John Honeywell, Author at Captain Greybeard

Princess visit gives Falmouth hope of making a packet from cruise calls

The Cornish tourist trade - caught in the maelstrom of the economic downturn and the wettest summer in 100 years - has been boosted by a visit from the biggest cruise ship to call this year. Local officials have taken advantage of the visit to press the case for investment in the port of Falmouth, which has seen a decline in visiting passenger numbers in recent years. The 113,000-ton Caribbean Princess was in town at August Bank Holiday weekend and local officials believe at least 2,000 passengers came ashore by tender and made their way into Falmouth itself, with another [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-09-04T11:08:51+00:00 4 September 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Artist reveals Breakaway hull design

The next stage of the carefully-choreographed release of information about cruise ship Norwegian Breakaway is scheduled for tomorrow, with the big reveal of the hull artwork, designed by illustrator Peter Max. But the official announcement has been pre-empted by the artist himself, who went on his local TV station in New York at the weekend and revealed what he was planning - appropriately enough a tribute to the Big Apple, where the ship will be based, with a multi-coloured skyline and the disembodied head of the Statue of Liberty. Snatched images have begun floating around the internet, but when I [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 3 September 2012|Cruise News|4 Comments

Berlusconi is back on a cruise ship – will he be sleeping in Sophia’s suite?

Never mind the fact that he was incapable of rescuing Italy's economy. Or that he hit the headlines more often for his out-of-hours activities and salacious bunga bunga parties with a succession of young showgirls. For many commentators, Silvio Berlusconi could never escape the tired old tag of "cruise ship crooner" which was hurled at him in reference to his early career when he played the guitar and sang in ships' restaurants. Now, 10 months after his resignation as Italian prime minister, he is returning to the sea. He will be a special guest on board MSC Divina, the newest [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 3 September 2012|Cruise Gossip, Cruise News|0 Comments

Costa cruise ship to be scrapped?

Cruise ship Costa Allegra, which suffered an engine room fire earlier this year and had to be towed to the Seychelles, has been sold for scrap according to reports in Italy. Costa had originally been hoping to find a buyer who would keep the 820-passenger vessel in operation, but now say they do not know what its future will be if negotiations with a Turkish shipowner are successful. Allegra was originally built in 1969 as a container ship but was converted to passenger use and entered service with Costa in 1992. Its decks are named after Impressionist painters, and the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-09-01T10:42:45+00:00 1 September 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Jewel’s farewell to Essex port

It was a sad farewell to Harwich today for 2,110-passenger cruise ship Jewel of the Seas, which has been based in the Essex port for the past nine summer seasons During that time the Royal Caribbean vessel has carried 400,000 passengers on cruises to the Baltic, but now it is being relocated to the US and will be sailing 4, 5 and 7-night Caribbean holidays from Tampa, Florida, and 7-night voyages to New England and Canada from a base in Boston, Massachussetts. To mark its departure, a ceremony was held on board today with Captain Stig Nilsen, Royal Caribbean port [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 31 August 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Port guide goes multi-lingual

International cruise passengers visiting Southampton will benefit from the launch of three newly-translated maps and guides to the city. CruiseSouthampton.com, which provides information for cruise passengers and crew departing from and arriving in Southampton, has unveiled new versions of the document, translated into French, German and Italian. Damian Gevertz, Managing Director of CruiseSouthampton.com, said: "The printed map and guide has become a vital resource for those visiting the city and when non-English speaking visitors said they'd like to see a translated version, we were quick to swoop into action." Doug Morrison, Port Director of ABP's Port of Southampton, added: "With [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 31 August 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Under new management: Change of cruise style for cut-price Discovery

EXCLUSIVE: Cruise ship Discovery is the subject of a new joint venture announced today between All Leisure Holidays and Cruise & Maritime Voyages. The popular 700-passenger vessel is scheduled to return from an extensive dry-dock refurbishment next February, and had been expected to join sister ship Voyager - launching in December - in an expanded Voyages of Discovery fleet. Instead, it will sail alongside Marco Polo, replacing venerable Ocean Countess for most of CMV's departures from regional ports in the UK. While operating on similar-sized ships the cruise experience offered by the two companies has, until now, been markedly different. [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 30 August 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|2 Comments

€500,000 bill for cruise ship party

An Olympic gold medal celebration party on board a luxury cruise ship is reported to have run up a repair bill of €500,000 for the German hockey team. The players have apologised to the operators of MS Deutschland, which was moored at Canary Wharf during the Games and provided accommodation for the German Olympic Committee. Teak panelling in the ship's casino was damaged by cigar burns, a pane of glass was broken, and carpets and upholstery were left stained after being doused in champagne. The damage is said to have cost about €50,000 to repair- but the ship must be [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 29 August 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Next Princess ship will be Regal

Princess Cruises have raided the thesaurus and their back catalogue to come up with a name for their next cruise ship. With Royal Princess recently floated out at a shipyard in Italy, construction work has now begun on her sister, to be called Regal Princess. The company and shipyard officials started the countdown to the ship's launch today as the first building block was lowered into position in the dry dock (above). "Just as Royal Princess was named after one of our iconic early vessels, Regal Princess also takes a name from our past that we think is well suited [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 29 August 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

From crazy golf to Mozart, some of the extra treats on a Sapphire cruise

THIS FEATURE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY MIRROR'S HOMES & HOLIDAYS SUPPLEMENT ON AUGUST 26 It's not often you get the opportunity to inspect the works of great artists like Rembrandt, Rubens and Leonardo da Vinci without having to elbow aside all the other tourists. So an after-hour's visit to revel in the treasures of St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum was a delightful extra treat while our cruise ship was in town. While we admired the masterpieces we were serenaded by the State Symphony Orchestra of St Petersburg playing an hour of familiar favourites, including the Overture from Mozart's Marriage of [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 28 August 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|1 Comment