2012 - Page 5 of 37 - Captain Greybeard

Dancing robots – Gangnam Style

There's no excuse for including this video on a blog about cruise ships - except it's from Korea, a country I visited on Diamond Princess earlier this year. But these irresistable dancing robots were one of the hits of the opening day of World Travel Market 2012 at London's ExCel Centre yesterday. I'm sure there are more professional videos around than the one I captured with my Blackberry, but enjoy! The cruise industry seems to ignore the event - I met plenty of river cruise operators yesterday but none of the ocean-going giants was represented. Travel Weekly editor Lucy Huxley [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 6 November 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Cruise chaos as Sandy scatters schedules, but QM2 sails on serenely

My cruise to France and Spain last week on Fred Olsen's Balmoral (more of that to come soon) made it difficult to carry news updates here. And there was plenty happening, particularly with the disruption caused by Sandy - which I have seen variously described as a hurricane, a tropical storm, a superstorm and the ultimate Frankenstorm. Here's an updated version of the column I wrote in midweek for publication in the print edition of the Daily Mirror on November 3. Superstorm Sandy wasn't just bringing floods and devastation to New York and the USA's eastern seaboard this week - [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 4 November 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Voyager – all white on the night

Gleaming white under lowering grey skies, Voyages of Discovery's new ship has arrived at Portland in Dorset for the final stages of a refit which seems to have been going on for months. During its four weeks alongside, the ship - formerly Alexander von Humboldt - will have cabins and restaurants spruced up by Northern Ireland-based fitters Mivan. At the beginning of next month, the ship will arrive in its new home of Portsmouth, and on December 4 will officially be renamed Voyager - although the new name is already painted proudly across the bow. Its maiden voyage for VoD [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 2 November 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Cunard choirs raise the roof

After his success last Christmas with the Military Wives, Gareth Malone has again been showing TV viewers recently how he can take reluctant singers and turn them into competent choristers. National Symphony Orchestra conductor Anthony Inglis has a different problem when he takes to the sea aboard Cunard's Queen Mary 2 - accommodating all the passengers who want to join the scratch choir. On a recent Transatlantic crossing, more than 200 volunteered - enough to form two separate choirs who then took part in a Last Night of the Cunard Proms event on the final evening of the voyage. The [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 2 November 2012|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

Travel agents declare war on cruise lines over cuts in commission rate

FROM MY DAILY MIRROR COLUMN, PUBLISHED OCTOBER 27 Thinking of taking a cruise, and planning to book your holiday through a travel agent? Don't be surprised if she (or he) tries to persuade you to choose a different ship from the one you originally had in mind. Independent agents are locked in a war with cruise lines over the commission they receive for taking bookings, and some have said they will actively drive business away from companies which have recently cut their rates. CCS, the umbrella organisation handling bookings for P&O, Cunard and Princess last year reduced its commission from [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-10-28T09:20:29+00:00 28 October 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

No-no-seven: The best things about Crystal are what’s NOT on board

Cruise lines love to boast about what they have on board their ships that might be better than their rivals. They trumpet every innovation and little extra. By contrast some of the best things about Crystal Serenity, as I discovered during my 12 days on board, are the things it does NOT have. For example . . . 1. No announcements: Captain John Økland broadcast a daily message from the bridge at 9.00 am each morning. But passengers having a lie-in were allowed to sleep on undisturbed. The message is played on the PA in the ship's public rooms, but [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 27 October 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Carnival orders 2 new cruise ships

That didn't take long. Within 24 hours of cruise giant Royal Caribbean announcing it was negotiating to build a new ship, along come rivals Carnival Corporation with news of an order for TWO vessels. While the RCI plans are still in negotiation and under discussion, Carnival's deal has already been inked with their regular shipbuilder, Fincantieri of Italy. A memorandum of agreement has been signed to build a 99,000-ton ship for the Holland America brand, to be delivered in autumn 2015, and for a 135,000-ton vessel for Carnival Cruise Line, to be launched early in 2016. Both ships are said [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 26 October 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Get me a new life jacket – this orange one doesn’t go with my shoes

My thanks to the people at CruiseCompare.co.uk for this piece of weekend fun - a collection of crazy complaints from cruise passengers. 1. No window in an inside cabin The clue is in the name but maybe this guest should read-up on the different cabin types before booking next time. They may even treat themselves to a balcony. 2.The engine is too loud One passenger overheard a man asking the captain to turn the engine off as it was too loud. Would he prefer to be stranded at sea? 3. Waiter is too quick There are always going to be [...]

By John Honeywell| 2015-04-12T21:15:07+00:00 26 October 2012|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

Sailin’ with Palin: Some suggestions for cruises to Brazil and the Amazon

Globe-trotting ex-Python Michael Palin is back on our TV screens, this time exploring Brazil. His new four-part BBC series opened this week in the north-east of the country; next week he goes Into Amazonia and meets the pink dolphins of the Rio Negro. It might be a long way from the grey shores of Britain to the wide waters of the world's biggest river, but it's possible to travel there and back by cruise ship. Passengers who want to follow in Palin's footsteps could set out from Portsmouth on January 5 and be at Manaus, in the heart of the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 26 October 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Oasis 3 is now a definite maybe

Cruise line Royal Caribbean has confirmed it has begun negotiations to build a third Oasis-class ship, capable of carrying more than 6,000 passengers and 2,100 crew. The announcement - following rumours which started circulating earlier this month - was made during its latest earnings statement today. Richard Fain, chairman and CEO, said: "The Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have proven themselves to be exceptionally attractive ships by generating the highest guest satisfaction ratings in the fleet coupled with very compelling financial returns." His cautious statement continued: "Ordering another such ship for delivery in 2016, at a [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 25 October 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments