Cruise Lines

Next month's cruise convention in Southampton is going from strength to strength, with a Premiere day now added where agents will be able to learn how to increase their cruise sales as well as lunch and take a tour of one of Princess Cruises' superliners.

Was it really only last year that Andy Harmer got up on stage in Dover to open the first cruise convention and introduce the world to the Association of Cruise Experts? I guess the speed at which this event has taken off just underlines how fast this sector of the industry is growing and what a great job ACE has been doing in the meantime.

Whether agents go for the Premier on May 16, the three-day event the following week, when there will be another five ships to see, or both (definitely the best option), it's a fantastic opportunity to learn more about cruising from some of the leading people in the industry. Proof indeed of how important the trade is to the cruiselines.

Premier day places are up for grabs now. Email natalie@psa-ace.org or call 020 7436 2449.

Cunard is to ease the strain for single travellers in 2009, cutting the single supplement on Queen Mary 2 from 100% to 75% and even 50% on some voyages during April and on May 2 and 8 for those who get in quick.

It's about time. We hear so often - from the cruiselines themselves - what a wonderful holiday a cruise is for people on their own. And as one who regularly cruises on my own I agree. Except for those swingeing supplements.

Could this new-for-2009 decision have anything to do with Carnival UK chief commercial officer Peter Shanks' prediction in his company's 2008 cruise report that by 2020 we will have waved goodbye to single supplements?

I didn't realise at the time that actually he was hinting about what was to come rather than playing soothsayer, but now I look back at those words of wisdom, I see he also predicted that we would have (hopefully) figured out a foolproof way of smashing champagne bottles on the side of new ships.

Enter the Royal Marines, who will be guaranteeing a smashing time this week when P&O Cruises' Ventura is named in Southampton by Dame Helen Mirren.

I know I for one am going to listen more closely to Shanks' crystal-ball gazing. His obviously works better than Mystic Meg's.

Interesting story on the Cruise Critic website about an American couple who have been banned from cruising with Royal Caribbean International.

Apparently they were regular cruisers with the brand, but managed to find faults with every cruise they took. These were vocalised to the world through travel websites and when Royal acted to rectify the problems with financial sweeteners - on-board credits, money off future cruises - they told the world of that too.

Cleverly they always praised Royal and rebooked with them so it never looked like they were after money. Of course they weren't. But now the game is over. Let's face it, cruiselines can't afford to allow others to learn the rules.

Somehow I'm finding it hard to feel sorry for these guys, who have been pouring their hearts out on US TV, but I do have sympathy for Norwegian Cruise Line. Apparently they have discovered - and love - NCL's Freestyle cruising!

Regent Seven Seas Cruises president Mark Conroy reckons world cruising is becoming more popular because people are simply taking their offices globetrotting as well.

Regent now has Wi Fi on all its ships so guests can now work whilst on a long voyage. This allows access to the rest of the world at their convenience. Regent Seven Seas Society Silver and above members are offered complementary Wi Fi so they can communicate via the internet for as long as they please with no extra charge.

 

Work your way around the world - but without the backpack. What a fantastic concept. No wonder Conroy also reports that world cruising is a growing sector of Regent's market - so much so that they are offering more long voyages in 2009 to meet demand.

Other interesting world cruise facts from Regent:

* 20% of Regent's world cruise bookings come from the UK.

* 70% of world cruisers are repeat customers.

* a 116-night all-inclusive world cruise with six-star Regent (with all drinks, alternative dining and tips covered) costs less than a 105-night non-inclusive cruise (non of the above covered) on Cunard's five-star Queen Victoria - £291 per person per day against £296.

Who says they can't afford luxury?

Passengers on Azamara Cruises, the better-than-Celebrity brand from the Royal Caribbean stable, had a real treat as their ship popped into London this week on the way from Barcelona to Copenhagen - namely what passes for a port in one of Europe's leading capital cities.

Port? Actually, it's a pontoon just down river from Tower Bridge that has been covered with portacabins that you weave through in order to get to the ship - and that's after enduring a tortuous tender transfer from the other side of the bridge.

No matter. There was a fabulous view of Tower Bridge from the aft end of the ship and it must have been fun squeezing through the Thames Barrier - for passengers at least. Captain Carl admitted he pulled his stomach in as he manoevered through with just 15 metres to spare on either side.

Thames boatmen notwithstanding, I finally managed to get on board with some of the top people from Royal Caribbean for what was a first glimpse of an Azamara ship for all.

Except it was a bit like deja-vu for anyone who has been on Princess Cruises' Royal Princess (Swan Hellenic's Minerva II as was) or any of the Oceania Cruises' ships.

Obviously Azamara Journey been tweaked here and there - actually there have been $19 million of tweaks to add 32 bigger suites, a cafe, bar and change the carpets. Sadly the money didn't stretch to real teak on the pool deck so there's a plastic faux alternative but the wooden sun loungers with comfy mattresses helps to make up for that.

They have also put in new alternative restaurants, which come with no charge (that's one of the better-than-Celebrity bits) and look lovely. But so does the eat-when-you-like main dining room. Again, so much more advanced than its X-rated big sister with its fixed dining.

And at the moment, as the brand is not yet well known, it doesn't cost any more, and sometimes even less. That's got to be well worth a second look.

My stint on Swan Hellenic's Minerva is just about to end, mainly due to other commitments and partly because the guys in head office were concerned that if I stayed on to Kirkwall and we hit bad weather, the ship would not be able to get in to the port.

Result? Minerva would head off to Norway - it's next stop after Scotland - with me on board when I was supposed to be elsewhere.

But they hadn't factored in Captain John Moulds. "I'd have got you in," he told me over dinner yesterday evening, after telling me that bad weather is no obstacle for him when it comes to landing passengers in Antarctica - the most unfriendly climate in the world.

Somehow I really think he would.

I have been picking up a few useful pointers on P&O Cruises' Ventura from Phil at the Cruise Village/Save 'n' Sail as he was on the ship in June and I am on later this month. Ventura, for those who have already forgotten, was launched in April and is the biggest in the P&O fleet, with lots of new-for-P&O stuff on board.

http://www.mycruiseblog.co.uk/

It all sounds pretty good, although he reckons the cover charge in The White Room is too high given the limited choice on the menu. I'll reserve comment on that issue, but I was surprised at the launch to discover that they have gone for flexible pricing in the speciality restaurants so people on shorter cruises pay more. I struggle to see how that can be justified, other than to the bean counters.

But what interested me most is his comment that Freedom dining is not working well because too many people book tables at their preferred sitting time each day so when radom diners turn up to eat, there is no room.

The turn-up-and-dine concept works very well on Princess Cruises (where it is called Anytime Dining) so I wonder what the problem is.

Could it simply be that Princess staff are more experienced at handling flexible dining because they've been doing it for so many years or because P&O people haven't got to grips with this idea of Freedom after so many years of being told when to eat and where to sit.

I just hope things are improving - and fast....

As my regular blog readers will have seen, I was at Tilbury last week to see Marco Polo, now sailing under charter to Transocean Tours and sub-charter to Cruise and Maritime Services through the summer. Click on the video, created courtesy of Travel Weekly, to see and hear more.

I see Celebrity Cruises, that bastion of cruise tradition, is cutting back on formal nights for nine, 10 and 11-night cruises starting August 1. A sign of the more casual times, even for lines that like to think their passengers are quality, discerning types.

They'll be telling us they are trialing an open-dining system next. I can't wait.

But luckily it's one we can all applaud in these days of being green, in words if not deeds.

The line has won an award from CiAI in Italy, which translates into National Consortium for the Recovery and Recycling of Aluminium Packaging, for collecting tons of empty cans, waste foil and aluminium packaging - 10,000 kg of the stuff between May and December 2007.

CiAI usually reserves its awards for councils, but decided MSC qualified because its ships are floating towns. Actually that doesn't sound so good, does it? I can see the term being picked up with glee by environmentalists determined that cruising is the worst thing since, well, sliced bread.

A report in Travel Weekly US suggests the chill wind of the economic downturn is starting to blow around the cruise lines.

Johanna Jainchill's report talks of downsizing staff and budget cuts at Royal Caribbean in response to rising fuel costs and says sources say the line wants to trim the payroll by 10%.

RCCL's vice-president of corporate communications Lynn Martenstein admitted they are under pressure to control costs.

Like most companies today, we are redoubling our efforts to find savings, but we have not announced any specific actions.

Hot on the heels of news that Susan Hooper, managing director EMEA, is resigning one can't help putting two and two together and coming up with, well,  four.

I feel a definite reorganisation in the air.

This week I'm blogging from Ventura, the new big ship in P&O Cruises' fleet that was launched in August, where last night we had a'60s and '70s party.

Lively, fun, but Buddy Holly songs? Someone should tell the DJ that he died in a plane crash in 1959.

Just as everyone was thinking the new ship building boom was over - I refer you to a report on Tripso by Anita Dunham-Potter - sharp-eyed cruise watchers spot news on Aker Yards website saying MSC Cruises has ordered two more Musica-class ships.

Sisters to MSC Poesia, the ships will weigh 89,600 tons and carry 2,550 passengers and be delivered in Febrary 2011 and February 2012.

MSC notwithstanding, Dunham-Potter is surely right in predicted the end of the new ship boom As she points out, all the cruiseships on the shipyards' books bar the MSC duo - she estimates 35 vessels at a cost of $22 billion - were ordered before the price of fuel shot up and world economies shot down.

But does it matter that the boom is over, for a couple of years at least? We all love new ship launches, but I can't help thinking it will be a good thing to give the new capacity coming into the market time to settle - there are still 35 ships to come, after all, and two of those are Royal Caribbean's giant 5,400-passenger vessels.

Simple supply-and-demand economics also tells me that a shortfall in capacity means prices will go up. And higher prices surely are better for cruiselines and agents. Given that, I wonder whether MSC wouldn't be better to watch and wait until it starts to command higher fares.

Do we need more cruise ships? Let me know what you think.

MSC Cruises reports its most successful week for bookings. On Saturday, there were 25% more calls to the call centre than on an average Saturday, while Monday recorded 48% more calls than the daily average and the conversion rate was up 60%.

Is MSC reaping the benefits of its amazing deals or is this yet more proof that credit crunch or no, cruisers are not yet ready to give up on their holiday at sea.

This guy is Daniel Hochsteiner, from Germany, one of a band of entertainers who juggles three or so times a day in the piazza on Princess Cruises' Crown Princess.

The piazza, but the way, is the ship's atrium by another name because it is a place where you can buy coffees, teas or something stronger, snack on salads, cookies or cakes from the International Cafe - free in the day, charged in the evening (I'm not entirely sure why as the daytime food is so much nicer) - or just meet others and watch the entertainers. Much like an Italian piazza.
 
Oh - and it's also one of the best places for us laptop junkies to pick up wireless internet, which is why I'm spending a lot of time there.

Daniel was getting off the ship just after I took this picture. He's been on for a week, juggling hoops and tennis rackets, and now he's off to do the same on another cruise ship.

Rest assured, I'll be back down there to see who takes his place.

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!

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.

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!

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."

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.

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 no sign of an end to the dispute between Norwegian Cruise Line and Aker Yards over the building/cost of its 150,000-ton F3 ships, comes another misery for NCL.

Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines has failed to dot the i's and cross the t's in the purchase of Norwegian Dream. The sale was supposed to go through on Monday but Louis apparently decided against splashing out $218 million for the ship because the charter business it was planning for the vessel did not materialise.

As well as operating its own cruises, Louis charters ships to other lines, including Thomson Cruises. It's not so unlikely that one of those others - or indeed Thomson - has decided against increasing capacity at a time when people are concerned about their bank balances.

Louis is saying nothing; likewise NCL, which will be no surprise to anyone who has been following the F3 saga. Leaving everyone to speculate and rumour.

Star Cruises, which owns half of NCL has told brokers to put Norwegian Dream back on the market, but brokers reckon it's a terrible time to be selling a ship.

I don't know. I had a meeting Tuesday with the guys from Fred Olsen Cruise Lines and casually mentioned the ship sale had fallen through. "Don't tell Mr Olsen," came the urgent reply. New-to-Fred ship Balmoral used to be Norwegian Crown, so they obviouly fear he has a penchant for ex-NCL stock.

But what with Balmoral and the newly-stretched Braemar, the FO team feels they have more than enough extra capacity to fill for a while!

All the talk at a meeting at Royal Caribbean HQ in Addlestone, Weybridge, yesterday was about the new ships - Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice and Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.

But this wasn't the usual stuff about Central Park, Boardwalks and zipwires, but rather a day for the techies to find out some behind-the-scenes stuff about these ships.

About the wonders of non-toxic silicon paint on the hull, for instance, how they will be using waste heat from the engines to heat w