There are 51 ocean cruise lines and 27 river cruise lines. Cruise lines are either for sea or river, and distinct from passenger lines, which only transport passengers.   Cruise lines provide entertainment, food, tours, etc.   They carried 31.7 million passengers in 2023. 18 million from North America. 7.7 million from Western Europe. 35.7 million total expected in 2024. Other fast-facts. Global economic impact in 2019 = $154.5 billion. 34% of all passengers in the Caribbean and 18% in the Mediterranean. Largest ports in million passengers per year. Miami  5.1 Port Canaveral  4.3 Cozumel  3.9 Port Everglades  3.5 Nassau  3.3 Shanghai  3.3 Barcelona  2.5 Civitacchia  2.4 Pursuing net zero carbon emissions by 2050. 47,000 travel agent members. #1 is Carnival Corporation, operating over 100 ships under this name, plus Holland American, Princess, Seabourn, P&O, Costa Cruises and Aida.  Carries 42% of all cruise passengers,...

  We caught a cab to Pier Two to board the Pride of America.  A long line for this and that.  But we made it through, went to our cabin, and this is our view. Went to lunch in the Skyline Restaurant.  What a relief to have gone through all those hurdles.  But we have friends who left two days ago to catch a cruise from Iceland.  Two overnights.  They were delayed in Los Angeles.  Then spent five hours in Chicago, and who knows if they ever got to their destination.  We spent ten minutes on our taxi.  Me?  I ordered champagne and beer, but added a shot of Glenmorangie to place a tablespoon into the Tomato Soup.  Started with soup and a Blue-cheese Wedge Salad. We have an unlimited drinks package, but not exactly.  Anything we order has to cost $15 or less/drink.  The Glenmorangie cost $20, so had an extra bill for $5.  Took a nap in the afternoon.   The ship departed just after sunset. Dinner was Prime Rib in...

Something about this trip to Las Vegas made me feel that I was getting out of touch with the lifestyle of today.  While the pandemic made travel difficult, we have been on three cruises during the past year or so, with a couple of international trips.  So what made this more recent experience particularly humbling? To begin, on the flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, everyone in business class seemed to be prepared with bluetooth earphones to listen to their TV screen.  Never occurred to me to bring something like that.  It took a couple of hours to gently inquire about the audio options.  The steward said, oh, here is an earphone, and this is where you connect.  Plus, they did not retrieve this ear plug device, so I had one for the next flight to Las Vegas, and back home. There were 100 channels linked to DIRECTV, close to being the equivalent of what is available at home.  There were also at least a hundred films available. When I got to the Circa...