Captain Greybeard - Page 171 of 209 - Your expert guide to cruise ships and cruise holidays

Penguin passengers stuck in ice

Eighty British passengers on an adventure cruise to Antarctica are stranded in pack ice which has surrounded their ship. The ice-breaker Kapitan Khlebnikov left the southern Argentinian port of Ushuaia on November 3 and has been stuck near Snow Hill island, off the north-eastern tip of the Antarctic peninsula for four days. Many of the British tourists on board, who have paid up to £10,000 each, booked through the travel company Exodus. Also with them is a three-man BBC crew filming Emperor penguins for the television series The Frozen Planet. The Russian transport ministry says no-one on board is in [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-11-16T17:25:29+00:00 16 November 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|1 Comment

New ship joins UK cruise fleet

The UK's All Leisure Group, which already operates specialist cruise ships Discovery, Swan Hellenic's Minerva, and Hebridean Princess is growing its fleet even further, with the purchase of MV Alexander von Humboldt. The ship, previously operated by the Dutch company Club Cruises, was sold at Tilbury by sealed bids. It will undergo an extensive upgrade and re-fit, bringing All Leisure's total spend on the vessel to about £12.5 million, before sailing under her new colours for the first time in summer 2011. Built in Spain in 1990, the ship has been known as Jules Verne, Walrus, and Crown Monarch. At [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-11-16T16:52:36+00:00 16 November 2009|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

This week’s top cruise deals

Lots of pre-Christmas treats available this week, as cruise companies offer special deals to fill their ships before the festive season. Fly away to Bridgetown, Barbados on November 26 to join Fred Olsen's Braemar for a 15-night cruise to Roseau, Domica; Road Town, Tortola; Havana, Cuba; Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, Mexico; Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Castries, St Lucia, returning to Bridgetown for flights back home, arriving Gatwick on December 11. Latesaver fares, with cabins allocated on Boarding, are available from £899 per person for a twin-bedded inside cabin. Take your clubs and you could take part in the Flagship [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:36+00:00 14 November 2009|Cruise Deals, Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Little Hailee makes a big splash

There was another christening ceremony on board the cruise ship Carnival Dream in New York yesterday morning. Nine-year-old Hailee Steberger, winner of Carnival's Virtual Book of Dreams contest, took an inaugural plunge down the ship's 303-ft long Twister waterslide - the longest at sea. A few hardy souls gathered on deck 12 to watch the ceremony, hosted by cruise director John Heald and Captain Carlo Queirolo. Hailee, from New Jersey, just across the Hudson River, was wearing a wetsuit to protect against the November chill at eight o'clock, threw herself enthusiastically down the slide and emerged seconds later at the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:36+00:00 14 November 2009|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Oasis reaches home at last

Twelve days after leaving the UK, the biggest cruise ship in the world arrived at her home port of Fort Lauderdale, Florida today, to be greeted by a flotilla of small boats and firetugs spraying jets of water high in the air (above). The 225,000-ton Oasis of the Seas is not yet completely finished and ready to welcome passengers. Over the next few days frantic work will be taking place to load 12,000 shrubs and trees which will be planted in the ship's Central Park. Minor repairs will also have to be carried out to two lifeboats damaged by stormy [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:36+00:00 13 November 2009|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

The impossible Dream is real

Carnival Dream Godmother Marcia Gay Harden with Captain Carlo Queirolo . There was no pomp and ceremony for the launch of the 130,000-ton cruise ship Carnival Dream in New York today - it was fun all the way, from the moment cruise director John Heald reached the stage, to the climactic moment when godmother Marcia Gay Harden smashed a giant champagne bottle with a baseball bat. Carnival boss Gerry Cahill even emerged from a blue tracksuit, masquerading as a member of the energetic dance troup Fun Force, which had bounded around the stage of the ship's Encore Theatre. He said [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:36+00:00 12 November 2009|Cruise Ships|3 Comments

Am I ready to walk the plank?

Anyone who has read John Heald's Carnival blog will know he has a great sense of humour - and a British sense of humour at that - so I am pleased he has taken my gentle chiding in the spirit it was intended. I had a go at him earlier this week because he had fired a shot across the bows of Oasis of the Seas - which had been delayed by rough weather in the Atlantic - without accepting that two of his own company's ships had also had their itineraries messed about by a bit of wind. As [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:36+00:00 12 November 2009|Cruise Gossip|1 Comment

Shiny new ships not the only way

The four panellists at the World Travel Market's Cruise Forum in London were keen to show off their shiny new ships to a packed audience today - although as they had to admit, none is actually exhibiting at the country's biggest travel trade show. Royal Caribbean's Jo Rzymowska is about to fly to Fort Lauderdale for the launch of the biggest cruise ship in the world, Oasis of the Seas. Norwegian Cruise Lines' Stephen Parker can hardly wait for the arrival of Norwegian Epic next June. Andy Magowan of Yachts of Seabourn has seen Seabourn Odyssey launched this year and [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:36+00:00 10 November 2009|Cruise News|1 Comment

Not such a great triumph, John

I hate to say it, but cruise director and cruise blogger extraordinaire John Heald has shot himself in the foot with his latest daily report. As a loyal employee of Carnival Cruises, he never misses an opportunity to take a swipe at their biggest rivals, Royal Caribbean. Today he has a go at Oasis of the Seas, which was delayed by storms while crossing the Atlantic, and will be two days late arriving in Fort Lauderdale. "There are lots of ships making the transition from Europe to North America at the moment and all without incident despite some typical Atlantic [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:36+00:00 10 November 2009|Cruise Gossip|0 Comments

Arcadia to sail from UK to Alaska

Porters at Southampton's cruise terminal had better start getting into training - they'll be doing some particularly heavy lifting come April 2011 when P&O's Arcadia sets out on a 72-night voyage to Alaska and back. With ports of call as far apart as New York and Los Angeles, and as diverse as St Lucia and Skagway, passengers making the full round-trip will need to pack a double wardrobe of clothes each - and that means a whole lot of suitcases. The grand voyage will be the first time since 1970 that it has been possible to sail from the UK [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:36+00:00 9 November 2009|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments