Walt at Random

If I do any “real” ALA-related posts, it won’t be until I’ve gone through the full set of Bloglines feeds waiting for me (380+ library-related posts, 200+ others), at which point I can determine whether I have anything to add that’s worth adding.

Meanwhile, a few random thoughts (just got back yesterday evening, balancing various sorts of catching up, and semi-coherent):

• I’ve never agreed with the notion that ALA’s Annual Conference is just too big. Now, I’m not so sure.
• Kudos to Gale for the shuttle service: It was so well planned that I used it (a lot), which I rarely do. Of course, I was at the Hilton, and the Hilton:Conference Center run couldn’t have been easier, but still…splitting the conference hotels into nine small subsets made loads of sense. And must have cost loads of money.
• Kudos to OCLC and the It’s All Good crew for the library bloggers gathering. Certainly the youngest event I attended at the conference, and one of the most enjoyable. (And they did have “My name is” tags so we could add our Nom de Blogs to our real names, for those with less transparent blogonyms. Oh Gaia, I’m using net neologisms. My only excuse is fatigue.)
• No kudos whatsoever to the conference registration/exhibits entry layout, a total disaster on Saturday and not much better on Sunday. When you have safety marshals keeping people from getting on escalators, something’s terribly wrong. See the first bullet in this list.
• Strangest moment in the conference: Not the library bloggers thing, but the Moonies arriving at my hotel in force on Monday evening. And I do mean in force.
• Striking change for me: being in the audience at Top Tech Trends for the first time.
• Overall: I attended more programs (but fewer discussion groups) than usual, learned something, and ran into lots of people I know from ALA (as always) and some that I only know through net media (that’s new).

More later, if there’s more useful to say. Now, this evening, to get back to writing after a full month outage…

Remember this post?

The first few apria (or apriums) we had were surprisingly good. The next week’s batch were “ok for what they are.”

When we got back from Alaska, our new Blenheim apricot tree had about a dozen apricots, half ready to pick, half not quite there. (It’s a new tree: next year, we’re hoping for several dozen apricots.)

The bad news: when my wife went out the second day to pick the remaining apricots, they were all gone. She grumbled about that. Presumably a squirrel or very adept bird (they were all gone); hard to believe someone would have gone into our gated back yard to grab a few apricots.

The good news: The other apricots were apricots. Comparing them with the apria/apriums is a bit like comparing, say, top-of-the-line filet mignon with a “roast beef” sandwich from a vending machine. Half of one fully ripe, just off the tree, Blenheim apricot is enough for pure ecstacy.

[By the way, I'll still delete "helpful comments" about how farmer's markets and direct-from-the-farm services are the best way to get good produce, when they obviously come from someone who's not a regular reader. The information may be good, but it's still spam.]

They’re all gone now. Meanwhile, we’re getting some really first-rate pluots…and Bing cherries should be in full swing by the end of ALA. Ah, summer stone fruit season: A wonderful time of year.

“…and ALA”? Just to note that this is probably the last entry here for the next five days or so. I’m off to Chicago to swelter for a few days with a few thousand of my closest friends (and 20,000 to 22,000 library folks overall). I travel without technology, and have no intention of coping with the ALA internet center–so I won’t be dealing with email or weblogs during that time.

Which also means I won’t be moderating any comments that require moderating (which usually includes anything with URLs, and an unknown variety of other triggers) until I return.

I’m also not posting my schedule on the informal ALA wiki or here, partly because it’s very loose, partly because it just seems odd. If you’re trying to get in touch, though, here’s a few possibilities:

• I’ll be staying at the Chicago Hilton from Friday afternoon through Tuesday late morning.
• Friday, I hope to be at the LITA Happy Hour and probably at the WebJunction reception.
• Saturday, I might go to the MARS “metasearch” session and the “Models of scholarly publishing” session (but will definitely be at a small YBP-related gathering)
• Sunday, I plan to be at LITA Top Technology Trends in the audience, not on the podium and stick around for the LITA Awards Reception; later, I plan to be at the “Library bloggers” get-together that OCLC folks are hosting.
• Monday, I plan to be at the RLG Eureka Users Group session and, in the afternoon, at the “Google and Libraries” program.

But those aren’t all definite, I’m not sure when I’ll do exhibits (but I’ll certainly spend the 4 to 8 hours exhibits typically require), I’m staying pretty loose on breakfast and lunch plans (which means dining alone or with whoever I run into), and my only current formal dinner plans are Saturday and Monday.

Otherwise–I’ll be back next Wednesday, or maybe Tuesday evening.

Just a quick note: I’ve read about the LA Times‘ very brief experiment with “wikitorials”–and some quick explanations of why it was probably doomed from the start.

I’ve also seen several bloggers predicting that, to paraphrase, all those anti-wiki people will be out proclaiming “See, wikis are worthless.”

What I haven’t seen so far, however–at least in the blogs I track or those quoted by those blogs–is anyone actually saying that the LA Times failure represents a general problem with wikis, as opposed to a specific failure in this situation.

Where are all the grand nay-sayers that I’m being warned about? Am I just missing a groundswell of “see, we told you” posts?

Addendum, a little later: Here’s the thing: Citing this singular failure as a general failure on the part of wikis makes exactly as much sense as saying, for example:

• “I just read a book that says nothing and says it badly, and the pages fell out after an hour. Books don’t work.”
• “I’ve seen a dozen weblogs that are meretricious wastes of time. Weblogs don’t work.”
• “More than half of new restaurants fail in the first year. Restaurants don’t work.”

I don’t think it’s even worth responding to that sort of criticism. If someone says, as one critic has, that every use of wikis could be done better by a different technology: That’s a criticism worth responding to. (And the calmer responses were pretty convincing.)

Anyway: I haven’t seen any slew of “See? Wikis don’t work” comments. Have you?

After avoiding it (or, rather, just not doing it) for years now, I’m now connected from home via broadband. The service started today–but it was apparently active yesterday, since that’s when I not only installed the equipment but completed the registration.

I didn’t do it for streaming video. Not that I’ll never watch any, but that certainly wouldn’t justify it.

I didn’t do it for P2P (which I don’t plan to use) or running a “server” from home (I can’t: the plan I signed up for uses a dynamic IP address).

I didn’t do it for downloading music–but I’ll admit that, if I can find sufficiently high quality, track-at-a-time purchasing makes a lot of sense to me to fill in a few hundred missing pieces in my collection without buying a few hundred CDs.

I didn’t even do it to make uploading Cites & Insights faster, although it will surely do that–after all, that’s a savings of maybe a minute once a month.

Certainly not for most of my internet surfing: Bloglines runs just fine at 52K, and most of the sites I visit work well with dialup.

I’d been considering it for “nuisance” reasons–if I just want to check a movie’s provenance or some simple fact like that, and the computer’s on, the 30 seconds for a dialup connection is a nuisance.

On the other hand, I knew I couldn’t keep my personal website unless I took AT&T DSL–and AT&T DSL’s pricing is unattractive.

What finally pushed me was simple, if stupid: The need to keep updating MS Windows and SpySweep and Norton Antivirus and the like. With MS Windows really wanting auto-updates that frequently run several megabytes–and SpySweep having fairly frequent and very large signature updates. (Oddly enough, Spybot doesn’t have big or frequent updates.) I was unwilling to have auto-update for Windows enabled on dialup–but that WARNING! popup each day on startup was a nuisance.

Second push: My wife’s finally at the point where she wants a notebook computer (she had a desktop at home, but never used it–she spends so much time at the computer at work that it wasn’t attractive), and it made sense to have wireless broadband. (I’ve been encouraging this for some time, but until she wanted it, we both knew prices would keep getting better.)

And, the tipping point: SBC, the local phone company, offered SBC Yahoo! DSL Express (the “low-speed” DSL, 384Kb upload, 1.5Mb download) for $14.95 a month for the next year–with wired ethernet router included free, wireless router for $50. Offer good through 6/30.

“What the heck.” I ordered it 6/12. The equipment (the CD, router, and half a dozen DSL/phone line filters) arrived 6/18. Email said that DSL service would begin 6/20, and at first said I shouldn’t do any installation until then. But then a letter said “Go ahead and install; you can finish registration when service begins.” So I did the installation yesterday–and, somehow, registration went just fine. (My guess is they turned the service on at the end of the day Friday.)

It’s a wireless router from a relatively obscure company, but I’ll leave it “wired” to my desktop: Since I needed the Ethernet connection to get it configured, I don’t see the point in spending $ to add a WiFi adapter to my 3-year-old PC when the wireless router is sitting three feet away from the PC. As soon as my wife buys a notebook, all we’ll need to do is load the SBC software and set up the WiFi connection. (Yes, I did know enough to change the default network name, turn off broadcast, and make sure WEP is enabled.)

As I was installing, I thought about how much easier XP has made this whole process. For example, I’d never set up the Ethernet card that I assumed was part of my computer. When I plugged the router’s cable into my Ethernet port, it didn’t establish a connection. I brought up the control panel, noted an Intel PROSet Ethernet-100 option in networking, double-clicked on it, and…well, that’s all there was. Ethernet was working.

So now I have both hardware and software firewalls (since I had a three-year-old Norton AntiVirus and two-year-old Norton Personal Firewall, both with up-to-date signatures, I picked up a 2005 Norton Internet Security package to upgrade both: with rebates, it’s cheaper than renewing the signature subscriptions!), three layers of spyware protection (Norton’s added its own), more spam protection than I can really use (since I still don’t use Outlook Express)–and, to be sure, much faster downloads. (As soon as I installed Norton Internet Security, it wanted to download 8MB of updates–which took about a minute.)

I didn’t exactly resist broadband. I just wasn’t willing to pay big bucks for it and didn’t much see the need for my data requirements. On the other hand, paying $5 less for broadband than I’m paying for dialup (which will continue until I find a new home for my website) was hard to resist.

One note: Anyone know where the SBC Yahoo Browser comes from? It’s not IE; it’s not FireFox; it has a “Mac” feel to it. I’m guessing some Mozilla spinoff, but the “About” tab is no help at all.

A semi-negative consequence: I won’t be doing any more timing tests for how dialup-friendly hot websites are. I’m losing the dialup connection as soon as possible (actually, SBC includes dialup support as part of the DSL subscription).

Will I crave faster speed down the road? I’m aware that the limit on my DSL speed is a software limit; for $10 a month more, I can raise the download speed to “up to 3Mb,” and I believe that speed will continue to rise. If we ever need it, we’ll pay for it.

No big deal here. Just noting that one of the remaining 40% dialup holdouts has dropped in.

Some of you may be anticipating a July issue of Cites & Insights coming out just before ALA–that is, right about now.

That’s not going to happen. Indeed, there’s not going to be a July issue at all.

Paying attention to readership patterns and wholly appropriate reading habits during the summer, I’m planning a combined July/August issue for mid to late July. That probably means a total of 13 issues for 2005, which seems as good a number as any.

I do not plan a double-length July/August issue; I’m aiming for 20 to 22 pages, with 24 pages tops. The plan is to produce a little less copy during the summer. Maybe some of you will catch up on some of the issues you skipped or that are sliding off your desk along with other unread stuff… (And maybe I’ll do a more thoughtful issue with more time. Hope springs eternal!)

Furdlog points to this BBC article about the decline in audiocassette sales, with Furdlog calling audiocassettes “the first of the ‘music piracy’ formats?”

Let’s not get into the tiresome “piracy” argument. Furdlog does put scare quotes around the phrase. Audiocassettes may have been the first widespread format for music sharing and mixing–how many people still call custom CD-Rs “mix tapes”?

But there’s an odd quote in the story, worth noting:

Oddly, Philips did not charge royalties on their cassette patent, allowing numerous other companies to use their design for free. This ensured the quick acceptance of it as a new form of media.

I don’t believe it would have required that much research for the BBC reporter to eliminate the “Oddly, ” from that statement. I’m not sure whether I got the information from Nick Lyons’ The Sony Vision (Crown, 1976) or Akio Morita’s Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony (Dutton, 1986), but here’s how I summarized it in Current Technologies in the Library: An Informal Survey (G.K. Hall, 1988, still one of the books I’m proudest of):

Philips fully intended to license its patents to other companies for a modest continuing royalty such as 2 cents per cassette. Around 1960 Sony convinced Philips to make the license royalty-free and offered in exchange a patented automatic recording level system that would make cassette recorders much more useful for casual recording. The Sony-Philips cross-licensing marked the beginning of many agreements between these two companies that would influence non-print media, and helped to make the compact cassette a worldwide standard.

Thanks to Sony’s advice, Philips wound up with a reasonable slice of a huge market instead of a big slice of a tiny proprietary market. The biggest “influence” of the two-company relationship to date has been the CD, licensed under a joint Sony-Philips patent cluster. Not for free, though…

A few more notes on our cruise…

The passengers:

Typical Crystal, by and large: Affluent, well-educated, interesting, with relatively few yahoos and just enough smokers to annoy the breathers (not in dining rooms or the showroom, certainly, but elsewhere).

The ship wasn’t full–the first in the Alaska series usually isn’t–and had some 700-odd people (out of 940 capacity, with 535 crew). The way the captain summarized it at his welcome party: people from 14 other countries, including 12 from Canada, 21 from the UK, 8(?) from Japan–I think it added up to around 100 overall. Then: “240 from the United States, and 350 from California.”

While Californians have been well-represented on every cruise we’ve taken (typically anywhere from 20 to 30%, which makes sense since most of these cruises are marketed only in the U.S. and Canada, California makes up around 18% of the U.S. population, and people in coastal states typically cruise and travel abroad more than people in the interior, this is the first time it’s been half the ship. But sailing out of SF, it really was convenient; I’d guess 100 of the 350 might have been from the Bay Area, maybe more. Beyond that, there were 36 from Texas, 33 Florida, 21 Arizona, 21 Hawaii (one group of food & wine aficionados traveling together), 15 New Jersey, 14 Illinois, 13 Colorado, 10 Nevada, 8 Massachusetts, 7 each Michigan and New York, 6 each Indiana and Tennessee, and 55 from the 38 other states & DC. That breakdown is also unusual–more typically (and maybe not true of Alaska cruises), Florida, New York, and Texas would be 2nd-4th in that order.

The greatest elements:

Alaska first and foremost: The grandeur, the beauty, the wildlife, the people.

Tracy Arm (already noted) was new to us and spectacular. The Misty Fjords were new to us and somewhat less spectacular; maybe the weather was too good for proper enjoyment. Glacier Bay was definitely not new to us but always worthwhile.

Allen Marine tours–a tip for people who love aquatic wildlife and plan Alaska trips. Allen Marine builds its own waterjet catamarans in its Sitka shipyard and runs its own tours, always with a naturalist aboard, always (in our experience) comfortable, well-equipped (with binoculars and route maps, good marine heads and galleys with free beverages and snacks), designed for great viewing, and run to get the most out of the two to four hour tour. You won’t see Allen Marine listed in a shore-excursion book. Look for “Whale Watching & Wildlife Quest” or “Mendenhall Glacier & Wildlife Quest” in Juneau, “Ketchikan Explorer by Land & Sea” or “Misty Fjords & Wildlife Quest” in Ketchikan, “Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest” or a couple of others (with “wildlife quest” in the name, generally) in Sitka. (A bunch of Allen Marine boats are in use as passenger ferries in New York, and the Tlingit-owned ferry we took from Skagway to Haines was actually an Allen Marine boat…)

The food, to be sure–and the wine, including the new “C” vintages (prepared exclusively for Crystal). The “C” Chardonnay was a good moderately-priced California Chardonnay–but the C Reserve, a central coast wine, was superb and a bargain as a shipboard restaurant wine ($8.50/glass, $34/bottle).

Some of the production shows: One with the music of Irving Berlin, one Rodgers & Hammerstein, one “Rock Around the Clock.” A cast of eight remarkably talented singers and dancers augmented by two leads (in all, five men, five women); the male lead had enormous vocal range and depth, and they were all first-rate.

Enough for now. We’ll get pictures back in a couple of days; those might inspire more comments. (Great as the vacation was, work’s been hectic enough to drive much of it out of my mind–and may explain why “regular blogging,” whatever that might mean, won’t return for a while yet.)

In the meantime, by now you should know the bottom line: While it may be true that we’re loving Southeast Alaska to death, it’s also true that Southeast Alaska is the essential cruise for anyone who cares about spectacular scenery and wildlife. There’s really no other good way to see the area. Whether on a small expedition-type ship (which my brother’s doing next month, along with one of his daughters and granddaughters), the Empress of the North (a 235-passenger sternwheeler, the only ocean-going sternwheeler), a medium-size luxury ship (the Crystal Harmony or a Seven Seas competitor), or even–maybe–one of the megaships, it’s worth doing at least once.

I feel no obligation to comment on every issue related to Michael Gorman. The fact that we coauthored a book a decade ago is pretty much irrelevant to what’s happening in 2005. I was not part of his campaign committee this time around. I’m not part of his inner circle.

And I think it’s odd, maybe even ludicrous, to (a) call ALA a bunch of idiots because Gorman was elected president, (b) quit ALA because you disagree with one person who will be president next year, (c) impute the worst possible motives for every careless or badly-worded statement made. (I happen to like people who have taken each of those stances; different issue.)

At the same time, I’m not real thrilled about Gorman’s statements, either the latest or some of the earlier ones. I don’t think they reflect favorably on ALA. They certainly don’t represent my positions.

Too much is being written about this; that’s the nature of Net Media. I don’t intend to contribute a whole essay to that overcoverage.

For now, Sarah’s brief commentary strikes me as pretty much on the money. (Not to say that others aren’t, but I’m not going on a linkfest here.)

Why would someone automatically suppose that a comment about infrequent/erratic posting and moderating for 10-12 days means a vacation? It could mean a speaking trip, planned surgery, illness, family commitments, computer problems, any number of things.

More to the point, why would someone make such a weblog entry with no referent, no significance, no reason whatsoever? I’m not quite paranoid enough to believe that this particular blogger (I’m not about to provide a link, as the last thing I want is to provide this jerk with added readership) was pointing out that our house might be open to robbery during that period (which, fortunately, was not the case), but otherwise…well, why on earth would you blog that someone who you don’t know and who has never said so is going on an “extended vacation”?

Grumble.

As it happens…well, the series of cruise entries may be a tipoff. All of those entries were composed on or before May 30, postdated, but in a typical one-pass “zeroth draft” mode. We were on our final Crystal Harmony cruise to Alaska, a 12-night round trip out of San Francisco. Final only because the Crystal Harmony disappears in December, taken over by Crystal Cruises’ parent, NYK Shipping, for luxury Japanese cruising under a different name. It’s the third time we’ve done this cruise, the second time we’ve taken the first in the summer series, despite the possibility of inferior weather at the beginning of the season.

I’m not going to write about the whole trip for the moment (too tired–and after today at work, really too tired). I will note that poor weather turned out to be a problem only in one minor sense: When the skies are as clear and sunny as they were in every single port–blue skies in Ketchikan!–you see a lot less wildlife on the wildlife-watching excursions we took. Eagles and others tend to stay in the shade, coming out more on overcast days. So we only saw maybe two or three dozen eagles, maybe 15-20 humpbacks, maybe 20-30 orcas (”killer whales”), possibly two dozen sea otters, a dozen or so sea lions, and three mooses. The mooses were new to us. Otherwise, it’s fair to say that, spectacular as bald eagles always are in flight (and even as “golf balls in trees,” the standard spotting suggestion), this year was nothing compared to the hundreds we encountered two years ago.

Short version: Wonderful cruise. Rain only in Glacier Bay. Tracy Arm, new to us, was spectacular–and our captain, unlike another “big ship” captain, wasn’t about to let some floating ice (lots of floating ice) keep the ship out of the 22-mile fjord. Glorious weather in Skagway (and Haines, where we spent most of that day), Sitka, Juneau–and, to repeat, blue skies in Ketchikan. People who know Alaska will know how odd that is. (The Misty Fjords weren’t misty when we were there…)

Intermittent posting as I catch up with everything–and, of course, there’s ALA in another 11 days. Where I’ll be sans technology as usual.

I’ll try to keep this one short–after all, these ships are small. The three originals (the Wind Song, Wind Star, and Wind Spirit) hold 148 passengers in 74 cabins–73 of them identical (plus one “owner’s suite). The Wind Song was put out of commission by a fire.

WindStar picked up the Club Med II (a much larger, coarser version of the WindStar idea built after WindStar’s ships), renamed it the Wind Surf, and converted one deck’s worth of 188sqft. cabins into 376sq.ft. suites by removing interior walls. (As a result, they’re the only small suites I’ve ever heard of with two full bathrooms!) That ship still carries 308 passengers, more than twice as many as the “real” WindStar ships; it has more public spaces, but it’s not as classic.

How classic? WindStar ships are “wind cruisers.” They have regular engines–but they also have masts. When the wind reaches 10 knots, the captain pushes a button and little motors unfurl glorious sails from the (turning) masts. The ships run faster under sail than under engines, and when conditions are right the only running engine is the one required for electricity and the like, resulting in glorious quiet. There’s no sailing crew, but these are sailing ships.

We haven’t been on the Wind Surf, so can’t comment. The others are first-rate at what they do. The cabins are extremely well designed and comfortable, but there are no verandahs (and you get big portholes, not windows). There aren’t a lot of public spaces, there’s no neon or glitz, and they don’t schedule boatloads of Events to keep you busy.

What they do is sail into interesting ports with a small group of interesting people, serve restaurant-quality food in a restaurant-like setting (open seating, and although there’s a limited menu all food is cooked to order), offer some low-key local entertainment when appropriate in the single lounge/meeting space/bar, and maintain a great casual gathering spot on the open top deck, with a modest pool, a pool bar, and interesting snacks or special cooking demonstrations some afternoons. There’s actually a second restaurant where breakfast and (usually) lunch is served, a combination of buffet and menu items. WindStar gets local fish and produce whenever that’s possible, and if you go out fishing they’re only too happy to cook the results.

Oh, your room has a TV and either DVD player or VCR; the reception desk checks out movies. There’s a tiny so-called casino (two tables and four or five slot machines). There’s music and dancing at times. And, whenever the ship’s anchored in calm waters, there’s a water-sports platform opening directly from the stern, with all water sports except scuba free (snorkeling–they have equipment; ocean kayaks; windsurf boards; and more).

Not a cruise line for those who need to be Entertained. Not a cruise line for those who love formal dress: The dress code at dinner is always “resort casual,” which means nice shirts or equivalent but certainly not ties or formalwear. Also not for those who get seasick easily: small ships running under sail are going to sway a lot more than big cruiseliners with stabilizers. (On one cruise, there were evenings when we joked that anyone walking upright through the dining room had had way too much to drink!

Great destinations; well-planned shore excursions; interesting people; and you set your own pace. We love it. Others might not. It’s not cheap, and, yes, it is technically part of Holland America, which in turn means it’s owned by Carnival. Although we weren’t crazy about Holland America and are unlikely to cruise on Carnival, WindStar suits us fine.

Why is Crystal Cruises our favorite cruise line–and why are we willing to pay the high prices? (For the price of a modest cabin on Crystal, you can probably get a suite on Carnival or NCL or Royal Caribbean.)

One reason is that Crystal, like several other luxury cruise lines, is destination-oriented. They don’t go back and forth, back and forth on endless 7-night Caribbean cruises. Indeed, other than their 12-night Alaska round-trips from San Francisco (which end this year after a wonderful decade) and some European 12-night cruise series, they don’t have particularly repetitive cruises. For that matter, even with Alaska, each cruise is a little different–enough so that the cruise atlas includes a map for each cruise.

We’re generally destination-oriented cruisers. We’re not shoppers; the most popular Caribbean destinations don’t interest us much (we’ve seen some of them, and there are some we’d like to visit eventually, but…); while we enjoy cruising, we’re mostly “cruising to see the world.” That’s where lines like Crystal, Radisson Seven Seas, WindStar, and some others that we haven’t yet tried come in.

For example, this year, Crystal’s trio of ships (which becomes a duo at the end of the year, sadly) has visited or will visit 168 ports in 79 countries. Every year, Crystal visits new destinations–for example, this year the line makes its maiden calls at Porto Venere (Italy), Seno Eyre Fjord (Chile), Alesund (Norway), Belfast, Oban (Scotland), Monemvasia and Samos (both Greece), Nesebur (Bulgaria), Progreso, Loreto, Santa Rosalita, and La Paz (all Mexico), Turks & Caicos, and Roatan Island. That’s in one year, for three ships.

Crystal also finds or designs first-rate and varied shore excursions, and makes sure the guides and equipment are the best available. Typically, they won’t fill a tour bus more than 2/3 full, and we’ve been on an Alaska wildlife-watching catamaran designed for 150 people with 35 Crystal passengers: Crystal chartered the catamaran, and certainly wasn’t going to cancel the excursion for low turnout.

They also do everything right on board. The cabins are well-designed (although the Crystal Harmony’s bathrooms are small), with loads of nice touches. The public spaces are varied and superb: Even with a full load of 940 passengers, we frequently feel like we’re the only ones on board because there are so many different places people congregate. The ships have true promenade decks: 12′ wide teak decking all the way around the ship (unusual for recently-built ships), and with no deck chairs to block walkers. (There are plenty of deck chairs, but up on the Lido deck where the pools are, and back in various aft open spaces on several decks.)

The food–ah, the food. Crystal is regularly rated as having the best food (and the best service) in the cruise industry, even beating out much more expensive lines. They produce varied menus, they invite you to mix-and-match vegetables, starches, and entrees in your main plate (some lines can’t handle those changes), and they let you know that they’ll prepare almost anything you want (within reason) on 24-hours notice. They also have specialty restaurants considered first-rate, a pool grill that serves great burgers (regular, turkey, veggie) and the like all afternoon, free ship-made ice cream, yogurt, and cookies all afternoon (also by one of the pools), a Lido buffet restaurant for breakfast and lunch (and casual poolside dining some evenings), and an extensive room service menu…

About the service: Crystal’s people aren’t obsequious, in your face, or anything like that. They just do a great job. It’s clear that Crystal treats its crews well (the dedicated crew pool and lounging area has the best views on the ship; crews are two to a cabin; the line goes out of its way to encourage married and other couples…) and it shows: You feel as though you’re part of a very large and happy family. The crew:passenger ratio is also very high, as you’d expect on a luxury line: about 1.6:1 (passengers to crew) if the ship’s full.

Crystal pretty consistently rates highest of large-ship cruise lines, but “large ship” is tricky. Yes, these are big ships–but they’re extremely spacious. The smallest ship, the soon-to-depart Crystal Harmony, is 49,000 GRT (gross register tons, a measure of space, not weight: a GRT is “100 cubic feet of enclosed revenue-earning space” according to the Unofficial Guide to Cruises, holding a maximum of 940 passengers. By comparison, Royal Caribbean’s Nordic Empress is almost the same size (48,563 GRT)–but it holds 1602 passengers. (The newest and largest Crystal ship, the Crystal Serenity, holds 1,080 passengers–but it’s also 68,000 GRT, so there’s a lot more space per passenger than on the Crystal Harmony or Crystal Symphony.)

We don’t ever feel crowded or herded on Crystal. We also don’t ever feel that they’re trying to nickel-and-dime us or shill for more money. Crystal treats passengers as adults: Other than one captain’s announcement at 9 a.m. each morning, there are no loudspeaker announcements under normal circumstances. There’s an extensive ship’s newspaper with a full schedule, there are lots of clocks on board, and they assume that adults can be where they need to be when they need to be there. (Similarly, for shore excursions, where one slightly-larger and much-cheaper line we tried had what we believe to be a standard ritual: Go one place, get little colored tags put on your shirts, go wait somewhere else, then line up again to go to your excursions–Crystal, whenever they’re docking, says “Meet your group on the pier by this time,” and that’s it.

As for nickel-and-diming, three years ago Crystal dropped all charges for nonalcoholic beverages; when you’re going ashore, there are usually big trays of bottled water so you’ll remember to take one or more with you–at no charge. The Bistro, a wonderful on-board space with a wine bar, teas and specialty coffees (with or without liquor), and light food most of the day, doesn’t charge for specialty coffees unless you add booze. Yes, you do pay for booze–but Crystal’s wine list is first-rate (and they now have their own vintages, “C” wines, produced for them by an experienced California winery) and fairly priced.

Let’s see: What else to mention. Yes, they have evening shows–magnificent ones. They have first-rate lecturers. The libraries are large and well-stocked. There are lots of things to do, and no pressure to do any of them. Each ship has a Caesar’s Palace at Sea–the casino staff all come from the Caesar’s/Harrah’s group of casinos. (But the free drinks come from the hotel staff, so if you ask for a glass of Chardonnay, you’ll get restaurant-quality Chardonnay, not warm white “chablis”) The rooms all have sitting areas, and most have verandas.

They treat repeat passengers well. In addition to the special Crystal Society gathering on each cruise, you get a special repeat-passenger discount on most cruises, shipboard credits that grow as you cruise more, and on each five-cruise milestone some special discount (e.g., our next milestone will be a guaranteed two-category upgrade). And they have loyal passengers–because they do a great job.

Not well-suited for boozehounds and partiers; Crystal draws a somewhat older and generally well-educated crowd, and tends to be reasonably sedate at night. They do have children’s areas and put counselors on board whenever there are a given number of kids, but they’re certainly not Disney Cruises. They have extensive computer labs (and free training).

Mostly, they treat you well; they feed you very well (quality, not quantity, although you certainly will never go hungry!); they go interesting places and offer lots of interesting things to see; they educate you on board if that’s what you want (and leave you alone if that’s what you want); and they seem to have every detail down pat.

Downsides (for some people): Crystal is expensive (but one of the two most reasonably-priced luxury lines). They do have traditional two-seating/assigned-table dinners (and we’ve always enjoyed our dinner companions). They do expect you to dress formally on formal evenings.

Oh, and if you hate all big business, they’re owned by NYK, Japan’s largest (and maybe the world’s largest) freight shipping company. But if you hate big business, there are very few cruise lines you can try–particularly when 12 lines are owned by Carnival.

We’ve gone through the Panama Canal on Crystal. We’ve seen New Zealand and Australia; Venice and surrounding areas; the coast of Scotland and the fjords of Norway; and Alaska, more than once. We hope to see even more of the world on Crystal (as always, “as time, money and health permit”).

Let’s talk about riverboat cruising–more specifically, Delta Queen Steamboat Company, cruising on America’s heartland rivers. (There are quite a few other river cruises–as many as four boats and ships cruise the Columbia River, and dozens of ships and barges cruise European waterways, not to mention the Yangtze. But we’ve never taken any of those, so…)

Delta Queen operates three riverboats. They’re boats, not ships: They’re not built for the open ocean. Very shallow draft (no more than 9 feet, because that’s as deep as the Army Corps of Engineers keeps the upper Mississippi). Dimensions small enough to fit into river locks and under bridges. The largest, the American Queen, is 418 feet long, 89.4 feet wide, and rises 97 feet above the riverline–but the stacks and pilothouse can be lowered to clear bridges. (If I remember properly, the stacks pivot–just like the old riverboats.)

These are authentic steam-driven sternwheelers. When the American Queen was built (we were on one of the inaugural voyages, in mid-1995, and have the working replica boat’s bell to prove it–and, for that matter, our names are engraved on or in the boat’s bell, probably in teeny-tiny type), the most daunting task for the builders was finding a steam engine the right size to drive the boat. After all, nobody builds those any more. (With the help of the Army Corps, they located a sunken dredge and salvaged the engine–actually two of them, from the Kennedy.) And that big red paddlewheel is not only for show. On the Delta Queen, it’s the only propulsion, and on the Mississippi Queen and American Queen, it’s the primary propulsion system. The sternwheelers were never the fastest steamboats, just the most graceful; the Queens typically run at about six to eight mph (not knots, since they’re on rivers).

The Delta Queen itself (herself?) is truly authentic, which is both good and bad. DQ was built in 1926 and originally ran in the Sacramento delta, between Sacramento and San Francisco, along with sister ship Delta King. (My mother-in-law used the Delta Queen as transportation, back in the day…) After WWII, the Delta King became what it is now–a floating hotel and restaurant in Old Sacramento. The Delta Queen was towed all the way to Louisiana, refurbished, and started a new career as a river cruise boat. (Not without hassles: The superstructure is wood, which means it can’t fully meet Safety of Life at Sea, SOLAS, regulations. It required an act of Congress to keep it running, and you sign a waiver before you board this National Historic Landmark.) It’s also small–87 cabins on four decks (no elevators), with cabins ranging from 44 to 68 square feet, except for a few high-end 136-156 sq. ft. cabins. (No typos: A typical midrange DQ cabin is just big enough for two very narrow beds, a milk carton-size table, a three-drawer dresser, the 16″ hanging rod that substitutes for a closet unless you book the highest suite category, one chair and a sink; that 44sqft. doesn’t include the bathroom.) You really don’t spend any more time in your cabin than you need to–but all the decks are promenade decks, with rocking chairs all around. You meet everyone on board the first day, and it’s just small-town Americana from then on.

Yes, the cabins are tiny; no, we don’t recommend the DQ unless you understand that and can live with it. Public spaces include an open entry area/lounge/library, the Texas Lounge for piano bar, singalongs, drinks, and watching the sun set, and the Orleans Dining Room–which serves as the restaurant and showroom (after the second seating, they rearrange tables). Two seatings for dinner, not because there aren’t enough tables but because the galley’s so tiny that it can’t prepare that many meals at once.

As with all three Queens, it’s a little hokey, a lot traditional heartland Americana, and a great way to explore the Mississippi, Atchafalaya, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, and Arkansas rivers. Each Queen has a “Riverlorian” to keep you in touch with the rivers and what they’re all about. Interesting stops. Good food, with a range of choices (more on the larger Queens) including a fair amount of “river food.” Moderately dressy for dinner. Most people on the DQ, in our experience, are in their 70s and 80s and just love the boat.

Differences with the other two:

• The Mississippi Queen, built in 1976, holds 416 passengers in considerably more comfort, with cabins ranging from 123 square feet up, including a fair number with private verandas. In addition to the dining room, there’s the two-level Paddlewheel Lounge (which overlooks…well, you guessed it) and Grand Saloon (showroom); there’s also an open-air Calliope Bar. (Did I mention that each Queen has an authentic steam-driven calliope? When they go through locks and under bridges, you frequently get calliope concerts.) There are elevators. There’s even a little bathing pool.
• The American Queen, built in 1995, holds 436 passengers. Typical cabins range from 141 to 190 square feet; some have verandas. The J.M. White Dining Room is a recreation of one of the most splendid steamboat dining saloons; the Grand Saloon is a true showroom, with two levels and all the facilities; and there are a couple of good bars–plus the Front Porch of America, an inauthentic but wonderful view lounge with fresh-baked cookies showing up all day. Elevators, to be sure.

Our reminiscences are from the old DQSC, part of the same holding company that ran American Hawaii–and got too ambitious with a building program. The three boats are now operated under the same company name by new ownership; my understanding is that everything’s pretty much the same.

Our favorite cruise was St. Louis to St. Paul (or vice-versa), seven days on the always-changing Upper Mississippi. But we also loved a civil war cruise, mostly on the Tennessee and Ohio, with a team of historians along.

Downsides: These cruises are expensive–inherently so, since they’re small boats and American registry (which means the crew has to be paid living wages). Most passengers are, shall we say, older than we are. It is indeed a little hokey at times. And, on the DQ, those cabins are small.

Upsides: You get into the American heartland. River cruising is incredibly relaxing. We learned a lot about the rivers and the land around them (and the people, of course). And if you get seasick on a river cruise, it’s really all in your mind.

Some personal notes on some “cruise topics”–some of the things you may have heard about cruising. Notes are based on our experiences, which include cruises on American Hawaii (defunct), Regency (defunct), Renaissance (defunct), Crown (defunct), and–lest you get too much of a pattern here–Crystal (our favorite line), Radisson Seven Seas, Windstar (these two probably tie for almost-favorites), Delta Queen Steamboat Company, and Holland America. In one or two cases I may include what I’ve read if it’s consistent. I’ll use an FAQ format, because that’s always fun.

What’s with the tuxedo evenings?

Traditionally, most 7-day and longer cruises include two formal evenings, which used to mean tux or dinner jacket for men, evening gown or similar for women. The first one’s almost always the day after you board, when there’s usually a Captain’s Party to welcome you aboard. The second one’s typically either the next-to-last night (never the last night, because people start packing early) or the last day at sea if it’s not the last night. On better lines, that formal night might feature the Captain’s Farewell Party. (On both occasions, if the ship’s not too big, you get portraits taken with the captain–but you’re never obliged to buy them.) Longer cruises may have more: Crystal cruises typically feature three formal nights (and usually run 10 to 14 days or longer). (”Secret”: The middle formal night on Crystal is the Crystal Society party, for repeat cruisers, which may be 50% to 80% of the ship.)

If this all sounds awful to you, don’t worry too much. Most mainstream lines don’t seem to care much about dress codes any more (although you’re expected not to wear t-shirts or shorts, or to go barefoot, in the dining room at dinner). Of the lines we’ve sailed, I always found that a sport coat was good enough on Regency and American Hawaii and Delta Queen (you see very few tuxes on Delta Queen!). Windstar never has formal nights (”resort casual” is the constant dress “code,” which for me means tropical shirts), and ships cruising in the South Seas (where we took Renaissance) almost never have formal nights.

When we took our first Crystal cruise, we knew from reputation that they meant formal. I’d never worn a tux. Turns out that a properly-fitting tux is fun to wear, particularly if (like me) you don’t normally wear a coat & tie at work: It’s a harmless form of dress-up, and most of the people look great on formal nights. I’d guess that 90% of Crystal passengers really do dress up on formal nights, and probably 80% of Radisson Seven Seas (RSS) passengers; Holland America was much more hit-and-miss.

By the way, there are two other typical dress codes: “Informal” and “Casual.” “Informal” used to mean coat & tie for men, dress or pantsuit for women; on Crystal and RSS, at least, the coat remains but the tie’s optional. “Casual”–always the first night, always the last night, and a fair number of other nights–is decently dressed but not dress-up. Of course, some men will wear a coat & tie every night, and some women will dress to the teeth every night. But not many.

What about dining all the time with people you don’t know, and at the same time every evening?

On our first two or three cruises, we tended to ask for two-person tables at dinner, and usually got them. We frequently shared tables at lunch, and finally concluded that we were missing a bet by not sharing a dinner table. We now ask for a six-up (always at the early seating–we don’t like to eat late) on those ships with traditional two-seating/assigned-table operations. (Crystal falls into this category; so does Delta Queen, I think, and so did Regency. So does Holland America.) We’ve had interesting and frequently delightful dinner companions on every Crystal cruise and on most Delta Queen cruises. We’ve had mixed luck on the two Holland America cruises: On one cruise, we considered asking for a table change (but didn’t), and on the second we did ask for (and get) a new table because we couldn’t see dining with one of the people for 10 nights. Generally, though, we’ve enjoyed getting to know people over the course of a cruise. The six-person table allows for more diverse interaction, while eight-person tables are hard to talk across.

We like the two-seating/assigned-table format on a line like Crystal, where the nature of the line and its pricing seems to offer a high probability that dinner companions will be reasonably well educated and not complete idiots. (Not a certainty, but a high probability.) But here too, times are changing. Most mainline cruise lines offer some variation on open seating in at least some dining rooms; some have loads of restaurant choices (some of them at extra fees). [Crystal ships have at least two first-rate alternative restaurants, by reservation, in addition to the usual Lido/buffet breakfast/lunch alternative that almost all but the very smallest cruise ships offer.] Some lines such as Windstar and Radisson Seven Seas, maintain open seating in the primary restaurant and may offer reservations in alternative restaurants (although two of Windstar’s ships don’t have alternatives, just as Delta Queen’s boats generally don’t). On those ships, we generally walk in and ask for a “shared table,” and we’ve generally found that good too (of course, if you make fast friends on board, you can get together and go in as a group).

Breakfast and lunch are rarely assigned seating. It’s rare to share a table at breakfast; lunch is almost always your choice (and we usually do if we’re not in a hurry). Lots of people seem to prefer the buffet restaurant for breakfast and lunch; we tend to prefer the dining room unless we’re in a hurry. In a buffet restaurant, you’re unlikely to share a table unless the tables all fill up or unless you spot someone you know and suggest it.

And, if you get sick of people, there’s always room service (on most ships)–and on the better ships, you can order anything from the dining room menu as room service during dinner, sometimes served course-by-course. Some folks always have breakfast on their verandas. (Not us…)

Again, it’s a case of your preferences. Two of our three favorite lines don’t have traditional seating and times; our very favorite one does. It doesn’t hurt that all three serve restaurant-quality food and attract interesting people.

What about those grotesque midnight buffets and all the absurd overeating?

More than anything else, this cliche about cruising depends on the line. Crystal, Radisson Seven Seas, and Windstar don’t do midnight buffets at all, although the first two might pass snacks around in the various bars and lounges as the midnight hour nears. (Crystal has finessed the traditional “Grand Buffet” with its food art by doing it as a lunch–and in their case the food is not only gloriously worth appreciating for the carving and other artistry, it’s also worth eating.) Holland America does evening buffets, but I don’t think they’re actually at midnight, and much as I like chocolate, I found the whole idea of the “Chocoholic Buffet” a little much. Regency did have midnight buffets, but we never went, so I have no comment. (I think the same was true of Crown and American Hawaii, but not Renaissance.)

As for absurd overeating–well, if you’re a pig, any cruise line I know of will keep bringing you food as long as you ask for it, and the buffets are of course eat-all-you-want. But nobody forces you to take double or triple portions, and good cruise lines are learning to make the portions more reasonable. (We still have trouble getting modest servings of entrees, but less trouble than we used to have.) You will get varied food on good cruise lines, with Crystal at the top of the heap. (On one Crystal cruise, when the maitre d’ seated us the first night, he announced to the table that they were very proud of their menus, but considered the menu to be a starting point: If there was anything else you wanted that they could prepare, they’d try to do it on one day’s notice. He wasn’t kidding; the headwaiters love preparing tableside specialties and flaming desserts, and they really will try to accommodate you. Most other cruise lines are nowhere near as accommodating; we were stunned when Holland America’s waiters were unwilling or unable to make starch or vegetable substitutions from within that night’s menu: The combination on the menu was the only one you could get. Windstar and Seven Seas are highly accommodating, if not quite so much as Crystal.)

Pigs will be pigs. The better cruise lines don’t go out of their way to encourage it. Yes, there are at least four or five “dining opportunities” per day and, usually, 24-hour room service (free, and frequently with fairly extensive menus). But it’s not difficult to eat as much as you want and no more.

One higlight for us, on both Radisson Seven Seas and Crystal: Afternoon teas, with lots of tea choices and the appetizers you’d expect–on Crystal, sometimes served fairly elaborately, including the Mozart Tea with waiters in costumes.

What about free wine on some cruises?

Radisson Seven Seas pours wine free with dinners (and, on the Paul Gauguin in French Polynesia, lunch as well). So does Seabourn and Silversea–and I think at least one of those lines has an “open bar” policy where all alcohol is free. Windstar’s experimenting with “inclusive” cruises that include wine and beer with dinner. (RSS also stocks your fridge with complimentary beer, soda and two bottles of your preferred booze, which for us means wine.)

The good news is that the wine isn’t rotgut; it’s been quite good on Radisson Seven Seas, at least when we learned that you can ask for any alternative from that cruise’s list.

The bad news is that the wine is poured freely–and without your asking. When people don’t pay attention, they wind up drinking a lot more wine than they’d planned. Nobody gets stupid drunk, but I think that’s one reason Radisson Seven Seas cruises have very little high-energy night life: Too many people are about half gone. We’ve learned to keep an eye on the glass…and, in some ways, we’d just as soon order wine explicitly and pay for it.

That’s enough for now. Shore excursions? We use them, but adventurous folks may save money by rolling their own. Tipping? Varies by line, included some times, mostly done as part of your incidentals bill these days, no big deal (but it’s a lot of money–and has to be, because that’s how most staff make most of their living other than on American-registry ships).

Before going into specifics on some of the ships (and boats–there is a difference) we’ve been on, and the cruises we’ve loved, and specific notes and cautions, some general bullet points on the benefits and drawbacks of cruising. (Imagine the point sliding one by one onto PowerPoint slides with fireworks and dramatic music, if it makes you happy. Those of you who’ve ever seen me speak know just how likely that scenario is…)

Cruising advantages:

• Check in once, unpack once, visit many different places, then pack once and check out once.
• Leave the driving to them–but you’re not stuck in your seat on a bus or plane.
• You know where you’ll be staying in each new destination.
• You know where you’ll be dining, at least when you don’t have other plans.
• You travel while you’re sleeping (at least in part), with no jet lag or travel fatigue in most cases.
• With rare exceptions, you have ready access to entertainment (live shows, TV, movies), a library, room service, exercise equipment, one or more pools, and places to walk with great views.
• You know most of your costs up front (but not all).
• You’ll probably get lots of advice about the places you’re going, and can generally sign up for guided tours and excursions, but you can also strike out on your own.

Cruising disadvantages, at least for some people:

• That up-front cost may shock you.
• If you want to stay a day longer at a location, you’re out of luck.
• If you don’t like your room, you may be out of luck (or maybe not).
• If you don’t like the food, you’re probably out of luck (except when you’re in port and willing to spend more).
• If you don’t like the gestalt of the ship or the people, you’re out of luck.
• If you’re prone to seasickness, some cruises may not be for you.

What does that cruise fare cover?

• Always: Your room; all meals in the main (and usually Lido/buffet) restaurants including at least some nonalcoholic beverages during meals, plus various snacks and the like; the ship or boat as transportation; access to all public areas; use of regular exercise equipment, pools, the library; most (usually all) onboard shows and other entertainment.
• Usually: Coffee and tea at all hours; 24-hour room service.
• Frequently: All nonalcoholic beverages (on a growing number of ships including almost all luxury-class ships); most or all alternative restaurants (with possible small suggested tips); some limited number of shore events (picnics, special excursions).
• Sometimes/rarely: Gratuities (mostly on a few luxury lines); wine and beer at dinner, sometimes also at lunch (ditto); standard shore excursions (on some riverboats and specialized small cruise ships); all alcoholic beverages (two small-ship luxury lines); air transportation (usually as part of special promotional fares).
• Never or almost never: Spa services; casino gambling (when there is a casino); dry cleaning and laundry (except in some suite categories on some ships); medical services (except, typically free aspirin and Bonamine or other seasickness pills).

Beyond that, and the fact that you’re typically sleeping and traveling above water, there’s so much variety among cruise lines that it’s difficult to make any sweeping statements. I will suggest that the cheapest cruises are also the least interesting after you’ve done one or two, unless you really love the Caribbean and get along great with two or three thousand other people in a floating village.

Some cruise lines and cruises are great for families with children. Some are terrible. Unfortunately, no cruise line bans smoking entirely–one tried and gave up (and went bankrupt for other reasons), one ship on another line did it for a while but then gave up. These days, you’ll almost never find smoking allowed in any dining area or in the main show lounge (assuming there is one); otherwise, you’re likely to encounter it.

We’ve found cruising a great way to see th world and to learn more about America’s heartland. We’ve also found that the mainline ships probably don’t agree with us, based on limited experiments. That’s our problem; you may find that you get along with them just fine.

In future episodes, I’ll get down to the ships (and boats) and cruises we’ve known and loved; most of them are still around.

By the way, if you’re thinking about cruising, a good book wouldn’t hurt. There are several, some of which you may find at (ta-da) Your Local Library. Currently, the one we buy is The Unofficial Guide to Cruises (John Wiley & Sons).