On a cruise you don't have the hassle of packing and unpacking. You're assured of a clean, comfortable room each and every night. All meals are included. There's no rushing to catch a train or plane as you move from one city to another. Aboard your floating hotel you simply sail from one harbour to another all the while being pampered silly. Yes, you become more of a tourist and less of an adventurous traveller. That's O.K. -- cruising is just one more exciting way to see the world. You might find it suitable for some destinations and less right for others. It might be the thing to do at one stage of your life and not at others. However, in the final analysis, Journeywoman's advice is not to turn cruising down simply because you're a single woman traveller with a limited travel budget. That just might be a huge mistake.

Before planning a cruise holiday always check out cruise-related websites and subscribe to specialty newsletters to read tips as well as to see 'what's new' and where the juicy bargains are. Several sites to consider are the actual cruise line sites such as Celebrity Cruise Line or Princess Cruises. Cruisediva.com created by Linda Coffman is an excellent source for cruise reviews and anything else a woman needs to know about cruising. Cruisevacationstogo.com offers last minute deals and a newsletter that highlights hosted singles cruises, if that's what you are looking for. Don't rule out Expedia.com for last minute deals as well. Check out European Waterways for European river cruising.

Consider a themed cruise. According to www.themecruisefinder.com, 'perhaps the best aspect of theme cruises is travelling and socializing with like-minded people who share a passion for a subject or hobby. Knowing that you'll be sailing with others who share this interest can make for an interesting and pleasant vacation. Single travelers tend to make up a larger percentage of theme cruise guests, as they can be certain there will be others on board with whom they have at least one significant interest in common'.

And last but not least, kudos to the Norwegian Cruise Line. They announced they will begin accommodating solo travelers in 128 studio cabins aboard their newest ship, the Norwegian Epic.

Fred Cherney is a freighter travel expert and a member of the Journeywoman Network of classified advertisers. In a recent email to our office Fred wrote, 'I was wondering if your women readers were aware of another safe method of travel for women on their own? Passenger freighter travel is still alive and offers women on their own a safe method of travel whether across the ocean or around the world. Crews tend to adopt passengers and keep an eye out for them. In most cases, singles can avoid paying single supplements. If there is a supplement, it is usually very small. If your readers would like any more information on passenger freighter voyages, please let me know. I'll be happy to supply it'. Email: freighters@rogers.com. Website: www.thecruisepeople.ca

Journeywoman was invited to sail with Semester At Sea for their 108 day Spring '08 voyage. It was spectacular! We circumnavigated the globe, visited four continents and 14 countries. Being on this voyage was like 'winning gold at the Olympics,' says the editor of Journeywoman.com. Click here to read Evelyn Hannon's blog and what it's like to be solo at sea for that long.

The Semester at Sea ad is as follows: The mission of Semester at Sea is to educate individuals for leadership, service, and success in shaping our interdependent world. Since 1963 we have led around-the-world semesters for lifelong learners on a ship outfitted as a floating college campus. If you are interested in sailing with us, please see our website at www.semesteratsea.org

'A ship is a beauty and a mystery wherever we see it.'
(Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1862)

'There's no place where one can breathe as freely as on the deck of a ship.'
(Elsa Triolet, 1947)

'It's especially fitting that they call a cruise ship 'she' for she is pregnant with a thousand adult embryos who long to stay forever warm and sheltered in this great white womb.'
(Helen Van Slyke, 1979)

'Little children never know that they feel seasick, till they are.'
(Katherine Brush, 1940)