Captain Greybeard - Page 148 of 209 - Your expert guide to cruise ships and cruise holidays

July troubles for Spirit

What is it with the month of July and Spirit of Adventure, the friendly little cruise ship that has carried me round the Black Sea and through the Gulf of Aden? Twelve months ago the vessel made the headlines thanks to a minor fuel leak that threatened to pollute the waters of Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO World Heritage site. This week, the ship hit trouble again, and passengers expecting to sail to Iceland on a 14-night cruise scheduled to leave Dover next Wednesday have been told their trip has been cancelled. A spokesman for the ship's operators tells me that one [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:24+00:00 10 July 2010|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Top cruise deals for summer

The school holidays are upon us. Which means that the world is suddenly divided into two groups of people: those who have to find somewhere to take their children, and those who want to get as far away from kids as possible. Naturally enough, there are cruises to suit both types, and still some bargains to be found. Cruise and Maritime Voyages are specifically targeting teachers in their offer of a child-free environment on board Marco Polo which sails from the London Cruise Terminal at Tilbury on August 19, heading for Edinburgh and then on to Bergen, Geiranger, Nordfjord and [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-07-10T00:01:00+00:00 10 July 2010|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

Wider canal means bigger ships

When you're designing a cruise ship, there are two factors which limit the size if you want to be able to send it anywhere in the world. First, there's height. The Verrazano Narrows bridge at the entrance to New York harbour is 228 feet above the water. Norwegian Epic just about scraped through to get to her naming ceremony last week, and the shape of the funnel of Cunard's Queen Mary 2 was significantly altered so the ship could use the port - essential for a liner making regular transatlantic crossings. Surprisingly, it's not so much of a problem for [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:24+00:00 8 July 2010|Cruise News|2 Comments

Cruise amputee won’t give up

It should be flattering that my friends at USA Today and AOL Travel News have followed up a story from today's Mirror, but, to be honest, there is no story. We reported that a passenger who claims he suffered severe burns to his feet while on a cruise aboard Ocean Village, and eventually had a leg amputated, was still fighting for compensation. In fact, 55-year-old Ronnie Dunbar, of Wallsend, abandoned his legal battle two months ago after his legal team withdrew and he went past the two-year time limit to take action. Mr Dunbar, a former soldier, took his wife [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:24+00:00 6 July 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

Syd designs ship of the future

It's fair to say that the design of Norwegian Epic has not met with universal approval, and I was intrigued to receive a comment on my recent item about the ship from someone who is a noted designer. Syd Mead (left) has worked on science fiction films such as Blade Runner and Aliens. He created the light cycle which features in the Disney film Tron, and he worked on the Turn A Gundam anime series made for Japanese TV. What I did not realise was that in his extensive career, he has also been commissioned to design cruise ships. And [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:24+00:00 6 July 2010|Cruise Ships|3 Comments

Top cruise deals with Fred Olsen

They may be Norwegian owned, but the four ships in the Fred Olsen Cruise Lines fleet provide one of the most British experiences at sea. Most of their departures are from UK ports, including Newcastle, Greenock, Liverpool, Rosyth and Portsmouth as well as the more familiar Southampton and Dover. Drinks - and everything else on board - are priced in pounds. There's never a problem getting a "proper" cup of tea (even though they have recently started charging extra for posh afternoon tea) and the entertainment - which has included acts such as Lulu, Kenny Ball, and the Merseybeats, is [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:24+00:00 3 July 2010|Cruise Deals|1 Comment

Norwegian Epic: the good, the not-so-good and the ugly

A new tower block arrived in New York for the first time today. Stood on end, cruise ship Norwegian Epic would be up there among the tallest skyscrapers in Manhattan, and only 200-ft short of the roof of the 1,250-ft Empire State Building. It's never going to stand on end, of course. It's floating in the Hudson River. But because of its size and design, it had to lower five of its lifeboats into the water before it was brought alongside the pier. My friend Scott, who is lucky enough to live in an apartment across the river in New [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:24+00:00 1 July 2010|Cruise Ships|5 Comments

New hopes for two old girls

Hopes are rising that two grand old ocean liners may find new homes and new lives. QE2, which has languished at a lonely quayside in Dubai (above) since November 2008, was originally bought from Cunard for $100 million and new owners Nakheel prepared lavish designs to convert the liner into a hotel. The economic downturn and the financial crash which hit Dubai put paid to those plans, and a rescue operation to send the ship to Cape Town ended up going nowhere. Now the port of Fremantle, in Western Australia may put in a bid to obtain QE2 in time [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:24+00:00 1 July 2010|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|10 Comments

Regatta puts Henley to shame

It was a busy day for Dover cruise port yesterday, with three ships turning round. Spirit of Adventure, just back from a a seven-night cruise to Norway, was preparing to return on a 14-night voyage as far as North Cape. Saga Ruby, which has just been to North Cape, was setting out for Greenland. Both are regular visitors to the Kent port, and use it as their base throughout the summer. Sandwiched between them was a much rarer visitor. With a name like Regatta, some may have thought she had been blown off course from Henley, but this is an [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:24+00:00 1 July 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Cruise clinic in need of attention

Since locking itself away behind a paywall, The Times' website has been launching all sorts of offers and gimmicks to attract readers. I was particularly interested in today's planned travel clinic, during which Cruise Critic editor in chief Carolyn Spencer Brown will be dispensing sage advice and answering questions. The first question should be directed at the online picture editor who selected this illustration to accompany the clinic. OK, it's of a nice bright, white, shiny cruise ship glistening in the sun. Perfect. Well, not exactly perfect. It's just plain wrong. It doesn't take a very close examination to see [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:24+00:00 29 June 2010|Cruise News|3 Comments