Cruise News

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All the latest cruise news from Captain Greybeard, the man in the know. Recipient of the CLIA Contribution to Cruise Media Award in 2017, John Honeywell is the leading cruise expert in the UK with the ear of the industry’s most important leaders and innovators

Dublin greets a million … and one

Dublin welcomed its millionth cruise passenger this morning when Diane Taylor, from Newfoundland, arrived with her husband, Doug, on Carnival Legend - the 100th cruise ship to visit the city this year. They were welcomed at the foot of the gangway by the Lord Mayor, Oisin Quinn, and other dignitaries. After being presented with a bouquet of flowers, they were whisked off on a VIP tour of the Irish capital, with a surprise gift of €1,000 spending money. The millionth arrival marked the end of a record cruise season for Dublin. Passenger numbers have tripled in a decade and the [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 27 September 2013|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Anniversary memories of a Royal liner that couldn’t wait to be launched

It's a big anniversary for Cunard: 75 years ago today, on Tuesday 27 September 1938, HM Queen Elizabeth, with her daughters Elizabeth and Margaret at her side, launched Queen Elizabeth - at that time the biggest passenger ship ever built. Her husband, King George VI was to have travelled to the John Brown shipyard on Clydebank with her, but at the request of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, he remained in London as the prospect of war loomed. At the launch The Queen made a speech in which she said: "The launching of a ship is like the inception of all [...]

By | 2013-09-27T11:25:34+00:00 27 September 2013|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

QM2 to the rescue! Close encounter in mid-Atlantic for solo oarswoman

Cunard flagship Queen Mary 2 lent a helping hand to a solo woman rower Mylène Paquette in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean today. Mylène, from Canada, is aiming to become the first North American woman to row solo across the Atlantic, a total of 2,700 nautical miles. She set out from Halifax, Nova Scotia on July 6, heading for Lorient, France, but was hit by the remnants of Atlantic Storm Humberto and had lost her anchor and a satellite phone. QM2, which left New York on Sunday on a seven-night crossing to Southampton, received a request to assist yesterday [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 26 September 2013|Cruise News|1 Comment

Oldies take over Carnival Legend

Some interesting insights from Carnival's senior cruise director, John Heald, who is on board Carnival Legend. The ship left Dover today at the end of its summer season in Europe and there will be no Carnival cruise ships here next year. "Fun ship" Legend is now heading for New York on a 14-night sailing via Dublin, Glasgow, Belfast, Reykjavik, Qaqortoq (that's in Greenland) and St John's, Newfoundland. There are 2,147 passengers on board, just over the ship's dual-occupancy capacity of 2,124. Four of them are over the age of 90 and there are 14 children. The average age of guests [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 25 September 2013|Cruise News|0 Comments

Britannia rules the waves for P&O

OFFICIAL STATEMENT BELOW, MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW LATER P&O Cruises has announced that its new £500 million cruise ship, scheduled to enter service in spring 2015, will be named Britannia - just as I hinted 18 days ago. Speaking today in London, P&O Cruises & Carnival UK chief executive officer David Dingle said: "Britannia is a most fitting name for the newest addition to P&O Cruises, which, with its long and famous heritage, remains Britain's favourite cruise line. Britannia will capture both the contemporary spirit of P&O Cruises and the spirit of Britain today. "Today's Britain is a place of [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 24 September 2013|Cruise News|0 Comments

Royal Princess cruise is cancelled

Royal Princess finally reached the Italian port of Naples this evening, more than 12 hours behind schedule as its current voyage was cut short for emergency repairs to be carried out. The ship, launched in June by Kate Middleton, suffered a major power failure on Sunday. An emergency generator kept essential services such as toilets operating for three-and-a-half hours. Royal Princess was seven days into a 12-day cruise which started in Venice on September 15 and had been at the Greek island of Mykonos on Saturday. There are 3,594 passengers and 1,336 crew members on board. Calls at Rome, Livorno [...]

By | 2013-09-23T22:56:04+00:00 23 September 2013|Cruise News|0 Comments

First steel cut for Oasis 3

The building of what will become the world's largest cruise ship got under way this morning. Royal Caribbean chairman and CEO Richard Fain pressed a button to cut the first piece of steel for what he is calling Oasis 3 and what the STX Europe shipyard in France has branded A34. The ship will be a near-identical sister to Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. Keel-laying will take place in April next year and the 227,700 GRT vessel will be delivered in spring 2016. Vangelis's theme music for the film 1492: Conquest of Paradise rang through the [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 23 September 2013|Cruise News|0 Comments

SWOFTIES – Single Women Over Fifty – are the target for cruise lines

How are you thinking ahead for your next holiday? Britain's cruise lines and travel agents are hoping that more people are looking at taking to the high seas. On the eve of National Cruise Week, 400 of the industry's leaders gathered in Liverpool to try to find the formula for continued success, with "Think Ahead" as their slogan. As it turned out there was more talk about soggy bottoms than keels and cabins. The Great British Bake Off was a favourite topic among the presentations and 2011 winner Jo Wheatley was among the guest speakers at the event organised by [...]

By | 2015-04-10T14:41:43+00:00 21 September 2013|Cruise News|0 Comments

And the best buy is … a cruise

Cruising is the best-value family holiday around. It's a point that has been made so often it surprises me it needs to be made again. But the start of National Cruise Week is as good a time as any to issue a reminder. Step forward, Carnival Cruise Lines, who have compared the cost of a land-based holiday in the Caribbean with a five-day cruise. And guess what, a family of four would pay £2,902 for the cruise compared with £6,905 for a hotel resort. In working out the figures, Carnival has included transfers to the ship and an itinerary which [...]

By | 2013-09-18T15:07:07+00:00 18 September 2013|Cruise Deals, Cruise News|2 Comments

Australia, here we come

The sea route to Australia will be revived in a couple of months' time when Astor sets out on a 36-night voyage to Perth - arriving in plenty of time for the first Test Match of the winter series. The 600-passenger ship has been chartered by Cruise & Maritime Voyages for the journey. It will undertake a season of cruises from Fremantle before leaving in April to return to Harwich. It is visiting Dover today, giving CMV - who also operate Marco Polo and Discovery - an opportunity to show it off to UK media and travel agents. Fares for [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:30+00:00 18 September 2013|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment