Cruise News

Snow covers the aft deck of cruise ship Marco Polo, in Northen Norway last week UPDATE: Cruise & Maritime Voyages announced today (Wednesday) that Marco Polo is heading for dry dock in Antwerp for a thorough inspection to ascertain what damage was caused by the grounding off Sortland. Company statement reads: Marco Polo will be terminating her current Land of the Northern Lights cruise in Antwerp on Thursday 14 March on the scheduled arrival day. The ship will undergo a dry docking inspection for minor repairs to her hull after the vessel struck an uncharted object under the command of [...]

Sister ship Midnatsol in Norway's Trollfjord Hurtigruten ship Kong Harald ran aground in a remote fjord in the north of Norway last night. The vessel, carrying 258 passengers and 57 crew, hit a rock at the entrance to the narrow Trollfjord, shortly before midnight. Although the ship's hull was breached, the only part affected was the main ballast tank. The ship remained upright and was freed after about three hours as the tide rose. It proceeded to Svolvaer, in the Lofoten islands, where the passengers - including 16 from the UK - were disembarked. The scheduled sailing has been cancelled, [...]

CMV is confident that cruise ship Discovery will be cleared to sail on her next voyage, due to depart from Avonmouth on March 15. But the company remains cagey about the reasons the ship's February 28 departure was cancelled. The ship, operated until late 2012 by Voyages of Discovery, had just completed a lengthy refit in an Italian shipyard prior to its return to the UK last week. An inspection by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency at Portland - to where the vessel had diverted following delays caused by bad weather in the Bay of Biscay - resulted in the [...]

Bad weather in the Bay of Biscay has put a halt to a little bit of history being made today. Cruise ship Discovery should have been embarking passengers in the port of Avonmouth, but instead the ship has diverted to Portland on the south coast. Passengers beginning a 15-night cruise in search of the Northern Lights are being taken from Bristol to the Dorset port by coach. The ship was delayed on its journey to the UK from Genoa, where it has been undergoing a multi-million pound refurbishment since transferring from Voyages of Discovery to a new joint venture with [...]

There have been a couple of hiccups along the way, but Swan Hellenic has been an institution in British cruising for almost 60 years. Its loyal passengers will be delighted to hear that its future should be secure until at least 2021. The company was launched by the Swan family in 1954, with the colourful Sir Mortimer Wheeler (whose BBC television appearances were in black and white) as a figurehead. It was taken over by P&O in 1983 and later absorbed into the Carnival Corporation, but was threatened with closure almost six years ago. Rescued by former P&O chairman Lord [...]