John Honeywell, Author at Captain Greybeard

Costa captain thanks ‘divine hand’

Could the captain of Costa Concordia captain be about to submit a "guilty but insane" plea ahead of his scheduled court appearance on July 21? That's the best explanation I can come up with for his claim that he was guided by a "divine hand" on the night his ship ran aground. Francisco Schettino, charged with manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning his ship, has written to an Italian newspaper to give his version of the events which led to the loss of 32 lives when the vessel struck rocks and capsized off the island of Giglio. He claims that [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:46+00:00 6 July 2012|Cruise News|1 Comment

Another day, another maiden call

One of the traditions of cruise travel is that every time a ship visits a port for the first time, local dignitaries will come on board and present the captain with a plaque to mark the event. Observant passengers will have noted the collections of souvenirs , plates and other memorabilia on display - usually in a public stairwell or a corridor near the bridge. Fred Olsen's Balmoral has excelled herself this week, making two maiden calls in two days - not bad going for a ship that's been on the go for 24 years. On Monday, when the ship [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:46+00:00 4 July 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

P&O on the crest of a wave

What is the compulsion that forces us to wave at passing ships? We have all done it, as other cruise ships have joined us in port, or as we have left them behind on departure. Last night, Princess Anne waved off all seven ships in the P&O fleet at the end of a memorable and emotional day which marked the founding of the cruise company 175 years ago. She was not alone. Thousands of people had flocked to Southampton throughout the day. As evening approached, an estimated 30,000 gathered along Southampton Water from Hythe to Calshot, from Mayflower Park and [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:46+00:00 4 July 2012|Cruise News|1 Comment

P&O’s big day in pictures

The curse of the British summer put paid to the Red Arrows display for P&O's Grand Event - as it did a month earlier for Cunard's Jubilee tribute. The rain also made it impossible to take any decent photographs of the flotilla of seven ships in procession down Southampton Water, so here's a selection of pictures from the drier part of the day. Princess Anne, at a reception on board Oriana, cuts an elaborate cake made by celebrity patissier Eric Lanlard. Picture by Ben Fitzpatrick Earlier, she was welcomed to the proceedings by P&O life president Lord Sterling. Picture by [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:46+00:00 3 July 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

P&O’s magnificent seven line up

The P&O fleet lines up (from left) Ventura, Arcadia, Aurora, Oriana, Adonia, Oceana and Azura. Picture by Mike O'Dwyer/Newscast. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE It was a murky old morning as P&O's seven ships arrived in Southampton for their big day. As Carnival UK chief executive David Dingle remarked to me as we stood in the rain, waiting to be interviewed for the BBC1 Breakfast Show, it was a very British event, being celebrated under very British weather. As luck would have it, Bob Diamond's resignation from Barclays Bank scuppered my TV appearance. If it had been announced just 10 [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:46+00:00 3 July 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Voyager work goes to UK shipyard

Following my report yesterday, Voyages of Discovery have now formally announced that work on upgrading their new ship will begin at Portland in Dorset on November 1. The vessel will arrive at Queens Pier as Alexander von Humboldt and leave a month later as Voyager, ready to take 540 passengers on a maiden voyage to the Caribbean and South America. Northern Ireland-based contracting company, Mivan - who last year worked on the upgrade to cabins on board P&O's Adonia - will be completing the project which marks the final stage in a multi-million investment. Key new additions to Voyager will [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:46+00:00 2 July 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Dubai unveils new QE2 hotel plan

It's taken a while - almost four years in fact - but the owners of former Cunard flagship Queen Elizabeth 2 announced today they have finally settled on plans to convert the vessel into a 300-room luxury hotel. The ship will be the centrepiece of the cruise terminal at Dubai's Port Rashid, and the development will include the construction of a maritime museum. QE2 devotees will be delighted to learn that elaborate plans to built penthouse apartments in the ship's funnel have been abandoned. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman of owners Istithmar World, has acknowledged that visitors will want to [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:46+00:00 2 July 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

175 years of P&O heritage

For the thousands of passengers marking P&O's Grand Event this week, and the hundreds of thousands taking cruises on the line's ships throughout the year, the story of the company's 175-year history will make a great souvenir. Its 192 pages are packed with more than 300 fascinating pictures of life on board ships from the earliest - William Fawcett (above) - to today's fleet. Long-time favourite Canberra, which introduced many to cruising for the first time, delivered countless families to a new life in Australia, and came home rust-streaked from the Falklands War (below), also features prominently. And it is [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:46+00:00 2 July 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Everything you need to know about P&O’s 175th birthday Grand Event

On Tuesday, all seven of P&O's ships will assemble in Southampton for a day of celebration to mark the company's 175th anniversary. It's the biggest gathering of ships in years, and it will culminate in a Royal send-off for more than 15,000 passengers setting out on extra special cruise holidays. Many of them have been living in a state of anticipation since snapping up places on their favourite ships months ago when the event was first announced. Princess Anne, who has named two of the ships - Aurora in 2000 and Oceana in 2003 - will be visiting a third, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:46+00:00 1 July 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Saga and Voyages count the cost of their cruise ship dry-dock refits

It's an expensive business keeping cruise ships up to date. Just ask Saga, who ran over budget on the refits to their newest ship Saga Sapphire (above) and its predecessor Saga Pearl II, which has since become Quest for Adventure. And ask Voyages of Discovery, who are currently in the final stages of planning the conversion of Voyager while simultaneously calculating what they can afford to do to improve mv Discovery. Sapphire was originally built in 1982 as Europa for the German cruise line Hapag-Lloyd and was given a £27 million refit in 2009 while it was being operated by [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:46+00:00 1 July 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments