A. I am not a mass travel agent; I'm more of a concierge type, and I try to fit the cruise line to the traveler.

Crystal (www.crystalcruises.com) built a big following among Islanders when they first came through here, with exceptional pricing. They've had to raise their prices since then, but they built loyalty. (Several Crystal ships stop here on South Pacific and round-the-world routes. The high-end line recently won Travel + Leisure magazine's World Best Cruise Line award.)

I've got a very soft spot for Holland America Line (www.hollandamerica.com) because I was a sales rep for them for a long time. It's a wonderful, five-star line with a lot of ships, good service. They come through Hawai'i quite a bit. (Routes that touch on the Islands include 15-, 16- or 18-day roundtrip cruises from Seattle or San Diego; round-the-world routes; Mexico and South America itineraries.)

Radisson Seven Seas Cruises (www.rssc.com) is newer to the Hawai'i market. It's a more inclusive cruise line. That's a plus because, with them, more things are included: wine with dinner, replenishing your refrigerator, a bottle of liquor in the room. (Radisson routes include the South Pacific, Caribbean, Europe and Alaska. Their Spotlight cruises highlight themes such as food and wine, musical theater or history.)

Some of the Cunard products (www.cunardline.com) are popular — the QE2, she's just unique, very different than the other ships we've been talking about. She's a point-to-point ship more than a cruise line. It's all one class, but the restaurant you get still depends on where your cabin is. She's got a good following, though not necessarily huge out of Hawai'i.

Seabourn (www.seabourn.com) is an all-inclusive line; Seabourn and Silver Sea (www.silversea.com) are for people who like smaller ships and don't care about the big, fancy Las Vegas shows, don't care about large casinos, just want to relax, dine, have fine wines while you're out at sea.

Q. How do people choose which line?

A. It depends. Hawai'i people have to fly out of necessity, so sometimes they'll come in and say, "Where can I go without having to fly, or with the least flying?" So they'll pick up a ship when it's repositioning, fly out and cruise back this way, or when a world cruise comes by, that's an opportunity to go to Australia or Asia. That's once a year, and those tend to come through in winter time.

My clients want balconies and verandas, and a lot of my clients want casinos — they expect it. They want to know the food is good.

But, really, the destination is usually the top priority. They'll say, "I want go to the Mediterranean or Alaska; which ship do you recommend?" I try to figure out which ship will fit their expectations best.

Alaska is very popular out here, especially with Holland America. Europe is a big destination for my clients, and they'll do back-to-back shorter cruises, say, Barcelona to Rome, Rome to Venice, Venice to Athens. The Caribbean is at the bottom of the list because we don't need to go there to see beaches.

Q. What's your best advice about cruises?

A. Take one! It's just so relaxing compared to all the other hassles of travel. The worst part is getting off and coming home.