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From Times Online

March 5, 2008

Your Top 10 cruise questions

From tipping to excursions and walkie talkies - the best of your cruising questions

Ginny McGrath

1. Ask our expert: the latest cruise holidays - Carolyn Spencer Brown, Times Online's cruise expert, has the inside track on the hottest cruises in 2008, dress codes onboard and the likelihood of going overboard

2. A cruise from Leith - John and Mary Luckie from Dornoch get advise on finding a cruise that starts and ends in Leith, the Scottish port near Edinburgh

3. Cruises to Antarctica - Consuela Moorman and family are planning to visit visit New Zealand and want to take a cruise from there to Antarctica. Those interested in Antarctica might also want to read Chris Haslam's feature, "How safe is cruising in the Antarctic?". Another reader question about a niche cruise was Peace in Norway's fjords - Zaman Barakzai from Sutton wants to cruise around the northern coast of Norway on a working cruise ferry, but is prone to seasickness when it's rough. He wants advice on when the seas are calmest

4. How to get the best from a Nile cruise - Nigel Bevan wants advice on when to take a week's cruise in Egypt and how to fit the main sites into one holiday

5. Is it cheaper to book cruises in the US? - Polly Styche is concerned that UK residents pay inflated prices for cruise holidays

6. Will walkie-talkies work on a cruise ship? - Gary Eyles from Solihull wants to keep in touch with his kids onboard but doesn't want to pay the steep mobile phone roaming charges

7. Which are the best cruise excursions? - Ram Kannan his wife are overwhelmed with the choice of excursions on offer on their Princess Cruises break to Alaska, and want to know which are best

8. How to tour the Panama Canal - Mr Reiff from West London can't find a Panama Canal cruise that doesn't have added weeks sailing on either side of the canal - is there a canal-only trip, he asks

9. Don't waste the last day of your cruise - David Turner from the Wirral leaves his cruise ship in Barbados at 8am, but his flight isn't until the evening. Our expert has some suggestions

10. Tipping on cruises - Martin Hassett and his wife want to know why a tipping charge of £3.75 per person per day has been added to his cruise holiday bill

Matt. I have worked offshore northern Norway (between Hammerfest and Bear Island) and statistically May is the best time to go, although you will still get a few rough days. If you get sea sick like me, choose a large vessel, that way only big storms will affect the vessel motion significantly

Kevin, Salisbury, UK

Regarding tipping on cruise ships. We have recently returned from a Caribbean cruise onthe QM2 which was fabulous.

We were advised before we left to go to the pursers office and tell them that you wanted to give your own tips and not have a set amount charged to your account.

We did this and so did a lot of other passengers. As for wondering what kind of service you will get if you don't have the set amount added to your bill, the answer is that on one else knows this ,so dont worry. Just go and enjoy your cruise! and only tip who you feel deserves it!!!

Christine Kislingbury, Ferndown, United Kingdom

when to cruise the northen coast of norway with no choppyh seas?

matt, london,