Cruise ship passengers visiting Bergen got a special treat yesterday when a school of pilot whales swam into the fjord and almost into the city. Cunard's Queen Elizabeth, Costa Deliziosa and Saga Ruby were among the ships in port when about 50 whales decided to put on a spectacular show throughout the afternoon. One local resident told local news outlet bt.no she had never seen anything like it in all the 40 years she had lived overlooking the fjord.
Giant cruise ship Carnival Magic, carrying more than 4,500 passengers, sailed to the rescue of a tiny motor boat in the Mediterranean last night. Two Frenchmen, a father and son, sent out a Mayday call from the motor yacht Jean Michele when it lost power in heavy seas off the Spanish coast. Magic, which had left Barcelona a few hours earlier at the start of a week-long voyage, had already had to cancel a scheduled visit to Monte Carlo today because forecast high winds were expected to make it impossible for the 128,000-ton vessel to enter harbour. She was the [...]
On the day that Oceania's newest cruise ship, Riviera, met the water for the first time at a shipyard in Italy, sister ship Marina was paying her first ever visit to British shores. There were very few Brits among the 1,250 passengers boarding the 65,000-ton vessel in Dover on Friday for a 14-night voyage around the UK and Ireland (and a couple of days in Norway). Most were well-heeled Americans who enjoy the casual country-club style of Oceania cruising - there's no need to dress formally to enjoy some of the finest food at sea. Marina has 10 restaurants, more [...]
Congratulations to Caroline Beattie - otherwise known as @CLB001 - whose Tweeting has won a preview cruise on Celebrity's newest ship, Silhouette. She and husband Michael will be flying to Rome at the end of the month to get the Celebrity treatment on a two-day VIP sailing before any paying passengers board the ship. The competition, which I judged along with Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor in chief of Cruise Critic, asked entrants to say - in 140 characters or fewer - which of the ship's new features they would most like to experience. Caroline's entry, which each of us independently [...]
One of Britain's biggest cruise travel agents has stopped taking bookings, after a crisis week in which four of the major cruise lines severed their relations with the company over fears for its finances. A message on Gills's Cruise Centre website says existing clients with queries should phone its customer services department on 0845 460 6094. The family-owned company was established more than 50 years ago, and has concentrated on specialising in selling cruises since 2005. About 60,000 passengers a year are booked on holidays through the company. Its London office was closed in March and support staff were relocated [...]
Hopes of superyacht SeaDream returning to the Thames to provide luxurious accommodation for the 2012 Olympics may have been dashed, but at least one vessel is going to be berthed in London for next summer's Games. And on Wednesday evening MS Deutschland squeezed through a lock gate with inches to spare as it visited South Quay on a test run, becoming the largest vessel yet to tie up in the shadow of Canary Wharf's skyscraper office blocks. The 22,4000-ton ship, which can accommodate 548 passengers, is 175 metres (574 feet) long and has a beam of 23 metres (75 feet). [...]
Somewhere in Britain, a fabulously lucky punter is clutching a Euromillions lottery ticket worth £161 million. They have won enough money to make them the 418th richest person in the country, almost as wealthy as David AND Victoria Beckham. With their winnings, they could buy Cristiano Ronaldo. Twice. Or a whole archipelago of holiday islands in the Bahamas and two Boeing 767 jets to fly there. With a fortune earning £10 a minute in interest, they could afford 80 Bugatti Veyron supercars, and the petrol to fuel them. But their new-found riches are not enough to match the amount of [...]
During a session at the UK Cruise Convention earlier this year, the chairman of the discussion drew almost universal derision for asking a representative from Hapag-Lloyd Cruises what facilities their ships had for families, and whether they would consider following MSC's example and offer free places for children. Clever-dick critics - and I count myself among them - were quick to point out that Hapag-Lloyd operates luxury expedition vessels such as Hansaeatic and Columbus, and the ϋber-luxury Europa, the only ship to have consistently earned a five star-plus rating from Douglas Ward's Berlitz Guide to cruising. As Ward puts it [...]
With the death toll in the Volga riverboat sinking expected to rise to 129, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an inquiry and a complete review of passenger shipping. An investigation has been opened into the operating company and the local river authority, and criminal proceedings are being taken against the captains of two ships which passed the capsized vessel without stopping to help. Divers have recovered 71 bodies from the Bulgaria and 58 passengers are still recorded as missing. Many of the victims were children. The Emergency Ministry reports that 79 people were rescued. The vessel, built in 1955 [...]
The UK's busiest cruise port is preparing for another hectic day on Saturday when it hosts six cruise ships for only the second time this year. Southampton's facilities - on the quayside and in the city itself - will be put under strain as more than 33,500 passengers return from holidays or prepare to embark. Extra pressure will be created as a result of on-going strike action by council workers. The cruise invasion could bring as much as £9 million of business for local hotels, shops and taxi drivers. Strictly speaking, the port does not have dedicated terminal facilities to [...]