Absolutely brilliant

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The first "Carry On" film in colour, this is enormous fun. Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Sid James (once again playing the straight man) are at the top of their game, although the absences of Charles Hawtrey (for the only time until he was dropped from the series in 1973), Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques are very noticeable. He has a fairly small role but the untalented Lance Percival makes for a very poor Hawtrey substitute. All I could think was how much better Hawtrey would have as Haines, the violently seasick ship's chef who can't cook. The comic potential of the character is wasted. On the bright side, Dilys Laye is more than worthy of filling Sims' shoes, particularly in the drinking scene. Esma Cannon gets more to do than in the last two films and is absolutely hilarious. The contrast between her and James is brilliant.

Carry On Cruising finds Sid James as captain of a cruise ship and as he sees it a right good captain too. The secret of his success is that he works with the same people all the time. But during muster he notices several new faces. As he hopes to get command of a transatlantic ship James knows that his chances for promotion ride with the success of the current voyage.If you had such people as first officer Kenneth Williams, doctor Kenneth Connor and most of all a seasick cook in Lance Percival you'd be concerned too. As for the newbies there all in fear and nervous of their captain.Adding to the fun are romance hungry ladies Liz Fraser, Dilys Laye and senior citizen Esma Cannon all target other passengers and some crew members. Cannon is really quite good, that old lady like Thelma Ritter in Pillow Talk can drink anyone under. Laye herself gets completely frazzled herself.Not quite as good as some of the Carry On series, but the troupe does carry on valiantly.

The sixth Carry On caper, and the second to be filmed in colour, Carry On Cruising takes place aboard the S.S. Happy Wanderer, a British cruise-ship sailing the Mediterranean, experienced seafarer Captain Wellington Crowther (Sid James) at its helm. With several new crew-members, none of whom seem particularly capable, the captain is naturally concerned about the smooth running of his vessel, but despite a journey full of crazy mishaps, he eventually learns to trust and respect his eccentric shipmates.Much tamer than the later films, Cruising sails smoothly through the family friendly comedy with only a handful of relatively tame double entendres to gently rock the boat. The majority of the gags revolve around people getting drunk, the romantic endeavours of ship's doctor Arthur Binn (Kenneth Connor) and passenger Flo Castle (Dilys Laye), and the receiving of injections in the butt for seasick cook Wilfred Haines (Lance Percival); but even though this one lacks the ribald humour and general sauciness that the series is famed for—and is missing some key members of the Carry On team (Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtree)—it does possess a quaint, easygoing charm that should still make for fun viewing, especially for avid fans of the series.6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

Sid James and Kenneth Williams can't salvage this very weak Carry On offering. Sid plays the captain of Mediterranean cruise ship who has a completely new and thoroughly inept crew thrust upon him just when he needs a perfect cruise to earn the promotion he so thoroughly deserves. Kenneth Williams, Lance Percival and Kenneth Connor are the crew who make Sid's cruise so difficult.The inept crew bumble through some timid Carry On farce with an over reliance on falling over and a weak script to pull it all together. It doesn't have the warmth that the best films in the series have and just drifts through to its inevitable cheesy ending without any real laughs.