November 2010 - Page 2 of 6 - Captain Greybeard

Set the controls for the heart of fun

Apologies to anyone on Allure of the Seas who felt a bit of a jolt this morning, but I have been up on the bridge, driving the ship. Whatever led the top men at Royal Caribbean to think I could be trusted with control of their $1.5 billion baby I don't know. Surely they can't have been taken in by my self-appointed title? Captain Hernan Zini was on hand to make sure I didn't do anything too drastic with his 225,000-ton ship, which is 1,187 feet long and 208 feet wide. If it was possible to take it out of [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:15+00:00 24 November 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Royal wedding plans at sea

Cunard have been quick off the mark to announce that passengers on their three ships will be able to watch the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in the appropriate surroundings of a Royal Court Theatre. And as the Royal couple tie the know on Friday, April 29 in Westminster Abbey, Cunard will be celebrating with a commemorative dinner menu, and a champagne toast. The Royal Court theatre on flagship Queen Mary 2 seats more than 1,000. If that's not enough, the event will also be screened in Illuminations - the only planetarium at sea - as the ship [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-11-23T13:08:59+00:00 23 November 2010|Cruise News|2 Comments

Free flights to join your cruise

Why pay for flights when embarking on a cruise? If you sail from the UK, then there's no need to fly to join your ship, but if you don't have time for the voyage to the sun - or you are worried about a stormy crossing of the Bay of Biscay - there are still ways to get aboard without paying for air. Many cruise deals now come with free flights included. Check out some of these offers: Spend 15 nights in the Caribbean sailing on Sea Princess from Barbados to Trinidad, Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Tortola, Antigua, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:15+00:00 20 November 2010|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

Watch Allure of the Seas on TV

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy The Today show was broadcast on American TV this morning live from Allure of the Seas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Watch as hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb explore the ship.

By John Honeywell| 2010-11-19T17:26:51+00:00 19 November 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Rachel takes a spin in the Aqua Duck

We have seen one preview of the Aqua Duck water coaster, the most talked-about feature on the new Disney Dream cruise ship. Just to make sure everything is in perfect working order, cruise director Rachel Quinn took another ride before the vessel left the shipyard last weekend. It must have been a chilly day in Germany, because the lively entertainer, who is originally from Doncaster, got togged up in a wet suit before setting off on the 765ft ride. She won't need that when the ship is sailing on cruises between Port Canaveral in Florida and the Bahamas Disney Dream [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:15+00:00 19 November 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Brits go for luxury option on Allure

British passengers booking cruises on Allure of the Seas are not afraid to splash out on their holidays - most of them are paying at least £30 a night on top of the basic fare in order to travel in a balcony cabin. In fact two-thirds of those flying from the UK to Florida during the next few weeks to join the ship in Fort Lauderdale for week-long cruises to the Caribbean are choosing to travel in cabins with a balcony, or in de luxe and suite staterooms, say Royal Caribbean. The most expensive suites can cost as much as [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:15+00:00 19 November 2010|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment

Will Falmouth be ready in time?

Following recent reports that cruise ships had cancelled calls at the unfinished new terminal at Falmouth, Jamaica, the island's tourism minister is claiming the facility will be ready to open in January. But Edmund Bartlett's promise, made in an interview with USA Today's Gene Sloan, is far from a confident prediction. "The inclement weather of the last few months has put us back a bit, but the construction work has been going fairly well and we're hoping to have it substantially ready by January." Fingers crossed then. Bartlett says the terminal, designed to accommodate Oasis and Allure of the Seas [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:15+00:00 19 November 2010|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Saga’s new ship is a bargain buy

Official confirmation came today that - as I reported last week - Saga Cruises will be extending their fleet with the purchase of Bleu de France. A spokesman said this afternoon: "The Bleu de France has been acquired and will enter service with Saga in 2012. After completing her published itineraries for current operators, the ship will undergo a multi-million pound refit starting in November 2011, before joining the Saga fleet in her new livery in March 2012. "The acquisition is in response to the continued and growing popularity of the Saga cruise experience," he added. There was no official [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:15+00:00 18 November 2010|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

£100k target for QM2 charity cruise

Friday night on BBC will see the annual charity extravaganza that is Children In Need, and more than £80,000 of the millions that will flow into Terry Wogan's coffers was raised by passengers on board Cunard's Queen Victoria when he joined a Mediterranean cruise earlier this year. And this week, Pudsey Bear joined Cunard president Peter Shanks for the announcement that Queen Mary 2 will host another charity cruise, this time a round-Britain voyage, in September 2011, with a fund-raising target of £100,000. Commodore Bernard Warner and entertainment director Paul O'Loughlin, also taking part in this video preview, are hoping [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:15+00:00 18 November 2010|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

Going Dutch on a Transatlantic run

Cunard's Queen Mary 2 will have competition on the Transatlantic run next summer. Holland America's Rotterdam is to make two sailings which ironically will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the transition from operating line voyages to becoming a cruise company. The 60,000-ton ship, capable of travelling at 25 knots, will be throttled back during the nine-day voyage leaving its home port of Rotterdam on July 3 and sailing to New York via Southampton. On the return crossing the ship will stop at Cobh in southern Ireland - known as Queenstown when Titanic made its final call there in 1912. Anouncing [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-11-17T23:16:23+00:00 17 November 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments