I really didn't need another reason not to take a cruise, but . . .

My wife Liz and I have never been on a cruise. Perhaps it’s the cost, or the fact that the mere mention of such a thing conjures up that annoying theme from The Love Boat.

Maybe it's the prospect of all that awkward camaraderie among complete strangers who are thrown together for an extended period of time with no means of escape.

Not to mention that we keep reading about passengers becoming deathly ill after someone sneezes aboard a cruise ship, which isn’t much of a selling point. Liz and I prefer getaways in which the destination is what matters. Being there, not getting there, is our idea of a  vacation.

Of course, now there’s a brand new reason for landlubbers like me to venture no farther than the dock. His name is Francesco Schettino. Who would have thought that a major cruise line (the Costa Concordia’s parent company is Carnival Corp.) would hire as a ship’s captain the nautical equivalent of a 16-year-old kid tooling around on his brand new learner’s permit?