Cruise News

Quest for Adventure (Saga Pearl II) in Norway Chateau Greybeard is in the throes of packing, and the alarm clock will be set for an early start on Wednesday morning to fly to Stavanger and join an old friend. I will be cruising to Svalbard on board Quest for Adventure (above), the ship on which I have sailed around Cuba, and which provided a welcome haven from the 2010 General Election during another Norwegian cruise. It was called Saga Pearl II in those days, and became Quest last year - replacing Spirit of Adventure. Later this year, with the retirement [...]

We've had cruises devoted to antiques, gardens and golf, to food and drink, country and western, and Harley Davidsons. There are themes of all descriptions to suit all tastes and pockets. But here's something completely new - a knitting-themed cruise ... hosted by someone described as "one of the top 10 most influential men in the world of knitting' alongside Charles Dickens and Edward VIII. My mind is totally boggled. Barry Klein will host the seven-day river cruise on the Danube from December 27, 2014 - so participants will presumably have received new needles for Christmas. On board AmaBella, Klein [...]

A passenger from an expedition cruise ship has been killed and two others are reported to have been injured when they were thrown into the sea from a rubber inflatable boat during an excursion in the Arctic. The woman, an American in her 60s, was taking part in an excursion from the 100-passenger Sea Spirit, operated by Quark Expeditions, when the incident happened yesterday. She was one of 12 being carried in a Zodiac vessel which was sightseeing near the 14th of July Glacier just outside the settlement of Longyearbyen, the administrative centre of the Svalbard archipelago. All the passengers [...]

Carnival Corporation has filed a claim for $12 million damages (£8 million) after one of its ships was damaged when it broke free from moorings during a violent storm. The lawsuit, against UK-based BAE Systems, claims that defective mooring equipment in its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, failed to hold Carnival Triumph when the ship was hit by winds of up to 66 mph. The ship was towed into Mobile from the Gulf of Mexico in February, after an engine room fire left it crippled and without power. After disembarking 4,200 passengers, the 101,000-ton vessel was taken to BAE's yard for [...]

It's a special honour for any woman to name a ship, and Princess Cruises were themselves deeply honoured that Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, should agree to christen their newest vessel. It was made to sound like an even greater privilege when the Master of Royal Princess, Captain Tony Draper, addressed her with the words: "Your Royal Highness, would you do us the great honour of naming MY ship." Kate stepped forward, wearing a striking black and white Dalmatian-print coat, her hat firmly in place despite the near gale-force winds buffeting the Southampton quayside. She accepted a ceremonial pair of [...]

Repairs to MV Voyager, which has remained in the Irish port of Killybegs since two of its generators failed at the end of last month, are to be carried out in dry dock at Bremerhaven, Germany. Three cruises have now been cancelled because of the problem, but it is expected the ship will be back in service for a summer charter with Always of Belgium from June 25. Passengers who were on board during the May 25 Celtic Treasures cruise were brought back to Portsmouth from Ireland when trouble first struck on May 28. The June 2 Heritage of the [...]