Cruise Lines

First there was Costa's Costa Fortuna, then MSC's MSC Armonia, which sounds like something you put down the toilet if you forget to put an Italian ring to it.

Now I've discovered a band on Princess Cruises' Crown Princess called Endur. Doesn't really sell them to me.

Land sailing in Bonaire caught my eye as I read about the new Action Ashore excursions that Ocean Village is offering in the Caribbean this winter.

I remember doing something similar to this - except it was sand yachting in Le Touquet in France. It was wet and windy and our yachts kept going every which way except around the course.

After about 30 minutes, the owner, fed up with putting us back upright, gave a Gallic shrug and walked back to his office, leaving his hapless assistant in charge of a bunch of out-of-control journos. Sadly it meant he missed the spectacular pile-up at the end, memories of which kept everyone in hysterics for the rest of the trip.

I hope Bonaire land sailing is as much fun.

It's also nice to see a zip-wire adventure in Barbados adding a touch of spice to the rather tame island tours, jeeps and botanical garden visits.

So this is it. The day Royal Caribbean, travel agents and hopefully the British public have all been waiting for. Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship ever built goes on sale at 1pm UK time.

This ship is longer than four football pitches, higher than Nelson's Column - 220,000 tons and with room for 5,400 passengers.

Royal is moving staff from other areas into reservations to cope with an expected 50% more bookings than on its previous busiest sales day. Senior managers have been drafted in to deal with booking inquiries and Jo Rzymowska, associate vice-president and general manager, has promised to make the tea.

Some £1 million has been set aside to make sure this behemoth sells. It's going to be a long day.

Either I've not been paying attention or this is new. Passengers who book one of the 99 suites in the VIP Yacht Club on MSC Cruises' new MSC Fantasia, launching December, have soft and alcoholic drinks included in the price.

Suddenly it becomes a lot more attractive!

Yacht Club people also have 24-hour butler service, a VIP swimming pool, hydro-massage pool, solarium, lounge and direct access to the spa.

The ship holds a massive 3,959 passengers and takes pride of place in MSC's new 2008/09 brochure. It will be sailing the Med - the maiden voyage is an eight-night Christmas cruise, then there's a New Year sailing and 12-night itineraries out of Genoa.

How much extra does it cost for the Yacht Club? Unfortunately my press release skips over the money bit and as I'm away and it's now 7am in the morning UK time, I can't find out.

If anyone can enlighten me, I'd love to know.

As promised, an update on the Piazza entertainment on Princess Cruises' Crown Princess. Following juggling Daniel's departure, we've had quick-change artist Yulana Plotvinova and magician Alex Lodge.

I've yet to have seen the latter at work - he does his magic up close so it depends on him coming to your table - but the oohs and ahhs from other passengers were impressive.

Plotvinova is great. She walks into a curtained closet in one outfit and emerges at the other end in another, or wraps herself in a cloak, then whisks it off to reveal - yes, another outfit. I was standing right in front of her, trying to take pictures, but it's impossible because it all happens so fast. And no, I couldn't see how it is done.

These "street" entertainers are very clever. Gives the atrium - sorry, Piazza - life and a reason to hang out there, rather than just passing through to admire the décor and eat the sticky buns they offer for breakfast in the International Cafe!

I looked at them earlier and wondered who would eat such unhealthy food for breakfast - sugar, icing, you name it, they are covered in it. And then along came the Americans!

Interesting to see on Cruise Critic that Disney Cruise Line is considering offering Alaska cruises from 2010.

Apparently, the cruise line has applied for a 10-year permit to cruise in Glacier Bay National Park, where there are tight restrictions on the number of ships allowed in.

All the more interesting as it was also suggested to me this week that the Baltic might also be on the Mickey radar. With two new big ships coming 2011 and 2012, guess it has to find somewhere to cruise other than its well-trod Caribbean home.

It started officially yesterday, but this is the first working day of the UK's first National Cruise Week.

With 2,000 agents registered to take part and cruiselines bringing out some great offers to support the trade, there has surely never been a better time to get the cruising message across to the great British public.

Not only that it's a great holiday, but also great value at a time when everyone is looking hard at the pennies.

Princess Cruises, for instance, is giving away two free nights in Copenhagen next summer to anyone who books a 10-night Scandinavia and Russia cruise this week, or offering a £300 discount to clients booking a Med 2009 cruise on the new Ruby Princess.

Island Cruises has brought out a Captain's Specials mini-brochure to cash in on the extra interest in cruising expected to be generated by this week's activities.

At the moment the Passenger Shipping Association forecasts 1.5 million Brits will take a cruise this year, rising to 1.7 in 2009. It would be great if this week, organised by the PSA's trade arm, the Association of Cruise Experts, is such a success that the figure has to be revised upwards.

US-based Travel Trade reports that MSC Cruises is selling off the MSC Rhapsody, the oldest and smallest ship in the fleet.

No surprise really. In an interview for Travel Weekly earlier this year, MSC's chief executive officer Pierfrancesco Vago told me that the clock was ticking for the 780-passenger MSC Rhapsody and 1,064-passenger MSC Melody - another of MSC's smaller ships.

There are passengers who like Rhapsody and Melody because they are smaller and more intimate, but more and more people want balconies so they will go in the end - I would guess over the next couple of years.

Travel Trade reports that Israeli-based Mano Maritime is interested in buying the Rhapsody. Ironic really, given that MSC Cruises started life when Gianlucci Aponte, owner of cargo giant Mediterranean Shipping Company, acquired the Achille Lauro, the cruiseship hijacked by Palestinian terrorists in 1985, resulting in the death of an Jewish American passenger.

But irony or not, the fact is that with two new ships with room for close to 4,000 passengers close to launch, MSC has less and less room for small, elderly ships such as the Rhapsody. Much as Carnival Corporation had no room for Swan Hellenic and Norwegian Cruise Line had no room for Orient Lines, which are both starting new lives under new owners.

Meet Mahir, my butler on Crystal Cruises' ship Crystal Serenity. He comes with the Penthouse I'm in on a short but sweet cruise in the Med - made all the sweeter by reports coming back from home of cold and rain as temperatures here hit 30 degrees.

As I explored the ship yesterday I also came across Raymond, who goes around the sun deck every hour with cold towels for those who need to cool off.

You don't have to pay, it's not an extra. Just part of the service. Now that's what I call luxury.

Ocean Village is spending £1 million on a multi-media advertising campaign starting next week, which will include TV ads in the Granada, Central, Yorkshire and West Country TV regions.

The cruise line for people who don't do cruises is targeting its core 35-54 market with a one-week cruise in the Med from £599 per person. Gill Haynes, OV's head of marketing, says it's a keen lead price that represents great value for money in the current economic climate.

I would say it's an incredible deal. Don't forget that price even includes a flight and transfers. Amazing.

Agents had better get ready for the rush.

Which I was.

The Penthouse on Crystal Serenity is lovely. There's a walk-in wardrobe, large bathroom with two sinks, jacuzzi bath and separate shower, equipped with a flat-screen TV, DVD and CD. And of course there is Mahir, my butler.

But interestingly the Penthouse I had on Princess Cruises' Crown Princess last week was bigger.

It had a long balcony with two balcony doors, two TVs, a DVD, a walk-in wardrobe and the bathroom was spilt into two. A toilet and sink in one room, a jacuzzi bath and shower in another.

We didn't have a butler, but we did have the lovely Elmar, who greeted us each day with a chirpy good morning and managed to keep the room tidy despite the best efforts of my 14-year-old daughter to do otherwise.

"Have you noticed they have the name of our suite [Aruba] instead of the number on the signs in the corridor?" she asked excitedly the first day we were on board. I had to admit I hadn't, but it did explain why I spend ages looking at the sign trying to work out which direction to walk to get to 412.

It wasn't there. And then I realised I was standing almost right in front of the room.

Sometimes you can feel really stupid.

Bales Worldwide is adding a fourth dahabiyya to its Egypt programme for 2009/10.

Dahabiyyas are small sailing boats modelled on 19th-century vessels used by aristos and others with money to cruise the Nile.

They hold just 12 passengers in six individually decorated cabins, have their own private moorings away from the big Nile boats that are moored sometimes six and seven deep, and you are waited on hand and foot by a wonderful crew who will be waiting to greet you back from an excursion - of course there is a guide to take you around the temples and tombs - with cold towels and an even colder beer (all drinks are included in the price).

It really is the only way to do the Nile.

MSC Cruises has not only found the money to buy two new Musica-class ships - 93,000 tons and 3,013 passengers - but they have already been named. MSC Meraviglia and MSC Favolosa, to be delivered 2011 and 2012.

I just hope the names sound better when spoken by an Italian!

This has to be the party of 2009.

Next August, Hapag-Lloyd's exploration ships Bremen and Hanseatic are cruising the Northwest Passage in opposite directions - Bremen from Greenland and Hanseatic from Alaska. If all goes well with the weather they will meet in the middle and stop for an icy beach party and reciprocal ship visits.

On the way over - in either direction - passengers will be able to take Zodiac excursions to get up close to icebergs and glaciers, and hopefully spot polar bears.

Hapag-Lloyd is a German company and there will be a lot of Germans on board, but the cruises will be bilingual.

Wonder what's happened to my invitation?

I had to smile at the headlines this weekend about all those Brits "stranded" abroad when XL went under. Stranded? Were they in Tristan da Cunha or St Helena, thousands of miles from anywhere in the middle of the South Atlantic ocean?

No, they were in some of the world's top holiday hotspots - you know. Those places served by numerous charter and scheduled airlines, all crammed with hotels which, let's face it, would have had plenty of availability because the people coming out on holiday were not going to arrive. How did we ever build an empire?

But checking into a hotel for a night or two would have cost money they didn't want to spend. Far better to have an uncomfortable 24 hours or so milling around an airport with thousands of others.

The irony is that if XL had levied a higher fuel supplement which better covered the rising cost of oil - maybe just another £1 per client - it might not have collapsed. But then XL clients would have shouted "foul". Just as they are now. But now they are "stranded" and many have lost everything.

My thoughts turned to the cruiselines, which increased their fuel supplements almost weekly in the spring as the price of oil went through the roof.

It was not popular, and I'm sure all people who cruise hope they will eventually go away, but it's something to do with financial management and covering your costs I believe. And the cruisers who have coughed up are getting the holiday they planned rather than a two-night break at Gatwick or Tenerife South.

I asked someone on Swan Hellenic if the fuel supplement would put them off booking a cruise in the future. No, he said, because it was a tiny amount compared to what he was paying for the holiday anyway. The voice of reason.

Agents who make three confirmed bookings of seven nights or more with Celebrity Cruises before September 28 will be entered in a draw to win a cruise for two on the new Celebrity Solstice as part of a Celebrity's autumn campaign. There are also 10 runners-up prizes worth £500 each.

Celebrity Solstice is the ship with a real lawn on the top deck and live glass-blowing. It launches in November, offering seven-night cruises around the Caribbean.

To stand a chance of winning, agents need to make the bookings and then fill in the entry form at www.cruisingpower.co,uk

Costa Cruises' Costa Mediterranea has inaugurated a new $13 billion cruise terminal at St Petersburg.

I heard about the new terminal, which is open but not finished - completion is scheduled for 2010, when there will be three terminals and seven berths - when I was cruising the Baltic on Princess Cruises' Crown Princess a couple of weeks ago.

Apparently this new facility is closer to the city than the cargo port, which most ships use, but still not really walking distance.

Sadly I was there too early to see it and Princess tied up in the cargo port.

I say sadly, but it was great fun to get from there into the city - you do need visas if you want to go it alone - taking the port bus (which is actually for the workers but tourists can hop on), getting through security at the other end of the port, about three miles away, and then negototiating for a taxi into the city. And then you have to do it all in reverse to get back to the ship.

Of course, if the new port is not walking distance, visitors with visas will still have to do battle with the taxi drivers who have a bad reputation but were most pleasant and certainly knew enough English to negotiate prices and get us into the city and then back to the right port. One had even spent his downtime as a taxi driver learning English, German, Italian and Japanese.

In between the travelling to and fro, we had a lovely day wandering the city, doing lunch and riding the metro.

It is such as shame that most visitors are scared off doing St Petersburg on their own, partly by the effort and cost of getting a visa, but also by the guides, who give the impression that all the locals are out to rob and mug you. But let's face it, they have a vested interest in keeping everyone together in a flock.

Maybe this new terminal is the start of much-needed change of attitude. I would love to think so.

Is this a sign of the [hard] times - 10 nights Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Galaxy from £796 per person?

OK, it's for an inside cabin, but that's not even £80 a day for a brand that calls itself deluxe - less if you take out the cost of the return flight and transfers. Even the press release that announced the price admitted it was "out of this world".

Or does it just tell us that cruising the Med in the near depths of winter - this is for a November 14 departure - is really not that popular unless you happen to be Italian (Costa and MSC, which carry a majority of Italians, seem to be making it work for them).

What does this mean for Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line, about to embark on their first winter seasons in the Med? Only time will tell.

Seatrade Insider reports that a contract dispute between Norwegian Cruise Line and Aker Yards could affect the delivery of NCL's first 4,200-passenger ship, code-named F3, scheduled for early 2010.

It's a confused story, with Aker Yards on the one hand saying work on the first F3 is on-going, likwise discussions with NCL, but refusing to confirm the delivery date, and unnamed sources saying the F3 newbuild is not going ahead.

NCL says it will not comment on commercial or legal matters. Unfortunately that only heightens speculation that the story is true.

Good news for all agents who are going to miss seeing Celebrity Cruises' new Celebrity Solstice - this is the one with the real lawn and the first new Celebrity ship for six years - which comes out of the shipyard in November and goes straight to the US/Caribbean.

Jo Rzymowska, managing director for Celebrity Cruises UK and Ireland, tells me that the next Solstice-class ship, Celebrity Equinox, will be making a first stop at Southampton when it leaves the shipyard in Germany next August.

After the trade has had time to see it, Equinox will be picking up its first paying passengers in th south coast port for a cruise to Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, where it will be based for the rest of the summer alongside Solstice, which comes back to Europe after an inaugural season in the Caribbean.

Two new Celebrity ships in the Med? That's confidence for you.

Incidentally, I'm lucky enough to be one of a select few from the UK going on board Solstice at the end of next week as it sails out of the shipyard at Meyer Werft and down the River Ems to Gandersum, so keep an eye out here for my first impressions.

When P&O Cruises launched Ventura this April, it was all about kids. Noddy, Mr Bump and racing cars around a Scalextric track (although having seen them clustered around the table, I reckon that's really for the dads!).

Apparently when sister ship Ventura II is launched - at the moment known as Hull 6166 but I prefer Ventura II until the real name is revealed at the keel-laying on October 27 - things might be different.

At a dinner this week, P&O Cruises managing director Nigel Esdale said the new vessel, which launched in 2010, could have a different appeal.

He said launching Ventura, P&O Cruises' biggest ship, had created challenges, which in turn have led to some on-board refinements.

For instance, I am told by a colleague who attended that they will now be using empty tables in the Club Dining restaurants - that's where the fixed diners eat - to accommodate passengers on Freedom dining (Freedom diners have been facing over-long delays getting a table in the evening) and using themed buffets in the self-service to draw people away from the dining room.

It's probably not an ideal solution, but it's a positive response to the moans from passengers that have filled websites this summer and shows the bosses have been listening.

"We're learning, we're refining, we're changing some of the emphasis, changing some of the service styles, moving some of the manning around, experimenting with some of the flows around the ship in terms of the schedules of the shows and activities."

The price of oil might have dropped to below $100 a barrel, but cruiselines have no plans to drop of fuel surcharges.

USA Today quotes a Royal Caribbean spokesperson:

We continue to see considerable volatility in fuel price movements around the world and believe it would be premature to lower the supplement at this time," the company said in a statement.

Carnival Corporation spokesman Tim Gallagher says the company has no plans to get rid of the fuel supplements because the pump prices that cruise lines pay haven't come down as quickly as oil prices.

Our fuel prices for the ships don't drop nearly as fast as oil does, but they sure seem to go up every time there is a spike.

Reminds me of electricity prices, gas prices, oh yes, tax, food.... 

Cunard's Queen Mary 2 set off on its 100th transatlantic crossing yesterday, sailing from Southampton to New York. By the time she moors in the Big Apple, the ship will have sailed 711,288 nautical miles, clocking up 316,729 of them on transatlantic crossings alone, and served 206,200 bottles of Champagne.

Queen Mary 2 has carried Donald Trump, Rod Stewart, John Cleese, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Queen Noor of Jordan, Hillary Clinton, George Bush senior.

But not Jane Archer. Could 2009 be the year I finally add my name to this roll call of the rich and famous? I'll keep you posted.

Aker Yards in France has broken ranks and spoken of its dispute with Norwegian Cruise Line over the cost of NCL's two 4,200-passenger ships, codenamed F3.

Seatrade Insider says Jacques Hardelay, president of Aker Yards France, has confirmed there are issues over construction costs.

In projects with this magnitude of complexity, we have in this industry several examples that discussions arise during the project execution. We regret that we have a situation with a dispute.

Earlier Seatrade reports spoke of a meltdown in relations between Aker Yards and NCL and said Aker Yards had approached other cruise lines to take over the building project.

Hardelay says building work is going on, but other reports suggest the yard has stopped work on the F3s.

NCL is officially saying nothing but Travel Pulse say the company has told employees that the first F3 ship order has been cancelled (backed up in the comments section by a mother of an NCL officer, who says all the crew were told last week) and a decision has not been taken on whether to proceed with the second ship.

Travel Pulse also reports that NCL has called off its search for a sales executive to replace Andy Stuart, who was moved left, right or up (not sure which) to oversee the F3 project. It speculates he could be about to return to his old role in charge of sales and marketing. 

Some in the industry have suggested that it would be a good thing if the order were cancelled because it would mean less capacity in the market from 2010, when the two ships were due to launch.

Maybe, but what a large dollup of egg NCL bosses would have on their collective faces after the great song and dance they made about these ships and how they were so different. If the reports are true, seems they are just too different - no theatre, wavy cabins - for other lines to be interested.

When I tried to find out some information about Indian Ocean Cruises earlier this year I was told by Uwe, my contact there, that its ship had been deployed elsewhere and that cruises were therefore temporarily suspended. Ondeed the website was a blanck, inviting people to call back later.

He said he would tell me when they managed to find another and got things started again.

He didn't - maybe he has moved on? - but I read in Travelmole that not only does IOC have the 200-passenger Ocean Odyssey back, but that the ship has had a $10 million refurb.

I was on the ship last November and had a great cruise, sailing from Goa down the west coast of India, out to the idyllic Lakshadweep Islands, and enjoyed fab food and charming service, but boy, was that ship in need of some tender loving care. I would love to see what they have done with it.

IOC is also extending its operations beyond Goa. It will cruise there in winter and base the ship in Port Louis, Mauritius, in summer, sailing to Madagascar, Reunion and the Agalega Islands.

The collapse of XL could lead to an increase in dynamically-packaged holidays, according to Nigel Lingard, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines marketing director.

He told the Association of National Tourist Office Representatives/Passenger Shipping Association conference in London yesterday that cruiselines will struggle to find enough capacity to get passengers to their ships next year as a result of XL's demise.

XL was used by some cruiselines so they will have to find other aircraft to charter. We all use charter airlines as we have to get 2,000-3,000 passengers to our ships at once for our flycruises, and without XL there will be a tightening of capacity.

Lingard also said the prices being quoted by charter carriers have gone up since XL collapse and forecast a shift to more longer ex-UK cruises, in fact exactly what Fred is doing, to avoid having to fly people.

There will be problems for all, but ironically it could lead to more opportunities for agent to dynamically package holidays for their clients, selling cruise only and adding flights and pre and post-cruise hotels stays.

There is something for everyone a cruise ship, Lynn Narraway, UK managing director of Carnival Cruise Lines and Holland America Lines, told the ANTOR/PSA conference in London yesterday.

For her eight year old it's the swimming pool (a little galling, Narraway admits, as a pool could be anywhere); for her 10-year-old it's being able to sign herself in and out of the kids' club because it makes her feel very grown up.

This summer a friend of hers took her three-year-old on P&O Cruises' Ventura, which you will all remember is famed for having Noddy and a fabulous play area for kids.

So what did he like best? Going up and down in the lift.

Cruise Business Review says the Russian government is considering a visa exemption for visitors arriving by cruise ship and staying in the country for fewer than 72 hours. It will apply to certain ports and St Petersburg is expected to be one of them.

That would be brilliant news for cruise passengers, who might finally be persuaded to leave the comfort of their ships' excursions and find out there is more to St Petersburg than being whizzed around in large groups to look at palaces and paintings

Incidentally, I had news yesterday that "cruise fans can surf the ports" thanks to a new addition to the Cumbria Cruises website. I hurried along to look.

There is a new section, all about the ports. Well, when I say new, that is an exaggeration. There is nothing new or informative here - time zones, local currency, nearest shops, a coupls of lines on key attractions.

Yawn ....

Nothing for anyone who wants some real information about how to get around on their own. That if you are docked by the ferry port in Helsinki you can walk, if you're in the other dock there is a bus for just over two euros. Much cheaper than the shuttle. That in Gdynia you can take a train to Gdansk for a fraction of the cost of a taxi. And what does it say about St Petersburg?

Organised excursions are recommended and sometimes compulsory.

Compulsory? Only for those who have not got their own visas. So what a shame it doesn't explain that if you get one you can explore alone. It's not that difficult and it is great fun. I know, because I did it this summer when I was there with Princess Cruises, just as I did the train to Gdansk and the bus into Helsinki.

A port guide with real knowledge and tips on getting around and prices instead of repeating information you can get elsewhere. Now that really would be news.

Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White has opened two more restaurants at sea. The Cafe Jardin on Oceana and Cafe Bordeaux on Aurora have both been given the Marco makeover and are now serving dishes that he has created.

As with The White Room on Ventura, which is also a Marco production, the supplement to eat at both restaurants varies depending on the length of the cruise - £4.99 per person for eight days or more, £6.50 for three to seven days and £7.75 for two-day mini-breaks.

You can't really complain about (although I bet some will) - and there's even a reduction for anyone who eats there between 6pm and 6.45pm. Bit early for me, but many do dine at that time. And how much better if you can eat early and save money!

A new cruise portal, bestcruisedeal, launches on October 1 where cruiselines and agents can access "thousands of cruisers and promote deals, late availability and new itineraries".

As the site wasn't live when I looked yesterday, I'm not sure how they know about these thousands of cruisers. Wishful thinking and a bit of sales talk, I suspect.

The founders of the site are in talks with cruiselines and cruise specialist agents to enable them to promote their deals on the site on a permanent basis. A range of advertising and promotional packages are available, starting from £500 a month.

Sound familiar? In July I had an exclusive story in Travel Weekly about the launch of cruisepricescompared.com, which allows agents to advertise their cruise deals. The difference is, posting a deal on CPC costs agents nothing.

The launch was all very hush, hush for fear that someone might copy the idea. Seems CPC was right. Imitation is supposed to be the sincerest form of flattery, though.

Is bestcruisedeal just an imitation? Let me know what you think.

This is me on the lawn on Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice this weekend - one of the first people allowed to stand on the green stuff as it was only laid last week - at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, the day before it left the yard to sail up the River Ems for eight days of sea trials.

There's an amazing half-acre of grass that passengers will be able to go putting or picnicking on, even play croquet. Royal Caribbean's Cruises chairman and CEO Richard Fain, who was over from the US for his monthly visit to see how the build is going, tells me the grass was chosen after much research to withstand Caribbean sun, saltwater and lots of feet.

Moreover, each sod has been carefully washed so there are no ants, spiders and other crawly bugs lurking beneath the grass.

Fain - whose had the idea of putting real grass on the ship - saw it laid for the first time last Fridau, just a day before me, and admits he was "blown away".

What happens if it rains? I asked. People will get muddy shoes, Fain replied. Ah, of course.

This was the view awaiting me as I arrived at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, on Saturday afternoon. The Germans and Dutch had turned up in their thousands to see Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice - and as they had the camper vans they were ready to wait. They even had what sounded like a live band to entertain them Saturday night.

This is actually only about half of the number of camper vans parked up waiting to see the ship leave the yard and head off down river for its sea trials.

We were supposed to leave Saturday evening but in the end it left about 1pm Sunday. All to do with the wind and water levels in the river. By the time I left the ship at 11am Sunday, another car park had filled with new arrivals and an overflow car park was starting to fill.

Now that's what I call true Celebrity.

Entertainment staff "flying" over the audience in the theatre, a floor to ceiling wine tower in the main dining room and dancing fountains. These are just three of the "wow" features on Celebrity Cruises' new ship Celebrity Solstice - apart from that grass, of course!

The ship was not finished when I was on board this weekend, and to my untrained eye there looks to be a lot more work to do, but apparently it is 97% ready.

The plastic protective sheeting on the carpets and stairs has to be to be lifted, furniture has to be unpacked and put in situ, there are more paintings to hang, bits that need painting. And at the end of it all, one hell of a cleaning job.

But despite all this, it is easy to see that Celebrity has done a very good job with this ship. There are lots of big open spaces, plenty of rooms to swallow up the 2,850 passengers and some really smart design ideas.

My favourite has to be the Grand Epernay dining room, a vision of white and silver, light, bright and modern, a welcome change from the heavy decor favoured by so many cruiselines. At one end is the wine tower, a name that hardly does justice to this giant piece of art in which wine will indeed be stored and which will have wine "angels" to fetch bottles from the top level.

Sky lounge is also lovely; more silver, more light and bright, and the water feature in the solarium is captivating. There's another fountain by the pool; apparently they may even have party nights up there and allow passengers to dance in the water. Whatever turns you on.

I was much more excited by a suggestion that the ents team could teach passengers how to "fly" in the theatre. Ocean Village does something similar with the trapeze but sadly that looks like a no-go for the Americans. Health and safety strikes again.

As Celebrity's biggest ship, it's no surprise that Solstice has more speciality restaurants than any other vessel in the line's fleet. Fixed dining in Blu for health-conscious passengers in the Aqua-class cabins, a steak house, reached through a "barrel", an Asian fusion restaurant that will serve big plates of food to share, a 24-hour bistro with soups, sandwiches, crepes.

But there are also a few design faults. The bathrooms are spacious but the loo roll is in the wrong place, the bedside tables are just about big enough for a book - nowhere for my alarm clock and lotions and potions - and there is no main light switch by the bed. In fact I only learned in the morning how to switch off the main lights while leaving on the bedside light on.

I suspect they will be handing out leaflets at check-in to stem a run of questions or risk a spate of broken toes as passengers struggle to get into bed in the dark. Where are the health and safety people when you need them?

Heard some great news yesterday. The engine on Voyages of Discovery's ship Discovery has finally been fixed.

It's been a nightmare six-month will-be, won't-be saga for the cruiseline and passengers, but it's finally over and the old lady is running at full speed ahead.

But every cloud, as they say.

Swan Hellenic's Minerva - part of the All Leisure stable, like Discovery - is having to go into dry dock on October 27 for a planned four days to have a diesel generator fixed. It means the preceeding Treasures of Africa cruise has had to be shortened, from 15 nights to nine nights.

Passengers who are affected will be receiving letters today.

With Celebrity Solstice off doing its sea trials around the North Sea, workers at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, are turning more attention to Celebrity Cruises' Solstice Number 2, otherwise known as Celebrity Equinox, pictured here behind me.

The ship, a sister to Solstice, launches in July 2009 and will make a first call in Southampton so UK agents and prospective passengers can get a look, before it sets off on its inaugural cruise from the UK to Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, for what remains of the summer season sailing in the Med.