Cruise

After canceling a cruise to the Middle East because of the uprising in Egypt, my wife and I looked for another sailing during the same time period, though it was only months away. We purchased the “Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships,” a terrific book that has everything we wanted to know and more, to aid in our search.

We prefer ships that hold fewer than 1,000 passengers, and we found a listing for Swan Hellenic, an English company specializing in “programs of highly academic lecturers and speakers.” This appealed to us.

Dear Globetrotter:

(Second of three parts. Go to part 1)

(Part 2 of 2, go to part 1)

Editor’s note: In my “Boarding Pass” column in the September and October 2011 issues, I talked about the impact of having several cruise ships, some with thousands of passengers each, visiting the same port at the same time.

Editor’s note: In the following account, ITN is not printing the name of the cruise line involved because 1) we feel the company acted responsibly and may be considered an injured party, itself, and 2) the points being raised pertain to all cruise lines and we didn’t want to unfairly single out one firm.

After disembarking from a Mediterranean cruise on Oct. 2, 2011, I stayed at Hotel Nazionale Rome (Piazza Mont­ecitorio, 131 00186, Rome, Italy; phone +39 06 695001, fax 06 6786677). This was my third stay at the hotel, and I just love everything about it: its central location, the staff, the rooms, the service and the fabulous breakfast served. For four nights, two of us paid €270 (near $360) per night for a twin room.

Dear Globetrotter:

One day into a week-long Mexican Riviera cruise, an engine room fire on Nov. 8 left Carnival Cruise Lines’ Splendor dead in the water. 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crew were left without electricity and, hence, no air-conditioning, hot water or hot food. Toilets backed up. While food was airlifted in, tugboats towed the ship 200 miles to San Diego within three days.

Passengers were offered a full refund and a free future cruise. Anyone booked on any of the nine additional Splendor cruises that were canceled will be refunded and get a 25% discount on a cruise.