Casting Off!

By Robert N. Jenkins

Over nearly a quarter-century as a travel writer, first for the former St. Petersburg (now, Tampa Bay) Times, and more recently as a freelancer, Robert N. Jenkins figures he has boarded more 60 ships to write about.

Many of those trips were three-night ”cruises to nowhere’’, when a new vessel heads a few dozen miles offshore into the Atlantic so that it can be sampled by thousands of travel agents and a handful of reporters.

But Jenkins also toured ships still being built, in three European nations. He spent four days amid the wildlife and scenery of Alaska’s Prince William Sound, in a ship so basic that the toilet was in the shower stall.

Yet on another voyage he crossed the Atlantic on the near-legendary ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 – in Casting Off, you’ll read about his onboard encounters with a movie star, an aromatherapist and a dodgy lothario.

Twice, he sailed on dozen-day voyages around the Mediterranean. Jenkins also spent a week cruising from Colombia to Florida, and another week between Athens and Istanbul.

He transited the Panama Canal twice – that report also is in Casting Off. But unlike the tens of thousands of passengers who annually book aboard a ship just for this experience, Jenkins brings you to the ship’s bridge and alongside the canal pilot directing the vessel.

The award-winning writer also recounts his trip aboard the “mail boat’’ serving the islands of the Bahamas. A newly met fellow passenger woke him before dawn to proudly point out various islands, mere lumps in the darkness, dotted by a few streetlights.

Wander with Jenkins around the decks of an authentic, steam-driven paddlewheeler on the Mississippi, in a flotilla of similar anachronisms.

And you’ll climb with the author into the crow’s nest 66 feet above the deck of a four-masted schooner, gliding through the Pacific off Costa Rica.

The articles in Casting Off also offer potential cruise consumers tips on how to find a ticket that is far cheaper than those bought by most of the passengers on the same voyage, why you might prefer a no-frills ship to a luxury liner, even how to decipher the cheery descriptions of shore excursions the cruise lines seek to sell.

So climb aboard, we’re Casting Off.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert N. Jenkins
• Release date: Aug 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301891931

Robert N. Jenkins

Robert N. Jenkins, a native of Washington, D.C., earned a B.A. in journalism at Michigan State University and after working “up North’’ for four years, he moved to St. Petersburg, Fla., where he still lives.In a 39-year career at the Tampa Bay (formerly St. Petersburg) Times, he served as editor of national news, state news, features and, for 19 years, was the travel editor. His work in that job won 8 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition awards.Since taking a buyout, Bob has been a freelance writer. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Toronto Star, San Francisco Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, Miami Herald, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, various AAA magazines, CruiseCritic.com, USAToday.com -- and in his former paper.

Book preview

�8s�cbook_preview_excerpt.htmluXQ��� �$���^��c�Nf�3�x��7����M��������\ @����$y���Ȳ l��,V�z������.o�_��M������_��bz��ޅ�Ĭn6�'�w�'�����Ǐ���Q�ab����f���"���ū0��Y�����'?���7�V7���tN����I&ޙ����vg�~���ɨ��M�j���&e�v \Y۩>DusT��)x���h|V���F�l�A��Uc��:�)l��;���e*���Z��٨����>�X���pIt���{�����~��k3ͱ�A㈮� '[�-��p�����ˁ�?�;�G�Y�=9I�Nu�� ��m^1��^�/^��3c!�X����E����Es��MF9�x��{/�S�w�@�'���Q@�bq�B_|�sB$����� f|�^7�p���3``����܀}͋�1���̓-y���p��e����(�Ɛ���ְ;ٖl���iI�zx��V���lץ����@�l�m>�����P�̽e���1���< Q߁�f"ѽ���&}��#E�u�i�����q[�OH�J��Q'e����ci�� r���A����u�c�[�1�W�ufL}�Ld�ꉺb�+�{V�/c<�g�Xx��γ���=/�w�"��RR�[@P"�wB*� ��IP]t�
�:��8(~O֡v6�LЅ���O�%�-��0R�84���c��J2?�ĩ-�{���b�,t�{�
r/{�)����d�~gj�je�G=�V��
T��P���kvZۓ�}2UoN� L�dM/GJ������:[���i���4Q
B���N�R ��S�̈́������ )�k�Q��/`�f�X�ז=�u�$��md�ܽ2�1���N���T#���~u+�[4D�5�"�+��q
a1�) �tv�� �MJe �΅}i��)�v��v(i�^�GШQi��l��m$�M��d�����$m� �"h��9@�&��T�VG���ʂ��×��Q#0�� ���Tr\���K����^�*SdJe �]�ɏy8v4�E�rsx� �w=N�ǻ���РVtZ���* ��RŢ {�W�����Վgo0��rT�"H3��?pL %ڱT5����,;�C e){Z˛IX-#N��^�j;�ҳ�̼[�:�o�Q,��{�O(�hh�xk�P9;�d;8ӗ������R~�ȸ�դ@�7U?NZ�P�Tg�\պ�D��'��J,�T�0]~�,��:��H+ϙ��>ߗ��o�uJl����ca�\���.�]�"�� !LA��6���ю���n��W���'�i�X���6 z0u��pa��W���X�e2��ls$J�

Enjoying the preview?

Subscribe to continue reading