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,

Ruby keeps us all guessing

The mystery deepens . . . two days into Saga Ruby's mystery cruise and we still have no idea where we are going. Only Captain Alistair McLundie and a handful of senior officers are privy to the secret, and they are doing their best to keep 600 passengers confused. Shortly before leaving Southampton on Friday evening, the captain announced the first three days of the voyage would be at sea, and we'll only know he wasn't bluffing if we make landfall before Tuesday morning. He asked passengers not to cheat by using portable GPS devices and advised that if anyone [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 4 December 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Follow me on Ruby’s mystery cruise I haven’t a clue where I’ll be going

Packing for my next cruise, which starts tomorrow, is creating a bit of a dilemma. Because I don't know where I'm going. Don't worry, it's not that I'm in the throes of a bout of amnesia, or -whatever you might think - suffering from dementia. No, I'll be one of about 600 passengers travelling on a mystery cruise aboard Saga Ruby (above) and we are all completely in the dark about our destination. All we know is the ship leaves Southampton on Friday afternoon, and will return in the morning of December 18. We have been told that during the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:58+00:00 1 December 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|1 Comment

New bridge will limit cruise access to Norway’s second-longest fjord

A new bridge being constructed across Norway's second-longest fjord will restrict cruise ship access to some of the country's more remote and picturesque ports of call. While smaller vessels such as Saga Pearl 2 (above) will still be able to travel the 179 km (110 miles) length of Hardangerfjord, towns like Eidfjord will become off-limits to some of the bigger ships which have been venturing into the fjords in recent years. Costa Fortuna, for example, has cancelled calls from 2013; at its highest point the ship is 62 metres above the waterline, while the new Hardangerfjord bridge will have an [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:58+00:00 30 November 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Cruising the Frozen Planet

TV's Frozen Planet is encouraging viewers to get off their sofas, put on their coats, and head for the snowy wastelands. Sheer distance, higher costs and tightening legislation all combine to make it difficult to travel south to Antarctica, but the Arctic is closer, convenient, and affordable. Responding to the Attenborough effect, Polar specialists Hurtigruten will be sending two ships to Spitsbergen next summer - its oldest and newest vessels. Between June and August MS Nordstjernen (above) will travel the west coast of the island for a total of 21 five and six day itineraries. The ship, built in 1956, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:58+00:00 22 November 2011|Cruise Deals, Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

P&O doubles up on UK cruises

Nicely-timed announcement from P&O Cruises - just as Royal Caribbean reveal the withdrawal of Independence of the Seas from the UK next winter, the line voted the UK's most popular confirms it will have two ships sailing out of Southampton year-round. Oceana and Oriana will be sailing cruises of anything from two to 35 nights in length. Oceana, which carries 2,016 passengers, will embark on its second year of winter cruising from Southampton. Highlights include two short (seven-night) cruises for Christmas and New Year, giving the opportunity to spend Boxing Day in Copenhagen or New Year's Eve in Amsterdam. http://www.pocruises.com/Cruise-Ships/Aurora/Ship-Overview/ [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:59+00:00 3 November 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Indy ducks out of winter in Europe

UNDER GREY SKIES: Independence of the Seas in Southampton Royal Caribbean's experiment of sailing year-round from the UK is over. The wide open spaces of the Independence of the Seas' upper decks with the H2O Zone water park for kids, the FlowRider surf simulator, and the whirlpool baths cantilevered over the side of the ship 112 feet above the waves, are apparently not best suited to chilly days in the Bay of Biscay. The winter 2012-13 deployment for the 154,000-ton vessel has it sailing six and eight-night Caribbean cruises from Fort Lauderdale instead of heading for the Canaries and the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:59+00:00 30 October 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Book now for first crossing to New York aboard Norwegian Breakaway

As Norwegian Epic heads back across the Atlantic at the end of its debut European season, Norwegian Cruise Line is taking the first bookings for a Transatlantic voyage from Britain to the United States on the company's next new ship, Breakaway (above). Epic, which can carry a maximum of 5,400 passengers, left Barcelona on Sunday for a 13-night crossing with only two ports of call - Ponta Delgado in the Azores and St Thomas in the Virgin Isles - before arriving in Miami on November 5. Norwegian Breakaway, which is in the early stages of construction at the Meyer-Werft shipyard [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:59+00:00 24 October 2011|Cruise Deals, Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Cash plea for Scottish cruise ports

In the week that The CRUISE Show arrives in Glasgow for the first time, it would seem all is not well in the cruise business north of the border. While the number of passengers visiting Scottish ports is at an all-time high, bringing record amounts of money into the economy, voices are being raised in demands for more support for the industry from the Scottish Assembly. Andrew Hemphill, general manager of the Clydeport Ocean Terminal at Greenock, has also complained that while rival ports in Wales and Ireland have received substantial financial backing, cruising has been largely ignored by VisitScotland, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:59+00:00 17 October 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Nude cruises for an all-over tan

If you ever have trouble packing for a cruise, or are confounded by weight restrictions on airline baggage, I may have found just the holiday - a naturist cruise in Croatia. Niche operator eWaterways is launching four cruises next year on a fleet of motor sailing ships, island-hopping along the Adriatic coastline and among Dalmatia's hundreds of secluded islands. Two different itineraries for the naturist cruises will be available, both offering plenty of opportunities for guests to be as nature intended while on board - or in the water - with clothes required only when in port and during meal [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:59+00:00 11 October 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|1 Comment

I’ve got my head in the clouds, thanks to Discovery’s excursions

Discovering new sights and experiences is, as the name implies, an integral part of a journey with Voyages of Discovery - and I have enjoyed my share during the past few days on board. Whether re-visiting familiar cities for an opportunity to look with a fresh eye, or encountering somewhere for the first time, it has been a fascinating experience. The major ports of call - Dubrovnik, Venice, Athens and, from tonight, Istanbul - are all places I have been before, but I found something new (to me) in each. After a walking tour of the streets and alleys of [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:00+00:00 10 October 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments