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,

Plenty to see on tour with Eurodam, but Britannia still rules the waves

My 12-day cruise on Eurodam is almost over - today is the final day at sea before we dock in Dover on Wednesday morning - and I am acutely aware I have been failing in my duty to keep this blog updated. Trouble is that it's hard work having a relaxing time, and there aren't enough hours in the day. Especially when those days have provided so much interest and things to do OFF the ship as on it. Rarely have I enjoyed such fascinating excursions; some through Holland America's team, and some arranged independently. Apart from Copenhagen, which I [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:05+00:00 14 June 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Entertainment|1 Comment

Cruise passengers face seven-hour ordeal at hands of US immigration

You don't mess with US immigration officials. That was the painful lesson learned by passengers on a P&O cruise ship recently as they travelled through the Land of the Free. On a 10-week Alaska Adventure - a rare round-trip voyage from Southampton - the ship had already called at 10 American ports before it arrived in Los Angeles on May 26. But the one-day visit turned into a nightmare when rigorous security checks took seven hours to complete. Every passenger was fingerprinted on both hands, retina scans were taken, and they were subjected to detailed passport examinations and questioned about [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:05+00:00 7 June 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Where have all the Brits gone?

Cruises around the UK will be the next big thing, the Passenger Shipping Association's Bill Gibbons told me last week. With the price of fuel continuing to be an issue, and the economic situation still putting a squeeze on consumer spending, holidays closer to home are what everyone - from cruise lines to passengers - is looking for, according to his reasoning. I sometimes take Bill's pronouncements with a pinch of salt; after all, last year he was forecasting that Libya was about to become the next cruising hot-spot. Even without the Gaddafi effect, the evidence contradicts his latest prediction. [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:05+00:00 6 June 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Copenhagen is closed … again

They'll be picnicking in the parks of Copenhagen today as the people of Denmark celebrate Constitution Day. Pretty much everything else will be closed - shops, museums and tourist attractions all out of bounds for visitors who have arrived, like me, on Holland America's Eurodam, and those on Costa Atlantica, berthed just across from us in the freeport area. And because our ship is not using the usual cruise terminal at Langelinie, it's not quite such an easy stroll to get to the Little Mermaid or to walk further into the city centre for a drink at the bars of [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:05+00:00 5 June 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Follow me on Eurodam

Rather than sitting here writing this, I should be packing - although to be honest, I should have done that last night. Because very soon I will be setting off to drive to Dover, where I will be boarding Holland America's Eurodam for an interesting 12-day cruise. First stop Copenhagen, where I am planning to take a tour of Rosenborg Castle, then it's on to Oslo for an overnight stay in port. Kristiansand is next on the itinerary - remind me to check for scratches on the quayside after Oriana's close encounter. Next Thursday I will be listening to the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:06+00:00 3 June 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Olympic Dream is shattered

When luxury cruise ship SeaDream I was berthed alongside HMS Belfast at Tower Bridge a few weeks ago, there were hopes that its sister, SeaDream II, would be in the Thames next year for the London Olympics. A yacht broker I spoke to was confident he would be able to agree a charter on behalf of a wealthy fashion magnate who planned to use the 112-passenger vessel to provide accommodation for friends and business associates during the Games. The deal appears to have fallen through, because Travel Weekly reports today that SeaDream's planned visits to the UK and the Norwegian [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:06+00:00 31 May 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Tight squeeze in Stavanger

When the cruise ships Grand Princess and P&O's Azura were together in port at Southampton on Saturday there was plenty of room for both - and Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas as well. Azura was embarking 3,000 passengers at Ocean Terminal, while a mile away at the Mayflower Terminal the newly-refurbished Grand Princess was welcoming another 2,600 or so. Today the two ships - and their passengers - are jostling for space in the Norwegian port of Stavanger (above). I hope the cloudy skies are not putting people off taking a boat trip along Lysefjord to see the spectacular [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:06+00:00 30 May 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|2 Comments

There’s no place for Liverpool in Fred. Olsen’s new cruise schedules

While cruising from and around the UK continues to enjoy an unprecedented surge in popularity, one port looks like losing out. Even Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, a stalwart for many years, is about to give Liverpool the cold shoulder. Launching the company's new 2012-13 brochure at a reception in London yesterday evening, Marketing Director Nigel Lingard made a particular point of listing the departure points to be used by his four ships - all of which will be based in the UK year-round from next summer. In addition to Balmoral sailing from Southampton and Braemar and Black Watch from Dover, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2011-05-27T12:41:56+00:00 27 May 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Cruise ship hits ice in Alaska

A cruise ship carrying almost 2,000 passengers has been damaged by solid ice while visiting Hubbard Glacier in Alaska (above). Holland America Lines' Westerdam was manoeuvring in Yakutat Bay earlier this week. It is not known whether high winds at the time contributed to the incident. A HAL spokesperson said the ship's hull received "a mild indentation" below the waterline. "The hull was not breached and the ship continued on its published itinerary." The ship sailed left Seattle on Saturday for the seven-day voyage, its first visit of the season to Alaska. The US Coast Guard said the damage to [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:07+00:00 12 May 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

It’s Magic! Carnival Breeze will blow into the Mediterranean next summer

Carnival Cruise Lines' boss Gerry Cahill today confirmed that the 3,690-passenger ship Carnival Breeze will be sailing in the Mediterranean next summer. Breeze is a sister to Carnival Magic, which was launched in Venice at the weekend and is currently sailing on its maiden voyage to Barcelona, from where it will be operating seven, nine and 12-night Mediterranean cruises throughout the summer. In October it will move to its new home in Galveston, Texas. Cahill told me recently that the number of UK passengers booking Carnival cruises has doubled since last year, but he accepts that most of the passengers [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:08+00:00 3 May 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|1 Comment