Captain Greybeard - Page 160 of 209 - Your expert guide to cruise ships and cruise holidays

Cruising from Alaska to Zadar

There's more to the new 2011 cruise programmes from P&O and Cunard than fly-cruises to the Mediterranean and seven-day Transatlantic crossings. Here are some more highlights from their new brochures: Azura • Cruising to the Central and Western Mediterranean, Baltic, Norwegian Fjords, Iceland, Western Europe and Caribbean • Sailing 17 ex-UK cruises from April 2011 to October 2011 and 11 Caribbean fly cruises from October 2011 to March 2012 • Cruises range from a four night cruise break to Azura's inaugural 15 night Icelandic cruise • Overnight calls in Venice and St. Petersburg • Prices starting from £599 for a [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:31+00:00 15 March 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

First pictures of Saga Pearl II

Saga Pearl II is scheduled to embark on her maiden voyage today, following a £20 million conversion and re-fit which was still not quite finished when I had a look round the ship yesterday. There might have been workmen beavering away at every turn, but Saga Travel boss Susan Hooper and Captain David Warden-Owen were confident that all would be ready for this afternoon, although there is no firework farewell planned, and the ship will head for the Norwegian fjords without fanfare. The conversion from MS Astoria, originally built in 1981, has been carried out over three months in dry-dock [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:32+00:00 15 March 2010|Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Fly-cruises in the Mediterranean on the menu for P&O and Cunard

The two pillars of cruising from the UK - P&O and Cunard - both introduce fly-cruises to the Mediterranean in their programmes for 2011-2012, announced today. Adults-only Adonia - a replacement for Artemis - will be based in the Mediterranean from October next year, offering six fly-cruises departing from Savona, Athens, Trieste and Naples. Cunard's Queen Victoria will operate eight Mediterranean fly-cruises visiting up to nine different ports over 12 nights, from Venice, Rome and Athens. Thanks to her smaller size, Adonia will be able to visit some smaller ports of call not available to larger ships in the company's [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-03-15T07:34:26+00:00 15 March 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Eclipse squeezes down the river

It was tight squeeze, but they made it; newly-built cruise ship Celebrity Eclipse reached the sea yesterday after a 26-mile journey along the River Ems in northern Germany. Ahead lie a few weeks of sea trials and the completion of finishing touches, before the 122,000-ton ship arrives in Southampton on April 20 for its launch celebrations and naming ceremony ahead of a summer of sailings from the UK. The river is more used to much smaller craft, and in order to cope with a ship the size of Eclipse, the water level has to be raised by closing a barrier [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:32+00:00 13 March 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Top cruise deals of the week

One of the best ways to see the glorious sights of the fjords is by sailing on one of the Norwegian Coastal Express ships of the Hurtigruten fleet. They are as comfortable as cruise ships, but they also perform an invaluable function carrying cars, cargo and mail to remote ports up and down the rugged coast. Here's a rare opportunity to sail one of these ships from the UK. MS Fram leaves Dover on April 9 and sails to Stavanger and on to 12 fjords - including the spectacular Hardangerfjord and Geirangerfjord. There are visits to the charming art nouveau [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:32+00:00 13 March 2010|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

Crikey! QM2 heads Down Under

Crikey, cobber! If you see any Cunard bosses walking around with corks dangling from their hats, and singing Waltzing Matilda, then don't be at all surprised - they have come over all Australian this week. A grand dinner in Melbourne for passengers on Queen Victoria's world voyage was followed by an announcement that the line's flagship Queen Mary 2 will spend an unprecedented 28 days in Australian waters in 2012, circumnavigating the continent in the process. The voyage will be the longest period Queen Mary 2 has been based in any country outside her northern hemisphere home ports of Southampton [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:32+00:00 11 March 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

An early start for Eclipse

A stormy weather forecast for northern Europe this weekend has caused a last-minute change of schedule for Celebrity Eclipse's departure from the Meyer-Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, on her first journey to the sea. The still-unfinished cruise ship will be guided by two tugs on the 26-mile journey - taken stern-first - down the River Ems to the North Sea. At some points there are only inches to spare as the 121-ft wide ship squeezes through locks, and the journey can only be taken when tide and wind conditions are perfect. The nine-hour conveyance was originally scheduled to take place [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:32+00:00 10 March 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Breakfast with the penguins

The final morning on board Via Australis was a hectic affair. By 11.00 am we were due to dock in Punta Arenas at the end of our three-day adventure, but before then we had a date - with thousands of penguins. For many passengers, this was the highlight of the trip, so there were no complaints about setting alarm clocks for 6.00 am and rising before the sun as our ship sailed through the Strait of Magellan towards Magdalena Island. Togged out in lots of warming layers, and wearing the obligatory flourescent orange life jackets, we queued to board Zodiac [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:32+00:00 9 March 2010|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Married to an ocean liner

There's a bizarre story in Closer magazine about a 28-year-old woman who was so fed up with men that she married an ocean liner. It's under the category of "real life" although it seems anything but. Tasha Forrester had just split from her boyfriend two years ago when she took a tour of the former Cunard liner Queen Mary, which is now a floating hotel in Long Beach, California. Ignoring the fact that ships are traditionally referred to as "she", shop assistant Tasha said: "On the ship I began to feel better. It felt as if it was a big [...]

By John Honeywell| 2010-03-07T17:56:15+00:00 7 March 2010|Cruise Gossip, Cruise News|7 Comments

Top cruise deals of the week

Take a 14-night cruise to the Mediterranean on board P&O's Ventura - and as an added bonus, you'll get a glimpse of sister ship Azura in port at Southampton for her naming ceremony. Ventura's cruise leaves the port on April 10 and sails to Lisbon, Palma, Barcelona, Cannes, Livorno, Rome and Gibraltar. Fares, which start at £1,025 per person based on two sharing a balcony stateroom, include £100 per adult on-board credit. Prefer to sail on the fleet's newest ship? Then cruise on Azura from Southampton to Malaga, Katakolon, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Venice, Korcula and Gibraltar. The 16-night voyage departs on [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:32+00:00 7 March 2010|Cruise Deals|0 Comments