Cruise

The 100-foot, 14-passenger Ruth Alessandro is a magnificent gulet, and my husband, Bob, and I, along with six other adventurous couples chartered her for a 2-week cruise, Sept. 8-22, 2008.

The yacht is owned and operated by Ruth Yacht (Akarca mah. 864 sok. no: 20, 48300 Fethiye, Mugla, Turkey; phone +9 0544 445 95 12, fax +9 0252 613 66 76, www.ruth-yacht.com).

We paid €22,000 (near $27,700) total, or $4,034 per couple. The price included the services of the crew, all meals and harbor fees.

My husband, Leon, and I went to Rome for five days and then on a Mediterranean cruise for two weeks in October ’08. Leon uses a wheelchair, though he can walk a bit when he needs to.

by Yvonne Horn, Contributing Editor

The winged lion of Venice, sculpted in stone, stood high above us just beneath the tip-top bronze bell of St. Mark’s Torre dell’Orologio, looking down on the populace as if it owned the world.

The MS Deutschland, a 520-passenger ocean liner of Peter Deilmann Cruises (Alexandria, VA; 800/348/8287, www.deilmann-cruises.com), offers theme cruises, including classical music cruises. I was aboard for the Sept. 18-Oct. 1, 2008, classical music cruise from Hamburg, Germany, to Monte Carlo, Monaco.

My husband, Alan, and I took a cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest, July 22-Aug. 6, 2008, with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA; 800/322-6677). All in all, it was a super trip and we highly recommend it.

Shortly before departing, however, we were informed that the ship was converting all charges to euros. Given the state of the dollar at that time, this was understandable. As with most cruise lines these days, all charges on the ship could be put on a credit card, which we did.

Larry Taylor, Fullerton, CA. Photos by Gail Taylor

Helene Schechter of Livingston, New Jersey, described having been unhappy with the flight arrangements that Overseas Adventure Travel had made for her and her husband for a tour; they ended up with a 7-hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany (May ’08, pg. 29).

I took an amazing 2-week, September-October cruise through the islands east of Bali, Indonesia, to Asmat, West Papua. It was arranged by Phyllis Hischier of West Papua Artifacts (San Luis Obispo, CA; 805/549-8371, www.asmat-artifacts.net) in conjunction with the American Museum of Asmat Art (www.stthomas.edu/asmat) at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

R.J. Pazara of Arlington, Texas, wrote the following to ITN:

“My wife and I took a cruse aboard the Azamara Journey from Miami, Florida, to Santos (for Saõ Paulo), Brazil, Nov. 11-29, 2007.