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,

Liverpool raising its cruise hopes

The bunting has been out in Liverpool during the past week as the ship celebrated the maiden visit of Cunard's Queen Elizabeth, and welcomed back Queen Mary 2 to the Mersey. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and a brace of choirs supported soprano Lesley Garrett in front of 2,000 guests at a celebratory concert in the city's Anglican Cathedral, and loyal fans like Carol Thatcher, Falkland hero Simon Weston, Coronation Street's Roy Barraclough spoke of their fondness for Cunard. With the ship berthed in the shadow of the Cunard Building - one of Liverpool's renowned Three Graces - company president [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:01+00:00 16 September 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|4 Comments

Stage school at sea for starlets

Plenty to come soon from my fascinating four days on board Aegean Odyssey and especially the visits to Pompeii and Herculaneaum in the company of Cambridge classics professor Mary Beard. First, time to catch up with a few items of cruise news from while I was away, starting with my column from Saturday's Daily Mirror: Not content with launching talent contest Showboaters, which debuts on Sky One on Tuesday, Thomson Cruises is now setting up an on-board stage school for its younger passengers. Star-struck children who can't get enough of the X-Factor and Strictly will be able to enrol for [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:01+00:00 11 September 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Entertainment, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Odyssey plans to journey beyond the Med to cruise to India and SE Asia

Monday morning will see me flying to the Med for a short trip on Aegean Odyssey - I'm particularly looking forward to touring Pompeii and Herculaneum in the company of Cambridge classics professor Mary Beard whose book on Pompeii was the basis for her TV documentary focussing on the seedier side of life in the Roman town. The cruise I took on the ship last year from Venice to Dubrovnik introduced me to some beautiful parts of Croatia and to Dame Rebecca West's weighty tome Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, a portrait of Yugoslavia in the 1930s. Next week should [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:01+00:00 2 September 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

New role for QE2’s anchor

The centrepiece of Southampton's QE2 Mile, a pedestrian route linking the city's Cenotaph with the waterfront at Town Quay, will be unveiled tomorrow. A 13-ton anchor from the ship has been set in the walkway at Holy Rood Place, outside the church which has been a memorial to Merchant Navy sailors since 1957 Councillor Royston Smith, Leader of Southampton City Council, said: "Cunard's generous gift has finally been given an appropriate home in Southampton. Not only will it add an important heritage site to the city, it will also raise the profile of the QE2 Mile and ultimately attract more [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:02+00:00 31 August 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Adonia takes us sunbathing in the Arctic and climbing the Troll’s Ladder

The North Sea's own mini-Hurricane Irene (and it was nothing like as windy as the real thing) may have put paid to Adonia's call at Farsund, but it didn't detract from a thoroughly enjoyable week on board P&O's newest and smallest ship. Although late August is almost the end of the season for Norwegian cruises, with some remote tourist cafes and souvenir shops already shut for the winter, we were blessed with superb sunny weather in the northern city of Tromsø and the town of Åndalsnes in Romsdalsfjord. At mid-morning, when I boarded Adonia in Tromsø, the ship was almost [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:02+00:00 30 August 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Any port in a storm? Not this one for Adonia, thank you very much

Adonia is the smallest vessel in P&O's fleet; a medium-sized cruise ship by modern standards, it can get to where its larger sisters cannot go. According to Captain David Perkins it's "the small ship with a big heart" and P&O boss Carol Marlow is fond of the phrase "pathfinder ship" to differentiate it from Azura, Arcadia, Aurora and the others. On this cruise to the Norwegian fjords it has called at Skjolden, Bodo and Alta, all destinations which are off the beaten track and which do not feature on most Norway itineraries. But there's a reason why some small ports [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:02+00:00 29 August 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Special homecoming for Magnus

Sailing into Lerwick harbour on board cruise ship Azamara Journey earlier this week was a special moment for staff captain Magnus Davidson. For 30-year-old Magnus was brought up in the Shetland capital, and it was the first time since he began his career at sea as a cadet that he has been able to sail into his home port. "This voyage, I've been to Monaco during the F1 Grand Prix, sailed through the Kiel Canal into the Baltic, visited the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and stayed overnight in Copenhagen during their Jazz Festival. Next trip, I'll head up the Amazon [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:02+00:00 25 August 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Hurricane Irene: UPDATE

Hurricane Irene is increasing in strength as it sweeps through the Caribbean, heading for the Bahamas. With winds now increased to 100 mph and gusting to 125 mph, the storm is expected to reach Turks and Caicos by tonight (Tuesday) and will be in the Bahamas tomorrow. The itineraries for seven Carnival cruises and four Royal Caribbean ships have been torn up and re-arranged to avoid the worst of the weather. Carnival Conquest, on a seven-night Bahamas and Florida cruise which left Galveston on Sunday, has turned to the western Caribean and now visits Costa Maya on Wednesday, Cozumel on [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:02+00:00 23 August 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|1 Comment

Fly to see the Northern Lights

From today's print edition of the Daily Mirror NASA predicts the 2011-12 winter will provide the most spectacular display of the Northern Lights for 50 years. Fred Olsen's Boudicca, and Cruise & Maritime Voyages' Marco Polo will be among the cruise ships heading north in early spring, and Hurtigruten, with its ships of the Norwegian Coastal Express, is pulling out the stops to attract British passengers. They are organising flights from regional UK airports to join their 11-day round-trip voyages through the fjords to the icy wilderness of North Cape and back. The ships, which carry vehicles and cargo as [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:02+00:00 20 August 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Barcelona champions again

The port of Barcelona is bracing itself for a record week, with eight cruise ships bringing almost 35,000 passengers into the Catalonian capital tomorrow - just a week after there were unexpected crowds when ships diverted because of strikes in Mallorca. Due in tomorrow for turnarounds - with passengers leaving at the end of one cruise and more arriving to embark - are Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas (4,000 passengers), Ruby Princess (3,500), Disney Magic (3,000), Sovereign (2,500), Holland America's Noordam (2,200), Silver Wind (300) and SeaDream I (110). Also in port in transit will be Nieuw Amsterdam (2,500). [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:02+00:00 19 August 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments