Travel Maven Blog ... posts from The Travel Mavens.com

River cruises in Cambodia, Vietnam reach Angkor ruins and people of rural villages

New riverboats are cruising in Cambodia and Vietnam.

These vacation voyages are an eye-opener, not only to the famed stone Angkor ruins, but also to the lives of rural villagers who are emerging from decades of warfare and deprivation.

A bamboo bridge in the Tonle Sap River was built in 3 weeks to link the island village of Koh Pen, Cambodia, to the mainland. Because of annual flooding, it will be dismantled in June, to be rebuilt in December (Photos by David G. Molyneaux, TheTravelMavens.com)

River cruises, which have proven hugely popular in Europe, are expanding to more exotic locales, drawing vacationers primarily from North America, Europe and Australia.

Yet, riverboat journeys in Southeast Asia are neither an ordinary nor leisurely cruise, at least not in the sense of anything you might do on a lazy voyage on the rivers of Europe, watching the sophisticated world roll by.

Cruising on Oceania's Riviera, a premium eating experience

When you pay extra to cruise a bit upscale, you get roominess, unlimited lobster tails, sushi, lamb chops

Relaxing on Oceania's Riviera (Photos by David G. Molyneaux, TheTravelMavens.com)

Cruise ships have a reputation for encouraging a measure of gluttony.

On nearly every modern ship, you may start eating before the sun comes up and maintain a forkful until late into the night, when a call to room service will bring a snack to tide you over until dawn. A cruise can be a constant flow of French fries, sticky buns, and globs of multi-course meals with a never ending supply of desserts and between-meal enticements.

Eating full, of course, is not the same as eating well.

When an expert travel agent described Oceania Cruises’ newer vessels -- the upscale Marina and Riviera -- as the “eating ships,” he wasn’t talking about passengers stuffing themselves from plates piled high.

Instead, he was describing meals at sea that rival the quality of your favorite restaurants at home -- all included in the basic cruise rate.

This is a formula that is working well for Oceania Cruises.

Norwegian Breakaway rocks New York

Cruise lines normally shy away from mentioning “rocks” when talking about their ships and where they are sailing.

Five water slides on Norwegian Breakaway (Photos by David G. Molyneaux, TheTravelMavens.com)

But Norwegian, perhaps the most innovative of all the modern cruise companies, is not shy. And neither is the world’s newest cruise ship, the 4,028-passenger Norwegian Breakaway, which, says the company, now rocks New York City.

After a trip across the Atlantic Ocean, Norwegian Breakaway, built in Germany, arrived in America this week like so many other Europeans through the years, cruising past the Statue of Liberty on the way to Manhattan.

After two days aboard the Breakaway, I can tell you that this immigrant is ready for prime time.

Tips for Singapore visit include eating well, bringing chewing gum

“Our passions here are food and shopping,” said my Singapore guide, Naseem. “I could eat all the time. We eat, eat, eat,” usually about five small meals a day, she said. I agreed to try.

We began a morning with Ya Kun Kaya Toast, a traditional breakfast of grilled brown bread with a slab of butter and swab of jam made from coconut milk, sugar, eggs and a fragrant tropical plant called pandan. It is served with soft boiled eggs. The eating process is dip and slurp.

I liked that morning wakeup so well that I went back for seconds two mornings later, though I did slide a bit of the jam, more intense than I prefer, off to the side.

Touring Singapore, views from the 57th floor infinity pool

Cruise passengers will love Singapore as a home port for ships. It's a great location for getting over jetlag before your cruise.

Infinity pool on the 57th floor atop the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore (Photos by David G. Molyneaux, TheTravelMavens.com)

Singapore, which began as a British trading post, is one of the world’s most modern cities and one of the largest commercial ports, feeding a free-trade zone that seems to have spawned more shopping malls than northern New Jersey.

Windstar cruises anew, with three spiffier ships

Powered by a new owner, new leadership, and $18 million of renovation, Windstar Cruise’s three ships are sailing again with vim, vigor, a contemporary interior, and a batch of new sails that total the size of seven football fields.

Wind Surf at anchor off Dominica in the Caribbean

Windstar’s energetic president and CEO, Hans Birkholz, said that bookings for 2013 are up 60 percent over 2012, and that the cruise line is looking to expand. Birkholz said that means additional ships, coming soon, though the added vessels may be without sails.