Captain Greybeard

Giuseppe Bono is not the lead singer with an Irish rock band, and he is not the dear departed former husband of Cher. Giuseppe Bono is the chief executive of Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. His company built Britannia and several other cruise ships for P&O, two of Cunard’s Queens, and dozens of ships for the Carnival Corporation. It has built ships for Disney and Oceania, and it is currently constructing luxury vessels for Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Seabourn. Giuseppe Bono's ships have carried millions of passengers on holidays all over the world. He is rightly proud of the Italian passion that [...]

Queen Máxima of The Netherlands will christen Holland America Line’s new Pinnacle-class ship, ms Koningsdam, in a ceremony in Rotterdam on May 20. Members of the Dutch Royal Family have launched 11 Holland America Line ships. Most recently, the then Princess Máxima christened ms Nieuw Amsterdam in 2010 and Queen Beatrix served as ms Eurodam’s godmother in 2008. Statendam III in 1929 was launched by Prince Hendrik, and Nieuw Amsterdam II in 1937 by Queen Wilhelmina. Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line, said, “We are incredibly honoured that Her Majesty Queen Máxima will carry on the tradition of Dutch Royalty christening [...]

The Germans are not noted for their sense of humour. The Americans do not normally have a refined sense of irony. So there was plenty of room for misunderstandings at the ceremony today when cruise ship Ovation of the Seas was handed over from builders Meyer-Werft to Royal Caribbean. The event involved much signing of paperwork, shaking of hands, raising and lowering of flags, and sipping of Champagne – before 10 o’clock in the morning. It also involved the handing over of a ring-binder containing all the essential paperwork. It was presented by shipyard owner Bernard Meyer (above right) to [...]

MSC Cruises has signed a Letter of Intent - the next best thing to a firm contract - for four mega cruise ships carrying 5,400 passengers each to be built by STX France. The ships, classified by MSC as World Class, will be of about 200,000 tons and have eco-friendly dual power, using diesel and LNG (liquified natural gas) The significance of the deal, for both companies, was marked by the fact that it was announced at the Palace of Versailles, in front of French president Francois Hollande. The French government holds a one-third stake in STX. The four ships [...]

Princess Cruises is to get two new ships within the next four years. It was expecting at least one, but Carnival Corporation has decided to allocate another of the five ships it had provisionally ordered from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. The new Princess ships will be to the same design as Royal Princess – christened in Southampton by the Duchess of Cambridge – Regal Princess, and next year’s debutante, Majestic Princess. Each carries 3,560 passengers, and features a dramatic SeaWalk curving from the side of the superstructure. Carnival Corporation currently operates 100 cruise ships and has 16 scheduled for delivery by [...]