Captain Greybeard - Page 184 of 209 - Your expert guide to cruise ships and cruise holidays

Shipyards fear drought of cruise orders

As Cunard prepare for the keel-laying ceremony for their new liner, Queen Elizabeth, in Italy tomorrow shipyard boss Paolo Capobianco is warning that a drought of orders for new cruise ships after 2012 is causing concern in the industry. Cruise lines have been ordering new vessels at record rates over the past few years, and according to the Passenger Shipping Association, 39 are scheduled for delivery in the next three years. But the global economic situation has already caused giants such as Carnival Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Lines to pause and take stock. NCL, for example, had intended [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:41+00:00 1 July 2009|Cruise News|0 Comments

Princess sails record-breaking cruise

Belfast might be the city which built the Titanic, but for years it has not had a berth suitable for today's giant modern cruise ships. That changed on Tuesday when the Crown Princess became the first vessel to tie up at the £10 million extension to Stormont Wharf at the head of Belfast Lough. She is the first of 40 cruise ships expected to bring more than 60,000 passengers to Northern Ireland this year. NI Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy unveiled a commemorative plaque on what is now the longest deep-water berth in Ireland, as 3,100 passengers flocked ashore, many [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:42+00:00 1 July 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|4 Comments

Equinox’s time has almost come

Here's a sneak preview of the cruise ship Celebrity Equinox, which will be making its debut in Southampton later this month. If you've already seen sister ship Celebrity Solstice, then they will probably look familiar, because the two vessels are almost identical, with subtle changes of décor. They are also an indication of what Celebrity Eclipse will look like when it is delivered next year for a season sailing out of the UK. The interior design of the Solstice-class ships is a world apart from the retro-style favoured by Cunard and Holland America, and the garish Joe Farcus designs on [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:42+00:00 30 June 2009|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

The Top 10 family cruises

My colleague GILL WILLIAMS has compiled a Top 10 of the best family cruise deals available. Take a look: Free kids clubs and the ability to pay up front for meals make cruising a winning holiday solution for families all at sea in the credit crunch. And by shopping around you might even bag a free cruise for the children this year. That's because shipping lines are anxious to pipe aboard a new generation of sailors, believing that once bitten with the cruise bug you're forever smitten. Most lines don't charge for tots under two and several are offering free [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-06-28T11:30:18+00:00 28 June 2009|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

Cruise to put a smile on your face

Need a good laugh? Then take a holiday. A survey of British families has discovered that a week away in the sun generates almost as much laughter as we normally get at home in two months. Apparently we laugh an average of 14 times a day in our normal surroundings - although I swear I heard more than that today as my son received a succession of sick Michael Jackson emails. On holiday we generate 100 belly-busting laughs a day, probably as a result of dads wearing Speedos, and mums trying to pretend that last year's bikini still fits. Not [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:42+00:00 27 June 2009|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

Azura afloat for the first time

Seawater is lapping round the hull of P&O's new super ship Azura for the first time tonight as the dry-dock where it has been under construction at the Monfalcone shipyard in Venice begins to fill. Before the end of the weekend, the 115,000-ton vessel, a sister for Ventura, will be towed to another part of the yard and the dock will be drained ready for the first blocks of Cunard's Queen Elizabeth to be lifted in o place next week. Amanda Dowds, wife of Azura captain Keith Dowds, was the madrina or godmother, and welded a newly-minted £2 coin and [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-06-26T21:58:38+00:00 26 June 2009|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Ready, Freddy, Go for 2010 cruises

To the plush Institute of Directors in Pall Mall this evening for chilled white wine, tasty canapés, and a chat with the friendly people from Fred Olsen, who are launching their 2010-11 cruise brochure. After a steady programme of expansion, buying new ships and stretching them, managing director Nigel Lingard was - for the first time in several years - not able to announce that Olsen will be growing again in 2010. In fact with the retirement of the venerable Black Prince before the end of this year, capacity will be down by 10 per cent. But the four remaining [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-06-25T23:50:49+00:00 25 June 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Food for thought on Oasis of the Seas

You would expect there to be plenty of watering holes on the world's biggest cruise ship - it's called the Oasis of the Seas, after all. But there will be an equally impressive number of restaurants, as the latest announcement from Royal Caribbean reveals. So many, in fact, that you could be on board for three weeks and eat in a different restaurant every day. As the ship will mostly be sailing seven-night cruises from Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean when it comes into service at the beginning of December, that means most of the 5,400 passengers will eat in [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:42+00:00 25 June 2009|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

James packs them in on the QM2

It's been standing room only in the Royal Court Theatre on board Queen Mary 2 this week as singing legend James Taylor and his band perform two shows during their Transatlantic crossing from New York to Southampton. The 1,200-seat theatre was packed last night for each of two shows by the multi-Grammy-winning singer famed as much for his relationships with Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon as for his songwriting. Author Bill Miller, who is on board this week, and who has made more than 300 voyages on liners and cruise ships, said Taylor's concert was the best performance he has [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:42+00:00 24 June 2009|Cruise Entertainment|3 Comments

Ship blaze leaves Lorraine homeless

For most of the passengers on board cruise ship Royal Princess when it caught fire last week, the emergency brought a premature end to their holiday. For one passenger, however, the engine-room blaze which crippled the ship meant she was homeless. Lorraine Arzt (left) has lived on board Princess ships almost permanently for more than seven years. When she decided to move to the Royal Princess two years ago, Carnival Cruises boss Micky Arison invited her to act as godmother at a champagne-drenched ceremony in Portofino, Italy. She spends more than £70,000 a year on her own suite, and has [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:42+00:00 23 June 2009|Cruise News|0 Comments