I did a Caribbean cruise aboard the Horizon (when Celebrity was still called Chandris), and I totally enjoyed the ship, especially with her "small ship" atmosphere and cozy public rooms. But we spent only one full day at sea (the first complete day) and the rest of the time in various ports. There were times when we sailed late at night and actually docked at the next port so early in the morning that one never experienced the sailing. A couple (or at the most three) stops would have been fine, because after awhile one just looked like another, and to this day I can't even recall what they all were. After a few days, I didn't even leave the ship (how many more palm-frond baskets can one buy?) and enjoyed all the amenities of the virtually deserted vessel, including watching the crew execute a total and complete life-boat/abandon ship drill, with all the sirens ringing and the horn blowing, all the fire/water-tight doors closing and all the lifeboats lowered into the water and sailing away. It was wonderful!

On the other hand, when I did Alaska, we had only three stops (one could have been deleted completely with no big loss) and that was heaven on earth! Of course, the best was crossing the Atlantic on the QE2. (Please, please, please, Cunard, let the forthcoming QM2 join her on that itinerary.)

To me, the fewer stops, the better. Cruising means ships, not hunting in identical shops for Eskimo carvings and Tiki dolls made in Taiwan.

I select a cruise BECAUSE of the ports of call, the more the better. I like the experince of travelling by sea, but I do not particularly enjoy too many see days - I get bored easily, even on a mega-ship! To me the ship is basically a method of transport, with no cases to unpack and re-pack.

I agree about Alaska. When I cruised there in 1998 I found several of the ports to be very crowded and over commercial. I have never seen so many T-shirt shops in my life! Strangely enough, it is the visiting cruise ships that have created this problem in Alaska. However, this has not put me off ports!

Maybe you have picked cruises with the wrong type of ports? For example, I've never really been interested in a Caribbean cruise. The though of numerous tropical Islands does not interest me at all. I am going to cruise the Baltic States shortly. Norway (the country) also appeals. The Mediterranean has some wonderful cities too, then there's Egypt, Israel and the Far East etc.

I would like to try a Transatlantic - but I think that I would get very boered? (I don't think that there is the demand to run both the QE2 and QM2 on the Trans run. I think the QE2 will concentrate on cruising when the QM2 comes into service?)

To sum up, the beauty of cruising is that there are numerous choices of cruise line, ship, itinerary and experiences to appeal to everyone. Enjoy!

I guess I'm a different sort-of traveler. I usually go with a large group of friends (it's incredible how you can save, save, save when you book as a large group) when I vacation, especially to more expensive, "exotic" places like Europe. But when we want to be "touristy" as well as having a restful holiday (don't you just hate that feeling of needing a vacation after a vacation?), we then just go to the place, hopefully a centrally located place, and bunker down there. To save money, we try to rent a house which is incredibly cheap when done as a large group! We took a good-sized mansion (nine of us) overlooking the Bay of Naples and it broke down to thirty bucks a day, per-person. Where can you get a hotel for that price? And that included Rosario, the house-keeper who came over every morning and cooked and cleaned and was a delight. She treated us like we were her kids. That's when we do stuff like climbing the Eiffel Tower or seeing the ruins of Pompeii, or touring Westminster Abbey, or just laying around for an entire day doing nothing but trying to watch The Price is Right in Italian (the models ALWAYS wear skimpy bikinis - that's Italian! - I won't tell you what I saw on a French, late-night game show; I think this board has a maximum PG rating).

But when it comes to cruising, I want to be pampered on a ship and enjoy the passing waters, reading a book in a deck chair or some quiet library or drawing room, the white-gloved steward pouring another cup of tea, listening to that ever-present gentle creaking and feeling that muted vibration beneath my feet.

I recently returned from a Mediterranean/French Riviera cruise on the MAASDAM.It was actually a 7-day trip but I booked 2 of them back-to-back.Why? Because Europe is a long way to fly from Canada for just one week.

There was only 1 sea day in each 7-day cruise and to be honest,although I had a terrific time,I found the constant very early morning breakfast-times a bit hard to take.

My up-coming 12-day cruise on the ROTTERDAM in August has 3 sea days with an overnight at St.Petersburg.That is going to suit me down to the ground because I will be able to enjoy both the ship and the ports without feeling rushed(especially at breakfast time!)

One thing,too,I would like to mention.When there are no sea days and just ports of call,the crew don't get too much rest either, having to get up EXTREMELY early in order to serve breakfasts at an ungodly hour to the shore-trippers. One of the stewards told me that it seems that no sooner has he finally gone to bed than it is time to get up again!!No wonder their legs are tired,poor lads!

Looking at what I have just written,it strikes me that I seem to be very conscious of breakfast time!!!! And indeed I am...after all,as my dear sainted mother always said...
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" And by golly,she was right!!

My favourite cruises though are definitely the TransAtlantic ones.HAL always has a Big Band on board for these trips,usually Glenn Miller or Tommy Dorsey or Harry James or even Guy Lombardo. As a gal travelling alone,I find these cruises great because I can dance my way across the ocean calling perhaps at Bermuda,New York,Azores,maybe Funchal.Lots of fun and I NEVER feel lonely....hey Malcolm,you should try one of those TransAtlantic cruises...bet you would have a ball!!

Cruise ships are not the best way to see the world! Most of the modern mega-ships are a floating slice of America. The passengers are effectively insulated from various cultures of the countries that you visit. You don't have to handle foreign currency or even talk to the locals. You can even visit the inhospitable environment of Antartica but still eat fine food and watch a Broadway show! It feel safe and familiar, this is the whole appeal. They call it 'soft adventure' in the travel trade.

Yes, on a cruise you are limited to what you can see in a day, but that does not stop me trying. In my opinion staying abroad the ship is even more limiting! (Why not spend a couple of weeks on the Queen Mary? )

But each to his, or her, own.

I overheard an American couple in a London hotel. They were 'checking out' and were presented with the bill for their stay, which I supposes amounted to several hundred pounds. The guy said, "this is no use to us...we are American's, we expect the bill in dollars, and we expect to pay in dollars"

Winner, your 'world traveller' had probably undertaken a world cruise, but had never left the safety of the ship! There is a stereo typical view that American's are nervous travellers and are not very adaptable to other cultures. (Comments please)

I always find it odd that I can understand the American spoken language, but American's can't always understand mine (British). I'm not talking about accents! For example, I know the American words/phrases: Sweater, Sidewalk, Freeway, Trunk, Side-Swipe, Up-Scale, Apartment, Bathroom, Movie etc. How many American's know the British terms for these? It's a big world out there!

I overheard an American couple in a London hotel. They were 'checking out' and were presented with the bill for their stay, which I supposes amounted to several hundred pounds. The guy said, "this is no use to us...we are American's, we expect the bill in dollars, and we expect to pay in dollars"

Winner, your 'world traveller' had probably undertaken a world cruise, but had never left the safety of the ship! There is a stereo typical view that American's are nervous travellers and are not very adaptable to other cultures. (Comments please)

I always find it odd that I can understand the American spoken language, but American's can't always understand mine (British). I'm not talking about accents! For example, I know the American words/phrases: Sweater, Sidewalk, Freeway, Trunk, Side-Swipe, Up-Scale, Apartment, Bathroom, Movie etc. How many American's know the British terms for these? It's a big world out there!

Even Americans sometimes have to put up with Americans who aren't too "travel-savvy". I have friends who live in Alaska (and have been there myself), and they relate how every summer, their fellow "Lower 48" Americans come up, and when they get off the myriad of tour busses at the hotels, the first thing they ask is: "Where can I change my American money for Alaskan?" Or, or course: "Do they take American money here?" And they are all sorely disappointed when they don't see everyone living in igloos or thatched huts, but regular houses with malls, freeways, skyscrapers and even - shock of shocks! - McDonald's.

Here is a another little story:

A Swedish student was studying English Language in London. He wrote to my local paper complaining how difficult the English language was to learn. He gave an example. He had a summer job, working in London's Regents Park. He was told to "Chop those trees down and when you have finished, chop the trees up!"

A 'Canadian Rockies' tour guide was asked on several occasions, by an elderly Americans "How much do you mountains weigh?" His reply was " That depends if it has been snowing or not!"

How about the Cruise ship waiter who was asked "Do you live on board the ship?"

Then we've got cockney rhyming slang. A friend of mine is a bar tender. A Cockney guy lent over the bar and said "Allo mate, I've only got a Deep sea, ave you got any shrappnel so I can get some oily's from the machine?"

Any idea what he was talking about? (I tell you soon )

Oh yes the translations: Jumper(sweater), pavement (sidewalk), motoway (freeway), boot (trunk), "cut me up" (side-swipe: driving) up-market (up-scale), flat (apartment), toilet or lavatory, Loo or bog!(Bathroom), film or the "pictures" or the "flicks"(movie).

The 'Euro' is NOT a Dollar, Pound, or Franc it's a 'Euro'!

I'm going to take a shot at what the patron in the pub was asking: He only has paper money, and needs change to get something (the "oily") out of a vending machine. A second guess: a pay telephone?