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,

Take a chill pill – cruise to the Arctic

TV explorer Bruce Parry is bringing the Arctic into our living rooms this month with his BBC2 series, and many viewers will no doubt be thinking of taking a trip to the region. But as Parry will demonstrate, it's not only vast - stretching from Siberia, though Lapland, Greenland and Canada to Alaska - it's also very inhospitable. Visit by cruise ship or by expedition vessel, and you can see the spectacular sights and the stunning wildlife in comfort, with a warm bed (and a cold drink) ready for you after a day's exploration. Here are some suggestions: Traditional cruise [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 8 January 2011|Cruise Deals, Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Cuba welcomes Thomson passengers

Cuba rolled out the red carpet for Thomson Dream and her 1,500 passengers yesterday on the cruise ship's first call at the capital, Havana. Showgirls in sequinned bikinis and feather head-dresses, a salsa band and dancing schoolchildren were among the welcoming party, and disembarking passengers were handed shots of rum. The visit was a rare event for the Cubans. A US trade embargo prevents American ships from making calls in the Communist state, and other ships have been put off visiting since 2006 when former president Fidel Castro complained that they flooded the island with rubbish, but little income. The [...]

By John Honeywell| 2011-01-06T01:56:49+00:00 6 January 2011|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Falmouth fails to deliver – again

Such is the series of delays that have dogged the development of the Caribbean's newest cruise port, it cannot have come as a surprise that the maiden call has been put back another six weeks. The terminal at Falmouth, Jamaica, should have been opening for business on Friday with the arrival of Navigator of the Seas but after months of development it is still not ready. To add insult to injury, 450 construction workers walked out on strike this week in protest at tax deductions from their year-end bonuses. Nine Royal Caribbean ship calls will be diverted to Ocho Rios [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 4 January 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Safety fears cancel Antarctic cruise

Up-market tour operator Abercrombie & Kent has cancelled a 15-day Antarctic cruise due to sail tomorrow because repairs and safety tests are being carried out on the chartered ship, Compagnie du Ponant's Le Boreal. It is understood that technicians had detected signs of wear on some parts - although what exactly was affected has not been disclosed. Ponant said that if the vessel had been sailing anywhere else in the world, the work could have been carried out during the cruise, but that this would not have been possible in remote Antarctic waters. Abercrombie & Kent informed passengers of the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 3 January 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Around the world in a box ship

Cruise ships will be queuing for berths in Southampton next week as they load up with passengers and provisions ready to set out on marathon world voyages. On Wednesday alone no fewer than six ships will be jostling for space - Cunard's Queen Elizabeth making her maiden World Voyage and a tandem transatlantic crossing with sister ship Queen Victoria; Fred Olsen's Balmoral and Black Watch, P&O's Arcadia and the venerable Saga Ruby It will be well into April before some of them return after spending more than 100 days at sea. Sailing by cruise ship is not the only way [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 1 January 2011|Cruise Deals, Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

2010: A year of memories

Time for a quick look back at 2010 - and what a year it was. Avoiding Icelandic ash clouds, striking airport workers and snow-blocked runways I have somehow managed to visit five continents by cruise ship. It's been a year of contrasts; I have been deep in the bowels of the biggest cruise ship the world has ever seen, and I spent enchanted hours looking for Scottish wildlife from the wheelhouse of a converted fishing boat. Unforgettable - except that sooner or later the memories fade. So here are a few photographic reminders. JANUARY First trip of the year was [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 31 December 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Too hot for a Brazilian cruise

Transport links throughout the UK and much of Europe are crippled by the big freeze. Heathrow and Gatwick struggle to clear their runways, and queues snake round the streets of London as passengers hope to stake their claim to a seat on a Eurostar train to Paris. (I'd love to hear John Heald's take on that, by the way, but I digress). Spare a thought, then, for the unfortunate people who had hoped to be spending their Christmas cruising the South American coast on board MSC Musica. The seven-day voyage, which was due to depart from Rio de Janeiro on [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 21 December 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Snowy scenes at sea

Cunard president Peter Shanks joked last week that giant wing mirrors had been fitted to the bridge of Queen Victoria, ready for Inger Olsen, the first woman captain in the company's history. He should have brought a snow plough on board, judging by this picture taken at the weekend during the ship's Christmas Markets cruise to Amsterdam and Zeebrugge. Or perhaps he is planning to turn the Pavilion Pool into an ice skating rink. Fred Olsen's Black Watch led Victoria back into Southampton this morning with inveterate cruise fan Patricia Dempsey on board. She refused to allow the wintry weather [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 20 December 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

UK’s best cruise port plans expansion

Southampton is not the only British cruise port with expansion plans. Just a day after the announcement of its new £30 million terminal comes an announcement of planned development several hundred miles further north. Kirkwall, capital of the Orkney islands, is hoping to build on its selection as the UK's best port of call in this year's Cruise Critic Editor's Pick Awards and plans to spend £8 million improving its facilities for visiting ships. The town's Hatston Pier is to be extended from 250 yards to 415 yards, allowing some of the biggest ships in the world to tie up [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-12-16T11:09:51+00:00 16 December 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Rough seas ahead for new Queen

When Queen Elizabeth left Southampton several hours late on Wednesday, after waiting for a special train carrying 300 passengers from snowbound Scotland and the north of England, I speculated on Twitter that if it had been just 30 people, they may have missed the boat. As it turns out, I hit the nail on the head. Captain Chris Wells told guests at his cocktail party last night for passengers travelling in Grills class that there were indeed 30 passengers who failed to make it to the Ocean Terminal on time. Their attempts to catch up with the newest Cunard ship [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:14+00:00 5 December 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Entertainment|1 Comment