of the expedition team photographers on board the ship, was getting very nervous when two slid into the water and disappeared from sight, leaving this one to pose for us.

Just to make sure we shared his concern, he said a walrus had been known to rip open the bottom of a zodiac. With those tusks, I guess it's not such a surprise. After we had all duly ooohed and aaahed, we carried on shooting. After all, how many times do you get a chance to take a picture like this?

Next day we were due to go ashore but plan A had to be abandonned when a Polar bear was spotted where we were going to walk. So we reverted to plan B - a landing on the island of Barentsoya.

Ilana and I did the long walk - about three hours - with Richard at the front, armed with a gun, and Jen at the rear, also armed, to make sure there are no stragglers as they are the ones most likely to be picked off by a bear. The rules are strict here. You stick with your group at all times; once you set off on a walk, there is no turning back.

For those less mobile, there are short and medium walks, and even photography walks, which you might spend 30 minutes snapping a flower so you need to be keen!

Back on board we continued north, cruised through a narrow channel known as the Worm Hole because of the way the currents twist and turn, and into what they call the East Side.

It was colder and more barren than where we had come from but produced more Polar bear sightings, including a mother and cub and this little guy, who we caught having breakfast. He then came right up to the side of the ship, quite unperturbed by the giant blue and white thing that had been breaking up his ice.

We found him after our breakfast and spent about two hours watching him, by which time my feet and hands were frozen. And then I spotted one of the expedition team guys wearing flip-flops. I'm still intrigued to think anyone would even think of packing a pair to go to the Arctic!

I always thought Svalbard was the Norwegian name for Spitsbergen and that therefore the two were interchangeable. Now I am here I have learned I was wrong as they mean two quite different things.

Svalbard is the name of the archipelago of islands, north of Norway, while Spitsbergen is one of the islands in the archipelago.

Svalbard was discovered in 1596 by a Dutchman, Willem Barentz, who, I'm assuming, is the same person who gave his name to the water north of Russia and east of this archipelago. It has been governed by Norway since the 1920s, but belongs to no one country.

Longyearbyen is the capital of Spitsbergen (and the archipelago as there isn't much other human life around here), is home to about 2,000 people and is named after an American, John Mason Longyear, who founded it in 1906 as a base for coal mining. Byen means town and was added when Svalbard came under Norwegian governance. Until then, it was know as The City Longyear.

It is 2,313km to Oslo from Longyearbyen and just 1,338km to the North Pole.

Moon-walker Neil Armstrong is joining Lindblad/National Geographic Journeys on a 26-day expedition cruise to the Antarctic departing November 15.

He'll no doubt have some amazing tales to tell of the time he took that one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind as the ship, National Geographic Explorer, makes its way over Drake's Passage.

As I'm just back from a brilliant Lindblad/National Geographic Journeys cruise in Svalbard, I have no doubt this will be an amazing experience. You can book it here in the UK through Titan Travel. Prices start from £8,998 per person including all flights and overseas and VIP UK airport transfer service.

If you don't fancy getting your chills in Antarctica, there's a Baltic cruise from Copenhagen to St Petersburg departing September 6, with special guests Mikhail Shvydkoi, Russia's former Minister of Culture, and Lech Walesa, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of Poland on board.

Prices for this are from £4,448 per person including flights and UK and overseas transfers.

Quite fitting really for the Love Boat cruiseline. Except it's not that sort of passion.

For 2010, Princess Cruises is offering a cruise tour that has tickets to the Oberammergau Passion Play, held every 10 years in Oberammergau, Southern Germany.

The Passion Play, which depicts the life and death of Jesus, has been held every 10 years since 1634, performed by the villagers, in thanksgiving for deliverance from the Black Death in 1633. It goes on for so long - about seven hours - that a meal is served in the intermission.

More than 2,000 actors, singers, instrumentalists and technicians take part. They make their own costumes for the production and, as no wigs are used, participants must grow their hair and beards for several months prior to the performances.

It's all very heavy stuff, but the eight-day tour visits some great German cities as well, including Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin, and then connects with a 10-day Scandinavia/Russia cruise on Star Princess. Departures are August 2 and August 12, 2010.

Before I left for my Arctic cruise with Lindblad I mentioned I was taking my daughter so I would be able to get a teenage perspective about the trip. A bit delayed but here it is, after this picture of her in reflective mood on one of the warm days (note the lack of hats, scarfs and coats compared to the picture below).

I was really looking forward to my cruise in Svalbard. The main thing I wanted to see was the Ice Bear, and on the first day I saw two. It was a shame that you couldn't go very close to them, but the ship had powerful telescopes for us to look through which was great - although once they became pointless as a young Polar bear came right up to the ship.

I also found the history of Svalbard very interesting and one of the naturalists in the expedition team gave a fascinating talk about his experience when he lived as a trapper for one year. At the end of every day the naturalists would do a thing called a recap, when they picked up on something that happened that day and gave us more information related to it.

There was one under-sea naturalist and he looked at the underwater life. I found this interesting, because in geography you talk about the effects the glaciers have on the land but not on the effect they have underwater, and you never get to see the animal life right at the bottom of the ocean.

The ship was small, but it wasn't crowded and there was good service. The only problem I had with it was that there was nothing to do during the days at sea, which there could be a lot of, because you couldn't be sure of getting ashore due to bad weather or Polar bears!

We did a couple of Zodiac cruises, which were great fun. Zodiacs are small inflatable boats that allowed us to get very close to icebergs and glaciers. The first one we did we saw three walruses and on the second one we saw this seal.

While cruising around the islands one of the expedition team spotted a Blue Whale. The Blue Whale is the largest animal on the planet. This was very exciting and we were very lucky to see it. We also saw puffins and huge bird cliffs inhabited by thousands upon thousands of Brunnich's guillemots.

It was a great cruise but the drawback is that you can't be guaranteed to see any of this. It's not a zoo. And the wind was usually very cold which meant we had to keep well wrapped up.

Interesting news this week from St Kilda, which should be celebrating this year's record number of cruise visits but is instead dismayed to discover that cruisers are apt to walk off with anything that is not screwed down.

Apparently the island, in the Outer Hebrides, has had more than 5,000 cruise ship visitors this year from 24 vessels - up from 16 last year.

"To the popular cruise ship island ports of call like St Kitts, St Lucia and St Martin, you can now add St Kilda," says the press release. Well not quite, but guess that's quite a lot of folk for the Western Isles.

Anyway, seems the joy at having all those tourists has been short lived as quite a few are taking a bit of St Kilda back home with them.

Susan Bain, National Trust for Scotland Western Isles manager, said the code of conduct drawn up for cruise ship visitors asks that they do not litter, disturb the birds, chase the rare Soay sheep or put anything they find in their pocket.

"Some people are tempted to behave in an unsocial way. We do know, sadly, that certain island artefacts have been liberated."

Oh the joys of mass-market tourism!

I wrote a couple of days ago that I had challenged my daughter Ilana to walk with me up the 588 or so steps from Santorini harbour to Fira, the island's capital. Well, here we are at step 569.

OK, I'll be honest. The picture was taken while we were walking down the harbour to take the tender back to Crystal Serenity, our home this week.

As there were only two ships in Santorini yesterday - a big improvement on last time we were here when there were six - there was no queue for the cable car and as it's only €4 per person to go up, it seemed churlish not to take the easy way.

Of course, there are also the donkeys, which share the zig-zag steps with walkers. Ilana and I took them up last time and swore never to do it again.

Apart from the inhumane side, it was actually a rather unpleasant experience, especially as my donkey seemed to have an overwhelming desire to bite my foot and Ilana's beast got to the top of the hill and ran up to a wall, surrounding itself with other donkeys while she was still on top. Stuck, until I could get one of the men in charge to understand her plight.

Fira, if you have never been, is a beautiful place, a whitewashed town perched on top of a volcanic island that is full of steps and cobbled alleyways filled with shops selling white dresses, jewellery made from lava and bags covered in pictures of donkeys.

It's terribly touristy, but I can forgive that in return for the spectacular views over the lagoon where the ships moor. This is Serenity at anchor yesterday. And at least there are no heavy selling tactics such as you encounter in Kusadasi, our first stop after boarding in Athens on Sunday.

There's a huge bazaar packed with stalls selling "genuine fake" designer goods (the signs on the stalls actually say that) and Turkish carpet shops whose owners start unrolling carpets in front of anyone who dares enter. Within five minutes you are buried in pile, silk and other such carpets, whether or not you are interested in buying. It's a challenge getting away empty-handed but after being buried several times I'm pretty good at it.

Rather than salesmen, in Santorini we had to run the gauntlet of the donkeys' rear ends and hind legs as we started our descent to the harbour and also avoid getting run over as some donkeys staggered up and other slip-slided their way down the steps with lazy tourists, looking most uncomfortable, on their backs.

At one point, this north-bound convey met a south-bound crowd so we jumped to safety on the wall. Having seen the way last time they just walked into people (there is no steering!) we were taking no chances (luckily we didn't understand the choice Italian words that resulted that time but I got the impression they were not complimentary!)

In another part of Santorini, I spotted a train of donkeys going home for the day being followed by a man with a broom and a shovel. S*** job, but as there must be 100 or so rear ends to clean up after, at least it's secure employment.

There are some things you don't want to see on a Sunday morning - including 3.15am, but that was the sight that welcomed me as I was rudely awakened by my alarm clock yesterday.

I was all in a good cause though. My daughter and I were taking an early flight to Athens - so early that Heathrow hadn't even opened when we got there at 4.30am - to join Crystal Cruises' 1,080-passenger Crystal Serenity in Piraeus for a cruise to Civitavecchia, the port for Rome.

We were in a taxi at Athens airport by 11.55am, at the port of Piraeus by 12.35pm and on the ship having lunch - because that is the first thing you always have to do when you board a ship! - by the Neptune pool by 1pm. No queues, no delays. Fabulous.

It's what I would expect of a luxury six-star ship, but I do love it when things go right.

We are staying in a Penthouse with a butler, two stewardesses to look after the room, a lovely big bathroom with two sinks, and a separate shower and bath, and a closet for our clothes. Must remember to explain that to Ilana, who in the space of a few hours has managed to scatter numerous garments around the Penthouse.

First stop is Kusadasi in Turkey and there are some drop-dead gorgeous places to follow, namely Taormina and Sorrento. In Santorini, I've challenged Ilana to walk up to the town, Fira, with me. All 588 steps. The "are you mad" response was a bit negative, but we'll see.

As ever I'll be reporting back from the ship and the places we visit , as well as keeping an eye on other news, so keep looking.

Sounds wonderful doesn't it? A dreamy day in beautiful Venice, wandering around the canals, over bridges, generally getting lost in the back streets.

Well a dream is all it was, because although the itinerary proclaimed the day after we embarked Ruby Princess as "Venice", by 9am we were reversing out of the port - a tricky manoeuve given Italian drivers are just as mad on water as they are on land and clearly don't believe in giving way, even to a giant like Ruby Princess - sailing past St Mark's Square and off down the Adriatic en route to Athens.

Confused? Well so was I, not because we had left Venice so early, as I had read on the itinerary that we would be leaving at 8am - so actually we were late departing - but because the ship insisted on calling it a Venice day even though we were very much at sea.

So I couldn't understand why the teens' club wasn't open - it was operating on port times, not sea day times - and why it wasn't a formal night, as it always is on the first day at sea. Most shocking of all, it meant the rest of my itinerary was thrown because after "Venice" there was the real day at sea so we were arriving in Athens a day later than expected.

Luckily we had raced into the city as soon as we dumped our bags on the ship the previous evening or the only Venice we would have seen was as we sailed out, but I bet several others missed out.

Just to emphasise it was a sea day, at 11am the whistles sounded to call everyone to the lifeboat drill.

"No need to have your lifejackets on yet," DJ Mark told us incessently as he killed time waiting for everyone to saunter to their muster stations. Well it is supposed to be an emergency you know! "In fact, if you have yours on, can you take it off because we will show you after the briefing how to put it on."

Make sense of that...!

For what must be the first time in its history, Swan Hellenic, the cruise line that has academic lectures as entertainment, is out to capture the teen market.

The 22-day Antarctic Discovery cruise on Minerva departing December 16 will have a youth director on board who will be running a Young Explorers' special activity programme for 10 to 17-year-olds, as well as teaching fun ship-board things such as how to navigate and tie knots.

It's a great idea. A cruise to Antarctica is a exciting experience for all ages, but tweenies and teens will have a great time getting up close to penguins and seals, keeping watch for whales, and taking cruises on inflatable Zodiac boats around giant icebergs.

Christmas Day will be spent in South Georgia, with a slap-up dinner, music and entertainment served on the ship in the evening. Come New Year's Eve, there will be a Champagne party to welcome in 2010.

And that's just where it starts to go slightly wrong for me. People cruise with Swan because it's full of "like-minded" passengers, they are certainly aged over 55 but mostly in their 60s and 70s, and like the guarantee of having no children on board to spoil the peace and quiet by partying the night away - not because they are banned, as such but because it's just not a cruise line - or ship - that appeals to families.

Nonetheless, I still think it's a great idea. Unfortunately for parents - or should that be grandparents? - though, the cruise isn't cheap. Prices start from £5,495 per person, including flights, transfers and all drinks on board. Child fares are available on request.

Just to prove that a cruise on Crystal Serenity is not all about food, it's time for some words - and more importantly some pictures - about the places we visited in the last three days of the cruise.

I said at the start of the cruise we would be visiting some drop-dead gorgeous places and I was so right. The problem with them, for other cruise lines, is that they were all tender ports. On Serenity, and with so few people on board, it was not a problem but on a ship with even 1,500 passengers it would be a real pain.

Incidentally, while on the subject of the people count, I found out that another 100 passengers were on board but not included in the official head count so we were actually 650-ish. Still outnumbered by the crew, but only just.

It was lovely in that there were never any queues for anything, but it made the fixed dining in the evening a rather sad affair, with a sea of empty tables all around.

First stop after our hectic day at sea was Taormina, or more correctly Naxos, as that's where cruise ships anchor. We landed at pier 1 (I was impressed that there were two), made our way through the terminal and into the shuttle bus for the short drive up to Taormina, which is perched in the surrounding hills.

Actually the coaches get you to a car park, from where you can walk up seven floors or take a lift up to the town, which is stuffed with beautiful buildings with equally beautiful balconies, jewellery and souvenir shops, ice-cream parlours and this authentic Roman night club!

The main claim to fame is the Teatro Greco, from where there are fabulous views over the town and surrounding countryside. Sadly they have done a terrible restoration job on it so these seats, where Ilana is sitting, is the only bit worth taking a picture of. On the positive side, I was delighted to see they still use it for plays and concerts - there were setting it up for something while we were there.

Next stop was Lipari, which was a maiden call for Crystal, which is in the "fortunate" position of sitting between a couple of volcanos - Stromboli and Vulcano.

There were any number of places selling excursions to Stromboli, but coming back about six hours after our ship was due to leave so they were not much good. And walking to Vulcano took two hours according to the ship's info (although I discovered that Christian, who gave me a wonderful deep-tissue massage, and Nick, the fitness instructor, did it in 45 minutes), which sounded too much like hard work in 90 degree heat.

So Ilana and I stayed in the town. It's a sweet little place but unbelievably expensive and after we had walked around a little, explored the castle and enjoyed the spectacle of traffic trying to dodge the tables and chairs the cafe owners simply put in out into the road, we felt we had done Lipari.

As we weighed anchor that afternoon, the captain announced we would be passing Stromboli between 10pm and 10.30pm and to look out for volcanic activity. As we were on the late sitting for dinner we were still eating as we went by and only realised the time as we bade farewell to the First Engineer, who had been hosting our table.

"Oh don't worry", I said. "They would have said if there was anything to see." How wrong can you be. Apparently there was a great show and we missed it because the ship's policy is to avoid making announcements. I'm all for cruise lines avoiding announcements for the sake of them, but when it's something a bit special like that? I'm sure I was not the only one who was very disappointed.

Our last stop before disembarking on Sunday was Sorrento, which always strikes me as the classy side of Naples. Again, where the smaller ships go because they have to tender you ashore.

The town is at the top of a cliff, which was becoming a bit of a theme, and there was a shuttle bus to take us to the top (all the shuttle buses provided by Crystal were free, which is a sign of an ultra-luxury line, but you might have to pay if you're cruising with others).

We took it up, wandered around town and then walked down to the harbour - and then went back up to town for lunch and walked down again. For the exercise, of course. And there are only so many trinket shops you can look in!

After my mammoth cruise on Ruby Princess I feel I have become something of an expert on European trains, or more specifically Italy's trains.

I would hate to tempt fate but I totally disagree with the guide I met once who told me cruise passengers should never use the Italian trains as they are so unreliable, because each one was bang on time.

But then she was guiding a ship's tour at the time, so it's in her interest to keep the cruisers paying her wages.

Based on the number of coaches waiting to whisk passengers off on their day trips, I reckon her job is safe for a while, but the number of people who are opting to do their own thing in ports is noticeably growing by leaps and bounds, which is not surprising when you look at the price difference.

Our train from Civitavecchia to Rome was €9 per person return, a bargain compared to basic Rome on your own - a coach there and back and six hours in the city (about the same as we had) - which cost $64 (about €44).

But for the extra money, of course, you also get the peace of mind that the ship won't sail without you if things do go wrong and that's still worth a lot to a lot of people.

Our train journeys took us from Naples to Sorrento and back in a very rickety old train that stopped about 35 times, which was very tedious, but at least we got a view of Pompeii along the way, from Civitacecchia to Rome and back and from Livorno to Florence and back, giving us the freedom to do as we wanted in each of the cities.

In Rome that naturally meant throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain, visiting the Colosseum, the Pantheon and looking out over the Forum, which they have started to charge for, but they are also putting up boards around the outside to explain what the ruins are, which is a good move.

Thankfully, you can still fill your water bottles from the fountains like this for free. These are all over the city, and the water is cold and fresh. It's a sobering thought that these were there way back when Rome was an empire.

There is something very civilised about getting free water - one of the differences I really noticed between a cruise line like Crystal, which I was on at the start of August and where bottled water is free, and Princess, which I have just got off, where it costs something like $3 a bottle - plus a 15% gratuity.

If cruise lines have to charge, why not sell water for, say, $1 a bottle? They could buy it in bulk for half that so they'd still make a nice profit, but also sell masses much more than now as most people with an ounce of sense buy water ashore at the moment.

After Rome, we had another busy day in Florence. It was all a bit rushed because train times into the city are not great, but there was time enough to see the highlights and have a nice lunch as well, which is most important!

I also discovered that you can get a taxi from the port to Livorno station for €20. Get eight people in the cab and you've a one-way transfer for €2.50 per person. Much more acceptable than the €14 per person return the port was charging for a coach.

From Livorno, it was on to the jetset capital of Monaco, where we were moored near a yacht that made you realise Ruby Princess was not that big after all. And it's only the 10th or 11th (depending on what you read) biggest private yacht in the world.

My daughter Ilana so fell in love with the place, she decided we should buy a place there so we checked out a few prices. One flat looked very nice - and was a mere €28 million. Hmm. Maybe not.

While we were car spotting outside the Casino - Rolls Royces, Bentleys, a Ferrari here and there - we noticed these guys cleaning the window outside the Hotel de Paris. Surely this is the only place in the world where people wear suits to clean windows?

The last time I was in Istanbul (also with Princess Cruises strangely enough), there was a queue of guides sitting outside the Blue Mosque waiting to snag an unsuspecting tourist.

That'll be me then.

"Are you English," one asked, as Ilana and I headed towards the entrance. Rather than say yes, and then have to shake him off, I responded in German, hoping he would shrug and turn to the next person.

Big mistake. Turned out "are you English" were the only three words of English he knew but he was fluent in German. We ended up having a very interesting, I think (my German wasn't nearly as good as his) tour of the Blue Mosque before being whisked off to his employer's carpet shop in the hope we would buy one and he would get his commission.

All that has gone. When Ilana and I arrived in the city on Tuesday, on day six of our Med cruise on Ruby Princess, we found a well-organised system with plastic carrier bags provided for your shoes (you enter and exit from different doors so you carry them with you), shawls for women in shorts or vest tops and not a "guide" in sight.

It's an incredible place, both from the outside and inside, where there are 20,000 blue tiles - or that's what said in the book. I didn't bother to count.

Even more incredible, though, is the Grand Bazaar, where 4,000 vendors do battle for business. What I find bizarre about the bazaar, and about the nearby spice market, is that they all seem to be selling the same stuff - carpets, t-shirts, bags, cushions, jewellery and spices, of course. How does anyone make a living?

As I said, this was day six of the cruise. Day five was Kusadasi, from where the cultural lot went to Ephesus and the rest went shopping. Actually Ilana went swimming - for €2.50 you get a sunbed, use of a shower and toilet, and access to the water, which is a great deal and it's all kept very clean.

Day four was Piraeus, from where we took the train into Athens - €3 for an all-day card, which is fantastic value. As it was Sunday, there was maintenance work on the line so after three stops on the train we had to swap to a replacement bus service (sound familiar?), but at least it all worked.

As we sailed away, smoke from the fires north of the city was clearly hanging over Athens, fanned by the strong winds that had nearly blown us off the Acropolis. Scary. The winds were due to calm down by now. I hope they have, so the Greeks can get the fires under control.

I know I've used the heading before, but it's happened again. Celebrity Cruises' new ship Celebrity Eclipse is being delivered earlier than expected so they've squeezed in another cruise.

It happened with Celebrity Equinox, P&O's Ventura, Princess' Ruby and Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, which was due to set off on its maiden cruise on December 12 this year but now has its first sailing on December 1.

As the Eclipse extra will be the first cruise with paying passengers, it is what most people would class as the maiden, but as other folk have booked specially to be on that - a four-nighter to Cork - and would be a little upset to find their maiden pulled from under them, so to speak, this one is being sold as a "taster" cruise.

It really is just a taste - three nights, Southampton to Le Havre and back from April 26 to 29. Prices for a balcony cabin start from £399 per person, which is a really great price.

Before that expect several days of celebrations and ship visits in Southampton, as well as the naming ceremony, to welcome the vessel to what will be its home port for summer 2010. It's expected to arrive the week commencing April 19 so clear your diaries.

Is this a first? Fred Olsen Cruise Lines' Black Prince is making a maiden visit to Chatham in Kent today - and bidding farewell to the port at the same time.

The ship is retiring from UK service next month because it would be too expensive to make all the changes needed for it to meet the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) 2010 regulations.

Black Prince is currently on a 10-night voyage around the UK and Ireland. After that there will be two more ordinary sailings, before it sets off on its farewell cruise - 14 nights from Southampton to the Canary Islands and back departing October 2.

The internet is showing space on the cruise so there's still a chance to be on board for this historic goodbye. Prices start from £1,395.

I'm delighted to have received an invitation for a farewell lunch on board in Southampton on October 16, when Black Prince returns from that last cruise. Then it really will be goodbye as the ship is off to start a new life in Venezuela.

I've never understood why anyone would choose to go on a cruise when they don't know where they are going. Magical mystery cruise sounds exciting, but don't most people choose their cruise based on destination? A little hard if it's all a secret.

And how awful if you were to end up in a real dump of a place you've visited once and vowed never to return to!

Such concerns haven't put off Saga, which has offered mystery cruises for the past three years and has another in 2011, and now Hebridean Island Cruises is jumping on the nautical equivalent of the bandwagon.

All you're can know is that the Hebridean Surprise cruise, on the 49-passenger Hebridean Princess, departs from Oban on October 8 and returns on October 13. Only one man on the ship will know where you'll be going in between (or so they say) and that's the captain.

It's a no-brainer that you'll be visiting various Scottish islands and given that it's Scotland and October I would suggest it's a good bet you'll need warm clothes and waterproofs.

After that, who knows?

You'll just have to sit back, relax and enjoy the free drinks while you wait to see where you end up next. It's a hard life, isn't it?

Prices for the Hebridean Surprise start from £2,091 per person. Call 01756 704704 or click here for more information.

My cruise in the Black Sea on Princess Cruises' Royal Princess is like a never-ending history lesson with stories about this tzar or that tzarina, Stalin and Lenin.

It's all fascinating stuff, especially for me as I devoted four years of my life to learning who did what to whom and why in Russia for the past 400 years and now I am able to see it all come alive.

Thursday's history lesson was in Yalta, where I did an excursion to the Livadia Palace. The first half, on the ground floor, is dedicated to the conference, held here, where Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt met between February 4 and 11 1945 and carved up Europe after the Second World War.

This is not the actual table where they sat, but you can see the plaque with Churchill's name written in Russian and some pictures taken at the time.

The second half of the tour takes place upstairs, where you can see the former imperial rooms photographs of the last tzar, Nicholas II, and his family.

As the tour ended, our guide raced through an explanation about how the family was imprisoned after the revolution and then murdered, with their bodies burned and buried in the forest near Ekaterinburg.

She ended with the words "and on that tragic note, it's time for the shopping I promised you" as she bustled past us and out of the door. Somehow I don't think tragedy was really on her mind.

Under the Soviets, the palace became a sanatorium for the workers and during the war it was headquarters for the Nazis who occupied the area - and sadly looted most of the furniture so there is very little that is original. After the war, Stalin added it to his list of summer residences. It later became a sanatorium again and in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union and when the Ukraine gained independence, it became a museum.

And a very popular one with the locals as well as visiting cruisers judging by the number of groups being shown around while we were there.

Today - Friday - the history lesson was in Odessa, famous for the Potemkin Steps that featured in the Eisenstein film Battleship Potemkin.

The city was founded in 1794 by Catherine the Great, providing a warm weather port for the Russian Empire. A visit to her statue, put up just a couple of years ago to replace one dedicated to the sailors from the aforementioned battleship, is on every excursion itinerary.

I'm told both Stalin and Hitler also had statues here at one time or another.

Odessa is a very cosmopolitan city, with a nice, bright feel and an eclectic mix of architecture in Greek, Baroque, Classic and Renaissance style. Underneath is the longest network of underground tunnels in the world - 2,500km if laid in a straight line.

There's also this lovely park, very French, with this monument to a chair. Apparently if you sit on it you will become a millionaire. Naturally I had to give it a go. I'll let you know if it works!

I also loved the Mother-in-Law Bridge, where newly-weds put a lock to signify their eternal love and mothers-in-law stroll every day to make sure it hasn't been undone. Well it's a good story anyway.

Now we're on the way to Varna in Bulgaria. More on that - and Royal Princess - to come.

Sochi, in Russia,  proved an interesting place, though probably not one that is going to attract too many tourists if only because of the hoops you have to jump through to get a Russian visa (as I was flying in to Sochi I needed a visa; if you arrive on a ship and only go out on a ship's excursion, you don't need one).

Having said that, it is the host city for the Winter Olympics 2014 so they are going to have to learn to cope with lots of visitors, even if only for a couple of weeks.

Our guide for the day, Elena, was not impressed that her adopted city was wasting so much money on the Olympics. Somehow I felt a certain kinship with her.

Elena was originally from Novgorod in the much colder north but has lived in Sochi for 23 years and was explaining how strange it had seemed when she first arrived that you didn't need fur coats, hats or boots in winter.

I was in Sochi to join Princess Cruises' Royal Princess, but had a night in the city first, which meant I had to be registrered. Here's my registration document. There is still a lot of the Soviet Union left in Russia.

I can't say the town is packed with must-see sights, but there were a few little gems - the tall apartment building they call Titanic because it is sinking (strangely they are struggling to sell the flats in it!) and the central market, packed with stalls selling fruit, veg and these great slabs of meat.

You'll notice the health and safety police have not been in town. I'll simply observe that the pork and chicken I ate at a restaurant the night before was the tastiest I've had for a long time. Could there be a link?

We also visited Matzesta, what the Russians call a sanatorium (an unfortunate word, I think, as really it's a spa hotel, but of the Russian variety, without the marble, whispered tones and calming music, I suspect), and sniffed the sulphur water.
 
Words cannot describe how awful it was - and people actually immerse themselves in this ... and out of choice! It's supposed to have great healing properties. I suspect they make sure they get better to avoid a second dip.

The highlight of Sochi had to be Stalin's dacha, just one of the many dachas he had around what was then the Soviet Union.

I did enjoy seeing the house and hearing Elena talk about him and his family, but there was something rather unpleasant about the waxwork of Stalin at his desk. Even worse, people were having their picture taken with it. I made do with the plaque at the entrance.

The tour over, I boarded Royal Princess and we set sail across the Back Sea. Next stop Yalta, where I'll be visiting the Livadia Palace.

It's famous as the site of the Yalta conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin after the last war but for me it will always be the home built by Nicholas II, the last tzar of Russia.

But more of that later.

I'm on my way to Sochi in Russia, via Moscow, where I'll be joining Princess Cruises' 700-passenger Royal Princess for a quick jaunt around the Black Sea.

The last time I cruised on this ship it was called Minerva II and operated by Swan Hellenic, so it will be interesting to see what has changed since it became part of the Princess fleet and how it differs - or not - from Princess' big ships.

It will also be interesting to see how Royal Princess is looking compared to sister ship Regatta, owned by Oceania Cruises, which I visited in Dover on Saturday. Both were once part of the long-defunct Renaissance Cruises.

In its first incarnation, Royal Princess was called R8, which is not the most inspired name for a cruise ship but at least it is less confusing that trying to remember which Freedom (Voyager or Liberty) belongs to which cruiseline.

I'll be spending Tuesday night in Sochi and have a day in the city tomorrow - I'm hoping we'll be able to visit Stalin's dacha - before joining the ship and then it's off to the seaside resort of Yalta and the city of Odessa, both in the Ukraine, and then on to Varna in Bulgaria, from where I'll be flying home.

As always, internet willing, I'll be bringing you daily reports and pictures from all these places, as well as from Royal Princess so keep looking in.

While other cruiselines are shouting from the roof tops about the new ships they are launching next year, Oceania Cruises is being extremely quiet.

Its new ship Marina is supposed to launch at the end of next year, but although we have had itineraries for Cunard's Queen Elizabeth (out Oct 2010), and Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas (out Dec 2010) for a long time, we don't even have a launch date for Oceania's new 1,258-passenger baby.

Instead I've had a hint that launch will be delayed until the start of 2011, which would explain why the 2010/11 winter programme released a couple of weeks ago doesn't even mention the new ship.

However, I see that while Nautica and Insignia are each back in the Med for summer 2011, Regatta's winter season finishes in Los Angeles.

I'm thinking the Mexican Riviera and Hawai'i could be on the cards, varying depending on time of year, which would be something new - and leave much-needed room in the Med for the new ship.

Every destination has its day. Unfortunately for Alaska, this would appear neither its day, month nor year - or two.

True, Disney is sending a ship there for 2011, but one ship in against the fact that Carnival Corporation, which has a weighty presence in the 49th State through Princess Cruises and Holland America Line, has already reduced capacity for 2010. and is considering pulling more ships out? And that Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International have also cut capacity for 2010?

I would not like to be involved in the tourism industry there right now.

Carnival Corp chairman Mickey Arison blames the high cost of doing business in Alaska for the fact that more of ships could be pulled. He reckons the vessels can make more money elsewhere. It's understandable then, but a shame.

I had a great cruise in Alaska a few years ago with Princess. It's something very different from the Mediterranean and Caribbean, and surprisingly foreign - even the Americans on my cruise found it so - given it is actually part of the US.

But destinations come and go. Just look at what is happening to Antarctica. It was the must-go place for a few years, but now it's on the way down because those who wanted to go have been and it is very expensive, both for passengers and cruise lines. Result? Voyages of Discovery and Spirit of Adventure have left already, Swan Hellenic will be quitting after this winter.

I have no doubt it will bounce back, just as Alaska will, but it will take a few years and a fresh generation of cruisers to come along looking for something new.

The $50 head tax Alaska imposed on cruise passengers has been cited as a key reason for its downturn. It probably didn't help, but are we seriously to believe that people who could afford to go on a cruise there, with all the attendant flying, could not afford an extra $50 per person tax?

The Alaska Cruise Association has filed a lawsuit challenging the tax, presumably hoping that if it is repealed people will flood back. Somehow I doubt it. Not for a while anyway.

I expect we'll be hearing more of Arison's thoughts on the future of cruising in Alaska tomorrow, as well as many other cruise-related issues, when he takes to the stage on the opening day of the Travel Convention in Barcelona.

I will be there to hear what he says of course, and on Thursday I'll be on the stage myself, in my capacity as the Telegraph Travel's cruise corresponent, during the spin-off Cruise Forum on Royal Caribbean International's Navigator of the Seas.

My subject? What consumers like and don't like about cruising. If anyone has any thoughts for me to pass on to the cruise lines before then, do let me know.

Here's an offer us tip-hating Brits just can't refuse.

Oceania Cruises is not just cutting prices by up to 60% on selected cruises this winter but it is also paying your gratuities.

As Oceania recommends $12.50 per person per day (automatically added to the bill) plus another $4 per person per day if you have a butler, you can see this is worth quite a lot of money.

These are the cruises. You get free speciality dining, soft drinks and bottled water for these prices but no flights. The single supplement is just 25%.

* February 8 2010. Sydney to Bangkok - 21 nights from $2,793 (about £1,799) per person.

* February 22 2010. Buenos Aires to Valparaiso - 13 nights from $2,704 (about (£1,699) per person. 

* March 7 2010. Valparaiso to Rio - 27 nights from $3,375 (about £2,149) per person.

* March 1 2010 - Beijing to Bangkok - 24 nights from $3,000 (about £1,899) per person.

* April 9 2010. Hong Kong to Athens - 35 nights from $4,375 (about £2,799) per person.

All these prices include a savings of up to 60%. For more information see your local cruise travel agent, check out the the website or call Oceania Cruises on 0845 505 1920.

Can you see it? Excursions to see eco-tourism, archaeological exploration and voyeuristic visits to Vodou rituals when passengers arriving at Labadee, Royal Caribbean International's private island in the Caribbean, on the new Oasis of the Seas can stay in the Royal enclave and go zipwiring, ride on a roller coaster or just spend a few hours chilling on the beach.

The Miami Herald reports that the Haiti Tourism Association certainly hopes so. The association seems to think the arrival of Oasis of the Seas, which launches in December, coupled with the $55 million Royal has spent on Labadee, spells a new beginning for Haiti tourism.

Apparently it's all because there is now a pier at Labadee, so cruise passengers no longer have to tender ashore in small boats.

As an aside, that's something of a relief given there will be 5,400-plus passengers to get ashore from Oasis of the Seas. Using a tender, the last ones would arrive just as it was time to leave!

I'm struggling with this tourism thing though. How likely is it that Americans will go touring in Haiti, the poorest and most troubled country in the Caribbean, given the following advisory from the US State Department:

"....warns its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution when traveling to Haiti. While the overall security situation has improved, political tensions remain, and the potential for politically-motivated violence persists."

Until September, it was advising against all non-essential travel to the country.

This is what the UK Foreign Office says:

"We advise travellers to exercise a high degree of caution whilst travelling in Haiti, because of the threat to personal security. Although the overall security situation has improved .... political tensions remain and there are still incidences of violence and kidnappings for ransom."

Sorry Haiti, but I reckon it will need more than a new pier - or even a visit to Labadee from former US president Bill Clinton, the UN's special envoy to Haiti - to kick-start your tourism industry.

Orion Cruises is holding a webinar training session for travel agents about cruising in the Kimberley in Australia on October 30 at 10am. For thos not in the know, its in the north - the part of Oz featured in the film Australia.

The cruiseline will be offering 12 10-night expedition-style cruises in the region between May and September next year, sailing between Darwin and Broome, on their own ship, also called Orion. Cruise-only prices start from £5,011 per person.

To register for the training, email clare@sandraleach.co.uk.

The Norwegian fjords have been voted the world's best travel destination for the third time by National Geographic Traveller.

Some 133 destinations were surveyed by 437 travel experts and rated according to their environmental and ecological quality, their social and cultural integrity, the condition of their historic buildings and archaeological sites, their aesthetic appeal, the quality of their tourism, and management and outlook for the future.

Naturally Hurtigruten, the cruise line that sails the Norwegian coast between Bergen and Kirkenes - and has been doing so since 1893 - is delighted with the results.

But while I agree that the fjords are lovely I'm not so sure I'd rate them the best travel destination in the world. Personally, I feel once you've seen two or three, you've seen them all.

What about the Baltic with its fabulous capitals? Or exotic Asia? Even the Black Sea, which is surrounded by fascinating cities?

Where would you vote for? I'd love to hear. 

It's been a mad week and another is to follow.

Last Saturday last week I flew to Antigua for a few days at the beautiful Blue Waters Hotel. Lovely place but very strange for me as there was not a cruise ship in sight. I even went to the port in St John's to see if any were in.

Of course it's a bit early in the season, but it was interesting to see the capital now has a proper harbour mall area with expensive jewellery and diamond shops - why do they think that's what cruise passengers want to buy? - but also a market with stalls selling the usual t-shirts, baseball caps, bracelets, necklaces and other trinkets. Oh and a Cheers! bar.

That's all new since I was last there 16 years ago.

An overnight flight on Thursday got me home for Friday night, then today (that's Saturday again) I am about to head back over the Atlantic for one night at Walt Disney World before joining Disney Wonder on Sunday for a four-night Caribbean cruise.

I'll be visiting Nassau, Castaway Cay and there'll be a day at sea before returning to Port Canavaral. From there, I am flying to New York for one night to hear more details about new ship Disney Dream, launching in 2011.

Disney is big news for the UK right now as Disney Magic will be based in Dover next summer, sailing 12-night cruises to the Baltic. Then there are the two new, and bigger, sister ships - Disney Dream launching in 2011 and Disney Fantasy in 2012 - which will increase Disney's capacity hugely and means they need to open a few more markets. Hence the Dover cruises.

They'll certainly be an easy way for the Brits to get on board and see for themselves how the Disney magic works at sea.

But that's all to come. In the meantime, internet willing, I'll be reporting back on what it's like to cruise with Mickey and co. So stay tuned, as they say.

Just been reading in Travel Weekly US about all the investment at the Caribbean ports that Royal Caribbean International's mega-ship Oasis of the Seas will be visiting.

We're talking phenomenal amounts of money, from $2 million for a pier lengthening project in Costa Maya in Mexico, to a $75 million investment in a state-of-the-art terminal at Oasis' homeport, Port Everglades, to the new, $121 million port in Falmouth, Jamaica, due to open in November 2010.

Apparently they all think it's worth it because once the ship starts its Eastern and Western Caribbean cruise itineraries in December, it will be bringing 6,000-plus passengers and 2,000-plus crew to each port every other week, hopefully all spending loads of money.

I just hope they are right.

For the first and no doubt last time, the world's biggest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas, arrived in the Solent yesterday.

There was certainly no mistaking this 220,000-ton giant as it cruised past the Isle of Wight, heading for Southampton, where it was dropping off some 300 shipyard workers not needed for the transatlantic crossing.

The ship is now off again, back en route to its new home in Fort Lauderdale, from where it will be sailing seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises.

You can watch its progress on line, where there are some great videos, for instance showing how the ship got under the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark, which Captain Bill Wright admitted could be "scary" for those who have not done it before. Why? Because the ship is 72 metres high and the clearance under the bridge is 65 metres. Click here to see how it was done.

If you like the idea of making cruising history, why not make a date to be on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas for the official naming ceremony.

It will be on November 30 and places are being sold for a one-night inaugural celebration to raise funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

Tickets for this one-off event cost from $750 per person. You can then stay on for the four-night pre-inaugural inaugural cruise to Royal Caribbean's private island of Labadee, departing December 1, which costs from $650 per person cruise-only.

Contact Cynthia Paez at Royal Caribbean on cpaez@rccl.com for more information.

Most ships make do with one godmother, but then no other cruise ships are the size of Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas - 220,000 tons and with space for 5,400 passengers.

So Royal Caribbean has decided to give the vessel seven godmothers, one for each of the neighbourhoods on board.

"An extraordinary and innovative ship deserves an extraordinary and innovative naming," says Richard Fain, chairman and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises. I agree.

On the big day - November 30 - all seven godmothers will set off from their own neighbourhood and converge on the AquaTheatre at the aft of the ship for the official naming, when each will get to cut the ribbon. Once seven cuts have been made, the bottle (of best bubble I hope) will be released - and hopefully smash.

It promises to be really different (I'm especially intrigued that they have made special scissors for the event - as in, what makes them so special?) and don't forget you can be there to watch it all.

Oasis is now on its way from Finland to Fort Lauderdale and is due in Southampton today, according to Solent Shipping News, although the ETA has moved from 12.30 to 14.00. But I should add that at 11.45, as I write this, the Oasis website is showing the ship somewhere between Denmark and Sweden. Who is correct? Only time will tell!

It's been a packed two days in the Caribbean since Disney Wonder sailed from Port Canaveral late Sunday afternoon.

Day one was in Nassau, in the Bahamas, where Ilana and I opted for the ship's dolphin swim excursion. I admit I was a bit negative about it as I've done a really excellent dolphin swim at Dolphin Cove in Jamaica and Discovery Cove in Orlando, but a really awful one in Cancun, where you just stood in water and touched the animals as they came by. Wouldn't have been so bad if they had explained that was all it was and not charged a fortune for the experience.

The information about this one made it sound good, but I feared making another expensive mistake.

It didn't start well. Despite all the officious checking-in process on the ship ("form an orderly line, ID, waiver and cruise card in one hand, one person only to get stickers for the party"), one hour after arriving at the meeting point we had got no further than the boat that would take us to the dolphins at Blue Lagoon Island.

Thankfully we did get going and 30 minutes later were being directed to the swim area of Dolphin Encounters for a quick briefing, then split into groups of just 10 people, each with two trainers.

My heart sank as we were directed to get in the water and touch the dolphins as they swam past - oh, and pose for the inevitable photographs. But then we were split into pairs and took it in turns to hug, "kiss", dance, feed and be splashed by the dolphins. Mine even dived down and brought me a stone. Things were definitely looking up.

But the finale was the clincher. Individually we were to lie flat on the water, our legs apart and outstretched, and we were then "whooshed" along by two dolphins pushing each of our feet.

I'm sure many will tell me it's cruel but honestly these animals seemed so well cared for and respected by the trainers that I felt absolutely comfortable with it. And it was a really awesome (as the Americans in our group said) experience.

It certainly made my day, and that, plus a couple of hours afterwards on the beach at the island, was far better than trawling around Nassau, which I remember to be very uninspiring, or a few hours at the Disney-esque Atlantis Resort, which looks amazing but is all a bit to manufactured for me.

Yes, I really did write that while cruising on a Disney ship!

Today we have been in Castaway Cay, Disney's private Caribbean island, also in the Bahamas, where we had booked a three-part Getaway Package - an hour's bike ride and snorkelling gear and use of a float for the day.

The island is very developed, and there's even a tram to transport people around (even though it is very small!) but they have done a great job with it.

There are separate areas for the pedal and sail boats, the snorkellers and swimmers. There is also a separate adult-only beach and a teen beach so youngsters can escape mum and dad.

There are shops, a big dining area (lunch, consisting of burgers, hot dogs and ribs, is prepared ashore) and they had even transported the free soda stations onto the island.

The snorkelling was really good, although you did have to go a long way out to find the fish and I loved the bike trail, which was a peaceful trip on a hard road to the other side of the island, away from the crowds. It's all signposted and easy going as it's flat, and there are water stations all the way around, which was very welcome.

There's a lot of development on the island, including at the dock, which I imagine is to make it ready for the new big ships launching in 2011 and 2012. A new water slide - Pelican Plunge - is due to be ready for summer 2010.

Wednesday is a day at sea, so that seems a good moment to bring you some information about the ship.

I wonder how many other people read the headline on yesterday's email from Cruise.co.uk, proclaiming that Disney Cruise Line was not basing a ship in Dover any more.

"Disney to base ship in Barcelona, not the UK
It turns out that Disney have decided to base at ship at Barcelona, instead of the UK. It will spend the next two summers at the Spanish port... Read more"

Due to a technical hitch, none of the links from the email are working, so I couldn't read more, and I also could not find the story on the company's website, but I did manage to get through to Disney and ask if it was true.

This is their answer:

"...we most definitely are sailing from Dover next summer, and I'm grateful for you bringing that article to my attention so I can contact them to correct it."

Disney has four 12-night cruises from Dover to the Baltic in June and July 2010 on Disney Magic. If you're booked on one, don't panic. They are still happening. If you're not, why not give it a go? It's so easy to cruise from the UK - no flights, no hassle - and how fascinating will it be to see Mickey Mouse in St Petersburg!

Reader Offers are now selling Disney cruises. Click here to find out more.

Incidentally, Disney Magic will be sailing from Barcelona next year, and again in summer 2011, when it will not be in Dover, so Cruise.co.uk was partly correct.

Royal Caribbean International's mega 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas has arrived in Fort Lauderdale after a none-too-smooth transatlantic crossing from Turku in Finland, where it was built.

There are now a few hectic days as the finishing touches are applied to the ship, including planting the 12,000 trees and shrubs that will fill Central Park.

On November 19, Rihanna will be giving a concert on board, the following day the ship will be on ABC TV network's "Good Morning America", all to be followed by minicruises to nowhere for the press and agents, and finally the naming ceremony, on Monday November 30.

And then finally some paying passengers will be boarding and Royal Caribbean can start to earn some money from the beast. Or at least that's the general idea, I believe.

The powers that be at Carnival Cruise Lines had done some quick calculations in preparing for Carnival Dream's christening, adding New York to November weather and coming up with the answer that the naming ceremony should be indoors.

Thank goodness!

As the rain fell and the wind blew, and it was generally cold and miserable outside, we were all comfortably tucked up in the Encore! theatre learning how cruise director and MC for the day John Heald "carried" the extra big bottle of bubbly from the airport to the cruise terminal.

Happily it was French, which gave Heald plenty of ammunition to throw at our Gallic friends. What was that about seeing an army coming and running away? Hmmm. Luckily there weren't too many French people in the audience.

Anyway as he made his was through the New York crowds, he was totally ignored - in fact the only people who even noticed him were these two Japanese tourists, who were rewarded by having their picture taken with Heald and the "bottle".

Gerry Cahill, Carnival's president and CEO, also said a few words - something about Dream being a perfect name as the ship was designed to make the passengers' dreams come true by providing fun, memorable holiday experiences at an affordable price. Well he would, wouldn't he?

More interesting was when he said he thought Dream was the best-looking ship in the fleet. I've only managed a quick look around as yet but so far have to agree. And apart from some Doctor Who-type giant red spiders crawling across the ceiling in the Burgundy Lounge, there are not many of the usual Joe Farcus design shockers! I'll bring you some pictures later.

But back to the naming.

Naturally we also had a few words from Marcia Gay Harden, actress, New Yorker and now godmother of the Dream, before she took a swing at the Champagne "bottle" (so there was a reason for Heald's story after all!), showering herself in confetti and signalling someone on the outside to press a button, sending the real bottle smashing into the side of the ship.

Who would have thought even a couple of years ago that Dubai would become the next battle ground for cruise lines?

Yet it is. Costa got there first, offering seven-night Arabian Gulf cruises initially in winter 2006/07, along with Germany's Aida, and is now to be joined by Royal Caribbean International, which is basing Brilliance of the Seas in Dubai from January 2010.

Royal tied up a deal with Dubailand, which owns shopping malls, hotels, golf courses and will have a load of theme parks when it is finished, to enhanbce its commitment to the region. Now Costa is naming a ship there - the Costa Deliziosa - to "further strengthen ties between Dubai and Costa Cruises".

Deliziosa will be named in the emirate on February 23 2010, during the ship's grand inaugural cruise from Savona in Italy to Dubai, departing February 5. It will be the first cruise ship to be named in an Arabian city and passengers will be able to attend the christening ceremony.

Incidentally, there is a second maiden leg, so to speak, from Dubai to Goa, Cochin, Mumbai and back departing February 25, which can be combined with the Savona-Dubai voyage.

I hestitate to use the word battleground and Vietnam in one sentence, so instead I'll note that Vietnam also looks set to become the next BIG thing in cruising. Not for ocean cruise lines - they are aleady there - but for the river operators.

At World Travel Market on Tuesday, AMA Waterways president Rudi Schreiner told me they start building a new vessel to cruise on the Mekong River between Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap in Cambodia before the end of this year, with launch set for 12 months hence.

Why? Because AMA already has one ship in the Mekong, La Marguerite, but it's in such demand it's often sold out.

Schreiner admits its inevitable that other river cruise companies will start to move in to the Mekong (Pandaw already sails there but it's not a big name in the UK and doesn't have the marketing skills of AMA).

I'm sure he's right. In fact, when I was cruising the Yangtze in China in May 2007 with Viking River Cruises, chairman Torstein Hagen was on board and in talks with a Vietnamese company (a representative was also on the cruise) about building a vessel for the Mekong. The recession made him put plans on hold, but Hagen, and others, will be back for sure.

Has anyone any thoughts about other hotspots for 2010? Why not drop me a line and let me know.

In this PC world of ours I guess we should be alarmed, concerned and even a little outraged about the news that the expedition ship Kapitan Khlebnikov got trapped in the ice in Antarctica.

After all, that's what happened to the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, and he and his crew then went on to endure freezing condition while living on seal blubber as they tried to escape from their icy hell-hole (they all did, by the way).

But the passengers, including about 50 Brits who booked through Exodus, on Kapitan Khlebnikov, a ultra-strength ice-strengthened ship, went in search of emperor penguins and adventure and got plenty of both. It all sounds very exciting.

Speaking live from the ship yesterday, Exodus' guide Paul Goldstein said: "[On Monday] all of our passengers reached the incredible Emperor Penguin rookery at Snow Hill Island, the principle reason for their voyage. The Kapitan Khlebnikov is the only ship in the world able to navigate to this amazing bird colony. I have just enjoyed a fine breakfast with some of the expedition passengers, still thrilled about their adventures over the past few days. They are safe, a little frustrated that ice and weather conditions have delayed their return, but all philosophical about their late arrival into Ushuaia."

I just hope their bosses are as philosophical when they return to work several days later than expected. Having paid £10,000-plus for the cruise the last thing they need is to find themselves unemployed!

Poor old QE2. Sold with such pizzazz to Dubai World, it is now up for sale because they no longer have any money to lavish doing up the old girl.

Carnival Corp probably can't resist a little chuckle. They pocketed £50 million for an old ship they decided long ago would cost too much to renovate and able to meet 21st-century cruising safety regulations.

The alternative would have been to pay good money to have it scrapped.

Now Dubai World, which bought the ship through subsidiary Nakheel, intending to turn it into an iconic floating hotel, has run out of money and is looking to hive off a few assets.

The rumour is that Abu Dhabi is interested. Really? I know they have plenty of oil millions, but they might also want to bear in mind that the ship has sat in Dubai for over a year now, unused and deteriorating.

Whatever the price tag for renovation that Nakheel was looking at, it will certainly have gone up by now.

How sad to read of the armed attacks that have forced cruise lines to suspend excursions in Nassau, in the Bahamas.

I was there in October with Disney Cruise Line and had a fantastic day out at Dolphin Encounters. I do hope that is not one of the excursions that has been hit. As it is on an island, out of the town, I suspect all is well.

At the time of choosing our excursions, I asked if we could do the Earth Village as well as the dolphins as I have always wanted a go on a Segway.

It never happened, I suspect because there was just not enough time, but it looks like that might have been a good thing as that is one of the trips that has been pulled by Disney and Royal Caribbean International.

As Nassau will now discover, it is easy to get a reputation for being unsafe, but very hard to get rid of it, no matter how many police you throw at the situation or reassurances you give. Look at what happened in Egypt after the shootings at Queen Hatshepsut's Temple in 1997.

It's very tough on all those people in Nassau who depend so heavily on the cruise ship visits for their income.

It's hardly great news for the cruise lines either, as Nassau is such a popular stop, especially for short cruises from Florida.

And Royal Caribbean must be extra worried. Nassau one of the very few ports in the Caribbean that the huge new Oasis of the Seas can get into (and then only because the authorities in Nassau have spent a fortune dredging the harbour to take the 225,000-ton giant).

With so few places the ship can visit, the last thing they need is to have to pull a port.

Hot on the heels of the Norwegian fjords being voted best travel destination by National Geographic Traveller, comes news that Norway has just had its best cruise season ever.

In all it had 1.7 million cruise visitors in 2009, up 15.7% from 2008, which is not bad going in a recession. I don't know how many of those visitors were from the UK or Europe but I'm guessing it shows more people have been staying closer to home this year.

Conversely, cruise ships made fewer port calls in 2009 - 1,562, down from 1,634 in 2008. The forecast for 2009 is 1,444.

Interesting Norway fact number 1: Norway has more than 35 cruise ports along its 1,300 nautical mile-long coast line.

Interesting Norway fact number 2: Norway has such a long coastline that if you turned it upside down, so it is facing south, the tip of the country would be in Rome.

No wonder it's such a popular cruise destination. It's definitely the easiest way to visit.

When I cruised in the Arctic this summer on Lindblad's National Geographic Explorer I was amazed that several brave souls went swimming off the ship in the icy water.

Well, "swimming" is something of an exaggeration. They plunged in, shreiked and leapt out, into the warm embrace of a waiting towel. I imagine most also broke all records as they raced to the sauna.

Now Hurtigruten is offering passengers the chance to get their chills, this time by taking a plunge into the Barents Sea in Vardo, in Norway, the most easterly town in Western Europe and on a level with Siberia.

No need to worry, says the blurb, the Barents Sea is ice-free in winter due to the Gulf Stream. Oh that's all right then. I'll maybe freeze to death but at least I won't get hit by a passing iceberg (cue Titanic music).

I'm only joking of course. It sounds a really fun thing to do and I'm still kicking myself that I didn't plunge into the Arctic waters. It was all the people watching that put me off. Or at least that's my excuse.

Hurtigruten's seven-day Voyage North from Bergen to Kirkenes, stopping at Vardo, costs from £659 per person excluding flights and provided you book December 31 (after that the price goes up to £941 per person).

To book, see your cruise travel agent, call Hurtigruten on 020 8846 2666 or click here.

On Tuesday I docked the Emerald Princess in Ketchikan, Alaska.

OK, so it wasn't the real thing. If I had gone in too fast, Princess Cruises would not have been sending me a bill for millions of pounds worth of damage.

But it was the simulator P&O Cruises, Princess, Cunard and other Carnival Corp brands are using to train their officers and captains - and also the nearest thing I am ever likely to get to driving a cruise ship.

The simulator is in Almere, just outside Amsterdam, and was set up by P&O and Princess after a string of what Captain Hans Hederstrom, who is in charge of the Centre for Simulator Marine Training (CSMART), with wonderful understatement, called "unfortunate events".

Remember when one of Queen Mary 2's propellors was pulled off as the ship manoeuvered out of Port Everglades and the near mutiny that followed because ports had to be missed? Or when QE2 became grounded? They were "unfortunate" incidents.

P&O and Princess decided something had to be done, approached Hans in 2007 and the rest, as they say, is history.

At the CSMART complex, which has been open for six months, they have two bridge simulators - even with bridge wings - where officers learn about, or are updated on, the latest developments in bridge technology.

There are also 11 virtual ports, with more being added all the time. This is me on one of  bridge wings steering into Singapore. Southampton is about to join the line-up, while Fremantle and Adelaide have been added because QM2 will be visiting both for the first time next year and the officers need to get a feel for the two ports.

They are learning not just the port layouts, but how QM2 copes coming in when all sorts of bad weather is thrown at it - high winds, rough seas, heavy swells, maybe all three. If the training goes according to plan, they will also learn when it's time to call it a day and say, actually it's too dangerous to try to dock today.

The control room at CSMART put on some rough weather for me and it really feels the part (apparently some officers once felt so unwell they had to go and sit down!). And every so often, they programme in other vessels - big ships, small yachts - which of course you are supposed to steer around. It's all incredibly realistic.

So far the centre has 12 ship models, mainly P&O and Princess vessels, but also the Costa Atlantica, and it trains captains and officers from most of the Carnival brands, including AIDA, Costa, Seabourn and Holland America Line as their bridges are all very similar.

Carnival Cruise Lines has a contract elsewhere at the moment but when that ends, they will use CSMART too, and Norwegian Cruise Line is about to become a customer, which will help to recoup some of the $5 million the CSMART hardware alone has cost.

All the officers have to do a five-day course each year at CSMART - it runs up to three courses a week for about 40 weeks a year - and another week's training elsewhere learning about updated methods of security, safety and so on.

They can't fail as such, but they can be told they need to do another course. And maybe another and another "until it's time to agree to part", Paul Hailwood, one of the trainers, told me.

One interesting development at CSMART is the way they have inverted the captains' role. On P&O, Princess and Cunard ships, the captain is now no longer the guy at the top making all the decisions but he is leading from behind, allowing his officers to make all the decisions and learn from having their hands on the buttons (unless. of course, there is a problem, at which point the captain steps in and take control).

Hans said when they initially did their review, before creating the training course, they found officers were bored because they were not allowed to do what they were trained for and as a result became too passive.

"There were instances when assertive action from officers could have prevented an incident."

So how did the captains feel about it all, I wondered. "Some initially didn't like the idea of no longer being at the front," Hans admitted. "They have big egos and found the new structure difficult, but all have now embraced it totally."

If you're looking for your next big adventure, this is surely it. A 24-day cruise through the Northwest Passage from Kangerlussaq in Greenland to Nome in Alaska next August on Hapag-Lloyd's expedition ship Hanseatic.

It's not the easiest of routes to sail, as explorers of old will testify. Sir John Franklin and his entire crew died while trying to get through in 1845 after their ship became trapped in the ice and it wasn't finally navigated until 1906, when Roald Amundsen managed to get through.

The route is now mapped and Hapag-Lloyd's captains have been through several times so you won't have to worry about freezing to death on the Hanseatic expedition, but it sounds quite thrilling even so.

The ship's captain Thilo Natke says the ship's ice-strengthened hull means it is well equipped to go through the Northwest Passage, "only needing the help of an icebreaker in extremely severe ice conditions". Well that's reassuring.

And of course the cruise line can't afford to make a mistake when calculating how much fuel, drinking water and food is needed for the journey as Carrefour has not opened a branch that far north yet.

So why go? Well, apart from the sheer excitement of going on such an expedition, there are the icebergs in Disko Bay in Greenland, the visit (hopefully) to the wreck of the Maud, the ship Roald Amundsen used to conquer the Northwest Passage, the chance to go ashore in Barrow, Alaska, the most northern city in the world, not to mention the various landings by inflatable zodiac at places along the way, weather permitting of course. 

You'll also cruise close to the Canadian Arctic coast (look at the pictures below, one taken in warmer climes, the other off Ross Point in the Northwest Passage, to see how shallow Hanseatic's draught is) so you can see the shore and hopefully spot caribou, polar bears, musk ox, bald eagles and whales.

Unfortunately, such chills don't come cheap. Prices start from £12,136 per person for an outside cabin, but there'a a 5% discount if you book before January 18.

Although Hapag-Lloyd is a German cruise line, this is a bilingual cruise. Contact The Cruise People on 020 7723 2450 or Mundy Cruising on 020 7734 4404 for more details.

I really enjoyed my cruise around the Arabian Gulf with Costa Cruises last January as it was a great opportunity to see so many new places.

But my one disappointment was that there was so little to do and see in most of the ports. A desert safari at every stop, a spectacular mosque, a few uninspiring-sounding museums, fabulously over-the-top hotels that are way out of my league. And then you've done it.

I really liked Abu Dhabi with its shimmering skyscrapers and mad drivers (ours, kindly loaned by the tourism authority, drove my daughter and I through the city at a rather scary 100mph) but it was very much a case of "it'll be nice when it's finished".

But now comes news of something much more fun than the Louvre and Guggenheim they are building (oops, sorry all culture-lovers).

Sightseeing by speedboat.

Unfortunately neither the press release nor the Yellow Boats website are very informative so I have no idea how fast the boats go but it does say the rides are thrilling.

And why am I telling you this? Well it seems like an obvious excursion for Costa and Royal Caribbean International, both sailing the Arabian Gulf this winter, to add to their Abu Dhabi line-up (and I see it also operates in Dubai so maybe they should offer it there as well) but in case they don't, cruisers might at least know to contact Yellow Boats and book their own rides.

Or maybe Yellow Boats will read this and position a sales person at the port gates (you have to get a bus from the ship to the gate so passengers will be arriving on mass) to leap in and offer cruisers a licence to thrill - specially-timed departures, one-way transfer included in the price - as they disembark and realise they have to decide what to do next.

Commission cheques should be made payable to Jane Archer!

While UK workers were struggling to work in the ice and snow last week, 1,200 passengers aged over 50 were fighting their way to Southampton to join Saga Ruby for their 103-night world cruise.

All had paid between £11,000 and £50,000 for their holiday so naturally no one wanted to miss it. One woman was chauffeured all the way down from Kirkcaldy. Captain Philip Rentell battled his way to the port from the West Country in a 4x4.

Apparently it was all change in procedure when it came to loading the ship in minus 6 degrees. Frozen goods such as ice cream normally have to be rushed on board but they were happy to sit out on the quay, making way for the orchids table decorations, which were in serious danger of freezing to death.

The last passenger finally boarded at 8.30pm and the ship set sail at 9.15pm, delayed from 6pm, heading to warmer climes in the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and Asia with not a snowflake in sight.

Jealous? Moi?

For those who don't know, Royal Caribbean's private Caribbean island of Labadee is on the north coast of Haiti. It apparently escaped any damage in the earthquake that destroyed so many buildings and claimed so many thousands of lives.

As a result, Royal has decided to continue visiting, using the calls as a way to transport water and dry goods to the island. It points out passengers are also pumping much-needed money into the hands of the locals who work there.

The first ship since the earthquake was back there last Friday, three days after the earthquake, and more will be there this week.

Is it right to keep going? It's an impossible question. Of course they should, given they are getting supplies and money to the island. On the other hand, I struggle with the idea of going ashore and having fun knowing about the death and devastation just a few miles away.

Judging by yesterday's story on Cruise Critic I am not alone.

Cruise Critic asked its readers whether ships should have returned to Labadee so soon. Some 3,495 people responded across its .com and .co.uk sites. And the verdict? An overwhelming 67% said yes.

Here are the results:

Yes, Haiti needs the money - 35%

Yes, they're bringing aid - 32%

No, it's in poor taste - 19%

I'm on the fence - 14%

I wonder what the response would have been if they had asked: "Should cruise ships have returned so soon and would you like to be going?"

Cruising and bridge go together like hearts and diamonds, so it's no surprise to see that Fred Olsen has teamed up with the English Bridge Union to offer a debut EBU-sanctioned tournament at sea.

It takes place on Balmoral's 12-night Canary Islands cruise from Dover on May 3 and will be hosted by Daily Express bridge correspondent Paul Hackett and keen player, who will be giving talks and daily play updates during the cruise.

During the six days at sea - and probably during port days if I know anything about bridge players - there will be tournaments for experienced and novice players. They will earn EBU points for taking part.

These special-interest cruises are great for single people - for bridge players it's a perfect way to make friends - but I see this is also a cruise-and-walk voyage in association with Ramblers, so it will work well if any non-playing spouses fancy going along as they'll have something to do while their partners are up to their tricks.

The cruise will be visiting Madeira, La Palma, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lisbon before returning to Dover.

Prices start from £1,004 per person, plus it costs an extra £100 per player to take part in the bridge sessions (which must be pre-booked through Fred Olsen). Your travel agent will have more details, or call Fred on 01473 742424 to find out more.

I'll be spending the next two weeks cruising in Asia, visiting Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Borneo and Brunei, on Spirit of Adventure.

It promises to be a real adventure, with river rafting, a visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam and hiking in the foothills of Mount Kinabalu in Borneo on the menu.

Internet willing, I'll be keeping you posted about my adventures as I go, as well as keeping an eye on other cruise news, so do keep looking in.

I was sad but not surprised to see Star Clippers has decided to drop Antigua, for the rest of this winter season at least, after one of its passengers was murdered there last month.

Not surprised because the last thing any cruise line wants is to risk the safety and security of passengers - an irritating phrase most of the time but I'll admit it maybe has some validity in this case.

Sad because my daughter and I had a lovely few days at the Blue Water Hotel on the island last October. We found it a friendly place, but with the usual annoying hassle if you wanted to buy something at a market stall.

The taxi drivers were efficient, chatty and all abided absolutely to the rates per journey system laid out by the government or whoever (such a good idea as it saves having to haggle every time you want to go anywhere).

Murders can and do happen everywhere. The problem is, it's happened too many times lately in Antigua. This was the fourth murder in less than two years.

As I've said before, it's easy for a destination to get a bad reputation, far more difficult to win back it's good name.

Star Clippers is the first to leave, but I suspect other cruise lines will follow - not immediately maybe, and they'll say it's nothing to do with this incident, but slowly, slowly they'll find other islands to visit because they can't afford to take a risk.

For once, I hope I am wrong.

I'm probably not the only person who really only associates Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot and the Killing Fields.

It was a very important time in the country's history, and of course we should all know about it, but I was amazed - and just a little humbled - when we visited yesterday on Spirit of Adventure to discover his regime lasted just four years, from 1975 to 1979.

That means Cambodia had an awful lot of history both before and after that I knew nothing about. After attending a very interesting lecture about Thailand given by former British ambassador Sir James Hodge en route to Vietnam, it seems quite a bit of it was spent invading their Thai neighbours. But that was a long time ago.

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world, at peace only since 1998, because once Pol Pot had gone it was still ruled by Communist dictators and in the grip of civil war.

My initial plan on seeing it on the itinerary for this cruise was to do the excursion to Phnom Penh, the capital. But that's before I saw it was a four-hour drive each way - eight hours on the road - and you had just four hours there.

It would have been fascinating to visit, and very soboring to see the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, where the Khmer Rouge tortured and killed thousands of people, but I also noticed that if I did the local sightseeing tour in Sihanoukville, the port town where we were tied up, I would also be able to join the Evening in Cambodia excursion and get a taste of local food. Decision made.

Incidentally, the few people I've spoken to who did do the 12-hour trip to the capital said it was a very long day but was well worth going.

There isn't much to see per se in Sihanoukville, but it was fascinating to get a feel for the local culture and hear Bora, our guide, talk about his country. Actually it was also quite a challenge to listen to him as his English was poor, but he was quite charming - so cheerful and so keen to try to give us an understanding about his country.

It would have been so easy to go for the sympathy vote by dwelling on those terrible Pol Pot times, but he didn't. He talked about them in the same even tones that he talked about the French times, the civil war, the communists. It was his history and now they are rebuilding. He told us about that too. He was visibly so pleased that we had come to see his country.

First stop, the Ngean Pagoda, we picked up our first batch of young children, this lot just intrigued to see the things we were carrying (in my case my pen and notebook) but by the time we visited Tumnub Rolok fishing village they had become more demanding.

One woman made the mistake of handing out either some money or pens to a couple of the kids and rapidly became a modern-day Pied Piper.

In between the pagoda and fishing village, we had time at the local market - a fascinating, noisy, busy, grubby place selling clothes, souvenirs and the most scary-looking fishy things and sticky desserts, made all the more yucky because when a buyer came along, they were spooned into little plastic bags and handed over. They really did not look at all appetising.

I'll post some pictures, either when I feel strong enough to take on the steam-driven computers on Spirit of Adventure or when I get home.

The market made me realise that evening's local dinner might be a bit of a problem for me as I don't eat fish or seafood, so back at the ship I tucked into extra lunch. A good thing too!

Dinner was a buffet with fish soup, a shrimp salad, squid spring rolls and pasta with a fish sauce on the menu (there was also beef bourgignon but after the woman next to me pronounced it was a good thing she had her own teeth to chew it, I decided to give it a miss).

Luckily, on a cruise ship you're never going to starve so I just sat back and enjoyed the rest of evening. The Sokha Resort where we were dining had set out tables on the beach, we had lovely smiley waiters who could not do enough to help (some of the more elderly passengers found walking in the sand quite hard) and were treated to a performance by a local dance troupe. Apparently all were orphans who are picked early and go to a special dance school, which gives them special privileges.

Back on board, the ropes were cast and we set off. A day at sea and next stop Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, where we are staying for a day and a half. I'll see you there.

Someone had to fill the gap Ocean Village is leaving when it is closed down in November this year by launching Brit-friendly cruises from Palma, and I have to admit I always thought it was going to be P&O Cruises.

The cruise line is ultra-British and Ventura has proved itself a good family-friendly ship that appeals either to first-time cruisers or those who like a more relaxed holiday at sea, with not too much of the formal stuff and freedom to dine when they choose.

Of course Ocean Village is being shut down because parent company Carnival UK said they could not make the flycruise model pay so I don't know if ex-Palma cruises were actually ever considered.

But it's irrelevant now anyway because Royal Caribbean International has just announced it is stepping in to fill the OV gap. I'm intrigued to find out what they are doing differently so they think they can make it pay.

Starting May 2011, Grandeur of the Seas will be based in Palma, sailing seven-night Western Mediterranean cruises to France, Italy and the Balearic Islands that will be on sale only in the UK and Ireland that can be put back to back into a 14-night voyage.

It's a clever move. Spending two or three days sailing over the Bay of Biscay to get to the Med is not everyone's idea of fun, especially if the weather is bad, which is always a very strong possibility over that stretch of water.

And aside from the chance of choppy seas, many people - and especially families and young people - can't be bothered with all those sea days (and don't forget you have to do the same journey coming home). They just want to get to the sun as fast as possible. And then get home just as fast.

For those who do like the Bay challenge, there's always Royal's Independence of the Seas, which is now sailing year-round from Southampton.

Grandeur, which holds a maximum 2,446 passengers, has Royal's trademark rock-climbing wall and Adventure Ocean kids' club as well as all the usual cruise trappings including a spa and gym, bars, lounges and plenty of places to eat.

Prices will be released next month, when the cruises go on sale. As Royal will be going head to head with Thomson Cruises, I predict they will be very competitive.

Watch this space.

Last time I visited Bangkok I arrived on P&O Cruises' Aurora and we docked at Laem Chebang, from where it was a two-hour drive to the city (apparently we were lucky - it can take up to three hours if the traffic is bad).

However, Spirit of Adventure is a much smaller ship so it was able to sail up the Chao Praya river and park close to the city. I joined it straight from the airport on Wednesday and we stayed docked overnight so there was some time for sightseeing on Thursday.

Spirit of Adventure includes at least one excursion per port in the cruise price, which is very civilised. For Bangkok, there were two, one to the Temple of the Golden Buddha, the other to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Most of us chose the latter, which proved a good move.

The drive to the temple took us through the city's Indian town, past the flower market, where the pavements are packed stalls selling mainly yellow flowers - it's the colour of Buddha and of gold - and also through the very colourful Chinatown - all the more colourful as the streets are dressed up with red lanterns for the Chinese New Year on February 14.

"This is a very big area for buying gold," Oh, our guide, said (OK, it's a nickname but at least it's easy to spell).

I was more interested in the food stalls and shops, and really wished we could get out and wander for a while. But the big Buddha was waiting. And boy, was he big. Really stunning. We had time to walk around him and see the ladies dropping coins in the buckets along one side of the temple for good luck.

They are supposed to put a coin in each, but I noticed they were being selective, no doubt to save on the pennies. I guess that means the good luck will be selective as well!

"There are three seasons in Thailand - hot, hotter and hottest - and you are lucky because you have come during hot," Oh told us back on the coach. One man had collapsed while we were in the Ordination Hall, another attraction in the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, overcome with the heat, I suspect, and others were starting to moan and groan. I do wonder what they expected the weather to be like in Thailand.

Next stop was the Marble Temple, which was beautiful but disappointing after the grandeur Reclining Buddha, and then on to the inevitable shopping stop.

Oh did her best to dress it up by explaining how the government had encouraged local crafts during a previous economic downturn and at this stop we would see local jewellery being made, but at the end of the day it was just a shopping opportunity with highly-priced goods and Rottweiler sales staff.

"I was just going to walk through but I ended up buying a ring," one woman told me later. She was not the only one who had been "grabbed". Happily they completely ignored me as I walked through, realised the prices were way out of my league and went to watch the parking attendants trying to manage the coaches and mini buses coming in and out bringing hordes of unwitting tourists, which was a lot more fun (and shows how boring the shop was).

At 4pm that day, Spirit of Adventure's ropes were cast and we set sail down river for our next stop, Ko Kood, an island on the way to Cambodia. It's just a beach stop so a day off from the intellectual stuff, but that all starts again tomorrow when we visit Sihanoukville.

I'll see you there.

After my cultural sightseeing extravaganza in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, I decided to indulge my spirit for adventure in Borneo on the, well, Spirit of Adventure.

After a day at sea, cruising from Nha Trang in Vietnam to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, on the island of Borneo, my first adventure was river rafting on the Kiulu River, about 90 minutes' drive from where the ship was moored in KK, as the city is known.

I was one of the chosen few on this trip - just five of us from the ship and our tour escort and resident pianist, Clive, who when he is not tinkling the ivories, is usually found biking around port cities with unsuspecting passenger in tow or teaching scuba diving for what passes for a pool on Spirit of Adventure. Goldfish bowl is a more apt description.

The problem with the rafting was the local tour company had slapped on a maximum 60 age restriction so although plenty of passengers wanted to go they had not considered the small fact that reception has all our passports and could check their ages!

Actually it was a shame for the over-60s who wanted to do it as the rapids are only graded 1-2 and as they haven't has much rain for a while, they were very much more 1 than 2. As long as you could get in and out of the dinghy and could swim (strangely I don't remember seeing that as a requirement) anyone could have done it.

We had two dinghies, so there was plenty of space for us all to mess around. By the time we got to the end of the 8km stretch we were drenched from head to foot - and I hadn't even been in the water! But it was excellent fun.

Spirit of Adventure stayed in KK overnight and day two I did the tour to Mount Kinabalu National Park, home to the tallest mountain in South-East Asia at almost 13,500 feet tall. It takes a day and night to climb it and there is a six-month waiting list to go up, according to our guide Mary Ann.

She reckoned anyone can do it - a 93-year-old is the oldest recorded, a six-year-old the youngest. And then went on to tell us about the people who have died trying. I quickly struck it off my to-do list.

Especially after learning that the tectonic plates below the mountain are rubbing together and the mountain is growing. OK, so it's only an inch a year but clearly if you fancy climbing, do it sooner rather than later!

As we didn't have time to climb, we walked through the foothills, admiring the "naked" trees (they have no bark), the orchids (there are about 1,200 species), the ferns (650 species) and endless exotic plants.

All very interesting but painfully slow. I appreciate the ship is full of elderly people (hence so few could go white-water rafting) but why does the world "step" seem to fill them all with fear. We have steps in the UK and they work in much the same way as over here. But over here, they see one and word is passed back through the group with growing angst until the last person is seriously considering turning around while there is still time!

I would have loved also to visit a memorial in the park erected in memory of almost 2,500 Australian and British POWs who died at the hands of the Japanese during three forced marches in World War Two but instead we had to endure a visit to a cultural market, which turned out to be selling the biggest collection of tourist tat I've seen for some time.

Not that we could have bought anything anyway as they only wanted Malaysia Ringgit and all most of us had were US dollars. Every other country on this trip has been happy with dollars so we never thought to change money, and even if we had considered it, there was little chance anyway as the tourist authority hadn't thought to provide an exchange facility at the port. Some lessons to be learned here.

The day finished with a visit to a local pottery. "You have 15 minutes," Mary Ann said. Within 10 minutes everyone was back on the coach, agreeing shopping time could have been better spent enjoying the national park. More lessons to be learned.

Next stop after KK was Muara in Brunei, a tiny state less than a quarter the size of Wales that juts into the north coast of Sarawak, also in Malaysia, also on the island of Borneo.

It's an extraordinary place, dripping in oil and gas, which means they are not short of a bob or two.

Our guide Min explained he was always smiling because there is no income tax, sales tax or VAT, education is free and if you need the health service, it costs $1. If they don't have the facilities to treat whatever illness you have, they will fly you to another country for treatment. Cost still $1. And that's a Brunei dollar, which is worth about 35p.

There are just 50 taxis in Brunei and hardly any public transport as it's so cheap to drive - petrol is 53 Brunei cents a litre, diesel 31 cents and road tax is B$2.20 a year for every 100cc engine size. The average family has four to five cars; you could see them all, parked in drives or along the roads.

But before you start packing to live in this tax-free paradise - even the weather is lovely year-round, with hot and very hot, punctuated by rain - bear in mind it is a dictatorship, even if a financially-friendly one, where the Sultan is king, prime minister and finance minister, and you have to live there 20 years and pass an exam to get citizenship.

There were tours from the ship to Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital, about 45 minutes from the port, but again I opted out of the cultural stuff in the city and instead went for the Temburong tour, which promised a speedboat ride, a visit to an Iban Longhouse and a ride in a Longboat.

I wasn't too keen on the longhouse, a "cultural experience" I've done before and disliked then - tea, dull local dancing and a taste of rice wine with the Iban people, headhunters in days gone by - but at least the first time it was in the jungle, not at the side of a road!

If you've not come across longhouses, by the way, they are literally long houses, shared by a number of families (the one we visited had eight, but Min pointed to one later that had 27) that are usually related but are also allowed to inter-marry. They have a communal area the length of the house and their own rooms off the back.

But the speedboat ride was great, 45 minutes pelting along the river lined with mangroves with a stop when a crocodile was spotted, and so was the longboat, especially as we kept getting grounded on the rocks because the water level was so low.

Each boat had five passenger and our poor guys managed to pick the one with three heavyweights (not me, I hasten to add!) so when we were grounded, we really were grounded. The lad at the front was in dispair trying to push the boat off the rocks.

If I'd had my swimming cossie I'd have happily jumped in to help (not that I would have been able to do much but it would have lightened the load a little and been good fun). Next time I will know.

Our last stop in Borneo is Bintulu, in Sarawak, but I'm skipping the tour today (there is only one) as it's time I brought you some information about our ship, Spirit of Adventure. That'll be for another post.

Nha Trang was the second stop in Vietnam on this South-East Asia cruise on Spirit of Adventure. I had done my homework on Saigon, but had no idea what to expect of this city.

It turned out to be a beautiful place. We were moored in a bay surrounded by islands and a picture-postcard view every which way you looked. Just by the ship was what Tuan said was the longest cable car over water in the world - 3km long - that led to the Vinpearl resort on one of the islands. The journey across took 10 minutes.

The strip along the 9km beach is lined with local hotels, but international names are moving in. There's a new Novotel, a Sheraton is close to being finished and work has just started on a Crowne Plaza.

I suspect in five years or so, when they might also have built a new international airport, this place could really take off as a holiday spot.

There was a tour to a Vietnamese village or to a beach resort, but I opted for the city tour, which included a stop at the Po Nagar Cham towers, a Hindu place of worship built by the Cham people who used to live in this central Vietnam area, and the Long Son Pagoda, from where you could walk up 150 steps to a big white Buddha statue built in 1954 and standing 24 metres high.

At least the guides said there were 150 steps; in 94 degrees of heat it felt like a lot more.

We drove past the French cathedral and then Tuan pointed with pride at the Victory column. "Victory over who?" I asked, slightly bemused. "The Americans," he told me. My mind whirred and clicked, remembering that the guides in Saigon regarded the fall of South Vietnam as a defeat.

Then Tuan revealed he had been born after the war. Different generation, different education, different take on the whole thing.

We also had time to wander around Dam market, so-called because it was built on marshland, which was a lively tangle of humanity, motorbikes and stalls selling everything from evil-smelling dried fish and sweets to vegetables, luggage and clothes.

I managed to get lost in the vortex that was the clothes section having made my big purchase of the day (one $2 t-shirt!) and was eternally grateful, after passing the same stalls the second time, to tag onto passengers from another coach who were to scared to enter the fray alone and were following their guide around.

I have to say, that despite all the dire warnings about "bad men" who would follow you and try to steal your bag and stallholders who would rip you off, I felt absolutely safe. Just a little stupid when I couldn't get out!

That's it from Vietnam. Spirit of Adventure is now crossing the South China Sea en route to Kota Kinabalu in Borneo. I'll see you there.

Spirit of Adventure stayed overnight in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) last night so today it was time to take a tour of some of the city's highlights. So it was back on the coach for another hair-raising drive trying to avoid the 3.8 million scooters.

I have to take my hat off to the drivers on these excursion coaches for the very calm way they negotiate their way around the scooters just at the moment the scooters are negotiating their way around the coach.

Imagine this: He's turning left, but they keep driving around his left side until he is 90 degrees across the road and there really is just no more room for them to squeeze through. Well all right, maybe room for just one. Basically, the word stop just doesn't exist on Saigon's roads.

I decided to put Vien's advice from Monday on how to get across the road to the test. Walk slowly and don't stop. Easy ... ok so there was no traffic the first time but I did also give it a go on a much busier road and I'm still here to write my blog!

Our guide for today's highlights tour was Dung, known as Zoom for his love of photography. In fact, the tour turned into something of a lesson in how to take pictures ("take a picture here, use your flash, push it to 400 ISO") as we visited the history museum, the church of Notre Dame de Saigon, the oh-so-grand Post Office and the former presidential palace, now the Reunification Conference Hall.

A North Vietnamese tank crashed through the gates at 11.30am on April 30 1975, signalling the end of the Vietnam War. Zoom told me President Minh, who formerly surrendered to the northern troops, had only taken office at 5pm on April 28. Must be one of the shortest presidencies in history.

We also visited the Rex Hotel, a favourite with foreign correspondents reporting on the war. Having seen the glorious colonial decor and rooftop garden, I can understand why they liked it so much. When I come back - like everyone else I was smitten with Saigon, so note I say when, not if - I'm definitely booking a room there.

It felt a really friendly city and although there are people hanging around all the main tourist sights trying to sell things, they are rank amateurs compared to the Egyptians. A nice smile, polite no thank you and they set their sights on someone else.

Although officially a socialist country, capitalism rules - and is actively encouraged by the government.

I was especially interested to see how the scooter has become a status symbol in Vietnam. Zoom said you can buy one for $300, but it's made in China, so they all aspire to buy $9,000 one. "You are buying respect," he explained.

Vien was more specific. With a $9,000 bike that girl you've always wanted to talk to is more likely to take off her mask (remember I said the women all wear masks when riding their scooters?) and smile back. That means things are happening. Then it's off to one of the city's coffee houses and the sound of wedding bells.

And all because the lady loved his bike.

We left Saigon at lunch time Tuesday. Next stop Nha Trang, also in Vietnam.

This was the day I had been so looking forward to. An excursion to the Cu Chi Tunnels outside Ho Chi Minh City or, as the Vietnamese call it, Saigon.

Crashing and banging on the ropes outside my cabin announced Spirit of Adventure's arrival in the city just before 9am on Monday. When I emerged onto the aft deck for breakfast, there was Silversea's Silver Whisper moored up behind us. First other cruise ship I've seen on this trip.

The big cruise ships have to dock way a long way out of town, but Spirit of Adventure was able to sail right up the Saigon River and moor in the city, 85km from the sea. Once we were loaded on our excursion coach, we turned a few corners out of the port and dived into the chaos that is Saigon roads.

There are eight million people in this city and 3.8 million scooters. To cross the road, you should walk slowly and never stop because the drivers will see you and steer around you. At least that's what our guide Vien said. So far I haven't put it to the test.

Drivers have to wear helmets by law. Woman also wear masks against pollution and gloves so they don't get tanned by the sun. "Men want to wear masks too but it's seen as a bit womanly," Vien whispered.

I'll bring you more about Saigon in the next post (we're in the city overnight so it's the city tour tomorrow) because today was the tunnels. They are about two hours' drive outside the city, in the province of Cu Chi, which was a Viet Cong stronghold during the war with the US.

Around 15,000 Viet Cong lived in the province, many of them in these tunnels, where they could hide and leap out at unsuspecting GIs. The entrance to the tunnels was incredibly small - this is me going inside, ready to shut the "door" behind me. I was the only one in our group small enough and agile enough to be able to give it a go. That really made my day!

The others had to make do with going into the tunnels that have been "westernised" - that is, they have made the entrance bigger! You can see once inside, they are still not very big and many either wouldn't try going in or turned back when they realised how small and claustrophobic it would be.

The first tunnels were dug in 1948, when the Vietnamese were fighting to be free of the French. Then there were 20km of tunnel. Twenty years later, they stretched 200km, were on three levels, either three metres, six metres or up to 10 metres below ground, and even ran under an American/South Vietnamese army base at one point.

As well as going inside the tunnels, we were able to see some of the booby traps the Viet Cong used to snare the Americans. It's brutal stuff. This was a pit, camouflaged with grass. When the GIs stood on it, it swung around, they fell in and were pierced by the sharpened bamboo stakes below. And there was a lot more in this vein.

There was also a hospital - well, a bed but no anasthetic where they would operate in an emergency - a workshop where they made weapons and another where they made VC uniforms.

Vien had some fascinating stories from the war. His was an affluent family so he and his sisters had a driver to take them to school and his mother also had a chauffeur to take her around. Turned out one was Viet Cong, the other was CIA, each in a covert job trying to get information about the other side. And neither ever knew who the other was!

After the war ended, life was very tough under the Communists and 90% of the South Vietnamese tried to leave. Remember the boat people?

But by 1985, when the old guard died out and younger people took over the government, things started to improve. And remember I said they call it Saigon? "We won the war as the name is still the same," Vien said.

I've had three frantic days at home since my trip on Spirit of Adventure and now I'm back at Heathrow, en route to Dubai, where Costa Cruises' new ship Costa Deliziosa will be named on Tuesday.

The ship is a sister to Costa Luminosa, which launched last June, and is based in Dubai this winter, sailing seven-night cruises around the Arabian Gulf like the one I did last year on Costa Victoria (I can't give you a link on the computer I'm using but search back in Cruise Lines and you'll be able to read all about it).

After the naming ceremony, Deliziosa is cruising to India. It then comes back to Dubai, where it will stay until May, sailing the Gulf with its sister.

The naming ceremony will be a double celebration, as it also marks the official opening of Dubai's new cruise terminal. There'll be speeches from the Italians, Dubai's cruise chiefs, some song and dance from both sides no doubt, and I'm hoping for a fabulous fireworks display to make sure the whole event ends with a bang.

As to the identity of the godmother? Costa is saying nothing at the moment. Keep looking in and I'll keep you posted.

Costa Cruises and Dubai deserve a collective slap on the back for making yesterday's first-ever cruise ship naming in the Middle East a day to remember, with dancers, singers and horses. Yes, really.

First a little scene-setting. A blue sky, a lovely warm day (hard to imagine after our lousy UK winter, I know), and some 3,000 guests - 2,200 of them passengers who had sailed from Savona to Dubai on Costa Deliziosa - in specially-erected seating on the quay by the bow of Deliziosa, beneath a giant white awning.

In front is the stage, with two big screens so people at the back could see all the action, and a sandy arena. Up in the air, paragliders are circling, dragging banners saying "Welcome to Dubai", to the right was QE2, looking sad and alone, and in exactly the same place as when I was last in Dubai, in January 2009.

The naming ceremony started with a display of Middle Eastern dancers twirling sticks and guns, moved on to Italian singing - Nessun Dorma and Ol Sole Mio of course - and then came the horses and a super dressage display by these beautiful Arabian mounts.

The action all came to a halt as Dubai's Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktoum and his entourage - he must have been surrounded by at least 30 minders - took their seats.

Then came the national anthems for Dubai and Italy, welcome speeches, a few words from Costa chairman and chief executive officer Pier Luigi Foschi, more entertainment, more dressage displays and the big moment, when godmother Tala Dionisi, wife of the Italian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, was asked to cut the ribbon.

A ship is usually christened with Champagne, but when in Rome - or in this case Dubai - and all that. So Deliziosa was due to be bathed in date juice. Assuming the bottle smashed, of course.

And it did, with a resounding thud. Confetti streamed, everyone clapped and proceedings came to a halt again as the Crown Prince and his minders left. Then the dancing started again.

No doubt the show went on to keep us in our seats until the CP was safely out of the way but even after his helicopter flew off overhead, the horses were back, this time galloping the length of the arena while their riders rolled around in the saddles.

Passengers went back on the ship for lunch, but the rest of us dined in the old terminal - the official opening of a new one was times to coincide with the naming ceremony but it had been nabbed by Royal Caribean International, which is also sailing the Arabian Gulf from Dubai - and then had a couple of hours on board to see the ship.

I'll tell you more about that another time, but I can't resist putting in a picture of me on this chair.

One of the more outlandish creations interior designer Joe Farcus managed to sneak onto the ship, which he says is aimed at appealing to the "highest level" of customers. You've got to love it!

Royal Caribbean International president and chief executive officer Adam Goldstein writes on his blog that they will have 10 of their 22 ships in Europe in 2011.

It's very impressive but I fear we could be in danger of a European overload. Places like Barcelona, Santorini and Naples are often bursting with cruise ships as it is and just can't take anymore - or at least can't take anymore and still deliver a good experience for visitors.

Dare we hope Royal might look for new destinations as they plan their saturation campaign?

Goldstein doesn't say which ships will be over here - all will be revealed over the next couple of months - but I'm guessing it won't be Oasis of the Seas, the world's biggest cruise ship, or its giant sister Allure of the Seas. Yet.

Let's face it. There has to be a limit as to how long they can have two huge ships just going round and round on rather unexciting Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries. Norwegian Cruise Line clearly thinks so, hence it is bringing Norwegian Epic here in 2011.

So I reckon we could yet see one of them in Europe. Probably not in 2011 but maybe 2012.

These ships are too big to get into any port over here, or so it has been said, but 2012 is still a while away and anyway, my suggestion of seven-night cruises to nowhere, giving passengers loads of time to spend, spend, spend on board (and boost Royal's profits), is still up for grabs.

Cruise Critic speculates that West Africa could be the next big thing when it comes to cruise destinations as cruise lines look for alternatives to Pirate Alley, that now notorious stretch of water through the Gulf of Aden.

It says Princess Cruises is coming up the West Coast on its 2011 world cruise and Crystal Cruises is going back, also in 2011, for the first time since 2000.

I feel I should draw their attention to comments from passengers who went there with Saga last year, reported by Judy Steel, wife of former Liberal party leader Lord Steel.

"Some people, believe it or not, don't come off the boat in port at all, and others complain about the heat, the fact that the buses aren't up to British standards, and even - this is true - about there being so many black faces."

Maybe running the pirates would be a better option after all. If all goes according to plan, at least passengers wouldn't have to see them.

Incidentally, such negativity is not enough to put off Saga, It has a Mysteries of West Africa cruise departing Southampton November 5 (could the mystery be why they are going back in face of such comments?), while sister brand Spirit of Adventure will be there in February 2011.

Star Clippers must have decided a cruise on one of its sailing ships is not enough to pull in the punters, so it has launched a range of cruise-and-stay options as well.

It's a classy range, as befits this niche cruise line, and they don't come cheap, but if price is an issue, then Star Clippers is probably not for you anyway.

Choose the Cocktails and Casinos one in September and you'll have two nights mixing with the jetset in the four-star Ambassador Hotel in Monte Carlo before taking off for a three-night cruise around the French Riviera on Star Flyer. It costs from £999 per person including flights, transfers and B&B accommodaton in Monaco.

Or how about Pyramids, Pharoahs and Greek Islands on April 16, which combines two nights at the five-star Sofitel in Cairo with a nine-night cruise on Star Clipper, sailing from Safaga in Egypt, through the Suez Canal, to Piraeus, the port for Athens. That's from £1,499 per person including flights and transfers.

There's also a Spa and Cruise in the Caribbean between November 2010 and March 2011 - eight nights at La Source in Grenada and seven nights on Royal Clipper - and Where the Wild Things Are, a 14-night cruise and stay in Costa Rica from £2,599 per person.

For more details, see your travel agent, call Star Clippers on 0845 200 6145 or click here.

There is something very surreal about looking out of the window of a 122,000-ton cruise ship and seeing sheep running along the river bank.

But that was the view from my cabin on Celebrity Eclipse yesterday as we were tugged backwards down the River Ems in Germany and Holland.

The manoeuvre is known as a conveyance - literally conveying the ship 26 miles down river from the Mayer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, where it had been built, which bizarrely for a shipyard is inland, to the open sea at Eemshaven.

Sounds simple doesn't it, but first they have to flood the river to make sure it's deep enough (they do this by waiting for high tide, then shutting the barrier at Gandersum so it can't escape), and en route they have to squeeze through two locks and pass under two bridges.

Well, when I say under, one section of the railway bridge at Weener is actually dismantled so the ship can pass through it. Thoughtfully, when they built the second bridge they thought to put in a hinge so it could be raised for moments such as these.

And there are quite a few such convenyances. This is the third Celebrity ship to do the conveyance in as many years and there will be another two, one in 2011, the other in 2012. Later this year, the new Disney Dream will be making the same journey. heading for sea trials and getting ready for its launch next January.

It's an amazing spectacle and despite the freezing cold, we were all out on deck, breathing in at the appropriate moment, while hordes of locals huddled around the locks and bridges and watched us from the shore.

In fact, people lined the river bank all along the way and I'm sure many watched us sail through one bit then dashed back to their car and drove to the next key viewing place!

I found it hard to believe we would fit through any of the gaps - so it's probably a good thing I was not the tug driver who has to line the ship up on the approach.

There was a tug at the back, which was the front as we were going backwards, to pull the ship, and another at the front, which was the back. Very confusing when if you try to navigate according to the direction the ship is moving!

The tug driver looked remarkably calm about the whole thing and so did Celebrity's president and chief executive Dan Hanrahan, whoc was on board with us. No doubt that's because until the ship gets safely to Eemshaven and proves it can sail in the open sea as well as down rivers, he doesn't have to hand over the cheque!

Ocean Village has had to delay sales of its final farewell voyage again (there was one last year onOcean Village Two) due to system failure caused by the strong demand. It is now due to go on sale from 9am on Friday March 12.

The voyage, from Crete to Singapore though Pirate Alley, was supposed to have gone on sale at 8am on Monday but the systems went down as people tried to book.

The cruise line had hoped to resolve the problem by today, but instead there is an updated message on the website giving the new on-sale day.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them.

Was Carnival UK commercial director Nigel Esdale just trying to deflect questions when he told journalists and travel agents at the Carnival UK 2010 report last week that he wouldn't "rule out" basing a P&O Cruises ship in the Med?

It is, after all, a bit of a meaningless throwaway line.

But if it was just a throwaway remark, he might want to think again. Specifically about when Med flycruises might be ruled in, if the comments on Cruise.co.uk are anything to go by.

Harry from Hastings points out the benefits of a Med flycruise on a ship that charges sterling on board now the euro has gone sky high (or is it that the pound has plunged?), Shelledpea acknowledges there is always Thomson for a British Mediterranean flycruise but wants an Ocean Village feel on a "fairly modern ship". VinnyTurner reckons it's only a "matter of time" before a P&O ship is based in the Med.

It would be strange indeed to start Med flycruises having gone to all the trouble of closing Ocean Village but all OV's passengers have to go somewhere for their next cruise. Does it make sense for Carnival UK to let them go to Thomson Cruises or to help fill Royal Caribbean's new cruises from Palma?

And if the Brits want seven-night British cruises in the sun, as opposed to to the sun, surely that's what P&O has to give them.

Just to prove how much OV was loved, by the way, its last cruise, in October this year, went on sale yesterday but there was so much demand the system crashed and they had to take it off sale. The website says it will be going back on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, at 10am.

There must also be a limit as to how many passengers P&O Cruises can continue to embark in Southampton, especially given all the cruise lines it is up against now.

Celebrity Cruises is coming in new in this year with the classy Eclipse and MSC Cruises is moving into Southampton in 2011. Neither offers that true-Brit experience, but whose to say new-to-cruise passengers, which all these lines have to attract to fill their new tonnage, are that bothered?

The question now surely is not if P&O will make the Mediterranean flycruise leap, but when.

So now we know what "wouldn't rule out" really meant. Namely that P&O Cruises will be launching Mediterranean flycruises next summer.

Well it's more like next autumn and winter really, because in October 2011, Adonia, which joins the P&O fleet in May 2011 from Princess Cruises, where it is sailing as Royal Princess, will be based in the Med for a series of open-jaw cruises, sailing from Savona, Athens, Trieste and Naples.

Until then, the ship, which will be for adults only, will be based in Southampton, sailing cruises lasting anything from seven to 26 nights in the Med and Northern Europe.

P&O managing director Carol Marlow said the Med flycruises "will make many of our existing passengers very happy". Has she been reading my blog?

"At the same time, we hope this will attract new customers who have previously chosen a holiday in a Mediterranean resort."

Sounds to me like they are trying to attract "people who don't do cruises".

The other big change for 2011 is that Oceana will be based in Southampton year-round, braving the Bay of Biscay in winter - and taking on Royal Caribbean International's Independence of the Seas - while new ship Azura gets to bask in the Caribbean sun.

Some ships get all the luck.

It all goes on sale on April 27 and I suspect little Adonia - only 710 passengers - might start flying off the shelves so get your phoning finger ready (0845 3 555 333) or better still, see your travel agent and let them make the booking for you.

Things are shaping up for a right royal battle in Europe next summer with Princess Cruises announcing its biggest-ever programme for the Med and Baltic just days after Royal Caribbean International president and chief executive officer Adam Goldstein revealed Royal will have a record 10 ships in Europe next year.

Princess will have seven ships on this side of the pond, which they clearly feel good about.

But add that to all the Royal ships, the Celebrity ships, the MSC ships, the Costa ships, the Holland America ships, the fact Carnival will be back sailing in the Med, that Norwegian Cruise Line will have its giant Epic over here and you have to wonder whether Europe can really deliver all the passengers needed to fill all that tonnage.

Or if it can, at what kind of prices. Only time will tell.

Princess's 2011 programme marks the line's first step into the world of the mini-cruise. It's offering three-night voyages from Southampton on Grand Princess next summer, in between the usual 14-night Med cruises, to encourage bookings from passengers who have never tried the brand before.

Prices are keen - from £349 per person for an inside cabin for bookings made by June 30, or you can pay another £40 and get a balcony - so you won't have lost much in time or money if you don't like it (which is unlikely).

Two ships - Ruby Princess and Star Princess - will be sailing the 12-night Grand Mediterranean and Greek Isles cruises, and there's a new 11-night Baltic cruise on Emerald Princess (it's a 10-night cruise this year but they've added a call to Aarhus in Denmark).

Ocean Princess will be reprieving its 18-night Land of the Midnight Sun voyage from Dover, but they've added a visit to Spitsbergen - and a second departure. The ship will also be sailing seven-night cruises to the fjords and Baltic from Dover, and in the Med, as it is this year.

The 2011 programme goes on sale to Captain's Club members on April 24 and to everyone else on April 26. For more details see your travel agent.

You'll get up to $300 per couple on-board credit if you book by June 30, or up to $600 per couple if you upgrade to a balcony or suite.

Alaska's Governor Sean Parnell seems finally to have noticed the exodus of cruise ships from his state and decided to do something about it.

Namely lower the cost of the $46 per passenger head tax that has caused cruise lines to pull ships from the region and Stein Kruse, Holland America's President and CEO to brand Alaska as having regulations that are "more burdensome and more costly than anywhere else on earth".

Alaska will receive about 140,000 fewer cruise passengers (17%) this year as a result of the exodus, which has meant many locals involved in tourism have lost their jobs.

An agreement between Parnell and cruise ship representatives was hammered out during Seatrade in Miami last week. The state will cut the head tax, introduced in 2006, by 25% in return for the nine cruise lines who have filed a federal lawsuit against the state agreeing to drop their action and send more ships to Alaska.

The reduction brings the tax down to $34.50 per passenger. There is also an existing $4 per person charge to fund an Ocean Ranger programme that monitors pollution in Alaska's waters, This is not in dispute and will remain.

All sorted then? Well no. The agreement now has to get through the Legislature and that is not a given because it is an election year and the Legislature is due to adjourn for the year on April 18, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

So there is a definite need for speed. Let's hope the people in power recognise that and respond accordingly. After all, cruise ships have proved they can go somewhere else and I haven't heard too many passengers moaning so the only ones who are really suffering here are the locals.

If Queen Elizabeth is late for her naming date in Southampton in October, blame Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard in Italy where it is being built because seems they have been otherwise engaged, building this rather lovely cutaway model of the ship.

It was unveiled at Seatrade in Miami this week, is eight feet long, nearly two feet high and weighs almost 80kg, and it gives you a idea what this new Queen will look like.

I suspect Cunard president and managing director Peter Shanks, right, is trying to locate the cabin with his name on, with the help of Fincantieri's CEO Giuseppe Bono.

Wonder what they will do with the model when the real Queen comes out. They could always put it on board and see how much they can get for it at one of the art auctions. It would at last be something passengers might like to buy.

Cunard also announced the new QE's 2011 itinerary this week, which includes cruises to the Mediterranean and Israel, the Baltic, Norwegian fjords, the Canary Islands and around the British Isles.

In other words, the standard cruise fare offered by ships based in Southampton.

Far more exciting is the Royal Rendezvous on January 13 2011, when all three Cunard Queens will be meeting in New York - three years to the day after Queen Mary 2, QE2 and Queen Victoria met there. It'll be quite a moment.

What is it about Australia all of a sudden? Ocean Village is being disbanded and sent down there, Cunard's Queen Mary 2 will be circumnavigating the continent in 2012 and now Silversea has said Silver Shadow will be cruising around Australia next year.

Silversea's 30-day Sydney round-trip, from January 19 to February 18, visits Brisbane, the Whitsunday Islands, Willis Island (for the Great Barrier Reef), Port Douglas, Cooktown, Darwin, Broome, Exmouth, Perth, Albany, Port Lincoln, Adelaide, Geelong, Melbourne and Hobart in Tasmania.

Prices start from £11,282 per person including all meals, drinks and gratuities, but excluding flights.

Cunard has three circumnavigation options in 2012 - 22 nights sailing from Sydney on February 14, 20 nights departing from Fremantle on February 8 and 21 nights cruising from Adelaide on February 11.

Cunard hasn't released any prices yet. The circumnavigation will go on sale in spring.

Incidentally neither can claim a first as Princess Cruises circumnavigated Australia in 2008/09 on Sun Princess and Dawn Princess - 31 days departing from Sydney or Melbourne.

Last week I asked "what is it about Australia" as I reported Silversea and Cunard will both be circumnavigating the continent, one in 2011, the other in 2012.

Now Princess Cruises president Alan Buckelew has announced his line will have four ships Down Under for the 2011/2012 season for the first time.

Sea Princess will be joining Dawn Princess and Sun Princess, which are based in Australia, while Sapphire Princess will be doing its regular seasonal trans-Tasman cruises between Australia and New Zealand.

Sea Princess will be based in Sydney, cruising to New Zealand, Japan and Tasmania, allowing Sun Princess to move to Brisbane for cruises to New Zealand and Fiji. There is also a 41-night voyage to Asia, visiting Brunei, Vietnam, Japan and China.

Australia is not quite taking on Europe yet, but should we be watching this space, I wonder?

Cunard's Queen Mary 2 steamed into Cape Town on its maiden visit yesterday with a very special passenger on board - Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He had been on the ship since Port Louis in Mauritius, taking part in the Cunard Insights lecture programme. A fasinating opportunity. No wonder it was standing room only.

Always fancied doing Antarctica but never dared to take on the notorious Drake Passage? Then read on, because have I got the cruise for you.

Or rather flycruise. Because starting in 2010/11, Antarctica XXI will be flying passengers over Drake to join its ship, Ocean Nova, for a six-day cruise.

The flight, on a 72-seater BAe146, goes from Punta Arenas in Chile to King George Island on the South Shetland Islands and takes less than two hours. If you cruise, it's at least a day and half, always with the possibility of battling some of the worst seas in the world.

The Ocean Nova holds 62 passengers, is ice-strengthened, has all outside cabins and carries a of fleet of inflatable Zodiac boats for excursions and landings.

Doing Drake in comfort doesn't come cheap. It costs $9,990 (£6,900) per person, but that includes the flight, a night in Punta Arenas before the cruise (and after if required) and all drinks during the cruise. Oh - and the use of Wellington boots for landings.

Well there are a lot of penguins in Antarctica you know.

A couple of weeks ago, Alaska governor Sean Parnell thrashed out an agreement with the cruise lines on the controversial head tax that has caused many to pull ships out of the 49th state this year.

Now Travel Weekly US reports that Parnell has submitted a bill that will more than double the reduction originally agreed.

Are they keen to have the cruise lines back or what? Not surprising really given this summer the number of cruise calls will fall 17%, which translates into 140,000 fewer cruise passengers.

It also translates into a lot of unemployment among locals involved in the tourism business.

The original agreement was for a 25% reduction. The bill proposes a 59% cut, bringing the head tax down from $46 to $19.50, but only on cruise itineraries that include both Juneau and Ketchikan.

It's all to do with a provision to offset the municipal cruise head taxes levied by Juneau and Ketchikan, respectively $8 and $7.

In a press release, Governor Parnell said: "Declining visitor numbers and dollars have been felt throughout the state. We must do more to make Alaska a more affordable destination for travelers and create jobs for Alaskans."

It's been one busy weekend for those of us who were at the Cruise show at London's Olympia on Saturday and Sunday.

As soon as the doors opened at 10am on Saturday, the crowds started to flood in. Every time an underground train arrived at Olympia, the scene in the street was like that one from the Disney film Mulan, where the Mongul hordes come over the hill.

And they were coming fast as well - all of them keen cruisers or folk wanting to find out if a cruise was the holiday for them - all desperate to get to the show. You would not have wanted to get in the way.

Before the day had ended, the caterers had run out of sandwiches and so had Tesco over the street, and most of the cruise lines were sending back to the office for fresh supplies of brochures to get them through another day.

Day two started slower - well it was a Sunday just after the clocks had changed - but by midday the venue was packed.

This was the second Cruise show and wow, what a difference from last year. For one thing it was at Olympia, so it was easy to get to. For another, as well as having all the cruise lines there, handing out brochures, giving advice and taking bookings, there was all the fun stuff as well.

Royal Caribbean brought a rock-climbing wall (the kid in my picture below had a real struggle to get up and earned applause when she made it), MSC Cruises had three therapists giving free 10-minute massages, Fred Olsen had a golf challenge.

P&O Cruises brought Olly Smith, who is opening the Glass House on Azura and who kept a packed audience in the new ship theatre enthralled with stories of his love of good wine, food and gastrogasms (yes, really).

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera to hand when Olly was on, but P&O had another wine expert on Sunday and you can see he was lecturing to a full house - not just because of all those glasses of wine surely?

Carnival Cruise Line put on a special version of Loose Woman with Linda Lusardi, SpongeBob Square Pants and Dora the Explorer came along to support Norwegian Cruise Line (they will be on Norwegian Epic when it launches in July) and kept the kids entertained as they wandered around the show.

Not sure how they managed to get around sometimes, mind, as you could barely move for the crowds on Saturday.

And then there were the panel discussions in the Sky Theatre, all of which were well attended. They were hosted by Sky's Claire Smith and featured yours truly among many other cruise journalists and experts from the cruise lines, all of us there to dispense advice about how to choose a cruise, destinations and what to do during those days at sea.

Here are some of the scenes from the show. Look at the stands - they were all packed like this for most of the two days. I just love the moment of serenity on the Yachts of Seabourn one, though, promoting their Champagne in the surf.

Did I say serenity? Don't be fooled. Behind me everyone from the cruise line was busy with customers, several of whom made thousands of pounds worth of bookings over the two days.

The show moves to Birmingham's NEC on October 16-17 and will be back at Olympia next March. Don't forget to make a date.

I promised to bring you more news about what Crystal Cruises is doing in 2011 as soon as I found out, rather expecting to be reeling off details of ports and itineraries for next year.

Instead, there is the much-more-exciting news that in 2011, Crystal is offering free flights with all sailings.

It's great news for lovers of luxury, but possibly not so wonderful for Crystal. As I already reported, they are also continuing their All-Inclusive As You Wish offer, giving couples up to $2,000 to spend on whatever they want - alcohol, spa treatments, excursions, and so on.

What with that, and the free flights, it must be quite painful for the money men.

It's great for consumers though, and has sparked an all-inclusive battle as at the end of last month Regent Seven Seas Cruises launched its 2011 programme, also offering free flights.

On Regent, all drinks - soft and alcoholic - are already included in the cruise price, as are shore excursions.

So which is the most inclusive?

The answer is, it depends. If you go on lots of shore excursions, you'd be better off with Regent, although of course you can use your $1,000 Crystal credit ($2,000 per couple remember) towards whichever shorex you fancy.

However, if you like to be pampered in the spa, Crystal would be better as you can also use the on-board credit in there, whereas on Regent you pay full whack.

As already reported, for 2011 Crystal is bringing in Perfect Choice Dining, allowing passengers to escape the rigid two-sitting fixed dining system if they wish, and the line has also confirmed it is going back to Alaska for the first time since 2005.

It is offering nine 12-night sailings on the 940-passenger Crystal Symphony from San Francisco between May 9 and August 13.

In spring, Symphony will be around South America, the Panama Canal, Mexican Riviera and Hawaii. In autumn, it relocates to east coast US for New England and Canada cruises; in winter it moves to the Caribbean, and back to the Mexican Riviera and Hawaii.

The 1,080-passenger Crystal Serenity, meanwhile, will be in Europe for most of 2011, cruising the Med and Baltic, before relocating to the Caribbean in December.

A friend got in touch after seeing my post about Uniworld's new river cruise vessel, River Tosca, agreeing it looked lovely, but questioning whether it would be child-friendly - indeed whether a Nile cruise itself works for kids.

Apparently she made a rash promise to take hers on one a while ago and needs to make good the pledge!

I took my daughter on a Nile cruise when she was 12, which was the youngest age the tour operator, Discover Egypt, would allow - quite rightly I think because there is just too much "boring" sightseeing for very little ones. Also, the boats don't have any kids facilities and there's no guarantee there will be other children to make friends with.

I had had my eye on Discover Egypt's luxurious Alexander the Great, but was persuaded it was not the best choice for a child, so we ended up on a bigger boat that was in desperate need of a makeover - you can read about the trip here - but was right for the circumstances.

Yes, I would have loved more luxury, but over-the-top service on a small vessel could make a 12-year-old a tad uncomfortable. More importantly, passengers who paid substantially more for their luxurious cruise might not have been very keen on having a 12-year-old, no matter how well behaved, in their midst.

In other words, with river cruising, like any holiday at sea, it is important to do your research and pick the right vessel.

Get it right - and I think we did despite the Pharaoh's revenge - and the kids will have a great time. Especially is you remember there is more to the Nile than temples and tombs, although you have to see them too.

Make sure also that it's something the children want to do. After all, if their idea of a holiday is a week in a resort hotel in Sharm el Sheikh where they can spend all day playing with other kids, or indeed one of the big child-frendly cruise ships, they'll never settle for seven days on the Nile.

Celebrity Cruises will have all four of its Solstice-class ships in Europe next summer, adding to the Mediterranean battle royale that is shaping up as cruise lines position a record number of ships on this side of the pond for 2011.

I knew there would be three Solstice-class ships - I'd got that much from talking to Celebrity Cruises president and chief executive officer Dan Hanrahan when I was on Celebrity Eclipse sailing backwards down the River Ems in Germany.

What he kept up his sleeve was the news they are also bringing Celebrity Solstice to Europe for summer 2011. The ship has been stationed in the Caribbean since it launched in 2008.

Celebrity Equinox will be back and again based in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, where it will be sailing 10 and 11-night Med cruises.

New ship Celebrity Silhouette, launching in July 2011, will sail a one-off maiden cruise from Hamburg to Civitavecchia, a one-off nine-night Med cruise and then 12 and 13-night Eastern Med voyages to Israel.

That's shaping up to be one of the hot back-on-the-map destinations for 2011.

Celebrity Eclipse will be sailing a second summer season from Southampton, while Celebrity Solstice will be based in Barcelona, adding to the big ship cruise fray that's building up there for 2011 (Royal Caribbean will have Liberty of the Seas, Norwegian Cruise Line will have Norwegian Epic, Carnival Cruise Lines will have the new Carnival Magic).

In all, Celebrity will have a record six ships in Europe next year - the others are Celebrity Mercury and Celebrity Constellation, which is soon to be retro-fitted with a few Solstice favourites and will be sailing seven-night cruises from Piraeus, the port for Athens, to Israel (see what I mean about it being hot?) and the Greek Islands.

Bookings for summer 2011 cruises on Solstice and Equinox open today, with Silhouette on sale to Captain's Club members from today and opening to all on April 20. Eclipse is already on sale. Mercury and Constellation on-sale dates have yet to be announced.

Next year is shaping up to be a bad one for Dover.

Earlier this year Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises announced they are leaving the port in 2011. Now Swan Hellenic has said is off as well, taking up a new UK base in Portsmouth, where a smart new terminal, under construction, is due to open in spring 2011.

NCL is leaving Dover because it is dropping all no-fly cruises from the UK and will be offering Baltic cruises from Copenhagen instead. MSC says it is moving to Southampton because it is so much easier to get to.

Swan likewise cites the city's better road, rail, air and sea networks as the reason for moving, as well as the new terminal, which will also be used by the ferry companies that sail from Portsmouth.

I imagine All Leisure Group, which owns Swan, has also managed to strike a good deal for committing all three of its brands to Portsmouth throughout 2011.

Voyages of Discovery will be sailing a few no-fly cruises from Portsmouth at the start of the 2011 summer season, before relocating to its usual UK base in Harwich, while HRH's favourite Hebridean Island Cruises will be visiting the port next year, during Hebridean Princess' five-week circumnavigation of the UK.

I just love the sound of this cruise. I don't have dates yet, but I do know it is being sold in four segments as they don't expect many people will want to spend five weeks on board such a small ship - it's 2,112 tons and holds just 49 passengers (to increase to 50 after a refit later this year).

I suspect they could be surprised.

Good news for lone travellers. New cruise line Voyages to Antiquity has got rid of those nasty single supplements.

The cruise line also has some other good deals on offer as it starts the four-week countdown to its launch - up to £500 per person savings, and free cabin and flight upgrades, depending which category of accommodation you book.

Voyages to Antiquity first cruise departs May 4, sailing 15 nights roundtrip from Piraeus, the port for Athens, and visiting Greece and Turkey. Cruise number two is a Sicily Odyssey, again 15 days and again cruising from Piraeus, but this time visiting eight ports on the Italian island. The cruise ends at Civitavecchia, the port for Rome.

All sorts of professors, reverends and doctors will be accompanying the cruises, talking about the places you'll be visiting.

It does sound rather educational, but Voyages UK managing director David Yellow assures me you'll be able to opt out of all the learning and just enjoy the cruise if you wish.

Prices start from £1,995 for 15 days, which includes flights and transfers, all shore excursions, wine with dinner and gratuities.

Voyages' one ship, Aegean Odyssey, is not new, but the Aegean I that it used to be has been taken apart and rebuilt so it might as well be. Balcony and deluxe cabins have been created by knocking rooms together, reducing capacity from 570 passengers to 380.

I'm hoping to get a sneak preview of the ship in Piraeus later this month so I'll let you know how it's looking.

By the time you read this I will have arrived in Porto in Portugal after an ungodly early flight from Gatwick, and be on the way to join the Douro Queen, operated by Elegant River Cruises, which will be my home for the next five days.

I'll be cruising the Douro river, visiting Salamancar in Spain, famous for the Plaza Major, the biggest square in Spain, and various places in Portugal where I am hoping to have a chance - or two or three - to taste the region's most famous export. Port, of course.

Internet-willing, I'll be bringing news and information about the Douro Queen and the destinations we are visiting so keep checking back.

I expected scenery to be the main attraction on my Douro cruise with Elegant River Cruises and I was right - so right, in fact, that the rolling vineyard-strewn hills meant getting on-line was a bit hit and miss. Mostly miss, which is why you've not heard anything from me for the past few days.

If I had to make comparisons, I would say the Douro river cruise is like the Yangtze in China. It really is just about scenery and the stunning views; if you are interested in seeing towns and cities that have left their mark on history this is the wrong cruise for you (although of course in China, river cruise operators add Beijing and Shanghai either end of the cruise).

On the Douro, there's Porto at the start, the city famous for Portugal's fortified wine, and Salamanca in Spain, reached from Vega de Terron at the furthest navigable (for the bigger boats) point of the river. In between are places that are sort-of interesting but realistically can be ticked off in an hour or less. I'll tell you about them in the next blog.

I was cruising on the 130-passenger Douro Queen, owned by Douro Azul, and chartered by US river cruise company Uniworld, which is sold in the UK by Elegant River Cruises, a division Connections, which itself is a division of Titan Travel. Too many brand names or what?

Douro Azul, incidentally, owns four of the boats on the river, including sister vessel Douro Cruiser, which is chartered by AMA Waterways.

The distance from Porto, the second-largest city in Portugal, to Vega de Terron is just 130 miles and passes through five locks on the way. You have to book a time to pass through, apparently, which meant Peter, the cruise manager, had to keep excursions to the very tight schedule.

The locks were built between 1964 and 1985 and meant river cruisers could navigate upstream. Until then, it was either wild or too shallow in places for even the small boats they used to transport port wine from the vineyards to Porto. In fact they often had to be had pulled back upriver by men and oxen.

Then it took four days to get from Pinhao, the centre of the port wine region, to get to Porto, but sometimes weeks to get back. And that was only 50 years ago. Now you can travel all 130 miles and get back to Porto in seven nights - and that's with plenty of stops en route - and they transport the wine by road.

A lot easier but not nearly so romantic.

The locks dictate how big river cruise boats on the Douro can be. The Douro Queen is 37 feet wide and only just fitted into the locks - it was such as tight fit that I could stand on my balcony and touch the wall of the lock as we were either lifted or dropped. The deepest lock (below) is 109 feet. Being inside that when the water level was at its lowest was incredible.

Because it's such a tight fit (see above) invariably there was a bump as we entered the locks - a "kiss", the captain called it, looking quite unperturbed.

Apparently it not to do with his bad driving, but the fault of the current, which can be seven or eight knots on the Douro, especially around the locks. That's fast, believe me.

The Douro Queen is a nice, comfortable four-star boat. The cabins are small but functional, the food was fine but not brilliant (despite having so few people to cater for - and there were only 80 on my cruise - they suffered the usual cruise ship malais of lukewarm food with no taste) and the facilities are limited - one dining room, one bar and a sundeck.

The passengers were a mix of American and British, mostly in the 60s and 70s I would guess and happy not to have to do too much.

I had to laugh in Pinhao, where an evening dinner was organised in the sumptuous Vintage House Hotel, five minutes' stroll from the boat. After dinner, a shuttle was laid on to get all those who really needed help back to Douro Queen. Everyone joined the queue!

Needless to say, by 10pm each night, the boat was like the Marie Celeste, with just myself and the few other journalists on the trip left propping up the bar.

Mustn't complain though. It meant we got a very personal service from the bar staff!

I promised yesterday to write about the places we visited on the excursions offered by Elegant River Cruises as we sailed along the Douro River in Portugal.

Because I boarded the Douro Queen a couple of days after the cruise started, my first excursion was to Salamanca in Spain, an unexpected treasure some 90 minutes drive from Vega de Terron, where our boat was moored.

It was an interesting drive, past fields of almond, olive and evergreen oak trees, Spanish villages and hamlets and a big national park where animals are protected, but which is right next to a hunting area. I just hope the animals can read the signs so they know which side to stay on.

Uniworld (sold as Elegant in the UK) sets up residence at the NH Hotel in the centre of the city so passengers have somewhere to wash and brush up, relax after too much walking and generally use as a meeting point. It's also where they served us lunch, followed by a flamenco dancing display.

Salamanca is famous for its university - it's one of the four leading places of academic learning in the world and means of the city's 160,000 population, 50,000 are students ("it's a lively place at night," our guide Carmen told us) - and also for the Plaza Mayor, one of the biggest squares in Spain, capable of holding 20,000 people.

It used to be used for bull flighting; now they stick to less brutal concerts and festivals. Some sort of book fair had just been held on the day we were there and the booths were still up so it was hard to get a feel for the size, but you could definitely see how grand it was.

Many of the buildings in Salamanca are built in sandstone, which gives it the nickname Golden City. It looks really attractive, but is also very practical because it never needs cleaning. The convents, cathedrals, churches and university, despite being several centuries old, have never been cleaned and they look as good as the day they were built.

When the university was founded in 1218, you had to have money to attend. No grants or student loans in those days. So students would arrive with 25 servants each who were put to work warming the classroom floors - they didn't have chairs either, and the floors were freezing in winter - and copying books for their masters (there was only one copy of each book so students had to borrow it and write the contents to help them learn. Except the students didn't do the copying!).

Salamanca was a full day out. When we arrived back at the Douro Queen, it had left Vega de Terron in Spain and moved to Barco d'Alva, back on the Portuguese side of the Douro, and we stayed there overnight because the next day was an excursion to Castelo Rodrigo.

I kept looking at the time to get there - 40 minutes each way - and the time we were due back at the boat, and worrying that we would have to do this place at a gallop to see everything on the map. I worried needlessly.

It was tiny, built in the 1100s on top of a hill to keep out the Spanish. In its heyday, 400-500 people lived there (quite petit folk judging by the size of the doors), today there are just 65-70.

I did the long walk in barely 30 minutes (and yes, there was a short walk), ticking off the remains of the palace, the cistern, the church and pillory (a very small square, with no sign of any instruments of public punishment). And that was going slowly.

As I said in an earlier blog, this cruise is all about scenery, not the places you see.

Once back at the boat, we cast off and headed to Pinhao, a delightful place with a lovely deli and a railway station decorated in the blue-and-white tiles, known as azulejos, that you find everywhere in Portugal.

We were having dinner at the Vintage House Hotel in Pinhao. It's an included excursion, a nice extra touch that gets passengers off the boat in the evening and ensures they try food that is a tad more local. The hotel was lovely and amazingly cheap - river-view double rooms were a bargain 130 euros a night.

Because northern Portugal is not a big tourist area, prices generally are incredibly reasonable. Next day in an smart cafe in Lamego, four coffees and two teas cost just over six euros. In Salamanca, you could pick up packets of the local ham and salami (delicious by the way) for just over one euro.

Lamego, which we visited from Regua, is in the heart of the port wine country - in the 1500s and 1600s, port used to be known as "sweet wine of Lamego". It's also famous for sparkling wine and being the place where Portugal's first king was proclaimed.

There's a cathedral and museum, both of limited interest. The big attraction is the Sanctuary of out Lady of Remedies, standing above the town at the top of a 686-step baroque stairway. In September, pilgrims come here and walk up the steps on their knees - a feat I am still trying to imagine.

Uniworld takes passengers to the Sanctuary by coach and then they are free to walk down or take a ride back to town. I wandered down with the other journalists and I think two couples braved the walk. The rest, infirm or otherwise, hopped back on the coach.

Exercise really was a dirty word for most of them.

Cruise lines always blamed the head tax as the reason they took their ships out of Alaska, but could it be that was just an excuse?

Talks between the cruise lines and Alaska's Governor Sean Parnell at the Seatrade Shipping Convention in Miami in March resulted in the State Legislature reducing the head tax in almost unseemly haste.

From October 31, it falls from $46 per person to $34.50, except on cruises visiting Juneau and Ketchikan, when the tax falls to $19.50 because other charges are being waived at these ports.

But what has been the result? Lukewarm at best, if a report in Travel Weekly US is anything to go by.

Seems cruise lines never offered any guarantee to Parnell that they would return to Alaska if the head tax was reduced - and there has hardly been a rush among those who pulled ships to go back.

Could it be that Alaska's star was falling anyway - destinations do come in and out of favour - and rather than say that, as it could affect bookings for their ships still in Alaska, cruise lines blamed the head tax.

Carnival Corporation chairman Micky Arison said there has been no rush back because 2011 itineraries are in place and it would be impossible to make any changes.

Not desirable maybe, but certainly not impossible. Royal Caribbean has just changed Mariner of the Seas' itinerary, and is bringing the ship to the Med next year, giving it 11 vessels in Europe in summer 2011.

Changes can be made if cruise lines want to make them. But Alaska is no longer hot stuff, whereas Europe is.

Interestingly, as the big lines have cut capacity, the smaller ones have deemed it a good time to go to Alaska.

Crystal Cruises is returning for the first time since 2005 next year, and both Disney Cruise Lines and Oceania Cruises will be making their debut in the 49th state in 2011. P&O Cruises will be cruising there from Southampton for the first time in more than 40 years - a 72-night voyage on adult-only ship Arcadia.

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, the Norwegian line famous as being oh-so-very British, is to start giving its passengers a taste of Norway when its ships are cruising in the fjords.

It's a great idea - I had only just had a meeting with Chris Townson, managing director of Scenic Tours UK, where we both were saying how nice it is when cruise ships serve cuisine from the areas they are cruising in, when Fred's news appeared in my in-box.

As I don't eat anything that comes out of water, I can't get over enthusiastic about the very fishy offerings they will be dishing up - well it is Norwegian cuisine after all - but I can still applaud the thought.

There will be Norwegian starters at dinner such as trout tartar, Aquavit-smoked salmon with mustard sauce, and traditional caviar of capelin and salmon, with warm potato cakes, sour cream and chives, and salmon prepared in 13 different ways over a 13-day cycle.

They are even offering some Norwegian foodie tours - the "Orchard of Norway" excursion from Eidfjord, to see traditional farming, and a "King Crab" day out from Honningsvag to see and taste the local crabs.

As part of Cruise Norway's Taste the Coast promotion, on two seven-night cruises on Braemar, on June 11 and August 12, local celebrity chef Fredrik Hald will be going on Bergen and demonstrating his seafood cookery skills in the Neptune Lounge. Come evening, there'll be a special seafood menu of salmon, scallops, herring and mackerel.

My fishy friends would love it. Excuse me if I give it a miss though.

I'm on my way to Dover today, for a Baltic cruise on Saga Pearl II, the ship that joined the Saga fleet in March.

I know the Baltic well, but this will be my first time cruising through the Kiel Canal, which I am looking forward to. We're also visiting Travemunde in Germany, from where I'm off on a tour to Lubeck - another first for me - and then it's return visits(for me) to Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsiniki and Tallinn.

We'll also be spending two days in St Petersburg, which I am so looking forward to. It's a fabulous city, so full of history and wonderful buildings.

I am looking forward to visiting my favourite restaurant for a beer and these pasties filled with mushrooms, meat, cheese or cabbage that my daughter and discovered last time. They were so good we went back next day and ordered twice as many!

The internet is going to be a bit sticky - there's no wi-fi on the Pearl - but where possible I'll be posting information about the trip, plus any other bits and pieces I hear on the grapevine. So keep checking in, but please bear with me.

One of the nicest things about Copenhagen - apart from the fact that it is such a delightful laid-back city - is that everyone speaks such good English that you don't have to worry about making yourself understood when you stop off at a restaurant for lunch and drop of the local brew.

One of the bad things is that same lunch will leave you several pounds lighter. My bill today for two bottles of beer, a burger and a very small - but very delicious - portion of chicken in a curry sauce on a tiny sliver of bread was not far off £40. Wow.

Not that I am complaining. Copenhagen, even without the Little Mermaid (she is in Shanghai for Expo 2010 and there's a live video of her in China instead), has been one of the highlights on my Saga Pearl II cruise in the Baltic that has already been packed full of highlights.

And it is only day three.

The first highlight was finding myself in Grand Suite Ninety Nine (note how the number is spelt out, making it even more Grand!). It is a fabulous room, spacious, stylish and with a shower that just empties onto the bathroom floor so there is no messing about with curtains or cubicles.

It comes with Dennis, my rather handsome butler, who serves canapés in the afternoon (and bothers to ask first which you'd like, which is a really special touch), any or all meals if wanted and even does my washing for free. And there's a bar that most certainly isn't mini but is all complimentary.

Highlight number two was going through the Nord Ostsee Kanal - that's Kiel Canal to you and me - linking the North Sea to the Baltic.

It's probably one of the least-known canals in the world - certainly not on the list of must-dos with Panama or Suez - yet if anyone ever wants a reason to cruise on smaller ships, the fact they can nip through the Nord Ostsee, cutting off all those sea days going around Denmark, is surely it.

The canal, built between 1887 and 1895 on the orders of Kaiser Wilhelm II, is nearly 100km long and took something like five hours to transit. It was actually just like being on a river cruise, with fields, forests and towns to look at as you went along.

Highlight number three was Lubeck, in Germany, which I visited on a day trip from our first port, Travemunde. Actually, the city wasn't so much the highlight, although it was very pleasant, but rather Hans the hippy, who guided us at high speed from one point to another, telling us from the moment we left the ship that we were "already very late".

He was good though, full of information - about the free three litres a day of beer everyone (men and women) received in medieval times (they used to make a baby and child version of beer as well) and the fact they used a picture of a gladiator in the court room in the Rathouse to symbolise discretion because a woman couldn't be trusted not to talk.

But my favourite was about Bach, the composer, then 20 years old and with a dream to become master organist in the Gothic-style St Mary's Church - until he discovered that to achieve his ambition he had to marry the oldest daughter of the existing master.

She was 40 years old and "a bitch", to quote Hans, so Bach did the only decent thing and scarpered.

The church was almost completely destroyed by the British during a bombing campaign in 1942, during the Second World War, and reconstruction was considered so dangerous that only bachelors were employed to piece it back together again.

I'd love to know what that did to the marriage statistics that year.

Plan A for my visit to St Petersburg on Saga Pearl II was to get a visa and go ashore alone - something I've done many times and a far better option if you know a place well than taking a ship's tour and having guides fuss over you like a mother hen.

Don't they know we have roads and cars in the UK as well?

Unfortunately I did not have time to get the visa (actually I would have done had I known an ash cloud was going to disrupt all my travels) and as you can't go ashore alone without one in Russia I chose for the next best thing - a private car with driver and guide so I could go where I wanted.

It was a bit awkward as actually what I wanted to just go and walk around the city, enjoying life like a local as I would have when on my own, having lunch here, a drink there. Not the sort of thing guides want you to do.

And then I had a flash of inspiration and asked to be taken to the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, about 29km from the city.

It's unknown to tourists as it's still being restored and there are only about 10 rooms open at the moment, but I wanted to see it as it was where Tsar Nicholas II lived and was then imprisoned after he abdicated the thrown in 1917.

It's not an ornate palace and never was, but it gives a fascinating snapshot of the family life of the last tsar - he had four girls and one son, Alexei. Rooms have been laid out to try to give an impression of how they lived, and there are pictures of the family, along with exhibitions of some of the children's toys.

A sign said restoration will be finished in June 2010, which is more than a little over optimistic, but it will be a wonderful extra attraction for visitors when it is done.

Back in town, I did manage to drag my guide around on my planned walking tour around the city, past St Isaac's Cathedral, the Hermitage, the naval museum, the Peter and Paul Fortress and to the battleship Aurora, which fired the shot that signalled the start of the 1917 revolution.

Then we hopped on a metro to Premorskaya station, where the driver was waiting, and which turned out to be just 10 minutes' drive from the new cruise terminal. Very handy if you do come with a visa.

All the stations now have names in our alphabet as well, by the way, which makes it a lot easier if you do want to explore alone.

It was the first time I'd been to the new terminal and it was disappointing. No band to welcome you, as had been the norm at the commercial port, no sign of life, just a shiny new building in a big bare wasteland. All very sterile. It's still being finished though - the plan is seven terminals - so maybe it will improve.

That evening, I joined an excursion to the ballet, to see Swan Lake. I last saw a ballet many years ago in Moscow so am hardly in a position to judge whether it was good or bad, but I do know it was very enjoyable. Give it a go if you ever have the chance.

Next day on a boat ride around St Petersburg's canals - it's not known as the Venice of the North for nothing - we were joined by a teenager who ran the route, appearing on each bridge, waving and blowing kisses as our boat went under.

Having walked a good bit of the route the day before, I could only admire him for running further - it must have been nearly three miles - and in just an hour. I'm happy to say most of my fellow passengers realised he was doing it for money (our guide reckoned he does it at least twice a day) and his entrepreneurialism was suitably rewarded as we disembarked.

From St Petersburg, Saga Pearl II sailed to Tallinn, where I had to abandon ship and get home. It will be carrying on to Sweden, Lithuania, Poland and Denmark, before coming back through the Kiel Canal to Dover.

Sounds fun. I'm sad to be missing it.

What a difference six weeks makes. Celebrity Cruises announced at the start of April that it would have six ships in Europe for 2011 including Celebrity Mercury; yesterday speculation that Mercury was actually leaving the Celebrity fleet was confirmed.

The 1997-built 1,898-passenger ship is to renamed Mein Schiff 2 and moved to TUI Cruises, a joint venture between Royal Caribbean Cruises and TUI AG, tailored to the German market, and the crew moved across to one of Celebrity new Solstice-class ships.

The switch happens in May 2011 after a refurbishment that will add balconies and a teen bar, and create a bigger spa.

The original Mein Schiff was formerly Celebrity Galaxy, a sister to Mercury, so the two vessels will be reunited.

Mercury will spend its first season sailing as Mein Schiff 2 in Northern Europe. Itineraries will be revealed on June 1, when the cruises go on sale.

The 450-passenger Seabourn Sojourn was officially handed over to Yachts of Seabourn today and is now getting ready to cruise from the T Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, Italy, to Greenwich, where it will be named on June 4 by 60's icon Twiggy, now the face of M&S.

The ship is the second in a series of three new ships for six-star Seabourn. The first, Seabourn Odyssey, launched last year, the third, Seabourn Quest, is due out of the same shipyard next June.

The ship is making a quick stop in Dover next Thursday and will then be heading to London, sailing through the Thames Barrier at 06.30-ish on Friday morning and tying up at a pontoon in the river near Greenwich.

What a glamorous welcome our capital city extends to visiting cruise ships.

I'm going to be on board for the naming ceremony, on June 4, which will be a chance to have a good look around, although I understand the ship is pretty much identical to Odyssey, which I was on last year in Venice, just before it launched.

Then there was a bit of a panic as the ship wasn't quite ready. This time, I gather all has gone smoothly and Sojourn is ship-shape and ready to set off on its maiden cruise - to Denmark, Scotland, Iceland and Norway - on June 6.

I'll keep you posted.

Travel Agent Central reports that US citizens are once again able to get visas for Libya thanks to a trade and investment agreement between Libya and the US.

The change also means US cruise ships can get blanket visas for their passengers. I guess that means passengers will be able to go ashore on a ship's excursion but will need a visa if they want to explore alone (as happens if you visit Russia).

So does this mean US cruise ships will be redesigning their Mediterranean itineraries to include calls at Libya?

Probably not - or at least not in too much of a hurry given cruise lines have been bitten once before; told they could call but then been unable to disembark US citizens.

Travel Weekly US quotes Oceania Cruises' Tim Rubacky as saying simply: "We are watching the situation develop with interest."

For the sake of the Americans, I do hope that Libya does open up for them. I was there last year on a cruise with Swan Hellenic and it is an incredible destination. The ancient Roman remains were amazing, as expected, and I loved the fact they were not cordoned off from visitors because, well there just aren't that many visitors to worry about.

Of course that will all change if the new visa rules stick and many more cruise ships - and passengers - start heading Libya's way.

On second thoughts then maybe it would be better if Libya changed its mind again on letting the Americans in. Or maybe put a maximum on the number of cruise ships allowed per year.

Elitist I know, but some things are worth preserving.

Disney Cruise Line's Disney Magic will be arriving in Dover for the first time tomorrow, for the start of its debut Baltic season.

It's only short - four 12-night cruises - but the ship will be calling at all the favourite places on the way around, including Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki and St Petersburg, where it is staying overnight.

No doubt plenty of heads will be turning on the first cruise, also departing tomorrow, as none of these places will have seen a cruise ship with Mickey Mouse ears on the funnel.

Or that plays "When you wish upon a star" as it pulls out of port for that matter. 

I am told it's a tough market out there, what with the public's fear of the impending austerity measures and stay-at-home fever caused by the World Cup.

Unless you are Gill's Cruise Centre, that is. They say bookings rose as the World Cup loomed as footie fans snapped up cruises, reassured they would be able to see their favourite team in action despite being at sea because cruise lines are screening the games on special screens around their ships.

If you manage to drag yourself away from the TV, or are just looking for an excuse to get away from the footie, here are some of this week's top offers.

P&O for £71 a night
Gill's Cruise Centre has a 14-night Baltic cruise from Southampton on P&O Cruises' Azura on July 2 from £999 per person for an inside cabin - just £71 a night.

Gill's also has a 14-night cruise from Southampton to the Baltic on Cunard's Queen Victoria on July 8 from £1,299 per person for a balcony cabin.

Prefer Norway? There's a 12-night Iceland and Norway cruise from Southampton on Princess Cruises' Crown Princess on July 12 2010. Prices from £899 per person for an inside cabin.

Call 08456 582323 or click here

Round Britain
Fred Olsen Cruise Lines is offering a nine-night no-fly round-Britain cruise from Newcastle on Boudicca on September 26 from £726 per person - that's £80 a night - for an inside cabin.

See your travel agent, call 01473 742424 or click here

Marine Harmony
French cruise line Compagnie du Ponant is offering a Marine Harmony wellness cruise on mega-yacht Le Boréal sailing from Nice to Honfleur in France on June 18-27. It's all being done in partnership with Carita, which is bringing beauticians, health specialists and dieticians on board to offer advice and treatments. Prices from £2,690 per person excluding flights and transfers.
 
See your travel agent, call 0808 234 3802 or click here

River savings
AMA Waterways has £500 savings on a seven-night cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam on July 19 and 23. Prices now start from £2,750, including flights and transfers, wine with meals, free wi-fi and daily excursions.

AMA is also offering £425 per person off the price of a Russian Waterways cruise from Moscow to St Petersburg on July 30 and August 23. Prices now from £1,995 per person including flights and transfers, wine with dinner, free wi-fi and daily excursions.

See your travel agent, call 0808 223 5009 or click here 

Land of the Midnight Sun
Voyages of Discovery is offering £300 off a 15-day Iceland and Greenland cruise on its ship, Discovery, on August 6. You'll fly to Reykjavik and have a day there before cruising to Greenland and then to Dover. Prices now from £1,099 per person.

See your travel agent, call 0844 822 0801 or click here

Half price Baltic
Iglucruise has a 12-night Baltic cruise from Dover on Norwegian Sun from just £689 per person. That's half the price it was but you'll have to be able to drop everything and go as it departs June 28. Balcony upgrades are available for an extra £100.

Iglucruise also has a good deal on a 12-night transatlantic from Southampton to New York via Boston on Dawn Princess on July 14. Prices now from £799 per person for an inside cabin, down from £1,199, with balconies from £999.

Call 020 8544 6447 or click here.

Mediterranean summer
P&O Cruises is offering a 14-night Mediterranean cruise from Southampton, visiting France, Italy and Spain, on Ventura on July 31 from £1,358 per person for an inside stateroom.

See your agent, call 0845 3 555 333 or click here

* All offers here are subject to availability.

I've cruised on Crystal Serenity several times, but this week I'm going to experience the baby of the Crystal Cruises' fleet, Crystal Symphony (it holds 922 passengers vs 1,070 on Serenity).

Mine is a odd seven-night part-way round-Britain cruise. We depart from Dover tonight and go to Guernsey, three ports in Ireland and Liverpool, where the ship turns around and returns to Dover after a day at sea.

I'll be leaving in Belfast though, as I have to get home in time to head out to join Norwegian Cruise Line's new ship Norwegian Epic in Rotterdam.

I'm looking forward to seeing Crystal Symphony, which recently had a $25 million makeover that upgraded the Penthouses, and spruced up the other cabins and suites, the Lido Cafe and Prego, the Italian speciality restaurant.

Internet willing, I'll let you know how it's all looking.

Crystal Cruises has made a bit of a name for itself by offering some of the most extreme shore excursions of any cruise line (experiencing the G-Force of blast off at the cosmonauts training centre outside Moscow and free climbing in Croatia, which both sound downright scary to me, spring to mind).

Now it is going in another direction with shore excursions, offering voluntourism days out where passengers can sign up for voluntary work in some of the countries its two ships visit.

It's all part of a "You care, we care" programme launching for 2011 that will include one free shorex where passengers can donate their time to take part in a local charitable project.

Ideas mentioned when I was on Crystal Symphony last week included helping kids in a burns unit in Peru, taking part in a community clean-up in Puerto Vallarta in Mexico and working at the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre in Cape Town, South Africa.

The "We care" bit is where Crystal comes in. It will be donating a portion of the revenue it receives from shore excursions to World Heritage Sites - the pyramids at Giza in Egypt, the Western Wall in Israel, the Great Wall of China for instance - back to the site to help with preservation work.

"We want to make sure we have something to leave for future generations," explained John Stoll, vice-president of land and port operations.

Not sure what anyone can actually do to help communities in just a few hours, but it's the thought that counts, not to mention the money Crystal is giving.

No doubt others will follow the lead, so top marks for Crystal for getting there first.

Norwegian Cruise Line isn't having a lot of luck with Norwegian Epic, with a faulty bearing the latest problem to beset the new ship.

But their bad luck is everyone else's gain (unless you happen to be one of the people who was due to board the ship in Southampton this morning).

You should have heard the cheer that went up in the Rotterdam terminal yesterday when passengers - and these are people who have paid, remember - heard they would have an extra day at sea today because we'll be arriving in the UK about 5.30pm instead of 10am as scheduled.

I met one couple during the lifeboat drill who have had to change all their travel arrangements, potentially have a nightmare journey to get back to Holland, but were quite happy. He had brought her on to introduce her to cruising as he wants to do a voyage through the Panama Canal sometime.

Once we get to Southampton, Epic will be remain tied up overnight so a new bearing can be fitted (one has been flown over to the UK and is now sitting at the port waiting our arrival).

Can it be fixed in sch a short time? NCL's president and chief operating officer Roberto Martinoli is confident it can. But he pointed out that the priority now is to make sure Epic is ready to sail to New York on Thursday for its real maiden voyage.

Rather than a cruise to nowhere that takes us sailing around Guernsey, I suspect we might have to make do with circumnavigating the Isle of Wight.

I'll tell you what though. Everyone is having so much fun, I don't think they'll care.

Talk about little and large.

I got off Norwegian Cruise Line's new 4,100-passenger Norwegian Epic last Thursday and ths afternoon - Saturday - board Compagnie du Ponant's just-launched 264-passenger Le Boreal for a cruise to Hamburg by way of France, Belgium and Holland.

As you might guess from the name, this is a French cruise line so I'm really looking forward to seeing how they do things - the service of course, but also the food. After all, if they can't get the cuisine right on a French ship, there really is no hope.

Internet-willing, I'll be posting information and pictures from the cruise so don't forget to join me.

One of the nicest things about being on Le Boreal was that I didn't have to walk miles to get from one end of the ship to the other. Unlike on Norwegian Epic!

The ship - really more a yacht - holds just 264 passengers, which gives you some idea just how small it is.

There are all sorts of things I like about the vessel. I have already mentioned the cabins and the colour scheme, but down all the corridors are pictures of yachts, ships and people, all in the same grey-white, but all with a splash of red somewhere. It's really effective.

I love these hoody sunbeds by the pool - but there are only two so I was lucky to grab one - and the service has been fine. It's a bit haphazard but generally delivered with a smile, which is more important to me than stoney-faced perfection.

As on other cruise ships, crew are from all over the world including Indonesia, Mauritius and Eastern Europe but all speak French and English so there are no language problems, even though this is a French ship.

Also, all announcements are made in French and English, mainly by the brilliant Captain Etienne Garcia, a real social butterfly who was so keen to keep us up to date with what was happening as we cruised that he was at the microphone at all hours.

Only problem is that all the announcements come straight into the cabin and can't be switched off. Doesn't worry me as I am an early riser, but I am sure some were none too happy when he came on to wish us a happy wake up at 7.20am as we sailed into Hamburg!

He said the English always complain because he has told the French more and the French always complain because, yes, you 've guessed it, they say he tells the English more. "Actually it's all unscripted so I just say what I remember," he admitted.

He says he can't wait to get back to Antarctica, where Le Boreal will be sailing this winter after a season in the Baltic and Med.

All the port talks on my sector of the cruise were in French, which is not very good for English-speakers and I am assured is not the norm. "It's because there are only five Germans on board," I was told. Hmmmm. So somehow the 10 or so English speakers didn't count.

Likewise the information provided in the daily programme was quite cursory - it forgot to mention such things as shuttle buses - and the shore excursion programme looked almost like an afterthought.

There were just two excursions at each port, and all very run of the mill - historical Ghent, medieval Ghent, Hamburg city tour, and so on. But at least they did lay on English-speaking tours when required and of course they were the best ones to be on because as it was just a small group so you saw a lot more.

I mentioned the food was very French; so was the entertainment. I would put it about 20 years out of date for the Brits - dance and mime in twee costumes - but it's what appeals to the French and that's important because they will always be the majority of passengers.

Not that there ever seemed to be many people in the theatre at show time. Or indeed any of the lounges on the ship after dinner. I gather they ate and then went back to their cabins to watch films on the TV. It did mean the ship lacked any atmosphere in the evening.

So why come on here? Well it is a beautiful ship and frankly lends itself to a very relaxing holiday. There's no hassle, no fuss, no one pushing to sell you anything. You can just switch off and eat, sleep and read a book, maybe have a spa treatment. And all that with the great crew in attendance if you do want something.

Appealing or what?

After Le Boreal, I've had all of a day and a half at home, unpacked and repacked and now I'm off again, this time to Venice for the naming tomorrow - July 4 - of Holland America Line's new 2,160-passenger Nieuw Amsterdam.

The honours are going to be performed by her Royal Highness Princess Maxima of the Netherlands, and once the deed is done, we're sailing to Dubrovnik for a day, having a day at sea and then it's back to Venice, where the ship starts its summer series of 12-day cruises between Venice and Barcelona.

The ceremony begins at 1pm and you can watch it live by clicking here.

I'm really looking forward to this trip. Not only do I get to visit two of my favourite cities in one hit, I am also going to be seeing what promises to be a great new HAL ship with some interesting design features.

I especially love the idea of the chandelier in the atrium that is an abstract sculpture of the skyline of New York. Apparently if you take a picture from a certain angle, the lights from the Ocean Bar make the torch on the Statue of Liberty appear to light up!

Internet willing, I'll bring you a pic of that and more news and thoughts about the ship so remember to keep checking back.

Far be it from me to suggest Holland America Line is unimaginative when it comes to naming its ships, but clearly they don't believe in putting too much thought into the process.

The Nieuw Amsterdam, which I chanced to see sailing past St Mark's Square in Venice on its way to the port to be christened by her Royal Highness Princess Maxima of the Netherlands, is the fourth HAL ship to bear the name.

The first - a steam ship with masts - sailed between 1906 and 1931, the second from 1938 to 1973 and the third, still in service but now called Thomson Spirit, sailed for HAL from 1983 and 2000.

I admit I'm intrigued as to why the ceremony to name the Nieuw Amsterdam was held in the theatre given we were in Venice and there was no danger of a British downpour to put a dampen on the event.

I reckon it was either a) because they didn't want to risk having guests - and especially the princess - keel over in the Venice heat, b) because it saved dressing up the pool area or the quayside for the occasion, or c) it meant they could pre-record the bottle being smashed.

You think I'm being cynical? What we saw on the stage was the princess pull a lever and pictures of bottles of bubbly allegedly being smashed against other HAL ships, and finally, apparently, Nieuw Amsterdam.

A good piece of theatre but I honestly don't know if it was real.

No matter. Everyone at HAL seemed happy as they whisked Princess Maxima out of the theatre to great applause and the captain made ready to set off on the ship's maiden voyage.

It's a funny one as about 150 travel agents and journalists, myself included, from around the world are on the ship for a three-night cruise from Venice to Dubrovnik and back.

The rest of the 1,900 or so passengers on board with us - the ship holds 2,106 - have bought a 10-night cruise that includes a day back in Venice while they drop us off, before the ship heads back into the Adriatic for a cruise to the Greek Isles and to make HAL's first visit to Kotor in Montenegro.

It will then spend the rest of the summer sailing 12-night cruises, either round-trip from Venice or between Venice and Barcelona, before relocating to the Caribbean for winter,

Hurtigruten is not only sticking with Antarctica despite the impending ban on heavy fuels but expecting a rush of bookings as other cruise lines pull out because of the increasing difficulty of operating there.

From August 2011, the International Maritime Agency is banning the use of heavy fuels in the region. It means ships that want to cruise there have to empty their tanks of heavy fuel, clean them and refill them with lighter fuels such as marine gas oil.

It's an expensive operation that is expected to force the big 2,000-plus passenger ships that offer non-landing cruises to pull out of the region just because the whole operation is so expensive.

It leaves the field open for small cruise ship operators such as Hurtigruten, which has just launched its 2011/12 brochure with news that it already has advanced registrations for the 2011/12 season.

It's newest ship, Fram, is operating in Antarctica - and is small enough that you can go ashore - and then moving to the Arctic for the summer as usual.

New for summer 2011 are five-night cruises along the north-west coast of the Svalbard archipelago. Hurtigruten also has a one-off "climate voyage" between Iceland and Spitsbergen in July 2011, with lectures designed to help passengers understand global warming.

Details are in the cruise line's new Explorer Voyages brochure, available here or see your travel agent.

Talking of Antarctica, Holland America Line has said it will continue going there despite the ban on heavy fuels that comes into force next year.

President and chief executive officer Stein Kruse, who was on Nieuw Amsterdam's maiden voyage with me this week, said they will empty the tanks of heavy fuel, clean them and put in lighter fuel, even though the whole operation will be very expensive.

Is it worth it? Passengers on HAL ships can't go ashore so all they can do is look at the continent from the top deck along with 1,500 or so other passengers.

If I was spending all that money to go to Antarctica - and braving Drake Passage into the bargain - I'd at least want to go ashore and get some penguin guano on my wellies!

The sun is beating down and there is an enormous - and noisy - worksite outside my balcony.

Welcome to Malaga and Princess Cruises' Grand Princess, which I boarded earlier today for a wine-themed cruise to Civitavecchia, the port for Rome.

I'm doing a wine-tasting on board tomorrow, visiting wine cellars from Barcelona the next day and Chateau de Cremat from Monte Carlo the day after that for yet more wine-tasting.

It's a tough life, isn't it?

Actually it's all a bit nostalgic for me as this is the ship I got married on in 2004. Then I was in the Baltic, somewhere between Copenhagen and Stockholm. And yes, although I seem to be rarely at home these days - I managed a record five days between getting off Nieuw Amsterdam and this trip! - I am still married. Maybe brief encouters are the secret?

In between all the wine tasting, I'll be sampling the food in Sabatini's, the ship's Italian multi-course speciality restaurant, and in Sterling Steakhouse, which is my favourite place to eat on a Princess ship.

I also plan to have lunch ashore a couple of times as a cruise is such a great way to try local cuisine in several countries on one holiday. I know eating ashore costs extra and the food on board is all paid for so in effect you are paying twice for a meal, but hey, you only live once and surely travelling - even cruising - is all about experiencing, and tasting, local cultures.

Internet willing, I'll keep you posted about the ship, the food and the excursions so be sure to keep checking back.

I mentioned that my cruise on Grand Princess this week has something of a wine-theme as it's been all about discovering how easy it is to visit wineries in the various countries we are calling at and enjoy a glass or two of the local tipple.

It links in with a mini brochure Princess Cruises has produced that's aimed at inspiring passengers to do their own wine-themed thing in the ports in France, Italy and Spain that Grand Princess visits on its cruises from Southampton.

"We're not just out to sell excursions," Princess head of brand marketing Pieter van der Schee explained. "We actually want our passengers to have a really enjoyable holiday and wine tasting is one thing we believe many people will enjoy. Hopefully the leaflet will help to give them ideas."

How refreshing is that?

In fact my tasting lessons started on Grand with a wine-tasting session with sommelier Stefano, below, who had picked a Champagne and five wines - two white and three red - for us to sample.

We learnt where the wine came from, how to swirl it properly before sniffing, how to sniff it - why can I never get the aromas of strawberries, blackberries, roses and so on, like everyone else? - what the colour told us, what legs are and what food to eat with the wine. And then finally were allowed to taste.

Two hours later we all left as very happy experts!

Next day, from Barcelona, we drove 45 minutes out of town to Cava country, to visit the Freixenet estate and taste the Spanish sparking wine they produce.

I'd never heard of Freixenet and expected a small company in a little town of Sant Sadurni d'Anoia, which I'd also never heard of. How wrong can you be? They produce 80 million bottles of Cava a year, 70% of which is exported. And boy do they love their branding. Just look at this bottle lamp and the picture below of me in front of the car!

We were taken on a tour of the vineyards, the visitor centre, which explains how Cava is made, the bottling plant and the cellars, ending the visit with a 15-minute mini-train ride through more cellars ... and more cellars ... and more cellars. Enough cellars in fact to hold 80 million bottles.

Actually the train ride was not quite the end as naturally there was a Cava tasting, augmented with some Spanish jamon, saucisson sec and bread with tomato. So if you do this you also get to taste some of the local tapas as well. Heaven!

And then it was on to Monaco, from where we snuck into France - not so difficult considering how tiny Monaco is! - to visit Chateau de Cremat just outside Nice, which was quite different from Freixenet. An estate with just 15 hectares that produces just 40,000 bottles of red, white and rose wine a year that's all sold in local shops and restaurants.

Roxanne, the guide, took us into the cellars, which date back to Roman times and where you can still see the rooms where they used to tread grapes. That tap on the left side is where the juice came out.

To do this tour, you need to pre-book and have a minimum 10 people. Cost is €15 (€19 at weekends), which includes a visit to the cellar and three wines to taste. For €25 (€32 at weekends) they'll throw in a feast of local ham, saucisson sec, cheese and bread. Highly recommended!

Princess has plenty of other suggestions for wine-based tours - excursions to bodegas from Seville to find out all about sherry-making, Chianti-tasting in the countryside around Livorno, trips to find out about the Campania wines produced outside Naples.

What a shame I'm getting off now so I can't try them out for you.

But at least it gives me a great excuse to come back!

I'm torn about Cuba. It's such a fascinating country as a result of all its history and part of me thinks it would be wonderful if the big US cruise ships could go there (which of course they can't at the moment due to the travel ban), taking much-needed dollars to the Cubans.

On the other hand, I can't bear to think of the place becoming yet another Caribbean island clone, with overpriced jewellery shops, tacky t-shirt emporiums and liquor stores right by the port so Americans can buy their souvenirs without having to see too many locals.

It's with these latter thoughts in mind that I was relieved to read an article in the Palm Beach Daily News, in which Richard Sasso, MSC Cruises' US president, says that even if the travel ban is lifted, American cruise lines won't go there because the island hasn't the infrastructure to handle a huge influx of vessels and tourists.

"It'll probably take one, two or maybe three years before the necessary developments are completed. Lots of work has to be done."

He's right of course. Just think of all those anonymous air-conditioned shops that have to be built.

I see Voyages of Discovery is returning to Asia in winter 2011/12 - they were there for the first time last winter - and also a cruise Down Under. I'm sure they have never been there before.

It is a really exciting selection of cruises - voyaging through the Middle East and along India's west coast in November, on through Thailand and Vietnam to Hong Kong, China and Japan and finally arriving in Australia.

They call at Sydney, Cairns, Cooktown and Darwin and then head back west, through Indonesia to Singapore, Myanmar, India and the Red Sea.

There are long cruises of up to 59 days, or you can dip in and out, doing 20 days or so.

A cruise really is the best way to see so much of Asia and the Far East, as I discovered on my Spirit of Adventure cruise in February. You can read all about it here.

Have a look at what Voyages is offering. A word of warning. Some of the itineraries have a lot of sea days, so if you like to see places, as I do, choose with care.

Barely two weeks after disembarking from Holland America Line's Nieuw Amsterdam, my daughter and I are back on a HAL ship. This time we're on the Veendam, sailing from New York to Bermuda, that tiny British enclave in the Atlantic.

It's a funny itinerary because we have a day at sea, stay in Bermuda for four days, then turn around and have a day sailing back to New York. At least the ship visits two ports while we're at the island - we have a day and night moored at St George and then relocate to Hamilton.

We won't be lazing in the sun, though. My daughter and I have lined up a couple of scuba diving lessons each and we're also hoping to have a go on a Segway, one of those upright scooters.

After getting a taste for cycling around Central Park during our overnight stopover in New York - in a steaming 93 degrees Fahrenheit! - we thought it might be fun to rent some cycles on the island as well.

As Bermuda is only 22 miles long and two miles wide, I expect we'll know it quite well by the time we leave. We'll also know the Veendam well, as it's one of Holland America's smaller ships, with capacity for just 1,350 passengers.

Internet willing, I'll be reporting back about the ship and what there is to do on the island so keep checking back.

Alaska has been haemorrhaging cruise ships and passengers lately - whether because of the head tax or just because the destination has been out of fashion.

But it seems back with a vengeance for Princess Cruises, which says UK bookings are up 300% since its 2011 brochure went on sale in June.

No doubt the decision by Sean Parnell, the Governor of Alaska, to lower the passenger head tax has helped. Maybe people are just feeling more confident about spending money and are bored with the same old Mediterranean and Baltic jaunts.

Or maybe it's because Princess has completely revamped its Alaska offerings for 2011, dropping pre-cruise tour options through the Canadian Rockies and instead focusing 100% on the 49th state, where it is offering a variety of Alaska cruise tours, all linked to their own wilderness lodges and trains.

If you just want to cruise, there are also one-week round-trip sailings from Seattle, 10-night voyages round-trip from San Francisco and seven-night one-way cruises from Vancouver to Whittier and vice-versa.

I did the Vancouver-Whittier voyage with Princess a few years back, adding three nights at McKinley Wilderness Lodge at the end, and it was brilliant - stunning scenery, exciting excursions (but they do cost a lot so be sure to factor that in the budget), and as Princess does all the transport and accommodation, it was so easy to add that extra time at McKinley.

Prices start from £1,450 per person for a seven-night cruise including flights, a pre-cruise hotel stay and transfers, while the Alaska land tours cost from £299 per person for three nights. Book before August 31, you'll get up to $400 per couple to spend on board.

I thought the three and a half days I spent in Bermuda on Holland America Line's Veendam would be quite long enough but I would have been happy to stay longer.

It's a lovely little island, very British but a bit quirky and obsessed with the colour pink. Houses are pink, buses are pink. In deference, when my daughter and I hired cycles in St George, where we were at anchor for a day, we picked pink helmets.

I had expected Bermuda to be like the Caribbean, but it's unlike any country I've visited there.

For one thing it's a very affluent society. For another it's clean. Everywhere. It's also not become just one big shopping opportunity. You can actually walk off the ship and into town without passing a single stall selling baseball hats, I Love Bermuda t-shirts and other tourist tat.

In fact, the only time we saw souvenir stalls was during the Harbour Nights Festival, which takes place every Wednesday evening on Front Street, the main road in front of the cruise terminal in Hamilton, where Veendam was docked.

Veendam is able to get into the city because it is small - just 55,400 tons - whereas Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Summit and Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Dawn, which left New York with us and spent the same few days in Bermuda, had to tie up at the Dockyard, at the west end of the island.

But back to the Harbour Nights Festival.

For a few hours, Front Street is closed to traffic and filled with stalls selling everything from jewellery and food to tattoos and paintings. There was also a big stage with music and dancing, including a display from some local kids, pictured below.

What I really liked was being able to look at the stuff they were selling - and some of it was quite nice, if astronomically priced - without anyone hanging over your shoulder telling you "no charge for looking, no hassle" while pestering you to look at this, look at that, and offering a price and to do a deal, usually on something you don't even want!, as happens in the Caribbean.

But it's not all rosy in the Bermuda garden. I mentioned the astronomical prices for souvenirs. Actually everything costs a fortune - burgers in a bistro on Front Street cost from $13 (about £9), pizzas were from $15 (£10) - because everything has to be shipped in.

Oliver, who taxied me to Blue Water Divers, where my daughter and I had our first lesson in scuba diving, said they can't even catch enough fish to feed everyone on the island, so supplies have to be topped up with imported stuff from the US.

Apparently the smart locals always ask for the local fish if they eat out as it's so much better.

Oliver was full of interesting facts. All the houses have their own water tank to catch rain water as there is no mains supply, the speed limit is 21mph (but the police will usually turn a blind eye to speeds up to 30mph), by law each household can have only one car.

He also said they were having a drought - about an hour before about two and half inches of rain fell!

What really surprised me was that official segregation between the races only ended in 1961, even though it is a British territory.

A Canadian on the diving trip whose daughter is married to a Bermudian also told me about their strange second-hand car market. It you put a car on the market, you have just 30 days to find a buyer. After that, the car has to go for scrap.

"My son in law wants a bigger car for the family but there's nothing wrong with the car he has. But if it doesn't sell it'll be scrapped."

Crazy or what?

When I boarded Holland America Line's Veendam for a cruise to Bermuda last week I said there were three things I wanted to do on the island - go scuba diving, ride a Segway and go cycling.

Well I achieved two and a half out of three.

Day one, in St George, my daughter and I managed to rent what I am sure were the only two pedal bikes on that side of the island and spent the rest of the day melting in the sweltering heat as we pedalled along the lanes.

For some reason I had thought the island would be flat. It wasn't!

Day four, which was really only half a day, before Veendam set off back to New York, we went over to the Dockyard, and found a bunch of tourists about to set off on a 90-minute Segway tour.

It was 90 minutes we didn't have as we had to be back at the ship, but Ky, the guy in charge, kindly let my daughter and I have a quick go on his machine so we could get the feel for it.

It was so quick the fact we did it really only deserved a half score, but it was brilliant. I definitely want to try that again somewhere.

And then there was the scuba diving, something I'd never done before although the day before the dive we did try snuba - a cross between scuba and snorkelling, where the tank rides on the surface instead of your back, which is much easier.

In the event I was quite impressed that I gave scuba-ing a go as I was a bit nervous as we motored out to the dive site. Not because of the actual diving but I didn't like the idea of being in the water with all that weight attached to me. It seemed a sure way to sink.

In fact the only scary bit was having to step off the back of the boat at the start - I'm not good at standing on the edge of anything and the boat was heaving up and down a lot, which didn't help - and trying to get out of the water at the end.

I got to the third step of the boat's ladder and my legs buckled under me, unable to carry the 12lb of weights strapped around my waist and the 10kg tank on my back. Michael, in charge of Blue Water, had to take the weight as I waddled back to a seat.

I would have been truly embarrassed except I noticed that others were just as pathetic as me!

So Costa Cruises has bowed to the inevitable and is trying its luck with a series of ex-UK cruises next year.

It's an interesting move given Marco Rosa, until recently the Italian line's UK-based boss, but now their Genoa-based area director for the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and South Africa, always told me it was not worth basing a ship here as their name was not well known enough to compete against the likes of P&O Cruises and Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

So I wonder what has changed? Are the Brits all suddenly coversant with Costa? Unlikely given the cruise line even closed their UK office on May 1 this year.

Actually I think it's just because someone came up with this rather good idea of a Great Capitals of Europe linking Amsterdam, Hamburg (for excursions to Berlin), Copenhagen, Oslo, Edinburgh and Le Havre (for Paris), and the UK was a handy place to start and end it.

It's a clever itinerary - but bear in mind that it's a bit of a trek from Hamburg to Berlin and from Le Havre to Paris. And watch out for the May 29, July 18 and August 7 sailings, because Edinburgh is out and Invergordon is in. And that is no way a capital, let alone great.

The 10-night cruises are on Costa Magica and mostly roundtrip from Dover - but one at the start of the season starts in Harwich and ends in Dover and one at end of the season is roundtrip from Harwich.

Prices start from £1,019 per person cruise-only.

It's not often you long to be older than you really are, but this month it pays to be in your Saga years as Italian line MSC Cruises is offering special discounts for over-55s on its no-fly cruises from its new home of Southampton next year.

Book before the end of August and you'll be able to take a 2011 cruise from the south coast port to Northern Europe or Northern Spain and France from just £599 per person.

If you're not over-55, don't feel too discriminated against. As revealed first on Cruise Lines, MSC is planning special offers for other groups throughout the year, including solo cruisers, single parents with children, honeymooners and military veterans.

The line is currently sailing summer cruises to the Norwegian fjords and Baltic from Dover on the 1,700-passenger MSC Opera but is moving to Southampton next year to be in the thick of the UK's cruising action, but also because it reckons it's easier for passengers to get there.

It also means they can offer new eight-night cruises to Northern France and Spain as well as continuing to sail to the Baltic and fjords.

Travel Weekly reports that Viking River Cruises is launching cruises on the Mekong River next year, sailing through Vietnam and Cambodia.

Viking boss Torstein Hagen was talking of moving in on the Mekong in 2007, when I was on a river cruise on the Yangtze in China with him. Then he intended to build a vessel specifically for the Mekong, but the project came to nothing.

Now he has chartered the 66-passenger Tonle from Pandaw River Cruises and will be offering a 15-day Magnificent Mekong holiday, combining an eight-day cruise between Siem Reap in Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, including a call at Phnom Penh, with two nights in Hanoi and three nights at Siem Reap to visit the temples at Angkor Wat.

There are no sterling prices at the moment, but dollar prices start from $3,399 per person cruise-only, including all shore excursions.

AMA Waterways launched La Marguerite on the Mekong in September 2009 and it has been so popular that the company has ordered a second new build. AmaLotus is due to launch in spring 2011.

Due to a technical glitch, Cruise Lines has been out of action for a few days. Apologies.

Just after it went down, my daughter and I flew out to New York to join Princess Cruises' 3,080-passenger Caribbean Princess for a one-week New England and Canada cruise.

It's been non-stop since coming on board, visiting Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor and today we have arrive in St John, our first stop in Canada.

I'll let you know what these places were like in a later post. Meantime I have to dash as we're off to ride the rapids on a jet boat. Sounds fun, especially as we go backwards! The ticket warns we will get very wet.

The Reversing Falls are a strange phenomenon and occur when the high tides in the Bay of Fundy force the St John River to reverse its flow.

Guess I'll know more in a few hours' time. Wish me luck!

I said Princess Cruises' excursion to the Reversing Falls in St John, Canada, sounded fun and boy was I right. We went up backwards, sideways, with the driver refusing to look where he was going. As for getting wet? That doesn't begin to explain how drenched we were when we got off.

First a little about the falls - or rapids, which explains them better I think.

They are in the Bay of Fundy, which connects the St John River with the ocean, and an extraordinary phenomenon because at certain twice a day the water actually flows backwards here, from the ocean into the river.

It's all because of the area's huge 28-foot tide in the area - the highest anywhere in the world. At low tide, when the ocean is below the river, the river rushes down to meet it, pushed like a funnel through the narrow rapids. Ron, our guide, said about 60 billion bathtubes of water an hour gush through the rapids.

However, as the ocean rises, the rush of river water slows and there is about 30 minutes when river and ocean are at the same level that you can walk across the rapids.

But the ocean keeps rising, eventually ending up 14 feet above the level of the river, forcing the water to flow backwards.

And now to the jetboat ride. We were given yellow waterproofs, told to leave our shoes at the base and those with jeans were advised to take them off because they would get very wet (my daughter - that's her on the right, modelling this year's must have designer range - and I had been very clever and worn swimsuits and taken a change of clothes).

"Very wet" was an understatement. As soon as we set off, André, our driver, headed out into the water at full speed, slammed on the brakes and a tidal wave swept over the boat. At the point we were all totally drenched, inside and outside the waterproofs.

André, it turned out, was mad as a hatter. He took the boat through the rapids head first, sideways, in a circle, even turned around and spoke to us while pelting through the water. And he kept stopping. More tidal waves. The ball of water in the picture below is actually the jet boat!

"Don't laugh with your mouth open," was Ron's last piece of advice as we left the quay. That's easier said than done. By the time the ride was over, I had drunk quite a bit of the Bay of Fundy. And loved every minute of it.

If you're ever in St John, be sure to do the rapids because although the town is a sweet little place, there isn't much else to see.

Its main claim to fame is that it was a refuge for Americans who opposed the revolution - Ron was dressed in a loyalist's costume and pointed out the cemetary where they were buried - and there is one area where apparently British soil brought across as ballast on empty cargo boats in the late 1700s was emptied.

"So we are now on British soil," Ron proclaimed as we drove through the town. He did a great guiding job, and was very funny at times, but somehow the words barrels and scraping came to mind.

I had no idea that Halifax, the last port on my New England and Canada voyage with Princess Cruises, had such a tragic history.

I knew the city was linked to the Titanic, although not the detail, but I had never heard of the terrible Halifax Explosion, which occurred five years later.

The Titanic went down 750km east of Halifax, which sent three ships out to help with the recovery of passengers. In the end, they came back with bodies.

Paul, who works for tour company Ambassatours and has spent a long time researching the story of the Titanic, said of the 2,228 passengers on the ship, just 705 managed to get into lifeboats, leaving 1,520 to perish. They found 328 bodies and 209 were brought to Halifax.

He took me to Fairview Lawn where 121 people were buried and explained the different headstones. White Star Line, which owned Titanic, paid for a stone with a name and number if known, but no mention that the person had died on the Titanic as they didn't want to draw attention to the fact their ship had sunk.

Relatives who paid for the stones were not sympathetic. They made sure to put that the loved one died on the Titanic.

This one, for J Dawson, is believed to have been the inspiration for the name of Leonardo DiCaprio's character in the film - Jack Dawson. Paul says when the film first came out this was the most photographed headstone in the cemetery. His research shows J Dawson was one of the lowliest crew the ship.

They have a very good exhibition about the Titanic in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, which is close to where Caribbean Princess was docked so easy for cruise passengers to visit, and also about the Halifax Explosion, which Paul said was the worst manmade explosion in history other than the dropping of the atom bombs in Japan.

It happened in December 6 1917. In a nutshell, a French ammunition ship, Mont Blanc, was sailing into the harbour, and struck by a Norwegian vessel, Imo, on its way out but on the wrong side of the waterway.

The French crew, expecting the ship to blow immediately, escaped on the lifeboats, leaving the ship, now ablaze, drifting in the harbour. Twenty minutes it came to rest at a pier in the industrial heart of the city and exploded.

Some 2,000 people were killed, another 9,000 were injured and 1,600 homes were destroyed. As this picture shows, parts of the city were levelled.

On the Harbour Hopper tour of Halifax - it's like a Duck tour except you travel in a Lark V amphibious vehicle that was used the Vietnam War instead of one from World War Two - Gina, our guide, pointed to one of the clocks on the City Hall, which always stands at 09.05, marking the time of the explosion.

She also introduced us to Theodore Tugboat, who starred in a children's TV series in the 1980s (a bit like Thomas the Tank Engine I guess) and now does fun harbour tours for families, and pointed out a statue of Winston Churchill.

"He once said, 'Halifax is more than a shed at the end of a wharf', and we were so pleased we built him a statue,' she told us.

I don't know if it's true, but it made me smile!

It's not often you get to see a cruise ship from this perspective!

This is Caribbean Princess anchored outside Bar Harbor in the US and my daughter and I on a sea kayaking excursion that took us past the ship and around the shore of a couple of the islands across the bay.

The paddling was hard work - especially after we had been out for a couple of hours, but I reckon we made a good choice as Bar Harbor was cute but rather lacking in places of interest.

Actually it was also rather lacking in the seals that Molly, our guide, said would pop up around the kayaks, but it was a wonderfully peaceful way to spend a couple of hours - and a more interesting way to exercise than on a treadmill in the gym - so we didn't really mind.

Newport, our first stop on the New England and Canada cruise, was equally cute - very Stepford Wives with its ornate mansions and manicured lawns - but equally not the most exciting place in the world.

Some of the mansions are open for tours, there are bike rides and Segway trips (which we couldn't do as you need a driver's license and Ilana, as a 16-year-old Brit, doesn't have one), but I'd recommend you explore alone as it's so easy.

We visited the Touro Synagogue, below, America's oldest place of Jewish worship, dedicated in 1763, and popped into St Mary's Church, where former US President John F Kennedy married Jacqueline de Bouvier on September 12 1953.

We also walked to the beaches on the other side of the island and went for a stroll along the cliff path. Not a cliff path like the narrow ones I know in Cornwall mind, with mud and puddles, and lined with spiky gorse and brambles, but tarmaced and wide to cater for walkers, joggers and cyclists.

As I say, all very manicured, all very clean all very neat, but a delightful little place, full of very polite and friendly people.

Actually people were polite and friendly everywhere we visited on this cruise. The locals offered to help if they saw us looking at a map, cars stopped for us to cross the road. A bit embarrassing really as the first couple of times we didn't realise they had stopped for us, so we stood looking at them, wondering what they were doing!

It was even like that in Boston, a big city but a fabulous place. I fell in love with it as we walked from the port to the centre of town, along the waterfront, a lovely walk which took about 30 minutes, going slow and enjoying the views.

Once you are near the city, you can head into the centre or just carry on walking around the harbour, as we did, passing the aquarium, which was a big attraction judging by the queue to get in. Actually the seal pools were visible from outside so we saw the seals we missed in Bar Harbor without queueing or paying to go in!

There are hop-on, hop-off buses around the city from about $32 per person per day, harbour tours, dolphin-watching trips and DIY walking tours taking in the key revolutionary sites, but we found our way to the Old State House Museum, which was built in 1713 to house the government offices of the Massachusettes Bay Colony and where guides explained Boston's pivotal role in the American War of Independence, and tells the story of the Boston Massacre in 1770, in which five people died (OK not much of a massacre but it helped to solidify hatred of the Brits).

Then we headed to Quincy Market, which is a lively places of stalls, places to eat and street entertainers, past the burial ground where revolutionary Samuel Adams and victims of the massacre were buried, and to the real Cheers Bar (there is a bar called Cheers by the market and it was packed, but a friend who lives in Boston assured me it was not the one that inspired the TV programme).

By then it was time to stop for a beer. The local brew of course, called what else but Samuel Adams.

Cheers!

Most New England and Canada cruises are in the autumn so you can go and see the fall foliage.

I'm sure the red leaves are stunning, but I reckon August is a far better time to be there.

For one thing we had superb weather every day on our Princess Cruises' voyage - in the 70s and 80s Fahrenheit - and flat calm seas. In autumn, I was told, it can get rough as they catch the tail end of the hurricanes.

For another, we had the ports to ourselves. We could hardly move in Bar Harbor because of the 3,400 or so fellow passengers who had come off the Caribbean Princess and were swarming around trying to find their coaches, while the coaches themselves were trying to manoeuvre along the narrow streets.

And that was just one ship. I dread to think what it would be like with two or even three ships in, as apparently happens on some days in September and October. In St John and Halifax, I was told they had days last autumn when there were six ships in town.

A nightmare, according to the guides. And they are the ones who should be happy to see the crowds as they make money from them.

So my advice? Go in July or August to get the weather and avoid the crowds. Princess Cruises is starting its New England and Canada cruises very early next year, on May 17.

My other advice? Pack a hefty dose of patience. You have to tender ashore in Newport and Bar Harbor and Princess really struggled to cope in both places. We got to the harbour at Newport with an hour to spare, looked at the queue, and decided to sit on the grass by the pier, enjoy the sun and wait until we could see the end.

Two-and-a-half hours, lots of sun and five coach-loads of passengers later (all of them arriving after the last tender was supposed to have left) we finally got on the last tender going back to the ship. It was 5pm and the ship should have left at 3.30pm. We had waited for an unbelievable two and a half hours.

I've never seen a crew make a ship ready to depart so fast!

Less than 24 hours after landing in the UK after our Princess New England cruise, my daughter and I were back at Heathrow, this time on the way to Venice for a Greek Islands cruise on ultra-luxury cruise line Yachts of Seabourn's 450-passenger Seabourn Odyssey.

A bit of a change from the 3,400 passengers with us on Caribbean Princess last week!

Venice was cloudy when we landed and gradually got wetter and wetter - much like the UK we had left and the weather when I was in Venice last June for a two-night pre-naming inaugural on Odyssey.

Then everything went wrong because the ship wasn't quite ready; this time everything has gone right.

We woke up in Split, in Croatia, next day to baking hot sun - and it was only 9am. Everyone raves about Dubrovnik, the walled city in Croatia, and it's a brilliant place, but Split is as amazing, built up around the palace of Roman emperor Diocletian, the only one to resign rather than be assassinated or just die (actually I'm not sure any managed that).

The picture shows the walls of the palace, and how the new houses have been built on the side of it.

We decided it would be fun to go up the bell tower and have a view across the city. Bad move. My daughter got nervous and turned around when she saw the iron staircase start to bend; I made it up three more stairways, white knuckles clutching the handrails, until my fear of heights turned me completely to jelly and I had to go back as well.

Next day we arrived in Bari, Italy, and took an excursion to Alberabello, about an hour's drive from the city, to see the trulli houses - houses built using the dry-stone wall technique and with conical roofs.

Maresa, our guide, explained the gentry in years gone by didn't want to pay taxes on houses for the farmers who worked their land, and they didn't want the farmers to pay the taxes wither as that would mean it was their land.

So they came up with these trulli, which could be demolished fast by removing the keystone at the top if tax inspectors came sniffing around.

There are about 1,000 trulli in Alberabello, and they were impressive, but a traffic jam on the way home meant we were delayed getting back to Bari and missed the chance to look around there too, which was a shame as I was looking forward to having a Marinara pizza - that's one made without cheese that is only available in Italy as far as I am aware.

Today has been very different - Seabourn Odyssey anchored off the Greek island of Cephalonia this morning, the one made famous by the film Captain Corelli's Mandolin (although the book was far better), and the marina at the back of the ship was lowered.

The crew spent ages getting everything ready, including a rather bizarre makeshift swimming pool (so small that a beach ashore would have been a far better bet for anyone wanting to swim) before the powers that be decided there was too much swell in the sea and it was unsafe.

So then they had to pack away the marina, which has sail boats, kayaks and pedal boats. But they did let us go out on the banana boat, which was a bit sedate although we kept asking to go faster, and in the donuts, which were much more fun.

Basically you sit in an inner tube and get pulled behind a speed boat, getting half-drowned in the process! If I could market the massage your posterior gets in that 15 minutes or so, I would be a rich woman - especially if I charged the kind of prices they levy in the spa on this ship!

Tomorrow it's Katakolon and a trip to Olympia, site of the first Olympic Games. See you there.

Some 260 people live in the Greek town of Katakolon. Yesterday four cruise ships descended on the place - Seabourn Odyssey, which I am on, Ruby Princess, Costa Fortuna and Louis Cruises' Coral - between them swelling the population by around 7,000 for a few hours.

I reckon almost everyone of those 7,000 went to Olympia, site of the original Olympic Games, which is where I found myself soon after 9am.

It's a fascinating place - made all the more interesting by our guide Giovanna. She was so good my daughter and I made sure to get her coach the next day, when we visited the Diros Caves from Gythion.

You can get a taxi from the port to Olympia but I knew from the previous visit a few years ago that without a good guide the site looks like nothing but a collection of ruins with a column here and there. My daughter had never been and my memory needed refreshing!

The buildings were demolished by an earthquake in 522AD and the place forgotten. Over the centuries, 20 feet of earth and mud buried the site, which was rediscovered at the end of the 19th century when excavations uncovered the remains of the temples, stadiums and statues.

Someone then had the idea of restarting the games. The first modern Olympics was held in Athens in 1896 and of course it was back there in 2004.

Olympia was actually a religious place where ancient Greeks came to pay respects to the god Zeus and held athletic races at the same time. By 776BC, the event had turned into a five-day pan-Grecian event with competitors coming from all over the Greek world to take part. Because it was not an easy journey to get there, the priests then decided to make it every four years.

Originally competitors hid their modesty under a skirt, but one day one runner's skirt fell off so they all decided it was better to run naked - because of that women were banned from attending the games and if any were caught trying to sneak in dressed as men they were put to death!

Rather than millions of dollars or getting to name a cruise ship, as happens now, their reward for winning was an olive wreath and a statue outside the Temple of Zeus.

In the 2nd century BC, the Romans conquered the area but continued with the games. However, they ended in 392AD as they were a celebration of Pagan gods and Rome had just become Christian.

Giovanna was full of interesting snippets of information:

* The athletes tried to enhance their performance by drinking red wine mixed with honey. If found out ("I don't know how; suppose they could smell it"), they were banned from competing for life.

* In 1997, when Athens won the 2004 Olympics, money was donated for five columns on the Temple of Zeus to be restored. Work started in 2001; finally, in 2003, one column was put up. It allegedly cost £5 million so they couldn't afford to put up anymore. You judge - was it worth the money?

* Running tracks are supposed to be 184 metres long but the one at Olympia - above - is 192 metres because it was measured out by Hercules and he had big feet.

OK, so it's a myth, but who cares!

A bit of fast manoeuvring meant Ilana and I succeeded in joining Giovanna's tour to the Diros Caves. It was so worth while for another interesting day out (and at almost $100 for each shore excursion we have done on Seabourn Odyssey, you want to be sure you have your money's worth!).

As an aside, there was a five-and-a-quarter-hour bike ride in Bari that cost $599. $599!! For that I would want to take the bike home! On ultra-luxury ships you don't pay for drinks or gratuities, but they make up for that in other ways.

Gythion, the port nearest the caves, is famous for its octopus - a speciality in the restaurants - and being the "land of the gods", but as we drove to Diros things definitely went downhill. We were driving though the land of the Mani, a land forgotten by the gods.

It is certainly a hard place to eke out a living. No water so even tough-old olive trees are stunted, a landscape that no livestock other than goats can survive on and, in Turkish times, from 1460-1827, a lawless society.

It all started when one man's goat ate another man's olive tree. Olive tree man shot the goat, goat man decided here was no point in shooting the tree so he shot the olive man's son and after that anyone was fair game and society revolved around revenge.

It meant the Mani were not very sociable. Not very surprising! Their front doors were on the first floors of their houses; if they liked you they lowered steps so you could enter, if not they probably shot you!

Giovanni also told us about nearby Sparta, where men were "owned" by the city and spent their lives at war, while boys were trained to fight from age 14. The Spartans were conquered just once - by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. Sparta ceased to exist until 1827, when Greece emerged from Turkish rule and a new city was built on the ruins of the old one.

And then finally we arrived at the Diros Caves - discovered apparently when a hunter chased a fox down a hole and found himself in an underground palace.

The caves are 14km long so you don't cover them all - it's a 1,200-metre boat ride though low caverns - we had to duck most of the time or risk being decapitated - and a 300-metre walk.

Next stop on this Greek Islands cruise is Mykonos, made fashionable in the 1950s by Aristotle Onassis and where the motto apparently was "let them do what they want as long as they pay for it".

Giovanna said you have to arrive on the island by yacht or you are "just one of the crowd".

Heaven forbid that I should ever be that! I just hope the Yachts of Seabourn's yacht I am on counts, even if it does hold 450 passengers!

I had a sneaking suspicion my cruise on Yachts of Seabourn's Seabourn Odyssey was going to be good, mainly because I know the ship and have experienced Seabourn's service before.

My daughter and I were in a standard veranda suite, so not the best accommodation on the ship, but with Seabourn you don't need to aim for the top to have a room big enough for two of you to have our own space. A real sign of luxury to me.

The bathroom was spacious - honestly as big as some single cabins I have seen - with a separate shower and bath. The suite had a walk-in closet, an iPod dock and of course a balcony; the TV had a built-in selection of something like 200 films.

Before you ask, no I didn't count them so I may be way off the mark. But there were a lot and it was an eclectic mix to suit all tastes. My only gripe was that there wasn't a book listing the films as it would have been so much easier to see what was available.

At 30,000 tons, the ship is a lovely size, not so small that it feels every wave, but not so big that you feel exhausted just getting from one end to the other.

The décor is tasteful but understated as suits the ultra-luxury market and I just love the way you can go to a bar and waiters appear offering Champagne, cocktails, any drink you chose - and it's all free.

OK, I know you pay for it in the cruise price, but not having waiters hovering for you to sign for drinks makes the atmosphere on board so much friendlier.

I really enjoyed the itinerary - and give myself a pat on the back that we chose good shore excursions in Katakolon and Gythion, neither of which ports has much to do that can't be done in under an hour.

I overheard one man desperate to book an excursion in Mykonos after our day in Gythion ("we'd seen it in half an hour. I can't stand a day like that again") and disappointed when there was only a beach trip, which he didn't want.

Just as well he didn't book though, because the wind was blowing a gale in Mykonos, more so than usual, so the captain changed the all-aboard time from 10pm that evening to 2pm because the forecast said it would get even worse.

Just before 2pm, he decided the wind had risen as much as it was going to and announced the tenders would keep running.

But by then most passengers had "done" Mykonos, so they put on a film to give people to do.

Ilana and I went back ashore and had another walk around the maze of streets. It's a great place to just lose yourself for an hour or so.

Although overall the cruise was excellent, and I could happily be seduced by the ultra-luxury lifestyle, some things were very disappointing.

The shows were dull at best, even the comedian, and as a result mostly poorly attended (the best evening was when they had a party on the open deck, when everyone was up and dancing), they let themselves down a few times on service - food and drink ordered that never showed - and I was surprised how inflexible they were at meal times.

One evening in the dining room I asked if I could have a starter from upstairs, in the bistro. The waitress said that was not allowed but she would ask for special permission.

It was granted, but how strange she had to ask. When I have cruised with Spirit of Adventure, nowhere near so luxurious, they have never batted an eyelid if I asked for a meal from "upstairs".

My daughter had a bigger problem as a vegetarian. In the dining room there was always at least one veggie starter and two main course veggie options - one different every day, the other the same pasta from the always-available menu.

In the bistro - it's the buffet, which is waiter service with a themed meal each evening - there were no veggie meals at all. They would deign to fetch the one from the dining room menu, but for some reason they would not bring you the pasta dish (which often was much nicer!).

So Princess still wears the veggie crown!

As an aside, during the Captain's welcome, when neither of us could eat the fishy canapés going around, one kind soul (I know her name but don't want to risk spelling it incorrectly) whizzed off and fetched us some peanuts. Brilliant!

That's more what I expected and have experienced before with Seabourn. For a moment they were back to their old top-notch service self.

If you're planning to book a P&O cruise for next year, do it next month, when the line is running a Early Booking Spectacular (their words, their capital letters!), with up to £1,500 per couple off cruises departing Southampton between March and October 2011.

They're also giving away free car parking or coach transfers on cruises of seven nights or more, on-board credit of up to £375 per couple and an extra 5% off if you pay for the cruise in full when you make the booking (roundtrip cruises from Southampton only).

You've got until Thursday September 30 to browse their brochure and make the booking. Call 0845 3 555 333, click here or see your travel agent.

If you'd rather get away sooner and escape the British rain, Iglucruise has a 26-night cruise from San Francisco to Sydney on October 13 on P&O Cruises' Oriana from £1,849 including flights, transfers and three nights at the Grace Hotel in Sydney. Call 020 8544 6447 or click here.

I'm recently back from a cruise along the US East Coast and into Canada so I can thoroughly recommend the places you'll visit on this nine-night Canada cruise offered by Cruise Thomas Cook from £1,140 per person including flights. I went with Princess, this one is with Carnival Cruise Lines, cruising on Carnival Glory, and it departs on October 2. Call 0800 916 6070, click here or visit your nearest Thomas Cook or Going Places.

River cruise companies say they are choc-full with bookings this year, but AMAWaterways has nevertheless found enough room to offer a few two-for-one deals on the Danube and Rhine including a seven-night Europe's Heartland cruise from Trier to Nuremberg on November 7. It now costs from £1,549 for two people including meals, wine with dinner, daily excursions but excluding flights. Call 0808 223 5009 or click here.

I've been at home a week; high time to get cruising again. So first thing Saturday my daughter and I are flying to Catania in Sicily to join Star Clippers' 170-passenger sailing ship Star Flyer.

Only problem is, while we will be there on time (hopefully!), the ship won't. It's been delayed, so we are going to have a day and night in Giardini Naxos, the port for Taormina, and will be joining it a day late, on Sunday.

We then cruise through Italy, calling at Lipari, sailing past Stromboli (fingers crossed maybe this time it will be erupting!), visiting Sorrento and the tiny ports of Ponza, Giglio, Portoferraio on Elba and Lerici (actually because of the delay one of those calls will probably have to go, but not sure which as I write this) before we fly home from Nice in France.

If I can post, I will but the ship has no wif-fi as I don't hold out much hope. So ciao ciao. I'll see you when I'm back in the UK in a week's time.

Seems Viking was um-ing and ah-ing about whether to sell the Mekong river cruises it is launching in 2011 in the UK. Not quite sure why they wouldn't, but anyway they have decided it's a goer over here so finally I have more details.

They are sellling a 17-day Magnificent Mekong river cruise on the 66-passenger Tonle that starts with two nights in Hanoi, Vietnam, has three nights in Siem Reap in Cambodia, with an excursion to Angkor Wat, seven nights on the river and two nights in Ho Chi Minh City - or Saigon as the locals call it.

There are departures all next year bar April, May and August and prices start from £3,999 per person including all international and internal flights, the hotels, the cruise and all excursions.

I'm only just getting my land legs back after a summer of cruising but seeing this I'm already getting itchy feet!

It was not really a surprise to hear that German cruise line Hapag-Lloyd's exploration ship Hanseatic sailed successfully through the Northwest Passage.

If it had been unsuccessful, I'm sure we would have heard about it.

Nevertheless, it's been quite an adventure for the passengers, especially as very few cruise ships will even try to go through this stretch of water, which has tripped up many experienced explorers in its time.

The Northwest Passage bit of the cruise took 15 days, with very little to see other than ice, wildlife - oh and Hapag-Lloyd's other expedition ship, Bremen. In all, it was a 26-day voyage that started in Kangerlussuaq in Greenland and ends today in Nome, Alaska.

Don't worry if you missed it. Hanseatic will be going through a portion of the Passage next year, on a shorter 19-day cruise from Kangerlussuaq to Reykjavik in Iceland on August 14-September 2.

If you want the full experience, go for Bremen. It's going through in August - a 25-day journey from Nome to Reykjavik from August 13 to September 7.

As well as handing over plaques, books and other gifts during MSC Poesia's maiden visit to Southampton this week, MSC Cruises UK and Ireland MD Giulio Libutti took the opportunity to remind everyone that MSC Opera's no-fly cruises next summer will depart from Southampton.

They are switching from Dover because Southampton has better road, rail and air links - a fact passengers seem to agree with as bookings for 2011's no-fly cruises are 100% up on the same time last year.

I reckon they are also making the move because they can now offer cruises to France and Spain instead of only going to the Baltic and Norwegian fjords.

MSC Opera, pictured here going through a fjord, will be sailing nine eight-night cruises that call at Amsterdam, then spin around and go to La Rochelle and Cherbourg in France, and Bilbao and La Coruna in Spain.

Passengers can embark at any of the ports - a clever move which allows MSC to tap into the Dutch, French and Spanish markets as well as the UK.

Britons taking no-fly cruises from Southampton can expect traditional afternoon tea, free tap water with their meals and tea or coffee afterwards (you don't get any of that on MSC's other cruises) and some Brit dishes on the menu.

I'm intrigued to know what Italian-style cottage pie is like!

Have you noticed solo power is increasing, leading more and more cruise lines to come out with deals for single travellers?

Australia's Orion Expedition Cruises is the latest, waiving the single supplement on all sailings between September 16 and December 21 2010, bar the November 16 departure.

The cruise line is reserving five cabins per cruise between those dates for single occupancy. If you're fast and can get one of these, you'll pay only the per person fare.

Orion's cruises are anything from seven to 13 nights and go to all sorts of exciting places including the Kimberley in Northern Australia (I've got my eye on that one!), Papua New Guinea, the Great Barrier Reef, Tasmania and the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic.

Prices start from £3,045 per person cruise-only excluding flights.

I know we shouldn't laugh when other nationalities make a mistake speaking English. Heaven knows I have probably made enough howlers in my time trying to speak another language.

But there are just those few times when something is said and you have to stop and think "what on earth does that mean?"

It happened when I was on MSC Poesia this week, during the gnocchi cookery demo. The chef only spoke Italian so cruise director Anna, from Holland I believe, translated.

All was going well until we were told we have to put two axe in the mix. Now I can think of several things to do with an axe, but none have much to do with making gnocchi.

My thanks to Massimo from MSC Cruises, who was on my left and able to explain they were eggs. He knew because when he was growing up his job every Sunday was to help his mother make the gnocchi for lunch!

The other WHAT??? moment was when I was cruising with Star Clippers last week, on a excursion to Pompeii from Star Flyer. At one place I was unable to hear the guide, Cecilia, an Austrian living in Italy, so when she had finished and everyone had gone to look around, I asked what we were looking at.

"It's the house of the dancing phone," she replied.

I know the Romans left us with many things, but I was pretty sure phones were not one of them. "Dancing what?" I asked, more than a little bewildered. "Phone," she replied.

There comes a point when it's embarrassing to keep asking but in this instance I really had to know. Phone was just so unlikely! Finally we got there, mainly because some of the other passengers had come back and helped me out. It was a dancing faun.

Cecilia was clearly irritated that I had dared to ask anything, as she was when anyone asked a question, which left a very bad taste.

As did the fact it took us two hours to get from the ship in Sorrento to Pompeii, after messing about with tenders, coaches, more coaches and toilet stops, which left us with just one hour, 10 minutes on the site.

That was barely time to see anything, especially as she translated everything into German (although I'll swear everyone on the tour spoke English).

I tell all this because a) it is quite funny looking back and b) it shows how hit and miss cruise ship excursions can be. Two I did with Seabourn a couple of weeks ago were great.

This was definitely the worst 120 euros (60 per person) I've spent in a long while.

Have you has good, bad or indifferent cruise ship excursions? Drop me a line and let me know.

Crystal Cruises has a new Go Green excursion in Malta for passengers visiting the island on two itineraries on Crystal Serenity next month.

It's not one of the new voluntourism days out it announced it is introducing in 2011 when I was on Crystal Symphony because they will be free and you have to pay for this one, but it's in the same vein.

It costs $95, lasts eight hours and involves planting trees and learning about conservation efforts at the island's Ta' Qali National Park. That's followed by lunch at an organic farm and a visit to an orphanage, where passengers "will donate time and food to the young residents".

I assume the idea is you buy food from the organic farm rather than bring tins of baked beans and packets of pasta from the UK.

However, think how worthy it would be to go without that fourth or fifth pair of shoes and instead bring some toys for the kids instead.

Surely everyone could manage that?

SeaDream Yacht Club is to cruise up the Amazon for the first time in 2012, offering voyages from Barbados to Manaus with an optional seven-night extension all the way to Iquitos.

President Bob Lepisto, on a visit to London yesterday, says everything is still in the planning stages but as he gave away the secret to me he must be fairly sure it will go ahead.

The ultra-luxury line is clearly becoming more adventurous in its old age - it will be 10 years old in September 2011 (that's an anniversary you'll never forget).

Next summer it is offering its first Baltic season. Very short, but it's giving past passengers somewhere new to cruise other than the line's usual Mediterranean and Caribbean stamping ground and should also help them pick up a few Scandinavian followers.

Best of all for the Brits, the cruise line will be making its first visit to our shores en route to the Baltic, so SeaDream is going overboard (sorry!) to make sure as many people as possible have a chance to visit the vessel.

SeaDream I, which holds just 112 passengers, will be arriving on May 7 2011, mooring up alongside HMS Belfast and staying there for the next two days for various events including an overnight on board for a few lucky folk.

Bob didn't let on whether my invitation was in the post so guess I'll just have to wait and see as well.

Venice has been voted top of the cruise ports for Brits for the second year running in a poll by YouGov to celebrate National Cruise Week, which runs from September 19-26.

Nearly one in eight of all those surveyed said it was their favourite port, giving it 12% of the vote.

New York came second with 9%, toppling Barcelona, which was last year's number two. This time it came in at number three with 7% of the votes.

YouGov also asked people which celebrity they would most like to cruise with. Jennifer Aniston came first at 8%, with Johnny Depp at 6%. However, 53% said they would rather take their partner. How sweet!

However, Depp needn't worry too much. His alter-ego, Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean films, was first choice when people were asked who they would like to escort them to dinner on the Captain's Table.

YouGov surveyed 2,101 adults, of which 444 had been on a cruise, from September 1-3. The polls were commissioned by the Passenger Shipping Association.

It's not often I can't make up my mind about a ship, but after one week on Star Clippers' sailing ship Star Flyer I was still asking myself, was this a luxurious experience or not?

For sure it's not luxury in the conventional sense of the word as Yachts of Seabourn and Silversea are. The cabins are small, the bathrooms are pokey, there's no one to escort you to your cabin when you first arrive.

Indeed when my daughter and I were disembarking after seven days on board, the crew in the dining room said goodbye and just watched as we carried our luggage up the stairs.

But look at it from another angle. You are on a real sailing ship that gracefully slices through the water when the canvas is hoisted (and that's most of the time, on the orders of Mikael Krafft, who owns the cruise line).

It holds just 170 passengers (and on my cruise there were only around 100), there are no dress codes and no one telling you where to sit in the evening. That's my idea of luxury.

The decor is lovely, with lots of brass and mahogany (see pictures below), the guys behind the bar and most of the waiters did a great job and the food, while not gourmet, was not bad.

My daughter and I boarded Star Flyer in Giardini Naxos, Sicily, the port for Taormina, and the first thing that struck me (apart from how small it looked) was that they were operating the tender in conditions other cruise lines would have deemed too rough and therefore dangerous.

True they had to keep going for a while because it was the only way we and 10 others who were starting our cruise there could get on. But the captain could have told the passengers who sailed in on the ship they would stop the tender service early.

It happened on Seabourn when we were in Mykonos just a week before and the sea was nowhere near as rough.

But no. On Star Flyer they treat you as adults, able to make up your own mind whether you can get on and off a tender, which was very refreshing.

(My only complaint was that the crew in charge of the tenders told you to take your time and when you did, they yanked you out. On one occasion, it left me with a cut and bruised leg.)

The bruise aside, everything (including the price, from £2,600 per person for 14 nights cruise-only) should have combined to provide a luxurious experience.

But it wasn't. Something was missing and I'm still struggling to know what.

The poor entertainments team didn't help - the cruise director excelled in speaking French, English and German but little else, and the two lads with her did as little as possible the entire seven days.

While you don't come on Star Flyer for the entertainment, some of their efforts were so lack-lustre they would have been better not bothering at all.

I don't think the excluded drinks helped either. You've got the small ship, the sailing, the convivial open dining - and each couple ordering their own bottle of wine. Or more usually getting the last dregs from the bottle they bought a few nights before.

I'm sure if you asked everyone if they would like wine included with meals they would all say "oh no, we don't drink much".

But you just include the drinks and then tell them and watch their faces light up and the conversation flow. I saw it happen the first night I was on Spirit of Adventure in February, when none of us knew drinks were included.

Given the cruise line's buying power, it wouldn't cost them much so likewise it would add very little to the cruise price, but it would take the whole experience to another level.

And maybe help fill their ships - although actually I think Star Flyer was much nicer with so few passengers on board!

All sorts of ceremonies and traditions go into building a new ship. There's the keel-laying and Champagne launch by the godmother, of course, but also the float out, when they open the dry-dock sluice gates, let in the water and hope the ship, well, floats.

Carnival Corp celebrates the moment by welding a commemorative coin to the ship's mast, a ceremony it says dates back to the ancient Romans. Apparently they believed it gave the ship divine protection.

So here, doing his welding bit to mark the float out of Carnival Cruise Line's new 3,690-passenger Fun Ship, Carnival Magic, at Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard in Italy is Mike Julius, managing director US sales for Carnival Cruise Lines.

There are more pictures and video from the day here.

The shipyard will now put all its efforts into getting the ship's interior ready for its May 1 launch. Gerry Cahill, Carnival's president and CEO, says everything is right on schedule.

The ship is the first Carnival vessel to have a pub (that will serve its own brew, among others). It will also have an Italian restaurant, cruising's first ropes course (and I'm still waiting to find out what that is), and a couple of fun water slides.

Carnival Magic will be cruising the Med from Barcelona next summer, offering seven, nine and 12-night cruises, before heading over the Atlantic for a series of Eastern and Western Caribbean from Galveston in Texas.

Which animal would you most like to see when you're on a cruise?

If you said a whale, you are in line with a third of your fellow cruisers, according to a poll by YouGov commissioned by the Passenger Shipping Association to celebrate National Cruise Week.

This is the time all the cruise lines put out great offers to tempt you to buy a cruise. It runs until September 26.

Dolphins came second in the poll with one quarter (25%) of the vote, polar bears were third at 22%, while poor old penguins only managed to scrape 6%. Ahhh. How could you not want to see this little guy?

There was an interesting difference between the sexes. Female voters scored dolphins more highly than men, while male voters preferred whales. Wales were also considerably more popular in Wales, gaining 42% of the vote there.

The survey also asked people which natural phenomenon they'd most like to see when at sea.

The Northern Lights came top, with 57% of the vote, followed by icebergs (11%), fjords (9%) and waterfalls (7%).

I'm actually quite surprised by the findings. I've cruised up close to giant icebergs in Antarctica and Greenland and it was incredibly exciting - far more so than being called out of bed in the middle of one night to see a sky that was no more thrilling than a good sunset in the tropics.

Was I just unlucky? Let me know if you've had a better Northern Lights' experience.

Southampton is set to become the home of ultra-luxury cruising in 2011 - well for a few days next year anyway.

Yachts of Seabourn proudly proclaims it will be the first ultra-lux line to offer no-fly cruises from the UK port next year.

Seabourn Sojourn, christened in Greenwich last June, will sail into the UK from Rome on April 27, on the last leg of its maiden world cruise, and immediately sets off again on an 18-day Mediterranean Sojourn, to be followed by a 10-day Baltic Sojourn from May 15-25.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises, meanwhile, is testing the no-fly waters for the first time with a 10-night round-Britain cruise from Southampton on Seven Seas Voyager on August 9.

Silversea is doing something a bit different - cruising around the UK from Southampton on Silver Cloud on June 25 and finishing up at Tower Bridge in London 10 days later.

There's then a 15-day cruise back from Tower Bridge to Southampton on July 5. And another cruise from Tower Bridge to Southampton on August 26.

It's all part of this cruising-from-the-UK bandwagon that started rolling a few years back and has resulted in the number of people taking no-fly cruises almost doubling between 2003 and 2009. CruiseBritain says 448,000 cruise passengers visited a UK port last year, while the number of people joining their cruise ship in the UK increased to 733,000.

With more lines cruising from the UK - Holland America is one with a hugely expanded no-fly programme in 2011 - that number surely will increase in leaps and bounds.

Or will it? There is a lot to be said for avoiding the over-the-top security at UK airports but I've noticed the security at cruise ports - and especially Southampton - is going the same way. Belts off, shoes off, laptops out of bags. So that's one advantage on its way out.

More to the point, there's plenty of folk who prefer a flight to the Mediterranean sun instead of two or three days slogging across the Bay of Biscay when it's in one of its moods.

Have you ever cruised from the UK? What was your experience? Why not share your thoughts.

MSC Cruises is moving in on the Arabian Gulf route opened in winter 2006/07 by arch-rival Costa Cruises.

Like them, MSC will be offering seven-night cruises around the region from Dubai. However, unlike Costa, they will also be allowing passengers to embark/disembark in Abu Dhabi.

The first cruise departs Dubai on October 28 2011 and calls at Muscat in Oman, Abu Dhabi, where the ship stays overnight, Fujairah and Bahrain.

The Arabian Gulf is definitely the hot new spot to be for cruise lines. Royal Caribbean International launched seven-night cruises from Dubai on the 2,500-passenger Brilliance of the Seas in January and they will be back for winter 2010-11.

For this winter, Royal Caribbean is dropping Bahrain (no great surprise as it really wasn't a great success when I was there) and instead staying overnight in Oman. They are also adding a few 12-night cruises from Dubai to India.

Costa positioned two glitzy big new ships in the Gulf last winter - Costa Deliziosa, which was also named in Dubai, and Costa Luminosa.

However, MSC is going in slowly, slowly with the 2003-built 1,560-passenger MSC Lirica, pictured.

It's a comfortable ship but certainly not flashy.

No cruise line ever wants to commit their newest tonnage to a start-up route - having spent a lot of money on a ship they want to make sure it will be a success - but MSC is going to have to upgrade their offering in following years if they are in for the long-haul and want to compete with Costa.

Remember you read that here first.

Interesting to meet Gareth Hamilton from Gap (it stands for Great Adventure People rather than taking a break before university) Adventures the other day and learn about the company's lifetime deposits.

Basically, if you have to cancel your holiday for whatever reason - they won't even ask why - your deposit will be held for until you are able to book again, be it one year or 10 years.

You don't even have to use the deposit against the same holiday, so if you were booked on a land-based trip before and now fancy an expedition to Antarctica or the Arctic, that's no problem either.

Definitely an industry first.

The company part owns a ship in the Galapagos and also has one ship, Expedition, which explores the polar regions - Antarctica in our winter, the Arctic in summer.

It holds just 120 passengers in all outside, all en-suite cabins, pictured here.

I went to Antarctica at the beginning of February a few years back and had a great time, but now they tell me that's wasn't the best time to go.

Instead you should aim for November, when the pack ice is still intact and the penguins are courting, or late February and March, as that's the best time to see the Orca and Minke whales and the penguin chicks.

It's also a bit cheaper (but don't get too excited because everything is relative). Gap's Classic Antarctica costs from £5,049 per person for a 16 days departing November 4 compared to £5,919 in peak season. And that doesn't include any flights.

Cunard Line has taken delivery of Queen Elizabeth at a handover ceremony at Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard in Italy.

As long as president and managing director Peter Shanks, right, doesn't drop the keys in the water, the 92,400-ton ship will now set sail for its new home of Southampton.

Queen Elizabeth is due to arrive at the Ocean Cruise Terminal on October 8 and will be named by Her Majesty the Queen on October 11. On October 12 at 17.00 hours, the ship departs on its maiden cruise to the Canary Islands.

There are all sorts of good reasons for taking a cruise, not least the fact that it's the best - as in easiest - way to visit a lot of exciting places. South America for one, Alaska for another.

You'll be able to find out all about them at the CRUISE Show * in Birmingham in a couple of weeks, but to whet your appetite before the doors open, I bring you the 10 hot places to explore on a cruise in 2011 as compiled by Cruise Critic, the cruise reviews website.

It's a comprehensive list, but if you're feeling more adventurous, don't forget there are exciting cruises to Antarctica and the Arctic, around the Galapagos, up the Amazon River and around Asia. You'll be able to find out about all these - and more - at the show.

Have fun exploring!
 
Australia It's a huge country and the popular tourist spots are often hundreds of miles apart. However, you can avoid long coach tours, time-consuming drives and expensive internal flights, by taking a cruise and stop at all the best tourist spots -- from the Great Barrier Reef to Sydney harbour.
 
Vietnam/Cambodia Vietnam and Cambodia offer beautiful scenery and vibrant cultures but making your own travel arrangements to tour these exotic destinations can be daunting. A cruise along the Mekong River is an excellent way to enjoy these two countries, without forgoing too many home comforts.
 
Middle East A cruise is a gentle introduction to the region and an easy way to explore this part of the world. You'll be able to experience the sights, cultures and traditions from a number of countries and retreat to the familiar surroundings each evening onboard ship.
 
Alaska Unless you have the constitution of a husky dog, a cruise is the easiest and most relaxing way to enjoy this beautiful, but uncompromising region. The views from the water are spectacular and often the best way to see wildlife and reach the coastal towns and villages.
 
South America A South American cruise is the perfect way to explore ports in Chile, Argentina, Brazil and beyond. Travellers get a taste of the rugged, natural beauty, vibrant cities and wonderful cultures, while enjoying the comfort, safety and ease of travelling by ship.
 
Northern Europe Viewing the Norwegian fjords or visiting St Petersburg by ship is not only a great holiday, but the inclusive pricing offered by cruise lines -- which includes meals, accommodation and transportation -- can make Russia and Norway much more affordable.
 
Western Mediterranean The Med is a top choice for Brits looking for a holiday in the sun. A cruise, however, not only offers a new way to experience this region, but you'll enjoy a new town, city or beaches every day.
 
British Isles Traffic and over-priced accommodation are reason enough to cruise around the UK, but more importantly you get an entirely new perspective on your own country, as well as the opportunity to visit out-of-the-way places such as the Orkney Islands.
 
Europe's Rivers River cruising has brushed up its image, added some wonderful new ships and more active excursions, which means that it now offers excellent value compared to going it alone in the Eurozone. It's a great option for visiting a handful of countries in a single trip.
 
Caribbean If there's one thing better than spending a day on a beautiful Caribbean island, it's spending the next day (and the day after that) on another. It's expensive and time-consuming to fly between islands, so take a Caribbean cruise and let someone else worry about the travel arrangements.

* The CRUISE Show is at the NEC in Birmingham on October 16 and 17. Tickets cost £6 per person if booked in advance or £10 at the door. Book here or call the ticket hotline on 0871 620 4024. Under 16s go in for free.

Still wondering what to do this Christmas? Why not escape all the hassle of cooking, washing-up and being nice to auntie by escaping on a cruise?

To help with the budget, Cruise and Maritime Voyages (0845 833 9798) has slashed £800 per person off the cost of their Caribbean Christmas cruise on Marco Polo.

The cruise departs Tilbury on December 6 and gets back on January 10. You'll spend Christmas Eve in Aruba, and Christmas Day and New Year's Day at sea.

Prices start from £1,999 per person for an inside cabin - that's just £57 a night - or £2,699 for a room with a view.

Oceania Cruises (0845 505 1920) special offer this week is not for the Christmas period, but with discounts of £625 per stateroom on cruises in Alaska, plus $1,000 on-board credit, it'll help to get you in the festive spirit.

The cruise line is making its Alaska debut next summer, offering a selection of 12 and 14-day cruises around the 49th state with new prices from £1,406 per person cruise-only.

Island Cruises' (0871 231 3253) free all-inclusive drinks package - as much beer, wine, liquor, fizzy pop as you can drink, as well as selected cocktails - will certainly get you in the festive spirit. It's available if you book any 2011 cruise before October 31 2010.

The cruise line's one ship, Island Escape, will be sailing in the Canary Islands in winter 2011, then relocating to Palma, Mallorca, for seven-night cruises around the Med in summer.

To avoid another Watchdog incident (Island Cruises is owned by Thomson Cruises) please note that Island is a budget brand with an old ship, and all about casual cruising, with no dress code and self-service meals.

Put it another way, you do not get a luxury cruise paying £654 per person - and that includes flights and all meals don't forget - for seven nights in the Canaries. You have been warned.

I'm struggling to see the point of this. A five-day non-stop circumnavigation of mainland Britain on Saga Pearl II from Dover so you never get the chance to go ashore.

You sail past the Giant's Causeway in Ireland, see the Scottish coast from the deck of the ship and they'll point out see where Tintagel is.

To me cruising is all about visiting lots of different places/countries/cultures so this seems like purgatory.

Five days sailing around the UK and seeing, well, the sea. It's not even as if it's a pretty blue like in the Caribbean. In fact, given it departs at the end of August, during the British summer, there's a good chance it will be raining or blowing a gale.

If Saga needs to fill five days, I'd suggest a cruise to the Channel Islands - a couple of days in Guernsey and Jersey, with a few hours on Alderney or Sark. That actually sounds rather nice.

Funnily enough, when Royal Caribbean International's giant Oasis of the Seas launched last year I asked if they would consider sailing seven-night cruises to nowhere as it struck me there was lots to do on the ship and it would save the hassle of queuing to get off and on.

The answer was a definite no.

Have to admit I never thought Saga would do it instead.

What do you think? Will you be rushing to buy this five-night cruise to nowhere?

Pity the poor passengers on Swan Hellenic.

Unless Lord Sterling gets his way and persuades Portsmouth Port to segregate them from the yobs that travel by ferry, they are going to have to see semi-naked lorry drivers with BO when they go to board their ship next year.

Just as bad, they might have to step over young people who "lay around" as they wait for a cheap ferry to Bilbao.

Now I know Swan passengers are a select breed but I can't help thinking his lordship is getting a little carried away.

I have travelled a lot by ferry in my time - even from Portsmouth - which clearly makes me some kind of layabout on the Sterling radar, but Swan passengers didn't seem to notice that when I cruised on Minerva last year. In fact, I got on very well with most of them.

Could Lord Sterling be having a dig at P&O Ferries, which was part of the giant P&O he used to be in charge of? If so, he'll be happy to hear P&O Ferries has dropped its ferry services from Portsmouth to Bilbao and they have been taken up by the altogether-more-refined Brittany Ferries, which moves in on the route next spring.

I hope most people read his comments with a smile. A nice bit of publicity for Swan and the fact it is sailing out of Portsmouth next year rather than anything to be taken too seriously.

Which is more than I can say for the fact he calls Minerva a five-star ship. Hang on. Wasn't Thomson Cruises just hauled over the coals on national rent-a-whinge TV because one of its agents called the Thomson Dream five star when it isn't? Any more than Minerva is.

It's a nice ship, very comfortable, with a good, friendly crew. I had a great cruise on it to Libya and it is perfectly suited to the discovery-style cruises it does for the 65-plus-year-old passengers who love it (I was the baby on board!).

But sorry, your lordship, that does not mean it is merits five stars.

Douglas Ward, author of the Berlitz cruise guide, rates Minerva three-star-plus. For once, we are in agreement.

Tune in to the Travel Channel (Sky channel 251) tomorrow at 8.30am, Saturday October 9, to see yours truly waxing lyrical about my favourite subject on one of their new half-hour cruise programmes.

I'm talking about cruising in the Arabian Gulf, with the help of their cruise expert Jonathan Beaumont.

If you miss it first thing, the programme is on again at 7.30pm and on Sunday October 10 at midday and 4pm.

It will also be streamed on line from Monday October 11. Click here and choose episode 73.

Looking for some inspiration for your next cruise?

Then check out Princess Cruises' new Bucket List, named after the eponymous film, which follows Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson on a road trip with a wish list of things to do before they "kick the bucket".

The list is being posted by Princess' own travel experts - staffers who have been been with the line for more than 15 years - but as they are only adding one a week for the next 50 weeks so you'll have to be patient in your hunt for ideas.

Or maybe you should just nip along to the cruise show this weekend and see if the experts there - myself included - can give you some inspiration for your next cruise.

It's at the Birmngham NEC on October 16 and 17, entry £10. Click here for more details.

Is Alaska out of the doldrums that has encouraged several cruise lines to cut capacity?

Princess clearly thinks so as it's putting a fourth ship back on the Voyages of the Glaciers route in 2012 (that's a one-way cruise between Vancouver in Canada and Whittier in Alaska, sailing either north or south-bound).

Alaska hit problems a couple of years back when the legislators slapped a head tax of $46 per person on everyone visiting the state.

Cruise lines including Carnival Cruise Lines, NCL, Holland America and Princess objected and cut capacity, threatening Alaska's tourism business and causing the legislators to back down.

Earlier this year the head tax was reduced to $34.50 per person, except on cruises visiting Juneau and Ketchikan, when it falls to $19.50.

So now Princess is going back up to four ships on the Glaciers route, which means it will have a total seven vessels sailing in Alaska in 2012. Details of the actual Alaska deployment will be announced next spring.

I've always questioned whether Alaska's star was fading due to the head tax - which didn't really make that much difference to anyone who could afford an Alaska cruise in the first place - or just because Alaska was out of favour as people looked for somewhere new to cruise.

Princess is clearly confident the state is still in big demand.

What does anyone else think?

Disney Fantasy, currently under construction in Germany, goes on sale today.

The ship - the second new vessel being built by Disney Cruise Line - will be setting off on its maiden cruise on April 7 2012.

It will be sailing alternating seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral in Florida, the former visiting St Maarten and St Thomas, the latter Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

Both itineraries also have a day at Disney's private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay, where you can go snorkelling, cycling or just relax on a beach. Or do all three, as I did when I was there last year.

Check out the website for more details.

Disney's first new ship, Disney Dream, starts sailing on January 26 next year, but I'm going to get a sneak preview in a couple of weeks when it floats out of the same shipyard in Germany where Fantasy is being built.

With a few months to go before launch there'll still be plenty of work to do I'm sure, but I'll be able to give you an idea how it's looking so far.

I'm especially excited about seeing the AquaDuck - the first ever water-coaster at sea. What a wow that will be! But there are plenty of other great new features on board.

As Mickey would say, stay tooned.

It's time to shed a tear.

Ocean Village, the cruise line that made its name with the slogan "the cruise for people who don't do cruises", has set off on its last voyage.

The ship left Crete last week and is now heading to Singapore, where it will go into the Sembawang Shipyard and emerge 36 days later as Pacific Pearl, flying the colours of P&O Cruises Australia.

Ocean Village was set up in 2003 to provide a low-cost casual alternative to P&O Cruises. Its one ship, also called Ocean Village, was joined by a second, Ocean Village Two, in 2007.

They sailed from Palma and Crete in the summer, and in the Caribbean in winter, and had a strong following among people who wanted a fun-in-the-sun holiday with no dress codes or formal dining rather than spending days sailing over the Bay of Biscay.

But that wasn't enough for the powers that be at Carnival UK, who decided the two ships could make more money for P&O Cruises Down Under.

Ocean Village Two left the fleet this time last year - it now operates as Pacific Jewel - and now the original Ocean Village is on its way out.

And so ends Carnival UK's dalliance with being casual.

An interesting aside: Pulling OV has left a gaping hole for cruises from Palma that Royal Caribbean International has been quick to plug.

It is basing Grandeur of the Seas there next summer, offering seven-night cruises around the Western Med - just as OV did. Carnival UK said they couldn't make any money from the cruises because of the cost of the flights. Be interesting to see if Royal can.

Another interesting aside: Carnival UK might not have been able to make any money from OV's Mediterranean fly-cruises, but that's not stopping P&O Cruises from giving it a go for the first time next year with Adonia, the ship currently sailing as Royal Princess for Royal Princess and which joins P&O next May.

Adonia will reposition to the Mediterranean from Southampton in October 2011 and sail six fly-cruises, departing variously from Savona, Athens, Trieste and Naples.

I would not like to be Captain Hernan Zini, master of the new Allure of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean International took delivery of their new big baby yesterday; today the ship leaves Finland, where it was built; next stop Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where it will be based.

All nice and easy, you'd think, if the Atlantic behaves itself  - except on Saturday the vessel has to pass under the Great Belt Bridge between the Danish islands of Zealand and Flynn, height 65 metres above the sea.

Which coincidentally is the same height as Allure.

Luckily someone with a long tape measure worked out that A into B (Allure into Bridge) would go if they didn't do something clever.

So they did something clever. Fitted the ship with retractable funnels that reduce the height by all of one metre (that's three feet in old money).

Tons of room for manoeuvre then!

As I say, I would not like to be Captain Zini.

But then again....

He's master of an incredible new cruise ship, the giant of the seas, which whether you think it is too big or not, you have to admit is amazing with its zipwire, bar that acts as a lift, Brazilian steakhouse, Mexican cantina, park with real shrubs and much more.

Let's be honest. How could anyone not want to be Captain Zini?

Thomson Cruises has decided to axe its cruises to Cuba in 2012 - before this winter's Cuba cruises have even started.

Thomson Dream, which joined the fleet in April from Costa Cruises, is sailing 14-night cruises between Barbados and Cuba, Jamaica and Barbados and Cuba and Jamaica this winter that have two or three days in Havana.

However, although the Cuba itineraries have sold well and give Thomson an edge because US cruise lines can't visit the island, they are being dropped after just one season.

It's all to do with the high cost of flying into three different islands, Thomson's Ian Corbett told me, and also the fact they are pulling Thomson Destiny out of the Caribbean next winter so they have to offer seven and 14-night cruises on Dream as well as two-week cruise-and-stay holidays.

So for 2012 Dream will be based in Barbados, offering seven-night cruises that can be put back to back for a two-week voyage. There will be maiden calls at Costa Rica and Venezuela. Prices start from £999 per person including flights and transfers.

So if it's not in the Caribbean, what's happening to Thomson Destiny, I asked.

Corbett said it's under wraps for a few more weeks but reminded me Thomson also owns Island Cruises. So is it joining Island, I wondered. That's been hinted at before.

But no. Seems that was just a red herring as Corbett confirmed Destiny was definitely not joining Island.

But clearly something interesting is happening.

Watch this space.

If you've not been lucky enough to secure a berth on Balmoral's sold-out Titanic Memorial cruise, fear not, because more "in memory" holidays are emerging from the woodwork to mark the 100th anniversary of the fateful day in 1912 that the "unsinkable" ship hit an iceberg and sank.

Saga Cruises has a 10-night Titanic Remembered voyage from Southampton up the east coast of the UK on Saga Pearl II departing April 12 2012.

It includes calls at Belfast, where the ill-fated ship was built, Cherbourg, where the Titanic picked up extra passengers, and Cobh, then called Queenstown, the last port visited before Titanic headed off across the Atlantic bound for New York.

They'll be serving meals based on the Titanic's first-class dining menu, have on-board talks about the ship and a memorial service, presumably in the early hours of April 15 1912 to mark the moment the ship went down.

UK holiday firm Superbreak is getting in on the sinking ship act with two-night Titanic-themed short breaks in Belfast, priced from £183 per person.

You'll visit the home of Thomas Andrews, who designed the ship, the Harland & Wolff Drawing Office where Titanic's plans were drawn, and the Titanic & Olympic's Slipways.

Superbreak also has a one-night break in London priced from £56.50 per person that includes entrance to the new Titanic Exhibition at the O2 that runs until May 1 2011.

You'll be able to touch an iceberg to see how cold it was on that fateful night (but honestly you could just put your hand in a fridge to find out). You'll also get a White Star boarding pass with a real passenger's name and at the end can check if you live or die.

How cheery.

Ever wondered what Swan Hellenic's discovery-style cruising is all about?

Wonder no more. The cruise line has produced this video of life on their one ship, Minerva.

It opens with an announcement by Paul Carter, their cruise director, who has been at sea for 24 years and is also the voice behind a series of podcasts that give a taste of what you can expect on many of Swan's cruises.

Not just the highlights, but his thoughts about the places you'll visit.

Why not check them out here?

It's being reported as news (even by TW, which needs to keep a closer eye on this blog!), but Cruise Lines followers read that SeaDream Yacht Club will be cruising up the Amazon in 2012 here two months ago.

However, I do have more details now.

It all happens in February and March 2012, when SeaDream II, one of the line's two 112-passenger yachts, sails a 20-night cruise from Barbados to Iquitos in Peru (February 13), followed by another 20-night cruise from Iquitos to Barbados (March 4).

There'll be a chance to go flightseeing in Manaus, have champagne and caviar on the sand at Alter do Chao beach in Brazil, and see local tribes, wildlife, museums and markets.

Prices start from an eye-watering $12,919 per person, excluding flights, so if this appeals you'd better start saving now.

For the first time, Royal Caribbean International's behemoths, sister ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, came face to face last weekend - or should that be port to starboard.

It'll probably be the last time they meet because although they both are based at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale and sail seven-night alternating Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises, they depart on different days.

Probably a good thing for the port given each ship weighs 225,282 tons and carries almost 6,300 passengers each when full.

That means between them, they'll be carrying 12,600 passengers a week, or just over 655,000 cruisers a year.

Scary or what?

Carnival Splendor, the Spam ship that was disabled by a fire last week and had to be towed to San Diego for passengers to disembark, will remain out of service for repairs until January 16 2011.

(And yes I know Carnival said none of the passengers on Splendor had been served Spam, but why spoil a good epithet by the facts).

Anyone who was booked on Splendor's cancelled cruises will receive a full refund of their cruise and air fares, plus a 25% discount off a future Carnival cruise.

That's fair, but not much consolation for those looking forward to their Christmas cruise.

But all is not lost, because although the Big Day is only just around the corner I'm still getting news of availability.

Yachts of Seabourn (0845 0700 500) has room on its Christmas and New Year Sojourn, on the 450-passenger Seabourn Sojourn, departing Fort Lauderdale on December 20.

The 16-day cruise is to Los Angeles by way of Cartagena in Colombia, Puerto Caldera in Costa Rica, Huatulco in Mexico and San Diego, and prices start from £5,199 per person including flights, all drinks and gratuities.

Cruise and Maritime Voyages (0845 833 9798) has a half-price offer on its 35-night Caribbean Christmas cruise on Marco Polo, sailing from Tilbury on December 6. The new price is £1,749 per person cruise-only for an oceanview cabin, saving £1,750 per person.

CMV has also cut the price of single cabins on the same Christmas cruise. Prices now start from £2,799 per person. The cruise line says they won't guarantee romance for soloists but they promise singles who cruise with them won't feel all alone during the festive season.

French cruise line Compagnie du Ponant (0808 234 3802) has a 12-night cruise on Le Diamant from December 16-28, sailing from Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City, and spending Christmas day in Nha Trang in Vietnam. Prices start from £1,555 per person cruise-only.

Alternatively, Ponant has a seven-night Amazon cruise roundtrip from Martinique December 20-27 on Le Levant that spends Christmas day in Port of Spain in Trinidad. Prices from £1,930 per person cruise-only.

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines is offering savings of up to £400 per booking in a Captains' Collection brochure featuring 52 2011 no-fly cruises.

The collection includes everything from two or three-day mini-cruises to 16-night voyages.

A 14-night golf-themed cruise from Dover to Iberia on Braemar on May 14 costs from £1,199 per person. A two-week golf and antiques-themed Baltic cruise on Balmoral from Southampton on May 13 costs from £1,359 per person.

Captains' Collection prices are valid until February 28 2011. Call 01473 742424 or visit the website for more details.

Five and a half hours after walking through my front door, returning bleary-eyed after my few days on Allure of the Seas in Florida, I was heading back to Heathrow, this time to fly to Beirut.

I'm staying in a hotel Saturday night and then joining Voyages to Antiquity's one ship, the 378-passenger Aegean Odyssey. Allure holds 6,300. Talk about little and large.

I have a day in Lebanon, where I'll be going to the ancient Phoenician city of Baalbek, and three days in Syria, where I'll be visiting Krak des Chevaliers, the Crusader castle, and the city of Palmyra. Unusually, we stay overnight in Palmyra, returning to the ship the next day.

Aegean Odyssey is an old ship but new to Voyages to Antiquity, which only launched in May this year.

They stripped down the vessel, rebuilt it with less capacity and now offer cruises that are all about discovery and learning, with included excursions and on-board lectures.

Internet willing, I'll be blogging from the ship to explain what exactly that means, and how it works. So don't forget to stay in touch.

The big attraction in Lebanon, apart from Beirut, the capital, which I only caught a glimpse of during my overnight there, is Baalbek, which I visited on my first day on Voyages to Antiquity.

The city was founded originally by the Phoenicians in the 2nd century BC, rebuilt by the Greeks and then again by the Romans. Of course. They were everywhere.

The site, in the Bekaa Valley, is amazing. There are three temples, dedicated to Jupiter, Bacchus and Venus. Tony, our guide, explained that when they moved in, the Romans told the locals that the Roman gods were the same as theirs, just with different names.

So where the Phoenicians had Baal, the Romans had Jupiter, where the Phoenicians had Astarte, the Romans had Venus. It fell down a bit with Bacchus. Tony admitted they never found a Phoenician equivalent of Rome's wine-loving god.

But the really clever thing about being so flexible on the god front was that the locals happily worked for the Romans, helping to build their new temples.

The ones dedicated to Jupiter and Venus are in ruins although there is plenty to see, including these six columns, which have withstood Christians, Mamelukes and earthquakes to remain as they were back in Roman times.

The real stunner is the Temple of Bacchus, top, said to be the best-preserved Roman temple in the world because you can still see parts of the stone ceiling in situ in the portico.

The whole complex took three centuries to build; the Jupiter temple alone took 100 years. "What did the Romans have that we don't," Tony asked. Not slaves, as someone answered, but time. How true. We get annoyed if something takes a couple of years to build.

The place was all the more amazing when you consider they had to move huge pieces of rock by manpower alone. We saw one of the stones, still in the quarry and met Abdul Nabi al-Afi, who has devoted his life since leaving the Lebanese army to stopping the locals using the site as a rubbish dump.

He even set up a garbage collection service to try to stop them dropping their litter on the stone ("they told me I'm a fool," he told a local paper).

Judging by the mess along the sie of the roads, it's like trying to hold back the tide. In Syria the next day, Antoine, our guide constantly told us how fertile the land we were driving through was. Well it was good at growing plastic bags and water bottles, but I didn't see much else.

Back in Lebanon, Tony tried to reassure us as we drove back to the ship with news that they have recently introduced radars to stop drivers speeding. They tried it with policemen first, but found they could be bought off. So two weeks ago they started with hidden cameras.

Problem is, he added, the speed limits in some areas are "illogical" (as in too slow). Sound familiar? And then he reassured us with a joke about a Lebanese man who drove into a wall.

Did I say joke? Having seen the driving, I suspect it could be based on fact.

I have often mentioned the guides, good or otherwise, I have had on ships' excursions, but never the coach drivers.

Let me put that right here, and mention Mohammed, the driver of the orange coach during our overnight stay in Tartous, Syria.

Orange? Voyages to Antiquity allocates passengers to colour groups depending on their cabin location. As I am on deck eight, at the top of the ship - and I'll post my thoughts later about their ship Aegean Odyssey and the Crac, as Antoine, our guide, called it - I am in the orange group.

Mohammed's problems started when we were making the final ascent to the Crusader castle Crac des Chevaliers, only to find the road was closed.

"It's fine, there is another way," Antoine explained. Fine for him, but poor Mohammed had to get the coach through the narrow streets of the village below the castle. Residents had to move cars and at one point he nearly took out one wing mirror.

Clearly the Crusaders did not think things through when they built this castle, one of the country's top tourist attractions, in such an inaccessible place!

But Mohammed did it, only to have to make a near 90-degree turn to get around the back of the castle and park the coach. Probably easy on most roads, but this was on a steep hill and on a road just over a car wide, so he had to inch to and fro.

And all the while passing locals nipped down the sides, with all of a paper-width between their cars and the coach.

The castle visit over, we were driving another 250km to Palmyra. Except the main road was shut in the direction we wanted to go.

No problem. The fearless Mohammed drove us up the slip road, heading towards oncoming cars, so he coulddo a u-turn and get on the road going in the opposite direction to the one we wanted. Potentially we were talking going down a motorway the wrong way. Not at all scary.

But all went according to plan. Sort of. Mohammed came off at the next exit, drove a few metres and then came upon the coach in front doing a three-point turn. That road was shut too.

So we went back to the highway, this time heading in the right direction, took a left, right and drove up a goat track for what seemed miles, until we were able to rejoin the main road.

I do love the driving in Syria. If they want to overtake, they just sound the horn and go, even if there is something coming in the other direction. And then they wonder why there are so many accidents.

The drive to Palmyra was long, almost three ours after all the detours, through the desert-like Syrian plain. On the way Antoine talked endlessly about the politics of Syria and the history of Palmyra. It reminded me of a line from Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie:

He talked for 45 minutes [except it was a lot longer!] and no one understood a word he said.

More on what I did understand later.

I might have given the impression in my last blog that Antoine, my first guide in Syria, was not much good. That is something of an understatement.

He was one of those people who knew his stuff - knew too much for your average passenger to be honest - but didn't have the English to explain it properly.

He would point to columns and explain they used to have statues of "guts" on them. He meant "gods". Of course! Trouble is, by the time you had worked that out, you had missed the next thing he was talking about.

No matter. It was not enough to spoil the two-day excursion from Tartous, first visiting Crac des Chevaliers, then driving to Palmyra, where we stayed overnight. Next day we had a tour of the ruins there, before the three-hour drive back to Aegean Odyssey, the one ship owned by Voyages to Antiquity.

My information on both places is patchy, even though I was trying so hard to follow what Antoine was saying, but the salient point about Crac is that was a Crusader castle, built over a 150-year period on top of a hill (hence Mohammed's trials and tribulations with the coach).

It is a stunning place, especially when you consider there were no cranes, lorries or other mod-cons to move the stones around back in the 11th century.

We saw the kitchens, ovens, dining room, cistern and food stores, the latter with four-metre-wide walls. Antoine said they could store enough food and water to withstand a five-year siege.

But that was never put to the test, although the castle was besieged three times. The last time, in 1271, because the Mamelukes broke through and took over the castle.

Palmyra, the City of Palms, is much older, dating back to the 3rd century BC and built on the crossroads of the caravan roads so it was very prosperous. At one end there was the Baal Temple with what Antoine called a "centuries" (turned out it was the sanctuary or inner sanctum where only priests and kings could enter to make sacrifices).

Below the temple, there was the city - or at least the 10% that has been excavated - with its triumphal arch, baths, magnificent original colonnaded street, below, agora (market) and theatre, where they hold concerts.

We also went inside a tower tomb, which had four floors, each with about 20 slots that in turn each held about seven or eight bodies, and a very ornate underground tomb owned by members of the Three Brothers' Tribe.

Back at the ship, one passenger told me he refused to tip Mohammed after our two-day expedition because he had the nerve to drive while talking on his mobile. Something the Brits never do, of course.

After all his hard work too. It made me embarrassed to be British.

Before leaving for Crac des Chevaliers, I decided to do the half-day tour to Saladin's Castle on day three in Syria, when Aegean Odyssey was moored in Latakia, so I would have time to see the ship in the afternoon.

The alternative was another three-hour drive, this time to Aleppo, with another three hours to get back, which did not greatly appeal. And not just to me. After our Palmyra marathon, quite a few passengers decided against Aleppo and put their name down for Saladin's Castle, just 40km from the port.

It was a brilliant decision. The castle is more of a ruin than Crac, but it was fantastic - peaceful and quiet, as I only saw the 18 passengers who came in our coach, and there was no sign of the hawkers who had driven us mad at Palmyra and Crac.

They were there every time you turned around, selling postcards, garish jewellery and 1950's-style table clothes. It might have been bearable if they were selling something good, but mostly it was stuff they would have to pay me to take away.

Although it's called Saladin's Castle, it was actually another Crusader stronghold, created by blasting the gap out of the rock, above (of course it wasn't a road then). On the right was the village, on the left the castle. The drawbridge went across the top of that pillar, above, 22 metres high, so once it was pulled up the place was impregnable. Or so they thought.

They hadn't reckoned on Saladin. When he attacked, he sent the majority of his troops to the entrance, drawing the knights away from the lower castle, where the rest of Saladin's troops got over the wall and took the fortification. That was in 1182.

It was the end of the Crusaders in Syria and also marks then end of my Aegean Odyssey sojourn in the region. Tonight we cruise to Limassol, Cyprus, from where I am flying home, snow willing.

Some thoughts on the ship will follow.

Crystal Cruises (020 7287 9040) is throwing in a free upgrade to British Airways World Traveller Plus if you book an Alaska cruise for May and June next year by January 31 2010

If you book a cruise for July or August, you'll get free economy flights.

Bit of a no-brainer isn't it?

It'll be the first time the cruise line has been back to Alaska since 2005. It is offering 12-night cruises from San Francisco on Crystal Symphony that visit Vancouver, Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay, and cruise the "Inside Passage".

Prices start from £3,550 per person including the flights, transfers, soft drinks and water, plus $500 per person on-board credit.

Island Escape's planned three-week dry-dock in October has turned into a five-month stay because more work needs to be done to the ship.

Thomson Cruises, which owns the Island Cruises brand, has not detailed what is being done, but in a statement said the scheduled maintenance work, being carried out in Lisbon, will "take longer to complete" than originally planned.

Island Escape should have been sailing seven-night Canary Island cruises this winter. A spokeswoman said two cruises had to be cancelled at the start of the season but they are now being operated by Thomson Spirit, which was available as it is normally laid up over winter.

Once Island Escape emerges from dry-dock in February, it will take over the Canary Island cruises and Thomson Spirit will relocate to Limassol in Cyprus, for a series of seven-night Pharaohs and the Promised Land cruises visiting Alanya in Turkey, Alexandria and Port Said in Egypt and Ashdod and Haifa in Israel.

These run through March and April 2011, with prices from £799 per person including flights and transfers.

The winter 2011/12 Canary Island cruises will be on Thomson Destiny, which is staying in Europe instead of moving to the Caribbean, and Island Escape will be sailing two new cruises from Limassol, visiting Israel, Egypt and Turkey.

The cruises - Escape to the East and Sun and Sights - will run on alternate weeks in November and December 2011 only with prices from £649 per person including flights and transfers.

Between January and April 2012, the ship will be laid up, before resuming seven-night Western Mediterranean sailings from Palma.

Noble Caledonia has sent me news of an additional cruise to Antarctica it is selling for next year.

Roughly the same time as footage of Clelia II battlilng over the Drake Passage reached me. It reminded me of when I rocked and rolled to the White Continent on Discovery, owned by Voyages of Discovery, a few years ago.

Noble Caledonia's 22-night voyage, from November 11-December 3 2011, is on German cruise line Hapag-Lloyd's 160-passenger expedition ship Bremen, and is designated "international", which means programmes, menus, lectures and expeditions ashore are guaranteed to be in English as well as German.

You'll visit the Falkland Islands and South Georgia before reaching the Antarctic Peninsula.

Prices start from £6,995 per person including flights, two nights' bed and breakfast in Buenos Aires, 18 nights crusing on Bremen and all gratuities. There is no single supplement for category 5 cabins.

And now, just when I've whetted your appetite for Antactica, here is poor old Clelia II, soon to be Orion II for Aussie exploration line Orion Expedition Cruises, pitching about in 100mph winds and waves of up to 40 feet high.

The report says waves broke a window, causing electrical problems that knocked out the ship's communications channel.

I believe the other ship you see is National Geographic Explorer, owned by Lindblad, which was in the area and able to provide some communication equipment after the storm had eased.

Before you look, I have to tell you that although the cruise I did to Antarctica was awful - not quite as bad as this but I endured 36 hours of being tossed about like a cork - it was so worth it. And the Passage was like a mill pond on the way home. So it can behave itself.

Viking River Cruises is to start selling Nile cruises next year.

Details are being finalised, but they will be selling two Movenpick river cruise boats - the Royal Lotus, which sails on the Nile, and Prince Abbas, which sails on Lake Nasser.

Can't help thinking Discover Egypt, part of All Leisure Group, the company that owns Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery, would have been a better partner as they have Nile river boats called Royal Viking and Viking Princess!

Moving into Egypt seems a strange move given the Nile is such a crowded market, but Viking says they have just trialled Nile cruise sales in Germany and the US and there seems to be demand so they thought they'd dip a toe in the water, so to speak, over here.

Prince Abbas is also sold through Elegant River Cruises, which is owned by Titan HiTours, as part of a 12-day itinerary combining Lake Nasser with a Nile cruise on Uniworld's River Tosca.

Swan Hellenic says its new no-fly cruises from Portsmouth next summer are selling quickly.

That's despite its passengers having to mix with the smelly lorry drivers and young layabouts bemoaned by Lord Sterling.

Which just proves the old saying, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Question is, was the comment a clear case of foot-in-mouth by the good Lord or a neat publicity stunt, as I suspected at the time.

Swan tells me the first departure, a round-Britain cruise departing June 22 2011, is almost sold out and demand is strong for the other voyages - to the Baltic, Norwegian fjords and Iceland.

The headlines are full of news about the nightmare passengers endured on Brilliance of the Seas off Alexandria last weekend.

So what better moment for Norwegian Cruise Line to announce it is keeping two ships in the Mediterranean year-round in winter 2012/13.

Because after what Royal Caribbean has termed "a serious incident" on Brilliance, we'll all be flocking to cruise in the Med in winter!

Bad weather can strike anywhere of course - the Drake Passage is notorious and everyone goes over the Bay of Biscay braced for the worst - but off Egypt? Seems even the captain of Brilliance was caught unawares by that one.

So now the cruise line is giving passengers a full refund for their cruise. An extraordinary precedent that other cruise lines are not happy about.

NCL's decision to put a second ship in the Med is part of the biggest European deployment in the company's history - four ships in summer, two in winter.

* Norwegian Epic is back for a second summer season sailing seven-night cruises from Barcelona between April 29 and October 14 2012. There will also be a four-day cruise departing on April 25 2012.

* Norwegian Spirit makes its European debut, sailing 12-day voyages between Barcelona and Venice through the summer and from Barcelona to the Canary Islands between November 2012 and April 2013.

* Norwegian Jade will be based in Venice, offering alternating seven-day cruises to the Greek Isles and to Greece and Turkey, each with different ports of call so these can be combined into a 14-night voyage. Between October 2012 and April 2013, Norwegian Jade will be based at Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, sailing 10 and 11-night cruises to Egypt, Israel, Greece and Turkey.

* Norwegian Sun will be based in Copenhagen for a summer series of nine-day Baltic Capitals cruises. It will also be offering one 14-night cruise to Iceland, the Norwegian fjords and Faroe Islands on September 16 2012.

Would you choose to cruise in the Mediterranean in winter? Share your thoughts below.

Five officers serving on Holland America Line's Veendam paid tribute to comrades who died during the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina when the ship visited the island last month.

Captain Peter Harris, chief engineer Thomas Mahon, S.E.H. Officer Derek Williams, culinary operations manager Craig Oakes and facility manager David Hay served on ships in the Royal and Merchant Navy during the war.

A service was held at the war memorial in Stanley, erected to honour those who perished during the war, and a Remembrance Day service was also held onboard the ship. Funds collected from the Poppy campaign were donated to the Stanley Branch Legion.

Why would you go on a cruise to Alaska?

a) To be slimed during a Nickelodeon game show on Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Jewel, which is making its Alaska debut in summer 2012?

b) To listen to author, lecturer and naturalist Terry Breen talk about the 49th state on a cruise next summer as Oceania Cruises makes its Alaska debut with the 684-passenger Regatta as you marvel at the wildlife, soaring landscapes, glaciers and untamed wilderness.

Put it another way, why would you spend a fortune taking the kids to Alaska just so they can get covered in green slime?

OK, I'm being a bit facetious, but I am intrigued to know how many people choose a particular cruise because of the on-board lecturers.

I can imagine quite a few being keen to join star of screen and bush David Bellamy, who is lecturing on a Star Flyer cruise from Costa Rica in December 2011.

And clearly Fred Olsen thinks the on-board offering can make a difference as it has just relaunched its ArtsClub, which features lectures and excursions on special-interest topics such as painting, antiques, wine-tasting, history and music.

The relaunched version promises more lectures and linked excursions. There will be a new website - the old one is here - and brochure, all planned to launch in March.

Do you choose a cruise because of the on-board lecturers or special-interest activities? Tell us what you think below.

Starting April 2011, St Peter Line will be operating a twice-weekly ferry between Stockholm and St Petersburg.

The 25-hour journey will be on the Princess Anastasia, until recently known as Pride of Bilbao, sailing between Portsmouth and Bilbao in Spain for P&O Ferries.

P&O closed the route in September 2010, handed the ferry back to owner Irish Continental Group, which sold it to St Peter Line, a Cypriot company.

It's a happy homecoming for the ship, which was built in Turku, Finland, and once sailed as Olympia between Stockholm and Helsinki for Viking Line.

All very interesting, but what really mostly caught my eye is that passengers arriving in St Petersburg on Princess Anastasia will be able to stay in the city for up to 72 hours without getting a Russian visa.

It's the second such visa-free ferry service - in April 2010, St Peter Line started a visa-free ferry service between Helsinki and St Petersburg.

So why can't the same courtesy be extended to cruise passengers, who are mostly only in the city for 48 hours?

At the moment, if you arrive in St Petersburg on a cruise you either have to go ashore on a ship's tour, which means you are covered by their visa, or jump through hoops to get your own. It's do-able but a pain.

Could it be that none of the cruise lines has asked the Russian authorities if their passengers could get special dispensation where visa are concerned?

After all, it's in their interest to sell as many very highly-priced tours as possible - and they do, with many passengers taking morning, afternoon and evening excursions at £100 or more a time - so why rock the boat (excuse the pun)?

When I was there in May this year on Saga's Saga Pearl II, I had a private car for eight hours - driver and guide - which cost an eye-watering £400.

True, I had an unforgettable and very poignant trip to Tsarskoye Selo, out of the city, to see the Alexander Palace, home of the last tsar Nicholas II and the place where he and his family were imprisoned immediately after his abdication in 1917, and I would have struggled to do that alone.

But left to my own devices I could have taken the metro into the city centre for 22 rubles, which is less than US$1.

Clearly the Russians are also making a fortune out of the tours, but they could do like many other countries and protect any lost income by selling visas on arrival.

And actually I don't think there would be much loss because frankly I can't see many cruise passengers going off alone (the Cyrillic alphabet and a weird fear about Russians would put a lot off). But for those who would love to enjoy this fabulous city alone - me! - it would be fantastic.

Prime Minister Putin, please take note.

....but only if you cruise from the UK!

Cruise lines that offer no-fly cruises from the UK could never have bought the kind of advertising they have had in the past eight months.

Flights grounded by the volcanic ash cloud back in May and now by snow just as everyone wanted to get away for Christmas.

I can almost see the likes of P&O Cruises, Cunard and Cruise and Maritime Voyages rubbing their hands with glee and saying (in hag-like tones because after all, it is the pantomime season) "we told you it was better to cruise from the UK".

I know you still have to battle through snow to get to your departure port, and this weekend roads have been particularly bad, and there is a chance of bad weather on the Bay of Biscay.

But the ports of Dover and Portsmouth kindly informed me this morning that the English Channel hasn't frozen so cruises are departing as planned.

And a couple of days rocking and rolling on the way to the Med, Canary Islands or even the Caribbean has surely got to beat night after cold night camped out on the floor at Heathrow Airport.

The Passenger Shipping Association estimates that 710,000 Brits will take a no-fly cruise in 2011, 55,000 more than in 2010. Given the chaos that now reigns, I suspect there could be even more.

It's a little late to think about a Christmas cruise, but if your holiday plans have just been buried under a snow drift why not cheer yourself up with a New Year no-fly cruise instead.

Iglu (020 8544 6447) tells me they have availability on Royal Caribbean International's Independence of the Seas, cruising from Southampton to the Med on January 8 or 26, and on February 13, with prices from £719 per person for 18 nights.

Iglu also has space on Fred Olsen's Boudicca, sailing from Southampton to the Caribbean, up the Amazon to Manaus and back to the UK. It departs on January 30 and prices start from £2,399 per person for 30 nights.

Cruise Thomas Cook (0800 916 6070) has a 14-night cruise from Southampton to the Canary Islands, also on Boudicca, departing on January 16. Prices from £974 per person for an outside cabin.

Forget the white stuff outside, I'm being snowed under by emails offering so many deals and discounts you'd think it's Christmas.

Here are some of the best.

Bah humbug
Oceania Cruises has kindly sent a Season's Greetings e-Christmas card, but diluted the message by adding a link to a page on their website offering discounts of up to 61% and $1,000 on-board credit. Marketing gone mad, but an offer you can't refuse!

Booze cruise
Thomson Cruises has all-inclusive upgrades for £49 per person on seven-night cruises from Palma on Thomson Dream and Thomson Destiny if you book by January 31 2011. If you book a winter 2011/12 cruise on Thomson Destiny or Thomson Spirit by April 2011 you'll get a free all-inclusive upgrade.

And so to bed
Princess Cruises has free upgrades from an oceanview to a balcony cabin on Grand, Ruby and Star Princess cruises from the UK and in the Mediterranean, on Caribbean Princess in the Caribbean and on Coral Princess in Alaska. Book by January 31.

Spend, spend, spend
P&O Cruises has savings of up to £2,500 per couple, as well as £1,000 on-board spending money, on selected cruises booked before January 31 2011. Shuttle buses, where provided, are now free and P&O is going overboard (sorry!) to tell the world how cheap their booze is.

Bah humbug (again)
Holland America Line is jumping on the ash cloud and airline strikes bandwagon to promote its no-fly cruises from Dover next year. And why not? Perfect time given all this snow chaos. But hey guys. Is free car parking at Dover really the best bit of Xmas cheer you could rustle up? Scrooge would be proud of you. It's not even available if you only book an inside cabin.

Love is in the air
Full marks to Norwegian Cruise Line for thinking outside the stocking and coming up with an Epic Valentine's Day deal - seven nights on Norwegian Epic in the Caribbean from £1,079 per person including flights. The ship will be decorated with heart-shaped ice sculptures, there'll be a special Valentine's menu in the Le Bistro and they promise I can dance the night away to a selection on love songs.

Sounds great. Now all I need is someone to go with.

It's been three whirlwind weeks since I got back from my cruise on Voyages to Antiquity's 378-passenger Aegean Odyssey.

During the cruise I posted blogs about our calls at Syria and Lebanon, which were fabulous despite the poor guide in Syria, so it's well past time to give you a few thoughts about the ship.

I had a lovely spacious cabin with a walk-in wardrobe and big bathroom - bath, shower and, amazingly, a toilet that flushed rather than vacuumed - and a generous supply of quality shampoos, conditioners, lotions and shower gel.

The bed was comfy, there was a small balcony and Cidi, my room steward, was charming, but the room was very spartan, as indeed is much of the rest of the ship (the pic to the right is the reception).

There were no pictures on the wall, very little furniture but one morning, while lying in bed, I did spot a TV on the wall opposite.

I say "spot" because it was so small relative to the size of the room and the distance from the bed, I hadn't noticed it before. And other than on the bed, there was nowhere to sit and watch it, which rendered it rather useless. It was anyway; apparently none of the TVs were getting a signal.

Mine was the last cruise of the 2010 season - the key thing that sets VtoA apart from the competition is that they cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean only and are sensible enough not to try cruising there in winter.

That means a) there is no chance of hitting bad weather and b) they have time to put the ship in dry-dock so any problems can be ironed out.

As a priority, they need to get the smoke stack sorted. Ever since they launched in May 2010, passengers have been complaining about soot falling from the stack, but they have been unable to get the problem fixed.

Just look at this picture of Aegean Odyssey arriving into Beirut, belching smoke and with a blackened stack. No wonder a lot of the loungers on the top deck were spotted with soot. Just unfortunate they chose white seat covers!

VtoA also desperately needs to install wi-fi. I am told they are putting it in during the dry-dock, but seriously wonder why it wasn't installed during the initial major refit given the type of people they want to attract.

Namely highly-educated folk aged 55-plus who travel with laptops and want to keep in touch on-line.

If I'd had £1 for every passenger who came up to me in the hotel we stayed in overnight in Palmyra who wished they had also brought their laptop when they saw I was on-line on mine, I could have covered the cost of my air fare.

Well maybe not, but you get the idea.

There is an internet café on the ship, and the satellite signal was excellent, but its six terminals were in constant use. I do hope they can do something about the deafening air-conditioning in there.

But more importantly they need to address the poor food and sloppy service, which was commented on by many passengers I spoke to, both Brits and Americans, some hardened cruisers, others trying a holiday at sea for the first time.

Service howlers included seating me without a menu, forgetting to take my order, giving me a wine glass but having to be asked again to pour wine in it (free wine with dinner is one of their selling points, but you have to constantly ask for it), having to wait 20 minutes for service in an almost-empty bar.

The good news is that all things that can easily be put right (the smoke stack might not be easy, but I'm sure it can be fixed). A change of catering company, more training for the crew, wi-fi and some decoration on the walls.

The people I spoke to who were disappointed with the ship loved the destinations and shore excursions, and want to cruise again with VtoA because of the interesting places they visit.

I'm with them. I'd certainly cruise with them again for the destinations.

I just hope the powers that be spend the money necessary to make sure that when we do all go back, we can sit outside without getting covered in soot and enjoy a drink that's been served promptly while discussing how fabulous the food and crew are.

My thanks to Martina from representation company TravelTradeUK for getting in touch with news of the Stella Australis, a new ship in the Cruceros Australis fleet.

The ship, which has just 100 cabins, all with fabulous panoramic windows, is sailing three and four-night cruises between Punta Arenas in Chile and Ushuiaia in Argentina.

Not something you'd fly half way around the world to do on its own I admit, but a magical add-on to a longer holiday in South America.

You are at the end of the world, in one of the last great wildernesses, where you will land at Cape Horn if weather permits, go ashore in Wulaia Bay, where Charles Darwin landed on January 23 1833, explore waterfalls and glaciers from inflatable Zodiacs, see penguins on a visit to Magdalena Island.

A three-night cruise from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas starts from $840 per person based double occupancy.

The Stella Australis, which set off on its maiden cruise on December 18, looks fabulous. You can see pictures here. Look at those windows in the cabins. I can just see myself, lying in bed, watching the scenery go by.

You can also read about the adventures of fellow blogger Captain Greybeard, who cruised on Via Australis, another ship in the fleet, here.

Around 100 Brits due to fly out to join Thomson Dream in Jamaica this morning had their New Year's cruise cancelled last night because of air-conditioning problems in 50 cabins.

Thomson Cruises said individual air handling units were damaged during the recent freezing conditions in Hamburg, where the ship was in dry-dock, affecting a limited number of cabins in a specific area of the ship.

You have to feel sorry for Thomson. The ship has been plagued with problems since Thomson Cruises chartered it from Costa Cruises in April.

The dry-dock was supposed to cure all the ailments, including problems with the plumbing and air-con, that led to Dream's cruises turning in nightmares for many passengers earlier this year.

Instead, it has caused more problems.

Christmas hasn't helped. Thomson Cruises said replacements have been ordered, but they've been held up by extended delivery times due to the holidays.

Passengers in the affected cabins should have been joining a two-week cruise from Montego Bay in Jamaica to Bridgetown in Barbados via Havana in Cuba. A pretty neat itinerary.

In its place, they have been offered an alternative cruise, such as Thomson Destiny's one-week cruise from Dominican Republic on January 2, or a full refund and £200 per person as a "goodwill gesture".

Carnival Corp chief Micky Arison speculated during a recent earnings call that this winter's bad weather will have a positive impact on cruise sales, with winter-weary folk rushing to book a holiday in the sun.

Logic says that should also mean fares will start to go up.

But what has logic to do with anything? Cruisers tasted some unbelievable deals during the recession and with no end to talk of austerity measures in sight, I reckon they are going to be hanging on for the best deals.

There are certainly plenty of them around.

Uniworld, the river cruise company, has slashed up to £1,450 of the cost of a nine-night Prague/Rhine/Main cruise-and-stay holiday.

P&O Cruises has 12 nights in the Mediterranean at the end of March, sailing on Ventura from Southampton, from £998 per person - that's just £84 a night.

Holland America Line, which made it into the Bah Humbug list before Xmas for their paltry offer of free parking at Dover, has made amends with a seven-night cruise to Scandinavia on July 24 from just £15 a day.

OK, it's not quite that good. That price is for a third or fourth person sharing a cabin with two adults paying from £789 per person, but it's not to be sniffed at if you're looking for a summer getaway with the family.

The cruise lines might be hoping the cold weather and snow will lead to more bookings and therefore higher fares, as Johanna Jainchill speculates in USA Today's Cruise Log.

They can hope but I suspect it's one New Year's wish that won't come true.

A 15-night cruise to Antarctica on Compagnie du Ponant's Le Boreal, pictured, was cancelled at the last minute due to unspecified technical problems.

The 264-passenger ship was on charter to Abercrombie & Kent and would have been sailing full. Instead it will be staying in Ushuaia for repairs to be carried out.

It is understood signs of wear were found by technicians - pretty shoddy considering the ship only launched in May - and the affected parts needed to be replaced.

Ponant said it decided to cancel the cruise to avoid problems arising while in Antarctica.

"If the ship had been sailing in any other part of the world, the parts would have been readily available and the work could easily have been done during its cruise."

A&K is giving passengers on the cancelled Le Boreal cruise a full refund or a credit and 10% discount off a future cruise.

Antarctica is the most remote place on earth, cut off from civilization by the Drake Passage, 1,000km of treacherous sea, so it's not the best place to be if things go wrong.

Last month Clelia II hit a storm on the Drake Passage and its communication equipment was knocked out of action when a wave shattered a bridge window. It's been in Ushuaia for repairs since December 9, missing three sailings, and will finally re-enter service tomorrow.

Most big cruise lines are pulling their Antarctica cruises after this winter due to a new ruling effective August 1 that bans ships using heavy fuel.

The International Maritime Organisation ruling was made on environmental grounds - an accident resulting in heavy fuel spillage was deemed too much of a risk - rather than because of the risk of a bumpy crossing on Drake's.

Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Crystal Cruises are all quitting, but Holland America Line has promised to keep going.

Stein Kruse, their president and CEO, told me they will empty the fuel tanks of heavy fuel, clean them out and fill up with lighter fuel for the trip. "It'll be expensive but we will continue to go there."

In 2012, Azamara Club Cruises' Azamara Journey will make its Antarctica debut instead of Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Infinity.

It means there is less capacity but only of the sightseeing variety - ships with more than 500 passengers are not allowed to make landings; they can only take them to look at the penguins and icebergs.

Which has always struck me as a waste of time and money.

The only way to do Antarctica is on a smaller vessel that can get close to icebergs, fit through the narrow channels and lower Zodiacs so you can go ashore and walk among the penguins.

And there are still plenty of them including Silversea's Prince Albert II, Compagnie du Ponant's Le Boreal, being joined by sister ship L'Austral next winter, Hapag-Lloyd's Hanseatic and Bremen, Lindblad's National Geographic Explorer and Hurtigruten's Fram.

Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson and Neil Diamond are joining Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Epic from January 22.

OK, not the real Mccoy. But they are the next three stars that singers from Legends in Concert will be impersonating during shows in the theatre and the Manhattan Room.

Legends in Concert pioneered live celebrity shows and is now in 11 cities in the US including Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Seattle, as well as having performers on Epic.

The new trio replaces Rod Stewart, Britney Spears and Michael Jackson, who have finished their four-month stint at sea.

Norwegian Epic is cruising in the Caribbean now, but will be based in Barcelona from May, sailing seven-night cruises around the Mediterranean.

"We'll soon have had the whole Jackson 5 on Epic," quipped Andy Stuart, NCL's executive v-p in charge of global sales and passenger service, as he released the news last evening.

"You can tell he's from the UK," retorted Kevin Sheehan, president and CEO, who was on a webinar to talk about his stint as undercover boss (see below) on Epic. "Janet Jackson was never in the Jackson 5."

(Not quite sure how being from the UK and not knowing who was in the Jackson 5 are related subjects but still ... - Ed)

Stuart: "Ah well, I'm too young for all that stuff."

I love it that NCL's management have fun running the cruise line as well as promoting it on their ships.

Guess who was waiting to greet Disney Cruise line's new ship, Disney Dream, as it arrived in its new home port of Port Canaveral in Florida?

The ship, the first new Disney vessel for more than a decade, was welcomed to its new home early yesterday morning to a blaze of fireworks and Mickey and Minnie waiting on the dock.

Donald and Pluto were also there as a plane towed a banner across the sky reading "Welcome Home, Disney Dream" and the ship's horn played "When you wish upon a star".

I'll be flying out to Orlando in just over a week for the naming ceremony on January 19 and a mini-cruise, so I'll be able to report back on all the fun things on board.

Top of my list of priorities is a ride on the AquaDuck, the first water coaster at sea. Followed closely by toasting Pink, the Champagne bar, with a glass or two of bubbly.

The maiden voyage, a two-night cruise with a day at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas, departs on January 26.

Disney Dream will then be sailing three, four and five-night cruises that visit Nassau in the Bahamas and Castaway Cay.

* Pic courtesy of Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel

A record six cruise ships were in Southampton yesterday, disembarking one set of passengers and taking on another lot before heading off on marathon round-the-world or round-South America cruises.

The Southampton six comprised Fred Olsen's Balmoral and Black Watch, Cunard's Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, P&O Cruises' Arcadia and Saga Cruises' Saga Ruby.

Between them, they brought 18,000 passengers through the port and each contributed £1.5 million to the local economy.

The good start to 2011 is going to continue, according to Doug Morrison, Southampton's port director. More than 350 cruise ships have booked calls so far for 2011. That's 50 more than last year.

Good thing they announced plans last month for a fifth cruise ship terminal, although even if all goes to plan that won't be ready until 2013.

The new port of Falmouth in Jamaica is not having such a good time. It was due to welcome its first cruise ship - Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas -  tomorrow, but the on-off opening is off again.

The maiden call has been put back to February 17, due to on-going construction work on the eastern part of the site.

That's after maiden calls last November were called off because the port was not ready.

William Tatham, v-p cruise operations for the Jamaica Port Authority, said it is now ready take ships and tour operations are set to go, but "the guest experience is not where we want it to be".

Freedom of the Seas will now be the first ship to call at the new port, a joint venture between Jamaica Port Authority and Royal Caribbean Cruises, which has been designed to take Royal's giant Oasis-class ships.

They are scheduled to make their maiden calls at Falmouth in mid-March.

Where would you most like to cruise this year and who would you most like to travel with?

That's what Princess Cruises asked their Facebook fans. The answers? Seems Alaska is ther in-place to go this year. And most said they'd actually like to go with their spouses or partners, but if they had to choose a celeb, it would be Oprah.

She got 19% of the vote, way more than Michelle Obama's 6%, but America's official first lady still outperformed princess-in-waiting Kate Middleton in the popularity stakes. She got just 3% of the vote.

Alaska was also a popular choice for shore excursions, with 17% wanting to go dog mushing on a glacier in the 49th state. That was level pegging with the number who wanted to visit the lost city of Machu Picchu in Peru.

Strange what people want to do. Some 14% said they'd like to climb the cliffs in Santorini in Greece, but just 7% said they wanted to visit Petra in Jordan and only 6% wanted to go to Vietnam.

I've been to all three and can honestly say Petra and Vietnam are seriously amazing, while Santorini, while pretty, is just another Greek Island.

Princess is currently running a bucket list blog revealing employees' top 50 travel experiences.

In the latest, Rob Roberts, shorex manager, tells of his first visit to the Mediterranean as he made sure everything was in place ahead of the 1998 launch of the 2,600-passenger Grand Princess, which was then the largest cruise ship in the world.

If you're off on a Nile cruise later this year, don't forget to pack your Berlitz Nile Cruising Pocket Guide.

This new handy-sized guide book describes the various Nile River and Lake Nasser cruises you can do, listing what you can see as you sail down the river, as well as offering helpful hints and tips.

There's also a large section on Luxor and what to do there - everything from an early-morning balloon ride to visiting the temples in the town, shopping in the souks and exploring the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank.

The book is published on January 31, price £5.99.

Coincidentally, I can now confirm details of Viking River Cruises new itineraries in Egypt, revealed exclusively in this blog last month.

There's a nine-day Nile Explorer, which has three nights in Cairo at the start of the holiday and one at then end, with a four night cruise on Moevenpick's Royal Lotus sailing from Aswan to Luxor in between.

There's also a 12-day Pathways of the Pharaohs cruise with three nights in Cairo, one night in Luxor, a three-night Nile cruise on Royal Lotus and a three-night cruise on Lake Nasser on Prince Abbas, also operated by Moevenpick.

Prices start from £1,990 and £2,090 per person respectively including flights, transfers and excursions.

Handy hint: Viking is offering to organise your Egyptian visa for £50 per person before you go, but British passport holders can get it on arrival for $15.

If you're casting around for a cruise, this really is a happy new year, with deals galore to suit all pockets and all tastes.

Royal Caribbean International (0844 493 3005) has launched its "What you see is that you get" campaign, with prices from £699 per person. That's for seven-night cruises from Palma on Grandeur of the Seas and from Malaga on Adventure of the Seas for an inside cabin with flights and transfers included.

As the ad says "Why Not?"

Well only because there are so many other great offers to pick from.

Iglu Cruise (020 8544 6447) has a seven-night transatlantic cruise on Queen Mary 2, sailing from Southampton to New York, from an iincredible £679 per person for an inside cabin - and that includes the flight back from the Big Apple. You can upgrade to an outside cabin from £99 and a balcony room from £199 per person.

Iglue tells me they are booking up fast. There's a surprise!

Celebrity Cruises (0845 456 0523) has a 14-night no-fly Italian Mediterranean voyage on Celebrity Eclipse from Southampton on May 7 from £1,416 per person. Not quite such a bargain, but at least they throw in $100 onboard credit and free car parking at Southampton. You'll need to book by February 28.

Orion Expedition Cruises (020 7434 0089) is celebrating Australia Day on January 26 by offering free return flights for selected cruises on Orion and new ship Orion II between now and the end of February. They include:

* Three nine-night Vietnam Explorer voyages in November and December priced from £4,295 per person.

* Two seven-night, one from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City, the other in reverse, in October and December from £3,340 per person.

* Two 10-night cruises in the Kimberley, Australia, one sailing from Broome to Darwin, the other in reverse, in August and September, from £5,325 per person. The price also includes a free two-night stay in Darwin or Broome at the start or end of each cruise.

The papers were full of news that Kenny Dalglish was appointed manager of Liverpool Football Club at the weekend.

What they neglected to mention was that the appointment was confirmed when Kenny was celebrity guest speaker on Silversea's ship, Silver Wind.

He was on a seven-night cruise round-trip from Dubai, entertaining the ship's 290 passengers with stories of his career when hasty plans had to be made for him to fly home early from Bahrain.

Given his team went on to lose 1-0 to Man U on Sunday, I wonder why he bothered. Bet he does too!

P&O Cruises is to show plays on Adonia when the ship joins their fleet in May, moving across from sister line Princess Cruises, where it sails as Royal Princess.

I'm told P&O will probably stage three plays, but only one has been decided - Art, which opened in London's West End in 1996.

It's a strange story, set in Paris. In a nutshell: Modern art lover Serge buys a painting which is nothing but a white canvas with some white lines on it. His friend of 15 years, Marc, calls it s*** and so begins a debate about what is art, what is friendship. Meantime you've got other friend Yvan adding fuel to the flames.

I've not seen it but it's supposed be clever and funny. It's also very easy to do on a ship, especially one with quite a small theatre, as it's all conversation between the characters or monologues to the audience.

Bringing West End plays to the high seas follows a growing trend among cruise lines to get away from the traditional song, dance and acrobatics stuff they usually put on in the theatre.

Royal Caribbean International has performances of Chicago on Allure of the Seas and Hairspray on Oasis of the Seas. When it comes to Europe this summer, Liberty of the Seas will be staging Saturday Night Fever.

Norwegian Cruise Line has the Blue Man Group in the theatre on Norwegian Epic, alternating with tribute singers from Legends in Concert.

I reckon P&O should also show the ever-popular Mousetrap (also easy as it only has one set) but I doubt they'd get the license given it's still going in the West End. Can you believe, it's in its 59th year!

Or how about a one-act play called Titanic that was staged in New York in the 1970s, all about three people (mum, dad and their son)  sitting down for dinner on the ill-fated ship. As they ponder why they haven't been seated at the captain's table all kinds of skeletons emerge from the woodwork. Kind of appropriate, don't you think?

What play would you like to see on Adonia? Post your suggestions below.

Portsmouth Port is getting so many cruise ships this year, it has changed its name.

Instead of sailing from the Continental Ferry Port, you'll now cruise from Portsmouth International Port.

Sounds a lot swankier, doesn't it?

They're building a new terminal and dredging the water outside the port to allow larger ships to come and go at different stages of tide.

Forty cruise ships will be calling at the port, up from 11 in 2010, including Swan Hellenic, owned by All Leisure Group, which is quitting Dover and making Portsmouth its new homeport for summer no-fly cruises.

Swan has four cruises from Portsmouth, sister company Voyages of Discovery has five departures (the rest of its no-fly programme is from Harwich) and even tiny Hebridean Princess, also owned by All Leisure Group, will be calling in as part of its debut round-Britain adventure starting in August.

French cruise line Compagnie du Ponant is using Portsmouth as its base for seven debut no-fly cruises this summer.

There are five seven-night cruises that journey up the west coast of the UK and over to St Malo in France, and two 12 nighters that goes all the way around Britain.

Others include Hurtigruten, which will be visiting with Fram when it repositions from Antarctica to the Arctic.

Last year, Lord Sterling, chairman of All Leisure Group, moaned that Swan passengers would have to mix with smelly lorry drivers in the new Portsmouth terminal.

Maybe the new name will make them clean up their act!

Eat your heart out Royal Caribbean.

You might have a zipwire on two of your ships, but Carnival Cruise Line has just released details of its ropes course on Carnival Magic, the first on a cruise ship, and boy does it sound fun.

It's called the SkyCourse, and is made up of rope bridges, swinging steps and beams. Passengers - no more than 20 at a time - will be strapped into safety harnesses and then set off along one of the two 230-feet courses.

There's one for beginners, one for intermediates; both have with views of the sea, almost 150 feet below.

It's all part of a new top-deck SportSquare on the Carnival Magic, which is launching on May and sailing from Barcelona this summer.

There's also a two-level nine-hole golf course, a keep fit area with exercise bikes, rowing machines, punch bags and more, and a basketball-cum-football-cum-volleyball course. An 800-foot-long jogging path surrounds the entire area.

But if that all sounds too much like hard work, there's a bar with a flat-screen TV.

P&O Cruises is offering more shorter sectors on its 72-night Grand Alaska Voyage from Southampton on Arcadia on April 12, which is great is you fancy joining this historical cruise - it's P&O's first no-fly voyage to Alaska for 40 years - but don't have time for the entire round-trip.

You've always had the option to cut the cruise in half, sailing 44 nights from Southampton to Los Angeles or 45 nights from Los Angeles to Southampton.

Now there are seven more cruise options:

* 41 nights from Southampton to Vancouver from April 12-May 23, from £3,999pp.

* 34 nights from Southampton to Whittier from April 12-May 16, from £3,499pp.

* 29 nights from Barbados to Vancouver from April 24- May 23, from £3,399pp.

* 18 nights from San Francisco to Los Angeles from May 7-May 26, from £2,499pp.

* 16 nights from Vancouver to Port Everglades from May 23-June 8, from £1,949pp.

* 14 nights from Barbados to San Francisco from April 24- May 7, from £1,499pp.

* 12 nights from Southampton to Barbados from April 12- April 24, from £1,099pp.

Of course there is still room if you want to do the whole voyage, which spends nine days in Alaska, calling at Ketchikan, Juneau, Whittier, Skagway and Sitka, and cruising in Yakutat Bay, College Fjord and to the Tracy Arm glacier.

What a sight!

Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria get a colourful send off as they sail out of New York at the same time. Thousands of New Yorkers lined the shores ot Manhattan to see their regal progress, which began with a 21-gun fireworks salute.

QM2 and Queen Elizabeth departed on their world cruises, Queen Victoria was heading off to Hawaii, where it's sailing a series of cruises around the islands, Mexico and through the Panama Canal before returning to the UK in mid-April.

I'm flying out to Orlando today, for the naming ceremony of the Disney Dream, without doubt the most exciting cruise ship launching this year.

It all happens at Florida's Cape Canaveral on Wednesday morning US time, after which we're sailing to Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas for a spot of sun, sand and sea.

There's no word as yet on the godmother. Cruise lines increasingly like to keep these things under wraps until the last moment. I'll just say that in 1999, Disney Wonder was named by Tinkerbell, so anything can happen (well it is Disney, you know).

Disney Dream is two decks taller than Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, and holds up to 4,000 people when full - that's nearly 700 more than each of the other two ships.

It is also jam-packed with fun cruise ship firsts. I can't wait to try the AquaDuck water-coaster, below, and have a chat with Crush, the turtle in Finding Nemo, who will be popping up in the kids club to have real-time conversations with the children. And me!

Actually he is also stars in Animator's Palate, one of three dining rooms, talking to the diners during the meal while swimming around in his tank

There's art that comes alive when you get near, those clever inside cabins with virtual portholes and restaurants that change vistas between day and evening.

I'll also be checking out the District, a huge adults-only area with a Champagne bar, nightclub and Skyline, a cocktail bar with changing cityscapes.

Internet willing, I'll be posting thoughts and reports on the blog so be sure to keep in touch.

I said before I left the UK that I couldn't wait to try the AquaDuck on Disney Cruise Lines' new ship, Disney Dream.

Well here I am, ready for the off.

It was great fun, actually better than I had expected, and really quite amazing when you think about it - 10,000 gallons of water (that's 4.5 tonnes) sloshing about at the top of a ship.

Bruce Vaughn, one of the clever Disney folk who dream up new rides and attractions, said the coaster, when first suggested, sounded insane. "That's how we knew we were on the right track."

But my brush with the 'Duck was not the only bit of animal magic on my trip to Florida see the new ship.

The day before the naming ceremony, Disney treated the British contingent to breakfast with Tigger followed by a day in Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom and a chance to try out the Wild Africa Trek.

It's a new feature, opened just two days before we had our go last week, and involves being strapped into a safety harness so you can walk over two rickety rope bridges and get close-up views of hippos and crocodiles.

You then have a leisurely safari through the savannah Disney has created in the park, looking out for wild animals including giraffe, wildebeest, cheetahs, lions, gazelles and more.

It was fun, if annoyingly OTT on the health and safety side, and at least we did see lots of animals, including this beautiful lion. Call me a cynic, but I'm sure he must have been trained to come and stand four square like this for the visitors!

The Wild Africa Trek is not cheap at $189 per person, but it is a three-hour experience and the price includes a snack stop during the safari and all the pictures that are taken by the guides on the way around.

Princess Cruises is offering a free cruise for two in a balcony cabin, including flights, to the Facebook fan who comes up with the best travel experience.

It's all linked in with the cruise line's 50 Essential Experiences bucket list - places to go, things to see before you kick said bucket - that's being written by Princess employees.

You can either submit a 300-word story with up to five pictures to their Facebook page, or a two-minute video. Deadline is February 7 and fans can vote for the story that most inspires them from February 11-25.

The winner will be announced March 11. And then comes the hard part.

Choosing one of eight cruises from this list:

• 13-day cruise from Sydney to New Zealand and back
• 12-day Israel and Egypt cruise from Civitavecchia (Rome) to Piraeus (Athens)
• 16-day South East Asia cruise from Beijing to Singapore
• 12-day Grand Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Venice
• 14-day Panama Canal cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles
• 12-night Alaska cruise-and-stay holiday
• 10-day South Pacific cruise from Tahiti
• 14-day cruise from Rio de Janeiro to Valparaiso, rounding Cape Horn

You have to be over 21 to take part and there are various other rules. Click here to read them.

Here's a cruise to die for.  

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines (01473 742424) has devised a crime-themed cruise on Balmoral in April to celebrate Agatha Christie's 120th birthday. 

There'll be free talks and lectures about the Queen of Crime by her grandson, Mathew Prichard, and author John Curran - a lifelong fan who is often on TV and radio talking about Ms Christie.

There will also be live performances of some of Agatha Christie's rarely-heard 30-minute radio plays, featuring actors and selected members of the audience.

Wonder if they'll be asking for murder volunteers. 

The 10-night cruise, to Iberia and Morocco, visiting La Coruna in Spain, Casablanca in Morocco, Gibraltar, and Portimao and Lisbon in Portugal, departs Southampton on April 23 and costs from £899 per person.

Excuse me while I fetch the homburg and polish up the little grey cells.

MSC Cruises isn't actually giving away free holidays, but it's not far off.

Book one of their Mediterranean cruises in February and you'll get free flights, free transfers, £50 onboard credit and free cabin upgrades.

On Lirica-class ships, you'll be upgraded from an inside to an outside cabin or an outside to a balcony cabin.

On seven-night Fantasia and Musica-class ships you'll be upgraded from an outside to a balcony cabin; on eight-night cruises on a Musica-class vessel, you'll leap-frog from an inside to a balcony cabin.

The offer means you can pick up a seven-night cruise from Venice on MSC Magnifica, their newest ship, next November from £599 per person, with flights, transfers, on-board credit and an upgrade all included.
 
Bookings must be made between February 1 and 28 for two people sharing a cabin. It excludes MSC Yacht Club passengers.

Louis Cruises, the Cypriot-owned low-cost cruise line, has also cut prices. Book by February 18 and you can pick up a seven-night Greece and Turkey cruise from  Piraeus, the port for Athens, on the Louis Cristal from £446 per person.

Not quite such a bargain as MSC as it excludes flights and transfers but Louis says you'll be saving more than £70, so there's something to put towards the extra expenses.

I'm not one to gossip but I think Azamara Club Cruises, the upmarket two-ship brand owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises, could be close to ordering a new ship.

Larry Pimentel, their CEO, was in London last week to talk about how the cruise line has been faring since he made some seismic changes last year.

The word Club was added to the name, wine with dinner and gratuities were included in the price, English-trained butlers were provided for suite people and they started keeping the ships late or overnight in ports so passengers could see more of  the places they are visiting.

And then he said he would like to end his career building small ships. Azamara's two ships each hold 694 passengers. And he mentioned the second quarter next year.

I think that means watch this space.

More imminent, it would seem, is a new ship order from Royal Caribbean International.

Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean's chairman, confirmed they would ordering more ships when I was on Allure of the Seas last year but he gave the strongest hint yet that something was happening during a recent earnings call.

"We have been working intensively on developing a design that reflects our innovative spirit, but in an efficient package and we think that we are near to an acceptable outcome."

The rumour is they are developing a new series of ships, smaller than the Oasis-class monsters they have just launched, and that the order will go to Meyer-Werft, the German shipyard in Papenburg that built Disney Dream and the Celebrity Solstice-class ships.

SeaDream Yacht Club, celebrating its 10th birthday this year, will be visiting the UK for the first time next year either side of a second Baltic season.

The small-ship brand is venturing north for the first time this summer, and will be popping into London at the end of its transatlantic crossing in May so journalists and travel agents can have a look-see, but in 2012 it's the real McCoy.

They are using Dover as a turnaround port for two departures - a 13-night cruise to Stockholm on May 12 and an 11-night voyage to Lisbon on August 14.

Cruising to Dover, there's a 14-night transatlantic voyage departing San Juan on April 28 2012 and an eight-night cruise from Copenhagen on July 16, which costs from $6,887 (£4,370) per person.

I make that an eye-watering £546 a day - and you have to pay for the flight to Copenhagen as well.

Time to start saving!

Voyages to Antiquity is looking for past Orient Lines' passengers for an August 26 round-Sicily reunion cruise on Aegean Odyssey from Piraeus, the port for Athens, to Civitavecchia, the port for Rome.

It's all to do with the cruise lines' shared pasts. Orient Lines was started in 1993 by Gerry Herrod, right, and sold in 1998 to Norwegian Cruise Line.

Herrod also started Voyages to Antiquity, the cruise line launched last May to seek out historical and cultural highlights around the Eastern Mediterranean. I was lucky enough to cruise with Voyages to Antiquity at the end of last year. You can read my report here and about some of the amazing places I visited here and here.

Orient Lines didn't survive under NCL. The cruise line was closed down in 2008 after NCL sold its ship, Marco Polo, which incidentally now sails out of Tilbury for UK-based Cruise & Maritime Voyages.

Voyages to Antiquity managing director David Yellow tells me past Orient Lines passengers have already clocked up mileage on the Aegean Odyssey so the reunion cruise will be like a gathering of one big happy family.

Yellow, incidentally, used to be MD at Voyages of Discovery, which was launched by Gerry Herrod under the name Discovery World Cruises (are you beginning to see a pattern here?).

The 14-night reunion cruise, featuring a reunion cocktail party, visits six ports in Sicily and costs from £2,195 per person including flights, transfers, shore excursions, wine with dinner and gratuities.

Voyages to Antiquity has also started an Odyssey Club for its small but already growing band of past passengers. Apparently some took three cruise in its first nine months of operation!

Club members will get 5%-10% discounts on future bookings as well as special activities on selected cruises, gifts and incentives yet to be announced.

If you always though ultra-luxury cruising was out of your league, think again. There are some amazing six-star offers around right now that make top-end cruise lines uber-affordable.

Crystal Cruises (020 7287 9040) has cut fares on its autumn cruises, so prices now start from an incredible £2,249 per person.

That's for a seven-night Mexican Riviera (great place, just don't mention Top Gear!) cruise on November 20 or 27 and - here's the best bit - it includes free return flights, soft drinks including water, gratuities and $500 per person on-board spending money that can be used to buy alcoholic drinks, in the spa, on shore excursions. In fact whatever you want.

(Maybe that's why the promotion is called All Inclusive-As You Wish - Ed?)

Crystal has autumn cruises in and around the Mediterranean, along the east coast of the North America, visiting New England and Canada, in the Caribbean and the Mexican Riviera, so there's bound to be a cruise and price to suit.

Many of Crystal's cruises come with $1,000 per person on-board cruise credit and new for 2011, they are offering open dining so you can eat when you want.

As I am no fan of fixed dining, that's especially great news but want my advice? Try the Asian and Italian speciality restaurants. They are the best and all they ask in payment is a suggested $7 per person gratuity.

It's a bargain. And with all that cruise credit, it won't actually cost you anything anyway!

Silversea has extended its onboard credit, offering $1,000 per couple to another 25 cruises in Northern Europe and the Med, and $500 per couple to 38 voyages worldwide. To qualify, you need to book by June 30 2011.

Windstar (020 7292 2369) isn't quite in the six-star league, but it's a top-end brand and it has a great onboard credit offer so I reckon it deserves to be listed here.

They are offering up to $1,000 per couple onboard credit on selected 2011 European voyages on their three ships - Wind Surf, Wind Star and Wind Spirit - booked by March 15 2011.

The amount is determined by the cabin category. Book a B or A level cabin and you'll get $600 per couple, book a suite (Wind Surf only) and you'll get $1,000 per couple.

I've only cruised on Wind Surf, their biggest ship, and I had a ball. Good food, fabulous service and nice other passengers. You can read about it here.

Windstar's 2011 European cruises cost from £1,603 per person cruise-only. That's for a  five-night voyage from Cannes to May onboard Wind Surf departing May 30.

I'll be heading off to Heathrow shortly, to catch a flight to Miami, where Oceania's new ship Marina is being named tomorrow by Mary Hart, presenter of US TV's Entertainment Tonight.

I'm promised a gala ceremony and a 15-litre Nebuchadnezzar of Champagne, custom-made by Armand de Brignac, has been lined up, ready to smash against the hull.

Then it's all aboard for a mini cruise to Nassau in the Bahamas so I can get a real feel for the ship - its facilities, crew and food.

I've only ever visited Oceania's ships while they are on a turnaround day in Dover, so I'm looking forward to finding out if they are as good as the company claims (call me a cynic, but I never quite trust the cruise lines' judgement of their product!).

Marina is quite a step up for Oceania, as it's twice as big as their three other ships. Nautica, Regatta and Insignia each holds 684 passengers (all three are former Renaissance Cruises ships and therefore sisters of the Azamara duo and Princess Cruises' Royal, Pacific and Ocean Princesses). Marina holds 1,250 passengers.

They've devoted much of the extra space to food and drink. How wise! There's a new French bistro, Jacques, and Red Ginger, for Asian cuisine. The Polo Grill steak house and Toscana, for Italian specialities, are on the three smaller ships.

I'll be eating in most of them during the cruise, which should be a treat given Oceania prides themselves highly on their food.

Bon Appetit is a new venue for hands-on cookery lessons, La Reserve is new for wine tastings and food pairings.

There's a Lalique Grand Stairway, Canyon Ranch in the Spa and Owners' Suites that are so big it sounds like you could get lost in them. Unless I'm down for an upgrade, I don't think I'll be in one, but hopefully they've left one empty for viewing so I can nip inside and dream.

See you on board (time and internet willing, of course).

I've never quite understood why cruising folk are so fascinated by cooking - surely what they go on holiday to escape? - so I felt duty-bound to try to find out by joining a class in Bon Appetit yesterday.

It's the first real culinary centre at sea, with enough stations, each equipped with a hot plate, sink and cooking utensils, for up to 24 people, in teams of two, to learn to cook.

So the sun is shining and I'm inside listening to Kathryn Kelly, an instructor from the Culinary Institute of America in New York, telling me how to cut cucumbers and tomatoes.

Make sense of that.

Over the course of two hours - longer than it usually takes to cook and eat food at home! - we made a gazpachio soup, which was totally tasteless and had the consistency of a brick, a feta salad and fried up some lamb mince into burgers.

Our class cost $49 per person, and there are a few others at that price, but there's also a two-class Southwestern Sizzle for $99 and a marathon three classes to teach you how to make pasta for $149.

We were cooking feta cheese burgers (do the Americans ever eat anything without cheese?) so that ruled me, a non-dairy eater, out of tasting them (I was rather pleased actually as I'd just had a wonderful lunch at Red Ginger, the Asian speciality restaurant, and would not have wanted to spoil it but my culinary partner Mike, a journalist from Fort Worth, declared them OK).

"You've all done so well," Kathryn bellowed above the noise of chatter and frying fat. More than once she lost control of the class as we all got fed up with being treated like naughty children.

(She came around to see how the burgers were cooking and pronounced mine "still rare" after putting a thermometer in it. Call me smart, but the uncooked red meat around the edges gave it away for me!)

"So you see how easy it is to make a salad and lamb burgers," she announced as class was dismissed.

Er, yes. We put some veg in one bowl and whizzed it up in a blender, put some more veg in another bowl and put cheese on top of it and fried up some meat.

And to think I could have been out enjoying the Caribbean sun!

Red Ginger, the new Asian restaurant on Oceania's Marina, has been voted the ship's number one place to eat by passengers so far.

I'm really not surprised. I was expecting it to be a highlight of my cruise, but seems I was alone.

"We thought it would be the fourth most popular restaurant," Frank Del Rio told me over lunch there yesterday.

Frank founded Oceania and is now chairman and CEO of Prestige Cruise Holdings, which operates Oceania's ships for their owner Apollo Management (which incidentally also owns Regent Seven Seas Cruises).

"We expected Jacques to be number one because it is new and was created by Jacques Pépin, followed by Toscana, the Italian. After that, everyone is ready for a good steak [that's the Polo Grill], with Red Ginger last."

I dined in the Polo Grill the first night and the steak was beautiful; cooked to perfection. Tonight I'm eating in Jacques, and really looking forward to it, so I'll let you know how that goes in a future post.

My Red Ginger lunch started with a duck salad followed by Thai vegetarian curry, both bursting with taste, both beautifully presented and served in perfect quantities (actually I lie; the duck was so good I could have eaten another but when you're sitting next to the boss a bit of decorum is called for!).

Before the food, one waiter brought a tea menu and another came with a box of chopsticks so you can personally choose your preferred weapon.

I had a white pair and they did the job OK, but someone across the table asked for an "easy" pair and got red ones.

A bit of a gimmick I suspect, but it all adds to the restaurant's charm. As does the fabulous décor.

There no charge to eat in Red Ginger, or in any of the speciality restaurants on Marina (or Oceania's other ships), but they only guarantee you a table for one night of your cruise. If you want to dine there again, or in any of the other speciality restaurants, there's still no charge but you have to hope there's space.

So I should be telling you all how good Toscana is.

Red Ginger? Nah. You'll hate it!

My thanks to good friends David and Jo, who I met on a Silversea cruise around India a couple of years ago, for this picture of one day in St Maarten in the Caribbean.

On the right, there's Celebrity Solstice, the first ship to have a real grass lawn on its top deck, and Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas, the world's biggest cruise ship (a title it holds jointly with sister Allure of the Seas).

On the left there's Carnival Dream, two Princess ships (I think one is Sea Princess but I can't see the name of the other) and a very dwarfed P&O's Aurora.

By my rough reckoning they brought about 20,000 cruise passengers to the island.

What a great day for taxi drivers and t-shirt sellers!

A survey by website Cruisecompare has found almost one-fifth of cruising Brits never go ashore on port days.

What an adventurous lot we are.

Some 28% said it was because there were so many things to do on the ship, which is a fair excuse assuming they are on the likes of Allure of the Seas or Norwegian Epic but pretty pathetic if they're cruising with Fred Olsen.

However, 32% said they don't get off because of the cost. What a waste. They might as well stay at home.

Even worse, 9% said they don't go ashore because they don't like the food. Because of course you have to eat whenever you step ashore!

Reminds me of a woman I met on my Voyages to Antiquity cruise last year. On the way back to the ship from Baalbek in Lebanon, we were taken to a restaurant for lunch. A fabulous feast of local food - vegetables in various guises, hummous to die for, grilled meats and more.

She sat across from me with a face like thunder and pronounced she couldn't eat any of it because "she didn't like foreign food". I suggested she surely could try the vegetables, to be told "I don't eat vegetables".

Just as I was on the brink of suggesting she sounded like a stroppy teenager and asking why she bothered to travel, she anounced she did eat vegetables, "but only at home".

How did we ever win an Empire?

In case I've whetted your appetite for a cruise on Marina, Oceania's new ship, I'd better tell you where it will be cruising this summer.

Marina sails from Miami to Europe in March and will be offering various 10 and 16-day cruises from Barcelona, Civitavecchia (Rome), Venice and Piraeus (Athens), before repositioning to Copenhagen for a couple of Baltic cruises.

In July, Marina visits London and there's a round-Britain cruise and another no-fly cruise to Spain.

It returns to the Mediterranean in August and repositions to Miami at the end of November for a winter series of Caribbean cruises, returning to the Mediterranean in March 2012.

Prices start from £999 per person - including soft drinks and bottled water - for a 12-night no-fly cruise from Dover to Santander in Spain on July 29, visiting Amsterdam, Bruges, St Peter Port in Guernsey, and Honfleur, St Malo, Pont-Aven, La Rochelle, Le Verdon and St Jean de Luz, all in France.

Did you know that people who turned 21 in 1981 will be turning 50 this year. Well of course you did, if it was something you bothered to think about.

I admit I didn't until Saga reminded me at a gathering in London the other evening.

Age is important to Saga, and especially the second coming of age, as they like to call hitting 50, because that's when you can start to travel with them.

Now before all you over-50s out there switch off, swearing blind you are not old enough to cruise with Saga, I'll let you into a secret.

That's what I thought until last year, when I cruised on Saga Pearl II, an old ship they bought and spent on a fortune on (and actually it's true, I wasn't old enough to cruise with Saga, but they gave me special dispensation, all in the interests of research).

You can read my report about the cruise, published in the Daily Telegraph, here, but suffice to say I am going back on Pearl in a couple of days.

But more on that later. For now, back to the 1980s.

In a fun film, we were reminded how many similarities there were between then and now. The country was an economic basketcase, unemployment was rising and people were going on Saga holidays.

But boy, have attitudes changed.

In the 1980s, the over-50s were prepared to do without a holiday if they couldn't afford it, according to research group Populus. Today no one wants to give up on holidays, financial crisis or not.

In the 1980s, the over-50s went on holiday in the UK and Europe; now they want to go to the US, Australia, Nepal, Africa and Bolivia.

No wonder Saga has dropped coach holidays to Brighton in favour of tours in Borneo.

Susan Hooper, Saga's boss, admitted their problem is trying to persuade Saga sceptics that the company is not all about old people on holiday.

It's what that great TV ad they had on recently was all about and, I guess, why they chose to wine and dine us at the Sanctum Soho Hotel (which is not actually in Soho but is very trendy).

It must have so upset their chef that instead of some pretentious-sounding dish with "jus", Saga wanted them to serve cheese-and-pineapple on sticks and yummy sausage rolls. The food of the '80s, Susan reminded us.

If so, bring back the '80s. Not for the cheese. But those sausage rolls went like hot cakes - and were still being talked about at a Celebrity Cruises gathering the next day!

I mentioned in a previous blog I enjoyed my cruise so much on Saga Pearl II, the ship that joined Saga Cruises last year, that I am off on her again.

But see where I am going this time?

Cuba!

Saga is one of the few cruise lines that can visit because of America's long-running ban on anything to do with the island, the biggest in the Caribbean.

So the big US cruise lines look on wistfully and say "one day", while the British ones make the most of being able to visit before things change, as they surely will when Fidel Castro goes, and the ubiquitous t-shirt and jewellery emporiums move in and spoilt it.

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines also goes there, while Thomson is visiting regularly this winter with Thomson Dream. Voyages of Discovery will be there in March and April.

I'm flying out today, spending a couple of days in Havana and joining the ship when it arrives on Wednesday.

Saga Pearl stays overnight, not departing until nearly midnight on the second day, so I get another two full days in the capital.

We then sail to Cienfuegos in the south of the island, which is not far from the Bay of Pigs, where CIA-trained Cuban exiles, backed by the US government, tried - and failed - in 1961 to invade and overthrow Castro. Santa Clara, where Che Guevara is buried, is not that far away either.

Then it's on to Santiago de Cuba, the island's second-largest city, where Castro declared the revolution a success. Nearby is the US base at Guantanamo Bay, but I suspect there won't be any tours going that way.

So it's a real Cuba immersion.

We'll also be visiting Port Antonio in Jamaica, Willemstad in Curacao, La Guaira in Venezuela, Catalina Island in Dominican Republic and finally Santo Domingo, also in the Dom Rep, where we arrive one day and I fly out the next day.

As long as the internet plays ball, I'll be reporting back on these amazing places, and also on any other news, either from the ship or the world of cruising, so don't forget to keep looking in.

I've never had a hankering to go to Japan - actually I've always thought I'd starve given their habit of eating so much raw (and cooked) fish and my habit of not touching anything that comes out of the sea.

But visiting on a cruise ship and not having to worry about the food? Now that starts to have some appeal.

So I was interested to spot two new cruises to the Land of the Rising Sun this year and next.

In July, there are three 10-night Inland Sea of Japan cruises on Orion II, the ship now sailing as Clelia II and joining Australia's Orion Expedition Cruises in May after its cabins and public areas have been spruced up.

The Inland Sea is on the west coast of Japan. The ship sails from Aomori in the north of the country to Kobe on July 8 and 28 (vice-versa on the July 18 voyage), the port for Osaka, which is on the east coast.

En route it visits nine places including Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and Busan in South Korea.

Prices start from £4,770 per person including all meals, Zodiac excursions and entertainment but excluding flights.

The other cruise line making a Japan debut is Voyages of Discovery, on a fascinating 21-day Empires of the Sun cruise from Hong Kong to Manila in the Philippines in January 2012.

Their ship, Discovery, will be visiting Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Nagoya, and spending three nights in Osaka, all in Japan. It also spends three night in Hong Kong, two days in Shanghai and visits Xiamen Island in China and Keelung in Taiwan.

Prices start from £2,575 per person including flights, transfers and gratuities.

Moving to the other sdie of the world, I see Voyages is also offering a walking cruise in Norway, much like the ones its sister company Hebridean Island Cruises does in Scotland.

The Footloose Norwegian Explorer, sailing roundtrip from Harwich from July 31 to August 11, will have hikes on the excursion menu at each of the eight ports in Norway and the Shetland Islands being visited, giving keen walkers a chance to indulge their passion and get to places inaccessible by road.

Details of all the walks are on the website. Prices start from £1,199 per person cruise-only.

The auto-gratuity will be included in the cost of drinks on Celebrity Eclipse when it returns for a second season of cruises from the UK in April.

The move is one of several changes Celebrity Cruises is making to appeal to British cruisers, who will make up more than 80% of the ship's passengers on its summer sailings from Southampton.

However, they have stopped short of including the end-of-cruise gratuities in the cost of the holiday and instead are trying to encourage passengers to pay them before they go.

It's a concept I've never understood because you don't tip for good service in a restaurant before you have eaten, but I am told 60% of Brits are now going for this option.

Other changes being made this summer on Eclipse for us fussy Brits include:

* Coffee sachets in the cabins. They put kettles and tea bags in last year, the ship's first ex-UK season, and everyone moaned there was no coffee.

* More British beers, including including Fuller's London Pride, Old Speckled Hen, Boddingtons, Guinness, Murphy's Stout and Newcastle Brown Ale.

* More entertainers and speakers from the UK.

* The Daily Mail available to download onto iPads. (In a fleet-wide move, Celebrity is to stop printing daily news sheets, instead allowing passengers to download selected newspapers and magazines onto a rented iPad. It'll cost about $10 per cruise for the service.)

If you're going on Eclipse this summer, you'll also be able to have a new Champagne High Tea on at least one of the sea days.

For $25 per person, Tea Forte loose teas will be served on Wedgwood Bone China by white-gloved waiters to the sound of a string quartet, and there'll be savouries and pastries to nibble at as well.

The Champagne Tea was launched on Eclipse this winter, so is not just there for the Brits, and will be rolled out across the fleet over this year.

My few days in Cuba before joining Saga Pearl II didn't start well.

The Melia Havana, where I was supposed to be staying for three nights, had no record of my reservation and was full to bursting.

The receptionists shrugged, but Tania, the Saga rep, stepped in and sorted it for me to stay in the Melia Cohiba, which turned out to be a nicer hotel and closer to Old Havana.

Be in the lobby at 9am for your city tour I was told. At 9.40am I finally found my guide - a very apologetic Rayselis, who was even more apologetic when, by 11am, we were still at the hotel because our "luxury" car had not arrived. I think it had broken down, which seems a normal state of affairs for cars in this country.

No matter. Rayselis used the time to give me a fascinating history lesson of Cuba. I never knew the Brits used to own the place - for all of 11 months in 1762. We gave it to Spain in return for Florida.

Not one of our better deals.

She told me about Old Havana, Batista, the former president, the corruption, the Mafia, the revolution, the Cuban Missile Crisis (50 years ago next year).

Three hundred years of history later the "luxury" car had still not arrived. "We're new to tourism; please forgive us," she said.

"So why don't we go in one of those," I asked, pointing to what looked like the tuk-tuks you find in India.

They are much the same except in Cuba they call them Coco taxis because they resemble coconuts (use your imagination) and the drivers' wear crash helmets and don't take their lives in their hands whenever they hit the road.

So that's what we did.

It cost eight convertible pesos, which is about £5, so was a bit of a bargain and much more fun than the luxury car - riddled with rust! - that finally came to pick us up later.

I was there for four days so became a bit of an expert, pounding the old city streets and imbibing a mohito or two at Hemingway's favourite watering holes.

Hemingway and mint (for the mohitos) are the heros of Cuba. Oh and rum, of course - also for the mohitos. At the Hotel Nacional, where I went for pre-dinner drinks the last evening, everyone in the al-fresco bar was knocking them back. And they were mostly locals too.

The city is packed with amazingly ornate buildings; many crumbling, an awful lot done up and looking very beautiful (I never managed to find out exactly where the money came from). There are some gorgeous boutique hotels and restaurants - although the latter don't always have what's listed on the menu.

I'll download some pictures of the place when I am back in the land of the internet - there's nothing resembling an internet cafe in Cuba and the system on Saga Pearl II is so slow you have to start it up and go and make a cup of tea while it's loading.

I saw the Granma, the boat that Fidel Castro and Che Guevara used to get to Cuba in 1956, the stunning cathedral, the even-more stunning theatre, the Capital building, modelled after the one in Washington - except the one in Havana is bigger by all of a few inches.

I also went to a rum factory - "in Cuba all roads lead to rum," I was told - and a cigar factory, where some people separate the leaves into piles (for flavour, aroma and combustibility) and others roll the cigars. In the one I saw they churn out a mind-boggling 25,000 a day in between puffing away on them.

Havana was also a strange mix of communism and creeping capitalism. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, the Cuban economy went into freefall and government realised they had to do something. Namely allow a bit of free enterprise.

So now you get people selling pizzas in the streets, people earning a peso or two by allowing tourists to have their picture taken in one of the ubiquitos classic American cars that roam the streets, private museums where you learn, for instance, about beer then stop for a drink or three.

All these enterprises have to be licensed by the state but it's a giant step in the let's-make-money direction.

Sugar was the top export in the days of the Soviet Union, my guide Reyselis told me. Now tourism is the big money-earner. They get just over two million visitors a year - many from Canada, a lot from the UK.

Happily the growth of tourism has not affected the locals too much yet. There were a few hanging around outside the Capitol and the port trying to get you to take a horse-and-cart ride or taxi but it's all very laid back; for the most part they just want to talk and show you their city.

So refreshing, but I fear it won't last once the place opens to the Americans - as I am sure it will when Castro goes - and the big cruise ships start to come.

As I am sure they will.

Bay of Pigs t-shirt anyone?

I still find it odd that author Ernest Hemingway is one of Cuba's national heros.

Not just because his books are hard going (I had the misfortune to read For Whom the Bell Tolls recently, about the Spanish Civil War, and really had to push myself to finish it) but because he was American. The enemy state.

He left Cuba just after the revolution so never hung around to experience the hardships that the locals went through.

No matter. The Hemingway trail is one of the must-dos in Havana - drinking mohitos and daiquiris at Floridita and La Bodeguita del Medio, his two favourite watering holes in the city, and visiting his house, Finca Vigia, now a museum, about 25 minutes drive from Old Havana.

The house is just as he left it because no one is allowed inside in case they breath, causing too much humidity, or nick some of the books. All a bit crazy given other museums cope all right. And you only find out you can't get in when you have paid the three pesos to get in.

So you have to take it in turns to peek in through the windows. Unless you have Saga rep Nadia with you. She twisted a few arms and got my and my friends in. Actually we didn't see much more, but it felt like a small triumph and it was great to hear the director talking with such passion about the place and the man.

She said he didn't like visitors, but put up with visits from rich and famous film stars.

How good of him.

Some cruise lines entertain passengers with rock-climbing walls and water slides; Saga Cruises does it by finding things floating in the water.

Namely the bow of what looked like a speedboat sticking out of the water somewhere off the western tip of Cuba.

Thank goodness the watch on the bridge did spot it, mind, as Saga Pearl II could have had a Titanic moment if we'd hit it, just without the iceberg.

The captain turned around to have a closer look, used the bow thrusters to lift the nose out of the water a bit and after about 15 minutes decided it came from Florida (the FL on the bow gave it away) and there wasn't much he could do.

So much to my disappointment - I so wanted him to lift it out of the water to see what was on board; a body maybe, or drugs? - he announced he had he alerted the coast guard, put Saga Pearl II into gear and sailed off.

The excitement of the day was over. Time to go back to the book.

You know something is wrong when the captain comes on the loudspeaker in your cabin at 9am and asks everyone for their attention please.

And so started Sunday morning on Saga Pearl II, a day at sea as we sailed to Santiago de Cuba.

When I heard Alistair McLundie, master of SPII, sounding very grave I feared for Santiago.

In fact, Saga's insurers had said we were not allowed to call at La Guaira in Venezuela, from where I was going to visit Caracas, so we are visiting Aruba instead.

As we are already scheduled to go to Curacao, it means we are doing A and C of the so-called Dutch ABC islands (B is for Bonaire).

I joined this cruise for the Cuba calls so didn't mind too much but of course people complained. "But I only came on this cruise for Caracas."

Yeah right. Only when they realised a bit of compensation might be in the offing. They must think Saga is carac-as.

It meant the captain felt the need to make another announcement at lunchtime, basically repeating everything he had already said but not adding anything because, he claimed, he is not allowed to divulge why the insurers have a downer on Venezuela.

Still it gave us something to talk about over the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Yes really. Well it was Sunday lunchtime and this is an all-British Saga ship!

After all the history and culture of Cuba - of which more another time; I still have to tell you about Trinidad and Santiago de Cuba but it will be better when I can post pictures - it was time for some fun in Jamaica.

And what could be more fun than climbing a waterfall?

Climbing through the water at Dunn's River Falls, just outside Ocho Rios, really is the ultimate in touristy things to do, but it was great fun - much better than I had expected.

You start at the beach, hold hands with the people either side of you, and climb up over boulders through the ranging water. And it really was raging in some places. I had visions of being swept away a couple of times.

Happily you do most of it without holding hands as it's much easier not being pulled by other people. In all, the climb must have taken at least an hour.

Only six people, including me, from Saga Pearl II were adventurous to give it as go - all female, by the way - and two gave up soon after we started, so just four entrepid Saga souls made it to the top. Plus about 20 Brits and Canadians who were in our group.

By the time we finished I was soaked as I had done one of the rock slides and gone right under water, but still Milton, our guide, asked for a tip. Not quite sure where he thought my money was given I was wearing only a bikini and very soggy t-shirt. Luckily someone else from the group was nearby and lent me a few dollars.

But then all started to go wrong. Dragon lady, which was my name for our guide that day, was hassling us to get back to the mini buses as we were late.

Of course we were. It was Jamaica so it took ages for anything to start and the three ladies with me, who must have been in their late 60s/early 70s, were hardly going to sprint up the waterfall. They were brilliant for going up at all.

Dragon lady, who by now had lost all pretence of her "no problem this is Jamaica" attitude, hassled us back to the bus, then got huffy when I said I was going to change out of my wet clothes. The driver said, no problem. Just sit on your towel.

In soaking wet clothes for a two-hour drive back to the ship in Port Antonio? No way.

So I ended up getting changed in the car park, much to the annoyance of dragon lady, who even came to chivvy me along when I was half-dressed.

Not quite what you expect from a Saga cruise.

Or it wouldn't have been had I not endured being hassled the day before in Santiago - and all so we were not a few minutes late getting back for lunch on the ship.

Next stop is Curacao, where I am going on a tour to some caves. Let's hope it doesn't happen there or I really will start to get a complex.

When Dan Hanrahan, Celebrity Cruises' president and CEO, was in London at the end of last month to talk about all the Solsticisation of their older ships, one name was missing from the presentation.

Celebrity Century.

So what's happening to Century, apart from the fact you are sending it off to Australia later this year, I asked.

Good question, Dan replied, claiming he didn't know but reminding me that Century's sister ship Celebrity Mercury is moving to TUI Cruises, another brand in the Royal Caribbean Cruises' stable, this year.

Now comes that the 2,850-passenger Celebrity Solstice is replacing Celebrity Century, which holds 1,814 passengers, in Australia in 2012/13.

Celebrity Solstice was the first of the stylish new-generation ships Celebrity launched that has a grass lawn on the top deck and lots of speciality restaurants.

By moving a bigger ship Down Under - and just a year after returning there - Celebrity is following a growing trend among cruise lines including P&O and Princess to increase their tonnage in Australia.

It's because the region is seen as the next big growth market for cruising.

But I ask again, what is happening to Celebrity Century? For some reason the word TUI springs to mind

My old friend Grand Princess - it was the ship I got married on - was moored at the entrance to the harbour as Saga Pearl II sailed into Curacao on Thursday.

Unless Grand follows us to Aruba, it'll be the last time I see the ship before it goes for a major facelift in the Bahamas that includes adding a pizzeria and new steak and seafood restaurant, and removing the rear spoiler, where they have the nightclub.

The new-look Grand arrives in Southampton on May 21, ready to start a summer and autumn season of cruises to the Med and Northern Europe.

Royal Caribbean International's Grandeur of the Seas - which will be sailing the Med from Palma de Mallorca this summer - followed us into the harbour and we moored just behind Freewinds, a cruise ship operated by US company Majestic Cruise Lines.

Grand holds 2,500 passengers, Grandeur 2,446, Freewinds about 360, while Saga Pearl II has about 420 on board, so between them, the four ships brought about 6,000 people to the island on one day.

No wonder our guide Elmer and all the Curacao locals were in such a happy mood.

Some people collect t-shirts when they travel, others pick up fridge magnets. I like to collect beers.

Not to bring home, you understand, but there's nothing I like better than to find a nice bar with a view, order the local brew and sit and watch the world go by.

On this cruise on Saga Pearl II, I've had Cristal beer in Cuba, Red Stripe in Jamaica and, well, Amstel in Curacao because it is the local brew - just like in Holland.

I should not have been surprised given the island is the Netherlands in miniature - the delightful gabled houses, the Dutch official language, the government, the education, even the rain (which was torrential at times). All that's missing are dykes and Edam cheese, although I'd have probably found it had I looked.

The island is not exactly teeming with things to do and places to see. As I've seen the city before, I did a trip to the Hato Caves, about 30 minutes from the capital, Willemstad, where there are stalactites and stalagmites, but in half an hour we'd seen them.

"We call that column the cathedral because it looks like a cathedral," the guide at the caves said, flashing her torch and setting the tone for the rest of the tour. That was when we could understand her. I'm sure most of the time she was speaking Papiamento, the unofficial local language.

Historically the island is hardly degree course stuff. The Dutch came in search of salt in 1634, found a deep harbour - it's the seventh deepest in the world - where they could hide their ships and decided to stay.

Napoleon came along at the end of the 1780s, took over the island for the French, but after about 15 years they were kicked out by the British at the request of the Dutch.

"Britannia ruled the waves," Elmer, our guide, noted to the delight of my fellow Saga passengers, some of whom probably remember when we did.

The Dutch then bought the island back and that's how it's been ever since. It's relatively crime-free and very prosperous as it has a huge oil refinary.

But what it lacks in sights and history, it makes up for in looks. Sailing into the harbour, past the colourful gabled houses and through the only floating swing bridge in the world that is still operating, is a real treat.

So is sitting by the waterside having an Amstel beer and yummy chicken wings courtesy of the Iguana Cafe and Gerry, a lovely guy from Suriname in South America, who decided to share his lunch with me.

It's a hard life but someone has to do it!

Southampton had to pull out all the stops - and ladies of a certain age who direct you around the terminals - in January when a record six ships were in port.

Now comes news that P&O Cruises is celebrating its 175th birthday on July 3 next year by bringing all seven ships to the port on the same day.

It will be the first time in history the entire fleet has been in Southampton on the same day.

"It will be quite a challenge," Doug Morrison, Southampton port director admitted in what must be the understatement of the year, given the port has just four passenger terminals.

A fifth one has been approved but it won't be ready until 2013.

Doug tells me they can moor two ships where that terminal will be - it's by a warehouse where they unload fruit - and another one beyond the Mayflower terminal. The problem is checking passengers in. Most likely, that will be done at a local hotel.

Some 15,000 passengers are expected to disembark P&O's seven ships when they arrive in Southampton on the morning of July 3, with another 15,000 embarking that afternoon.

Factor in hundreds of sightseers - it will be quite spectacular after all - and I'm guessing it won't be the best day to be on the road in Southampton.

All seven ships will then cruise out of the port in convoy, heading out on special anniversary voyages to destinations including the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean and Baltic.

The fleet line-up includes the 710-passenger Adonia, which joins P&O from sister company Princess Cruises in May after being named in Southampton by Dame Shirley Bassey, and Oriana, which is being transformed into an adult-only ship during a refit in November.

Among changes, they are replacing the kids' club with more cabins, adding a Ocean Grill, which will be serving dishes created by Marco Pierre White, and updating the spa.

Next year promises to be quite a year for Southampton as one month before the P&O event, Cunard will be celebrating when its three Queens meet in the port for the first time.

The Three Queens Event, on June 5, during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend, is very timely given Cunard's royal connections - the Queen named Queen Elizabeth at a gala celebration in Southampton last October.

With less than two weeks until the Telegraph Cruise Show opens at Olympia's Grand Hall in London, I do hope you've remembered to put the date in your diary and buy your ticket.

Every cruise lines you know - and some you've probably never heard of - will be there, dispensing brochures, advice, help and guidance as you plan your next cruise. You'll be able to find out about exploration, family, river and luxury cruising, hear from celebrity speakers and pick up not-to-be-missed show-only offers.

Yours truly will also be there, taking part in panels and moderating sessions in Theatre One on Saturday and Sunday with Jonathan Beaumont from the Travel Channel.

At 2pm I'm giving a talk on what's new in cruising this year in the Telegraph's Cruise Forum and I'll be around afterwards to answer questions so do come along if there's anything you want to ask - or even just to say hello.

The show is on Saturday March 26 from 10am to 5pm and on Sunday March 27 from 10am to 4pm. Tickets cost £6 in advance and £10 on the door.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Britain's finances might be shot to pieces, swingeing cuts to government spending might be on the way, kids might be rioting about university fees.

But none of that is going to stop Britons cruising, it seems.

A record 1.62 million Brits took a cruise in 2010, latest figures from the Passenger Shipping Association show.

That's a 6% increase on 2009 and more than double the figure recorded in 2001.

It puts the UK on course to reach an expected 1.7 million this year and two million by 2014, according to the PSA.

Of course, the PSA counts each passenger as an individual, but some of those 1.62 million cruising Brits will have taken two, maybe even three cruises in a year.

We'll know more about repeat passenger numbers when all the 2010 stats are released in May during an agents' three-day UK Cruise Convention in Southampton.

Other figures from the PSA show:

- Cruising now accounts for 11.7% of the overseas package holiday market, up from 10.6% in 2009. It's an incredible figure when you consider that in 1997, less than 3% of package holidays booked were cruises.

- Cruising from the UK is still growing, with 653,000 Brits choosing to sail from a home port. That's 10% more than in 2009.

- Flycruises were up 3% to 968,000.

- The Mediterranean continues to be the most popular place to cruise, with 43% of Brits choosing to cruise there - an 18% increase on 2009. Northern Europe stayed second favourite, ahead of the Caribbean in third place.

River cruise company Uniworld is moving in on the Mekong after chartering Pandaw River Cruises' new 60-passenger vessel River Saigon.

The one-week cruises, sailing between Kampong Cham in Cambodia and My Tho in Vietnam, start in early January 2012 and will be packaged into a 14-night cruise holiday that includes time in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Uniworld is joining what is becoming a crowded market. AMA Waterways launched Mekong river cruises on La Marguerite in September 2009 and was so impressed with sales that it ordered a second boat to sail the river.

Called AmaLotus, it launches in September and will also be sold by Ama's sister company APT.

Viking River Cruises has already moved in. They launched Mekong itineraries in January this year after chartering the 66-passenger Tonle from Pandaw.

They are currently offering double discounts of up to £1,000 per person if you book one of next year's 16-day Magnificent Mekong cruise-holidays, which includes seven nights on the river, before June 30 2011.

Apparently River Saigon was going to be called Saigon Pandaw, but was renamed to be more in keeping with the rest of Uniworld's fleet (they also have a River Beatrice, River Ambassador, River Countess and so on). It will have 30 cabins, all 160 square feet and with an outside sitting area.

I suspect it won't look anything like new river cruise boat Antoinette, left, which Uniworld is launching this weekend in Amsterdam.

I'm going over today, to attend the naming ceremony on Saturday (and an ultra-mini cruise) and am really looking forward to seeing this vessel, which seriously reminds me - from this picture anyway - of something from the court of French king Louis XV.

I'll let you know if I change my mind after seeing the real thing.

Antoinette is one of at least seven river cruise vessels launching this year - Viking, Scenic Tours, Avalon Waterways and Ama have the others - and will be sailing eight-day Castles on the Rhine cruises between Amsterdam and Basel.

Dates and prices for Uniworld's Mekong cruises are not yet available.

At first glance, river cruising and the elaborate décor of 18th-century France might not appear to have much in common.

But what if you are called Antoinette, have parents who own a river cruise company and are building a new boat that they are not only naming after you but letting you do the interior design as well?

Antoinette, to explain, is the daughter of Stanley and Beatrice Tollman, who own the Travel Corporation, parent company of Uniworld, Red Carnation Hotels and coach holiday operators Insight, Trafalgar and Contiki.

With a name like that, when asked to design the interiors what else could she come up with than something that looks straight out of the court of Versailles.

Everywhere. It oozes Versailles in the ornate bedrooms with their heavy drapes, the chairs in the dining room and lounge, which resembles a French salon, the mosaics in the restaurant, even the carpet in the cinema.

Antoinette - Toni for short - was also Godmother of the ship; in her naming speech she explained that it all started when her family bought this chandelier when the famed Tavern on the Green in New York's Central Park closed down.

That gave her the idea for the vessel's two-deck-high atrium; her name, the same as the French queen who lost her head, gave her the idea for the Versailles' theme.

"It's 18th-century France in the 21st century, with flat-screen TVs and marble bathrooms," she told the journalists, travel agents and VIPs during the rather bizarre naming ceremony on a cold but sunny day in Amsterdam.

For one thing, it was the first I've attended where the guest list has included dogs - four of them, flown across from the US in the Tollman's private jet with mother, father, various sons and daughters, their husbands, wives and children, two butlers, a personal assistant, dog minder and more.

For another the ceremony was also back to front. The band played, Uniworld president Guy Young said a few words, Toni talked about the décor, love and dedication that was put into Antoinette, blessed the ship and cut the chord to smash the bottle.

"Does that often happen," she asked when it gave a little thud but didn't break. She looked so dismayed I didn't like to mention bad luck, especially I was already living in trepidation as one of the mirrors in my bathroom was cracked.

Happily, someone on deck rushed to her aid, smashed the bottle, so we all cheered and started to walk back to the ship, thinking it was all over and anxious to get to the promised Champagne waiting in the lounge.

How wrong we were. Folk from the shipyard, harbour board and city of Amsterdam then had to have their five minutes of fame at the microphone before handing over pressies to Toni and the captain.

The ship was officially handed over, when the shipyard flag was lowered and Uniworld's was raised.

Finally Ingrid, the cruise manager, spoke the magic words. "You are now invited to go on board for the Champagne reception."

You've never seen people move so fast!

I honestly wasn't sure if I'd like the décor on Uniworld's new vessel Antoinette - like it as in want to spend a lot of time in it.

It is very heavy; certainly not the light, bright look that more and more ship designers are going for.

Having been on for three nights, for the naming and a short cruise over the IJselmeer to Hoorn (a man from there named Cape Horn apparently) I am in two minds.

When I joined Antoinette in Amsterdam, it was moored right up against River Queen, another of Uniworld's boats, and it was right outside my window. What with the heavy upholstery and lack of light, my cabin was like the black hole of Calcutta.

View image

These pictures of the cabin, above, were taken at 3.30pm when it was broad daylight outside. I certainly didn't want to spend time in it.

Not great.

But when we set sail and the sun came shining through the window it was a completely different room. It was lighter and altogether more appealing. For seven nights? Absolutely I'd like it - it really is so very different - but always keeping my fingers crossed that my side of the ship was never moored to another boat.

The beds are super-soft and the bathroom is sumptuous, with gorgeous fluffy towels. Just a shame the floor floods big time every time I shower because there is only a very small seal - not up to the job - to hold back the tide.

Antoinette has gone back to the shipyard as it is very unfinished in places and there's time to do something about that as the first paying passengers don't come on until March 27.

I imagine flooding bathrooms is one of the things they will try to rectify, as well as filling nail heads and hopefully fixing the cracked mirror in my bathroom and getting the bedside lights to work.

I don't have a balcony, but I have a large floor-to-ceiling window that opens half way from the top down. And all I have to do is push a button for it to happen.

Very nice but I'm not convinced it's better than having the traditional French windows opening to a Juliette balcony (that is one you can't stand on).

It's also not as unique as they say as I have been on another river cruise boat with a window that opened half way before. The difference was that the window was smaller and I had to open it manually.

In the suites, there is a French window and a piece of room that looks like a balcony with a wooden floor instead of the carpet and then the half-opening window. It's a sort of balcony lookalike as it's totally enclosed on the top.

What was different on Antoinette was the Leopard Bar, a great venue on the sun deck that was rocking with a live singer and late-night revellers after dinner on Saturday, the plush cinema, which I believe is a first on a river cruise boat, and the gorgeous spa pool, in a room with floor-to-ceiling glass windows so you get the warmth and the view - and there are cushioned loungers to make it perfect.

The same cushioned loungers are on the top deck which is a very luxurious touch.

There are also two massage rooms - or at least there will be when the vessel is finally finished (at the moment one is being used as a store room, as is the small gym).

I had a one-hour full body massage courtesy of Ionela from Romania and it was lovely. There were no price lists but she tells me it's roughly €1 per minute so the treatments are not cheap but at least she didn't waste time as they do in the big spas, asking daft questions ("have you had a massage before?" "have you tried these [expensive] products?") and arranging the room to look beautiful, so I felt I got my money's worth.

Importantly, the food and service on Antoinette was first class and definitely lived up to Uniworld's five-star claim. One waiter in the dining room quickly remembered I liked sparkling water, another waiter fetched the Pinot Grigio white wine when he saw me.

I've was also impressed at how easily the chef was able to provide alternative meals - and really tasty ones at that - because I couldn't eat the fish dishes (usually there is a choice but we had two celebration fixed menus).

"It's easy to claim five-star but not so easy to deliver," Toni Tollman said.

Surely no river cruise operator would do that. Would they?

Antoinette will be sailing a seven-night Castles of the Rhine cruise between Amsterdam and Basel starting on March 27. Click here for more information.

Balfour Brut Rosé from the Hush Heath Estate in Cranbrook, Kent, will be used to christen P&O Cruises' Adonia when it joins the fleet in May.

P&O says it's the first time a British sparkling wine has been used to name a ship. Dame Shirley Bassey has been chosen as godmother for the vessel so British is a bit of a theme for the ceremony, which will be held in Southampton.

Balfour Brut Rosé is grown from three classic Champagne varieties - Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay - and is said to be England's most exclusive pink fizz.

TV wine expert Olly Smith, who created The Glass House wine venue on P&O's Azura, is typically effervescent in his praise for the bubbly.

"Balfour Brut Rosé is a celebration in a bottle. Gloriously refreshing with invigorating zing and plenty of finely crafted tiny bubbles, this pink fizz is a glimpse of the first rate quality on our shores. Cheers!"

I just hope P&O has ordered a few extra bottles for the big day - May 21 - as I could so do with an invigorating zing!

Voyages of Discovery will be celebrating the Royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29 with an on-board street party.

Their ship, Discovery, will be visiting St Peter Port in Guernsey on the big day as part of a seven-night French and Spanish Sojourn cruise from Portsmouth.

I'm told party planning is still in progress but the wedding will be televised, the deck will be decorated and festivities will run through the day and into the evening, when there'll be a flag-waving show and possibly a wedding-themed dinner.

When pushed about what they will be doing to get everyone in the party spirit, I got this answer:

"There will also be some form of complimentary drinks and nibbles."

The cruise departs on April 23 and prices start from £499 per person.

Viking River Cruises is going to match its own record in 2012 by launching four new vessels in one year - a feat it achieved in 2001 and which it says no other river cruise company has matched.

The four sisters, Viking Freya, Viking Idun, Viking Njord and Viking Odin, dubbed Longboats by the company, will each have 95 cabins and capacity for 190 passengers.

They have been designed by Yran & Storbraaten - the team behind Disney Dream and Seabourn's new ships - and certainly take the Viking product up several notches.

Many of the cabins have balconies that are big enough to sit on and there are two spacious Explorer Suites with separate living and sleeping areas as well as wraparound verandas.

The Aquavit Terrace is a large lounge with floor-to-ceiling glass doors that open up to create an even larger all-weather indoor-outdoor venue; al-fresco dining areas on the upper deck mean more dining options.

And get this - an organic herb garden will be one of a range of on-board eco-friendly features.

You'll get an idea of the light and airy design from these pictures - talk about chalk and cheese compared to the heavy décor on Uniworld's Antoinette, which was launched last weekend - and also from the DVD on the Viking website.

The new vessels will be sailing company's four most-popular European river cruise itineraries - a 10-day Tulips & Windmills cruise round-trip from Amsterdam, an eight-day Romantic Danube voyage between Budapest and Nuremburg, a 15-day Grand European Tour between Amsterdam and Budapest and eight-day Danube Waltz, sailing between Passau and Budapest.