Cruise Destinations

The cruise terminal at Grand Turk, in the British Overseas Territory of Turks and Caicos Islandsm has been closed down following a series of complaints of stomach upsets from visiting passengers. Ships began cancelling calls to the Caribbean port two weeks ago after outbreaks of gastro enteritis. The complex, developed by Carnival Cruise Corporation, houses a number of retail shops and a large Margaritaville bar and restaurant (above) with an open air swimming pool and FlowRider surf simulator. The cruise centre's fresh water supply comes from a reverse osmosis desalination plant. A Carnival spokesman said the company was investigating a [...]

Take a good look at the picture above - it will soon be a thing of the past Geiranger, the second-busiest cruise destination in Norway, is to remove the need for passengers to be taken ashore by tender boats, with the construction of an innovative floating pier. Expected to be ready for use by June, the SeaWalk will save passengers' time and reduce pollution at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed destination, which attracts more than 300,000 visitors arriving by ship each year. Using lifeboats to carry passengers to the village's pier could take a large ships, such as Cunard's Queen Victoria [...]

Scientists predicted this week that sailing over the North Pole will be possible by the middle of this century thanks to melting ice, and travel through the Northwest Passage could become almost commonplace. Time to get there before it becomes a superhighway clogged with tankers, bulk carriers and container ships taking a short cut from China and Japan to northern Europe. What better way than in style and comfort on board the luxury expedition ship Silver Explorer. The vessel plans to take 130 intrepid passengers on a 23-day voyage from Greenland to Alaska for the first time in August next [...]

Apart from a week in the Caribbean early in January, it's been a quiet start to the year for Captain Greybeard. But the cold, grey days of winter have been warmed by reading of another blogger's cruise to the sun. Danielle Fear, aka CruiseMiss, who says she caught the cruise bug in 2007 when she was just 21, spent 35 nights on a round-trip from Southampton aboard P&O's Oceana. There were constant updates on Twitter and Facebook and since she returned she hasn't stopped writing about the trip, posting pictures and videos of the ship and the islands she visited. [...]

Television viewers captivated by the penguins in last night's opening programme of the hidden camera series Spy In The Huddle might already be thinking of planning their own visit to Antarctica. Hurtigruten are certainly hoping so. Quick to cash in, they are plugging next year's voyages on expedition ship MS Fram, with three landings at penguin colonies during 10-day cruises departing 4th and 13th January, 2014. Better start saving now. Fares start at £4,089. International flights and hotels in Buenos Aires, plus domestic flights to join the ship in Ushuaia will add another £1,700 or so. If that's beyond your [...]

Time for a round-up of my year in pictures. This time with a difference. A few - like the one above of Disney Cruise Line's resort island of Castaway Cay - are traditional picture postcard stuff (or as near as I can get with my limited photographic skills). Others are quirky, weird, or just plain bonkers. Enjoy. This vintage Porsche, parked directly outside the Gucci shop in St Tropez, seemed to sum up the over-the-top luxury of the French Riviera, appropriately enough during a short cruise on SeaDream II. Such a shame that when the driver returned with his two [...]