Captain Greybeard

When it came to finding a godmother for their newest ship, Princess Cruises was never going to be able to match the glamour and prestige of the Duchess of Cambridge, who officiated at the christening of Royal Princess. Kate Middleton, wearing a striking black and white outfit and in her last solo public engagement before giving birth to Prince George, was a publicist's dream, continuing to provide TV footage and newspaper column inches long after the event in Southampton last June. Sister ship Regal slipped quietly into service this summer and will not be officially named until she gets to [...]

Boutique expedition ship Silver Discoverer, carrying about 85 passengers, has been refused entry to a remote port in the Russian Far East. The ship docked in the former military port of Provideniya during a 12-night cruise from Seward, Alaska, to Nome. Passengers and crew had all obtained the necessary visas and were cleared by immigration, according to Silversea, but authorities from the autonomous Chukotka region ordered everyone to remain on board. It is not known whether the action was the result of growing east-west tension after the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine. A report in the Siberian [...]

Two more ships on order - there's no stopping Norwegian Cruise Lines. The company's latest ship, Getaway, started cruising from Miami only in February, following in the wake of last year's debutante, the New York-based Breakaway . Slightly larger versions, in the shape of Norwegian Escape and Norwegian Bliss are being built and will be entering service in autumn 2015 and spring 2017. Now two more similar vessels - each of 164,600 gross tons and capable of carrying 4,200 passengers - have been ordered for delivery in spring 2018 and autumn 2019. The ships - which will cost about €1.6 [...]

Faced with crippling losses on his £30 million 1980 film Raise The Titanic, impresario Lew Grade famously remarked "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic." Costa Crociere, parent company Carnival Corporation and their insurers could be forgiven for thinking along the same lines now that estimates for the cost of re-floating and scrapping Costa Concordia are reported to be reaching £1.2 billion. Albeit that they would have had to lower only the Mediterranean - a smaller undertaking than draining the Atlantic. At 114,000 gross tons, Concordia was almost two-and-a-half times the size of Titanic. The operation to raise [...]

Cruise ships are developing so fast there's a risk the high-tech kit on board is going to bewilder passengers and possibly make their holiday memorable for all the wrong reasons. Which is why Royal Caribbean have hired gadget geek Jason Bradbury to help de-mystify some of the innovations on their newest ship, Quantum of the Seas. The presenter of C5's Gadget Show has worked with Royal on a video tour of the vessel to showcase everything from its Ripcord sky-diving simulator to the revolutionary Roboscreens which will be part of the entertainment in its Two70° entertainment venue. Bradbury said this [...]