Captain Greybeard - Page 157 of 209 - Your expert guide to cruise ships and cruise holidays

Join me aboard P&O’s Azura

There will be fireworks tonight when ballerina Darcey Bussell (above) names P&O's newest cruise ship, Azura in Southampton - ironically, 98 years to the day since Titanic left the port on her ill-fated maiden voyage. Before I set off to join the 1,200 guests on board for the ceremony, here's a sneak peek at the ship's interiors - when I toured the vessel earlier in the week I was struck by the warm tones of the decor throughout. If all goes well, I shall have a video of the event online tomorrow, and I'll be sending updates to Twitter during [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:29+00:00 10 April 2010|Cruise Ships|2 Comments

How many pillars are enough?

The two up-market cruise lines, Azamara Club Cruises and Oceania, operating almost identical ships, are in head-to-head competition to attract customers. But it comes as a surprise to find them both using an almost identical sales spiel to attract passengers. The important phrase, apparently, is "key pillars" - whatever they are. Listening to the latest gimmick announced by Oceania, you could be forgiven for thinking that the word should be "pillows." Oceania are introducing herb-infused bedding in their cabins, promising chamomile-induced sleep thanks to pillow-top cushions filled with gel and wrapped in scented fibre. The beds will be introduced on [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:29+00:00 9 April 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

World Cup screenings at sea

There will be two groups of passengers on cruise ships this summer - those desperate to keep up with the latest exploits of Rooney, Ronaldo, Messi and Drogba in the World Cup, and those who have taken to the sea in the hope of avoiding wall-to-wall TV coverage from South Africa. As the opening date of June 11 grows closer, and more cruise lines announce that they have paid for rights to screen matches, it's beginning to look like the fans will have the upper hand. England supporters sailing with P&O, Cunard and Ocean Village will be able to watch [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-04-09T00:50:19+00:00 9 April 2010|Cruise Entertainment, Cruise News|0 Comments

Azura makes her grand arrival

Grey skies and a chill wind greeted P&O's Azura on her arrival in the UK today, but there was a warm welcome from cruise ship enthusiast lined up at vantage points on Southampton Water. The 116,000-ton ship will be named by ballerina Darcey Bussell on Saturday, and sets out on her maiden voyage on Monday. Before then she will host thousands of visitors - among them regular P&O passengers, travel agents, and 1,200 specially-invited guests for the naming ceremony. Carnival UK chief executive David Dingle clambered aboard the vessel off the Isle of Wight at 6.00 am this morning, and [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:29+00:00 7 April 2010|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|4 Comments

Ready to crack the bottle

As the week goes on, there will be plenty of news about P&O's latest ship, Azura. I shall be on Southampton Water tomorrow to see the 116,000-ton vessel arrive in the UK for the first time, and I will be on board for the naming ceremony on Saturday. So here's the first of a number of posts about Azura - godmother Darcey Bussell talking about what it means to have been chosen as the godmother. And below, a quick guide to when and where Azura can be seen tomorrow morning on her way to Southampton's Ocean Terminal.

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:30+00:00 6 April 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Top cruise deals of the week

Independence of the Seas (above) lost its claim to the title of largest cruise ship in the world last November when big sister Oasis of the Seas made its maiden voyage. But Independence is still pretty spectacular, with a FlowRider surf simulator, rock climbing wall, ice rink, and the Royal Promenade - a street of shops, restaurants and bars running through the centre of the ship. There's never a shortage of things to do for the 3,600 passengers on board. The ship arrives back in Southampton later this month to spend the summer sailing from the UK, and there are [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:30+00:00 3 April 2010|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

Name change for P&O Cruises

They call themselves Britain's favourite cruise line, and from today P&O Cruises has a new name, to avoid confusion with Britain's most popular ferry company, P&O Ferries. Welcome to Panda Cruises - involving the change of just one vowel in the name, but necessitating a multi-million pound makeover for the seven-ship fleet. The all-white vessels are to be repainted black and white, like their cuddly namesakes. The 116,000-ton Azura, which has just been delivered by the shipyard in Italy, will be the first to display the new livery when she arrives in Southampton next week. The handover of the vessel [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:30+00:00 1 April 2010|Cruise News|8 Comments

Even earlier start for Allure

Work on building Allure of the Seas at the STX shipyard in Turku, Finland, must be proceeding well - the date of its maiden voyage has been brought forward AGAIN. The twin sister of Oasis of the Seas - at 225,000 tons the two Royal Caribbean vessels will share the title of biggest cruise ship in the world - will now sail with paying passengers for the first time on December 1. The four-night cruise, from Port Everglades in Florida, calls at RCI's private resort of Labadee, on the north coast of Haiti. The ship was originally scheduled for a [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:30+00:00 30 March 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Mermaid is a Chinese takeaway

There can be few cruise passengers visiting Copenhagen who don't include a visit to The Little Mermaid on their schedule. When they reach the figure, a short walk from the Langelinie terminal, they are usually surprised by two things: just how small she is - the statue is only 50 inches tall - and the fact that, unlike most depictions of mermaids, she has two legs.Those making the pilgrimage to the statue this year are in for an even bigger shock, because the mermaid won't be there. The statue, which has sat serenely on a boulder at the edge of [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:30+00:00 29 March 2010|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

First pictures inside Azura

P&O have posted the first interior pictures of their newest superliner, Azura, on their Facebook page - and pretty smart they look too. The atrium lighting (above left) reminds me of the hypnotic colour-changing ceiling designed by Joe Farcus for Costa Concordia (above right); both companies are part of the Carnival Corporation, after all. With its dark wood panelling, The Marquis Bar (below) has a more familiar P&O feel about it. I'm sure there will be more pictures to come during the next few days, and - weather permitting - I should be on board next week when the ship [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:30+00:00 29 March 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments