Downside of cruises

THERE’S one aspect of cruising which travel agents choose to ignore. Cruise ships are getting larger every year and many are now becoming floating villages.

This means that the ‘SS Awesome’ (Mail) coming into service will disgorge 6,700 passengers on to a Caribbean island, where probably

three or four other large cruise liners have already berthed. this, unfortunately, inflates the daytime population by about 20,000. Inevitably, local prices rise. sadly, the end product is that much of the inherent mystique of the location is destroyed. JOHN CLIFFORD, Bath, Somerset.