I have arrived on board the P & O cruise ship Ventura in Barbados, with two weeks of Caribbean cruising ahead of me. I shall post updates as often as I can, so check back regularly for news and views on the ship and the destinations.
If you thought John Sergeant suddenly withdrew from BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing today because he was stung by the judges’ criticism, think again – he pulled out so he can travel on a P & O cruise next week. The 64-year-old political broadcaster, whose two left feet earned him the wrath of the dancing experts, but endeared him to the voting public, will be sailing on Oceana from Barbados on November 28. The 15-night cruise transits the Panama Canal and finishes on the Pacific coast in Acapulco. P&O Cruises head of brand marketing, Philip Price, said: “We are delighted to [...]
Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 should be making good speed on her first Transatlantic crossing after a wash and brush up in dry dock. Her hull has received a new coat of slippery silicone paint – it took 35,000 litres to do the job – and her four propulsion pods received a service. Passengers will also find wi-fi connectivity for laptop computers in the cabins, and mobile phones can now be connected via satellite from anywhere in the world. Mobiles will not work in the restaurants, the Royal Court Theatre, the Illuminations planetarium, or the Queens Room ballroom. Thank goodness some [...]
Another British port is about to put itself on the cruise map. Portland, in Dorset, is the venue for the sailing events in the 2012 Olympics and today provided turnround facilities for the Hebridean Princess for the first time. Next year, the port’s refurbished cruise terminal will be used by the Seven Seas Voyager, HAL’s Prinsendam, and Peter Deilmann’s Deutschland. The harbour was used by the Royal Navy until 1996, and has been the UK home port for RMS St Helena, which carries passengers, cargo and the Royal Mail on regular scheduled voyages to the island of St Helena Portland [...]
The family-friendly Ventura has had a “challenging
Cricket groundsmen know what they are talking about when it comes to grass. So when a cruise company decided to put a 14,000 square foot lawn on their newest ship, they knew exactly where to look for advice. Celebrity Cruises flew Lancashire Cricket Club’s Peter Marron, 53, to Florida so he could pass on some of his 33 years experience to staff tending the grass on board the 122,000 tonne Celebrity Solstice. Peter, who has looked after the Old Trafford pitch since 1975, thought it was a joke when he first received the call. […]
The Ancient Mariner of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic verse ran into trouble with an albatross. One of our modern mariners has an equally fascinating story to tell about another flying creature. Capt. Albert Schoonderbeek is in charge of Holland America Lines’ MS Veendam, and his daily blog, which is among the links on the right of this page, is always fascinating, although usually more concerned with the practical side of getting a ship in and out of harbour rather than simply enjoying the sun. He has a lovely tale to tell about a surprising nocturnal visitor. Go here to read [...]
Prince Philip confided a long-held ambition today - he's always wanted to sail across the Atlantic on board the QE2. But it is an dream he will never realise. He was speaking at a farewell lunch for the Cunard liner which tonight sailed out of Southampton for the 726th and final time, en route to retirement in Dubai. The Duke of Edinburgh said he had never managed to find the time to do the crossing, and joked: "At least I'll get to have lunch on board." Prince Philip was in good form. Ships like the QE2, he said, could sometimes [...]
Not a good start to the day - the QE2 ran aground in the Solent this morning on her way into Southampton for her farewell call. Conspiracy theorists might say that the 70,000-ton liner's brief grounding on The Brambles sandbank was part of a plot to make sure the ship stays in the UK rather than sailing off to retirement in Dubai. But Cunard spokesman Eric Flounders said the incident was "little more than a bump" and delayed the 40-year-old ship's arrival in port by only about 25 minutes. There's a day of farewell parties taking place,on board and ashore. [...]
Cornwall will get a huge tourism boost if plans are approved for a £30 million project to dredge a deep-water channel and build a cruise terminal at Falmouth. The port gets occasional visits from cruise ships, but they have to anchor in the middle of the harbour and ferry passengers ashore by tender. Dredging would allow some of the biggest passenger ships in the world to tie up alongside, and would bring millions of pounds a year to the region from the high-spending passengers who would take day trips ashore. If the town needs persuading of the benefits a cruise [...]