French company Ponant Cruises was fined $70,000 this week for the unintentional grounding of its ship L’Austral on a sub-Arctic island just off New Zealand in January 2017. The ship’s captain, Regis Daumesnil, was fined an additional $30,000 for his role in the incident. It’s the kind of occurrence that grabs headlines and gets the […]
Tag Archives | Cruise Advice
Cruise Ships: When is Big TOO Big?
By Simon & Susan Veness We all know that cruise ships have increased in size in the last 20 years or so, dramatically in many cases. Where 100,000 tons was once considered gargantuan, it is now merely ‘mid-size’ to some cruise lines. This point came home loud and clear this week as the busy Meyer […]
5 New Cruises For 2019
By Simon & Susan Veness If like us, you already have one eye on next year in sea-going terms, you might like to consider some of the intriguing new options for cruises in 2019, as there are an array of really original voyages on offer. With so many high-quality ships to choose from these days, […]
South Pacific Cruise Guide
Some call it the ultimate paradise, others merely insist it is heaven on earth. It has attracted authors like James A Michener, and artists like Paul Gauguin. It is more prosaically called the South Pacific, but it is a vast cruise region of true scenic beauty and pristine, natural splendours. The South Seas are typically […]
Wind Surf Live! Day One: Embarkation in Rome
DAY 1: Embarkation – Civitavecchia (Rome) You absolutely know you are on the right maritime track when your transfer brings you into port and your vessel sticks out from the cruise crowd in the same way that Michaelangelo differs from The Beano. Yes, there were other ships already docked in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, […]
Your Pre-Cruise Checklist
They say anticipation is the greater part of pleasure; that expectations are at least half the fun; anticipation is the very soul of enjoyment. ‘They,’ of course, are wrong. At least when it comes to cruising. Hopelessly, ridiculously, laughably wrong. Anticipating a cruise holiday is certainly wonderful. It means that you have it all booked […]
Cruise Myths & Misconceptions
By Simon & Susan Veness Regular cruisers will have heard it all before. “Why would you want to go cruising? It’s just for old fogeys; it’s dull and dreary; I don’t want to be cooped up; who wants to get sea-sick?” etc, etc, etc. From time immemorial, or, at least, ever since someone first had […]
Five Reasons To Love That Windstar Style
By Simon & Susan Veness When a cruise line insists it will take you on voyages that are “180 degrees from the ordinary,” you have a right to be sceptical. It is a beguiling tag-line, but it also smacks of something that just might be too good to be true. Windstar Cruises not only manage […]
Jamaica Me Crazy
Tenny thinks nothing of throwing money around if he’s taken by some artistic trinket or other, but my parents were antique buyers for many years and, although I spent most of my adolescence pretending I wasn’t listening to a word they said, I did know a good lesson when I heard one. Their conversations regarding […]
Playing Favourites
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE? It’s a question we’ve heard over and over again. Sometimes from friends, but usually from friends of friends, the ones who have yet to cruise and are keen to pick our brains about the best voyage for them. It’s the obvious query, but it doesn’t make it any easier to […]
Connect with us
-
Are Cruise Ships Bad For the Environment?
-
Crystal’s Crown Jewel Takes Shape
-
Who Invented Cruise Ships?
-
A Saintly Surprise (or, How We Got St Tropez Completely Wrong)
-
Five Small-Ship Lines You Need To Know About
-
Cruise Ships: When is Big TOO Big?
-
Marina, you’ve gotta see her!
-
Small Ship Cruising
-
SeaDream Yacht Club Blog
-
EUROPA 2 – Try it, you WILL love it!
-
Baby Love – Tips For Cruising With Infants
-
MS Europa 2 Review
-
Simon Veness: Hi Amanda. Thanks for your comment and yes, we can...
-
AmandaB: I am a huge fan of Silverseas, my next trip, in 20...
-
David Smith: Glad you enjoyed the post, Mr Peel. One of our Voy...
-
Tom Peel: We've used The Cruise line for several cruises on...
-
Simon Veness: It was a great boarding experience and got the tri...
-
Sans Spinks: Seems as though they have boarding down to a T ins...