Captain Greybeard

The travel pages of The Guardian hardly ever register the slightest interest in cruising, despite the fact that it earns thousands of pounds each week from cruise lines and specialist travel agents. But the newspaper must think its readers have some interest in the subject because it has launched an attack on Britain's biggest cruise line, claiming its new tipping policy will result in crew members losing out financially. P&O introduced auto-gratuities in April. Instead of stuffing cash into brown envelopes to be handed to waiters and stewards on the last night of the cruise, passengers now have £3.10 per [...]

A Royal Navy helicopter from Cornwall flew 100 miles into the Atlantic in near-storm conditions to airlift a cruise ship passenger to hospital. The 83-year-old man was travelling on Marco Polo, which was crossing from Cobh in southern Ireland to France. He had suffered a suspected heart attack. Lieut John Duke of RNAS Culdrose said: "It was very rough weather. You're talking 30 to 40-foot waves and wind blowing against the ship, making it roll. It was a very deep swell with very choppy waters. It's certainly an aggressive sea out there, bordering on storm conditions, but the crew conducted [...]

There's an extra-special VIP guest on board Cunard flagship Queen Mary 2 this week - ex-president George Bush is fulfilling a long-held ambition to make a Transatlantic crossing. Together with his wife Barbara, daughter Dorothy Bush Koch, and grand-daughter Gigi, 87-year-old Bush boarded the ship in Southampton on Friday for the seven-night voyage to New York. Bush, the 41st president of the USA, joked that friends have teased him about making the journey in the centenary year of the Titanic's sinking. He is reported as reassuring them with his customary wit and grasp of world affairs: "I think global warming [...]