Cruise News

Cunard aficionados will be disappointed to learn that Captain Ian McNaught (above left), the last master of the QE2, is leaving the fleet to join Yachts of Seabourn. Word leaked out this week on website The QE2 Story, and although Cunard have confirmed it is true, the nearest they have come to making an no official statement is a response on their Facebook fan page, Cunard said: "Yes. Captain McNaught is completing his service with Cunard and will begin service with our sister-company Seabourn at the end of this month. We thank him for his many years of dedicated service [...]

Jo Rzymowska, Associate Vice President and General Manager UK and Ireland for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, looks back on 2009 and predicts what will be setting 2010 alight. What was your highlight of 2009? It has to be the launch of Oasis of the Seas. Who'd have thought you could be at sea and find a real park longer than a football pitch with over 12,000 real trees, shrubs and plants? Or that nearby there's an ice rink, rock climbing walls and surf simulators. This is a ship that really has to be seen and experienced to be believed. Watching [...]

Two more leading lights of the UK cruise industry give me their highlights of 2009 and reveal what they are looking forward to in 2010. Nigel Lingard, Marketing Director of Fred Olsen Cruises What was your highlight of 2009? Managing to fill the ships despite early fears of a doomsday scenario! What do you expect to be the highlight of 2010? Hopefully a successful enough year to give us optimism for long-term plans.... Where did you take your main holiday in 2009? A Quark Expeditions cruise around the Svalbard Islands, spotting lots of polar bears. Where are you planning to [...]

For the second of my look at the highlights of 2009 and forecasts for 2010, we turn to Stephen Park, UK general manager of Norwegian Cruise Lines. What was your highlight of 2009? It had to be witnessing Norwegian EPIC float out from her dry dock for final preparations prior to her delivery to the NCL fleet in 2010. Her sheer scale made this a truly amazing sight and gave us an early glimpse of the impact she will have on the world of cruising. What do you expect to be the highlight of 2010? Definitely Norwegian Epic's inaugural celebrations [...]

It's the time for looking back on the highlights of last year and for looking forward to what to expect from 2010. I have asked some of the leading figures of the UK cruise industry for their memories and predictions. We're not manning the lifeboats, but we'll still have women first, thank you. So here are the responses from Carol Marlow, managing director of P&O Cruises, and Lynn Narraway, UK managing director for Carnival Cruise Lines and Holland America Cruises. CAROL MARLOW What was your highlight of 2009? Well, there have been a few. Sailing into Sydney on Queen Mary [...]