Travel Maven blog

Cruising the Columbia and Snake for Cruise Critic

My first article written for Cruise Critic is up, on line at the free website that has millions of readers who cruise, comment and offer their own reviews of ships.

The story is a review of the Spirit of '98, a 96-passenger Cruise West vessel that does one-week trips out of Portland, Ore., on the turbulent Columbia and Snake Rivers.

The Spirit of '98 travels through eight locks -- four on the Columbia and four on the Snake -- to Hell's Canyon, for a 160-mile jetboat ride, then back down the rivers to the mouth of the Columbia.  Explorers Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1805-1806 near Astoria, Oregon, where the Columbia rushes into the Pacific Ocean.

Cruising tricks and tips I learned on a Mediterranean voyage

Research the exchange rate for U.S. dollars

In February, I walked into Egypt for the first time in 25 years.

My ship, the Norwegian Jade, spent two days at port in Alexandria, Egypt, so passengers could plan side trips to Cairo and beyond.

Alexandria is not an intriguing port stop. But it was the home of the original great library of the ancient world -- long ago destroyed by fire, religious intolerance and who knows what -- and now the site of a gigantic modern library, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which was inaugurated in 2002. It is a prime stop on tours of Alexandria.

I had walked halfway to the library from the cruise port -- including 30 minutes watching a group of men hoist a net of fish from the bay as it was done a century ago -- when I realized I had forgotten to research exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the Egyptian pound.

New armada of cruise ships calls Barcelona home

If you are vacationing on a Mediterranean cruise during the next few years, chances are your voyage will begin in Barcelona, Spain. Lucky you.

Starting in summer 2011, Barcelona will be home to three of the half dozen largest cruise ships in the world, Norwegian’s new Epic, Carnival’s new Magic and Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas.

With the addition of these ships, the cruise fleet, already substantial, will sail each summer week with some 20,000 vacationers headed for the Mediterranean.

On Las Ramblas, above, hoping for tips

You will be rewarded if you add at least one night, before or after your cruise, in Barcelona, one of the favorite cities to visit for Americans touring Europe.

Downtown, near the port and especially along the famed wide walking street Las Ramblas, Barcelona pulses with street performers, strolling crowds of all ages, and a slew of pickpockets.

Read more about Barcelona in this article at  TheTravelMavens.com