John Honeywell, Author at Captain Greybeard

It’s official: The best way to find a cruise is by looking in The Mirror

The mystery shopper who was searching for a Mediterranean cruise in this week's issue of TTG chose the right place to start. Posing as a first-time cruiser with a budget of £2,000 the customer phoned Cruise Thomas Cook on the basis of "a bright and colourful advert in the Sunday Mirror." Two High Street travel agents and an online agency were also consulted for the exercise, but it was the Sunday Mirror ad that delivered the goods, with a score of 78 out of 100. Sunpex Travel in Kent disappointed by ignoring the request for a cruise sailing from the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:53+00:00 24 February 2012|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

P&O prepares Rose Bowl check-in for Grand Event cruise passengers

It's going to be mighty crowded in Southampton harbour on July 3 when all seven of P&O's cruise ships will be in port to celebrate the company's 175th anniversary. The problem of where each of the ships will berth has already been decided, but there's still the small matter of the passengers to sort out - and that adds up to almost 15,000 leaving in the morning, and another 15,000 arriving from before midday to start their holidays. There are four permanent cruise terminals at the docks, and another warehouse which is occasionally pressed into service. That still leaves the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-02-23T17:05:52+00:00 23 February 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Concordia: More bodies found

Divers searching the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia have located eight bodies and were yesterday able to recover four of them, including a five-year-old girl. Weather conditions worsened before the other bodies could be removed. The death toll, including those still counted as missing, is 32. Work is progressing to remove the remaining fuel from the vessel, which ran aground off the coast of the Italian island of Giglio, on January 13. Bids for the salvage operation have been put out to tender and it is still hoped the wreckage can be re-floated and towed away for dismantling, rather than [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:53+00:00 23 February 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

A new story as Infinity announces cruises from Harwich and beyond

With annual UK passenger numbers nudging the 100,000 mark, Celebrity Cruises have announced that it will have a second ship sailing from Britain next year. The 11-year-old Celebrity Infinity, carrying 2,200 passengers, will be based in Harwich during summer 2013, embarking on voyages to Norway, Iceland, and around the British Isles. Celebrity president Dan Hanrahan, in London last night to launch the company's new partnership with wine specialists Vinopolis, announced that the ship would arrive in May 2013 for a season lasting until October. It is expected to include a range of 10, 11, and 12-night voyages to the fjords [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:53+00:00 23 February 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Entertainment|1 Comment

More drugs found on P&O Aurora

A British passenger on P&O's cruise ship Aurora has been arrested in Australia as he attempted to smuggle 30 kilograms of cocaine ashore. A sniffer dog called Sherlock is reported to have alerted customs officers to Ronald Fletcher, 59, who was held last Friday at Sydney's Circular Quay. Police discovered several silver packages inside a wetsuit he was wearing under his clothes, and another 25 packages were found in suitcases in his cabin. Fletcher appeared at Sydney Central Local Court today, charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug. Bail was refused and the case was adjourned until [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:53+00:00 22 February 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

EXCLUSIVE: Cruise ship chartered to provide Olympics accommodation

A cruise ship has been chartered to provide accommodation for key workers at the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games this summer. Fred Olsen's Braemar will be berthed in East London for a period of 34 days, from July 12 to August 15. It will be a temporary home-from-home for about 900 workers, mostly those involved in transporting competitors and officials around the Games venues and those employed in the transport depots. The ship is expected to be tied up at Albert Dock or King George V Dock, close to London City airport and near the ExCel centre which is [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:53+00:00 21 February 2012|Cruise News|8 Comments

Why a week is not long enough to get the most from a cruise on Allure

We have come to the end of our week on Allure of the Seas, and what a packed seven days it has been. There are those who have suggested that, because it is such a huge floating resort, there is no need for the ship to actually go anywhere and that passengers would be more than happy spending all their holiday on board. Perhaps some do, spurning the chance to get sand between their toes at Labadee, to brave the Jamaican hospitality at Falmouth, or to choose from a host of activities in Cozumel (above). The alternate week's itinerary takes [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:53+00:00 20 February 2012|Cruise Gossip|0 Comments

Labadee through a fish-eye

One of the reasons for inviting Blackbeard on Allure of the Seas is that he is a better photographer than me, and also has an iPhone which he can pull all sorts of cinematographic tricks with. Like these videos from our day in Labadee. He captured some of the activity on Barefoot Beach in the clip above, and you can watch the ship's departure from the island in the short film below. No doubt he would ask me to point out that they are stop-motion videos, using an app which takes a picture every second and then assembles them all [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:54+00:00 19 February 2012|Cruise Destinations|2 Comments

Thomson triumph in cruise awards

A cruise ship which has been vilified on BBC's Watchdog has confounded its critics by winning a sheaf of consumer awards. Thomson Dream has triumphed in the annual Cruisers' Choice Awards compiled by Cruise Critic and based on ratings and reviews submitted by its 800,000 members. The 1,506-passenger ship was named as best overall in the mid-sized category and has been rated top for best entertainment, service, cabins and shore excursions. The awards come as a rebuttal to the TV consumer programme, fronted by Anne Robinson, which has twice reported complaints from passengers who travelled on Dream in its first [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:54+00:00 18 February 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Lunch is sacrificed for a tour of the Mayan ruins above Mexican waves

Seven days in the Caribbean on the biggest cruise ship in the world. Diary of a week on board Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas FRIDAY: A look at the cruise ship schedule for Cozumel today had me reaching for the smelling salts. The island, off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula is slightly smaller than the Isle of Man, and it was about to welcome almost 20,000 passengers for the day, with Seven Seas Navigator, Norwegian Star, Norwegian Spirit, Ryndam, Carnival Conquest and Mariner of the Seas lining up with Allure. I needn't have worried. This is a place [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:54+00:00 18 February 2012|Cruise Destinations|3 Comments