Cruise Ships

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Welcome to the Fantasy

Disney Fantasy is a sister for cruise ship Disney Dream, and there's little more than a year between them, so it would be reasonable to assume they are almost identical, right? Wrong. Seen from quayside, they might be almost indistinguishable - apart from the gold-embossed name on the side and the figure of Dumbo at the stern instead of Sorcerer Mickey Mouse. But inside there's a host of differences. Some were born out of the experience of what worked best on Dream and what wasn't quite perfect; others have been made to adapt the ship for longer cruises. It may [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:56+00:00 13 January 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Adonia back on course for S America

A rapidly-scheduled drydock for what P&O would only describe as "essential repairs" was completed a day early this week, allowing the ship an extra 24 hours preparation before setting off on an 87-night voyage around South America. The post-Christmas cruise from Naples for 700 passengers was cancelled in order for the work to be done. While P&O refused to go into detail, speculation ranged from faulty stabilisers to an oil leak, possibly caused by a rope getting wrapped around a propeller shaft. There were no signs of trouble when I was on board the 11-year-old ship in November, and whatever [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:56+00:00 12 January 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|2 Comments

Fantasy is one step closer to reality

Say hello to Disney Fantasy, inching out from a construction shed into a grey and chilly day at the Meyer-Werft yard in Germany. The new 130,000-ton cruise ship - a sister for Disney Dream - will be launched to an adoring public in a warmer and sunnier Florida at the end of March, but before then there are still thousands of man-hours of work needed to complete construction and fitting out. I'll be taking a look round the ship later this week. Fingers crossed, Disney will allow me to take some pictures for you as well. Top picture courtesy pazzoperilmare.com [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:56+00:00 8 January 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Work in progress as cruise ships are given a New Year transformation

You can keep your New Year resolutions - they'll be history in a week or two anyway. I'm more interested in New Year restorations, re-fits and refurbs, especially when I look around and see how many cruise ships are sitting in dry docks around the world, with construction workers crawling all over them. Millions of pounds are being spent on upgrading the ships, and no detail is too small or too large - whether it's installing flat-screen TVs in cabins, cutting holes in decks to construct an atrium, or as I saw recently on Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas, [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:56+00:00 6 January 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Oriana is looking as good as new but chef Marco is left under the weather

The distinct aroma of new carpets still hangs in the air on P&O cruise ship Oriana, back home briefly after its first cruise since the recent multi-million pound re-fit to adapt it to an adult-only vessel. The kids' club is gone, replaced by 27 new cabins, two of them dinky little singles at the stern. It was interesting to discover that not all the fittings from the club ended up in a skip at the Hamburg shipyard where Oriana's dry-dock refit took place; a few "heritage" items have been placed in storage, and some pieces of equipment have gone to [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 5 January 2012|Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Grab yourself a collector’s calendar

My item about P&O's 2012 calendars excited a bit of interest, not least from Cruise Critic, who pounced on the mention of the male strippers (below) who were threatening to have Adonia's name changed to Adonis, and promptly got hold of a copy to give away in a competition. I hope they coughed up a £10 donation to Help For Heroes. A number of you asked where they could buy a copy of the heritage calendar depicting 175 years of treasured P&O memories, and I'm afraid I have to report that although copies have been sent to members of the [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 4 January 2012|Cruise Ships|2 Comments

Join a virtual crossing on QM2

Back at work this week with loads to do before you can think about your next holiday? Or stuck at home as the gales howl and the rain pours down, while your neighbours are packing for a world cruise? Don't panic. You can experience your own virtual cruise thanks to Cunard, who will be providing regular updates and pictures from Queen Mary 2, which leaves New York this evening for a leisurely Transatlantic crossing which reaches Southampton next Tuesday. You'll need to log onto Facebook to follow the action, and you can post your own questions if there's anything you [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 3 January 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Going overboard as Titanic fever begins to go on … and on and on

There is little doubt that we are all going to be engulfed with Titanic fever over the next few months, as the centenary of the liner's sinking approaches. Memorial cruises, films and exhibitions are all being prepared for the great event which will capture our attention before the arrival of distractions such as The Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics. Director James Cameron has had 300 production artists working for more than a year on converting his 1997 film into 3D ready for re-release on April 6 - at an estimated cost of £12 million. I still have difficulty [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 2 January 2012|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Dumbo flies in to rescue Fantasy

Security has been stepped up to prevent a repetition of the mysterious damage to Disney Fantasy, but there is more cheering news from the shipyard, with the installation of a giant-sized Dumbo the Elephant on the vessel's stern. Take a look at the video to see how the character was created.

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 1 January 2012|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

New look Oriana back in service

Looking refreshed after a month in dry-dock for a multi-million pound refit, P&O Cruises' oldest ship7, returned briefly to Southampton today. Arriving before dawn, Oriana spent just a few hours at the Mayflower terminal before setting out on a 17-night Christmas and New Year cruise to the Mediterranean The ship is now for adults only and much of the refurbishment work has involved taking the children's clubs apart. The 70,000-ton vessel has gained 27 new cabins and two new restaurants. Out has gone the Oriana Rhodes restaurant, replaced by a Marco Pierre White Ocean Grill, similar to the one on [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:57+00:00 19 December 2011|Cruise Ships|0 Comments