2010 - Page 3 of 41 - Captain Greybeard

Full refund for Brilliance passengers

I hope passengers thrown out of bed during the storm which hit Brilliance of the Seas were quick to grab their camcorders and iPhones to capture the events for posterity, because it is beginning to sound like it was even more dramatic than we first thought. Certainly enough for Royal Caribbean to pre-empt any claims for compensation by offering a full refund of the fare even though the 12-night cruise was more than half over by the time disaster struck at the weekend. After issuing a brief statement this morning referring to passengers suffering "minor injuries" and the ship sustaining [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:14+00:00 14 December 2010|Cruise News|3 Comments

Calm down dear, it’s only a cruise

A week-long cruise in the Western Isles of Scotland, on a converted fishing boat carrying just 11 passengers and four crew, was one of the highlights of my year. The scenery was superb and the food was fantastic; The Majestic Line, who operate two similar boats - Glen Tarsan (above) and Glen Massan - are clearly onto a winner. Next April a Winner will be onto them. Film director, restaurant critic, insurance salesman and all-round irritant Michael Winner has chartered one of the boats for a cruise with fiancee Geraldine Edwards. He says he saw an ad in Country Life [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:14+00:00 13 December 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

30 hurt as storm batters Brilliance

Passengers were thrown from their beds when cruise ship Brilliance of the Seas ran into heavy weather in the Eastern Mediterranean yesterday. The ship was approaching Alexandria, in northern Egypt, when a violent storm forced it to roll several times. About 30 of the 2,100 passengers on board suffered minor injuries, some by treading on broken glass, after the incident at about 2.45 in the morning. Furniture was thrown around in cabins and throughout the ship, and the Christmas tree (above) in the ship's Centrum was toppled. Fitness equipment in the gym, tables in the casino, and displays in the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:14+00:00 13 December 2010|Cruise News|3 Comments

Top cruise deals for Christmas

Looking for a good deal? Here's this week's TOP CRUISES column from the travel pages of the Daily Mirror. Christmas under control? Presents all bought and wrapped, the turkey ordered from Tesco? Time to take it easy, then - and it's not too late to take a cruise before Santa pays a visit. Get into the festive spirit with a seven-night cruise on board P&O's Artemis from Southampton to Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Bruges, departing on Tuesday, December 14. You'll be home in plenty of time to start peeling the potatoes and the sprouts. Fares start at £502 per person [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:14+00:00 11 December 2010|Cruise Deals|1 Comment

Fred serves dinner in the cabin

Fred Olsen Cruises have announced more details of their new in-cabin dining service which I previewed a week ago. Thankfully, it's not going to be lumbered with the name "Nights in With Fred" but is being branded as "An Evening In." More than just room service, it will offer a full four-course meal of starter, salad, main course and dessert - all at no extra charge - and the option to add a bottle of wine, which will have to be paid for. The new service will be offered on Balmoral and Black Watch from January 5, when the ships [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:14+00:00 10 December 2010|Cruise Food & Drink|0 Comments

Mickey Mouse takes control

A dream came true for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck yesterday when they took control of their new cruise ship - Disney Dream. Of course it could only happen once Karl Holz, president of Disney Cruise Line, had signed the cheque and handed it over to Bernard Meyer, of the Meyer-Werft shipyard in Germany, and both of them were keeping the numbers covered up (below) in case anyone was watching. The 128,000-ton ship was floated out of Meyer's Papenburg yard just over five weeks ago. It will remain in Bremerhaven for another week while additional crew members board, and supplies [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:14+00:00 10 December 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Victoria comes out of the water

While I was sailing to the Canaries on board Cunard's Queen Elizabeth during the last few days, sister ship Queen Victoria was in drydock in Hamburg, having a quick wash and brush-up. The ship is three years old and has travelled more than 343,000 nautical miles, so it's time to spruce up some of the interior furnishings and scrape the accumulated debris from her hull. Standing in for entertainment director Alastair Greener, deputy captain Andrew Hall has been blogging from the yard, and describes how preparations got under way as soon as the ship arrived in Southampton last week. " [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:14+00:00 9 December 2010|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Out goes glass and in comes grill as Celebrity cuts its hallowed turf

Real grass lawns are among the most distinctive features of the Celebrity Solstice-class cruise ships, and the turf has been as hallowed and as sacrosanct as anything at Wimbledon or Lord's. The Lawn Club includes space to lounge and picnic, and to play croquet or bocce ball, and until now any suggestion that it could be put to another use have been met with protestations of "over my dead body" from Celebrity president Dan Hanrahan and Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain. Well, there's been a change of heart, not least of which is the decision to do away with the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-12-09T13:26:43+00:00 9 December 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

What’s in a (luxury) name?

Now I know Wikipedia is not the most reliable of sources when it comes to research - any more than WikiLeaks is the best place to look for an emergency plumber. But I go along with their assessment of yachts, luxury yachts, mega yachts (they are above 100 ft in length, apparently) and - best of all - super yachts (more than 200 ft). Luxury yachts are rich men's playthings. Their crews are likely to be as qualified in kitchen skills as they are in seamanship; and the vessels - which could cost more than a EuroMillions lottery roll-over winner [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:14+00:00 8 December 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

EXCLUSIVE: Inger takes command of Victoria as Cunard’s first woman driver

Never let it be said that Cunard rush into things. It has taken 170 years for the shipping line to appoint its first woman captain. And even when she took command of Queen Victoria for the first time, there were no passengers on board, and she was only taking the ship from Southampton to Hamburg for a two-week refit in dry dock. But next Wednesday, Inger Olsen will set sail with a full complement of passengers for a five-night mini-cruise to Amsterdam, Zeebrugge and Le Havre, and for her second voyage in command will be taking the ship on a [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:14+00:00 8 December 2010|Cruise News|1 Comment