Cruise Gossip

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Storm in an afternoon teacup?

A generous pot Earl Grey, cucumber sandwiches, warm scones with jam and cream, served by crisply-dressed waiters wearing pristine white gloves. They are all part of the tradition of afternoon tea which many British cruise ship passengers set their clocks by. It's one of the favourite social occasions of the day, often accompanied by a string quartet, a pianist, or even a harpist. I have seen passengers queuing for the best tables in the Queens Room on Cunard's Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. The Discovery Lounge on Saga Pearl II was packed every afternoon during my recent cruise to [...]

Oasis definitely on the seas

Stranded in the US by the ash cloud flights ban, Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher definitely (well, maybe) knew he didn't want to be here now. But how to get himself, wife Nicole Appleton and children back to the UK? He did what celebrities through the decades have done and - following in the footsteps of Rod Stewart, David Bowie, even Elizabeth Taylor and Bing Crosby - he took a Transatlantic voyage by cruise ship. Liam and family booked their passage on the luxury six-star Silver Spirit from New York, and disembarked when the 540-passenger vessel made its maiden call in [...]

By | 2010-05-17T10:55:43+00:00 17 May 2010|Cruise Gossip, Cruise News|0 Comments

Stormy weather? You’re bluffing

The message from the bridge was stark. As Saga Pearl II's passengers relaxed over afternoon tea, Captain David Warden-Owen came on the public address to warn that once we left the shelter of Alesund harbour and headed out into the North Sea, we were in for a rough ride. The icy northerly winds which have been chilling Britain for the past few days were blasting down the Norwegian coastline, whipping up three-metre seas. As we had to be in Bergen by the morning, there was no way of taking shelter or avoiding the conditions. It wasn't quite "batten down the [...]

By | 2010-05-12T11:27:06+00:00 12 May 2010|Cruise Entertainment, Cruise Gossip|0 Comments

Stars lighting up the North Sea

They scrub up well, the Saganauts. Yesterday was a relaxing introduction to the Spring Time in Norway cruise on Saga Pearl II, a calm day spent threading our way through the oil and gas rigs of the North Sea en route to our first port of call, Stavanger. Putting any concerns about the general election and the airport closures behind them, passengers had all the time in the world to explore the newly-refurbished ship; to select something to read from the extensive new library, or to listen to lectures about the destinations ahead, and an amusing talk on the quirks [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:28+00:00 6 May 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Gossip|0 Comments

A ‘hideous’ encounter at sea

Writing in the Daily Telegraph today, Sharon Osbourne (left) bemoans the Transatlantic crossing she once made on the Cunard liner QE2 to New York. It wasn't the worst holiday she's had - that, apparently was to the South Pacific island of Bora Bora which she re-named Boring Boring. She said the sea voyage was an experience she would not want to repeat. "It was hideous. You had to sit at the same table with the same people for every meal. There was no bloody escape." That's actually one of the aspects of cruising which most lines are gradually changing, with [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:30+00:00 20 March 2010|Cruise Gossip|0 Comments

Finnish allure for Becks

Until this week, the Finnish city of Turku meant only one thing to me - it's the home of the giant STX Europe shipyard where the biggest cruise liners in the world have been built. Now it has become famous for another reason, thanks to the world's most famous footballer. When David Beckham's ruptured Achilles tendon put an end to his hopes of playing for England in this summer's World Cup, he was immediately flown to the Mehilainen sports injury clinic in Turku for treatment. Specialist surgeon Sakari Orava operated to save his career, and Beckham is expected to leave [...]

By | 2010-03-17T11:07:19+00:00 17 March 2010|Cruise Gossip|0 Comments

Married to an ocean liner

There's a bizarre story in Closer magazine about a 28-year-old woman who was so fed up with men that she married an ocean liner. It's under the category of "real life" although it seems anything but. Tasha Forrester had just split from her boyfriend two years ago when she took a tour of the former Cunard liner Queen Mary, which is now a floating hotel in Long Beach, California. Ignoring the fact that ships are traditionally referred to as "she", shop assistant Tasha said: "On the ship I began to feel better. It felt as if it was a big [...]

By | 2010-03-07T17:56:15+00:00 7 March 2010|Cruise Gossip, Cruise News|7 Comments

Back from the end of the world

The earthquake devastation in Chile made it impossible for me to travel home via Santiago and I'm back in Buenos Aires rather sooner than expected. Time now to catch up on what's been happening in the cruise world while I was sailing round Cape Horn on the expedition cruise ship Via Australis, which will also feature in some of the forthcoming blog entries. Down in the southern ocean, and around the islands off Tierra del Fuego, access to the internet and mobile phones is impossible, so there's plenty to tell you about. Keep watching.

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:32+00:00 3 March 2010|Cruise Gossip, Cruise News|0 Comments

TV makes life on board Costa Serena look far from serene

According to cruise director Federica Giammarioli - in five different languages - Costa Serena is one of the most beautiful ships in the world. According to the narrator of a new TV series, it's one of the world's most spectacular cruise ships. And if you can stand the tension over the next six weeks it will be the most watched cruise ship in the world, as the star of Cruise Ship Diaries - in glorious HD (that's high drama as well as high definition). The series promises to take us behind the scenes among the 1,000 crew who look after [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:33+00:00 5 February 2010|Cruise Entertainment, Cruise Gossip, Cruise News|0 Comments