"Cruises & Ports of Call 2005" (Frommer's/Wiley; $21.99)

The authors of this latest edition, Matt Hannafin and Heidi Sarna, say the trend in the cruise world is "homeporting." That is, rather than having ships all sail from the same port, say, Miami or Fort Lauderdale, cities around the country now serve as home bases for cruise ships, from Boston and New Orleans to Seattle and San Francisco.

Why fly to the ship when you can drive there? Thus, the new guide covers more than 20 home ports in the United States and Canada.

The guidebook also describes more than 150 ships, about a dozen of which debuted in 2004, including Cunard's Queen Mary 2, the longest and tallest passenger ship in the world. Once you get aboard, what can you expect? Well, the usual entertainment lounges and gyms, yes, but also ice-skating rinks, basketball courts, miniature golf courses and rock-climbing walls. It's a thorough and entertaining look at the cruise world.

"The Perfect Cruise" (R-Squared Publishing; $19.95)

Just what exactly is "the perfect cruise"?

Chris Dikmen, author and managing editor of CruiseReport.com, has some definite ideas. Actually, he thinks that every cruise is a perfect cruise — for someone.

He also has some ideas about the things that can ruin a perfect cruise, such as not using a good travel agent, not buying travel insurance, selecting the wrong cruise, having unreasonable expectations and looking for problems (referring to those whiney people who are never satisfied).

He discusses the secret to planning the perfect cruise, points out the practical things you need to consider before you go (such as identification requirements or which electrical outlets to take with you), what to do on and off the ship. Of course, the cruise lines themselves are described.

Nothing particularly earth-shattering is presented here, just straightforward information presented with a personal touch.