November 2010 - Page 5 of 6 - Captain Greybeard

Myleene’s cruise ship adrift after fire

A fire in the engine room has crippled cruise ship Carnival Splendor, 150 miles south of the California port of San Diego. The ship, carrying 3,299 passengers and 1,167 is awaiting the arrival of tugs to bring it into port. No-one was injured in the fire, but power was disabled and air conditioning, phones and flush toilets are not operating. The ship is dead in the water with no propulsion, and US Coastguard and the Mexican navy sent aircraft and cutters to provide assistance, and tugs are on their way to the vessel to bring it into port. The Splendor [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:17+00:00 9 November 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

First cruise ships return to St Lucia

The first cruise ships have returned to the Caribbean island of St Lucia following the devastation caused by hurricane Tomas. P&O's Oceana arrived in Castries yesterday, closely followed by Holland America's Noordam. Oceana's captain, Mark Symonds, was met by Prime Minister Stephenson King and tourism minister Allen Chastanet as he presented donations to the local Red Cross, including two pallets of mineral water, biscuits, mattresses and furniture. The Prime Minister reported that Tomas has destroyed the island's entire banana crop, and "wiped out" agriculture. The town of Soufriere was the hardest hit and roads to the town in the south [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:17+00:00 8 November 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|1 Comment

Fred Olsen takes a tip from rivals

Two signs this week that Fred Olsen Cruise Lines are catching up with rival companies . . . and the 21st Century. They are to scrap the brown envelope system for staff gratuities, and are introducing wi-fi access for computer users. Passengers will find £4 per day added to their on-board accounts to provide tips for cabin stewards and waiters - in response, says the company, to customer suggestions. Some cruise lines, such as Saga, Thomson and Voyages of Discovery include gratuities in the fare; most now use the system which Fred Olsen is adopting, with the option for passengers [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:17+00:00 8 November 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

Virtual crossing is a Facebook hit

For many, a Transatlantic crossing is the purest form of cruising there are no ports of call to interrupt the pleasure of being on board a ship for seven days (or more) sailing between Southampton and New York. There's all the time in the world, with nothing to do and not enough time to do it in, especially travelling westbound, when the time changes give you an extra hour on five days. In fact there's no shortage of activities to keep you occupied, even if the wind across your balcony as the ship ploughs through the grey seas of the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:17+00:00 7 November 2010|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

Top deals for Disney Cruises

How many wishes will come true with the launch of the newest Disney Cruise ship? The 4,000-passenger Disney Dream, to be named in Florida in January, was floated out of a giant construction shed this week. It will take a generous sprinkling of pixie dust just to get it the 25 miles down the River Ems from Papenburg to the North Sea next week. The 128,000 ship - largest ever built in Germany - is half as big again as Disney's two existing ships, the Magic and the Wonder. A fourth vessel, the Fantasy, is already being built, and will [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:17+00:00 6 November 2010|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

Take a ride on Disney’s AquaDuck

The most talked-about feature of the new Disney Dream cruise ship is the unique AquaDuck water coaster, but so far it has been a closely-guarded secret. I saw it on Monday, along with a handful of other cruise writers, but we were not allowed to take pictures, and all anyone else has seen so far are the long-distance shots taken from the quayside at the shipyard. Now Disney have released a video of their crew on the first test runs. They are wearing wetsuits because the ship is currently in Germany and it is almost winter. No protection, other than [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:17+00:00 5 November 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

Monte Carlo or bust for Cunard’s QE

It was a tense moment on the bridge as Cunard's Queen Elizabeth arrived in Monte Carlo for the first time last week. On her maiden Mediterranean voyage, high winds were threatening to ruin the day for the 2,000 guests hoping to go ashore for a flutter in the casino, a spending spree in the famous name shops, or to visit the cathedral and see the white marble grave of Princess Grace. The ship's master, Chris Wells, and staff captain Hamish Sunter were determined to bring the 92,000-ton vessel alongside in Port Hercule, which is packed with some of the most [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:17+00:00 5 November 2010|Cruise Ships|3 Comments

Those cruise awards in full

The British Travel Awards are the Oscars of the UK holiday industry, and some of you may have caught @CaptGreybeard's tweets from the event last night. It was a particular pleasure to have been invited to join Voyages of Discovery on their table, as they picked up the trophy for Best Niche Cruise Line - "niche" because their 650-passenger ship, Discovery, can cross the oceans, yet is small enough to reach out-of-the-way ports. There was a double success for P&O Cruises, who not only won the category for Best Mainstream Cruise Line, but also picked up the prize for Best [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:17+00:00 5 November 2010|Cruise News|1 Comment

Now couples can say ‘I do’ on Azura

Back in April, when P&O's Azura made her debut, there was some surprise that the ship was registered in the UK and had the name of her home port of Southampton emblazoned on her ample stern. The rest of the fleet is registered in Bermuda, but for what chief executive David Dingle describes as "quite complicated regulatory reasons" it was convenient to change things for the company's newest vessel. Just one problem . . . UK registry meant that it was not possible for Azura to offer to perform weddings at sea - a lucrative option on other ships. Renewal [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:17+00:00 5 November 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

Cruise boss pockets $6 million

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain will have an even bigger smile on his face than usual when he welcomes passengers on board Allure of the Seas in a couple of weeks. He has just cashed in 150,000 shares in his company, selling them for just over $40 each or a total of $6 million (more than £4 million) according to industry observer Seatrade Insider. Fain, 62, who has been a director of Royal Caribbean since 1979 and at the head of the company since 1988, still holds 1.26 million shares and, indirectly through trusts for members of his family, another [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:17+00:00 4 November 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments