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,

Follow me: North to Alaska

There may be a short break in transmission over the next couple of days, as I'll be on my way to Alaska tomorrow. Well, to Canada first, for a land tour in the Rockies, before joining the Diamond Princess in Vancouver next Saturday for a seven-night cruise north to Whittier. After becoming used to a ship taking me seamlessly from one destination to another, I'm not sure how I'm going to handle travelling by coach and train between Calgary, Banff and Jasper, but friends tell me that the Rocky Mountaineer train is a truly spectacular experience. Once on the Diamond [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 7 August 2010|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment

Cruising among the tall ships

There's an opportunity to sail among tall ships, and another to cruise on a tall ship in this week's best cruise deals. Saga Ruby sails from Dover on August 24 on a seven-night voyage which combines a two-day stopover in Leith - from where passengers can visit the Edinburgh Military Tattoo - with an overnight stay in Bremerhaven, Germany. As the ship leaves to return to Dover, it will be surrounded by billowing sails as competitors in the Tall Ships Race also leave the port. The £1,279 fare includes travel to and from Dover for anyone living within 75 miles, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 7 August 2010|Cruise Deals, Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Sunday shopping storm for cruisers

My friend Carolyn Spencer Brown, who has spent this week cruising around the British Isles on board Holland America's Westerdam, might want to think twice before returning to Guernsey - even though it's one of her favourite ports of call. She didn't go ashore in St Peter Port on this visit and instead she entertained a group of local journalists on board. But she left controversy in her wake. During a conversation which turned to the attractions of Guernsey as a shopping destination, Carolyn, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, suggested local Sunday trading laws might be discouraging visitors from returning - [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-08-06T17:08:57+00:00 6 August 2010|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Messing about on the river

I've just spent two of the most relaxing days ever, sailing gently along the River Thames in a floating hotel. So little to do, so much to see! Ducks, geese, crested grebes, even heron and red kites I would have expected on or over the river. And naturally the lush meadows of Berkshire and south Oxfordshire have their fair share of cattle and horses. Anglers line the banks day and night and camp sites abound. While dogs can jump into the water from the banks, humans don't seem to be able to make the leap without first taking a rope [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 29 July 2010|Cruise Destinations|2 Comments

Costa’s backing Dover cruises

There's no reason to expect logic in the forward-planning departments of cruise companies, I suppose. How else can you respond to Costa Cruises' decision to base one of their ships in the UK for the first time, less than three months after the Italian company closed down the London office? It's not long since rival company NCL - despite figures showing substantial growth in the numbers of people sailing no-fly cruises from UK ports - decided to withdraw from Dover and base its Baltic cruises from the port of Copenhagen instead. They argued that their passengers preferred to save the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 26 July 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|3 Comments

Cuba libre for British cruise ships

It's all very well our American cousins beginning to get excited about the possibility of Congress lifting the ban on US citizens travelling to Cuba. Even if the 47-year-old law is repealed this year, it could be some time before the island develops the facilities capable of meeting the needs of an influx of cruise passengers, according to MSC president Rick Sasso, in an interview in the Palm Beach Daily News spotted by my colleague Jane Archer. "Right now, they lack the infrastructure and facilities to handle the huge influx of vessels and visitors," said Sasso, who is chairman of [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:24+00:00 20 July 2010|Cruise Destinations|3 Comments

Sail of the Century Down Under

What is it about Australia and New Zealand that is attracting increasing numbers of cruise ships and, hopefully, passengers? It can't all be down to the fact that a million Brits emigrated to Oz as "£10 Poms" between 1945 and 1972, even if one of them - Julia Gillard - is now the country's Prime Minister. The second of Ocean Village's two ships will soon complete its summer season in the Med and be transferred to the P&O Australia fleet as Pacific Pearl. It will take the line's fleet to four, and joins Pacific Jewel which left the UK last [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-07-19T23:30:46+00:00 19 July 2010|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment

Back from a Scottish sojourn

My blog updates have been thin on the ground this week because I have been visiting remote parts of Scotland where internet access was as limited as the government's spending plans. Turns out two of my destinations, though hundreds of miles apart, are linked by failed attempts to cash in on the North Sea oil boom of the 1970s. At Portavadie, at the tip of the Cowal Peninsula on the west coast, a dock created to build rigs - but never used - has been converted into a yacht marina with some luxurious apartments where I stayed one night. And [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:24+00:00 17 July 2010|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

P&O’s Azura goes downtown

Cruise ships visiting the Norwegian port of Stavanger berth almost in the centre of town, close to the bars and restaurants and - at the right time of year - in a handy position for the annual beach volleyball tournament. P&O's newest vessel, the 116,000-ton Azura was in port today and completely dominated the place, as this picture from the town's webcam shows. One of the most prominent buildings in town, the octagonal Valberg watch tower (on the right of the picture), was completely dominated, and passengers must have been looking down on it from the Venezia restaurant on board. [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:25+00:00 27 June 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Left-hand down a bit . . .

You know how difficult it can sometimes be to squeeze into the a space in the supermarket car park. Imagine how tricky it must be to park something hundreds of times bigger, like a cruise ship. There are currents, tides and the wind to contend with, it's essential to get your vessel alongside in precisely the right position to line up with gangways and things, and there's no time to mess about because passengers have to get ashore and dash to the airport. Captain Albert Schoonderbeek faced all this a couple of days ago when he brought Holland America's Prinsendam [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:25+00:00 27 June 2010|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment