I am grateful to Tom Robbins, travel editor of the Financial Times, who first sent me on a cruise with the wonderful Silversea, and to Silversea and Paul Charles of PCC for arranging a second adventure. What happened on those luxurious and impeccably organized trips bears no relation to the narrative of this book, which is entirely a product of my own fevered imagination. Back home, Roddy Bray gave me helpful insights into the life of a cruise expedition leader; Kendall Carver of www.internationalcruisevictims.org explained about the state of the law at sea; and Captain Michael Lloyd filled me in on some realities of below-decks life. John Honeywell, editor-at-large of World of Cruising magazine, shared his expert knowledge of the industry and Dr Roger Stephenson corrected my medical errors. Stephanie Cross offered me encouragement and excellent editorial advice on my first draft, and Sue Cooke, Ben Craib, Linda Hughes, Imelda Dooley Hunter, Katrin MacGibbon, Stephen McCrum and Jo Swinnerton were early and insightful readers. My agent Jamie Maclean sold the book with alacrity, and I am grateful to the fine team at Severn House publishers: Kate Lyall Grant, Sara Porter and Michelle Duff, as well as to copyeditor Anna Harrison. Thanks again to my wife Jo, who would have loved to have come cruising too, but stayed behind to look after our small children: her plot points remain invaluable.