Mexico Robbery the Latest Blow

The cry that you hear from people who love cruising and who love Mexico — that would be us — is this: “Somebody do something!” News on the weekend that 22 Carnival passengers were robbed, at gunpoint, while on an organized shore excursion in Puerto Vallarta, has taken violence in Mexico to another level. Until… Continue reading Mexico Robbery the Latest Blow

Space Ships…or Space on Ships

So much is made of the sizes of cruise ships, isn’t it? Some cruisers think biggest is best. Some think smaller is better because of its intimacy. There is, naturally, no correct answer. In reading about cruise ships, we came across an interesting measurement. Take the size of the ship (measured in “gross tonnage”) and… Continue reading Space Ships…or Space on Ships

Getting Married the Cunard Way

If we didn’t know better, we’d say with just a drip of sarcasm that the reason it took Cunard 172 years to do weddings on their ships, it’s because they wanted to get it right. The real reason, however, is that British law prohibited weddings on British ships. When one of its stablemates, Carnival, had… Continue reading Getting Married the Cunard Way

Gentlemen Who Prefer Cruises

On the weekend, we came across a story about “gentlemen hosts” on cruise ships. These are “jobs” for single men who pay $30 a day to go and have a good time on a cruise, with no romantic liaisons allowed. In other words, they have to be, well, gentlemen. The Gentleman Host Program and others… Continue reading Gentlemen Who Prefer Cruises

Reasonable Review of Concordia

In the old and never-ending wake of the Costa Concordia accident, there is a new perspective that’s worth acknowledging. It comes, courtesy of a show the Discovery Channel aired this weekend. A former cruise ship captain from California, Paul Leyda, was interviewed extensively on the show. In a story that appeared in a Bay Area… Continue reading Reasonable Review of Concordia