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,

Blackbeard gets his sea legs

First Officer Blackbeard sends his first report from the cruise ship Spirit of Adventure, somewhere at sea off the coast of northern Spain . . . While Captain Greybeard may well be a hardened cruise expert, who can provide with help and advice and the latest updates in goings-on at sea, what you haven't had on this blog is the wide-eyed exploits of a cruise virgin. Hi, my name is Russell. I'm 27 and I have never cruised before. For the next week I will be at sea and at various ports of call as I travel along the coast [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:38+00:00 31 August 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Blackbeard’s adventures in Spain

Greybeard's apprentice takes to the seas this week. First Officer Blackbeard, as we'll call him for now, flew to Bilbao this morning for a week's cruising to Malaga on board Spirit of Adventure. He's probably more suited to the Freestyle frolics of a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship, or the resort-style attractions of Royal Caribbean, so I shall be interested to hear what he makes of one of my favourite smaller ships. He was hoping to have time to visit the Guggenheim Museum before the ship sails this evening, and on Tuesday he should be on an excursion to Santiago de [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:39+00:00 30 August 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Bank holiday cruise ship bonanza

Nine cruise ships will bring a Bank Holiday bonanza to Southampton this weekend, worth an estimated £8.5 million to local businesses. Up to 45,000 passengers will be embarking and disembarking on Saturday and Sunday, as some of the biggest cruise ships in the world arrive in port. The local council estimates that each person arriving in the city to start a cruise spends an average of £380 in hotels, shops, the airport and other transport. But while taxi drivers and baggage porters will be looking forward to making enough money to pay for their own cruises, the arrival and departure [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:39+00:00 27 August 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Cruise deal of the Century

You've got to feel envious of anyone who has booked a four-night Caribbean cruise on board Celebrity Century next summer. Their plans are going to be changed because the ship is being redeployed to the Mediterranean, but to make up for the inconvenience they are being offered a seven-night cruise on Celebrity Solstice instead. That's got to be one of the best deals yet. The 1,814-passenger Century now joins the Constellation, Equinox and Eclipse sailing European waters in 2010. The ship will leave Miami on May 20 for a 14-night Transatlantic crossing calling at the Azores, Lisbon, Seville and Malaga [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-08-25T22:53:42+00:00 25 August 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Minerva library speaks volumes

For a vessel which was originally designed as a Russian spy ship, Minerva makes a very comfortable cruise ship. She was in Dover today, saying farewell to the UK until next June, with Swan Hellenic chairman Lord Sterling hosting lunch on board. The little ship, just 12,500 tons and carrying no more than 350 passengers, set off tonight for the Mediterranean, and will be spending four months from mid-November to February cruising from Buenos Aires to Antarctica. She might be small, but the ship has many features which would be the envy of vessels 10 times her size. The library, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:39+00:00 22 August 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|2 Comments

Up the creek without any water

London - it's the greatest capital city in the world, right? The streets are paved with gold; there's history and celebrity lurking round every corner, and you're never far from a classy restaurant or a character-filled bar. And Greenwich, home of the National Maritime Museum, with a naval tradition stretching back for centuries. What better place could there be for a cruise ship to moor for a couple of days? Well practically anywhere if you need a splash of fresh water, as my friend Captain Albert Schoonderbeek discovered this week. His ship, Holland America's Prinsendam, was scheduled to arrive in [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:40+00:00 21 August 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|1 Comment

Cruise is a winner for Kara

Kara Tointon has celebrated leaving EastEnders, where she played Dawn Swann, by taking a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas - not with her boyfriend, former co-star Joe Swash, but with her mother. She seems to have been modestly successful in the ship's casino, enjoyed having dinner with the captain, and discovered one of the greatest joys of cruising - a different view each morning. Writing about her holiday on the Virgin Holidays Cruises celebrity blog, she says: "Awake early and we open our curtains to Bermuda. I think that's what excites me most about cruises... waking up [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:40+00:00 20 August 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Gossip|0 Comments

Singles cruises to Costa lot less

The high cost of a single supplement has long been a bone of contention for cruise passengers, even more so in recent years as fewer ships are designed to accommodate solo travellers. While the smaller expedition ships and lines such as Fred Olsen and Saga are equipped with single cabins, the newer, bigger ships are all about maximizing the use of space. On many sailings one person occupying a double cabin might have to pay double the fare for couples, especially annoying when cruise holidays are a popular choice for single travellers. That might be about to change. First P&O [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:40+00:00 19 August 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Cruises are blown off course

The first storms of the 2009 hurricane season are blowing through the Caribbean, disrupting cruise ship schedules. Tropical Storm Ana, downgraded to a tropical depression, soaked Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands over the weekend before heading to the Dominican Republic. Hurricane Bill is forecast to become a Category 3 storm by Wednesday, but is predicted to travel east of the Caribbean cruise destinations before reaching Bermuda next Saturday. Carnival Freedom, with 44 Britons among 3,500 passengers, left Fort Lauderdale on Saturday for an eight-day cruise - first scheduled stop San Juan, Puerto Rico. The itinerary was changed to take [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:40+00:00 17 August 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Pressing problem in St Petersburg

It's a busy time for cruises to the Baltic, and for thousands of passengers the highlight is a visit to the former Russian capital of St Petersburg, which is a treasure house of palaces - not least the Hermitage, one of the biggest museums in the world. In his ever-informative blog, Captain Albert Schoonderbeek, master of Holland America's Prinsendam, reports that on Thursday there were eight cruise ships in port. By my calculations that means more than 10,000 people setting out on excursions into the city, made all the easier because they can enter Russia on a group visa rather [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:40+00:00 15 August 2009|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment