Liner Cruising

The writer of two previous books, neither having any connection with cruising, this is my first entry into the expensive, overly hyped and glitzy world being promoted by the major cruise lines. The book evolved following my first cruise in 2012, on board a large freighter, CMA-CGM line’s Columba, during which I kept a detailed day-to-day diary of events experienced on the cruise, copies of which I emailed to friends back in Melbourne. Through them, others also requested a copy – so much so that I eventually found myself emailing multiple copies of the diaries, from both my first cruise on Columba and a later cruise on Princess line's Sea Princess. In 2014 I added diary notes on a third cruise - the maiden voyage of Regal Princess, Princess line's latest ship. As a result, some who had received or viewed copies of my first two diarised reports - suggested that the three diaries be included in a book - a different kind of book on cruising - designed to provide anyone contemplating a vacation at sea with an objective assessment of cruising - both on board a freighter and luxury liner. The book also seeks to provide a sometimes critical exploration of this expensive form of escape from everyday living; particularly when it comes to those forms of sea borne vacations being aggressively promoted by the world's up-market purveyors of world cruises - offering their version of "Utopia afloat".