Captain Greybeard

Almost 500 Australians and New Zealanders took part in a memorial service on the decks of Cunard Lines’ Queen Elizabeth this morning as the ship sailed the waters off the Gallipoli Peninsula. They were joined by hundreds of other passengers marking the 100th anniversary of the start of the eight-month First World War campaign that cost more than 140,000 lives. Crew and guests laid wreaths in the water in remembrance of the soldiers who died. A six-foot high poppy wall floral tribute, shaped as ‘100’ to mark the Anzac centenary, formed the centrepiece for the ceremony. The wall was filled [...]

Continuing political unrest has led MSC Cruises to cancel cruise ship calls to Egypt and Ukraine which had been scheduled for later this year and spring 2016. Alternative ports of call have been arranged in the Mediterranean. The company says the move is “in response to market demand”; translated that probably means there is currently a distinct LACK of demand for cruises to the affected regions. The affected cruises are: MSC Opera: 12-night Eastern Mediterranean sailings – Rhodes, Greece and Heraklion, Crete replace Alexandria, Egypt. Three departures affected [28 September, 10 October and 22 October, 2015]. MSC Sinfonia: 12-night Eastern [...]

A British cruise ship was forced to make an unscheduled return to port last night after a fire on board. P&O Cruises’ Oriana was en route to a day in Key West, Florida, but turned round and returned to Miami, which it had left only a few hours earlier. A P&O spokeswoman said the fire was minor and “localised” and that the safety of passengers and crew had not been affected. She said that in order to allow for a mandatary US Coastguard inspection, the ship would remain in Miami until 8.00 am local time (1.00 pm BST) and the [...]