Your guide to news from cruise destinations around the world

Your guide to the latest news and updates from cruise destinations and ports of call around the world. Mediterranean, Europe, Caribbean, Alaska, South America, south-east Asia, Australasia, Arctic, Antarctica, Middle East. Southampton, Barcelona, Rome, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Barbados, Panama, Norway, Dubai, Bahamas, Abu Dhabi, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, Baltic, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Marseille, Athens, Greece, Venice, Dubrovnik, Corfu, Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, Naples, Santorini, Mykonos, Le Havre, Amsterdam, Bruges, Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Kirkwall, Bergen, Svalbard, Iceland, Reykjavik, Costa Rica, Dominica, Puerto Rico, New York, Vancouver, Seattle, Skagway, Juneau, China, Shanghai, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand,

It’s a winter in the Caribbean for Azura instead of cruising the world

It must have seemed like a good idea at the time . . . when P&O's itinerary planners were looking at their schedules for 2013 they saw an opportunity to increase the number of passengers they could send on world voyages by adding 3,100-passenger Azura to join Aurora, Arcadia and Adonia sailing marathon three-month cruises. The company even hired the Mahiki nightclub in London's West End - one-time hang-out of Princes William and Harry - to launch the brochure, with managing director Carol Marlow promising fares as low as £79 a day for cruises up to 106 nights long. But [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:55+00:00 26 January 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|3 Comments

It’s Magic: Disney cruise ship will return to the Mediterranean in 2013

Disney fans disappointed that its cruise line has no ships sailing in Europe this year have something to celebrate today - Disney Magic will be back in the Mediterranean in 2013. The 1,750-passenger ship was based in Barcelona for the last two summers, sailing to the UK on a few occasions. It is seen off the White Cliffs of Dover in the picture above. It will spend this year sailing from New York but the arrival of newer and bigger ships Disney Dream, which entered service 12 months ago, and Disney Fantasy - to be launched in March - now [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:56+00:00 24 January 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Cruise ship caught up in latest tension over Falkland Islands

Surely it couldn't be the result of The Iron Lady reaching cinema screens, with Meryl Streep's uncanny portrayal of Margaret Thatcher reminding the world of the Prime Minister who took Britain to war against Argentina in defence of the Falkland Islands. And it is unlikely to be because Prince William will soon be on duty flying helicopters over the territory his uncle Andrew once fought for. For whatever reason tension in the region is rising again. With the 30th anniversary of the 1982 conflict approaching, London and Buenos Aires are engaged in increasingly bitter exchanges. Prime Minister David Cameron accused [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-01-19T23:14:14+00:00 19 January 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

All set for a week on Allure

Frosty mornings and chilly days won't be worrying me next week - I'm flying to Florida today to spend a week cruising in the Caribbean. Virgin Atlantic will be whisking me to Miami, and after a night at the Sheraton Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale I'll be boarding the biggest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas. I was on one of her short inaugural sailings in November 2010, but this is my first opportunity to see how the giant vessel copes with 6,000-plus passengers on board. The eastern Caribbean itinerary will take us to Royal's [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:56+00:00 14 January 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Iron Lady is pushing the boat out

The last time my path crossed with that of Maggie Thatcher was on board Cunard's QE2, when she attended a Royal reception to mark the ship's 40th birthday, and I'm not convinced she's the best marketing tool for cruises. Others may think differently, and both Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery are linking the release of the biopic The Iron Lady to their formidable line-up of guest speakers. Former Foreign Secretary Douglas (now Lord) Hurd, who served in Maggie's Cabinet, will be travelling on board the newly-refurbished Minerva for a 15-night cruise in the Adriatic. As he was in office [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:56+00:00 14 January 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Entertainment, Cruise News|0 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

Irish passengers will follow historic footsteps cruising from Cobh

It started with the potato famine, and during a hundred years from the 1840s, more than 2.5 million men, women and children emigrated from Ireland through the harbour at Queenstown, near Cork. They are commemorated by the statue (above) on the quayside of what is now called Cobh. It depicts Annie Moore and her two brothers, who left for America in 1891. On January 1, 1892, Annie became the first immigrant admitted through Ellis Island in New York harbour, where a similar statue stands as a symbol of those who made the same journey. The Irish version stands outside the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 21 December 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

It’s all go for Ruby’s Captain Alistair

A busy week on Saga Ruby's mystery cruise drew to a close with two maiden calls - difficult to find for the well-travelled ship. First came Sète, which claims to be known as the Venice of the Languedoc-Roussillon region in south-west France. Sunrise painted the horizon in a vivid palette of reds, pinks and oranges as the ship slid into port, but passengers emerging on the deck were more concerned with something else in the air - the pungent aroma from a livestock carrier being loaded with cattle just ahead of Ruby at the quay. Respite came with a quick [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 11 December 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

A rum do for Saga Ruby

Day Six of the mystery cruise and Saga Ruby returns to Europe - although when I mentioned that the day's activities would include visits to a sugar museum and a rum distillery, a friend thought I had lost my bearings and had arrived in the Caribbean. Which is ironic because Motril, on Spain's Costa Tropical, claims to have introduced sugar cane growing to the West Indies centuries ago. It's only in the past few years that the region, sandwiched between the sea and the snow-capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada, stopped producing sugar cane. Now it has acres of custard [...]

By John Honeywell| 2011-12-08T16:02:22+00:00 8 December 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Play it again, Captain

Beep, beep-beep, beep. The message I had been waiting more than three days for arrived at 5.09 this morning when my BlackBerry sprang back into life to welcome me to Morocco. If the 600 passengers on Saga Ruby's Mystery Cruise had fallen for the subterfuge and red herrings provided by Captain Alistair McLundie (such as local news from BBC Scotland on cabin televisions) they might have been expecting to arrive in Dublin, Oban, or even Iceland, possibly spending all that time going in circles in the north Atlantic. But he had done the sensible thing and steered his ship away [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 6 December 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments