John Honeywell, Author at Captain Greybeard

Why Brits choose to cruise – and why they prefer to sail from home ports

The people at online travel agent bonvoyage.co.uk have been out with their clipboard and pens again, trying to discover more about why Brits choose cruise holidays - or, as it happens, why they don't. Of almost 2,150 people questioned in their latest survey, 78 per cent had never taken a cruise. Some of them said they could not take enough time off work to fully enjoy the cruise they dearly wanted. Others said they were waiting until retirement before going to sea, while 12 per cent had just never considered the possibility. Someone needs to talk to the 39 per [...]

By John Honeywell| 2015-04-10T15:00:04+00:00 11 October 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Concordia captain wants job back

It's one of the more incredible news stories of the week. Not so much the fact that Francisco Schettino, who was in command of Costa Concordia when it hit rocks and sank with the loss of 32 lives, has finally been sacked. More that he is demanding his job back and claiming he is owed back pay. His bosses at Costa Crociere announced this week that, almost nine months after the tragic sinking, they had "concluded the disciplinary procedure against Schettino, ordering his dismissal." The decision comes just days before a court hearing in Italy which is expected to send [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 11 October 2012|Cruise News|2 Comments

Majestic Line is set to grow

A cruise line which began life as a few scribbled notes on the back of a beer mat is hoping to expand its fleet to as many as five vessels, after being named Entrepreneur of the Year at the Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards. The Majestic Line's two boats, Glen Tarsan (above) and Glen Massan, are converted fishing trawlers carrying just 11 passengers each. The business - named from an episode of TV comedy series Para Handy - began when Andy Thoms and Ken Grant read an article about the decommissioning of the Scottish fishing fleet and the break-up of [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 10 October 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Celebrity gets its Reflection

Celebrity Cruises took possession of their newest ship today. Captain Nicholas Pagonis (far left, above) and company president Michael Bayley (far right) looked on as Richard Fain, boss of parent company Royal Caribbean exchanged signatures with shipbuilder Bernard Meyer to seal the deal for Celebrity Reflection. Bayley, who recently took over from Dan Hanrahan, was squeezed out of the photo-opportunity on one of the ship's over-sized Adirondack chairs (below). Fifth and last of the Solstice-class ships - they represent a $3.7 billion (£2.3 billion) investment which has seen one vessel a year constructed and delivered since 2008 - Reflection has [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 9 October 2012|Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Work starts on P&O’s newest ship

Construction work has started on P&O's newest cruise ship. Managing director Carol Marlow (above) took part in a ceremony to mark the first steel-cutting at the Monfalcone yard of Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. The 141,000-ton ship, designed to carry 3,611 passengers, will be launched in spring 2015. The next production milestone will come in May when the first hull block is laid in dry dock, and the vessel should be floated out in summer 2014. Marlow said today: " The cutting of the steel marks the moment the ship goes into production so for us it is a very exciting time [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 8 October 2012|Cruise Ships|2 Comments

Cruise team make proposal work

When cruise ship actor and dancer Danny Burns decided to propose to his girlfriend, he recruited the help of his fellow performers from Cunard's Queen Victoria and the glorious setting of Piazza San Marco in Venice to make sure she accepted. The trick worked, as this heart-warming video shows. No wonder Shonagh Daly looked shocked - she was the only one not in on the secret as the flashmob danced to Hall and Oates's You Make My Dreams Come True outside the Doges' Palace last month, after hours of secret rehearsal on the ship. Both Danny, 36, from Sheffield, and [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 5 October 2012|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

A new Allure for the Far East?

At 225,000 tons and carrying the population of a small town - up to 6,360 passengers and 2,160 crew - Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas (above) are the biggest passenger ships in the world, making weekly cruises to the Caribbean from their base in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. When Allure was completed two years ago, owners Royal Caribbean announced they had no plans for more vessels of that size and instead started work on designing two which will carry 4,000 passengers each, for delivery in 2014 and 2015. Work dried up at the STX shipyard in Turku, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 4 October 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Dry-dock repairs for Cunard Queen

After a quicker-than-usual turnaround, Cunard cruise ship Queen Victoria slipped away from Southampton's Ocean Terminal shortly after 10.00 this morning. There were no passengers on board, however. Instead of setting out on its scheduled 16-night voyage to Venice and the Adriatic, the ship is heading for dry dock where repairs will be carried out to one of its propulsion pods. Problems with a bearing in one of the pods - which contain huge electric motors to drive the propellers - had restricted the ship's speed for the last two cruises. The work is being carried out in the Lloyd Werft [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 3 October 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

New ship off to an early Getaway

Norwegian Getaway, second of the two new ships being built in Germany for Norwegian Cruise Line, will be completed and delivered three months earlier than originally scheduled. The 4,000-passenger vessel is now expected to enter service in January 2014, sailing seven-day cruises to the eastern Caribbean from Miami. Sister ship Norwegian Breakaway, also being built at the Meyer-Werft yard in Papenberg, will visit Southampton at the end of April next year before crossing to New York, from where it will operate throughout the year. Getaway is also expected to call at Southampton in January 2014 before embarking on its first [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-10-03T11:03:29+00:00 3 October 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Undercover cruise exposé is under-researched and underwhelming

Celebrity Cruises put its PR machine into overdrive when they got wind of Cruises Undercover, a Channel 4 documentary which threatened to expose "the reality of life below deck for the multi-national workforce who toil behind the scenes of glamorous ocean-going holidays." Ironically, the move probably excited more interest in the programme than there might otherwise have been. One recent episode of the Dispatches series had, after all, revealed the startling news that not every item on sale in Poundland stores is actually a bargain. For their cruise ship exposé, presenter Tazeen Ahmed travelled on board Celebrity Eclipse to the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:42+00:00 2 October 2012|Cruise News|4 Comments