Books set on cruise ships

[cruiser3775]

In lieu of actually cruising at the moment, I'm trying to read books set on ships.  So far, I have found a few that I like, but there are too many that are soppy romance novels. 

I found the novels of Edward Marston, a prolific writer, who has a series setting in early 20th Century cruise ships called "Murder on the (name of ship)", so "Murder on the Lusitania" for example. There are a couple of other cruise ship mysteries by Ruth Ware that I liked.

I also found three descriptions of crew life on board modern cruise ships by Brian David Bruns. The first is called "Crew Confidential".  Hair raising stuff.

 

Can anyone point me to others worth reading?

 

[arxcards]

I have a wad of non-fiction books about the history of ships and have read a couple of the anecdotal ones from ex crew members. I think I still have one at home, so will dig out the title when I find it.

 

Not a personal endorsement, but there is always Hudson.

[reeves35]

Cruise Ship SOS by Dr Ben Macfarlane is a great read.  It is about the real life experience of a ship doctor on a world cruise and follows his earlier book Holiday SOS when he was a repatriation doctor bringing sick and injured travellers home.  Both books are available from Amazon Kindle library.

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

Cabin Fever is one of the more recent non-fiction cruise ship stories and is an interesting read.

 

 

 

The true story of the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam, which set sail with a deadly and little-understood stowaway—COVID-19—days before the world shut down in March 2020. This riveting narrative thriller takes readers behind the scenes with passengers and crew who were caught unprepared for the deadly ordeal that lay ahead.

 

[yarramar]

If you are interested in the Titanic, it is probably the most written about ship on the planet.

I looked up "titanic" on Goodreads and there were 5827 results.

[possum52]

2 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

In lieu of actually cruising at the moment, I'm trying to read books set on ships.  So far, I have found a few that I like, but there are too many that are soppy romance novels. 

I found the novels of Edward Marston, a prolific writer, who has a series setting in early 20th Century cruise ships called "Murder on the (name of ship)", so "Murder on the Lusitania" for example. There are a couple of other cruise ship mysteries by Ruth Ware that I liked.

I also found three descriptions of crew life on board modern cruise ships by Brian David Bruns. The first is called "Crew Confidential".  Hair raising stuff.

 

Can anyone point me to others worth reading?

 

Are you looking for fiction or non fiction? 

 

If fiction here are some suggestions - 

Rachel Prince Mysteries by Dawn Brookes

The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward

Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys

Murder On The QE2 by Donald Bain

Here Come The Girls by Milly Johnson

Millie's Cruise Ship Cozy Mystery Novels by Hope Callaghan

The Cruise by Caroline James

Edited October 8 by possum52

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

In lieu of actually cruising at the moment, I'm trying to read books set on ships.  So far, I have found a few that I like, but there are too many that are soppy romance novels. 

I found the novels of Edward Marston, a prolific writer, who has a series setting in early 20th Century cruise ships called "Murder on the (name of ship)", so "Murder on the Lusitania" for example. There are a couple of other cruise ship mysteries by Ruth Ware that I liked.

I also found three descriptions of crew life on board modern cruise ships by Brian David Bruns. The first is called "Crew Confidential".  Hair raising stuff.

 

Can anyone point me to others worth reading?

 

There is a Murder, She Wrote novel called Murder on the QE2. Typical of Jessica Fletcher, people seem to get brutally murdered when she is around, and that includes when she is aboard QE2 as a guest lecturer.

 

I haven't been able to locate the anecdotal one, and it is quite possible we donated it to a ship library or charity bin.

[SinbadThePorter]

A Night to Remember. 😱

[possum52]

41 minutes ago, arxcards said:

There is a Murder, She Wrote novel called Murder on the QE2. Typical of Jessica Fletcher, people seem to get brutally murdered when she is around, and that includes when she is aboard QE2 as a guest lecturer.

 

I haven't been able to locate the anecdotal one, and it is quite possible we donated it to a ship library or charity bin.

One of the suggestions I made is the Jessica Fletcher one -  Murder On The QE2 by Donald Bain. I read it ages ago, probably late 1990s. A whole series of books based on the TV series were written. Donald Bain, I think was a writer on the tv show.

[arxcards]

11 hours ago, possum52 said:

One of the suggestions I made is the Jessica Fletcher one -  Murder On The QE2 by Donald Bain. I read it ages ago, probably late 1990s. A whole series of books based on the TV series were written. Donald Bain, I think was a writer on the tv show.

I picked up a copy from a ship library, read a couple of chapters, but couldn't really get into it. I am not a great reader when I travel.

[MicCanberra]

Have read some good and some not so good books that were set on a cruise  ship.

The last one was 

The last voyage of Mrs Henry Parker.

[possum52]

4 hours ago, arxcards said:

I picked up a copy from a ship library, read a couple of chapters, but couldn't really get into it. I am not a great reader when I travel.

I read on our balcony on sea days if I find nothing to do around the ship. I use a kindle and make sure there are plenty of books loaded. On one of our longer cruises, my kindle stopped working and I had to visit the ship's library to find something to read. Unfortunately there wasn't much choice. I ended up having to buy a new kindle.

[arxcards]

22 minutes ago, possum52 said:

I read on our balcony on sea days if I find nothing to do around the ship. I use a kindle and make sure there are plenty of books loaded. On one of our longer cruises, my kindle stopped working and I had to visit the ship's library to find something to read. Unfortunately there wasn't much choice. I ended up having to buy a new kindle.

A few years back, I was flying solo and bought a book at the airport called " How to Sleep Well". Best book I ever bought, as my eyes are closed before I can get through a chapter. I always pack it for long flights, but I like to get maximum awake hours on a cruise.

Edited October 8 by arxcards

[Dididi]

The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje (who also wrote The English Patient). From Goodreads:

 

In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy in Colombo boards a ship bound for England. At mealtimes he is seated at the "cat's table" - as far from the Captain's Table as can be - with a ragtag group of "insignificant" adults and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin.

 

I read it on a cruise that went to Colombo and Galle in Sri Lanka, going in the opposite way to the journey in the book.

[Bubbeh]

18 hours ago, arxcards said:

Typical of Jessica Fletcher, people seem to get brutally murdered when she is around, and that includes when she is aboard QE2 as a guest lecturer

I tell ya, that woman's a Jonah!

[Bubbeh]

1 hour ago, possum52 said:

I read on our balcony on sea days if I find nothing to do around the ship. I use a kindle and make sure there are plenty of books loaded

Ditto but I use a Kobo.  Load it through Booktopia (my heart sunk when they got into financial difficulties but I think they're right now) with heaps of books and read read read on sea days.  In fact my sea days tend to be split between eating, reading, trivia, eating, reading, trivia, eating, show, reading and then the next sea day I do it all over again.  

[cruiser3775]

20 hours ago, possum52 said:

Are you looking for fiction or non fiction? 

 

I am interested in both. I'm a voracious reader, and cruises are a good way to read more.  Currently I'm suffering from cruise deficit symptoms, so looking to read some cruise based books.

I hate chick-lit romance novels, so those by authors like Hope Callaghan and Milly Johnson are exactly what I don't want.

I'm currently working my way through the long series of Patrick O'Brian novels about sailing ships of the 19th century. Not actually about cruising, but they are about ships, and so beautifully written.

I read recently that Carnival is now abandoning its ship libraries. The space they took up is to be turned into something that will produce revenue. Sad.

[possum52]

49 minutes ago, Bubbeh said:

Ditto but I use a Kobo.  Load it through Booktopia (my heart sunk when they got into financial difficulties but I think they're right now) with heaps of books and read read read on sea days.  In fact my sea days tend to be split between eating, reading, trivia, eating, reading, trivia, eating, show, reading and then the next sea day I do it all over again.  

That sounds just like my sea days! Very relaxing. Rob goes off and does his thing or snoozes so I am left to read in peace. 

[possum52]

43 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

I am interested in both. I'm a voracious reader, and cruises are a good way to read more.  Currently I'm suffering from cruise deficit symptoms, so looking to read some cruise based books.

I hate chick-lit romance novels, so those by authors like Hope Callaghan and Milly Johnson are exactly what I don't want.

I'm currently working my way through the long series of Patrick O'Brian novels about sailing ships of the 19th century. Not actually about cruising, but they are about ships, and so beautifully written.

I read recently that Carnival is now abandoning its ship libraries. The space they took up is to be turned into something that will produce revenue. Sad.

The Horatio Hornblower novels by C S Forester are another suggestion if you haven’t already read them. Also made into a TV series.

 

That’s disappointing that Carnival are turning their onboard libraries into another money making venue. But that’s what cruising is to the cruise lines - make money. 

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

I am interested in both. I'm a voracious reader, and cruises are a good way to read more.  Currently I'm suffering from cruise deficit symptoms, so looking to read some cruise based books.

I hate chick-lit romance novels, so those by authors like Hope Callaghan and Milly Johnson are exactly what I don't want.

I'm currently working my way through the long series of Patrick O'Brian novels about sailing ships of the 19th century. Not actually about cruising, but they are about ships, and so beautifully written.

I read recently that Carnival is now abandoning its ship libraries. The space they took up is to be turned into something that will produce revenue. Sad.

It isn't just a money thing. They found with most of their cruises that it was just a dead space. Somehow Fun 2.0 is incompatible with a shhh space. They do have a couple of book/game trolleys in random places about the ship, and they could easily double-up on them if the passengers are utilising them.

[aussielozzie18]

This one is often recommended in a cruise group.  Bought it but haven’t read it yet.

 

 

 

[aussielozzie18]

This one may not appeal to the OP but for anyone else who wants a nice heartwarming read set on a cruise ship -

 

The unsinkable Greta James - Jennifer E Smith.  
 

Fiction - a grieving father and daughter re-unite on a cruise to Alaska.  

Edited October 9 by aussielozzie18

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, possum52 said:

I read on our balcony on sea days if I find nothing to do around the ship. I use a kindle and make sure there are plenty of books loaded. On one of our longer cruises, my kindle stopped working and I had to visit the ship's library to find something to read. Unfortunately there wasn't much choice. I ended up having to buy a new kindle.

We always carry two spare Kindles, just in case. We each have one synced to our other Kindle. I had to use mine in 2021 when I accidentally left my Kindle behind in one of the motels we stayed it. They found it and express-posted that day but it took 8 months for Australia Post to deliver it. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, Bubbeh said:

Ditto but I use a Kobo.  Load it through Booktopia (my heart sunk when they got into financial difficulties but I think they're right now) with heaps of books and read read read on sea days.  In fact my sea days tend to be split between eating, reading, trivia, eating, reading, trivia, eating, show, reading and then the next sea day I do it all over again.  

That sounds just like us except we add puzzle-solving into the mix as well to keep our brains tuned! That's why we like to have internet on our cruises. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

I can't recall any books set on cruises that I would recommend. I've read quite a few and there might have been one or two but they obviously weren't memorable. Note: as I'm a speed reader I read hundreds of books each year so tend to forget many of them. 

 

Usually I get annoyed with them because little details about the cruise environment are wrong, especially ones set in current times. I sometimes wonder if the author had ever set foot on a cruise ship.