John Honeywell, Author at Captain Greybeard

$50m upgrade for Oceania trio

Oceania Cruises is to spend $50 million upgrading its original three ships - Regatta, Insignia and Nautica - and to add features which were introduced on the newer Marina and Riviera. The work will be carried out in dry dock at Marseille and Vancouver between April and June next year. The three ships were originally launched in 1998 by the now-defunct Renaissance Cruises, and are almost identical in design to P&O's Adonia and Azamara's Journey and Quest. Each carries up to 684 passengers The upgrades include the refurbishment of suites, staterooms and some public rooms. The ships' top accommodations, the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:30+00:00 6 August 2013|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Islands which are worlds apart

Two British islands, thousands of miles apart, and each with a totally different approach to cruise ships. Guernsey, second-largest of the Channel Islands, is a popular destination for ships on round-Britain voyages, on short breaks from Dover and Southampton, and has potential as a stopping-off point en route to the Mediterranean and the Canaries. Just one problem: there is no cruise pier at St Peter Port and ships have to put their passengers ashore by tender. If the weather is windy and the seas are rough, tendering is not possible. Some years, as many as 60 per cent of the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2013-08-05T15:38:01+00:00 5 August 2013|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

A modern tale of Two Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the towel animals)

Time to take a look at cruising from a perspective different from my own. For some years I have been trying to persuade my son to join me on a ship. He finally agreed to travel with me on Carnival Sunshine. I don't know what persuaded him. It may have been Carnival's Switch On Fun which aired on British television earlier this year. It may, knowing him, have been a morbid fascination with the Carnival brand. In any case, his preconceptions appear to have been influenced more by a 1997 literary essay rather than my blandishments. And I did have [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:30+00:00 4 August 2013|Cruise Gossip|0 Comments

Owzat for a Test Match cruise deal?

With Australia making a strong start to the Third Test at Old Trafford this week, cricketing minds may still be focused on the summer series in England. But hostilities resume again Down Under later in the year, and what better way can there be for the Barmy Army to support their team than by combining a Test Match with a cruise? How about a package which includes a six-night stay at the Hotel Rendezvous in Brisbane, complete with a five-day ticket to the First Test, followed by a visit to Sydney before embarking on Celebrity Solstice for a 12-night cruise [...]

By John Honeywell| 2015-04-07T20:48:09+00:00 2 August 2013|Cruise Deals, Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

It’s official: Cruise fares down by 22%

It's hardly news that the cost of cruising has been falling for several years, but now we have concrete proof. A study by an online travel agency has calculated that the average fare has been cut by almost a quarter since 2008. Cruise specialist www.bonvoyage.co.uk gathered information by taking account of statistics from its own website over the past three years and by polling 1,274 people who had been on a cruise five years ago and had booked another for this year or next. The data revealed the average fare now is £1,248, a full 22 per cent less than [...]

By John Honeywell| 2013-08-02T08:40:07+00:00 2 August 2013|Cruise Deals, Cruise News|0 Comments

Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the fjords of Norway…

Passengers on board Quest for Adventure had an unexpected treat this week, an unannounced 90-minute concert performance by singer-songwriter Ralph McTell during a cruise through the Norwegian fjords. The unique event - McTell's first performance at sea - was the culmination of three years' dogged effort from Quest's cruise director, Neil Horrocks, who has been a fan for 16 years. And of course it finished the only way possible, with McTell's biggest hit, Streets of London. Neil told me today: "It took lots of careful emails to persuade Ralph to come on board. He was naturally wary, as when you [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:30+00:00 30 July 2013|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

P&O’s Arcadia to get extra cabins

Extensive alterations to P&O cruise ship Arcadia will add a new superstructure containing 23 balcony cabins, a luxurious suite, and an extra sun deck. The work will be carried out during a spell in dry dock at Bremerhaven from November 26 to December 12, and P&O are remaining characteristically coy about revealing details. I asked the company for information two weeks ago but none was forthcoming. After an announcement yesterday by the company which will carry out the work, I made a further request for details from P&O. The only response was a simple confirmation of what had been disclosed [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:30+00:00 30 July 2013|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|3 Comments

Claims of cruise ship’s dangerous entry to Venice are complete fiction

No sooner have I stepped off Carnival Sunshine, after a nine-night cruise from Barcelona, than the ship is mired in controversy over an alleged sail-by incident during its arrival in Venice. A local writer claims the vessel came too close to shore in a manouevre intended as a salute to the company's chairman, billionaire Micky Arison, who was watching from his private yacht. The incident has been compared by some commentators to the navigational showboating which led to the Costa Concordia tragedy 18 months ago, and it has been seized upon by campaigners who want to see cruise ships banned [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:30+00:00 29 July 2013|Cruise News|1 Comment

200th crossing as Cunard’s QM2 marks a Transatlantic milestone

A Transatlantic crossing is one of the finest cruise experiences available. Some ships that spend winter in the Caribbean and summer in Europe make the journey twice a year. Cunard's Queen Mary 2 is the only vessel which does it on a regular basis. It's what she was built for, powering across the ocean regardless of the weather. For the passengers there are no ports of call to provide any distractions. There's just the destination to look forward to; Southampton on the eastbound journey, New York on the westbound. And there's everything the ship can offer. Passengers have all the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:30+00:00 26 July 2013|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Happiness on a plate in Sunshine’s steakhouse and Asian kitchen

Regular readers will know that food is one of the highlights of a cruise - for me and for the majority of passengers. Apart from a brief flirtation with the fitness facilities on Celebrity Silhouette last year, my days at sea revolve around mealtimes more than exercise bikes. There is a gym on board Carnival Sunshine, and after the ship's £100 million transformation it now has almost 60 per cent more equipment than before. Sad to report, it remains unsullied by my perspiration or indeed my determination. I have, however, become familiar with two of the ship's finest culinary assets. [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:30+00:00 25 July 2013|Cruise Food & Drink|0 Comments