Captain Greybeard - Page 142 of 209 - Your expert guide to cruise ships and cruise holidays

Top deals for National Cruise Week

With National Cruise Week starting tomorrow, (Sept 19) travel agents and ship operators are falling over themselves to offer special deals, cut-price offers and other incentives. Cruise and Maritime Voyages, P&O, MSC and NCL will each refund the entire cost of one cruise picked at random from those booked during the next seven days. Crystal Cruises is including free flights on all 2011 European sailings, and Orion Expedition Cruises is including free flights from London on itineraries to Vietnam, Australia and Borneo. Shearings has a 10 per cent reduction on its exclusive cruises aboard MV Discovery, and on European river [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-09-18T00:00:10+00:00 18 September 2010|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

St Petersburg’s Irina gives an object lesson to cruise tour guides

A tour guide can make or break an excursion from a cruise ship. A good one leaves you fulfilled, educated and possibly exhausted at the end of the day; a bad one sends passengers rushing to the ship’s tour desk to complain. Guides need an array of skills, from a detailed insight into their country’s history to an intimate knowledge of the nearest loos; they must be able to gauge how much information a group can absorb, and when to leave them in silence to snooze on the bus. A sense of humour is essential when dealing with a group [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:21+00:00 17 September 2010|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment

An ill wind blows in 3 cruise ships

The beaches, bars and shopping streets of the Caribbean resort of Philipsburg, on the island of St Maarten, were flooded with tourists earlier this week, when three of the newest and biggest cruise ships in the world were all in port at the same time. Oasis of the Seas and Carnival Dream diverted to the port to avoid Hurricane Igor; they joined Norwegian Epic, which was on a scheduled visit on Tuesday. Between them, the three ships delivered about 13,000 passengers and 5,000 crew for the day. Picture by Rajesh Chintaman, Caribbean Daily Herald

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:21+00:00 17 September 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Fantasy cruising with Captain Jack

If you could include Venice, New York and Barcelona on the same itinerary, with a detour to the Arctic Circle to see the Northern Lights and a whale or two, you would have the recipe for the perfect cruise. Especially if Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean was at the controls. That's the result of a survey commissioned by the Passenger Shipping Association to mark National Cruise Week, which starts on Sunday. Venice topped the list of favourite cruise ports for the second consecutive year. Also high on the list were Luxor - which is a good three [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:21+00:00 14 September 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

A sea day to rest? You’re joking

It's a sea day on board Balmoral, so there will be an opportunity to relax before two days of hectic sightseeing in St Petersburg on Wednesday and Thursday. Relax? You must be kidding. One glance at the daily programme shows that every minute is packed with events, and on top of that we lost an hour's sleep last night and will lose another tonight as the clocks are changed to bring us in line with Russia. This morning I could have made it to Ian McCormick's lecture on Faberge if only I wasn't having a late breakfast, and I have [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:21+00:00 14 September 2010|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Squirrel Nutkin takes a cruise

The two vessels operated by The Majestic Line for cruises along the coast and around the islands of western Scotland are not the biggest in the world. Converted traditional wooden trawlers, they carry just 11 passengers in six cabins. This week one of them, the Glen Massan, has been host to an unexpected extra guest - an elusive red squirrel - "Squirrel Nutkin of the Beatrix Potter books. The charming creatures, driven out of most of England by bigger and bolder grey squirrels, are thriving in the forests of the Cowal Peninsula. This one arrived on board while Glen Massan [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:21+00:00 13 September 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

Lazing on a Sunday afternoon

Three days in to my cruise to the Baltic on board Fred Olsen's Balmoral, and a quiet afternoon in Ronne, on the Danish island of Bornholm, provides time to reflect on what we've achieved so far. First question must be why the ship is visiting the island on a Sunday, when pretty much everything is closed. Apart from a couple of cafes in the central square at Store Torvegade, where the determined could get a coffee and . . . er . . . Danish pastry, the place is pretty much deserted. The ship was berthed a mile and a [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:21+00:00 12 September 2010|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment

Sail off with one of these deals

Whenever I write about a cruise ship "sailing" to or from a destination, I usually mean it is travelling under the power of giant engines. But there are still vessels which use the wind, and passengers can sometimes even join in the task of hauling the sails if they are feeling energetic. It's not a spartan experience, however; the vessels operated by Windstar Cruises have flat screen TVs, Bose sound systems and L'Occitane toiletries in the cabins. Despite the ship's relatively small size, it has two restaurants, two bars, a spa and a casino. A seven-night Greek islands cruise on [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:21+00:00 11 September 2010|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

Back to the Baltic on Balmoral

The sea is calling me again and for the second time this year I'm taking a cruise to the Baltic. In May I sailed from Southampton on board P&O's newest ship; this time I'm leaving Dover on the biggest ship in Fred Olsen's fleet. The 116,000-ton Azura, launched in April, accommodates 3,092, plus more than 1,200 crew; Balmoral is 22 years old and at 45,500 tons, takes 1,340 guests and 470 crew. Two very different ships, but with a great deal in common. Both cater almost exclusively for the British market and if I'm lucky enough to be able to [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:22+00:00 9 September 2010|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Cruise ship storm video a hit

It's the latest viral video sensation - the internet is buzzing this week with footage taken on board a cruise ship getting a frightening battering in stormy seas. Furniture, guests and crew are repeatedly sent hurtling across a room as the ship is tossed about during a storm, and it certainly looks like a very scary ride. In another clip, taken by a camera in a storage area below decks, a forklift truck is tossed about like a toy, with almost calamitous results. The incident happened 400 miles off the coast of New Zealand as the Pacific Sun was returning [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:22+00:00 8 September 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments