Cruise Entertainment

TV's Strictly Come Dancing may be over for another year, but it will take to the seas next summer with P&O Cruises. Super-critical judge Craig Revel-Horwood (left) will travel on two voyages, and he will be joined by professional dancers from the show who will demonstrate their skills on the floor and help passengers learn to jive, foxtrot, rumba and quickstep. Dancing fans should look out for Oriana's 12-night cruise to the Canary Islands, leaving Southampton on May 28, and the July 14 departure of the same ship for a 14-night trip to the Norwegian fjords. P&O managing director Carol [...]

The Muppets are about to launch a new career . . . at sea. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great and Animal will lead a cast of 20 characters in an interactive game played out on magic paintings throughout cruise ship Disney Fantasy. When the ship launches next March, passengers will get the chance to solve The Case of the Stolen Show by helping Kermit find his missing banjo, Animal track down his stolen drumsticks, and returning a lost cleaver to Swedish Chef. Guided by a map and holding a unique game card in front of select pieces [...]

Britain will go charity-crazy tonight for the annual fund-raising bonanza that is Children in Need. While Sir Terry Wogan, Tess Daly and Fearne Cotton host events in the BBC studios, volunteers across the country will be manning telephones and taking pledges from the public. Among them will be 140 call centre employees at Carnival UK's HQ in Southampton who are more used to taking bookings from passengers planning to cruise with Cunard, P&O and Princess. Office staff were getting into the spirit of giving earlier today - no sign of Children In Need mascot Pudsey Bear, but Mr Blobby was [...]

This man is the face of the Movember campaign, which aims to get people to grow moustaches this month to raise awareness of - and money for - cancer charities, particularly the number one and two male-specific forms of the disease, prostate and testicular cancer. At last weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Jenson Button showed he was one of the many top sportsmen and celebs supporting the cause. But I thought the face reminded me of something else. A cruise ship, in fact. Anyone else agree that Norwegian Epic could be making waves for Movember?

Fans of the Osmonds won't know where to turn next year: TWO cruise lines are offering chances to meet the '70s superstars on THREE separate voyages. Trouble is, they won't all be sailing together. Fred Olsen know their customers, and realise that the teenybopper fans who bought records like Crazy Horses and Love Me For A Reason are now in their 50s and 60s. At least. There will be a warm welcome on the 1,340-passenger Balmoral when brothers Wayne, Jay and Jimmy take to the stage. They are performing during a 14-night cruise to the Western Mediterranean which leaves Southampton [...]

When I heard that Paul Merton had a close encounter with a tiger during the filming of his latest TV series, I thought it might be the creature voiced by Angelina Jolie in the Kung Fu Panda films. The Dreamworks characters are, after all part of the entertainment on board Allure of the Seas, the cruise ship which Paul travelled on for the first episode of Paul Merton's Adventures, showing on Channel 5 this Wednesday (October 19). No such luck. Apparently it was a real live baby tiger which sank its teeth into him. "I had some incredible experiences," says [...]

While the world's top rugby union teams fight their way to the World Cup finals in New Zealand - or in most cases pack their bags to fly home - P&O Cruises' own rugby team, the Ventura Vikings, is preparing to play its fourth season in the Caribbean. The Vikings rugby team was established in 2008 by Ventura's youth director, 33-year-old Mark Price after he decided to do something about missing his rugby playing days at home. The first season saw Mark taking a bag of old rugby shirts and boots sourced from his local rugby club, Tynedale in Northumberland, [...]