All the latest cruise news from the man in the know

New ship for Saga cruise fleet

For the time being, here is Saga's Press release verbatim. Fuller story to follow as soon as possible. Schedule has Saga Pearl II making an 18-night inaugural cruise leaving Southampton on March 15, 2010, after a £14 million re-fit. Saga Rose the flagship of the Saga cruise fleet has been a firm favourite with Saga cruisers - maintaining a tradition of classic cruising and carrying well over 100,000 people to great destinations across the globe. There has been a series of very special final cruises, which culminate in the farewell cruise departing Southampton on 30th October heading for the Mediterranean. [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:40+00:00 5 August 2009|Cruise News|2 Comments

Astoria saga is finally over

BREAKING NEWS: Saga Cruises have finally acquired the cruise ship Astoria as a replacement for Saga Rose. Their plans to purchase the ship were scuppered earlier this year by the original owners' financial problems, but Astoria came up for auction in Gibraltar yesterday and Saga were the winning bidders. After extensive refurbishment, the ship will be re-named Saga Pearl II. More details soon.

By John Honeywell| 2009-08-05T15:54:21+00:00 5 August 2009|Cruise News|7 Comments

All change for safety drill

Does Richard Fain ever stop thinking? He just comes up with one new idea after another - and they all seem to make perfect sense. Not content with introducing surf simulators and shopping malls to the ships of Royal Caribbean, and real grass lawns and croquet to those of Celebrity Cruises, he has now turned his attention to an idea which could be followed by every other ship. I'm talking about lifeboat drill, which international maritime law makes a compulsory event on every cruise. If you have sailed before you will be familiar with the routine. Before, or in some [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-08-04T10:57:08+00:00 4 August 2009|Cruise News|2 Comments

P&O cruise ships go smoke-free

Smokers are being squeezed outside on P&O's cruise ships. From April next year, there will be no indoor smoking areas on Arcadia, Aurora, Oriana, or the company's newest ship, Azura. Passenger cabins will also be no-smoking, and nicotine addicts will be restricted to defined areas of open deck and their cabin balconies. Similar restrictions were introduced on Oceana, Ventura and Artemis last October, following UK legislation which banned smoking in bars and restaurants. A company statement says: "As a direct result of feedback from our passengers, it has become increasingly apparent that the acceptance of smoking inside our ships has [...]

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

All aboard for the Games

If QE2, the world's most famous ocean liner, ends up in Cape Town providing hotel accommodation for next year's World Cup, it looks like she will be facing competition. I hear that Holland America Line has chartered three ships to provide rooms for visiting football fans, officials and dignitaries during the four weeks of the event from June 11 to July 11. It's not a new trend. Norwegian Cruise Lines will be providing a ship to be berthed in Vancouver to add 10 per cent to the city's hotel capacity during the Winter Olympics in February next year. Norwegian Star [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:41+00:00 29 July 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Maria and Tony won’t be eclipsed

The great and the good of the cruise industry were on board Celebrity Equinox last night for the annual dinner of the Passenger Shipping Association. The event was just part of an extravaganza of inaugural celebrations leading up to the ship's naming ceremony on Thursday. Celebrity Cruise Lines' president Dan Hanrahan was reluctant to put a figure on the cost of the eight days events showing off the $750 million ship to UK travel agents and media, With free food and drink flowing each day - until long into the night - and the ship sailing each evening, the cost [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-07-27T11:53:20+00:00 27 July 2009|Cruise News|3 Comments

Cruise ship Equinox goes green

If you're looking for the green shoots of recovery in the global economy, or in the travel industry, there are more than 2,200 square yards of them - the area of almost three tennis courts - on deck 15 of a brand new cruise ship being launched in the UK this week. The Celebrity Equinox, like its sister ships Celebrity Solstice, and the yet-to-be completed Celebrity Eclipse which will be based in Southampton from next year, has a real grass lawn, which today was the venue for the world's first croquet tournament at sea. Ten croquet experts gave demonstrations of [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:41+00:00 25 July 2009|Cruise Entertainment, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Bumpy ride for new cruise bosses

It's been a bumpy week for the new bosses of Cunard and P&O, with their biggest ships having something of a rough ride. The Queen Mary 2, flagship of the Cunard fleet now under the management of Peter Shanks, broke her bow mooring lines during a sudden squall in Zeebrugge, Belgium, and suffered slight damage when the stern was blown into the quayside. A Cunard spokesman said some passengers returning from excursions were slightly delayed before the gangway could be set up again, and engineers inspected the hull before the ship sailed from the port a little later than scheduled. [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:41+00:00 23 July 2009|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

One giant leap – on the ice

Not many people can claim they flew to the Moon with Neil Armstrong. Just two, in fact - Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. And only one of those got dust on his boots. But intrepid cruise passengers now have the opportunity to sail to Antarctica with Armstrong on board Lindblad Expeditions' vessel, the National Geographic Explorer. The three-week voyage leaves Santiago, Chile, and after five days on the White Continent, also calls at South Georgia and Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands before returning to Ushuaia in Argentina. The journey, which was announced as Armstrong celebrated the 40th anniversary of [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:41+00:00 21 July 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

QE2 on the move to Cape Town

There's confirmation this morning that the former Cunard ocean liner QE2 will be moving to Cape Town in time to provide accommodation for next year's World Cup. The ship, which had sailed more than six million miles by the time she was retired last November (picture above), was bought for £50 million by a Dubai company which planned to convert her into a luxury hotel and provide her with a permanent mooring at the glamorous Palm Jumeirah. No visible progress has been made on that plan in the last eight months that the ship has languished lonely and unloved at [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:41+00:00 21 July 2009|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|3 Comments