Cruise Ships

Cruise ship Costa Allegra, which suffered an engine room fire earlier this year and had to be towed to the Seychelles, has been sold for scrap according to reports in Italy. Costa had originally been hoping to find a buyer who would keep the 820-passenger vessel in operation, but now say they do not know what its future will be if negotiations with a Turkish shipowner are successful. Allegra was originally built in 1969 as a container ship but was converted to passenger use and entered service with Costa in 1992. Its decks are named after Impressionist painters, and the [...]

EXCLUSIVE: Cruise ship Discovery is the subject of a new joint venture announced today between All Leisure Holidays and Cruise & Maritime Voyages. The popular 700-passenger vessel is scheduled to return from an extensive dry-dock refurbishment next February, and had been expected to join sister ship Voyager - launching in December - in an expanded Voyages of Discovery fleet. Instead, it will sail alongside Marco Polo, replacing venerable Ocean Countess for most of CMV's departures from regional ports in the UK. While operating on similar-sized ships the cruise experience offered by the two companies has, until now, been markedly different. [...]

Normal service is slightly interrupted this week while I take a look at what Saga Sapphire has to offer during a cruise in the Baltic. I boarded in Kalundborg, Denmark on Saturday. The original schedule would have given us a day at sea on Sunday prior to arrival in Stockholm today. But Captain Philip Rentell - almost as prolific a blogger as me - took account of the weather forecast and delivered us to Warnemunde in Germany instead, where our guide not only showed us the sights but also gave us a glimpse of some of the dark secrets of [...]