John Honeywell, Author at Captain Greybeard

Top price for Cunard charity cruise

The privileged few who witnessed my performance on the Yacht Club dance floor on board Queen Elizabeth in the early hours of Tuesday morning will be horrified to learn that I was back in action again this morning. This time it was in the spectacular hall of London's Natural History Museum, where it would have been a difficult task to discern me from the dinosaurs on display. It was all in a good cause at the London Press Club Ball in aid of the Journalists' Charity. Cunard had generously donated a five-day voyage on Queen Elizabeth to be sold in [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-10-15T15:12:12+00:00 15 October 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

Majestic time without Her Majesty

I am still getting my breath back after the hectic events of the Queen Elizabeth naming ceremony, partly because of the ferocious air-conditioning in my cabin, but mostly because of the hectic schedule of events. Into a mere 12 hours was crammed a champagne reception, the ceremony itself, a quick tour of the ship, another champagne reception, a four course dinner, and then a thorough examination of the ship's bars and the Yacht Club disco - which I seem to recall took until 2.00 am. That left just five hours sleep before the alarm clock summoned me to a quick [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:19+00:00 14 October 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Cruise ship passenger lost overboard

Sorry to learn that a passenger has disappeared from Fred Olsen's Balmoral, the ship on which I recently sailed to the Baltic. The 79-year-old man went overboard about 45 miles south of Lizard Point in Cornwall shortly before the ship was due to return to Dover after a 21-day cruise to the Mediterranean and the Adriatic. A coastguard helicopter from Portland in Dorset, the Royal Navy frigate HMS Westminster, and a French coastguard plane searched the English Channel without success. The man's wife had reported him missing in the early hours of yesterday morning when she woke to discover he [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:19+00:00 12 October 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

Queen Elizabeth: Cunard’s newest cruise ship could become a classic

There was all too little time to get a good look at Cunard's new ship, Queen Elizabeth, between boarding after yesterday's naming ceremony and leaving about 15 hours later in order to make way for the 2,000-plus passengers embarking on the Maiden Voyage. Sufficient to get a flavour of the vessel, and the care and attention to detail that has been lavished on its layout and decor, but not enough for a good old root around. The full exploration will have to wait - not for too long, I hope. But what are my first impressions, and how does the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:19+00:00 12 October 2010|Cruise Ships|2 Comments

Queen Elizabeth: video highlights

Watch The Queen chuckle (at about 5:35) as Cunard president Peter Shanks reminds her that she is the only person who has been present at the naming of all three of the company's ships to be called Queen Elizabeth - over a span of 72 years.

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:19+00:00 12 October 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Queen Elizabeth: a new British icon

As Cunard President Peter Shanks pointed out, three of his company's ships have carried the name Queen Elizabeth. And only one person at the naming of the latest vessel in Southampton yesterday could claim to have been present at all three launches - the Queen herself. At the first, on Clydeside in 1938, she was a 12-year-old Princess accompanying her mother. In 1967, again on Clydeside, she launched its successor, whose name until she pronounced it had been a closely-guarded secret. Cunard bosses were surprised when she went off-script and called the liner "Queen Elizabeth the Second" - it had [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:19+00:00 12 October 2010|Cruise News|2 Comments

All ready for today’s Royal ceremony

Unseasonably warm and sunny, the weather is behaving itself for today's naming ceremony of Cunard's newest ship, Queen Elizabeth. In a few hours I will be joining the invited guests on the quayside at Southampton's Ocean Terminal as The Queen breaks a bottle of Rothschild's Graves to christen the vessel which carries her name, and then I will be going on board for the gala dinner tonight. I will be back on dry land tomorrow morning, so that the £365 million ship can be prepared for the 2,092 passengers embarking on her maiden voyage to the Canaries, which sold out [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:19+00:00 11 October 2010|Cruise News|2 Comments

Cruise ships make the headlines

Gales blew my Scottish islands cruise off course last week, preventing planned visits to Iona and Staffa. Instead of risking stormy open waters off Mull, the plucky little Glen Tarsan of The Majestic Line sought shelter in the sea lochs of the west coast. Not that the change of plan helped me find any internet access, so there's lots of cruise news to catch up with this weekend. And all the time I'm sitting at home watching impatiently as our American cousins and some of the UK's top travel agents get first look at Cunard's new Queen Elizabeth. It will [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:20+00:00 10 October 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Entertainment, Cruise News|0 Comments

Lessons to be learned at sea

It's not too late to grab a bargain cruise for half term, though you might have to pinch a day or two of school time at the beginning or end to make the most of these last-minute bargains. Tell the head teacher it's educational to travel to New England in the fall, or to be one of the first passengers on board Cunard's brand new Queen Elizabeth. Learn how leaves change colour in the autumn on a nine-night cruise to Canada and New England on board Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas. Fly to Boston, then it's on to Portland, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:20+00:00 9 October 2010|Cruise Deals|2 Comments

EXCLUSIVE: white wine naming for Cunard’s new Queen Elizabeth

Sailing around the west coast of Scotland - and dodging the gales - on board the Majestic Line's lovely little boat Glen Tarsan, I have been enjoying a break from the internet and the rest of the outside world. But I am in Fort William today, and there's just chance to bring you a little exclusive. Most new ships are named by smashing a bottle of Champagne or possibly Prosecco at the appropriate moment. When Her Majesty names Queen Elizabeth in Southampton on Monday, the Champagne will be saved for the guests' glasses, and instead a bottle of white wine [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-10-07T10:17:53+00:00 7 October 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments