Captain Greybeard - Page 141 of 209 - Your expert guide to cruise ships and cruise holidays

Epic’s Cirque beefs up the menu

The tumblers, acrobats and strongmen of Cirque Dreams on board giant cruise ship Norwegian Epic have been a popular attraction since the vessel launched in July. The food served during their dinner show in the ship's Spiegel tent has been less popular - as I noted after I became part of the act during the ship's brief visit to the UK. Now NCL are doing something about it - Andy Stuart, the man in charge of global sales and passenger services, has announced that the menu is changing. In comes a new starter with foie gras sharing a plate with [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:20+00:00 24 September 2010|Cruise Entertainment, Cruise Food & Drink|0 Comments

Around the world in 84 days

Remember that joke, voted the funniest of this year's Edinburgh Fringe? ""I've just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I'll tell you what, never again," quipped Tim Vine. There's another gag in similar vein, about a couple who return from a round-the-world cruise, to be asked "Where are you going next?" The 1,700 or so passengers boarding Oriana in Southampton today could become the butt of both jokes, because they were setting off on a world cruise. In September, I hear you ask. Surely world cruises set off in January and don't return home until April? That's the normal rule, but [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-09-23T19:55:09+00:00 23 September 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

QE2 is on the move again at last

Ever since she arrived in Dubai almost two years ago, the dear old QE2 has languished alongside a cargo quay at Port Rashid, overshadowed by two giant cranes. The picture above was taken when I flew over the former Cunard liner in February this year. Plans to convert the ship into a luxury hotel were put on hold when her new owners had to start counting the dirhams and the dollars as the worldwide recession began to bite. There were reports that the vessel was to be moved to Cape Town to provide accommodation for visitors to this summer's World [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:20+00:00 23 September 2010|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|3 Comments

The price we pay for bargain cruises

The economics of cruise holidays are a fascinating subject for study, and worthy of analysis by greater brains than mine. What we do know - and it's a message that has been hammered out for month after month - is that a cruise is unbeatable value for money. Travel writer and agent Chris Owen, from Orlando, Florida, has examined the subject in his latest blog, comparing the cost of a three-night cruise to the Bahamas with a weekend break in Las Vegas. The cruise, naturally, worked out as the best value, costing 40 per cent less than a stay at [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:20+00:00 22 September 2010|Cruise News|2 Comments

Cruise ship gambler jumps to death

A man who is believed to have lost about £415,000 in a cruise ship casino killed himself by jumping from the vessel into the sea. The gambler, identified by Hong Kong police only as a Mr Xu, and aged 51, had been playing baccarat on board the SuperStar Aquarius. He joined the ship on Saturday for a two-day cruise, and was at the casino tables from after dinner until about 8.00 a.m on Sunday. According to some passengers he had lost HK$5 million. He was then seen wandering around the top deck of the 13-deck ship for about an hour [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:20+00:00 22 September 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

You have to hand it to the Queen

Take a good look at these hands. They are those of Her Majesty the Queen, in the Isobel Peachey portrait commissioned by Cunard to hang in their new liner, Queen Elizabeth, and unveiled this week at the National Portrait Gallery in London. As you might expect, they are immaculately manicured hands, but more importantly they seem calm and serene, and they must have remained so during the three sessions in which the Queen posed for the young artist. Now take a look at Cunard's video of the unveiling. I can't help thinking that Cunard president Peter Shanks and Ms Peachey [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:21+00:00 22 September 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Crazy owl at home on cruise ship

We know owls are wise birds, but the creature which tried to stow away on a cruise ship can't have been too clever. The Florida burrowing owl, which normally makes its home in sandy soil - and often invades lawns and football fields - tried to set itself up in the artificial turf of the mini-golf course on Oasis of the Seas. The owl was discovered as the vessel was about to set off from Fort Lauderdale on a week-long cruise to the Caribbean. "She was making it very clear that 'this is my territory,' " said wildlife officer Dave [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:21+00:00 21 September 2010|Cruise Gossip, Cruise News|0 Comments

Cunard’s Royal portrait from the attic

A new portrait of the Queen was unveiled last night, but Her Majesty will not see the painting until October 11, when she names the newest Cunard liner at a ceremony in Southampton. The portrait has been commissioned by Cunard to hang in the Grand Lobby of the ship, Queen Elizabeth. The artist, Isobel Peachey, will reveal her work at the National Portrait Gallery tonight, but the picture will not be put on public display. At 31, Lancashire-born Peachey is the youngest female artist ever to paint the Queen, who is understood to have posed for three sittings over several [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:21+00:00 21 September 2010|Cruise News|1 Comment

Allure passes her first sea trials

Sailing from Tallinn to Copenhagen over the last couple of days, Olav Sovdnes, master of Balmoral, told us a couple of times during his twice-daily broadcasts over the ship's Tannoy that he had altered the planned course to avoid heavy swells and the worst of the weather in the Baltic, seeking shelter in the lee of the Swedish island of Gotland. What a shame we weren't there a day or two earlier, for we might have been fortunate enough to see Allure of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, undergoing her first sea trials. Royal Caribbean chairman [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:21+00:00 19 September 2010|Cruise News|1 Comment

Titanic memorial cruises go down well

April 2012 will see the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and it's beginning to look like the spot where the doomed liner went down is going to be a little crowded, with the announcement that a second cruise ship will make a memorial voyage to the site. Enterprising UK agent Miles Morgan Travel has almost sold out places on board Balmoral, coincidentally the ship on which I am currently returning from a cruise to the Baltic. The 1,350-passenger Fred Olsen ship will leave Southampton on April 8 next year, following the Titanic's original course and calling at [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:21+00:00 18 September 2010|Cruise News|2 Comments