John Honeywell, Author at Captain Greybeard

Was this a bridge too far for tourists in newly-emerging Myanmar?

The Road to Mandalay was paved with good intentions, but a couple of stops en route left me feeling a little uneasy about the nature of tourism in a country that is only just beginning to open up to visitors. The one-hour flight meant an early start from Aegean Odyssey, but even before 6.00 am the streets of Yangon were already packed with locals up and about in numbers, buying and selling on the downtown pavements, jogging and exercising on the shores of Inya Lake, where Aung San Suu Kyi has her home. After arriving at Mandalay's rudimentary international airport, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 18 December 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Burmese Daze: 48 hours in Yangon

More on Myanmar, and let's go back to the beginning. Aegean Odyssey arrived early at its berth in the centre of the city - just down Strand Road from three bastions of the colonial era, the post office, the British embassy, and the Strand Hotel. And how lucky we were. The extra couple of hours gave the shore excursion team time to organise a sunset visit to the glittering, golden treasures of the Shwedagon Pagoda instead of cramming it into a packed itinerary for our final morning in the city. Never has gold taken on so many colours as during [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 17 December 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Tears flow for the past, but hope is growing for the future of Myanmar

There was so much to do, see, and experience during our 48-hour visit to Yangon that it's difficult to know where to start. So let's begin at the end. Thi Thi had been the guide for Aegean Odyssey's Red 2 tour bus from the first evening's magical visit to the Shwedagon Pagoda. On the second day, while I flew on a separate trip to Mandalay, she led the group for a day-long visit to Bago and Myanmar's tallest pagoda at Shwemawdaw. On our final morning she shepherded us round the myriad stalls of Scott's Market - now re-named Bogyoke Aung [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 16 December 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Cruise line fights back as a new war brews over the Falkland Islands

A new war is threatening to erupt over the Falklands, with the focus this time on visiting cruise ships. P&O Cruises has cancelled all scheduled visits to ports in Argentina as the dispute continues over ships calling at the island capital of Port Stanley. Two other cruise lines, however, have chosen to keep Argentina on their itineraries, while axeing calls to the Falklands. Argentinian authorities have been refusing entry to ships arriving from Port Stanley, and Seabourn Sojourn - like P&O a part of the giant Carnival Corporation - was recently delayed on departure from Buenos Aires as port workers [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-12-16T07:54:24+00:00 16 December 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Our girl is a golden guide

Nuni was our enchanting and enthusiastic guide on an excursion from Aegean Odyssey to Thailand's Phang Nga Bay and the much-vaunted James Bond island. She can almost be forgiven for inadvertently disclosing a key part of the plot of Skyfall along the way. Almost. Her lessons in Thai pronunciation were invaluable - knowing the correct way to say Phuket can be a face-saver in polite company. It's not what you might think, and it's not even "Puckette," but "Pooo-ket" with a long and rising inflexion on the oo-sound. Nuni was an invaluable help during the stop at a fruit orchard [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 13 December 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

KL’s twin towers stay out of sight

New vistas of London will open up when The View from The Shard observation platform welcomes its first paying visitors in February. It might not be as tall as the half-mile-high deck at Dubai's Burj Khalifa, or even Sky100 in Hong Kong, but without a pre-booked timed tickets system there could be queues around the block and half way across London Bridge. The trouble is, it's impossible to guarantee the weather when scheduling a visit weeks in advance; if it doesn't co-operate, there may be nothing to see and a visit could prove pointless. My ascent of Burj Khalifa, during [...]

By John Honeywell| 2015-04-15T20:48:36+00:00 10 December 2012|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment

Top speakers in good company

Readers who saw my earlier post, or who have been following on Twitter, will know that this week I am back in south-east Asia, and back on board Aegean Odyssey,on which I have enjoyed two cruises in the Mediterranean. I flew into Singapore on Friday and boarded the ship on Saturday afternoon. As we sailed through the evening towards Kuala Lumpur, dinner provided an opportunity to meet some of the fellow-passengers. I shared a table with former war correspondent and one-time MP Martin Bell, who seemed as keen to learn about my exploits at the Daily Mirror as I am [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 9 December 2012|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

On the road to Mandalay (by sea)

I had to borrow this picture of Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda (thanks to Wikimedia Commons and Ralf-André Lettau) but by next weekend I should have captured a few of my own. Tonight I'll be flying to Singapore where, on Saturday, I will board Voyages to Antiquity's Aegean Odyssey for a 13-night cruise to Burma - or Myanmar if you prefer. The ship will arrive in Yangon (Rangoon) next Thursday evening; providing the authorities deal with the paperwork in time I'm hoping to be able to go ashore for something to eat. Over the next couple of days I'll be taking an [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 6 December 2012|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment

Ask the Captain: Voyager’s Neil Broomhall answers your questions

Captain Neil Broomhall was, not surprisingly, one of the busiest men on board mv Voyager during its inaugural celebrations in Portsmouth this week. About 1,200 loyal customers of the Voyages of Discovery brand visited the ship and placed bookings worth more than £90,000 before they returned home. There were travel agents to welcome on board, and then a few pesky journalists such as myself among the VIPs at the ceremony during which it was christened by TV naturalist Miranda Krestovnikoff. So a big thank you to him for finding the time to answer a selection of questions sent in by [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 6 December 2012|Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Friends of the Earth accuse cruise lines of failing to clean up their act

Cruise lines are accused of failing to act to reduce the impact of air and water pollution, in an updated report from Friends of the Earth. The 2012 version of the Cruise Ship Report Card, documenting the environmental impact of the cruise industry, claims that more than half the ships graded in 2010 have not shown any significant improvement. FoE assesses ships on their sewage treatment facilities and the pollution caused by fuel burnt to provide propulsion and power. The report concludes that Disney Cruise Line has shown the greatest improvement - likely to be due to the fact that [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 5 December 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments