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Following are write-ups of various cruises -- ocean, sea, river or whatever -- that readers have taken in the last year or so. Please note that, with the exception of the Cruises column by Bill Bennett, ITN does not cover cruises that take place only in the U.S. or Mexico; at least one port stop or transit must be outside of these areas.

When writing to ITN, please include names of both the ship and the ship line (with address! phone, if possible) plus the price, length and month/year of your cruise. Thank you.

Write to Cruises Critiqued, do ITN, 2120 28th Street, Sacramento, CA 95818, or e-mail editor@intltravelnews.com.

Swan Hellenic cruise

We returned Nov. 10, '02, from a 2-week cruise, "Cities in the Sand," on the Swan Hellenic ship Minerva I. We chose this cruise because of its unusual and exciting ports of call. Countries visited included Turkey, Greece, Italy, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Cyprus.

We flew by a Qantas charter from Heathrow to Izrnir, Turkey, and boarded our ship at Kusadasi. At the end of the cruise we flew the charter from Cyprus back to London.

Four nights before the charter, we flew to London and spent three nights at our favorite London hotel, Thistle's Royal Horseguard, conveniently located in Whitehall and near the theaters which we enjoy.

Swan Hellenic Cruises does an excellent job of taking care of their guests, from the moment of their arrival at Heathrow until their flight out.

The ship was a gem, carrying 300 passengers and outfitted like a private manor house in the British countryside. There were mostly British passengers, with a sprinkling of Canadians and Americans. Open seating in the dining area allowed us to make many new friends.

Entertainment was simple and gracious -- no Las Vegas-style shows. We enjoyed listening to classical musicians, an excellent small orchestra and, in the bar area, a lovely piano player.

Four outstanding lecturers kept us informed on the history, culture, art, religion and politics past and present at each stop.

With several choices of shore excursions at each destination, all sightseeing was included, as well as all tips aboard and on shore. There also were a few optional all-day tours offered. All our local guides were very knowledgeable and friendly and spoke excellent English.

We particularly enjoyed going through the Corinth Canal, having observed the canal from above on a previous trip to Greece.

Two ports in Sicily gave us the opportunity to visit the ruins at Selinunte, which we had missed on a previous 2-week trip to Sicily.

The ruins of Carthage aswell as the Bardo Museum in Tunis were very interesting. We stopped at Susse, Tunisia, and had several excellent choices of tours as was true at each stop.

At Tripoli we made a full-day excursion to the magnificent ruins of Leptis Magna, considered by some as the best-preserved Roman site in the Mediterranean. We also had time to visit the Tripoli Museum at the end of the tour.

Our next port of call was Benghazi, Libya. We chose the all-day optional tour to Cyrene, the best-preserved Greek city in Cyrenaica. We enjoyed walking and climbing in and around all the beautiful historical ruins on this trip. There were literally no other tourists than those from our ship, so we could experience the full impact of the quiet, ancient world.

We sailed on to Alexandria, Egypt, and were fortunate to be able to visit the new library there. Magnificent!

Our last stop was Larnaca, Cyprus. In the morning the ship docked and we chose a tour of Nicosia.

After a late, lunch on board, we were taken to the airport for our return charter. All luggage and forms were handled by Swan Hellenic.

We can't say enough about the outstanding service, good food and fine lectures provided by Swan Hellenic on this cruise. Unfortunately, the Minerva I is being retired in April '03, with the Minerva II taking over that same month. We know it will be as beautifully appointed and finely run, but it will have twice as many passengers (600).

With a 30% discount that we received, the all-inclusive cost of our 2-week cruise was $6,798 for two. The price included the charter to Izmir and back from Cyprus; all tips on ship and on shore; and most shore excursions, with several choices at each port.

The hotel in London cost $699 double for three nights including breakfast, service and taxes. American Airlines has a wonderful "Go Britain" package in the winter with a much better rate.

Service was outstanding on this wonderfully exciting cruise.

We had no visa problems, as we were part of the Swan Hellenic group visa plan. This company is located at Richmond House, Terminus Terrace, Southampton SO14 3PN, United Kingdom. In the U.S., call 877/219-4236 or visit www.swan-hellenic.co.uk.

BETTY & JOHN SILANDER Dallas, TX

'Crown Princess' across North Atlantic

My husband and I took a North Atlantic cruise aboard Princess Cruises' Crown Princess, Aug. 24-Sept. 9, '01. We sailed out of Copenhagen, Denmark, and called at Dover, Falmouth, Dublin, Glasgow, Belfast, Reykjavik, Prince Christian Sound Qaqortoq, St. John's and, finally, Boston. Inclusive of airfare from San Francisco, the 16-day cruise cost $10,515 for both of us.

Sailing past the White Cliffs of Dover was quite a thrill. At Dover, we opted to take the shore tour to Leeds Castle; this was the site of a Saxon royal manor and Norman stronghold and later the royal residence of six of England's medieval queens. The bus trip through the hills of Kent was really beautiful.

Out next stop was in Falmouth in Cornwall, where we took the "Land's End" tour to the most westerly point of England. The views of the 60-meter-high cliffs were breathtaking.

In Dublin we joined the tour to the Glendalough monastic ruins, dating from the sixth century. On our way we stopped by St. Patrick's Cathedral, founded in 1190. The dramatic landscapes to and from the ruins were quite beautiful.

In Glasgow we took the city tour. Then we cruised to Belfast in Northern keland and visited, among other sites, the beautiful Botanical Gardens, Belfast Castle at Cave Hill and the Titanic Memorial (Belfast being the city where the Titanic was built).

Our next port was Reykjavik, Iceland. On the. "Golden Circle" tour, we visited Gullfoss Waterfall, Thingvellir National Park and Stokkur Geyser. The waterfall was breathtaking and the geysers were spectacular. This tour was 6 1/2 hours long and worth every minute.

The next morning we entered Prince Christian Sound, a 55-mile-long channel at the southern end of Greenland. We saw glaciers and icebergs and beautiful cliffs and waterfalls. The houses here are painted in vivid colors.

We were pleased with our next port call, Qaqortoq, Greenland, a modern small town with about 3,400 residents. We were entertained by a group of dancers, and the church had singers to entertain us, also. We walked the streets and watched the people. Along one of the paths were rock carvings and drawings which were very nice.. A little lady stopped me while I was looking at them and thanked me for the sunny day, of which they have few.

At St. John's, Newfoundland, a beautiful modern city, we took the "Cape Spear Lighthouse and' City" tour. It was quite windy on the walk up to the lighthouse.

In Boston, we disembarked for our flight home.

We enjoyed every minute of our .3,776-nautical-mile (4,342-mile) cruise. It was booked through AAA in Vallejo, California, by Kim Smith, a great travel agent. We have booked many, many land tours and cruises with her, all to our satisfaction.

LOUISE DeBENEDETTI

Vallejo, CA

'Clipper Odyssey' in New Zealand

In January '03 my wife and I had a wonderful time on the cruise "Exploring New Zealand's North and South Islands" with Clipper Cruise Line (St. Louis, MO; phone 800/325-0010 or visit www.clippercruise.com).

This was on the Clipper Odyssey, a small ship with a capacity of about 120 passengers, though on our 9-day cruise it was not filled. The trip included two nights in Queenstown before the cruise, and we signed on for an optional 3-night extension to Sydney.

The trip was simply wonderful. Each day the Odyssey would stop at some small or larger port and we would take off for an excursion. All shore excursions were included in the price. They were well run, and all were good, some being truly outstanding.

The atmosphere on this ship was informal, with open seating for all three meals. The food was good. Because of the open seating policy, we got to know most of our fellow passengers, most of whom were over 55 -- an interesting and varied group.

The personnel were very accommodating and friendly.

There was no casino, no movie theater and no entertainment at night, but they did have an excellent library.

The cabins were clean and neat, if on the small side.

Our cabin cost $6,470 each (minus a $750-per-person early-booking discount); this included all meals on board and all shore excursions.