All the latest cruise news from the man in the know

Coast Guard investigate cruise bump

There will be some red faces at Carnival Cruise Line, after two of their ships managed to collide with each other yesterday in Key West, Florida. Goodness knows what the captains had to say to each other as they stood on the quayside examining the minor damage caused when Carnival Fantasy (above) bashed into almost-identical sister ship Carnival Imagination while manoeuvring into port. Admittedly the damage was cosmetic, and no-one was hurt when the ships struck stern-to-stern. The US Coast Guard is investigating, and carried out alcohol and drug tests on key personnel as a matter of routine. Imagination was [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:04+00:00 27 July 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|1 Comment

Don’t delay – vote today

The awards season is getting into full swing in the travel industry. More than 100,000 votes have been cast in Cruise International's first-ever awards, and there is still more than a month to go for passengers to make their opinions count. There are separate categories for the best cruise line, river cruise line and ship, all voted for by the people who pay to travel on them. You can choose the Coolest Captain and even vote for me in the Best Cruise Blogger category (what are you waiting for?) and every vote cast provides a chance to win a £3,000 [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:04+00:00 27 July 2011|Cruise News|1 Comment

Many rivers to cruise

Confession time - although have spent countless days sailing on cruise ships at sea, I have yet to experience the joys of river cruising (apart from a couple of days on the Thames, which don't really count). But river cruising is booming, growing faster even that ocean cruising. Almost 134,000 UK passengers chose a river cruise last year; mostly in Europe on the Rhine and the Danube, but there are other rivers such as the Douro and the Elbe, and others travelled further afield to Russia and the Far East, to cruise the Yangtze and Mekong. My friends at Cruise [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:04+00:00 25 July 2011|Cruise News|5 Comments

Low-key launch for Silhouette

From today's Daily Mirror print edition: For a cruise ship christening, the ceremony on board Celebrity Silhouette this week was a low-key affair. There were no big star names, no fireworks, and the whole event took place 50 miles from the sea in the middle of Hamburg. But it was not short of emotion. All the Solstice-class ships - and Silhouette is the fourth - have been named by women who have fought back from breast cancer. Daily Mirror Pride of Britain award winner Nina Barough, who named sister ship Equinox in Southampton in 2009, and British yachtswoman Emma Pontin, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:04+00:00 23 July 2011|Cruise Deals, Cruise News|1 Comment

What not to pack for your cruise

Cut-throat razors, carpet knives, toy guns and pink furry handcuffs - it's amazing what some people pack to take on a cruise. The items in this picture have all been confiscated from passengers boarding ships in Southampton. While the handcuffs may have been intended for a little harmless fun - and I hope the neighbours in the next cabin would not have been disturbed - what would have been the purpose of a Stanley knife? To take home a section of carpet as a souvenir, or to slice a picture out of its frame on the wall? And who thinks [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:04+00:00 20 July 2011|Cruise News|2 Comments

Silhouette is ready for her close-up

It's less than three weeks since Celebrity Silhouette left her shipyard and made the journey to the sea down the River Ems. Yesterday the £500 million cruise ship headed inland again, making a 50-mile journey up the River Elbe to Hamburg, where she will be christened in a lavish ceremony tomorrow. I will be there to see godmother Michelle Morgan, a leading figure in the American travel industry, cut a pink ribbon to trigger the traditional Champagne bottle smashing against the ship. Like the godmothers of sister ships Silhouette, Equinox and Eclipse, she is a breast cancer survivor, and the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:04+00:00 20 July 2011|Cruise News|0 Comments

Magnificent Six? Still room for more

The wet weather wasn't exactly welcoming, but Saturday's visit of six cruise ships in a single day is being hailed a success by Southampton's port authorities, who claim they could have handled even more. The picture above shows four of the ships berthed in the harbour; from left, Crown Princess, Balmoral, Artania and Celebrity Eclipse. Elsewhere, Ventura was at the Ocean Terminal and Grand Princess at the QE II building. Click on the image to see it full size. Damian Gevertz, managing director of of CruiseSouthampton.com said: " The additional transport arrangements that ABP Port of Southampton put in place [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:04+00:00 18 July 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Whales put on a spectacular show

Cruise ship passengers visiting Bergen got a special treat yesterday when a school of pilot whales swam into the fjord and almost into the city. Cunard's Queen Elizabeth, Costa Deliziosa and Saga Ruby were among the ships in port when about 50 whales decided to put on a spectacular show throughout the afternoon. One local resident told local news outlet bt.no she had never seen anything like it in all the 40 years she had lived overlooking the fjord.

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:04+00:00 18 July 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Cruise ship Magic to the rescue

Giant cruise ship Carnival Magic, carrying more than 4,500 passengers, sailed to the rescue of a tiny motor boat in the Mediterranean last night. Two Frenchmen, a father and son, sent out a Mayday call from the motor yacht Jean Michele when it lost power in heavy seas off the Spanish coast. Magic, which had left Barcelona a few hours earlier at the start of a week-long voyage, had already had to cancel a scheduled visit to Monte Carlo today because forecast high winds were expected to make it impossible for the 128,000-ton vessel to enter harbour. She was the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:04+00:00 18 July 2011|Cruise News|2 Comments

Tweeter Caroline is a winner

Congratulations to Caroline Beattie - otherwise known as @CLB001 - whose Tweeting has won a preview cruise on Celebrity's newest ship, Silhouette. She and husband Michael will be flying to Rome at the end of the month to get the Celebrity treatment on a two-day VIP sailing before any paying passengers board the ship. The competition, which I judged along with Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor in chief of Cruise Critic, asked entrants to say - in 140 characters or fewer - which of the ship's new features they would most like to experience. Caroline's entry, which each of us independently [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:04+00:00 15 July 2011|Cruise News|0 Comments