John Honeywell, Author at Captain Greybeard

Stay slim on the cruise ship diet

Regular readers often wonder how I can maintain my youthful figure while travelling on so many cruises. All those full English breakfasts, 24-hour buffets, surf 'n' turf dinners and chocoholic midnight feasts must take their toll, they imagine. Actually, I find it quite easy to stay slim, thanks to my steadfast devotion to regular exercise in the ships' fitness centres and a determination to restrict myself to healthy eating. . . . er, hang on a minute. I think I just woke up from a weird dream. The truth, as anyone who followed my weight-loss cruise last year on Celebrity [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:37+00:00 5 March 2013|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

Hurtigruten ship runs aground

Sister ship Midnatsol in Norway's Trollfjord Hurtigruten ship Kong Harald ran aground in a remote fjord in the north of Norway last night. The vessel, carrying 258 passengers and 57 crew, hit a rock at the entrance to the narrow Trollfjord, shortly before midnight. Although the ship's hull was breached, the only part affected was the main ballast tank. The ship remained upright and was freed after about three hours as the tide rose. It proceeded to Svolvaer, in the Lofoten islands, where the passengers - including 16 from the UK - were disembarked. The scheduled sailing has been cancelled, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:37+00:00 5 March 2013|Cruise News|2 Comments

Adding up the cruise numbers

Are more British holidaymakers taking cruises? Or are fewer people taking more cruises? The questions arise from the latest statistics issued by the Passenger Shipping Association, which claim a record year for departures from UK ports. Embarkations rose by 10 per cent in 2012 - the fourth double-digit increase in seven years - to a total of 962,000. But with cruising feeling the effects of last January's Costa Concordia tragedy, and squeezed by the continuing financial crisis and the Euro's troubles abroad, the total number of Brits taking an ocean cruise holiday rose by only 1,000, to 1,701,000. Significantly, more [...]

By John Honeywell| 2013-03-05T01:00:51+00:00 5 March 2013|Cruise News|1 Comment

Concerns over safety drill led to cancellation of Discovery cruise

CMV is confident that cruise ship Discovery will be cleared to sail on her next voyage, due to depart from Avonmouth on March 15. But the company remains cagey about the reasons the ship's February 28 departure was cancelled. The ship, operated until late 2012 by Voyages of Discovery, had just completed a lengthy refit in an Italian shipyard prior to its return to the UK last week. An inspection by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency at Portland - to where the vessel had diverted following delays caused by bad weather in the Bay of Biscay - resulted in the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:37+00:00 4 March 2013|Cruise News|3 Comments

‘Technical problems’ blamed for cancellation of Discovery cruise

As passengers disembark cruise ship Discovery, following the cancellation last night of her inaugural journey for Cruise & Maritime Voyages, the company has issued the following statement: It is with sincere regret that we have to announce the cancellation of Discovery's scheduled 15-night cruise to Norway and the Land of the Northern Lights. The vessel was originally scheduled to sail from Bristol Avonmouth on Thursday 28 February, but due to adverse weather conditions en route from Genoa, compounded by tidal restrictions in Bristol, Discovery was re-routed to Portland where our passengers embarked. The Discovery has undergone an extensive dry docking [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:37+00:00 2 March 2013|Cruise News|3 Comments

Passengers sent home as cruise is cancelled after ‘unfinished’ refit

Discovery's first cruise since transferring from Voyages of Discovery to Cruise & Maritime Voyages has been cancelled at the last minute. Passengers who boarded the vessel yesterday, expecting to be travelling on a 15-night voyage in search of the Northern Lights, will be going home tomorrow. The ship has been in Portland, Dorset, since Thursday morning, after arriving from a lengthy dry-dock refit in Genoa, Italy. Bad weather in the Bay of Biscay was blamed for an 11th-hour diversion from Avonmouth, its intended departure port. Officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency have been inspecting the vessel since it arrived [...]

By John Honeywell| 2013-03-01T22:37:09+00:00 1 March 2013|Cruise News|0 Comments

What’s in a name? No ‘i’-dea

Oceania Cruises celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and these two short videos go some way to demonstrating what has made the company so successful. The line rose from the ashes of Renaissance Cruises and began by chartering two of the former R ships which it re-named Insignia and Regatta. In 2005 a third, Nautica, joined the fleet, which grew further with the addition of new-builds Marina and Riviera - both of which have gained consistently high marks when judged by passengers and luxury travel magazines. Given that the founders originally wanted to call the company Oceana, but were forced [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:37+00:00 1 March 2013|Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Will Titanic II float your boat or is the plan a dinosaur dead in the water?

It's no secret I have been sceptical of the much-touted proposals to build Titanic II right from the start. It seemed less like a viable plan to build an updated replica than a publicity-seeking scheme from Australian mining magnate Clive Palmer. Even with his unnecessary assurances about the provision of sufficient lifeboats and his off-colour remarks that the ship would inevitably sink "if you put a hole in it," most observers remained unconvinced that such a project would be welcomed by the cruising public. Doubts were reinforced when big international events scheduled to launch the project were called off in [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:37+00:00 28 February 2013|Cruise Gossip|6 Comments

Discovery’s moment of history at Avonmouth delayed by the weather

Bad weather in the Bay of Biscay has put a halt to a little bit of history being made today. Cruise ship Discovery should have been embarking passengers in the port of Avonmouth, but instead the ship has diverted to Portland on the south coast. Passengers beginning a 15-night cruise in search of the Northern Lights are being taken from Bristol to the Dorset port by coach. The ship was delayed on its journey to the UK from Genoa, where it has been undergoing a multi-million pound refurbishment since transferring from Voyages of Discovery to a new joint venture with [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:37+00:00 28 February 2013|Cruise News|5 Comments

Say hello to Norwegian Breakaway

There's some suitably stirring music to accompany these impressive videos showing Norwegian Breakaway emerging into the open air for the first time today. The 146,600-ton ship is the largest passenger vessel ever built in Germany and was towed gently out of the construction shed at the Meyer-Werft yard this morning. There's a few more weeks of fitting out to be completed before Breakaway makes the tricky 36 km conveyance down the River Ems to the North Sea. Already in place and prominently visible from the shore are the ship's extensive water slides. Less apparent are the Waterfront complex of bars [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:37+00:00 26 February 2013|Cruise Ships|0 Comments