Captain Greybeard - Page 11 of 209 - Your expert guide to cruise ships and cruise holidays

How you can cruise with the stars

TV favourites Ant and Dec are gearing up for their Saturday Night Takeaway finale appearance broadcast live from P&O Cruises’ Britannia next month. There are plenty of other opportunities to cruise with the stars, and leading agents Iglu have come up with a list that includes celebrity chefs, dancers from Strictly, and a Bake Off winner. As managing director Simone Clark points out: “A cruise with a celebrity offers a memorable and exciting holiday with a real difference. “Fans can combine meeting some of their favourite celebrities in an intimate setting, with an exotic holiday location; what’s not to love?” [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:24+00:00 9 March 2016|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

P&O’s Britannia celebrates first birthday

Happy birthday, Britannia! P&O Cruises’ newest and largest ship is one year old this week. The ship was named by The Queen in Southampton on March 10 last year and the party will take place in the Caribbean, where Britannia has been enjoying her first winter season. The ship returns to Southampton on March 25 and after a two-day short-break cruise to Zeebrugge, leaves for a two-week cruise to the Mediterranean. During the voyage Ant and Dec will be on board to broadcast Saturday Night Takeaway live from Barcelona on April 2. Two days later (April 4) Britannia will be on [...]

By John Honeywell| 2016-03-06T18:13:18+00:00 6 March 2016|Cruise News|0 Comments

Why does cruise have such an image problem?

It’s been a while since I last posted here, but normal service is about to be resumed. To kick things off, here’s my latest column from World of Cruising magazine, which I edited until last month, and where I will remain as Editor at Large and a regular columnist As well as the obvious comment on the cruise industry, there’s another message hidden among the words. See if you can spot it Cruising is under attack from all sides. How is it that companies can spend billions on building the latest ships – with facilities far superior to any land resort and [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:24+00:00 1 March 2016|Cruise Gossip|1 Comment

How the refugee crisis is putting off Americans from taking cruises in the Mediterranean

American holidaymakers are choosing to avoid cruises in the Mediterranean because they have been put off by the refugee crisis, the industry finally admitted this week. Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald, speaking at the announcement of the company’s latest financial results, said earnings until the end of the year will be lower than forecast, and that the migrant issue was making it difficult to achieve expected levels of fares for 2016. So at least Carnival are now facing up to the reality that other cruise line bosses ducked away from at the Seatrade Europe conference in Hamburg, as I reported [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:24+00:00 26 September 2015|Cruise News|0 Comments

Watch as Norwegian Escape leaves shipyard and heads to the sea for the first time

https://youtu.be/u4kJ6qfe9UQ It looks an impossible feat. A 164,600-ton cruise ship in the middle of the countryside, surrounded by green fields filled with cows and sheep, and acres of greenhouses growing tomatoes. Topped by an outdoor movie screen, a double-deck ropes course, and a handful of frightening waterslides, the 4,200-passenger Norwegian Escape inches delicately through a lock to leave the basin at Meyer-Werft’s shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, and begins a 26-mile journey down the River Ems to reach the North Sea. Just to make it possible, the river’s waters have been raised by a barrage until it almost bursts its banks; bridges [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:24+00:00 19 September 2015|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

My favourite cruise ship restaurants

As part of its coverage of National Cruise Week, the Daily Mirror wanted me to tell them about my favourite restaurants at sea. It was a tough call, but I eventually settled on these two ... Ji Ji Asian Kitchen Every night is party night in Ji Ji’s Asian Kitchen, a restaurant where it’s best to turn up in a group and let each person at the table choose a dish for everyone to share. Start with slow-braised pork belly, Nanjing-style duck, and tamarind and shrimp soup before moving on to Chairman Mao’s Master stuck pig, Kung Pao chicken, and Singapore [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:24+00:00 19 September 2015|Cruise Food & Drink|1 Comment

Start planning now for a world cruise in 2017

The weatherman tells us this bank holiday weekend sees the end of meteorological summer. The cruise lines tell us it's time to start thinking about booking a world voyage - not just next year, but beyond that. Start saving now … P&O Cruises reach their 180th anniversary year in 2017, when both Aurora and Arcadia will make circumnavigations. The 104-night eastward voyage on Aurora leaves Southampton on January 9 and will travel almost 30,000 nautical miles, visiting 35 destinations in 21 countries. As well as sailing under San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge (above) and entering Sydney Harbour, the ship will [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:24+00:00 30 August 2015|Cruise News|0 Comments

Passengers can compete to be stars as Princess Cruises launch The Voice of the Ocean

TV talent show The Voice is to make its debut at sea, with cruise ship passengers groomed for stardom and judged by their fellow guests. The Voice of the Ocean is to become a feature on 11 Princess ships, starting with Regal Princess in October. Contestants will be picked during karaoke session auditions and assigned a mentor from the entertainment teams. Up to nine finalists will compete on stage during the last night of the cruise. A SURVEY of UK passengers shows they are paying no more for their cruise holidays now than they were four years ago. [...]

By John Honeywell| 2015-08-08T10:42:01+00:00 8 August 2015|Cruise Entertainment, Cruise News|0 Comments

Fred’s fabulous four line up in Bergen

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines celebrated a historic gathering of its fleet this week with the Four Bs in Bergen. Balmoral, Braemar, Boudicca and Black Watch sailed into Norway’s second city for a day of celebration and festivities. It was the first time the quartet – from a company proud of its Norwegian heritage - had been together anywhere in the world. The ships arrived in convoy in the early morning sunshine and formed up into diamond formation for their evening departure. Passengers were welcomed by a marching band and locals in Norwegian national costume. During the day they were entertained [...]

By John Honeywell| 2015-07-31T16:50:09+00:00 31 July 2015|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Carnival invests €30 million in new cruise terminal for Barcelona

Barcelona, the busiest cruise port in Europe, is to get a new passenger terminal, with an investment of €30 million from Carnival Corporation. Construction work is expected to start in 2016 and the new facility is scheduled to open in time for the 2018 summer cruise season. Barcelona currently has four cruise terminals – one operated exclusively for Carnival brand ships – on its main breakwater jetty. There are two more closer to the city centre, next to the World Trade Centre building. The new building, which is likely to handle passengers travelling with Cunard, P&O Cruises and Princess, as well [...]

By John Honeywell| 2015-07-23T10:19:42+00:00 23 July 2015|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments