Remember when you used to get these great looking ticket packages in the mail? The nice folders with your luggage tags, documents, shore excursion information and other goodies? Sad to say, but even Cunard has announced that it's moving to e-docs, in an effort to provide "excellent customer service". That brings to mind one of my mother's favorite signs in a restaurant: "In order to improve customer service, we have changed to self-service."

It's the end of an era. Perhaps even more so than watching the QE2 sail off into retirement. The cruise lines are quick to tell you that it's environmentally friendly (which it is), but I have to wonder how much they're worrying about the environment and how much they're worrying about the costs of printing and postage.  Change is inevitable, but I will look back fondly at the old documents I used to receive.