Captain Greybeard - Page 187 of 209 - Your expert guide to cruise ships and cruise holidays

Last Titanic survivor dies at 97

By EUAN STRETCH She was the youngest passenger on board the Titanic when it sank . . . and yesterday the last direct link with the disaster was broken when Millvina Dean died at 97. Millvina was just nine weeks old when the liner went down on its maiden voyage in 1912, with the loss of 1,523 lives. Her death - after a bout of pneumonia - comes just a month after Titanic movie stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio and director James Cameron stepped in to pay her private nursing home fees. Back in 1912 her parents had planned [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:42+00:00 1 June 2009|Cruise News|0 Comments

Gem of a cruise with a silver lining

"The organisation was superb, which was welcome in my case as I was the only adult with two youngsters (both of whom were trying not to miss their mum too much). The kids' club did a great job in occupying their minds." My colleague Mark Silver writes about cruising the Mediterranean with his two daughters to get over the pain of divorce. His girls made new friends on board the Norwegian Gem, and he was able to relax in the spa without being nagged about spending too much money.

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:43+00:00 30 May 2009|Cruise News|0 Comments

Currying favour in the galley

Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar has been getting his sea legs this week during a cruise to the Norwegian fjords on board P&O's Ventura. He had a good look round the galley as well, in preparation for the opening of his speciality Indian restaurant, Sindhu, which will be operating on on sister ship Azura when the vessel launches next April. Kochhar, who runs the Benares restaurant in Mayfair, joins fellow Michelin star winners Marco Pierre White and Gary Rhodes in the pantheon of celebrity chefs masterminding menus on P&O ships. While on Ventura, he cooked some sample recipes in the ship's [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:43+00:00 29 May 2009|Cruise News|0 Comments

OV prepares for final season’s cruising

Casual cruise line Ocean Village may be about to disappear at the end of 2010, but it's not going to go quietly. Although one of the line's two ships will be transferred to new ownership in Australia later this year, the original Ocean Village will continue to provide "cruises for people who don't do cruises" for another year. A TV advertising campaign featuring the voice of Sarah Parish (right), star of BBC series Mistresses, launches next week to push the ship's winter season in the Caribbean, with fares starting at £599 a week for two-week cruises from Barbados. And next [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:43+00:00 28 May 2009|Cruise Deals, Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Swine flu scare quarantines ship

Cruise ship Pacific Dawn is at the centre of a swine flu scare Down Under, and has abandoned a call at the isolated Whitsunday Islands off the coast of Queensland to avoid the risk of introducing the disease. All 2,000 passengers and crew were quarantined at the end of the ship's last cruise, when the vessel returned to Sydney. At least 18 people, including a couple who married during the voyage, have tested positive for the H1N1 virus. The ship was allowed to sail with another 1,500 passengers, including 33 Britons, on a 10-day cruise to Australia's Barrier Reef, but [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-05-27T22:30:10+00:00 27 May 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

First sea trials for MSC Splendida

Here's something that's not been seen before - the shiny new cruise ship MSC Splendida undergoing her first sea trials off the Atlantic coast of France at the weekend. The 133,500-ton vessel carries 3,000-plus passengers and will - like every other MSC newbuild - be christened by screen legend Sophia Loren. The ship is scheduled to leave the STX shipyard at St Nazaire on July 4 and will sail to Vigo, Lisbon, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Marseille, before arriving in Barcelona for the ceremony on July 12.

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:43+00:00 26 May 2009|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Faryl shows Ruby’s Got Talent

It's a good job that the "over-50s only" rule on Saga Ruby applies only to passengers and not to the entertainers. If it did, schoolgirl singing sensation Faryl Smith (above) would be left at the quayside instead of joining the ship for a cruise to the Baltic. Faryl, who sailed to success as a 13-year-old in Britain's Got Talent 12 months ago, turned down a contract offered by Simon Cowell before signing a £2.3 million deal with Universal, reported to have been "most lucrative recording contract ever handed to a schoolgirl". Her debut album reached number four in the charts [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:43+00:00 26 May 2009|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments

This week’s top cruises

www.cruise118.com or call 0800 280 2614 Cruise118 is offering a 14-night Mediterranean cruise on board the Ocean Village from just £599. Departing from Palma on June 2, the ship calls at La Goulette, Civitavecchia (Rome), Genoa, St Raphael, Palamos, Palma, La Goulette, Naples, Livorno, Villefranche and Ajjacio before returning to Palma. www.bestcruisedeal.co.uk Departing on June 10 from Harwich, a 14-night cruise to Russia and Scandinavia costs £799 per person. Itinerary highlights include Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallinn and Oslo. Price includes 14-nights' accommodation on the Jewel Of The Seas in an inside cabin. A 14-night cruise to the Mediterranean [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:43+00:00 23 May 2009|Cruise Deals|0 Comments

Cruise ship falls from the summit

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's decision to move the G8 summit from the island of La Maddalena to the quake-hit region of Abruzzo is going to be a blow for MSC Cruises. One of the cruise line's ships was going to be used to provide accommodation for some of the world's most powerful leaders - and Gordon Brown - but it will no longer be needed now the venue has been changed in support of L'Aquila's earthquake victims. And it has been revealed that the earlier announcement that MSC Fantasia was to be the G8's floating hotel was all a [...]

By John Honeywell| 2009-05-22T22:12:20+00:00 22 May 2009|Cruise News|1 Comment

Blue Man show sets sail with Epic

Entertainment on board cruise ships is frequently mocked by people who have never spent a day at sea. Simon Cowell is fond of insulting X-Factor singers by telling them they have cruise ship voices, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is derided for his early career as a "cruise ship crooner" every time his alleged philandering makes the news. But in the 21st Century world of floating mega-ships which are resorts in their own right, entertainment is a vital factor in attracting passengers, and it gets more important every year. West End-style "greatest hits" musical productions are all well and [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T16:00:43+00:00 21 May 2009|Cruise Entertainment|0 Comments