WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

I am recently widowed but would like to experience a cruise on a small, informal ship – to pretty much anywhere. I am on a tight budget but certainly don’t want kiss-me-quick hats or posh frock dining. I just need to heal in warmth and relative privacy while enjoying being at sea and taking day trips ashore.

RITA MCFARLANE are magical trips ashore to see giant tortoises and exotic birds, together with time to swim or snorkel off the back of the ship or the islands’ beaches.

With an average temperature of 24C-27C (75F-80F) yearround, the weather in the Seychelles is perfect too. Prices start at £1,682 per person departing Dec 14 or 21, excluding flights. If you book by the end of September, there is no single supplement (usually 50 per cent) on these and a few earlier departures.

Star Clippers (starclippers.co. uk) is another good choice for travellers on their own. Its three sailing ships accommodate 170 to 227 passengers, and are in the Caribbean and Thailand in the winter months. Cabins are cosy (as they are on Pegasos) but the cruises are wonderful, visiting harbours away from the big ship haunts in the West Indies and islands off the Thai coast with lovely beaches and calm seas. The whole experience is very casual and attracts a friendly crowd. Prices, from £1,880 for seven nights in Thailand departing Dec 7, include a single supplement but exclude flights.

The Air report was published in May this year. As I understand it, some of the recommendations would require new legislation because current rules mean it is illegal for a company to keep trading once it is declared insolvent. But the Government has yet to act on any aspect of it.

It needs to do so now, and change the way that tour operator failures are managed. And I can absolutely guarantee that Thomas Cook will not be the last failure we see in the next few years. Managed insolvency would save a good deal of money, time and unnecessary drama in the long run.