Yearly Archives: 2012

The Duchess of Cornwall is set to return to the cruise ship which she named at a lavish launch ceremony five years ago. Camilla will be guest of honour at a lunch on board Cunard's Queen Victoria on December 13. During the event, a reception in support of her husband's own pet charity, she will present certificates to 12 Prince's Trust apprentices who will have completed a period of work experience in the customer service department of Cunard's parent company, Carnival UK. She will also watch as a new official portrait of her is unveiled in the ship's Grand Lobby. [...]

A cruise ship captain has fired an angry salvo of words at port authorities in St John's, Antigua, after his ship almost grounded while docking in the Caribbean capital. Celebrity Eclipse - a regular summer visitor to the UK for cruises from Southampton - was directed by a pilot into a channel which was not deep enough, according to Captain Dimitrios Manetas. After discovering that there was less than eight inches clearance between the ship's bulbous bow and the sea bed, the captain demanded a meeting with the port authority, pilot association and local port agent. His strongly-worded follow-up letter, [...]

A cruise ship has come under attack from Somali pirates off the coast of Oman. A security team on board Azamara Journey is reported to have fired flares to ward off threatening approaches from two boats, which eventually turned away. The incident happened about 15 nautical miles off the coast of the island of Masirah, in the Arabian Sea, on the edge of the area patrolled by an international armada of naval protection vessels. Two skiffs, a popular choice of vessel for pirates operating in the region, were seen approaching Journey on Friday. Each was carrying three or four men. [...]

FROM MY DAILY MIRROR COLUMN. PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 17 It's difficult to resist uttering a smug "I told you so," but it's beginning to look as if an Australian billionaire's far-fetched plans to build a replica Titanic could be scuppered before they even reach the slipway. I am not the only observer to have expressed scepticism about Clive Palmer's proposals to establish a regular scheduled service between Southampton and New York in a copy of the liner which sank on its maiden voyage 100 years ago. Doubts were further fuelled this week by the announcement that a lavish dinner in New [...]