Cruises Critiqued

Since 1988 I have taken 52 voyages on 34 cargo ships of all types, some for as long as four months. This is in addition to 32 cruise ship voyages.

My husband, John, and I took the “Island Sanctuaries” cruise with Cruise West (Seattle, WA; 800/426-7702 or www.cruisewest.com) in January ’06.

We took a 12-day cruise to the Black Sea on Oceania Cruises’ Insignia in September ’04*. Rates ranged from $2,299, inside, to $3,399, verandah, and included airfare from select cities. What a good cruise it was, especially at that rate.

Oceania’s ships Insignia and Regatta were purchased from the now-defunct Renaissance Cruises. Like on Renaissance sailings, there are no formal nights; all nights are “country club casual.”

My wife, Sandra, and I were fortunate to experience two great cruises in 2005: one on Seabourn Cruise Line’s Seabourn Pride from Fort Lauderdale to Istanbul, March 15-May 6 (Category B3 suite at $17,394 per person), and the other one on Radisson (Regent) Seven Seas Cruises’ Seven Seas Mariner from Vancouver to Hong Kong, Sept. 7-Oct. 10 (Category G suite at $11,456 each). Both cruises were booked via Sharon Whiting at Cruise Specialists (Seattle, WA; 800/544-2469 or www.csiseattle.com).

My husband, Ken, and I visited Russia for the first time, Aug. 19-Sept. 3, ’05, taking the river cruise between St. Petersburg and Moscow. After doing much research on the Internet and reading appreciatively the readers’ comments in the March, April and June ’04 issues of ITN, we chose to go with Peter the Great Cruises (2610 East 16th St., Brooklyn, NY 11235; phone 800/828-7970).

My wife, Eileen, and I enjoyed a holiday on the remote island of St. Helena, one of the last outposts of the British Empire, in the South Atlantic Ocean. We traveled July 13-Aug. 11, ’05, on the part-cargo and part-passenger vessel Royal Mail Ship St. Helena, the island’s only contact with the outside world. Everything on the island has arrived on this ship or its predecessors.

My wife, Carol, and I booked a 54-night cruise on Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ Black Watch, leaving Jan. 5, 2005, from Southampton, England, and arriving Feb. 28 in Sydney, Australia.

My wife, Judy, and I took a “tulip cruise” in the Netherlands in April ’05 aboard the Viking Pride of Viking River Cruises (Woodland Hills, CA; 877/668-4546). We booked it through Covina Hills Travel (Covina, CA; 800/688-8728 or e-mail info@covinahills.com).

We visited Tahiti years ago and always wanted to go back. When Princess Cruises announced their 2005 cruises to Tahiti, we booked a 14-day trip. It included pre- and post-cruise overnights at a hotel in Los Angeles. The price was $1,495, excluding airfare. Tips ran about $100.

On Jan. 11, we flew from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on U.S. Airways (using our frequent-flyer miles) and spent the night at a Comfort Inn. After a great buffet breakfast at the inn, we flew Air Tahiti Nui to Papeete, Tahiti ($900 round trip). The flight was smooth and we arrived at 11 p.m.

In April ’03 we booked a cruise with Orient Lines’ Marco Polo. We would embark February ’04 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.