September ends with a pretty nice bang – there are 21 cruises starting today, including:

• Carnival Inspiration making a 4-night round-trip from Long Beach to Baja California;
• Celebrity Reflection starting an 11-night tour of the Mediterranean from Civitavecchia, with stops in Italy, Turkey and Greece;
• Costa Victoria leaves Shanghai on a 7-night round trip that includes visits to several cities in Taiwan;
• MSC Splendida is leaving Barcelona – but will be back in a week at the end of one of its many 7-night Mediterranean cruises.

Looking ahead to cruises departing six months from now:  Sunday, March 30, 2014 is a monster, with 40 cruise ships scheduled to begin cruises in 25 different ports.