Cruises

On a recent South Pacific cruise aboard the Star Flyer, a sailing ship somewhat bigger than a 19th century whaler and a lot comfier, I brought along Herman Melville's "Omoo." Melville had launched his writing career while racketing around the Marquesas and the Society Islands in his early 20s. In that languorous climate, he might well have gone the other way -- to seed, like the classic South Pacific remittance man -- but there was no avoiding his gift.

A Florida-based cruise line's efforts to protect its lucrative Hawaii business through a federal rule change is generating a wave of concern among port and business representatives, who say it would harm jobs and tourist revenue. Critics say that the change proposed in November by the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency would affect any foreign-flagged cruise line traveling between U.S. ports.

Seeking to improve public safety on the high seas, a state senator introduced a bill Friday that would require cruise ships sailing from California ports to have a peace officer on board. If the measure passes, California would have the most stringent state regulations on the $35.7-billion industry, which has come under congressional and public scrutiny after several high-profile cases of missing people, passengers overboard and sexual assault in recent years.

A bill that would require peace officers aboard cruise ships sailing from California ports cleared its first hurdle Tuesday as the state Senate's public safety committee voted to move it forward in the legislative process. Such ships generally have private security guards, but a spate of alleged crimes on the high seas has prompted victims and their families to push for greater oversight.

As Vietnam modernizes, vestiges of the French colonial era are fading fast, except for the return of the Emeraude to Halong Bay. Since 2003, the beautiful, wood-lined paddle steamer has been taking guests for one-night cruises in a wonder-world of towering limestone islands, inlets and fiords off Vietnam. The Emeraude is a replica of a cargo and passenger ship built around 1905 by Paul Roque, whose Bordeaux family made a fortune in French Indochina in 1858.

Record fuel prices and a struggling economy aren't the only problems facing the $35.7-billion cruise industry these days. Victims of crime on cruise ships are loudly and persistently calling for increased government oversight -- and they're starting to get help from lawmakers.

A state Assembly committee Tuesday killed a bill strongly opposed by cruise companies that would have placed peace officers for the first time on passenger ships sailing from California ports. The committee voted 2-2 with three abstentions, effectively ending efforts by state Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to increase regulation of the $35.7-billion industry.

Cruise ships would be required to install peepholes in cabin doors, increase guardrail heights and maintain crime report logbooks under sweeping legislation introduced Thursday by Sen. John F. Kerry. The Senate bill, designed to hold the $35.7-billion industry more accountable, mirrors legislation introduced in the House by Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) and comes days after Kerry (D-Mass.) led a Senate subcommittee hearing examining cruise ship safety.

Passengers aboard a cruise ship were left high and dry Monday for about nine hours after the vessel went aground near Glacier Bay National Park in southeastern Alaska. A Coast Guard boat towed the 207-foot Spirit of Glacier Bay on a rising tide to the middle of the bay late Monday afternoon, said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Eric Eggen. The cruise ship, with 24 passengers and 27 crew members, ran aground at 7:12 a.m., said Jerrol Golden, spokeswoman for Cruise West Enterprises, which owns the ship.

With the economy in distress, there may be no cheaper time to travel than this winter as a sharp drop in demand forces airlines, hotels and cruise companies to slash fares, cut rates and lower fees. In what may be a silver lining during a season of economic angst, travelers are finding some of the best deals in recent memory, from half-priced resorts to rock-bottom airfares. "These are glorious times for travelers who have a job and the money," said Chris McGinnis, a travel consultant.