Cruise Destinations

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Your guide to the latest news and updates from cruise destinations and ports of call around the world. Mediterranean, Europe, Caribbean, Alaska, South America, south-east Asia, Australasia, Arctic, Antarctica, Middle East. Southampton, Barcelona, Rome, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Barbados, Panama, Norway, Dubai, Bahamas, Abu Dhabi, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, Baltic, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Marseille, Athens, Greece, Venice, Dubrovnik, Corfu, Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, Naples, Santorini, Mykonos, Le Havre, Amsterdam, Bruges, Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Kirkwall, Bergen, Svalbard, Iceland, Reykjavik, Costa Rica, Dominica, Puerto Rico, New York, Vancouver, Seattle, Skagway, Juneau, China, Shanghai, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand,

It’s time to party with magnificent eagles in the land of the midnight fun

TO MARK NATIONAL CRUISE WEEK, HERE'S A PIECE FROM MY HURTIGRUTEN TRIP EARLIER THIS YEAR, JUST PUBLISHED IN THE DAILY MIRROR The Norwegian fjords are the best tourist destination in the world, according to no less an authority than National Geographic. Which is why so many cruises to the region feature in the brochures of the major cruise lines each year. The scenery all year round, the fascination of experiencing the midnight sun during the summer and an opportunity to witness the spectacle of the northern lights in winter are all irresistible. But there's another way to tour the fjords, [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:43+00:00 18 September 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Cruise ships divert to avoid unrest

A new wave of demonstrations and violent protests in north Africa has led to the cancellation of some cruise ship visits in Egypt and Tunisia, placing Alexandria and La Goulette off-limits to passengers. Cunard's Queen Elizabeth diverted to the Greek island of Rhodes instead of visiting Egypt's second-largest city at the weekend, while Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas - due there today for an overnight stop - will instead call at Messina in Sicily, and the island of Malta. Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam is in Cagliari, Sardinia today instead of La Goulette, although MSC Splendida is visiting the Tunisian [...]

By | 2012-09-18T14:14:39+00:00 18 September 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Go local: the easy way to cruise

Fed up with the queues at airport security and the money-grabbing tricks of budget airlines? It has never been easier to sail away on a cruise and it's gaining in popularity all the time. Last year more British passengers than ever began their holiday from a UK port - up 100,000 to 753,000. More ports are getting in on the act as well. Southampton is the busiest cruise centre by far but, fearful of the competition, it has been fighting against the re-development of a Liverpool terminal, and it faces competition from Dover, Tilbury, Harwich and others. Ships leave Britain [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:43+00:00 18 September 2012|Cruise Deals, Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Tide of protest delays Venice ships

Cruise ship MSC Armonia passing Piazza San Marco in Venice last Thursday Strange that the protesters who massed in Venice to delay three cruise ships from leaving the Stazione Marittimo chose Sunday for their action; a day earlier and they could have inconvenienced ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is spending a week on board MSC Divina. As it was, the sister ships MSC Opera and MSC Musica, together with Costa Favolosa, were held up by about 70 small boats marshalled by the No Grande Navi organisation which wants large cruise ships to be banned from the lagoon on environmental grounds. [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:43+00:00 18 September 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

EAST and BEST – the newest cruise hotspot is full of beauty and history

"Greatest Journeys" is the theme of National Cruise Week 2012. And they don't come much greater than the Far East voyage I made on Diamond Princess earlier this year, visiting China, South Korea and Japan. Here's my report, as published in the DAILY MIRROR Considering the unspeakable horror heaped on it in the name of war - or peace, depending on your point of view - the city of Nagasaki bears its scars lightly. A simple black obelisk and a symbolic marble tomb mark Ground Zero, directly beneath the explosion of the Fat Man atomic bomb on August 9, 1945, [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:43+00:00 17 September 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

To the best of Europe with Disney

There's an interesting and action-packed week in prospect, travelling to three popular Mediterranean cruise destinations. I'm being whisked from Kusadasi to Rome and Venice to see what is being planned for passengers arriving next year on Disney Magic. The ship returns to Europe in June and as well as offering shore excursions for day visitors, will be putting together a selection of extended tours in conjunction with Adventures by Disney. Being Disney, it's not just a matter of sitting on a coach listening to a guide describing what's in front of me. So I'll be taking part in an archaeological [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 8 September 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Princess visit gives Falmouth hope of making a packet from cruise calls

The Cornish tourist trade - caught in the maelstrom of the economic downturn and the wettest summer in 100 years - has been boosted by a visit from the biggest cruise ship to call this year. Local officials have taken advantage of the visit to press the case for investment in the port of Falmouth, which has seen a decline in visiting passenger numbers in recent years. The 113,000-ton Caribbean Princess was in town at August Bank Holiday weekend and local officials believe at least 2,000 passengers came ashore by tender and made their way into Falmouth itself, with another [...]

By | 2012-09-04T11:08:51+00:00 4 September 2012|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Jewel’s farewell to Essex port

It was a sad farewell to Harwich today for 2,110-passenger cruise ship Jewel of the Seas, which has been based in the Essex port for the past nine summer seasons During that time the Royal Caribbean vessel has carried 400,000 passengers on cruises to the Baltic, but now it is being relocated to the US and will be sailing 4, 5 and 7-night Caribbean holidays from Tampa, Florida, and 7-night voyages to New England and Canada from a base in Boston, Massachussetts. To mark its departure, a ceremony was held on board today with Captain Stig Nilsen, Royal Caribbean port [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 31 August 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Port guide goes multi-lingual

International cruise passengers visiting Southampton will benefit from the launch of three newly-translated maps and guides to the city. CruiseSouthampton.com, which provides information for cruise passengers and crew departing from and arriving in Southampton, has unveiled new versions of the document, translated into French, German and Italian. Damian Gevertz, Managing Director of CruiseSouthampton.com, said: "The printed map and guide has become a vital resource for those visiting the city and when non-English speaking visitors said they'd like to see a translated version, we were quick to swoop into action." Doug Morrison, Port Director of ABP's Port of Southampton, added: "With [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 31 August 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

From crazy golf to Mozart, some of the extra treats on a Sapphire cruise

THIS FEATURE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY MIRROR'S HOMES & HOLIDAYS SUPPLEMENT ON AUGUST 26 It's not often you get the opportunity to inspect the works of great artists like Rembrandt, Rubens and Leonardo da Vinci without having to elbow aside all the other tourists. So an after-hour's visit to revel in the treasures of St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum was a delightful extra treat while our cruise ship was in town. While we admired the masterpieces we were serenaded by the State Symphony Orchestra of St Petersburg playing an hour of familiar favourites, including the Overture from Mozart's Marriage of [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:44+00:00 28 August 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|1 Comment