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,

Costa adopts slow cruising mantra

Costa claims to be launching a new style of cruising with its neoCollection on board the refurbished neoRiviera and neoRomantica, offering leisurely itineraries to a selection of destinations off the beaten track. Not exactly new then, as it follows the lead set by Azamara Club Cruises and taken up by a number of lines with boutique ships, including the yet-to-launch Viking Ocean Cruises. But in this case, it is the first venture of its kind by a mainstream cruise company. neoRiviera, with 624 cabins, is currently sailing as Grand Mistral for Spanish sister company Iberocruceros; the ship will be refurbished [...]

By | 2013-10-25T12:06:10+00:00 25 October 2013|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

From Croatia to Brazil, with luck

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? I'm in Croatia this week, cruising among its beautiful islands among a group of 27 passengers aboard mv Emanuel, operating for Saga Holidays. Yesterday we were in Split, the country's second-biggest city, home to the 1,700-year-old palace built by Roman emperor Diocletian. The seafront esplanade - the Riva - is one of the finest in Europe, lined with bars and restaurants on one side, and palm trees and gardens on the other. Only the all-pervasive whiff of rotten eggs, courtesy of a sulphur spring emptying into the sea can detract [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 16 October 2013|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

If you go down to the beach today, you’re sure of a big surprise …

This was to be no ordinary shore excursion. That much was apparent when members of the ship’s crew set out in two Zodiac inflatables to construct a temporary jetty for passengers to step ashore. It became clearer still when we discovered we would be accompanied every step of the way by two armed guards carrying high-powered rifles. No more than 100 people were allowed ashore at any one time, so we were split into groups to be taken by tender from our ship, Quest for Adventure. I was in the first group. No time for breakfast, just a heady adrenaline [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 2 October 2013|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment

Dublin greets a million … and one

Dublin welcomed its millionth cruise passenger this morning when Diane Taylor, from Newfoundland, arrived with her husband, Doug, on Carnival Legend - the 100th cruise ship to visit the city this year. They were welcomed at the foot of the gangway by the Lord Mayor, Oisin Quinn, and other dignitaries. After being presented with a bouquet of flowers, they were whisked off on a VIP tour of the Irish capital, with a surprise gift of €1,000 spending money. The millionth arrival marked the end of a record cruise season for Dublin. Passenger numbers have tripled in a decade and the [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 27 September 2013|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|0 Comments

Game of Thrones walking tour in Dubrovnik was not just a fantasy

Film crews set up in Dubrovnik this week to shoot scenes for the next season of Game of Thrones, the latest in a line of critically and popularly acclaimed TV shows from HBO. The series, adapted from George Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novels, documents a war waged by several noble families for the Seven Kingdom's Iron Throne. The medieval walled city doubles for the King's Landing in seasons two and three of the show; capital of Westeros and home to the much fought-over Iron Throne, currently occupied by the mercurial young king Joffrey Lannister (Jack Gleeson). [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:30+00:00 21 August 2013|Cruise Destinations, Cruise Entertainment|1 Comment

Thomson cancels Red Sea cruises

Thomson Cruises has finally bowed to the inevitable and cancelled its remaining Red Sea cruises scheduled for this winter as a result of the worsening crisis in Egypt. Until last week the ports of Sharm el Sheik and Safaga, and the resort of Hurghada - visited on shore excursions - were considered safe and immune from the violence and demonstrations in Cairo and elsewhere. But in the present circumstances it would be impossible to operate excursions to the Pyramids and the Valley of the Kings, the main reason passengers travel on the Red Sea cruises. Thomson had already cut short [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:30+00:00 21 August 2013|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|1 Comment

NY Super Bowl 48 charter changes Norwegian Getaway maiden plans

Norwegian Getaway has been chartered to provide accommodation for Super Bowl 48, disrupting the travel plans of thousands of passengers. The ship, currently under construction in Germany, is to be based in Miami but it will now head for New York next January. An 11-night Transatlantic crossing from Rotterdam has been changed to a 10-night sailing from Southampton. Instead of setting out from Miami for its official maiden voyage on February 1 it will be tied up at Manhattan Piers from January 29 to February 3. The Super Bowl takes place at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium - home of the [...]

By | 2015-04-07T20:48:39+00:00 19 August 2013|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment

Crisis spreads to Red Sea ports

As violence escalates in Egypt and holidaymakers in Red Sea resorts are warned to remain in their hotels, it can only be a matter of time before Thomson Cruises cancels its winter season in the region. While other operators such as MSC, Costa and Holland America Line have all announced that they have pulled their ships from the country, Thomson has only cut short its Red Sea season on Thomson Majesty. The ship is scheduled to be based in Sharm el Sheik from December 19 to February 27, and also has calls into Port Said and Alexandria booked during the [...]

By | 2013-08-15T10:58:04+00:00 15 August 2013|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|1 Comment

Islands which are worlds apart

Two British islands, thousands of miles apart, and each with a totally different approach to cruise ships. Guernsey, second-largest of the Channel Islands, is a popular destination for ships on round-Britain voyages, on short breaks from Dover and Southampton, and has potential as a stopping-off point en route to the Mediterranean and the Canaries. Just one problem: there is no cruise pier at St Peter Port and ships have to put their passengers ashore by tender. If the weather is windy and the seas are rough, tendering is not possible. Some years, as many as 60 per cent of the [...]

By | 2013-08-05T15:38:01+00:00 5 August 2013|Cruise Destinations|0 Comments

Owzat for a Test Match cruise deal?

With Australia making a strong start to the Third Test at Old Trafford this week, cricketing minds may still be focused on the summer series in England. But hostilities resume again Down Under later in the year, and what better way can there be for the Barmy Army to support their team than by combining a Test Match with a cruise? How about a package which includes a six-night stay at the Hotel Rendezvous in Brisbane, complete with a five-day ticket to the First Test, followed by a visit to Sydney before embarking on Celebrity Solstice for a 12-night cruise [...]

By | 2015-04-07T20:48:09+00:00 2 August 2013|Cruise Deals, Cruise Destinations|0 Comments