Cruise Gossip

A couple of weeks ago, I felt like I was on a roll. Voting had just opened in the second annual Cruise International Awards, where I am nominated in the Best Cruise Blogger category, sponsored by Cruise Connections. Then I received an email which told me this blog had been rated in the Top 10 for travel advice by MyTravelMoney.co.uk no less. I'm up there alongside giants such as Trip Advisor, Expedia Travel Tips and The Man in Seat Sixty-One. Exalted company. And with a citation which made me blush. It reads: "Forget Captain Beefheart, or Captain Birds Eye for [...]

We have come to the end of our week on Allure of the Seas, and what a packed seven days it has been. There are those who have suggested that, because it is such a huge floating resort, there is no need for the ship to actually go anywhere and that passengers would be more than happy spending all their holiday on board. Perhaps some do, spurning the chance to get sand between their toes at Labadee, to brave the Jamaican hospitality at Falmouth, or to choose from a host of activities in Cozumel (above). The alternate week's itinerary takes [...]

Seven days in the Caribbean on the biggest cruise ship in the world. Diary of a week on board Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas SUNDAY: Throwing open the curtains in my bedroom at the Sheraton Beach Hotel, Fort Lauderdale (above) I can see palm trees bending in the breeze and a collection of kite-surfers riding the waves. A windy morning then, but considerably warmer than the Britain I left behind a few hours earlier. A comfortable flight courtesy of Virgin Atlantic, a half-hour hiatus in the queue for Homeland Security at Miami Airport, and a $110 taxi ride along [...]

For longer than many of us care to remember, the second Tuesday in December has been a highlight in the calendar, a date not to be missed. It's the day of the annual Cunard Christmas press lunch. The generous hospitality of the day, the fun, the food and the goodie bags contribute greatly to the fact that - as Cunard president and managing director Peter Shanks acknowledged yesterday - the company punches above its not inconsiderable weight when it comes to reaping good publicity throughout the year. And this in a cruise industry which he also said recently garnered more [...]

How does an American presidential candidate get to grips with the Greek financial crisis? Republican hopeful Newt Gingrich says he did it by taking a luxury cruise. A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Gingrich took his wife Callista on a 10-day voyage on board Seabourn Odyssey from Athens to Istanbul, visiting Greek islands such as Mylos, Patmos, Rhodes, and Mykonos. Among the other 450 passengers on board was supermodel Twiggy, godmother to sister ship Seabourn Sojourn. At the time, US political commentators were mystified by his disappearance from the campaign trail, and he was criticised for leaving the [...]

He has left it a bit late, but Rod Stewart is reported to be looking to sail on a memorial cruise to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic next year. The singer hopes to travel on Fred Olsen's Balmoral, which has been chartered for a 12-night voyage from Southampton to New York next April - but it has been booked solid for months, and there's a waitlist as long as a yardarm. There are places available on Azamara Journey, which travel agent Miles Morgan has also chartered for a cruise from New York to Halifax, [...]

Phillip Schofield always looks so well turned out on ITV's This Morning that it came as a surprise that he tries to avoid fellow Brits while on holiday because he's "a scruffy sod at heart and I don't always want to think about having a shave or always having to smile." "I appreciate fans very much, but family time on holiday is sacred," he said recently. Not much chance of avoiding his fans last week, when he took a short holiday on Cunard's newest cruise ship, Queen Elizabeth (above), which was making its maiden round-Britain voyage. Back on our TV [...]

Regular readers will know that I never relax, and that on the rare occasions I stay in a hotel instead of on board a cruise ship it becomes necessary to compare the two experiences. So to a weekend at the five-star Luton Hoo hotel, set in a thousand acres of parkland just off the M1 and handy for the airport. Back in 1947, when it was a private home, it was one of the honeymoon venues for The Queen and Prince Phillip. No royalty to be seen this weekend - they were probably all in Edinburgh for Zara Phillips' wedding. [...]