The bags are packed, the taxi is booked and the holiday of a lifetime is waiting; what could possibly go wrong? For five couples the Caribbean cruise they have been waiting for is about to change their lives in ways they never expected, revealing truths about themselves that no amount of lei necklaces can cover up. Excitement and expectations are high as everyone joins the ship. The surroundings are mesmerising, the service is impeccable, but for Sasha, Megan and Sally there are more impor...

"A delightful and informative look at nudism throughout history and around the world." — The Seattle TimesPeople have been getting naked in public for reasons other than sex for centuries. But as Mark Haskell Smith reveals, being a nudist is more complicated than simply dropping trou. "Nonsexual social nudism," as it's called, rose to prominence in the late nineteenth century. Intellectuals, outcasts, and health nuts from Victorian England and colonial Ind...

A cruise was once the trip of a lifetime: a byword for refinement, luxury, romance, the millionaire lifestyle but no longer.Boats are bigger and brasher, and every year more and more people of all ages and walks of life are clambering aboard to join the party. But are they safe? Out at sea, there are no police. Many cruise ships fly flags of convenience, sailing in murky legal waters.Reports of disappearances, disease, death and debauchery are becoming alarmingly frequent. ...

Take an elegant, stately cruise ship ... Add 800 cantankerous pensioners ... Send them off to the Amazon for six weeks ... Ask the passengers to keep diaries ... Then publish those diaries! And what do you get? Murder on the Marco Polo - Well, Not Quite. On 10 January 2011 the cruise ship Marco Polo sailed from Tilbury for six weeks to the Amazon and the Orinoco. The ship was old, the passengers even older, but together they creaked and groaned their way across the Atlantic. Clive Leatherd...

The Disney Dream was Disney Cruise Line's first new ship in 13 years. The Disney Magic and Disney Wonder were launched in 1998 and 1999, so much has changed since the time of their construction. The Disney Dream, launched in 2011, and its sister ship, the Disney Fantasy, which set sail the following year, make full use of technology to create fun and interactive experiences.On the Disney Dream, you can interact with paintings, have a conversation with Crush the turtle, ride the Aqu...

Six months in a remote coral atoll sounds peaceful. And it was most of the time.Except for a fire on board, a visit from a North Sea rescue ship, a Hermit Crab Race Meeting, a dinghy sailing and rowing Regatta, a yacht wreck and other exciting moments.Then a two thousand mile voyage to Langkawi Island off the Malaysian north west coast was followed by seven months preparation for an expedition to Borneo.Between March and November 2004 Senta explored the Malacca Straits...

The Survivors of the Chancellor: Diary of J. R. Kazallon, Passenger is an 1875 novel written by Jules Verne about the final voyage of a British sailing ship, the Chancellor, told from the perspective of one of its passengers (in the form of a diary).

While planning her first cruise, Michaela Hall spent countless hours hunched over a laptop. "There has to be an easier way to get this information," she thought while scribbling tips from hundreds of web pages.Mixed within reviews and recommendations were trolls attempting to discourage new cruisers. "What is up with these people?" As an avid traveler, she couldn't understand how such animosity could come from traveling.Following that first cruise, Hall started this guide t...

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

The stories I have collected here are those I experienced in Buena Venture - reputed to be the most violent city in the country. The "red light district" in this place was called "shankel hill" and that is where we sailors spent most of our time. That we survived was because of the girls - we spent most or our time getting drunk and getting laid.

For some unfathomable reason, at the age of 49 Jean Tyrrell decided to take up sailing. After having completed a basic competent crew course, she surprised herself and everyone else by becoming obsessed with the idea of sailing round Great Britain. To do this successfully, she needed crew. The ideal team member would be Bob her husband, so she set herself the task of recruiting him to accompany her. She also needed to accumulate more sailing certificates and get lots of sailing practice. S...

An 18-day ocean cruise through the Panama Canal was filled with excitement and adventure for Pauline and husband. In Acapulco, Mexico, they watched divers jump off the La Quebrada Cliff, a 125 ft. overhang, into the Pacific Ocean. In Nicaragua they walked around an active volcano. A whitewater rafting expedition on the Corobici River in Costa Rica was a new and exciting adventure. Arriving in Panama City they boarded a round trip train ride on a picturesque path through the Panama Canal. N...