Captain Greybeard

Nobel Prize-winning schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai is to be the godmother of cruise ship Celebrity Edge. Celebrity Cruises has announced a two-year partnership with the Malala Fund whose mission is to secure safe, free quality education for every girl in the world. The 19-year-old Peace Prize winner who was shot by the Taliban, will christen the ship in Fort Lauderdale on December 18, 2018. Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises, said Malala's dedication to girls’ education sets an example worth following. "Partnering with the Malala Fund was a natural fit as we share the same passion and commitment [...]

Choosing a cruise can be a complicated business. Faced with a bewildering number of options for vessel and destination, the hopeful holidaymaker could be forgiven for abandoning ship. That’s even before being given the chance to select a preferred cabin – something that rarely arises when booking a hotel room. Then there’s a decision to be made about who to book with – will a High Street travel agent, an online specialist, or direct through a cruise line offer the best value for money? The launch of CompareThatCruise.com this week [April 10] aims to provide a solution to those problems [...]

Cruise and Maritime Voyages has taken delivery of its new flagship Columbus as the former Ocean Village and Pacific Pearl completed a farewell voyage from Australia to Singapore. The 1,600-passenger vessel is now in the Sembcorp Marine Shipyard for the start of work to adapt her for the new operators.. Contractors will continue refurbishment and design changes during a re-positioning voyage that will bring the ship to the UK in June. More than 300 crew members and 100 specialist outfitters have already joined Columbus, which will remain in Singapore until April 19 in order to complete maritime formalities including re-classification and provisioning works before embarking [...]

Micky Arison, the chairman of Carnival Corporation, is one of the most powerful men in the cruise industry and owner of NBA team Miami Heat. But he is an intensely shy person who rarely allows any glimpses into his soul. On board his company’s newest ship – Majestic Princess – he made a rare exception, during which we learnt how Cunard's Queen Mary 2 might never have been built without a nudge from his daughter, and whether he might be ready to build more ships for Cunard. Micky took part in a partially scripted Q&A session with Carnival president Arnold Donald, [...]

EXCLUSIVE: Saga’s new cruise ship, due to debut in summer 2019, is to be called Spirit of Discovery. The name is a change of direction from the tradition of current vessels Saga Sapphire and Saga Pearl 2 and Saga Cruises chief executive Robin Shaw says the name reflects a transformation in the expectations of the over-50s specialist’s customers. “The idea of a cruise being for people to get a suntan, lie on a deckchair and eat lots of food is gone,” he said. “Our customers have a desire to explore and engage with new experiences, whether that’s destinations, culture, food [...]

I’m still bursting with pride today at being honoured for my Contribution to Cruise in the CLIA UK & Ireland Cruise Media Awards. And I have been overwhelmed by the messages of congratulation – in person on the night, and still setting my Twitter and Facebook timelines zinging and pinging. But my moment of glory was tinged with regret. There was one person missing from the gathering of cruise executives, PRs, journalists, and bloggers. Someone who played a huge part in my success. Before I adopted the Captain Greybeard pseudonym and gave up my desk job at Mirror Group Newspapers [...]

The number of ocean cruise passengers from Britain grew to a record 1.9 million in 2016, and the worldwide figure now exceeds 25 million. Although Germany still leads the European league table with more than two million passengers, the UK has a higher percentage of its population taking holidays at sea, at 27 people per thousand. The statistics, compiled by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) were released in the week of the Seatrade Cruise Global convention in Fort Lauderdale. The Mediterranean remains the most popular region for British cruisers, attracting 458,000 passengers in 2016, with Western Europe itineraries departing [...]

  After all the pre-launch hype, generating excitement and anticipation without actually revealing anything about what was to come, the long-awaited reveal of Celebrity Edge could have been a huge anti-climax. But it surpassed all expectations. This next-generation cruise ship will be transformational – the word preferred by Celebrity president and CEO Lisa Litoff-Perlo and her boss, Royal Caribbean’s Richard Fain. No-one argued when design ambassador Nate Berkus, who presented yesterday’s event in Miami, called it revolutionary. The vessel, built to carry around 3,000 passengers, turns traditional shipbuilding concepts inside out, allowing for virtual balcony staterooms that simultaneously open up [...]

TV wine expert Olly Smith has created a pair of exclusive-access wine tour experiences at the world-renowned Blandy’s Wine Lodge in Madeira for P&O Cruises passengers calling at Funchal. The tours will run across the entire fleet on selected 2017 cruises visiting Madeira and will offer behind-the scenes secrets on the craft of winemaking as well as tastings of the delicious varieties. Olly, whose Glass House wine bar is a feature of several P&O ships, will lead one of the excursions. He said: “Whether you’re an absolute wine tasting beginner, or a seasoned pro, you’ll get the lowdown directly from the [...]