Cruise News

/Cruise News

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

Kenny cruises into Liverpool job

There can't have been many football fans who were shocked this morning when the news finally came through that Liverpool and manager Roy Hodgson were parting company. But one man who appears to have been taken by surprise is Kenny Dalglish, who is taking over the team until the end of the season. The Anfield legend was enjoying a working holiday in the Gulf as a guest host with 290 passengers on board the ultra-luxury cruise ship Silver Wind. He had to pack his bags quickly today in order to jump ship in Bahrain and catch a flight back to [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 8 January 2011|Cruise News|0 Comments

Drug gangs target cruise ships

Cruise ships are being targeted by drug traffickers to smuggle cocaine from South America to Britain and mainland Europe, according to a warning issued by the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the UK Border Agency. They say there is growing evidence that gangs are placing couriers on board ships, and also attempting to corrupt crewmembers, in order to bring in "multi-kilo loads" of drugs. The warning was issued as eight eastern Europeans are to be sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court today after being convicted of attempting to bring 35kg of cocaine ashore from MSC Orchestra when it arrived in Dover [...]

By | 2011-01-07T10:46:59+00:00 7 January 2011|Cruise News|5 Comments

P&O friends can win a cruise

The success of Facebook has seen founder Mark Zuckerberg adding Time magazine's "Person of the Year" title to all the other acclamation that has come his way, not to mention a $1.5 billion investment from Goldman Sachs. The popularity - and profitability - of the social network stems as much from its adoption by big business as it does from users sharing their holiday pictures and gossip. And today, P&O Cruises announced a giveaway designed to increase the number of people - currently standing at almost 18,000 - following their Facebook pages. A 20-night cruise for two, from Hong Kong [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 5 January 2011|Cruise Deals, Cruise News|0 Comments

Falmouth fails to deliver – again

Such is the series of delays that have dogged the development of the Caribbean's newest cruise port, it cannot have come as a surprise that the maiden call has been put back another six weeks. The terminal at Falmouth, Jamaica, should have been opening for business on Friday with the arrival of Navigator of the Seas but after months of development it is still not ready. To add insult to injury, 450 construction workers walked out on strike this week in protest at tax deductions from their year-end bonuses. Nine Royal Caribbean ship calls will be diverted to Ocho Rios [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 4 January 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Safety fears cancel Antarctic cruise

Up-market tour operator Abercrombie & Kent has cancelled a 15-day Antarctic cruise due to sail tomorrow because repairs and safety tests are being carried out on the chartered ship, Compagnie du Ponant's Le Boreal. It is understood that technicians had detected signs of wear on some parts - although what exactly was affected has not been disclosed. Ponant said that if the vessel had been sailing anywhere else in the world, the work could have been carried out during the cruise, but that this would not have been possible in remote Antarctic waters. Abercrombie & Kent informed passengers of the [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 3 January 2011|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Air-con fault ends cruise for 100

After a shaky start which prompted passenger complaints and a feature on BBC's consumer programme, Watchdog, Thomson Cruises must have been hoping for better things in 2011 for their newest ship, Thomson Dream. After all, it recently emerged from a dry-dock refit which was intended to cure the problems inherited when the company took over the vessel, formerly the Costa Europa. No such luck. About 100 passengers expecting to fly out to Jamaica today to join the ship for a two-week Caribbean cruise, including visits to Cuba, were told last night their New Year holiday was cancelled. Ironically, a number [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 30 December 2010|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Cruise waiter shot outside club

A waiter from a British cruise ship has been shot during a visit to Philipsburg, on the Caribbean island of St Maarten. Gahadhar Pradhan, who works on P&O's Aurora, was pistol-whipped over the head during an attempted mugging, and then shot in the buttocks. The attack happened in the red light district of Sucker Garden and the victim was walking from Carolina's Bar to the Seaman's Beach Club. One report describes the bars as "adult entertainment clubs" while another says they are brothels. A resident from a nearby apartment block found Pradhan lying on the ground calling for help. She [...]

By | 2010-12-30T12:26:57+00:00 30 December 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

Cruise ship re-up for drug dealers

Here's a story that combines two of my greatest obsessions: cruise ships and the best television series ever. OK, The Wire doesn't actually get a mention, but if I say the report involves drugs and Baltimore, you should see where I'm going on this. Three crew members from Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas have been charged with attempting to smuggle heroin and cocaine from the Dominican Republic. Court papers say the men, 35-year-old Gavin Excell and 27-year-old kitchen workers John Swart Garth and Kishurn Neptune, planned to sell the drugs to two women from Virginia who they arranged to [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 29 December 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

What’s the reality of getting the cruise message across on TV?

An item on the BBC breakfast news this morning claimed that today was the busiest of the year for holiday bookings, as people wake up to the fact that Christmas is over, and it's time to start making plans for travel in 2011. The cruise companies all have their new advertising campaigns and their special offers lined up, and will be looking forward to achieving, or even beating, the forecast increase of eight per cent in UK passengers booking a holiday at sea. The Passenger Shipping Association expects that 2011 will see 1.77 million Brits taking a cruise - an [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 29 December 2010|Cruise News|6 Comments

Merry Christmas from the Captain

If I was lucky enough to be on a cruise ship right now, I could be relaxing somewhere warm, relishing the fact that I was being waited on hand and foot, enjoying sumptuous meals prepared by a battalion of chefs, and making the most of the fact that I had nothing more strenuous to do than drag myself from the bar to the theatre, back to the bar and on to my cabin. Instead, I'm at home, where the snow that melts slightly each day is frozen solid again next morning. Every spare moment of the last couple of days [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:13+00:00 24 December 2010|Cruise News|1 Comment