Captain Greybeard - Page 146 of 209 - Your expert guide to cruise ships and cruise holidays

Sunday shopping storm for cruisers

My friend Carolyn Spencer Brown, who has spent this week cruising around the British Isles on board Holland America's Westerdam, might want to think twice before returning to Guernsey - even though it's one of her favourite ports of call. She didn't go ashore in St Peter Port on this visit and instead she entertained a group of local journalists on board. But she left controversy in her wake. During a conversation which turned to the attractions of Guernsey as a shopping destination, Carolyn, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, suggested local Sunday trading laws might be discouraging visitors from returning - [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-08-06T17:08:57+00:00 6 August 2010|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Cruise ship for Olympic police?

The Dorset harbour of Portland is the UK base for RMS St Helena, the supply ship which provides a vital link for the remote south Atlantic island of the same name, and this week the town has been host to a couple of visiting cruise ships. Oceania's Insignia and Holland America's Westerdam were in port for a few hours each, as passengers set off on excursions as far apart as Weymouth and Stonehenge. It's possible a cruise ship will be berthed in Portland for rather longer in 2012, when Weymouth Bay will be the venue for the Olympic sailing events. [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-08-05T00:06:23+00:00 5 August 2010|Cruise News|1 Comment

Fishy business for Lisa

As good as the food can be on cruise ships - and it can be very, very good - a little local knowledge can sometimes find even better meals ashore, as a group of top brass from Royal Caribbean discovered this week. Lisa Bauer (left), head of hotel operations, has been visiting the Mediterranean for a hectic tour of three of the line's ships, together with Captain Bill Wright, the boss of Marine Operations, and HR man John McGirl. Between dashing from Rome, Majorca, Barcelona, and Rome again, visiting Adventure, Navigator and Voyager of the Seas, they had just once [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 3 August 2010|Cruise Food & Drink, Cruise Gossip|0 Comments

How to cruise like royalty

The postman arrived this morning (yes there is life outside email) with a letter from a cruise company, together with vouchers offering savings of up to £1,500 on a succession of voyages between September and November. The glossy mini-brochure describes the all-inclusive cruises which include house wine, Champagne and spirits on board, privately-escorted tours, use of bicycles in port, and gratuities. An accompanying letter from the company's sales and marketing director refers to the fact that with Wimbledon and the World Cup now behind us, "what better way to escape and relax than by taking a cruise . . ." [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 2 August 2010|Cruise Deals|1 Comment

Best surf ‘n’ turf cruise deals

Surf and turf is a menu favourite in cruise ship restaurants, and who can't resist a plateful of lobster tail and fillet steak? It could also describe a cruise and stay holiday, combining a week or more at sea with time in a hotel. Here's a selection of surf and turf deals . . . Fly to Palma, Majorca on August 21 to board Thomson Destiny and sail on a seven-night Jewels of the Mediterranean cruise to Sicily, Naples, Corsica, Cannes and Barcelona before spending seven nights at the 4T Santa Lucia hotel in Palma Nova. The fare, from £997, [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 31 July 2010|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

Hi-tech protection for whales

Within days of the grim discovery of a dead whale trapped on the bow of a cruise ship, one cruise line has announced a partnership with the WWF to help prevent similar incidents in the future. A 43-ft long humpback whale (above) was found on the Sapphire Princess off the coast of Alaska on Wednesday as the ship was travelling from Ketchikan to Juneau. The carcass was removed and taken away for examination. Like a fin whale found on the bow of the same ship last year, it is believed the creature was already dead when it was hit by [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 30 July 2010|Cruise News|1 Comment

Win free tickets to Cruise Show

Looking for ideas for your next cruise, or a newcomer wanting to find out if holidays at sea are for you? Not sure whether to choose a trip to the Caribbean sun or an expedition to Antarctica? Want to know what it's like to travel on a mega-liner or an intimate river-boat? Then The CRUISE Show will be the place for you when it opens at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre in October. All the major and specialist cruise lines will be exhibiting under one roof, and if March's event at London's Olympia is anything to go by, it's going to [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 30 July 2010|Cruise Deals, Cruise News|0 Comments

Messing about on the river

I've just spent two of the most relaxing days ever, sailing gently along the River Thames in a floating hotel. So little to do, so much to see! Ducks, geese, crested grebes, even heron and red kites I would have expected on or over the river. And naturally the lush meadows of Berkshire and south Oxfordshire have their fair share of cattle and horses. Anglers line the banks day and night and camp sites abound. While dogs can jump into the water from the banks, humans don't seem to be able to make the leap without first taking a rope [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 29 July 2010|Cruise Destinations|2 Comments

Take three chefs . . . to sea

As countless waistlines and elasticated trousers have demonstrated, it goes without saying that cruise passengers are interested in their food. So P&O - whose ships feature restaurants overseen by three Michelin-starred chefs - have probably found the recipe for success with their latest promotion, especially as it comes in the week when one of their ships and one of those chefs is featured on breakfast TV each morning. Travellers booking cruises on which Gary Rhodes, Marco Pierre White and Atul Kochhar are travelling next year will be entered into a draw to win one of 70 vouchers of £150 each [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 28 July 2010|Cruise Food & Drink|1 Comment

Costa’s backing Dover cruises

There's no reason to expect logic in the forward-planning departments of cruise companies, I suppose. How else can you respond to Costa Cruises' decision to base one of their ships in the UK for the first time, less than three months after the Italian company closed down the London office? It's not long since rival company NCL - despite figures showing substantial growth in the numbers of people sailing no-fly cruises from UK ports - decided to withdraw from Dover and base its Baltic cruises from the port of Copenhagen instead. They argued that their passengers preferred to save the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 26 July 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|3 Comments