I was booked for a Suez transit (Malta to Pot Klang, Malaysia) but the shipping line route ships direct from Savannah to Port Klang (long diversion) because fuel prices were so low in the latter half of 2015.

Really depends on how high open access points are from water level. The ones most easily hijacked are ships that sit low and go slow (such as oil tankers and bulk carriers).or cruise ships with low decks or other low entry points (such as marinas on the back of cruise ships). I noted that the stern of larger cruise ships where the sailors will throw out mooring lines- lowest open access point - are now caged in to make access there more difficult. They have to get up to main deck which is at least 30-40' above water. Large container ships are hard to hijack as the lowest entry point is still 40' above water line and can go fast too.

Quite a few luxury lines were doing this route this past spring: I counted at least 10 ships of which 2-3 were luxuries and premiums. May not be luxury but Ponant seems to do it eastbound in the summer. There's a Viking ship headed west in August this year and next, an Azamara in August, and a Silver Sea headed east next May..

I just booked my first TA crossing. 06/11/2020 from BCN-NYC. I am looking forward to it! Carnival Radiance (which is the old Carnival Victory after a major overhaul). Solo in a balcony cabin. In celebration of my 40th birthday (well, I will be home in time for the actual birthday.)

The ship will be miserably full, but should still be fun.

Too afraid of water, I wish I could go as well

I'm afraid of water too. So much, that I'm afraid to even try to swim. Never learnt. But, as long as I can wear a life jacket the entire time (small boats), or have them readily available on a large ship I'm okay. But, I prefer to fly or take a bus or train

Janae, The good news is that as long as you refrain from entering the ship's swimming pool or bathtub, your risk of drowning on a cruise is miniscule: https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/21/e1/e43.full

I finally decided to just book a 20 night cruise from Dubai to Venice. It goes through the Suez Canal, Muscat, Petra, Athens, Dubrovnik (2nd visit), and several other coastal cities and of course Venice(2nd visit).

It's through MSC, one of the lowest ranking cruise lines .....but, I'm going for the port stops... don't much care about the reported passenger issues or rooms. But, I did book a oceanview room considering the number of days at sea. Otherwise, an interior room would have been sufficient.

Thank you for your input. I have another three month trip to Dubai in November. I can attest to the large volume of people in DXB. Last time I reserved a fast track service through marhaba on my departure. It surely reduced my stress level.

I am definitely looking forward to this cruise. Been wanting to go back to Venice and also to visit Petra and Muscat...a three for one

Your spell checker did a real number on this sentence to the point where I can't parse it at all. What is it supposed to be?

It certainly makes sense now. Thanks.

For what it's worth, we've found Celebrity dining to be comparable to Princess and Cunard.

In the MDR or the suite/spa/extra cost DRs (on Celebrity and also on Cunard)? Princess MDR was a big letdown 3 years ago but the cruise was short. I could even believe Celebrity MDRs were good in the past but not when more acreage and kitchen space/staff have been carved out to create special DRs and kitchens for suite and spa class pax. My experience on the Millennium puts HAL way in the front by comparison (IMHO the single-class MDR.helps keep quality up for all).