Cruise Lines

Balmoral's ill-fated Bay of Biscay crossing was not the kind of advert cruiselines sailing from the UK were looking for. A force nine gale, 50ft seas and two Britons taken to hospital with broken bones.

The message boards are rife. Shouldn't Fred Olsen have known there was a storm brewing? How wise was it to plan to cross the Bay of Biscay in January? (A little unfair, I feel, given this water can get fiery any time of the year).

Problem is, the Bay of Biscay is one of the only ways to go if you are cruising from the UK. Ships can leave Dover or Southampton and turn left, but that brings you to the North Sea. Not famed for its calm waters. Or get to the end of Cornwall and turn right into the Irish Sea. That was so bad this year Thomson Cruises refused to leave its berth in Liverpool.

The only other option is to sail round the Isle of Wight. A dizzying experience P&O Cruises tried once but it never caught on!

The simple fact is that anyone choosing to cruise from the UK buys into the chance of rough weather as part of the package, but still more and more Brits are doing it. A 48% increase in 2007 according to the Passenger Shipping Association and even more expected in 2008, when there were more ships sailing from the UK.

My money was on another increase in this recessionary year. Apart from all the usual pros - no airport hassles or delays, pack the kitchen sink - there are no flights to pay for, so it can work out quite a bit cheaper.

Seeing these pictures and reading of first timers who say "never again", all my bets are off.

Cruise.co.uk has revealed the best cruise lines and ships as voted in January 2009 by the consumer reviews posted on its site. The results are interesting and will make some cruise lines very happy and others wonder why they bother. Here are some of the highlights.

* Three awards for Oceania - Best Ship, Best Food and Best Service.

* Best Cruise Line goes to Cunard.

* Princess Cruises wins Best Shore Excursion and comes sixth and 10th in the same award.

* Royal Caribbean International's Independence of the Seas is named Best for Families. P&O Cruises takes the next four places with family ship Ventura the least favourite of the four.

Cruise.co.uk says the survey is based on 12,000 reviews on the site and that the awards are based on a minimum 50 votes for cruise lines, 20 votes for ships. Not a huge number out of 12,000.

They are fine. What worries me is that is you click the "NEW - Official Cruise Passenger Ratings" button in the site - which most people will - you get some meaningless results.

Viking River Cruises becomes the Best Cruise Line based on two reviews. Hebridean is in second place with one review.

Change the criteria and ask for best cruise ship in all age ranges and the winner is Wind Star with two reviews. Discover Egypt's river cruise boat Beau Soleil comes third with - yes you guessed it - one review. Thing is, if you look on the Discover Egypt site, there is no Beau Soleil.

In 11th place there's F3. Um. But's that being built. Doesn't launch until next year. In 15th place comes P&O Cruises Adonia. But that became Sea Princess in 2005.

Drill down through the ages and you get some even more fantastic results - Carnival ahead of Fred Olsen in the 56-65 age group, Viking River Cruises and Spirit of Adventure top in the 36-45 year-old category.

Just to make things even more interesting, the results change every time I look. So forgive me if you see different ships in different places. That's the reason.

I've had hours of fun playing with this, but that's not really the point. Cruise.co.uk needs to do more work on the survey - don't let any entry in with fewer than 10 votes (20 would be better) and take out all the rogue reviews. Then we'll start to have some really valid ratings.

Here's the full list of January 2009's top performers with scores:

Best Ship: Oceania Insignia - score 4.55 out of 5

Best Cruise Line: Cunard - 4.36 out of 5

Best Accommodation: Costa Mediterranea - 4.75 out of 5

Best Entertainment: Independence of Seas - 4.37 out of 5

Best Food: Oceania Insignia - 4.77 out of 5

Best Service: Oceania Insignia - 4.86 out of 5

Best for Families: Independence of the Seas- 4.28 out of 5

Best Shore Excursion: Star Princess - 4.22 out of 5.

Cruise.co.uk regulars have been locked in a discussion this week over pre-paid gratuities. The story so far is that Evans from Spain pre-paid his/her gratuities and was then asked by the travel agent to pay more "because the pound has dropped".

Most responses have been properly outraged at the whole idea of pre-paying tips. If it's a thank you for good service, how can it be paid before you have had the service, they want to know. And I agree.

But contrary to what most replies have said, you can pre-pay tips on Celebrity. It's dressed up as a benefit of course - "so you don't have to worry about the extra expense on board" - but really only shows the gratuities business up for what it is. Namely an additional cost separated off to keep the headline cruise price down.

The key point is that pre-paying is an option if you're cruising with Celebrity. If you prefer you can have gratuities added to your account - either the amount they stipulate or more/less - or taken off so you can tip your cruise staff in cash (if you so choose). If you pre-pay, you can't just ask for the money back if the service doesn't come up to scratch.

So either Evans agreed to pre-pay somewhere during the booking process without realising or the travel agent made a decision on his/her behalf, which doesn't sound right or fair.

As for the increased amount, I suspect it's simply because Evans' cabin was upgraded. Ordinary folk pay one amount, suite passengers pay more because they have a butler to tip as well. The amounts are $11.50 a day for ordinary cabins, $12 a day for Concierge and Aquaclass cabins and $15 for those in a suite, so the butler gets $3.50.

For information, you can also choose to pre-pay gratuities if you're cruising with Celebrity's sister Royal Caribbean, unless you opt for the new Mytime dining, which allows you to eat when and with whom you want, when pre-paying is compulsory. The logic is that you can't tip your waiter for the week, as you can on a fixed dining plan, because you'll have a different one every day.

If you book with Azamara Cruises, which also comes from the Royal Caribbean stable and has open dining as standard, you also have to pay gratuities upfront.

A couple of heartwarming stories this morning for all those people who love to take a swipe at cruiselines for whatever reason they can find that day.

Cruise Community reports P&O Cruises Australia is donating items from its ships that it no longer needs to Mission Australia. It's a fantastic list of stuff - two truck loads of rollaway beds, cots, almost 2,500 bed spreads. The items are distributed to those in need or sold to raise money for the Mission.

Coincidentally, Captain Greybeard - alias John Honeywell of the Mirror - reports that Holland America Line is donating all those left behind pots of gels, shampoo and lotions to the Florida homeless. It will also be giving them unwanted towels, mattresses, TVs, cookware. Apparently they do something similar in Seattle.

It's a great idea. After all, cruiselines are constantly renewing this or upgrading that to make life for us cruisers so very comfortable.

Makes me wonder what they did - and others still do - with all this stuff before?

Princess Cruises' 3,080-passenger Caribbean Princess has emerged from dry dock in the Bahamas sporting a host of favourite Princess features, including the adults-only Sanctuary, a piazza-style atrium with an International Cafe and Vines wine, seafood and cheese bar. The casino has also been moved and the ship has seven new suites.

Some 1,500 worker and contractors worked around the clock to get the refit done in just three weeks. They are still putting the finishing touches to a new steaks and seafood Crown Grill restaurant.

It's the latest ship in the fleet to get these new features. Star Princess and Grand Princess have already been upgraded; Golden Princess goes into drydock in May.

The things you have to do if you're a cruise ship captain. Host welcome parties, drive ships, smile at passengers, give away your uniforms.

Yes, that last one was new on me too, but I hear Captain Teo Strazicic, skipper of Royal Caribbean International's Independence of the Seas, handed over one of his uniforms to Juan Pablo Di Pace, who played Petros in Mamma Mia! - that's the gay guy who hooks up with Harry at the end.

Why? Well, Juan plays Captain Alvarez (below in his uniform) in Royal's upgraded in-line agent training programme, which goes live today, Friday February 5.

Luckily, Captain Teo had another uniform to wear for the picture. This is a family blog after all.

Holland America Line has performed a clever twist as it leaps on the Valentine's Day bandwagon. Forget a romantic cruise on the big day, but give her a present of a cruise to take later in the year.

So far so good. But what's the suggestion? Two nights on the North Sea on Eurodam from £289 per person. I know money's tight right now, but the North Sea? £289? Two nights? Obviously one for the guys who really know how to give their loved ones a good time.

Thankfully, Holland America does have a more cupid-like Mediterranean Romance cruise up its Valentine Day sleeve. Twelve nights in May and you get to sail from Venice and visit Cephalonia, Rome and Florence.

Ah Venice. Love really will be in the air - and all from just £1,039 per person.

The Cruise Cafe reports that Royal Caribbean International will be repositioning Adventure of the Seas to Malaga for five months in 2010.

The move is an incredible vote of confidence for the Spanish port, which is a new departure point in Royal's 2009 brochure. Adventure's sister Navigator of the Seas will be sailing six five-night cruises from Malaga, but as they don't even depart until October this year so there's been no chance to see that all runs smoothly when it comes to getting passengers - and their luggage - from the airport and on and off the ship.

It's also an incredible vote of confidence in the UK office - this is an obvious top departure point for the Brits, after all - and the European market, suggesting a firm belief that we'll sail through the recession on this side of the Pond.

The Cruise Cafe says Adventure of the Seas will be operating 15 seven-night cruises around the Western Med between June and October 2010, followed by 10 five-night mini breaks - five heading south to Tenerife and Funchal, five calling at Ajaccio in Corsica and Villefranche.

Adventure of the Seas has sailed exclusively from San Juan, Puerto Rico, since it was launched in 2001, raising much speculation on Cruise Critic message boards as to what happens there when the ship departs.

Maybe nothing. Cruise Critic says San Juan has suffered negative feedback from cruisers in terms of the port experience. It's also not the greatest place in the world to get to. Flights from the UK have been cut and there are no direct service from the UK.

More to the point, I have nightmare memories of the airport check-in experience. Queues? Made Gatwick on a strike day look civilised. It was Third World chaos in a country that's part of the US. I wonder even half of the passengers managed to get their flight.

Mundy Cruising has promoted Sophie Higgins, sales and marketing director of the Cruise Portfolio, Jamie Loizou, sales and marketing director of Mundy Cruising, and Caroline Jenkins, head of accounts, Mundy Cruising. All three (pictured left to right) become associate directors for the cruising specialist. Congratulations to them all.

Cunard's president and managing director Carol Marlow is getting ready to fly out to Auckland, to join Queen Mary 2 as it sails the New Zealand-Australia leg of its world cruise. Once it arrives in Sydney (pictured below, with QM2 tied up) on February 26, she'll be hosting a dinner at a special location on land for passengers going all the way around.

It's an annual world cruise highlight all Cunard circumnavigators look forward to and the location remains a big secret until the voyage starts. On Queen Victoria, the dinner is in Singapore on March 19. And yes, Carol will be there for that too.

"All the most frequent world cruisers sit at my table," she informs me. "I've been doing it for four years and I've had the same passengers each time."

Now that's what I call loyalty.

EasyCruise is the latest line in search of the hearts and money of young lovers in the name of St Valentine.

The budget line has turned cupid with the offer of two cruises around the Greek Isles and Turkey for the price of one - and a free bottle of champers to boot.

Prices start from £255 per couple for a four nights of romance or £350 for seven nights. That includes a half-board meal plan and daily housekeeping, but flights to/from the UK are extra.

The two-for-one offer ends at midnight February 16.

Maritime Matters says Nakheel, the Dubai-based new owner of the QE2, is having second thoughts about spending millions of dollars converting the ship into a luxury floating hotel now that the world is in a financial mess and tourists are thinking twice about holidaying in Dubai.

Regular readers will remember I saw the old girl tied up and looking rather lonely when I was in Dubai at the beginning of January, to join a Costa cruise around the Arabian Gulf. I was surprised then that she hadn't been taken off to the shipyard for her multi-million-dollar facelift. Time is money, after all.

Maritime Matters says Nakheel is considering opening the ship as is. A this-is-how-they-did-luxury-40-years-ago sort of museum piece I guess. But before fans get too excited, MM also hints that another option would be to sell the ship for scrap.

After paying Cunard £50 million for the ship? Ouch.

Silversea has gone down the celebrity chef route, finalising a link up with Swiss-born Anton Mosimann, senior vice-president of sales and marketing, UK, Ireland and Middle East, Trudy Redfern tells me.

Why Mosimann? "Well it was me actually," she admitted. Turns out Redfern is a member of Mosimann's in London - an honoured position for which you have seconded by existing club members, provide letters of proposal and be approved by the membership committee.

Redfern says the nuts and bolts of the deal have yet to be finalised but at the very least Mosimann will be creating daily signature dishes for the main restaurant on Silversea ships.

He will also be joining a 12-day Culinary Arts voyage from Istanbul to Rome on Silver Wind from October 18-30, hosting food and wine pairings and giving hints and tips on Mediterranean cookings during live demonstrations. Cruise-only fares start from £4,371 per person.

"It all gets a bit political because of our deal with Relais & Chateaux so we call him a guest chef," she reveals. "But the fact is, a name people recognise sells cruises."

MSC Cruises managing director UK and Ireland Giulio Libutti told me their sail for £1 offer was such a success when they did it at the end of last year that it would be repeated. And here it is. Well almost.

In what has to be acknowledged as a really smart piece of marketing, they got passengers paying full brochure price - which has to be a first - and in return a companion could cruise for £1. A two-for-one offer by any other name except it's not really because all the companion got was the cruise. Port taxes and flights cost extra.

The new offer is even more generous though. The companion gets to save that £1 and cruise for free (but they still have to pay port taxes and flights).

Bookings must be made between Feburary 14 and February 16 (yes, St Valentine out to spark a little romance again) - a small window, but there's plenty of choice of ships/itineraries:

MSC Sinfonia: eight seven-night cruises from Livorno between April 25 and June 20. Prices from £735 cruise-only for the first passenger. Flights cost £249pp.

MSC Fantasia (pictured): 12 seven-night cruises from Genoa between March 8 to June 14. Prices from £735 cruise-only for the first passenger. Flights cost £210pp.

MSC Poesia: seven seven-night cruises from Venice between April 18 and June 20. Prices from £780 cruise-only for the first passenger. Flights cost £210pp. 

MSC Armonia: 10 seven-night cruises from Venice between April 13 and June 15. Prices from £735 cruise-only for the first passenger. Flights cost £210pp.

Jami Sales, managing director of UncommonCruises.com, tells Travel Agent in the US that agents should get themselves "pumped up" about the new cruise ships launching this year "then pick up the phone and let clients know that something very exciting is going on - and that you want to be sure they know about it."

I'm with Jami on this. She might be talking about the US market but there's nothing British cruisers like better than to think they are among the first passengers on a new ship. And why not? We all love new things.

With nine new ships coming out this year (that's excluding three others not on sale in the UK), ranging from uber-luxury with Yachts of Seabourn and Silversea to fun in the sun with Carnival Cruise Lines, there's got to be one that appeals to everyone.

You can have big or small - sizes range from Viking River Cruises' 189-passenger Viking Legend to Royal Caribbean International's 5,400-passenger behemoth Oasis of the Seas - Italian style courtesy of Costa and MSC Cruises, or go green with Celebrity Cruises' next Solstice-class ship - that's the one with real grass on top. Anyone for croquet?

How refreshing to read of a cruise line adding something extra to their ships that passengers can enjoy for free.

Canaletto, the Italian restaurant that debuted last year on new ship Eurodam, has been so popular that Holland America Line is rolling out the concept to four more ships - Oosterdam, Veendam, Noordam and Amsterdam - while they are in dry dock in May 2009.

Canaletto is actually part of the Lido self-service, but it's transformed into a lovely casual waiter service Italian each evening. You can just turn up to dine, but they prefer reservations. Whichever you choose, there's no charge.

And it's not often you can say that anymore.

Have you heard Hebridean Spirit is for sale, a friend asked the other day. I immediately went on line and found this ad, already uncovered by eagle-eyed Cruise Critic reader ISS.

"We were approached by two buyers, which prompted us to instruct a broker and see if they were serious," Hebridean International Cruises sales and marketing director Ken Charleson tells me.

"No one wanted to sell the ship, but everything has a price. But as nothing has happened, we will be taking the ship off the market next week. We've got to start planning itineraries for the next couple of years. So it's business as usual."

Hebridean Spirit is the big ship in Hebridean International Cruises' fleet (OK, so it only holds 98 passengers but it is big compared to the 49-passenger Hebridean Princess).

While Princess spends its time cruising around Scotland, Spirit gets out and sees the world - South Africa, South America, the Mediterranean. I'll be on in April, on a trip through the Suez Canal (that's where it is in the picture) and visiting Libya - that's always assuming a last-minute buyer doesn't appear from nowhere with loads of money. I hope not, as it is a lovely ship and a fabulous itinerary.

Charleson admitted it caused a bit of a "hoo-ha" at Hebridean when the ad came out. "The brokers were not supposed to mention the name of the ship," he said. Well no. It is a bit of a strange thing to do.

Valentine's Day might be over, but that is not likely to stop couples on P&O Cruises' ships tying the knot. Apparently they have been doing it in ever-increasing numbers since the line started offering weddings at sea in 2006.

Until that point, only sister cruiseline Princess Cruises offered weddings at sea, with the captain doing the honours. In fact, I am one of the thousands to wed on a Princess ship. My wedding (pictured) was on Grand Princess, between Copenhagen and Stockholm. You can read all about it in the Daily Telegraph.

Some 371 couples said "I do" on P&O ships in 2008 - that's a third more than in 2007. Why? Because it's different, it's romantic, it's easy (you just say what you want and someone else does all the work) - and it's also a bargain compared with getting hitched in the UK.

Apparently an average UK wedding now costs £19,200. P&O weddings at sea packages start from just under £1,000. Of course you have to pay for the cruise, but hey. That's the honeymoon taken care of at the same time.

Anyway, the reason P&O Cruises got all romantic in time for Valentine's Day is to announce they have launched a dedicated weddings website. If wannabe brides and grooms need help planning their big day at sea, this is the place to look.

Cruise Business Review reports that TUI Cruises, the German joint venture cruiseline created by Royal Caribbean Cruises and TUI AG, is to name its first ship - currently known as Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Galaxy - Mein Schiff in a ceremony on May 15.

The name was chosen in a competition that attracted more than 30,000 ideas from 11,000 people. TUI Cruises chief executive officer Richard J Vogel said several suggested Mein Schiff and it was chosen because it "expresses our core ideas of individuality and room to move".

Really? In my day at school it simply meant My Ship.

Question is, how bad the others were if this was deemed the best?

P&O Cruises must be breathing several sighs of relief now that wayward teenager Ventura finally seems to be settling down.

Head of brand marketing Philip Price tells me the ship achieved record satisfaction scores at the end of January, with 89% of passengers rating it excellent.

"As a brand we target 90% so this is fantastic. I know we have had some issues marrying the new and old but Ventura is bedding down and we are delivering an excellent product."

Within weeks of Ventura's launch last April, passengers were sharing horror stories on the internet about Freedom dining - namely that it wasn't working - and the lack of sun beds. I added my own voice to the moans in a report on the Telegraph website, pointing out that P&O seemed to realise there was a problem but seemed able to move fast enough to fix it.

But the fixers have done their job now, says Price. Evening entertainment schedules have been changed and there are now three shows a night so people don't all rush to eat at the same time, which has taken pressure off the Freedom dining restaurant.

"We have studied the flow of the ship and structured entertainments around them. Passengers don't have to rush to get to the theatre for 6.30pm or 8.30pm so waiters know they can slow service and dinner can be a more sedate affair."

When I was on, waiters were clearing plates with one hand and serving the next course with the other in their rush to clear tables, which did not make for a good dining experience.

If there is a rush of Freedom diners and space in the fixed dining rooms, they will be seated there rather than having to wait. Also, the Freedom dining room has stopped taking bookings - one of the things I complained about because it blocked out swathes of tables each evening - so it really is a turn-up-and-eat option.

In addition, the Beach House, part of the self-service, has been turned into a waiter-service New York-style diner in the evening with grills, pizzas, saleads and steaks, which has taken pressure off the Freedom dining restaurant and also the buffet.

Joy of joys, Price says you can now also walk up to a bar and get a drink. When I was on last July the order had to go though a drinks waiter, who would pass the order to the barman, who would give the drink to the waiter, who would eventually bring it to you with the bit of paper to sign - although sometimes that bit came later still. And all that happened even if there was no one else at the bar. Irritating? You bet.

Disgruntled sun worshippers now have 120 more sunbeds on deck 19, where the trapeze used to be. It's a shame it's gone as it was good fun, but I'm delighted to say the bungee trampolines have stayed - which is a good excuse for me to show you a picture of me on this modern-day instrument of torture.

When the ship gets back to Southampton for the summer season, P&O will also be replacing the giant tables and upright chairs on the balconies with reclining seats so passengers can sunbathe in their own private space. A sensible move that begs the question, why were they not put on in the first place?

I am going back on Ventura in May, on a cruise to Norway, and can't wait to see how all the changes are working. I'll keep you posted.

Crystal Cruises has always been a staunch opponent of the all-inclusive model favoured by its luxury rivals, but recessions bring out the flexibility in everyone, it seems, because they have just launched an All Inclusive - As You Wish promotion.

Its two ships haven't actually gone all-inclusive, which on other luxury cruise ships means drinks and gratuities are included in the price.

It's even better than that. A whopping $2,000 per couple on-board credit to spend on things they want - wine, shore excursions, spa treatments, gratuities. In fact the only thing you can't use it for is gambling in the casino, which is fair enough.

The All Inclusive promotion is available on all Crystal Serenity cruises in the Med between July and November, all 11-night Baltic and British Isles cruises on Crystal Symphony between July 19 and August 23 and Symphony's transatlantic from Dover to Boston in September.

I'd love to know what the most popular on-board buy is. If it's alcohol, might Crystal be persuaded down the all-inclusive route after all? Only time will tell.

While I'm with Crystal Cruises, I have to share this story from UK sales and marketing director Sophie Higgins.

Man calls on Tuesday, to book a 12-night cruise from Miami to Los Angeles, through the Panama Canal, on Crystal Symphony departing the following Monday. He had never cruised before and wanted an outside cabin for sole use. Cost £3,000 cruise-only with the single supplement. He was organising his own flights.

Can it be done so last minute? Well yes, said the UK office. As long as his credit card clears in time. So he went into the London office the next day to pay Crystal direct and five days later was on his cruise.

"Bookings are coming in a lot later," Higgins confirmed.

Remarks on Travelmole show Costa's new partnership with no-frills carrier Ryanair has gone down like a lead balloon in some quarters.

There are questions about Ryanair's ability to deliver passengers to the port in time - on a cruise-only deal the ship is not under any obligation to wait for guests (no matter who the carrier) - and fears about the high price clients will pay for baggage.

I have never flown with Ryanair and freely admit I have no intention of doing so because I hate the whole low-cost model of having to pay for everything as a separate item. I like to know the price so I can decide if it's OK or not. Easy.

There is also the small issue of having to get to Stansted Airport on the nightmare-ish M25, when British Airways' wonderful Terminal Five is less than 30 minutes away.

But I gather from figures given to me by Sinead Finn, Ryanair's director of commercial revenue, that a lot of people do fly with Ryanair.

Whether they enjoy the experience or not is another question of course, and I guess they don't from all the negative remarks I've heard about the airline. But they go anyway. On that basis, people should have no issue about flying with Ryanair to join their Costa cruise.

Then there is the issue of luggage. Most cruise passengers do like to take the kitchen sink, it's true. But hang on. Costa's UK managing director Marco Rosa made it clear they were after professional young new-to-cruise passengers - people not wedded to their traditions (or their sink) - but who presumably can afford to pay for hold luggage if necessary, especially if the flights really are so cheap.

Alternatively, why not manage on their 10kg hand luggage for a week? I regularly go on a week's cruise with hand luggage only and look smugly at people struggling with bags they can't carry and getting nervous when their luggage does not appear on the carousel.

Of course a lot does depend on the cruise line. Remember, this is not formal P&O, but informal Costa. When I was on Costa Victoria in the Gulf last month, Gala evening (the formal night equivalent) brought out some people wearing black tie, others in slacks and jumpers.

All mixed and mingled together - and there were no dirty looks or chav accusations by the black-tiers. Simply, on Costa if casual floats your boat, that's fine by everyone. And if that's what you like, hand luggage works just fine.

I'd just rather carry my bags onto a BA flight.

Worried about cruiselines' dress codes or tipping policies? Still deciding whether to take that first cruise? Cruised before but looking for some new ideas?

You need to sign up for CRUISE, sponsored by the Daily Telegraph and Sky Travel, the first-ever show in the UK dedicated to all things cruise.

Cruiselines will be there to tell you about their ships and itineraries, yours truly and Sky Travel's Steve Read will be among a band of experts offering advice during Q&A sessions and TV celebrities will be sharing their thoughts on the joys of cruising.

It all happens at London's ExCel exhibition centre, from 10am to 6pm on March 21 and from 10am to 4pm on March 22. Tickets cost £8 per person in advance or £12 at the door.

Just as I was posting comments from P&O Cruises head of brand marketing Philip Price about the changes on Ventura, my friend Phil Nuttall, the boss of specialist agency Cruise Village, was giving his own take on how things have improved after a cruise in the Caribbean this month. He was last on the ship in June last year, just two months after it launched.

His report is very detailed but the overall verdict is that the ship really has settled down and is delivering great cruises.

It's an interesting read, but what really caught my eye was Phil's report about the open day in the atrium, where passengers were able to try to spot a rogue bag on the security scanners, try their hands at making beds, even have a go "driving" Ventura on a ship simulator.

It sounds great fun but apparently only happens occasionally. I'm keeping all things crossed for my cruise to Norway in May. I've always fancied myself as Captain.

There's definitely a joke there - unless you are one of the many cruisers who book to be on a maiden voyage, only for another cruise to be slotted in before yours because your vessel is ready earlier than planned.

It's an understandable decision by the cruiselines - they don't want their ships sitting around when they could be earning money - but it is occurring with alarming frequency these days.

Ventura, Celebrity Solstice and Ruby Princess (pictured) all had new maiden voyages last year; earlier this year Royal Caribbean announced giant Oasis of the Seas would set off on its maiden cruise on December 1 - that's after they had sold an inaugural departing on December 12.

Now Celebrity Cruises has slotted in a new maiden cruise for Celebrity Equinox, a sister to Solstice, which is being named in the UK in July.

The new cruise is an eight-night sailing from Southampton to the Norwegian fjords priced from £999. It will be followed by the original inaugural cruise - a 10-night sailing from Southampton to Civitavecchia (the port for Rome).

It's not all bad news if you booked the Rome inaugural to be the first on board though. Celebrity says you can combine the two cruises in to an 18-night voyage and get $200 per stateroom ($300 per suite) on-board credit.

Don't all rush now.

Back in the 1950s and 60s, thousands of ten-pound poms emigrated to Australia on P&O Cruises' Arcadia.

Last week the fourth ship to bear that name - P&O Cruises' 21st-century Arcadia - arrived in Sydney for a maiden visit Down Under (the ship is also on its maiden world cruise) and hosted a reunion lunch for a group of those £10-ers. Which is a good excuse to show this picture, by James Morgan, of the ship sailing past the Opera House.

Arcadia is just one of 28 cruise ships which will have called at Sydney in as many days this season. Travel Asia Daily says the passenger terminal at Darling Harbour has been so busy the cargo terminal at White Bay has been drummed into use for cruise ships.

Sydney's Tourism and Transport Forum executive director, Olivia Wirth, says four in one day are expected in early March, but three are too big to sail under the Harbour Bridge and two will have to tender passengers ashore.

Wirth says Sydney needs to improve its facilities if it is to continue reaping the full economic benefits of the cruise industry.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that change is on the way, but it doesn't sound like "improve" is quite the right word. SMH says the New South Wales government decided last December to move the main cruise ship terminal from East Darling Harbour to White Bay.

Carnival Australia chief executive Ann Sherry is not happy.

"There is so much to see and do around Darling Harbour. In comparison, White Bay is bleak with no buzz or energy.... The NSW government has an opportunity to create a world-class cruise facility but, based on the plans we've been shown, it is a shed at White Bay with nothing else around it."

Nice one, Sydney.

Anyone tempted to book the new maiden voyage from Southampton to the Norwegian fjords scheduled for Celebrity Equinox will have to be quick.

A delighted Jo Rzymowska, Celebrity Cruises' associate vice-president and general manager UK and Ireland, tells me the cruise sold out within 24 hours of going on sale, either with confirmed bookings or options.

Within another 24 hours the res team was chasing passengers to see if they wanted the option or if they could release the extra space.

It bodes well for Celebrity Eclipse, a sister to Equinox, which will be based in Southampton in summer 2010 and offer cruises aimed at the UK market.

Life is about to get a whole lot sweeter for anyone booked in a Royal Caribbean Grand Suite or higher category stateroom as the cruiseline is bringing in new benefits next month to reward top-paying passengers and, presumably, encourage more people to upgrade.

There'll be dedicated suite security and check-ins at selected terminals to whisk them through the boring stuff and onto the ship. They'll get a gold SeaPass cards so the crew know how important they are, and cheese, choccies and fruit nibbles at various times through the cruise (because, after all, there are times on a Royal cruise when you might get hungry!).

They will be invited to a private Captain's cocktail party, get reserved seats in the theatre, priority tickets for tenders (which is definitely worth having) and priority disembarkation at the end of the cruise.

On Freedom and Voyager-class ships, they will have reserved seats on one side of the stepped platforms on the pool deck (but there'll be no reserving of loungers), on Freedom, Voyager and Radiance-class ships they'll get a key to the Concierge Club so they can enjoy continental breakfast in peace and drop in for the daily pre-dinner cocktail receptions.

By the time you read this, I'll be on my way to Chennai (what we used to call Madras), where I'm joining Silversea's newly refurbished Silver Wind for a cruise around the coast of India.

Internet connections willing, I'll be bringing you news and pictures from the ship and the places we visit.

Sadly, a visit to Colombo in Sri Lanka has been cancelled due to the "situation" (to quote the letter informing me of the change). A real shame as I was so looking forward to revisiting the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage there.

Instead we'll be calling at a place called Tuticorin (it's also known as Thoothukundi, but I think I'll stick with Tuticorin!), which my research tells me is the third-largest container port in India and home to one of the country's oldest railway stations. Wikipedia says the city is also called a nursery of volleyball. Whatever that might be.

I'll reserve judgement but I'm thinking we'd all be better off taking our chances with the elephants in Sri Lanka.

The cruise also calls at Visakhapatnam, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao and ends in Mumbai.

Keep tuned.

After a first day in India, two questions spring to mind. Did we really need to teach the Indians to do everything in triplicate and why aren't the roads a sea of dead bodies?

This latter question was all more significant as at the time, Kumar, my tuk-tuk driver, was zig-zagging his way through the traffic, taking on motorbikes, coaches, vans, people. In fact anything that came in his way. "Parp-parp" went his little horn and he just kept on driving, smiling and repeating "no problem".

There are no such things as white lines here and the word stop just doesn't exist (it is sprinkled around on road signs but no one bothers to read them). If Kumar is joining a busy road, he just drives out; he relies on everyone else missing him.

Which thankfully they did this morning as he took me on a great three-hour tour of Chennai's highlights - Kapaleeswarar Temple, St Thomas Basilica and Marina Beach, a huge stretch of white sand that was baking hot and deserted at noon - temperatures today were around 35C - but apparently comes alive in the evening, when the sun goes down.

Sadly I won't get a chance to see that, as an hour after Kumar returned me safely to the Taj Cormorander Hotel, it was time for the transfer to Silversea's ships Silver Wind. This will be home for the next 10 nights as we cruise around to Mumbai.

I've been upgraded to the Owner's Suite so I have a sitting room, separate bedroom, bathroom and guests' toilet. I also have a butler. But more of this tomorrow, a day at sea as we head north to Visakhapatnam.

"It's such a big suite for one person," Barbara, my room stewardess, from Hungary, laughs as I returned from breakfast this morning. I guess a single traveller in an Owner's Suite is a little unusual, but I love having so much space.

This suite was the spa until Silversea's Silver Wind went into dry dock in October/November last year and is apparently a mirror image of the Owner's Suite that was already on the vessel. It's one of several big changes they made on the ship during the upgrade.

There are four new Millennium Suites by the bridge on deck eight, where the officers' accommodation used to be, the spa has moved to the top of the ship, deck nine, where once there were sun loungers and there is a new Medallion Suite.

Apparently it's bigger than my room, but has no balcony so it's popular with passengers because the price is nice! I'm hoping to get a look sometime but as it's occupied I'll have to bide my time.

But let me take you on a quick tour of the Owner's Suite: As you come in the door, there is a guest toilet on the left. It's my Mount Everest. I feel must use it because it is there.

You enter into the spacious sitting-cum-dining room. There's a Espresso coffee-maker, a bar stocked with various spirits (all free as this is an all-inclusive ship), an exit to the balcony and a huge flat-screen TV and DVD player.

There's a DVD library downstairs so I plan to treat myself to an evening in at the flicks at least one night; not quite so sure about the Piano by Candlelight 10 CD collection they've provided. Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, the music of Burt Bacharach. Not quite me, I'm afraid.

There's also an atlas, which is great as I love to keep an eye on where I'm going - and like to feel I can step in if the Captain needs a hand!

From the sitting area, you go onto a small corridor. The bathroom is to the left, with a bath and shower (took me a while to find the latter as it somes out of the ceiling and drains into the floor), the bedroom to the right, with another door onto the balcony and another big flat-screen TV. Straight ahead and you're into the big walk-in wardrobe.

And then there is Suren, my wonderful butler, who comes from India. He appears every now and again bearing gifts such as this bowl of fruit, tidies my clothes and generally keeps me in order. How did I ever manage without him?

Another change of itinerary on this Silversea cruise around India on Silver Wind. Tuticorin, added last minute as a replacement for Colombo in Sri Lanka, didn't quite gel with the passengers on the previous cruise so it's been dropped from my cruise as well.

I'm told there was a "near riot" because it was such an awful place. Well, I did say in a previous posting that it was famous for its port and railway station. Didn't sell it for me either.

So instead, we're doing another day at sea, but it means we are getting into Cochin several hours earlier than planned, which is great. We stay there overnight and I'm planning to go a tour of the Kerala backwaters. I've been before but they were so lovely a return visit will not go amiss.

Soon after you arrive in your suite on Silversea, your stewardess will arrive bearing a tray of lotions and potions. Here's Barbara, my stewardess on Silver Wind, bearing my tray.

The Bulgari bottles are already in the bathroom, but you can also have some Acqua di Parma as well if you fancy. And yes, of course I did.

How special is that?

Chronicles, the daily "what's on" book (I kid you not, it has to be the biggest newsletter I've seen on a cruise ship) delivered each day to my suite on Silversea's Silver Wind bills Visakhapatnam "the Jewel of the East Coast".

Hmmm. Can't help thinking that was written by someone who had never been there. By the time my friend Steve and I made it into the city just before 12 noon, every other passenger seemed to be coming back, greeting us with grimaces and the words "good luck".

They were harsh. It's true the city doesn't have a great deal going for it in the looks department, we had a lovely few hours there, enjoying a real slice of Indian life.

We had fun watching the chaos as the buses and tuk-tuks honked and hooted their way through the streets, swerving around pedestrians who had no intention of moving out of the way. Even our Italian captain Ignazio Tatulli had to admit the Italians were mere novices behind a wheel compared to the Indians.

Somehow a policeman was almost managing to control the chaos - and as we returned to the shuttle bus he even held up the traffic for us to cross.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. We wandered down the street, wondering if there was anything to see other than this phone - wired into the telegraph pole you'll notice....

...when we chanced upon this market. It was fabulous. Fruits and veg, some of which I didn't recognise, sacks of chillis, packs of leaves that are used as plates, coloured powder which they throw into the air when worshipping. And the people were so friendly despite a bit of a language barrier. These young lads just loved having their picture taken.

Getting off the Silver Wind was not such a lark, mind. It took more than two hours for the Indian authorities to clear the ship - and there are only 213 of us on board, incidentally being looked after by 219 crew so I've struck gold again in the brilliant service stakes.

The shuttle bus into the city arrived just as our feet touched terra firma, but took 15 minutes to get going as there was much debate between the driver and the crowds of port workers who had clustered around the ship. I'm told they get two cruise ships a year so it's a bit of a novelty. I've no idea what they were debating but eventually the driver gave up and drove off.

But then we had to get out of the gate. Official-looking people came on, got off, more official people came on. We brandished the immigration forms we'd been given but no one was remotely interested. They got off and more people came on - and got off. The bus moved - but only to let a lorry around us. But finally we were on the way.

This was a maiden visit for Silversea and I'm pretty sure they won't be back. The long time for clearance was tough for the officers and crew, and I reckon most passengers stayed in town only long enough to decide they wanted to get back to the ship.

I'm left pondering why people would spend a lot of money coming on a luxury cruise ship around India if they don't want to see it.