THE SCOTTISH ADVENTURES OF A CRUISE SHIP ADDICT

This is a term I have come to dislike. It was made popular in 2004 when the Queen Mary 2 came into service. The reason: The QM2 is an ocean liner but she is also a cruise ship. But the media have now grasped this concept and every new ship seems to be a cruise liner. Let me tell you the different... An ocean liner is tends to do line voyages. That is going from one place to another on a distinct commercial voyage. A good example of this is the transatlantic route where a liner goes from Southampton to New York. Most ocean liners have a specially reinforced hull to cope with the bad weather because unless it is a REALLY big storm, they will not divert from their course, such as when the QE2 was hit by the 90ft wave. A cruise ship goes from A to B via C on a predestined route for the enjoyment of her passengers. Therefore she will avoid storms as it is not good for business if all her passengers are seasick! Also cruise ships tend to follow the sun. Most cruise ships are very well built

(Sung to the music of "My Favourite Things" from the Sound of Music) Raindrops on cruise ships and docking bays on liners, Snowflakes that fall on my lifeboats and lashes, Brown paper packages that end up in kitchens, These are a few of my favourite ship things... When the winds blow, When the waves lash, When I'm feeling scared, I simply remember my favourite ships, Then I don't feel so bad... After that really bad song, I thought I'd share with you my favourite ships: 1 The original QUEEN MARY: The Mary has always been my favourite ship since I visited her as a 7 year old, and the one who got me started on all this ocean liner stuff. Clyde-built. An art deco masterpiece. 2 The QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 (QE2): She's like cuddling up in your favourite armchair with your favourite book and favourite glass of wine. A real old dowanger Countess. She has character and style. Clyde-built. 3 KUNGSHOLM/SEA PRINCESS/VICTORIA/MONA LISA/SCHOLARSHIP: This was the first ship I to

The Explorer sinking in the Antarctic was just an accident waiting to happen... As cruising becomes more popular, cruise companies are choosing more and more isolated places to take their ships to. Unfortunately some of these places are very remote, such as Antarctica. While the landscape maybe beautiful, the seas are amongst the roughest on earth and it is so far from anywhere (and cold) that it is very difficult to co-ordinate a quick rescue. Explorer's passengers were incredibly lucky because there was another ship close at hand - 4 hours away - but what would have happened if that ship had not been about? What would have happened if the seas had been rough? Antarctica has some of the strictest cruise ship regulations in the world governing which ships can enter, how many passengers they can carry, the environmental impact of their presence on the continent and how passengers act while they are in Antarctica. There has been worrying incidents in the past such as the Nordkapp run