Captain Greybeard - Page 181 of 209 - Your expert guide to cruise ships and cruise holidays

Pearl will be Saga’s new gem

It's taken a while, and there have been some hiccups on the way, but Saga Cruises have finally got their hands on a new ship. The 18,500-ton Astoria will undergo a £14 million refit before her maiden voyage as Saga Pearl II next March. My exclusive picture (above) shows how the vessel will look in its new livery. The ship will replace Saga Rose, which will sail into retirement in October, and the company's efforts to buy it have been of epic proportions. The original plan was for it to become Quest for Adventure, a sister ship for Spirit of [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:40+00:00 5 August 2009|Cruise News|0 Comments

New ship for Saga cruise fleet

For the time being, here is Saga's Press release verbatim. Fuller story to follow as soon as possible. Schedule has Saga Pearl II making an 18-night inaugural cruise leaving Southampton on March 15, 2010, after a £14 million re-fit. Saga Rose the flagship of the Saga cruise fleet has been a firm favourite with Saga cruisers - maintaining a tradition of classic cruising and carrying well over 100,000 people to great destinations across the globe. There has been a series of very special final cruises, which culminate in the farewell cruise departing Southampton on 30th October heading for the Mediterranean. [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:40+00:00 5 August 2009|Cruise News|2 Comments

Astoria saga is finally over

BREAKING NEWS: Saga Cruises have finally acquired the cruise ship Astoria as a replacement for Saga Rose. Their plans to purchase the ship were scuppered earlier this year by the original owners' financial problems, but Astoria came up for auction in Gibraltar yesterday and Saga were the winning bidders. After extensive refurbishment, the ship will be re-named Saga Pearl II. More details soon.

By John Honeywell| 2009-08-05T15:54:21+00:00 5 August 2009|Cruise News|7 Comments

All change for safety drill

Does Richard Fain ever stop thinking? He just comes up with one new idea after another - and they all seem to make perfect sense. Not content with introducing surf simulators and shopping malls to the ships of Royal Caribbean, and real grass lawns and croquet to those of Celebrity Cruises, he has now turned his attention to an idea which could be followed by every other ship. I'm talking about lifeboat drill, which international maritime law makes a compulsory event on every cruise. If you have sailed before you will be familiar with the routine. Before, or in some [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-08-04T10:57:08+00:00 4 August 2009|Cruise News|2 Comments

This week’s top cruise deals

Celebrity Equinox was launched on Thursday at a lavish ceremony in Southampton performed by Daily Mirror Pride of Britain winner Nina Barough, founder of the Walk the Walk cancer charity.You can sail on the Equinox next month for just £1,039pp (cruise-only), departing Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) on September 13. The 13-night voyage visits Naples, Athens, Rhodes, Kusadasi in Turkey, Haifa in Israel (for Galilee and Nazareth, Ashdod (for Jerusalem and Bethlehem) and Alexandria in Egypt. Flights are extra and can be booked through the Leading Cruise Agents Alliance. www.thelca.com, 0870 122 5115 Take a six-night Transatlantic crossing to New [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-08-01T09:36:34+00:00 1 August 2009|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

P&O cruise ships go smoke-free

Smokers are being squeezed outside on P&O's cruise ships. From April next year, there will be no indoor smoking areas on Arcadia, Aurora, Oriana, or the company's newest ship, Azura. Passenger cabins will also be no-smoking, and nicotine addicts will be restricted to defined areas of open deck and their cabin balconies. Similar restrictions were introduced on Oceana, Ventura and Artemis last October, following UK legislation which banned smoking in bars and restaurants. A company statement says: "As a direct result of feedback from our passengers, it has become increasingly apparent that the acceptance of smoking inside our ships has [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:40+00:00 1 August 2009|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Here comes the sun . . . and fun

Five words struck terror into the heart of top cruise ship boss Richard Fain at the naming ceremony of Celebrity Equinox. "I haven't told anyone this," said the ship's godmother, breast cancer charity campaigner Nina Barough, before asking every member of the 1,600 audience to take part in a little ritual she conducts at each of her Walk the Walk events. We all held hands for a few moments, laughing nervously, before turning to hug the person next to us and collectively bless the ship. In Richard's case, he got to hug the ship's master, Captain Apostolos Bouzakis, something else [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:41+00:00 30 July 2009|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

All aboard for the Games

If QE2, the world's most famous ocean liner, ends up in Cape Town providing hotel accommodation for next year's World Cup, it looks like she will be facing competition. I hear that Holland America Line has chartered three ships to provide rooms for visiting football fans, officials and dignitaries during the four weeks of the event from June 11 to July 11. It's not a new trend. Norwegian Cruise Lines will be providing a ship to be berthed in Vancouver to add 10 per cent to the city's hotel capacity during the Winter Olympics in February next year. Norwegian Star [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:41+00:00 29 July 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Viking gods shine on Mrs Brown

A week after my return from a cruise to Iceland and Norway on board Cunard’s Queen Victoria, and it’s time to look back at what was an unqualified success in almost every way. Freyr, the Viking god of weather, was kind to Captain and Mrs Greybeard, providing T-shirt weather even in the north of Iceland, and only soaking us with persistent rain at our last port call, Stavanger. At two ports in Iceland we booked Cunard excursions. A fascinating $99 (£62) tour of the western Snaefellsnes Peninsula from Grundafjordor brought us almost within touching distance of nesting kittiwakes on the [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:41+00:00 28 July 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Maria and Tony won’t be eclipsed

The great and the good of the cruise industry were on board Celebrity Equinox last night for the annual dinner of the Passenger Shipping Association. The event was just part of an extravaganza of inaugural celebrations leading up to the ship's naming ceremony on Thursday. Celebrity Cruise Lines' president Dan Hanrahan was reluctant to put a figure on the cost of the eight days events showing off the $750 million ship to UK travel agents and media, With free food and drink flowing each day - until long into the night - and the ship sailing each evening, the cost [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-07-27T11:53:20+00:00 27 July 2009|Cruise News|3 Comments