I've been known to rant a bit about the experience of traveling on a large cruise ship -- basically, they strike me as floating shopping malls/theme parks, neither of which I'd ever choose to spend time on.

Even if I'm surrounded by open ocean, which I happen to adore.

But I put smaller ships in a different category, more like a communal yacht, so I was pleased to learn that Silversea, the small ship cruise ship line, plans to launch a new vessel on December 23rd. I was even more pleased when I found out that the new ship, the Silver Spirit, sports a fabulous Art Deco design, and, among its six restaurants, includes one that offers a slow food concept. Check out the gallery for some interior views.

The boat is all-suite, the suites are larger than any the line has offered to date, including two flatscreen televisions, a pillow menu, Carrera marble bathrooms, and a butler assigned to each suite. The maiden crossing from Lisbon to Fort Lauderdale is sold out, but consider signing on for the 91-day inaugural cruise around the Americas departing January 21, 2010, which includes the Christening party and VIP tickets to Rio's Carnival.

Condé Nast Traveler has released its list of reader-selected best places to stay in the world on Concierge.com.

The magazine's 15th annual "Gold List" is "is your ultimate annotated guide to the world's finest properties and cruise lines, as elected by more than 32,000 Condé Nast Traveler readers."

You can browse by destination, type of award (e.g., service, food, location, cruise lines) or alphabetically, where you can see all on the list. Wondering how they were picked? Here's the methodology.

A few months back we saw that plans to turn the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship into a floating hotel in Dubai had been delayed. The owner, developer Nakheel had planned to moor it at the Palm Jumeirah development but now word has come that the ship may be on the move. The AP has an email from Nakheel saying that other ports have expressed interest in hosting the ship. Nakheel had purchased the ship for a reported $100 million and had plans to recreate the original decor and fittings of the ship from when she was launched in 1967 only with a modern day spin that included adding a 500-seat theater and building a massive spa complex. Those plans are are on hold as Nahkeel, which has developments across Dubai, is considering all offers and has applied to anchor the ship in Cape Town, South Africa.

The email said that the company is working "to ensure opportunities to experience QE2 in her current condition are maximized whilst ensuring her important heritage is at all times protected." This seems like more continued spin from Nakheel which has been hard hit by Dubai's real estate slump and tourism decline. The company has shelved a variety of projects including Donald Trump's planned hotel and has received some of the $10 billion in government bailout funds. There are also reports of widespread layoffs. The company has said before it has no plans to sell the ship. There is widespread speculation as to whether the company will be able to pay off $3.5 billion worth of debt coming due this year so it seems that they might be willing to sell the QE2 if they can find a buyer.

Cruise ship, the Nautica had a scare this week when the 30,000-ton luxury cruise ship outran pirates off the coast of Yemen. The Nautica, part of Oceania's cruise line, was in an area patrolled by international anti-piracy task forces when two small skiffs pulled aside and tried to intercept it. The ship sped up to its full speed of 23 knots or 27 mph. One of the small boats closed in and fired on the ship but it was able to pull away. While we've seen smaller passenger yachts targeted, the pirates haven't been known to go after the larger cruise ships before, keeping mainly to the bigger cargo vessels. The Nautica managed to escape without damage or injury to its 684 passengers and 400 crew.