John Honeywell, Author at Captain Greybeard

Work to start on QE2 hotel

A shipyard in the Chinese port of Zhoushan has won the £63 million contract to convert retired Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2 into a 400-suite floating hotel. If plans announced earlier this year are still current, the ship will leave Dubai this week to head for the yard. After five years of uncertainty, who knows for sure? Perhaps Daniel Chui, chief executive of Oceanic Group, who have taken over responsibility for the ship from Nakheel, who bought the vessel from Cunard and originally planned to berth it in the Emirate. Chui says: "The ship's redevelopment is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for [...]

By John Honeywell| 2013-10-16T10:30:06+00:00 16 October 2013|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

From Croatia to Brazil, with luck

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? I'm in Croatia this week, cruising among its beautiful islands among a group of 27 passengers aboard mv Emanuel, operating for Saga Holidays. Yesterday we were in Split, the country's second-biggest city, home to the 1,700-year-old palace built by Roman emperor Diocletian. The seafront esplanade - the Riva - is one of the finest in Europe, lined with bars and restaurants on one side, and palm trees and gardens on the other. Only the all-pervasive whiff of rotten eggs, courtesy of a sulphur spring emptying into the sea can detract [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 16 October 2013|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Viking invaders head for the ocean

FROM TODAY'S COLUMN IN THE DAILY MIRROR Images of Viking's river cruise ships will be familiar to anyone who has watched mysteries, thrillers and drama on ITV - the company's sponsorship commercials are on screen almost every night. There's no mystery about its success - Viking launched 10 new ships this year and another 14 are being built for 2014. Not content with the Rhine, the Danube and the Seine, the company is now planning to conquer the oceans - in a rather gentler version of the invasions of more than a thousand years ago. The 930-passenger Viking Star is [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 12 October 2013|Cruise News|0 Comments

Asian dream for two new cruise lines

The emerging markets of India and the Far East have been targets for the world's biggest cruise lines for some time, as they seek to expand beyond America and Europe. It's now beginning to look like Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean will not have it all their own way. There are reports of a fledgling company planning to acquire second-hand ships to operate from the Indian sub-continent. At the same time, the Hong Kong-based parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line has placed a £600 million order for a new-build for the Asian market. Ironically, given the ship-building facilities available in [...]

By John Honeywell| 2013-10-08T09:42:07+00:00 8 October 2013|Cruise News|2 Comments

QM2 encore for symphony orchestra

The National Symphony Orchestra should get season tickets for their travels on Cunard's Queen Mary 2. They have just completed a Transatlantic crossing from New York, and are booked to return next September. Last month they were on stage under the watchful eye of conductor Anthony Inglis, who claims to have appeared at the Royal Albert Hall more times than any other conductor, and who has played a part in the naming ceremonies for all three Cunard ships. More than150 passengers volunteered to take part in two choirs, rehearsing under Anthony's direction and then participating in two Last Night of [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 3 October 2013|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

If you go down to the beach today, you’re sure of a big surprise …

This was to be no ordinary shore excursion. That much was apparent when members of the ship’s crew set out in two Zodiac inflatables to construct a temporary jetty for passengers to step ashore. It became clearer still when we discovered we would be accompanied every step of the way by two armed guards carrying high-powered rifles. No more than 100 people were allowed ashore at any one time, so we were split into groups to be taken by tender from our ship, Quest for Adventure. I was in the first group. No time for breakfast, just a heady adrenaline [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 2 October 2013|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment

Britannia and world’s biggest cruise ship – first look at what’s planned

The dust has settled on the week's two big announcements. It's time to reflect on Britannia and Oasis 3, the two new cruise ships that will respectively become the biggest designed and built built for British passengers, and the biggest in the world. First, P&O's Britannia: we knew it would be arriving in 2015, and we knew it was being built on the same basic hull design as this year's star newcomer, Royal Princess. The big reveal was the name. Apart from a few generalisations, and the clues to be gained from examining the computer-drawn impressions, we are not much [...]

By John Honeywell| 2013-09-28T14:48:23+00:00 28 September 2013|Cruise News|4 Comments

Dublin greets a million … and one

Dublin welcomed its millionth cruise passenger this morning when Diane Taylor, from Newfoundland, arrived with her husband, Doug, on Carnival Legend - the 100th cruise ship to visit the city this year. They were welcomed at the foot of the gangway by the Lord Mayor, Oisin Quinn, and other dignitaries. After being presented with a bouquet of flowers, they were whisked off on a VIP tour of the Irish capital, with a surprise gift of €1,000 spending money. The millionth arrival marked the end of a record cruise season for Dublin. Passenger numbers have tripled in a decade and the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 27 September 2013|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Anniversary memories of a Royal liner that couldn’t wait to be launched

It's a big anniversary for Cunard: 75 years ago today, on Tuesday 27 September 1938, HM Queen Elizabeth, with her daughters Elizabeth and Margaret at her side, launched Queen Elizabeth - at that time the biggest passenger ship ever built. Her husband, King George VI was to have travelled to the John Brown shipyard on Clydebank with her, but at the request of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, he remained in London as the prospect of war loomed. At the launch The Queen made a speech in which she said: "The launching of a ship is like the inception of all [...]

By John Honeywell| 2013-09-27T11:25:34+00:00 27 September 2013|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

QM2 to the rescue! Close encounter in mid-Atlantic for solo oarswoman

Cunard flagship Queen Mary 2 lent a helping hand to a solo woman rower Mylène Paquette in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean today. Mylène, from Canada, is aiming to become the first North American woman to row solo across the Atlantic, a total of 2,700 nautical miles. She set out from Halifax, Nova Scotia on July 6, heading for Lorient, France, but was hit by the remnants of Atlantic Storm Humberto and had lost her anchor and a satellite phone. QM2, which left New York on Sunday on a seven-night crossing to Southampton, received a request to assist yesterday [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 26 September 2013|Cruise News|1 Comment