John Honeywell, Author at Captain Greybeard

20 million choose to cruise

The number of holidaymakers around the world who took a cruise last year topped 20 million for the first time. The total grew by 10 per cent, or almost two million, on 2010's figures. The main markets are North America, with 11.5 million, and Britain, with 1.7 million. The fastest growth has occurred in Australia - up 30 per cent to more than 500,000, with growth expected to top a million by 2020.. The statistics, released at the beginning of the UK's annual National Cruise Week, were compiled from industry bodies including the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-09-13T22:58:01+00:00 13 September 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Carnival UK’s Dingle picks up Lifetime Achievement Award

Carnival UK CEO David Dingle has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Cruise International Awards announced in London today and presented by Gyles Brandreth at the Soho Hotel. He has ultimate responsibility for 12 cruise ships: three flying the Cunard flag, seven sailing for P&O in the UK, and two more in P&O's Australian division. Already this year he has seen Cunard's ships assemble in Southampton to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and joined Princess Anne as she reviewed the P&O fleet in celebration of the line's 175th anniversary. Dingle, who has been employed in the cruise [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 12 September 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Cunard cruise cancelled for repairs

Urgent repairs to a propeller are forcing cruise ship Queen Victoria into dry dock and will result in the cancellation of a cruise to the Adriatic. Cunard have informed about 2,000 passengers booked on the voyage scheduled to depart from Southampton on October 3 that their holidays cannot go ahead. They have been offered alternative sailings or a full refund - in both cases with an additional 15 per cent credit based on the fare they have paid. The ship, built in Italy at a cost of about £270 million, was launched less than five years ago, in December 2007. [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 10 September 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|2 Comments

Blue future for Azamara ships

The two Azamara Club Cruises ships are next in line for a makeover. They will emerge from their dry-dock refits with freshly-painted dark blue hulls to go with the improvements and updates inside. Twelve-year-old Azamara Quest will spend eight days at the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz, Spain, from November 7. Sister ship Azamara Journey, which also entered service in 2000 will get the same treatment in Singapore next January. Both ships were originally built in France for Renaissance Cruises. Six other vessels of the same design - each carrying fewer than 700 passengers - are sailing in the colours of [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-09-09T07:08:48+00:00 9 September 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

To the best of Europe with Disney

There's an interesting and action-packed week in prospect, travelling to three popular Mediterranean cruise destinations. I'm being whisked from Kusadasi to Rome and Venice to see what is being planned for passengers arriving next year on Disney Magic. The ship returns to Europe in June and as well as offering shore excursions for day visitors, will be putting together a selection of extended tours in conjunction with Adventures by Disney. Being Disney, it's not just a matter of sitting on a coach listening to a guide describing what's in front of me. So I'll be taking part in an archaeological [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 8 September 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Who will be first to get hotel queen Alex to book a cruise ship holiday?

Hotel Inspector Alex Polizzi was back on board The African Queen last night. She first visited the converted Dutch barge three years ago when Andy and Bonny Cowley were struggling to make any money out of their floating hotel. Given a makeover by Alex, the eight-bedroomed vessel was booked solid for a couple of years, and in the summer of 2010 I spent a sunny weekend on board with Saga, who were selling river trips through their brochures. Alex seemed to be expecting the worst when she turned up to take a second look for the last of the current [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 7 September 2012|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

Crewman injured as cruise ship Jewel hits overhead power cable

A member of crew was injured on board cruise ship Jewel of the Seas today as the vessel struck a power cable when it was entering the port of Klaksvik in the Faroe Islands. After receiving immediate medical treatment on board, the crewman was transferred to a local hospital, suffering from concussion. He was accompanied by a member of the ship's care team. It is understood that the overhead cable, stretching betwen the islands of Bordoy and Eysturoy, remained intact but damage was caused to equipment on a mast and to the mast itself (above). The crewman was hit by [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 6 September 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Milly misses the boat, but still finds there is something to smile about

Best-selling author Milly Johnson (left) is trying to live down the embarrassment of missing the boat during her last cruise - she and her two young sons returned from a stroll around Malaga in time to see P&O's Azura sailing without them. The self-confessed "daft old bag," who triumphed in a round of Channel 4's Come Dine With Me, and earlier this summer was suspended over the studio audience of Keith Lemon's Lemonaid, had to make arrangements to rejoin the ship at the next port of call. But that was not until three days later, in a different country, as [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 5 September 2012|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

New livery for Discovery

It's not quite a paint job on the scale of the one which Norwegian Breakaway is about to receive, but cruise ship Discovery will receive a makeover before being transferred to Cruise & Maritime Voyages' management. The ship will be spending time in dry dock before the handover, and will emerge with the livery shown above, including the CMV logo on her funnel. Voyages of Discovery will continue to sell cruises on Discovery as well as their new vessel, Voyager, which is scheduled to depart from Portsmouth on her inaugural voyage in early December. VoD's new brochure comes with a [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 5 September 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Breakaway design to the Max

CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE LARGER VERSION Norwegian Cruise Line have issued the official pictures of the Peter Max design for the hull artwork for their newest ship - and it is indeed exactly as I predicted on Monday. The only pictures released show the starboard side of Norwegian Breakaway, and an NCL spokesperson has confirmed that the port side will be identical - no chance of destination views of the Caribbean to match the embarkation views of home-port New York. Describing his design, which will cover about 40,000 square feet of the ship, Peter Max said: ""The artwork is [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 5 September 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments