All the latest cruise news from the man in the know

Billionaire’s daughter charters cruise ship for island birthday party

In case anyone's curiosity was roused by my earlier cryptic message about a billionaire's daughter's birthday party, let me provide some more details. The young lady in question is Ekaterina Rybolovleva; her father, Dmitry, is the 79th richest man in the world according to Forbes - or at least he was until a court ordered him to pay out $4.5 billion in a divorce settlement last month. To celebrate her 25th birthday, Ekaterina threw a party on the Greek island of Skorpios, which she bought from the estate of Jackie Onassis for a reported £200 million. Despite that price tag, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2014-06-05T18:51:28+00:00 5 June 2014|Cruise Gossip, Cruise News|0 Comments

Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas is being launched in sections

It's a complicated business building giant cruise ships, especially when you've got two twin sisters under construction at the same time. The Meyer-Werft yard in Papenburg, Germany, is assembling Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas for Royal Caribbean. Work takes place under cover in a vast construction shed, but even that is not big enough to contain both vessels. So one mega-block of Anthem has been floated outside into a basin connected to the River Ems. The 120-metre long section will remain there until Quantum - which can be seen inside the building - emerges into the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:27+00:00 5 June 2014|Cruise News|0 Comments

Grand Fromage joins the good ship Brie-tannia, heading for Port Salut

P&O Cruises have added a big cheese to their brigade of Food Heroes on board Britannia. He is Charlie Turnbull, who runs a delicatessen in Shaftesbury, Dorset, and is described as an "international cheese judge and expert." He will be advising P&O on the range of cheeses to be stocked in Britannia's Market Café at the heart of the ship's atrium, and in the fine-dining Epicurean restaurant. Turnbull is also planning to travel several times a year to present cheese tastings and to host cheese-related shore excursions. He will be joining James Martin, Marco Pierre White, Atul Kochhar, "Cake Boy" [...]

By John Honeywell| 2014-06-04T16:21:11+00:00 4 June 2014|Cruise Food & Drink, Cruise News|0 Comments

Why has the growth in UK cruise passengers slowed to a crawl?

Confirming a slowdown in the spectacular growth in popularity of cruise holidays, industry body CLIA has pushed back the date when it believes UK passengers will top two million for the first time. Latest estimates calculate the market at 1.72 million, with many of those taking several cruises a year. The new target is 2020, but there was confusion at a press briefing ahead of the association's annual Selling Cruise seminar for travel agents, with one executive announcing 2018 before consensus was reached. Previous estimates anticipated the figure being reached much earlier. The latest forecast expects the total to increase [...]

By John Honeywell| 2014-06-03T14:11:48+00:00 3 June 2014|Cruise News|0 Comments

Saga cruises branch out

Saga, the travel company specialising in holidays for the over-50s, has not had the best of luck with its cruise operation. The fleet shrunk from three to two last year with the closure of associated brand Spirit of Adventure and the retirement of Saga Ruby. The company pulled out of world voyages a couple of years ago and now operates mostly ex-UK cruises from Southampton and Dover. The two remaining ships, Saga Pearl II and in particular Saga Sapphire, have been less than reliable in recent months. Sapphire was temporarily left without power off the coast of Mull after a [...]

By John Honeywell| 2014-05-29T13:01:37+00:00 29 May 2014|Cruise Deals, Cruise News|0 Comments

Eats, Shoots and Dances on QM2

The sea has calmed a little; the north Atlantic is no millpond and in racing parlance the "going" is officially described as moderate, but waves are no longer licking at the over-sized porthole windows of the Golden Lion pub. Queen Mary 2, entering Day 3 of her 10th anniversary crossing, is bowling along at a steady 21.2 knots. That's still just a little over two-thirds of her design speed, but it's enough to keep the forward decks closed to protect passengers from the 30-knot sou'westerly. We are not, after all, on a leisurely cruise of the Mediterranean or the Caribbean, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:27+00:00 12 May 2014|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

QM2’s anniversary crossing: Day 1

The sky is the palest shade of duck-egg blue, sitting above a soft roll of cotton wool clouds on the horizon. Beneath them the grey sea boils angrily, wind-streaked and flecked with white horses. No wonder. A westerly gale is blowing at a steady 40 knots. Queen Mary 2, on the first full day at sea on her 214th Transatlantic crossing, is heading straight into it. A message from the bridge announces that for safety reasons the open areas of the forward decks have been closed to passengers. The weather and the sea want to toss QM2's massive bulk around [...]

By John Honeywell| 2015-04-10T14:23:24+00:00 10 May 2014|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Cruising to victory in the IoM TT

The murderously expensive Monaco Grand Prix aside, there are not many opportunities to combine cruising with motorsport. So hats off (or should that be crash helmets?) to Fred Olsen, who have put together a voyage which ties in with the Isle of Man TT in May next year. The Superbikes and Scenic Hikes itinerary on Balmoral, leaves Southampton on May 31, 2015, and visits Guernsey, Tobermory and Kirkwall before putting into Douglas, on the Isle of Man. There's also a stop in Dublin. Julie Colquitt, the island's business development manager, said: ""We are thrilled that Fred Olsen Cruise Lines have [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:27+00:00 2 May 2014|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Quantum is Shanghaied: Why Royal want to get you on a new boat to China

Everything changes: a new cruise ship which boasts dodgem cars, a sky-diving simulator and an observation pod inspired by the London Eye is to be based in ... China. Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas, nearing completion in a German shipyard, launches this autumn. After a brief visit to Southampton it will spend the winter sailing from New York. In May 2015 the 4,180-passenger vessel will relocate to Shanghai from where it will operate year-round, sailing three to eight-night cruises to Japan and Korea. The company already has Mariner of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas, each carrying more [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:27+00:00 18 April 2014|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Explorer IN, Adventure OUT

Change of plan for Royal Caribbean in the UK - Adventure of the Seas is being replaced on its Southampton sailings by sister ship Explorer of the Seas from next year. They are virtually identical Voyager-class vessels, each carrying 3,114 passengers. Adventure first entered service in 2001, Explorer a year earlier. Before arriving in the UK next April, Explorer will spend a month in dry dock for an overhaul and "refreshment," during which it will be fitted with a Flowrider surf simulator and a 3D cinema. Several of the speciality restaurants familiar on Royal Caribbean's newer vessels will also be [...]