All the latest cruise news from the man in the know

Choose which captain you want

CLICK on image to see full-sized version Nice touch from Saga Cruises, whose latest brochure adds an extra nugget of information to help customers choose their next voyage. Alongside the dates and destinations of each sailing is now listed the name of the captain who will be in charge. No surprise, of course, that the man on the bridge for Captain Rentell's Mystery Cruise on Saga Sapphire in December will indeed by Philip Rentell, who may well be the man who coined the term "Saganauts" to describe his intrepid passengers. But until now the annual mystery cruise - another feature [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:40+00:00 2 January 2013|Cruise News|0 Comments

Cruise lines accused of bowing to Argentine blackmail over Falklands

FROM MY DAILY MIRROR COLUMN. PUBLISHED DECEMBER 29 Cruise lines which have abandoned visits to the Falkland Islands because of pressure from Argentina are being accused of cowardice. Holland America, Regent Seven Seas, Oceania, Aida and Silversea have all cancelled forthcoming calls at Port Stanley after being told their ships' "safety" could not be guaranteed on arrival in Buenos Aires and Ushuaia. Explaining his company's decision, Silversea's UK general manager, Mike Bonner, said: "Due to ongoing political uncertainty" the line has "taken the decision to cancel scheduled calls at Port Stanley for voyages departing in the coming weeks. "These voyages [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-12-29T14:40:21+00:00 29 December 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|3 Comments

Oasis 3 deal signed – could Royal Caribbean now send one to Europe?

Oasis of the Seas in The Solent in 2009, on its one and only visit to the UK After weeks of speculation and a Europe-wide search to secure finance guarantees, Royal Caribbean has contracted to build a third Oasis-class ship in France, for delivery in the summer of 2016. The deal also includes an option for a fourth 5,400-passenger vessel to be completed in 2018. Confirmation of the company's plans to build a sister ship to Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas - at 226,000 tons the largest cruise ships in the world - came in a [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 28 December 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Cruise line fights back as a new war brews over the Falkland Islands

A new war is threatening to erupt over the Falklands, with the focus this time on visiting cruise ships. P&O Cruises has cancelled all scheduled visits to ports in Argentina as the dispute continues over ships calling at the island capital of Port Stanley. Two other cruise lines, however, have chosen to keep Argentina on their itineraries, while axeing calls to the Falklands. Argentinian authorities have been refusing entry to ships arriving from Port Stanley, and Seabourn Sojourn - like P&O a part of the giant Carnival Corporation - was recently delayed on departure from Buenos Aires as port workers [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-12-16T07:54:24+00:00 16 December 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Friends of the Earth accuse cruise lines of failing to clean up their act

Cruise lines are accused of failing to act to reduce the impact of air and water pollution, in an updated report from Friends of the Earth. The 2012 version of the Cruise Ship Report Card, documenting the environmental impact of the cruise industry, claims that more than half the ships graded in 2010 have not shown any significant improvement. FoE assesses ships on their sewage treatment facilities and the pollution caused by fuel burnt to provide propulsion and power. The report concludes that Disney Cruise Line has shown the greatest improvement - likely to be due to the fact that [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 5 December 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Ruby looking red-faced again

More problems for Saga Ruby, as the ship limps towards its planned retirement in 12 months time. The cruise scheduled to depart from Southampton this Thursday (December 6) has been cancelled because a dry dock refit will not be completed in time. Ruby's last cruise was cut short, with passengers being flown home from Lisbon, because of a problem which arose in the engine room. Repair work - which was carried out during a pre-planned period in dock, is taking longer than anticipated. Saga spokesman Paul Green tells me: "It has emerged that more work than was originally planned is [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-12-04T08:54:07+00:00 4 December 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Voyager welcomes first visitors

Picture: Simon Brooke-Webb The first visitors are taking a look around cruise ship mv Voyager in Portsmouth this weekend. The ship officially joins All Leisure Group's fleet on Tuesday, sailing under the Voyages of Discovery flag, and is being showcased to loyal passengers, travel trade and media over the next four days before sailing to the West Indies. The ship will return to Portsmouth in summer 2013, ready to set out on a series of discovery cruises. All Leisure bought the ship - formerly the Alexander von Humboldt - in 2009 and invested in a multi-million pound refit of the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 1 December 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Camilla marks cruise ship birthday

The Duchess of Cornwall is set to return to the cruise ship which she named at a lavish launch ceremony five years ago. Camilla will be guest of honour at a lunch on board Cunard's Queen Victoria on December 13. During the event, a reception in support of her husband's own pet charity, she will present certificates to 12 Prince's Trust apprentices who will have completed a period of work experience in the customer service department of Cunard's parent company, Carnival UK. She will also watch as a new official portrait of her is unveiled in the ship's Grand Lobby. [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 29 November 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Scotland scores a cruise victory

I'm not just saying this because Mrs Greybeard is Scottish, but warm congratulations to Cruise Scotland, named Destination of the Year at the Seatrade Insider Cruise Industry Awards in Marseille yesterday. Captain Iain Dunderdale of Cruise Highlands (Port of Invergordon, above) was on hand to collect the award Cruise Scotland chairman Richard Alexander said "We were absolutely delighted to collect the Destination of the Year Award at our first attempt. This accolade is testimony not only to the hard work and efforts of our member ports and organisations that are very passionate about growing cruise tourism in Scotland, but also [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:41+00:00 28 November 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments

Captain protests over risk to ship

A cruise ship captain has fired an angry salvo of words at port authorities in St John's, Antigua, after his ship almost grounded while docking in the Caribbean capital. Celebrity Eclipse - a regular summer visitor to the UK for cruises from Southampton - was directed by a pilot into a channel which was not deep enough, according to Captain Dimitrios Manetas. After discovering that there was less than eight inches clearance between the ship's bulbous bow and the sea bed, the captain demanded a meeting with the port authority, pilot association and local port agent. His strongly-worded follow-up letter, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2012-11-27T16:52:16+00:00 27 November 2012|Cruise News|0 Comments