John Honeywell, Author at Captain Greybeard

Fantasy is one step closer to reality

Say hello to Disney Fantasy, inching out from a construction shed into a grey and chilly day at the Meyer-Werft yard in Germany. The new 130,000-ton cruise ship - a sister for Disney Dream - will be launched to an adoring public in a warmer and sunnier Florida at the end of March, but before then there are still thousands of man-hours of work needed to complete construction and fitting out. I'll be taking a look round the ship later this week. Fingers crossed, Disney will allow me to take some pictures for you as well. Top picture courtesy pazzoperilmare.com [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:56+00:00 8 January 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

The write way to cruise

Have you got an inspiring story to tell about a cruise? If it was with Holland America it could win you another holiday, and if it was with Princess it could become part of a year-long series of passengers' inspirational stories. The Princess project follows last year's popular blog listing 50 Essential Experiences, which had passengers and members of crew sharing their expertise and opinions and covering destinations from the Chilean fjords to Vietnam, and from encountering crocodiles in Costa Rica to shopping in the fish market at Cannes. Now the cruise line is collecting a year's worth of stories [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:56+00:00 8 January 2012|Cruise Gossip|0 Comments

Work in progress as cruise ships are given a New Year transformation

You can keep your New Year resolutions - they'll be history in a week or two anyway. I'm more interested in New Year restorations, re-fits and refurbs, especially when I look around and see how many cruise ships are sitting in dry docks around the world, with construction workers crawling all over them. Millions of pounds are being spent on upgrading the ships, and no detail is too small or too large - whether it's installing flat-screen TVs in cabins, cutting holes in decks to construct an atrium, or as I saw recently on Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:56+00:00 6 January 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Oriana is looking as good as new but chef Marco is left under the weather

The distinct aroma of new carpets still hangs in the air on P&O cruise ship Oriana, back home briefly after its first cruise since the recent multi-million pound re-fit to adapt it to an adult-only vessel. The kids' club is gone, replaced by 27 new cabins, two of them dinky little singles at the stern. It was interesting to discover that not all the fittings from the club ended up in a skip at the Hamburg shipyard where Oriana's dry-dock refit took place; a few "heritage" items have been placed in storage, and some pieces of equipment have gone to [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 5 January 2012|Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Book it, pack it, float off . . .

Comedian Peter Kay got it right when it came to organising holidays abroad. "Booked it, packed it, ****ed off," was the line, and never mind that he was talking about Teletext rather than the Internet - that was a few years ago. Now there is growing evidence that online bookings are growing in importance for cruise lines, according to research carried out by deal-checker website Travelzoo. Although the cruise sector is traditionally led by travel agent bookings, the findings show that 38 per cent of consumers now book their cruise holidays exclusively online, an increase of 20 per cent on [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 4 January 2012|Cruise Deals, Cruise News|0 Comments

Grab yourself a collector’s calendar

My item about P&O's 2012 calendars excited a bit of interest, not least from Cruise Critic, who pounced on the mention of the male strippers (below) who were threatening to have Adonia's name changed to Adonis, and promptly got hold of a copy to give away in a competition. I hope they coughed up a £10 donation to Help For Heroes. A number of you asked where they could buy a copy of the heritage calendar depicting 175 years of treasured P&O memories, and I'm afraid I have to report that although copies have been sent to members of the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 4 January 2012|Cruise Ships|2 Comments

Join a virtual crossing on QM2

Back at work this week with loads to do before you can think about your next holiday? Or stuck at home as the gales howl and the rain pours down, while your neighbours are packing for a world cruise? Don't panic. You can experience your own virtual cruise thanks to Cunard, who will be providing regular updates and pictures from Queen Mary 2, which leaves New York this evening for a leisurely Transatlantic crossing which reaches Southampton next Tuesday. You'll need to log onto Facebook to follow the action, and you can post your own questions if there's anything you [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 3 January 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

QE2 is biggest star at New Year party

Sounds like the New Year's Eve party on board QE2 was a bit of a strange affair, with the guests hardly being allowed inside the ship, and even having to use Portaloos on the outer decks rather than put a strain on the original plumbing. Lindsay Lohan had threatened legal action to prevent the organisers suggesting she was going to be attending and there was no sign of the promised Pamela Anderson - partying in Las Vegas instead. Tennis stars Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer - who were in nearby Abu Dhabi for a match - chose an early night [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 2 January 2012|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

Going overboard as Titanic fever begins to go on … and on and on

There is little doubt that we are all going to be engulfed with Titanic fever over the next few months, as the centenary of the liner's sinking approaches. Memorial cruises, films and exhibitions are all being prepared for the great event which will capture our attention before the arrival of distractions such as The Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics. Director James Cameron has had 300 production artists working for more than a year on converting his 1997 film into 3D ready for re-release on April 6 - at an estimated cost of £12 million. I still have difficulty [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 2 January 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Dumbo flies in to rescue Fantasy

Security has been stepped up to prevent a repetition of the mysterious damage to Disney Fantasy, but there is more cheering news from the shipyard, with the installation of a giant-sized Dumbo the Elephant on the vessel's stern. Take a look at the video to see how the character was created.

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 1 January 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments