All the latest cruise news from the man in the know

Half-price fares and free flights to join your cruise ship – deal or no deal?

It seems like only a couple of days ago I was writing that cruise lines were welcoming strong bookings and a firming up of fares, and were looking forward to record profits. Hang on, it WAS only a couple of days ago that I was grimly forecasting passengers would be faced with higher prices next year. How wrong could I be? My email inbox is rapidly filling up with cut-price deals, offers of free flights, and other incentives for us to reach for our credit cards and book a holiday at sea. Royal Caribbean's Richard Fain was decidedly upbeat and [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:18+00:00 28 October 2010|Cruise Deals, Cruise News|1 Comment

Cup ahoy! Starbucks takes to the sea

Seems it's the week for secrets to be revealed. After NCL's confirmation of their new ship order comes an announcement today that Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas will be the first cruise ship to have a Starbucks coffee shop on board. It's being trumpeted as a big step forward, but in fact the cruise line has had an agreement to serve Seattle's Best Coffee - a Starbucks subsidiary - for the past 10 years. But I suppose it is appropriate, given that Starbucks has a maritime connection, being named after Captain Ahab's first mate in the novel Moby Dick. [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:18+00:00 27 October 2010|Cruise News|2 Comments

Have a night out – on a ship

If the medieval merchant Marco Polo had stayed at home - whether that was in Venice or the Croatian port of Korcula which I visited on Sunday - he would never have opened trade routes between Europe and China and the world might be a different place today. The cruise ship that bears his name is, however, making a success of selling ship visits and going nowhere. A series of events on Marco Polo, planned for October 30 while it is docked at Tilbury, proved so popular that three more dates have been added for what is described as "sampler [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:18+00:00 27 October 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Crocked cruise ship out for a month

With cruise ship Ocean Village en route to join the P&O Australia fleet, sister ship Pacific Jewel - the former Ocean Village 2 - is going to be out of commission for four weeks. As I reported last week, Jewel limped home to Sydney after developing an engine problem, and repairs are going to take longer than first expected. A five-night Melbourne Cup Cruise - planned to coincide with Australia's biggest night of horse racing - and a 14-night voyage to Fiji due to depart on November 13 have both been cancelled, and engineers from France have flown out to [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:18+00:00 27 October 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

Cruise line bosses welcome more passengers and predict bigger profits

It's beginning to look like the financial worst is over for cruise lines; good news for shareholders, less good for passengers looking for bargain basement fares. Two days before he'll be taking delivery of his latest billion dollar baby, Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain predicted that the company will rake in record profits in 2011, helped by tighter cost controls and the increased capacity the new ship will bring. He also forecast that 2010 earnings per share will reach $2.47, compared with a July prediction of $2.35. The figure for 2011 is expected to be higher [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:18+00:00 27 October 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

New ship order saves Turku yard

Back in action after a few days sailing in the Adriatic on board Aegean Odyssey - and more of that soon. But first, time to catch up with the cruise news from while I was away. The big announcement - although hardly unexpected - came yesterday when NCL revealed they had ordered two new ships from the Meyer-Werft yard in Germany. There was also news from the Finnish yard of STX Europe, which was facing a bleak future once Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas sails to Florida on Friday. Viking Line, which operates luxury ferries from Finland to Sweden [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:18+00:00 26 October 2010|Cruise Entertainment, Cruise News|0 Comments

Two new cruise ships for NCL

It's not the most revealing of computer-generated impressions, but this is allegedly what Norwegian Cruise Lines two new ships will look like. After months of rumours, the company has confirmed that it has raised the finance and placed an order for the next generation of Freestyle Cruising ships The 143,500-ton vessels, which will each carry approximately 4,000 passengers, will include lots of the features introduced on Norwegian Epic, and are scheduled to enter service in spring 2013 and spring 2014. They will be built at the Meyer-Werft shipyard in Germany, and I am looking forward to seeing owner Bernard Meyer [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:18+00:00 25 October 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

Yeah mon! Jamaica’s new terminal is still not ready to welcome cruise ships

Royal Caribbean have invested a small fortune in developing a new cruise terminal at the port of Falmouth, Jamaica, to be used by their giant ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. They pumped in £75 million to add to the £90 million the port borrowed from HSBC to pay for the project, which should by now be employing 600 people to welcome more than half a million visitors every year. But construction delays meant that by the scheduled date of March this year the terminal was not completed , and itineraries for Oasis were hastily rearranged, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-10-19T18:17:22+00:00 19 October 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Why Olsen has to charge a premium

The four ships of the Fred Olsen fleet are not the newest, the entertainment on board is not the glitziest. But they do provide a supremely comfortable, thoroughly British cruise experience - and until today, I thought, some of the best value. But I will have to start doing my sums again after hearing what marketing director Nigel Lingard told a group of travel agents at the ABTA Convention in Malta. His company has to charge about 15 per cent more than bigger rivals like P&O and Cunard, and adds enhancements such as the Arts Club lectures in order to [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:19+00:00 19 October 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

Cruise ship collides with cargo vessel

Cruise ship Costa Classica has collided with a cargo vessel at the mouth of the Yangtze River. The Shanghai Daily is reporting that the ship suffered a long gash in its side and several passengers were injured. Three have been transferred to hospital ashore. The ship reached its berth safely, but a cruise to Japan, Korea and Hong Kong due to begin today has been cancelled. The accident happened at 4:45am as the ship was heading into port. The other vessel involved was the 86,848-ton Belgian-registered bulk carrier Lowlands Longevity, which was travelling in the same direction. The 1,311 passengers, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:19+00:00 18 October 2010|Cruise News|2 Comments