Carnival's Fascinating Medicine Man

We often talk to doctors on cruise ships, fortunately not for the reasons most people talk to doctors. We enjoy meeting them because they bear an enormous responsibility — responding to the potential needs of thousands of people a week with no files charting their medical history — and because doctors are often more interesting… Continue reading Carnival's Fascinating Medicine Man

Cruise Critic's People Pick 'Em

Preferences in cruising, or rating the ships, is at best a straw poll and at worst an utter waste of time. Too many factors can influence the “people’s choices.” Your room steward is lazy. The seas are rough. You’re feeling under the weather. Your stateroom is in the wrong part of the ship. The other… Continue reading Cruise Critic's People Pick 'Em

Maritime Author Cruise Ship Authority

John Maxtone-Graham was 40 when he became, quite by accident, a writer. Today he has two sons who “followed” in those footsteps. “One is producer and writer for The Simpsons,” he says. “In the trailer from one show, more people have seen his name than have seen mine in all the [24]books I have written.… Continue reading Maritime Author Cruise Ship Authority

Catch This Cruise Lecturer When You Can

One of the most fascinating people we have met on a cruise ship is a Jersey-born Brit who has the ability to captivate an audience with a one-man show that looks good enough to be on Broadway. By the way, a “Jersey-born Brit” is someone who has a British accent despite his origins in New… Continue reading Catch This Cruise Lecturer When You Can

When Liverpool Becomes Dublin

One day last month, passengers on a cruise ship named Boudicca went to bed one night expecting they would wake up in Liverpool and be properly disembarked. They woke up in Dublin. They were blown away. Literally. High winds forced the Boudicca, from the Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines fleet of four, to delay and eventually cancel… Continue reading When Liverpool Becomes Dublin