Your guide to news from cruise destinations around the world

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,

Getaway lights up the Caribbean

Stars were shining down from a clear, dark sky; in the seas around, the lights of four other cruise ships surrounded Norwegian Getaway, somewhere between the Caribbean islands of St Maarten and St Thomas. Suddenly the night erupted in colour and noise, as fireworks shot into the inky blackness, accompanied by a soundtrack that included Slade's Cum on Feel The Noiz and Prince singing Purple Rain. What a way to mark the halfway point of what is becoming a great week on the newest cruise ship in the world! The advertising slogans proclaimed that Getaway Lights Up Miami, and here [...]

By John Honeywell| 2014-03-06T07:06:08+00:00 6 March 2014|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Entertainment, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

New Crimean war is threat to Black Sea cruises and could affect Baltic

Events in Ukraine could have a huge effect on cruises to the Black Sea this summer. If some analysts are believed, the crisis could also have an impact in the Baltic. Once reserved for intrepid adventurers, the region has opened up to mainstream ships in recent years as the Mediterranean and Aegean have become more crowded, and the Red Sea has been put off limits by Egypt's political troubles. The current Foreign and Commonwealth Office is to avoid all travel to the Crimea - the very region at the heart of Black Sea cruises. "British nationals in Crimea should leave [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:27+00:00 5 March 2014|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|2 Comments

Give me a break – it’s going to be mighty crowded in the Caribbean

The weatherman was issuing snow warnings as I retired to bed last night. Today, as you settle in for an icy blast to top off the wettest winter on record, I'll be relaxing on Virgin Atlantic flight VS005, returning to the warmer weather of southern Florida. Tomorrow I will be boarding Norwegian Getaway for a week in the Caribbean - and what a week it's going to be. I'll have a chance to spend more time exploring the ship on which I spent a couple of days in Southampton in January. Another opportunity to marvel at the magic show in [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:27+00:00 28 February 2014|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Princess introduces all-inclusive cruises and brings Royal back to UK

An all inclusive package will be available on one of Princess Cruises' UK-based ships for the first time next year. The offer, which forms part of the company's 2015 Europe programme, will be available on ten sailings in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe on board Caribbean Princess. The 3,000 passenger ship will set sail from the UK during spring and summer next year. Other highlights include a reduced deposit of £99 per person on all Europe cruises and an increased number of sailings across the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. The cruise line has also revealed that Royal Princess, launched last [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:27+00:00 25 February 2014|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Dream has these guys on the run

If you have ever missed the boat - got back to the pier and found your cruise ship has left without you - you'll know why the guys in this video are in such a hurry. Not sure how many other ships would allow them to clamber aboard from jetskis though. And just as a matter of interest, are those wave runners now adrift in the Caribbean? Leaving those details said, it's a great way to publicise Thomson Dream's 2014-2015 sailings from Montego Bay. And of course, these are not regular passengers, they are members of 3RUN, the free running [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:27+00:00 25 February 2014|Cruise Destinations|2 Comments

Discovery diverts for repairs

Another British cruise ship has been taking a battering in the stormy weather. MV Discovery, operated by Cruise & Maritime Voyages, was returning to the UK from a winter lay-up in Greece when it ran into heavy seas. The ship - last of the TV Love Boats - is scheduled to spend a week alongside in Avonmouth in preparation for its summer season of cruises. But instead of heading straight for the Bristol Channel, it put into Falmouth for repairs to a 3-centimetre leak in the hull. A CMV spokesman said today: The vessel was subjected to severe weather conditions [...]

By John Honeywell| 2014-02-25T17:57:35+00:00 21 February 2014|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

What made Quest and the Sea of Cortez an Azamazing experience

So, I have said a sad farewell to the Azamara Quest after a wonderful 12-day cruise to the Sea of Cortez that will remain long in the memory. Not just for the occasional glimpses of whales and dolphins - I had hoped for more - and not only for the marathon excursion by train to the Mexico's amazing Copper Canyon, which I wrote about a few days ago. After the initial disappointments of Mazatlan and La Paz, we visited some lovely ports of call. Loreto - where Quest spent two days - is a real gem, and Cabo San Lucas [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:27+00:00 12 February 2014|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

What’s cooking? A brigade of food heroes for Britannia’s maiden season

Details of the maiden season for P&O's Britannia - biggest cruise ship ever to be built for the British market - have been announced. The ship's maiden voyage will be from Southampton on March 14, 2015, and the summer includes cruises to the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, Norwegian fjords, and the Baltic. There will be a two-night short break cruise to Guernsey in July, followed by a 12-night round-Britain cruise visiting Edinburgh, Inverness, Kirkwall, Glasgow, Liverpool, Dublin, and Cork. In October, the 3,600-passenger ship will set off for winter in the Caribbean, and fares for the 14-night Transatlantic crossing, which [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:27+00:00 12 February 2014|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Food & Drink, Cruise News|0 Comments

Anthem’s first UK cruises announced

The first itineraries for Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas ex-UK cruises in 2015 were announced today. Fares for three-day taster cruise start at £449. They go on sale from March 3. Highlights: · Four 3-night taster cruises and one 4-night taster cruise calling at Bruges and Paris (Le Havre) · One 7 and one 8-night France and Spain cruise calling at Bilbao and Paris (Le Havre) · One 16-night Mediterranean Cities of Distinction cruise including Barcelona, Nice, Rome Seville and Lisbon · Three 13-nights, one 10-night and one 12-night Sunshine in the Canaries cruise · Two 14-night Italian Mediterranean [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:28+00:00 10 February 2014|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Riding the rails to Copper Canyon, one of the wonders of the world

When I booked to travel on this Azamara Quest cruise billed as "to the Sea of Cortez and Copper Canyon," it was because I was looking forward to the opportunity to view the teeming marine life. I had never heard of Copper Canyon, and assumed it might be a two-bit former mining town with a few relics to its name and little else. How wrong could anyone be? I'm now back from one of the longest and most expensive shore excursions I have ever undertaken, but it was worth every minute and every cent. Copper Canyon is a vast region [...]

By John Honeywell| 2017-06-15T15:59:28+00:00 6 February 2014|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments