senior-spectrum.com

By Joe Scholnick
Contributing writer

Cruising is the fastest growing segment of the travel industry. Each year, an increasing number of vacationers troop aboard cruise ships for a journey, some to a far-off land for a week or month, others for a brief twirl in the ocean waters without a real destination, just to get away for a long weekend.

Choosing the correct cruise line for your travels can be a daunting experience.

Actually, despite their popularity, cruises are taken by only a small percentage of residents. There are many reasons: the fear of costs, fear of the unknown, fear of ocean voyages, and so on. Studies indicate that only about 11 percent of North America vacationers have embarked on a cruise.

Perhaps the fastest growing destinations are in Europe -- particularly Lisbon, Rome, Spain and the Baltic ports. During a recent 10-year period, the number of cruises to European ports increased from about 800 to more than 1,500.

Technological advances have minimized the problems associated with seasickness. Most cruise ships today have stabilizers designed to minimize ship motion in the seas, except during violent storms, and most cruise lines depend on better weather forecasting to avoid these at sea. Plus, there are various medications that are very effective in preventing seasickness.

Lately, though, some cruise lines have been plagued by outbreaks of the stomach flu that necessitated quick returns to port. The source of these widespread and well-publicized outbreaks should be determined soon, and a recent survey found that most travelers are confident that it won't happen on their cruise.

For most potential cruise goers, the biggest questions are: What do I wear and how much is it going to cost me? In a way, both questions are tied together.

Some cruise lines specialize in low-cost accommodations, while others focus on luxury travel. Both are available for virtually all destinations.

If you decide on a low-cost excursion, dress is not a consideration. You'll probably never see formal attire on those ships, and while they may bar shorts and T-shirts in the dining room for dinner, anything else goes.

On the luxury liners, many passengers will wear formal attire from time to time, particularly if there's a Captain's Night at dinner, or similar functions. But even then, most passengers will be attired in coat-and-tie and cocktail dresses, rather than the more imposing formal wear.

Cost of a cruise is a flexible thing, depending on the size and location of the cabin you choose, the itinerary, the cruise ship, and so forth.

First-time budget-minded cruisers can settle for an inside cabin on a lower deck at a cost that is not far off the cost of a hotel room in one of the less-expensive roadside motels. The big difference, of course, is that a $100-per-night room in a motel gets you a room and little else. On a cruise ship, you also get three meals plus in-between snacks that never seem to stop; musical shows; in many cases a gaming casino, movie theaters and a swimming pool -- all included in the price of admission.

Plus, the cruise industry is rife with discounts. Shop around and you'll find a good deal.

There are some pitfalls along the way. While almost everything is included, some things are not. Tips to room stewards and your waiter and busboy are expected, even on ships that discourage tipping. Alcoholic beverages are charged separately. Shore excursions each have a price tab attached. And there are, on many cruises, port fees that are extra.

Which ship to choose is another dilemma. To paraphrase a refrain made popular decades ago when a famous general was sacked by a feisty president of the United States, old cruise ships never (or at least hardly ever) die -- they undergo massive refurbishing or remodeling, and are put back into service with a new name and identity.

There are, of course, exceptions to that rule. The famous general himself, Douglas MacArthur, once a self-made (and self-promoted) hero, faded away after his run-in with President Harry Truman, and after an unsuccessful run at the presidency himself, waned further into obscurity and eventually died.

The Titanic of Great Britain and the Andrea Doria, a large Italian cruise ship, are rusting hulks on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, having died after colliding with an iceberg and another steamer, respectively.

Perhaps the prime example is the Queen Mary, permanently tethered to a man-made peninsula in Long Beach harbor, whose conversion from an ocean liner, scheduled to cost some $6 million, finally wound up costing well over 10 times that, and whose current service is as a hotel/tourist attraction. In fact, to prevent the ship from setting sail perhaps on its own, there's even a stone wall built around it to keep it at bay.

For me, the worst part of cruising is the food. As a general rule, it's dreadful.

"You understand," an expert once explained, "that cruise dining is not like eating in a restaurant, but rather in a huge banquet hall. When's the last time you had good food at a large banquet?"

The best cruise line I've found is Windstar Cruises, which operates sailing ships to ports of call throughout Europe, the Caribbean and New Zealand. Lest you think of a sailing ship as being a tiny cork bobbing in the ocean, you're not thinking of Windstar Cruises ships. They have four ships in their fleet; three carry 148 passengers each while the fourth accommodates 312 passengers. Perhaps it's the relatively small size that makes the difference, but the food is excellent.

My latest voyage was from Rome, south around the Italian boot to Venice, with stops in Amalfi (to look at the ruins of ancient Pompeii); Corfu, Greece, the old walled city of Dubrovnik in Croatia, and other stops, and finally disembarkation in the Italian city of canals, Venice. It was a fascinating seven-day voyage that was most enjoyable.

For information about cruise ships, use the Internet to explore each cruise line's options, or consult your travel agent.