About Douglas Ward   Has worked for eight cruise companies: Fred Olsen Cruise Line, Cunard Line, Ulysses Line, Union Castle Line, Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), Furness Withy, Royal Mail Lines and Shaw Savill.     Has travelled to over 1,800 ports of call - some more than 100 times.     Has appeared on many television shows and stations throughout the United States including “Good Morning America”, “The Today Show”, “NBC Nightly News” and “CNN Travel Guide”.     Has presented cruise seminars at the World Congress of the American Society of Travel Agents.     Has presented slide lectures at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.     Provided a range of proposals for the safety of large passenger ships at the Institute of Marine Engineers in London in a presentation in 2001, one of which (Proposal Four) has been adopted by the majority of cruise lines.     Founded “Porthole” Magazine, which he sold in 1996 (it is still published in the USA).     Was a keynote speaker and participant at the Yokohama International Cruise Conference for several years.     Was the subject of two 30-minute television documentaries in Germany: for the NDR network in 2001 and for ZDF in 2004.     Took part in a one-hour Spiegel documentary about the highest-rated cruise ship in the world (aired in April 2002).     Sets the standards, and then applies them to the evaluation and rating of all cruise vessels.