SOMEWHERE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN – Gaudi’s towers and spirals faded from view as the Silversea cruise ship the Silver Shadow started its voyage Friday to Marseilles from Barcelona.

“We have set our speed for our next port,” the ship’s captain, Emanuel Chiesa, said over the loudspeaker, making an obvious point but also initiating the 290 passengers into a ritual of cruise ship life: the omniscient navigator, telling you where you are going, where you have arrived, and what to expect along the way.

The assertive but calming voices, booming on deck, by the pool, and in the bars, are a defining part of this seven-day voyage to Rome, with stops at Marseilles, Saint Tropez, and Malta, as well as Siracusa and Lipari islands, both in Sicily – a trip that Silversea has paid for me to make.

Mr. Chiesa speaks of nautical miles, knots, and northwesterly breezes, and the cruise director, Colin Brown, of brunch in the galley and bingo games. The underlying message: “Relax. We take care of everything.”

Passengers do have plenty of decisions to make, such as which places to explore on land and what to drink; whether to dine alone or at a group table; when to swim, and what to read. Popular authors spotted at the pool yesterday were Koontz, Brown, Archer, Grisham, and, of course, Rowling.

There is one matter that the crew has no hand in, on which the passengers seem to be unanimous: which passengers to gossip about. The hot topic is a group of three couples, all American and in their mid-30s. The men are being called the goons; the women, desperate housewives.

Two days ago on the tender from Saint Tropez to the ship – the tender is a boat you take to shore when the ship is too big to go to port and therefore anchors out in the water nearby – the goons and the desperate housewives were loud and rowdy. It looked as if they might knock themselves overboard, which would have been particularly unfortunate with all those shopping bags in tow.

The most desperate housewife is called Sparkly, apparently after her bikini, which has sparkles.

The three couples drew ire from guests at the pool yesterday when they took the best chairs and kept the bartender busy all morning and all afternoon, seemingly wanting to get their money’s worth out of the all-inclusive policy (the published fare for the cruise is $6,900 a person).

These couples are completely different from the typical Silversea passenger, who is understated and respectful of people’s privacy. Which brings to mind another passenger some people are talking about, but in excited whispers, not negative gasps: the actress and model Isabella Rossellini.

Ms. Rossellini was up at 6 a.m. yesterday to be photographed on the jogging track, as the ship passed by the island of Corsica. She is being photographed for Silversea’s advertising campaign, along with her daughter, Elettra, whose 22nd birthday is today. The pair, strikingly beautiful in person, remains undisturbed by passengers.

On board, it’s as easy to keep to oneself as to be social, and that is true for everyone. Public spaces are often deserted. Yet the ship’s small size makes repeat encounters likely, and that creates a sense of community.

Public displays of affection beyond occasional hand-holding are rare, although one woman became the subject of idle gossip for the way she brushed her hand across her husband’s one night at dinner.

Not that the ship isn’t romantic. Coley Clark and Nancy Cain Marcus of Dallas, who met on the ship a year ago, have been slow-dancing in the Panorama Lounge every night. John and Tarsi Georgas, of New York and Palm Beach, glowed as they played checkers yesterday in the Observation Lounge, until Mr. Georgas tried to slide a checker across the board.

“That’s a chess rule,” Mrs. Georgas said. It looked like he’d win, anyway.

The interior of the ship provides such diversions as a daily putting contest and, of course, food, but it’s what’s outside the ship that is inspiring: the full moon lighting the sea at night; the lull of the water rocking the ship gently, and the ports of call on the French Riviera. The ship has offered tours of Aix, where Cezanne painted, and two hillside towns near Saint Tropez, Gassin, and Ramatuelle.

As many times as the cruise’s captain and director describe these destinations, home is never far from the mind.

People stay up on current events with a daily summary of the news, and they also wait patiently to check their e-mail, which is offered at slow speed and high cost.

One passenger with his mind soberly on home is the literary icon Jason Epstein, husband of the jailed New York Times reporter, Judith Miller. Ms. Miller would have been on the cruise had she not gone to jail rather than divulge her sources.

Instead, Mr. Epstein is traveling with a group of the couple’s friends, who all are deep admirers of Ms. Miller. I’ve lost track of the toasts to her and the prayers said for her over the course of the trip.

The group includes the former executive editor of the Times, Abe Rosenthal, who hired Ms. Miller; and the journalists Julia Reed, who covers politics for Vogue, and Robert Sam Anson, who is working on a book on Vice President Cheney and gave a talk to passengers about Senator Clinton’s presidential run in 2008 – a sure thing, he said.

Mr. Epstein is receiving daily updates by e-mail or telephone, most often through his wife’s lawyer. He said Ms. Miller is finding good books to read in the jail library, such as “Notes From the Underground” by Dostoevsky. Also, he took comfort in knowing that her visiting hours this week were completely booked, with people such as Senator Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat, and Tom Brokaw, representing the Committee to Protect Journalists.