A History Lesson, Courtesy of Viking Cruises

Cruising is almost always an education. New countries, new ports, new customs, new people. Sometimes it can be an education just to read something about cruising. Sometimes, even advertising can do the job. Like Viking Cruises, which last week sent advertising emails which read as follows: "Who are you? The year is 1887 A.D." It… Continue reading A History Lesson, Courtesy of Viking Cruises

When Ships Get Locked in a Lock

This news item was posted a few days ago on Cruise Critic: "AmaWaterways have yet to confirm the details surrounding an incident in which their river cruise boat AmaDagio was trapped in a lock with another ship (on the Rhone River in France), forcing the line to debark passengers and delay the scheduled itinerary…" You've… Continue reading When Ships Get Locked in a Lock

In Stitches on the River…

  In this age of alleged profiling, is there anything that would profile the stereotypical cruise passenger more than a knitting cruise? Yes…knit one, purl two…and how many people today have a clue what that means? Apparently, quite a few. There is a trend to knitting among young folks, they say, and if you are… Continue reading In Stitches on the River…

The Booming 'Other' Kind of Cruising

Our first experience of "river cruising" consists of a week on the Midi Canal in the south of France on a 27-foot "ship" with a crew of two, neither of whom knew much about how to steer a vessel in the water, never mind negotiate the 64 locks that lay ahead of us. Oh yes,… Continue reading The Booming 'Other' Kind of Cruising

Two Tastes of River Cruising

This isn't a commercial (like "Like Milk?")… Like jazz? Like lobster? If — like us — your answer is "yes" then American Cruise Lines has an inviting dilemma for you. Actually, one of the "invitings" is the Queen of the Mississippi, and don't take that the wrong way. She's a river cruise ship and in… Continue reading Two Tastes of River Cruising