Cruise-Ships Books

This is a fabulous mystery novel for kids. It's clever, consistently funny and beautifully crafted. Melanie Jackson conjures up superb characters and vivid images that don't talk down to kids, but involves and intrigues them. Amidst the humorous shenanigans, there are strong messages like "be true to yourself" and "never give up on your talent". This is the third book in the Dinah Galloway mystery series and I can't wait for more!!!

Once again, William Miller has put together an excellent volume regarding the history of ocean liners, this time those of the CGT. This latest release contains extraordinary b&w photographs and text thoroughly covering the history of every magor CGT liner and most secondary ships from the Washington to the France (1961). Each article includes the specifications of each ship, construction locations, and major birth dates. Where available the current status of each ship is also included.

This book makes excellent reading material, and is perfect for referencing. The photographs included, unlike those in many "typical" compilations, are rather rare- I don't believe I saw any of them until I read this work. In future, I hope Mr. Miller will continue writing these types of books, for their value to the ocean liner wnthusiast far exceeds that of the paper on which they are printed. What's next? Only he knows. (But I would like to see "Picture History of Norddeutscher Lloyd" or "Picture History of HAPAG" soon)

Ruth Stewart is serving as nurse aboard a private yacht, La Fiesta, which is sailing down the coast from Long Beach, California to Mexico. Her hosts are the wealthy Norbert and Evie Sutliff. They have two sons: medical student, Allen, and teenage Kenny. Also aboard are flirtatious divorcee, Mildred Harrington; her daughter, Darlene, Allen's beautiful long-time girlfriend; and Jim and Pearl Finlay, the Sutliff's lawyer and his alcoholic wife.

Allen wants to become a doctor; but his millionaire father is violently opposed to the idea: he wants his son to go into the family's building contractor business. Ruth, initially sympathetic to Allen's plight, soon finds herself falling in love with him. How can she help Allen prove to his father that Allen would be happier as a doctor than a businessman?

Then, Kenny is stricken with appendicitis just before a storm at sea; and Allen and Ruth are forced to operate. Will Allen prove his worth as a surgeon? And will Ruth win his love?

I thought this book was pleasant, with an exciting outcome. The story is enhanced by the pleasant cruise and colorful shore trips. I also liked how the characters revealed their true colors during the crisis; (good character development while advancing the story). Recommended.

Before boarding for the high seas, take a look at this book. Gives singles a real look at what cruising will be like for them. What lines they should sail on, where to get the best value for the buck, and how to actually meet once on board. A really good guide for that single traveler who is thinking about cruising - regardless of age.

A great book filled with visual images of the bygone era of long luxury cruising to still unspoiled exotic ports. The mega ships of today could never deliver these cruising experiences. Thanks for the wonderful memories.

The physically handicapped have always had difficulty finding accessible ships; narrow doors and high sills often blocked their way.

Larger, more acessible cabins have recently been introduced, but few older and smaller ships have passable cabins.

Limitations in dozens of ships, large and small, new and old, are all described in some detail. This first guide for those unable to easily walk, includes crise ships and many long distance ferries, river boats, canal barges and smaller boats too that are more accessible.

Large Pacific Northwest car ferries provide alternatives to an Alaskan cruise along the British Columbia Coast on up to Alaska. Others cross Lake Michigan, and to the east the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and all of Canada's Maritime Provinces. In Europe, far more spectacular, extraordinarily large, long distance ferries rival the latest attraction-filled cruise ships.

Some river boats, canal barges, sailboats and smaller boats are also described along with many other tips and references for the handicapped.
--- from book's dustjacket

this is a sequel to hard man to love. the story of the sexy Hardt brothers. This is a good sexy hot read. With a love story to go with it.

This is an extremely comprehensive and thorough reference for cruising. It is loaded with more information than I could ever have imagined or thought to ask my travel agent. It will take you step by step from the moment you decide to cruise until you complete the cruise. The information is invaluable guide to a successful cruise.

Having cruised several carriers, the only inaccurate information would be about Carnival Cruise Lines. The evaluation was totally incorrect. It was a horrible cruise line. I will never cruise it again or recommend it to anyone.

Lindsay is 18 years old, on a ten day cruise to the Caribbeans, and has a plan to make it the best vacation she's ever been on. She's even made a list of all the things she's wanted to do but has never done before. Things like: shopping until she drops, drinking strawberry margaritas, kissing cute boys, and even to sleep with a guy for the first time. Her plans seemed promising until she met Ryan, her stepfather's godson. Although Lindsay finds Ryan attractive, she can't help but push him away because she feels like he'll just get in the way of her plans. But when Ryan doesn't go, Lindsay finds it hard to resist the temptation. Will Lindsay accept her feelings in the end? Or will she hold fast and stick to her plans? Read Caribbean Cruising to find out!

Caribbean Cruising was an amazing book! I would have to give it a 10/10. I found that the story was believable and I was hooked by the very first chapter. The details and experiences in the book were so vivid and in depth that I felt as if I was actually there with the characters themselves. When they climbed a waterfall, I felt as if I was climbing a waterfall. I loved the interaction between Lindsay, Ryan, and the many guys that they meet along the way. I was really hoping that Ryan and Lindsay would get together, but each time she would be stubborn and I would be frustrated because of that. Caribbean Cruising was a fun book to read and I highly recommend this book. It's short and sweet and will keep you thinking about it long after you've finished reading. If you've read other books written by Rachel Hawthorne, I suggest that you check this book out. Just like her other books this one is filled with fun romance. And if you haven't read her other books then I highly suggest that you pick one up today. I promise you won't regret it!

I WANT TO CRUISE THE CARIBBEAN WITH A HOT GODSON (: SO HER MOM GETS MARRIED ON THE SHIP TO A REALLY NICE MAN, HE OWNS THE SHIP, AND SEVERAL OTHER THINGS, AND HE INVITES HIS GODSON TO "HANG OUT WITH MY NEW STEP-DAUGHTER" AND GUESS WHAT HAPPENS? NO- THEY DO NOT GET TOGETHER. JK SORTA, BUT ITS WAY CUTE BC SHE HAS THIS WHOLE CHECKLIST OF THINGS SHE WANTS TO DO (SNORKELING, TANNING, MEETING GUYS, LOSING HER VIRGINITY... YEP THAT TOO. OH BUT OVERPROTECTIVE RYAN (GODSON) WONT LET HER GET HURT BY SOME OF THOSE IDIOTS, AND WHEN U PUT THOSE TWO 2GETHER, HELLO THEY R SO PERFECT 4 EACH OTHER!! THEY JUST NEED TO FIGURE THAT OUT!!

GREAT Book! Read all 314 pages in one day. Kept the imagination intrigued for more.

It was alright, I only read it, because all of my friends were reading it, but it's WAY too predictable.

18-year-old Lindsey's mom and her rich boyfriend have finally decided to tie the knot, but it's not your traditional church wedding where everyone you know is invited and the bride is dressed in a poofy white wedding gown, they get married on a cruise ship, one that Mr. Hunt (aka mom's rich boyfriend) owns. Lindsey's a shy, to herself kind of person, so she is skeptical that the cruise would be as amazing as her mom had been saying it would be. But Lindseydecids that she would have to try to make the most of it and made one of her infamous lists about all the things to do in order to have a great time. Through-out this whirlwind of a story Lindsey ends up having a blast, making new friends, finding true love, and even gets to know herself better.

I thoroughly enjoyed Caribbean Cruising, it's a great summer read that keeps you hooked til the end. Rachel Hawthorne at her best. You get to know and love the characters, and if you don't have the urge to hop on a cruise ship and live the good life like Lindsey, than there's something wrong with you! If you're not into the cute, light, predictible stuff than this probably isn't for you, but for all you chick-lit lovers out there, this is a must read that I highly recommend!

Just finished Atomic Lobster and agree with other positive reviewers. An enjoyable (and unplausible) black satire set in current day Florida. This is my first Dorsey book and as suggested by another reviewer will try to read the series starting at the beginning.

I mention Hiassen in the title of my review because both Dorsey and Hiassen set their satires in contemporary Florida. If, like me, you are somewhat turned off by Hiassen's PC approach you won't find that with Dorsey. He skewers both sides of the culture gap equally.

My favorite satires set in Florida are Elmore Leonard's Florida series. I would suggest a reader start with "Maximum Bob" "Out of sight" and go from there.

Tim Dorsey's books are always a good read, Serge & Coleman are a hoot! Look forward to many more adventures.

But if you have a slightly twisted sense of humor and like the bizarre, it's for you. I've not read any of the other books (yet) but this one worked well enough as a stand-alone, though having a bit more background on a few of the characters might have been nice.

The biggest downside of the story was that it was told in a very fragmented style. There were several groups of characters, mostly tangentially related, and the story not only hopped between them, but also moved backwards and forwards in time (there were a few 'four months ago...' sections). It was interesting to see how all of the character's stories intersected, but it could be a little difficult to keep straight (especially listening to it as an audiobook).

The upsides definitely outweighed the downside, though. The book was full of great characters, improbable situations, and dark humor. And when I say dark, I do mean it. Serge spends a good part of the book killing people in delightfully convoluted (think Rube Goldberg) ways, and is completely nonchalant about it. He reminded me a lot of Max from the Sam and Max comic/games ("gratuitous acts of senseless violence are my forte!"). Horrible (and yet, kind of funny) things happen to people left and right. There's rampant drug use and violence, though it certainly doesn't seem out of place with this cast of characters. There were scenes and dialog that actually made me burst out laughing - a great book to listen to if you're blue, since it's both entertaining and heartening that your life isn't as bad as some of these peoples...

And, at the end, it managed to surprise me. I thought, perhaps, I'd guessed the improbable Foxtrot, but I fell for a classic trap and got it all wrong. That little twist was the perfect ending to an extremely entertaining book. I can't wait to read more.

AUDIOBOOK NOTE: The narrator did an extremely good job with the voices and characters in this story (Serge actually sounded a lot like Max). The speed and flow made for easy listening, and there weren't any weird or awkward pauses. Definitely a good one to listen to.

Tim Dorsey is something of a guilty pleasure. When he's firing on all cylinders, his novels are outrageously funny, wildly convoluted fun. Inevitably, his novels shift back and forth between high energy fun and jokes or story lines that fall flat. When his novels hit their peaks they feature moments that are laugh-out-loud funny. When they fall flat, they can be tedious. Fortunately Dorsey's rapid fire delivery hits more than it misses.

I wish I could tell you that Dorsey's humour is smart and sophisticated, but as funny as he can be; his humour is a pretty low-brow. In fact, much of it is sexist and juvenile. And yet it works - although admittedly, it's not going to appeal to everyone.

Atomic Lobster is not the best Dorsey novel, but I found it pretty entertaining. While it was entertaining enough, frankly the series is starting to get repetative. There is nothing in this novel that we haven't seen before in the previous nine & not just because the novel feels like a reunion tour. Dorsey brings back almost every character from his previous novels that Serge didn't kill in an earlier adventure, most notably drawing from Triggerfish Twist.

A good part of the fun of this novel is watching Dorsey weave together the storylines of a huge cast characters. There are CIA agents, a terrorist cell, a team of man hungry grannies, a group of men who resemble Wilfred Brimley, a desperate virgin, clowns, mimes, drug smugglers, and a likeable serial killer named Serge. (And that's just scatching the surface of the cast of characters).

If you're a fan of Dorsey: You should enjoy this novel but you won't find much new here. At some point Dorsey is going to have to do something to make the series feel fresh again. If you're new to Dorsey, this isn't necessarily the best place to start. I recommend Triggerfish Twist - my personal favourite or Florida Roadkill the first novel in the series.

With all the other books I've been reading of late, I missed that Tim Dorsey had come out with another Serge Storms novel... Atomic Lobster. So long as you know what you're getting into with a Dorsey novel, this is a lot of fun much as the others were.

It's nearly impossible to write a plot summary of a Dorsey novel. There are a number of things going on that seemingly have nothing to do with anything, only to have them intersect a hundred pages later. The main driving plot in this novel is Serge's "promise" to watch out for Jim Davenport, an extremely non-confrontational guy who doesn't want to do anything to rock the boat. Serge gets involved when he shows up at a support group for people who can't confront others. He hears Davenport's story about being ripped off by some movers, and he takes it upon himself to protect this guy. From there, it all gets crazy. The mover is disposed of in a rather creative fashion. His disappearance triggers some smugglers to go into overdrive to find a statue that he was supposed to deliver. They find Davenport's name and think Davenport has it. The smugglers have to hold off their bosses, so they attempt another job using grandmas on a cruise ship to unknowingly smuggle in ancient artifacts. The grandmas just think it's a piece of junk and dispose of it before they clear customs. A notorious killer is also after Davenport in order to take revenge for his jail time. All these plots (and a few others for fun) converge in a wild party in a house that Serge's supposed to be house-setting. Even then, things aren't done. All of this action takes place at a frenetic pace, with Serge hitting all the "historical" parts of Florida and reliving history long since past.

This really is a wild ride of a novel, in a bizarre way. Serge's means of dishing out justice is gruesome, yet oddly funny in its own way. For a character who is certifiably crazy, Serge has more logic than many other stereotyped Floridians. Fans of Dorsey will understand and enjoy. New readers of Dorsey will probably wonder what they got themselves in for. Just sit back, prepare for lunacy, and go with the flow...