Normally you would come to these pages to read about cruise news. This will usually be good news, covering wondrous journeys to strange and exotic lands while being pampered in the lap of luxury.

Sometimes things unfortunately go wrong – even in the dream world of cruising. If you have booked a cruise on board P&O Cruises’ Oriana that is supposed to depart on the 9th, 12th and 17th December, we sadly have to inform you that this will no longer be possible.

The reason is that the work to convert the ship to an adults-only cruise liner will not be finished in time. Consequently the company had to cancel the cruises that were scheduled to depart on the above dates.

Arcadia’s brief visit to the dry dock in December consequently also had to be postponed and the two three-night cruises that were planned for the 6th and the 9th of December also had to e cancelled.

While this will no doubt inconvenience a large number of people, it is not as sad as the news that passengers getting off cruise liner Balmoral were stopped and questioned by police on Wednesday over the disappearance of an elderly gentleman who went missing from the ship after leaving a note in his cabin. Balmoral was in the North Sea at the time of his disappearance.

On every cruise liner you will find them: elderly people who are travelling alone, having lost their life partner somewhere along the line. Next time you see one of them, perhaps remember how fortunate you are and strike up a conversation. It might make a bigger difference than you could ever imagine.