The Contemporary Cruise by Iwein Maassen is a perfect coffee table book that not only captivates you with it’s stunning photographs but also provides you with plenty of information about the various forms of cruise travel, past and present.

The first few pages provide a detailed overview of the history of cruising, starting back in the days when P& O was known as the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company and only the well-to-do could even consider ocean journeys as a leisure activity. The poor, on the other hand, saw ocean journeys in a much more practical light – as a means of immigrating to a new country.

The author continues to hook you into the fascinating world of cruise travel with an intimate look inside legendary ships such as the Sea Cloud and the Queen Elizabeth 2 before tackling alternative ships such as the Norwegian Hurtigruten and tall ships such as the Star Clipper.

No type of cruise travel is missed. Thereís a chapter on nature and expedition cruises around the Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands, and South Pantagonia. Another chapter looks at river cruises along the Nile, the Rhine, and the Yangtze. Plus thereís a chapter on interesting ports of call – Barcelona, Miami, and St Petersburg – and one on the  worldís most fascinating sea routes.

But it’s not all stunning photos and fascinating narrative. The final chapter provides plenty of practical information of use to anyone dreaming about or planning their own cruise travel.

This is definitely one of those coffee table books guaranteed to start you dreaming about cruise travel.

Stories about giant, freaky, rogue waves 100 feet and higher have always been around. But scientists, believing that the basic physics of ocean waves indicated it was virtually impossible for these waves to exist, considered reported sighting to be nothing more than nautical tall tales spun by over enthusiastic mariners. 

A couple of decades ago that all changed when a group of scientists, caught onboard a British research ship during a vicious North Sea storm, recorded waves reaching 90 feet and higher. Suddenly, what had been considered nautical tall tales became  scientific fact. Rogue waves did exist and they happened a lot, something that has scientists struggling for answers and big wave surfers very happy.

Fascinated by this phenomenon, author Susan Casey spent five years researching and  seeking explanations from wave scientists, mariners, and surfers about these rogue waves. It’s a journey that took her around the world, from surfing hot spots such as Hawaii and Tahiti to the shipping insurers in London and salvage experts in South Africa.

The resultant book The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean is a fascinating and addictive account of the unknown rogue waves that attracts, in particular, two seriously diverse groups – extreme surfers who spend their lives waiting for the ultimate rouge wave and brainy wave scientists who struggle to create more effective climate models and forecasts.

While Casey appears more at home with the surfers, watching the waves and the action, she also spent time with wave scientists. Attending the 10th International Workshop and Wave Hindcasting and Forecasting and Coastal Hazard Symposium in, where else, the North Shore of Hawaii, Casey looked for answers to the big question:  Will global warming lead to stormier oceans and bigger waves?  The answer, given hesitantly as there is not enough data to confirm a long-term trend, was a resounding yes.

But what data there is leans towards a future of freakier waves, higher ocean levels, meaner hurricanes, and more dramatic geologic events – volcanoes and earthquakes – that could lead to devastating tsunamis. A grim outlook, given that 60 percent of the world’s population lives within 30 miles of a coastline.

The Hawaiians have a saying ‘Mai juli’oe I kokua o ke kai!’ – never turn your back on the ocean. And after reading Susan Casey’s The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean, you can be sure that I won’t be turning my back to the ocean any time soon.

During the four days that that the Titanic sailed the Atlantic Ocean in April 1912,  she was the largest passenger steamship in the world. From keel to funnel tip, she stood 175 feet tall.

After the iceberg collision, it happened that Halifax, Nova Scotia was the closest city with rail links to the rest of North America. The city became the center of the recovery effort.  Some 150 unclaimed bodies and various ship debris that came to Halifax remained  there — the bodies buried, the debris destined to become the most popular permanent exhibit in the city’s Maritime Museum  of the Atlantic.

The Halifax Public Gardens are somewhat inland from the harbor, but also boast a water feature, called Griffin’s Pond.  There, in the late afternoon sun, Titanic plies water once again.

She seems complete in every way — her four funnels proudly pointing towards the sky, tipped with a black stripe, and her gleaming white hull, reflected ripplingly down towards the depths.

Titanic shares the pond with about a dozen American Black Ducks. From bill to webbed foot, they typically stand about 20 inches tall. These particular ducks looked shorter than that, but next to the ship, their height was still impressive.

The ducks dipped their beaks into the water, preened, wiggled their tails and flapped their wings.

A breeze turned Titanic broadside. Reeds, dead ahead.

The ducks cackled, a boisterous barnyard quacking that sounded like laughter: ha ha ha.

Tourists approached the pond with digital cameras extended in front of them,  a gesture of offering.  A black-clad young French couple wandered over to the banks.  “Titanique! Ha ha ha.” Without another word, she posed, within view of the ducks and the ship. Her partner, bearing a large backpack, snapped her photo.

They ambled away towards the bandstand, erected in 1887 in honor of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.

In all my years of travel, I’ve never had a real travel disaster. Planes have left on time. My luggage has always magically appeared on the airport carousel. Nothing has been stolen. I’ve even managed to avoid injury and illness.

And yet, despite this stellar travel record, I still take out travel insurance for each and every trip.  I like to know that if something happens, someone, somewhere, is there to help bail me out.

And so it was, that when disaster finally did strike, in the form of illness, it was the travel insurance – both my mother’s and mine – that saved the day.  

Here’s what happen.

One day we were happily cruising around the Baltic on the Star Princess, completing the last few days of our epic two and a half month cruise vacation covering half the world.  The next day,  with absolutely no warning,  Mom suffered an acute cardiac event.  Being a sea day, she was admitted to the ship’s medical center where she received immediate and excellent medical attention. 

But although the initial crisis resolved fairly quickly and Mom was soon feeling much better, the ship’s doctor felt she was far from recovered and should be disembarked to hospital at the ship’s next port of call – Olso, Norway. 

Seriously, this was not part of our game plan. We were two days away from Copenhagen where we  were planning to part ways – my mother to start the first of two bus trips around Europe and me to head home to New Zealand via  New York City and Nova Scotia.  

Instead we were stranded in Oslo, Norway -  Mom tucked up in a bed at the huge University Hospital while I alternated between talking with medical staff and talking with the insurance company.  Four days later, Mom was discharged refreshed and ready to go. I, on the other hand, was exhausted.

It was a disaster. But one with a happy ending. Mom is back in good health.  And having travel insurance means that we will will recoup our financial losses.

And there was even a small silver lining – flying home to New Zealand business class!

Tomorrow the Dawn Princess World Cruise arrives in Venice with a ship shipload of passengers and crew all wanting to get out and about.  Many (including my mother) plan on taking the organized shore excursion tours that cover all the usual tourist places.

But I plan on jumping ship, hopefully getting away from the crowd, and maybe even getting lost (if just for a short time) into the maze that is Venice.

I won‘t,  however, be totally alone. – I’m taking my copy of Lonely Planet’s Venice & Veneto 2010 for company.

I have been keeping company with Lonely Planet guidebooks for a few years now and they have never let me down. Guaranteed to provide background information of where I am heading and give me direction as to where to eat, stay, and play, these guidebooks have always managed to help re-locate me when I lose my sense of direction.

And this latest edition of Venice & the Veneto looks to be no different.  

I was hooked from page one, reading about Venice’s fascinating history, learning about it’s diverse neighbourhoods, and studying the numerous walking tours laid out. 

There are numerous of maps and continuous cross-referencing of information aimed to help to keep travelers orientated to their surroundings. In fact, this guidebook makes Venice look real easy to navigate - at least on paper.

There’s even a pull out map, which, of course, I not only pulled out but also marked with all my planned destinations, creating my own walking tour.

All in all, I’m feeling pretty confident that, despite the fact that I’ll only be in Venice a very short period of time and need to make sure that I get back to the ship before it set‘s sail, with Lonely Planet’s Venice & the Veneto I’ll be able to get off the beaten track without getting totally lost.

I guess I’ll know tomorrow whether it does.

(Disclamer:  A complimentary copy of the Lonely Planet Venice & the Veneto was provided by Lonely Planet for review)