Back in the good old days of the 1950s, most ocean liners had a few single cabins available for their single customers. The builders of those ships realized that, yes, there actually were single people in the population! 

Since then, however, all cruise ships have standardized on double cabins, and payment is virtually always based on double occupancy. Persons occupying a double cabin alone are generally forced to pay a single supplement, which is usually 50 to 100 percent of the...

(Part 1 of 2)

Most Americans have never heard of Vanuatu, and even fewer have heard of its capital, Port Vila. Yet Vila, as it is often called, is becoming a major cruise destination, with about 140 port visits planned by cruise lines over the next 12 months, or about one every two or three days. 

The vast majority of these cruise visits are one-day stops by ships of P&O Cruises (phone, in Australia, 1300 159 454), sailing out of Sydney and Brisbane on a one-week loop...

 (First of two parts)

ITN subscriber Cynthia Rignanese of Lake Wales, Florida, wrote a useful piece on “what to do within the first few hours of boarding any cruise ship” (Dec. ’12, pg. 12). While her recommendations are helpful, I feel that many of her suggestions should be done, in fact, before you cruise in order to maximize your enjoyment. 

I will discuss these this month and next, drawing on my cruising experience and on discussions I had with...