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!

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

...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?

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

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,

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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..

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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!

 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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...!

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.

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?

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.

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.

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'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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Novem