Cruise Ships

Expedition cruise specialist Compagnie du Ponant is to build another new ship. The yacht, which will debut in spring 2015, joins the line's Le Soléal (above), launched only last month, and Le Boréal and L'Austral. The boutique ships, which each carry 224 passengers in 132 cabins, are specialists in Polar travel. Compagnie du Ponant also operate the 64-passenger sailing vessel, Le Ponant. The company was bought last year by venture capitalists Bridgepoint, which has substantial investments in the Pret a Manger sandwich shops and Hobbycraft retail chain. The new vessel, as yet unnamed, will operate in Alaska in summer and [...]

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, with Princess Cruises CEO Alan Buckelew, Mrs Buckelew, and the Bishop of Winchester Natasha Bedingfield performing "Unwritten" Kate with Princess Cruises CEO Alan Buckelew and Mrs Buckelew. Behind them are Lord and Lady Sterling Mass Ensemble, performing "Into The Flow" Capt Tony Draper invites the Duchess to "name my ship" The Duchess talks to Isobel and Charles Rowbotham, who presented her with the scissors to cut the rope I name this ship Royal Princess. May God bless her and all who sail in her

There's a full 17 months to go before cruising's newest sensation, Quantum of the Seas, takes sky-diving and dodgem cars to sea. Even before full details are released about what else will be on board the 4,180-passenger vessel, passengers are clamouring for tickets for its first voyages. The maiden voyage will be an eight-night Transatlantic crossing to New York, leaving Southampton on November 2 next year. Fares, released this week, start at £999 including the return flight home. A more typical cruise will be November 23's eight-nighter to the Bahamas, taking in Port Canaveral, Florida (with excursions available to DisneyWorld [...]

Excitement is mounting as cruise ship Royal Princess draws nearer to Britain ready to be christened next week by the Duchess of Cambridge. The 141,000-ton vessel, largest ever built for Princess Cruises, left Italy last weekend and called at the Spanish port of Algeciras yesterday to take on fuel. The ship will arrive in Southampton on Friday, ready for a series of introductory events and a two-day mini-cruise before Thursday's naming ceremony, which is expected to be Kate Middleton's last public engagement before she withdraws to have her baby in July. Royal Princess will be off Ryde, on the Isle [...]