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Ruby refuses to go quietly: generator fault cancels Caribbean Christmas

The last cruise ship ever built in a British shipyard is determined not to slip quietly away into retirement. Saga Ruby - built as Vistafjord at Swan Hunter on the Tyne - has thrown a final wobbly on her final cruise, which was to have been a month-long round-trip voyage from the UK to the Caribbean. One of its generators has failed, which would have left the air-conditioning plant underpowered and the ship uncomfortably steamy. Arriving in Santa Cruz on the island of Tenerife, Captain Krzysztof Majdzinski discovered repairs could not be made until a replacement part was manufactured. After [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:28+00:00 13 December 2013|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|5 Comments

Singing the praises of Anthem

As the name suggests, Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas will include some of the most technologically advanced music and entertainment spaces in the world when it starts sailing from Southampton in spring 2015. These include the Music Hall venue and Two70°, named for its magnificent 270-degree panoramic sea views from floor-to-ceiling windows. Lauren Laverne and Stuart Maconie, who were at the announcement of Anthem's UK deployment, reveal more in this video

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:28+00:00 10 December 2013|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Getting a taste for Crystal luxury

Crystal Serenity is looking fresher than ever after an £11 million facelift in a Spanish dry dock. The 12 days out of the water were enough for unseen mechanical overhauls and a touch-up job on the underwater part of the hull with slippery, fuel-saving silicon paint costing £160 a litre but there wasn't enough time to complete the re-design of the ship's Lido restaurant. As the ship filled with passengers, 150 workmen remained on board to finish off the transformation into a lighter, airier buffet with new server islands and lattice-work screens to separate tables from passengers queuing for their [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:28+00:00 6 December 2013|Cruise Food & Drink, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Behind the Britannia design

P&O Cruises are not quite ready to tell all about the design of Britannia, which will be the largest cruise ship ever built for the UK market - the next major announcement is expected on February 12. But they are prepared to share this teaser video about the work of the designers planning the ship's interiors. Just as fascinating are the splendid Movember moustaches on display ...

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:28+00:00 5 December 2013|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Work to start on QE2 hotel

A shipyard in the Chinese port of Zhoushan has won the £63 million contract to convert retired Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2 into a 400-suite floating hotel. If plans announced earlier this year are still current, the ship will leave Dubai this week to head for the yard. After five years of uncertainty, who knows for sure? Perhaps Daniel Chui, chief executive of Oceanic Group, who have taken over responsibility for the ship from Nakheel, who bought the vessel from Cunard and originally planned to berth it in the Emirate. Chui says: "The ship's redevelopment is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for [...]

By | 2013-10-16T10:30:06+00:00 16 October 2013|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Anniversary memories of a Royal liner that couldn’t wait to be launched

It's a big anniversary for Cunard: 75 years ago today, on Tuesday 27 September 1938, HM Queen Elizabeth, with her daughters Elizabeth and Margaret at her side, launched Queen Elizabeth - at that time the biggest passenger ship ever built. Her husband, King George VI was to have travelled to the John Brown shipyard on Clydebank with her, but at the request of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, he remained in London as the prospect of war loomed. At the launch The Queen made a speech in which she said: "The launching of a ship is like the inception of all [...]

By | 2013-09-27T11:25:34+00:00 27 September 2013|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|0 Comments

This is what cruise fun is all about

If you thought cruising was just about the food, think again. If you thought Carnival Cruises was all about bellyflops and burgers, think again. There's a lot more going on aboard a cruise ship. Or there's nothing at all. Just depends what you want from your holiday. That's the video for British consumption. The US side of Carnival takes a different approach, with emphasis on creating abiding memories.

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:29+00:00 26 September 2013|Cruise Ships|0 Comments

Australia, here we come

The sea route to Australia will be revived in a couple of months' time when Astor sets out on a 36-night voyage to Perth - arriving in plenty of time for the first Test Match of the winter series. The 600-passenger ship has been chartered by Cruise & Maritime Voyages for the journey. It will undertake a season of cruises from Fremantle before leaving in April to return to Harwich. It is visiting Dover today, giving CMV - who also operate Marco Polo and Discovery - an opportunity to show it off to UK media and travel agents. Fares for [...]

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:30+00:00 18 September 2013|Cruise News, Cruise Ships|1 Comment