SINKING THE MYTH- THE GOLDEN AGE OF CRUISING.....

Ah, cruising was better in the old days, they tell you. When black tie was compulsory, people had better manners, and there were far fewer ships going to far more exotic places than is currently the case. Dancing under the moonlight to a big band, and that last romantic walk on deck around the stars. How wonderful it all sounds. Until you begin to look at the facts, as opposed to the fantasy.

Yes, those old classic liners had style, for sure. They also had no balcony cabins or, in many cases, any form of air conditioning. Hygene standards were nothing like as rigourous as they are now, and food storage and preparation was almost stone age in standard compared to the present. As for entertainment, you could largely forget it.

There were few outdoor swimming pools for sure in those days, and none of the fantastic water siides, ice skating rinks and rock climbing walls that we now take for granted on the great floating resorts of today. There were no big, Broadway style shows or outdoor discos on deck. No cooking classes or golf courses.

Few of those great, glamorous old ships had stabilisers; rather than dancing on deck under the stars, their passengers were more likely being sick in their cabins in mid Atlantic. And, yet, in the rosy glow of a nostalgic, setting sun, all of these things seem to have been thrown overboard along with such venerable, yeanred for pastimes as rickets, the Charleston, and judicial executions.

There's an old saying that 'nostalgia ain't what it used to be', and the ships of today come packed with so many breathtaking new diversions and entertainment that fogetting the old days is as easy as 1-2-3, or at least it would be if some cruise lines didn't fan the flames of their fondly imagined past with such manic determination. We all remember how awesome and elegant the Titanic was, but how many of us would volunteer for a spot on her maiden voyage once more, given the chance? I thought not.

No, the real 'Golden Age' of cruising is, quite simply, right here and right now. And while the magic of a setting sun or a sky full of stars above a moonlit ocean remain as timeless now as they were back then, the truth of the matters is that the travelling public- today's dedicated, determined cruise passenger- has never had it so good as right now. Fact.