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Captain Greybeard

Captain Greybeard/

Did Norwegian Epic pass her first sea trials? Judge for yourself

I promised to bring you more pictures of Norwegian Epic being put through her paces in the Bay of Biscay during her sea trials, and here they are. The paintwork will be finished by the time the ship takes on her first passengers in June - but the shape will still be the same, and it's still no beauty. The superstructure of the ship is far from finished, but it wasn't the appearance that was being tested, but the 153,000-ton vessel's propulsion units and manouevrability. During the sea trials, 300 technicians and engineers from STX FRANCE SA, along with 30 [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:33+00:00 15 February 2010|Cruise Ships|1 Comment
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Tambourine Man takes a cruise

I make no apologies for returning to Alastair Greener's We Are Cunard blog today, because it includes an interview with one of my musical heroes - Roger McGuinn of The Byrds. There's even an impromptu performance of Mr Tambourine Man, and a guest blog written by the man himself, who sailed on Queen Victoria from New York to San Francisco last month. As well as entertaining passengers with two talks about his life and career, Roger and his wife Camilla hosted a couple of sailaway parties on the balcony of his cabin and was a hit with his fellow guests [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:33+00:00 15 February 2010|Cruise Entertainment|1 Comment
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Crown Princess a real Love Boat

The TV series Love Boat was filmed on board Princess cruise ships, and the line regularly tops polls of romantic venues. So it's no surprise to see 300 couples here renewing their wedding vows in a group ceremony on board Crown Princess on St Valentine's Day. They are all taking part in a special Romance Summit-themed cruise and have been joined by US reality TV stars Trista and Ryan Sutter, whose television wedding in 2003 was watched by an audience of 26 million. The couple clearly enjoy their cruises - they were chosen to be godparents to sister ship Ruby [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:33+00:00 14 February 2010|Cruise Entertainment|1 Comment
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This week’s top cruise deals

There are now fewer than 50 cabins available on Ocean Village's final cruise season in the Caribbean. Book online, and you can grab one of them for as little as £1,299 for a 14-night voyage. Choose from two departure dates next month: fly from the UK to Barbados on either March 3 or March 10 for a cruise to 10 different islands, including Tortola, St Maarten, St Kitts, Dominica, Tobago, St Lucia and Grenada. Ocean Village - the casual-style ship "for people who don't do cruises" will be sailing in the Mediterranean during the summer before being transferred to P&O [...]

By | 2010-02-13T00:01:00+00:00 13 February 2010|Cruise Deals|1 Comment
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Epic judged in first sea trials

It's not the best picture in the world, but the weather in France today, when Norwegian Epic left the shipyard for its first sea trials, was about as bright as Ashley Cole. The 153,000-ton ship is being put through its paces with about 300 workers from STX Europe and 30 staff from Norwegian Cruise Lines on board. Captain Trygve Vorrenon will be on the bridge as the giant cruise ship is taken up to full speed, brought to crash stops and made to make sharp turns - all to make sure it will handle comfortably when it takes on its [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:33+00:00 12 February 2010|Cruise Ships|0 Comments
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The battle of Barcelona

Barcelona has been the scene of many a battle over the years. Spanish warships were routed by the French during the Catalan Revolt in 1642, and the city was the scene of a major conflict in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War. Oh, and there's been the occasional ding-dong at the Nou Camp stadium as well. Next year the battle will be played out at sea again, as the world's biggest cruise companies compete head to head with some of their largest ships. Royal Caribbean have announced they will be basing the 154,407-ton Liberty of the Seas in Barcelona, sailing [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:33+00:00 11 February 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments
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Going walkies in mid-Atlantic

Let me start with an apology: The list of "Useful Links" on the right of this screen has been pretty useless for a few weeks as many of the links need updating. That process is in hand, and should be sorted soon. One of the links that does still work is to Alastair Greener's We Are Cunard blog about life on board Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, as well as updates on the progress of the line's newest ship, Queen Elizabeth. Alastair's latest entry reveals a unique feature of the QM2 - the kennels. Yes, cats and dogs can [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:33+00:00 11 February 2010|Cruise News|1 Comment
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NCL and Costa miss out UK ports

Well, we've had the good news from Norwegian Cruise Lines, with the announcement that their new mega-ship, Norwegian Epic, will be sailing in the Mediterranean next summer. Now comes the bad news - the company is pulling out of Dover. Norwegian Sun will be sailing from from the port for its 13-night Baltic cruises from May until September this year, but in 2011 the ship will be based in Copenhagen instead. For the first time in many years, the company will have no ships operating from a British port, but UK general manager Stephen Park tells me their fly-cruises - [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:33+00:00 10 February 2010|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments
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US passengers running scared from cruises in the Red Sea

As my two most recent cruises have both been to the Red Sea, I was greatly amused by the reaction prompted by my friend Gene Sloan's report that Costa is planning to base two ships in the region next winter. His USA Today Cruise Log reports that the 820-passenger Costa Allegra and the 770-passenger Costa Marina - two of the oldest and smallest vessels in their 15-strong fleet - will be sailing seven-night cruises from Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt. The itineraries include calls at Adabiyah, about two hours' drive from Cairo; Safaga, about four hours from Luxor; and Aqaba [...]

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:33+00:00 9 February 2010|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment
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