Cruise Lines

Strange to see MSC Cruises' UK managing director Claudia Baino is being replaced by the newly appointed Giulio Libutti, said to have a wealth of travel expertise, and in particular commercial airline experience.

Remind me what business MSC Cruises is in?

Baino, who is moving to MSC Corporate rather than leaving the company altogether, has only been at the helm in the UK for 16 months, but has done a lot to raise MSC's voice in the UK, both among the trade and consumers.

But it's still not enough - I have met plenty of regular cruisers who have never even heard of the cruiseline. Let's hope when Libutti takes over at the end of July he is not too distracted by the aviation stuff to build on Baino's success.

What a coup for Cunard.

The Queen is journeying down to Southampton on June 2 to bid farewell to the QE2, the ship she named at Clydebank on September 20 1967.

Since then the vessel, which has to be the best known ship in the world, has sailed into the record books by travelling more than 5.6 million nautical miles. It has carried 2.5 million guests, completed 25 world cruises and crossed the Atlantic 802 times.

QE2 leaves Cunard and the UK forever in November, when it sets sail from Southampton for Dubai to take up its new duty as a luxury floating hotel.

If I had a stall selling handkerchiefs, I know where I would be that day...

Great to see that Princess Cruises is adding a Sanctuary area to all its ships over the next couple of years.

The Sanctuary is an area on the top deck of Crown and Emerald Princess (it will also be on Ruby Princess when that launches in November) where only adults are allowed.

There's a canopy over the top to keep out the harsh rays of the sun, bushes that look real enough and rustle in the gentle breeze, cushioned sunbeds (including a few where couples can snuggle up), MP3 players to borrow and private cabanas where you can have a massage. It's all very indulgent and wonderfully exclusive because numbers are controlled and - isn't there always a catch - you have to pay for your piece of pampering.

To me, the Sanctuary is close to heaven, but I have to confess I didn't think it would catch on - cruisers are notorious for not wanting to pay for anything once they have splashed out on their cruise, especially things they reckon they have already paid for in the price.

Just this time, I'm truly happy to have been proved wrong.

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.

A new report out this week by cruise guru Tony Peisley concludes there is little evidence of a slowdown in fleet expansion despite the weak dollar, which has made ship building an even more expensive business than it already was.

In an analysis in Travel Weekly this week, I list the new builds on order between now and 2011 - 32 in all, and that excludes ships being built for the US or German markets that are unlikely ever to see a Brit on board. I agree. That certainly doesn't smack of a slowdown.

As the euro gathers strength, cruiselines might be cursing the money markets but new ships for new cruisers - 20 million worldwide by 2010, Peisley predicts - is what this industry is all about.

It has taken a lot of courage and hard work for the cruiselines to get where they are today, with cruising now an accepted holiday for people of all ages from all walks of life. They are not going to let a little financial fluctuation rock the boat.

Sad to hear Cunard president and managing director Carol Marlow is stepping down as chairman of the Passenger Shipping Association after a two-year reign during which we have all come to know and love that red jacket and her upbeat words of wisdom about the cruise and ferry industries - and all spoken without a note in sight.

And so it was at the PSA's 50th anniversary dinner last night, fittingly held on P&O Cruises' new ship Ventura, which has been in Southampton for more than a week now so agents and past and potential passengers can have a look at Carnival UK's newest baby. More on that to come.

Marlow is handing over the PSA reins to Stena Line's general manager travel UK Lars Olsen this summer - it being the ferries' turn to head the association. You can't get fairer than that.

I think it's time for a proverbial pat on the back as first news of what's on Royal Caribbean International's new 220,000 monster ship, code-named Genesis, comes out.

Here's what I predicted in my cruise column on the Telegraph website in December last year.

I’m betting on inside balcony cabins, overlooking the Royal Promenade – a “street” that cuts through the centre of the ship and is a trademark of its new vessels...

The picture shows what we can actually expect. This is Central Park, on deck 8, open to the elements, with trees and shrubs and look - inside balcony cabins.

It will have a cafe and Vintages wine bar (both in the Royal Promenade), Chops Grille, which is on the other big ships but by the self-service, and a swanky new-to-Royal Caribbean restaurant called 150 Central Park.

And look what else I wrote:

...and restaurants fore and aft, breaking design tradition, so passengers at the front don’t have to walk all the way to the back every time they want to eat.

OK, so I was talking more about the self-service and main dining rooms, but guess what? Central Park is in the centre of the ship; likewise its restaurants. Not quite fore and aft but on the right track.

I admit I've not been over excited by the idea of a ship that holds 5,400 people - which makes it twice the size of my village - but having seen this first picture, I am starting to get a bit of a tingle...

With the Royal Marines lined up to abseil down the side of the ship and smash the bubbly (after Queen Victoria's naming, when the Champagne bottle failed to smash, P&O Cruises wasn't taking any chances!), Ventura's naming ceremony was always going to be different.

But wow, never did I dream they would put on such a fun show for the 1,500 or so agents, celebrities (Rowan Atkinson, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Celia Imrie, Stephen Tompkinson and Cherie Lunghi to name but a few) and hacks who had travelled to Southampton for the big day.

For about 20 minutes, I actually forgot just how cold I was in my evening finery, standing open to the April elements on the top deck of the ship.

Picture it if you will. P&O Cruises' managing director Nigel Esdale appears on stage, a female agent from TV show Spooks starts dashing around, yelling into a wrist mic and and then M – aka acress Patricia Hodges - appears on a big screen with a "smashing" mission that only one man was deemed capable of completing.

The latest 007 blockbuster movie had started.

We saw Samantha Bond as Moneypenny, cameo rolls for Roger Moore, Bond villain Jonathan Pryce and news reader Selina Scott (not quite sure of the 007 link there; any suggestions welcome), before the camera turned on Dame Helen Mirren, the godmother to be, being escorted through the ship by the Royal Marines.

Cheers erupted as she appeared on stage, laughing and smiling. I'm sure she was enjoying it as much as we were. The all-important words uttered, two marines went over the side and smashed the bubbly. As we were showered by streamers, fireworks lit up the night sky.

I feel rather sorry for Royal Caribbean International, which is next on April's cruise ship naming conveyor belt. How can you beat that with just two weeks to go?

The April conveyor belt of new ship launches continues with news that Aker Yards in Turku, Finland, handed over the keys for Royal Caribbean International's new ship Independence of the Seas yesterday.

Indie is now on its way to Oslo, so the Norwegians can get a look-see, and then it will be coming to Southampton for more festivities and fun.

It will be named on April 30 - not by a celeb, but by Elizabeth Hill from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, an ordinary Brit (which is a first for Royal Caribbean) who has been picked for her extraordinary work with children and young people.

Independence will sail its maiden summer season from the south coast port.

Paddington Bear is having another go at this cruising lark 50 years after his last trip to sea. The bear, you will remember, arrived in this country on a ship from Peru. Now he's off again, joining Ocean Village's two ships - the original Ocean Village and Ocean Village Two - as they sail the Med this summer.

He'll find things have changed a bit - there's none of that fixed dining business with OV and there'll be lots of kids to play with in the Base Camp children's club during school holidays. Packing, of course, will be easy as casual all the way is the order of the OV day. A hat to keep off the sun and jacket in case it rains will do just fine.

I trust marmalade sandwiches will be added on Ocean Village's menus.

What's this I read?

That the two Royal Marines we saw on camera smashing two bottles of bubbly against the side of P&O Cruises' Ventura during the naming ceremony were a pre-recorded con.

Rumour is that anyone watching on the quay would have seen that on the day, one didn't actually break. What we saw was a film made to cover up in case of just such an eventuality.

If it is true, it's a real shame and raises all sorts of questions about decency and honesty. More to the point, isn't it just a little worrying that our trained combat troops are not up to smashing a bottle of Champagne against such a hard object as a ship's hull?

Following on from my article on cruising and the environment in Travel Weekly this week, I see Costa Cruises and Steiner Leisure, the company that operates Costa's on-board spas, are marking International Earth Day today by planting a tree for every spa treatment taken.

It's not quite a wellies and spade job for the environmentally-friendly duo because they are actually donating $1 to the Arbour Day Foundation, which does all the digging.

However, they are hoping enough people will be rubbed, wrapped and oiled in just one day to plant 10,000 trees. As they say, from small acorns...

The phones have been going mad at MSC towers in London ever since the no-expense-spared launch of MSC Poesia in Dover earlier this month, I hear. Lunches are off and even MSC Cruises managing director Claudia Baino and UK chairman Peter Pate have had to step in to help answer the phones.

Interesting to see that Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines has acquired the Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Majesty from Star Cruises, the Malaysian-based cruise company that owns half of Norwegian Cruise Line.

And interesting that Thomson Cruises has decided not to renew the charter for Louis Cruises' ancient but much-loved Emerald from October this year.

See where I'm going with this?

Director of cruising for Tui Travel mainstream division David Selby is being typically non-commital about Thomson's plans, saying only:

When the right opportunity comes along, which we are sure it will, we will announce it.

Could this be a classic case of London bus syndrome? One minute you are hoping for one opportunity, then two come along at once.

Good news for river cruise companies from cruise.co.uk this week. It reckons river cruising is where ocean was 10 years ago and poised to grow, so it has made its first foray into the market. River cruises are now featured on the web site along with news, deals and more

Apparently clients aged 55-plus with large disposable incomes are driving the demand, which I don't doubt. But if it really is where ocean cruising was a decade ago, then surely it's time river cruise companies took another leaf out of the ocean book and tried to widen the appeal by developing the product to appeal to 30 or 40-somethings and families?

Families? Well why not? River cruising is a terrific way to see some of Europe's great cities and it's very educational for children, but none of the operators do anything to keep youngsters entertained as the boats cruise from one place to another.

I'm not talking big kids' clubs - these are small boats after all - but why not a room where they can paint or draw, play on computers, or where teens could hang out away from prying parents. Maybe the river cruise companies could even try family cruises, less formal but still desirable, so kids won't irritate the blue-rinse brigade, and vice-versa.

As more agents move in on the river market, maybe this is the time to take a giant step into the 21st century.

Aker Yards shipyard in St Nazaire, France, is an awfully long way to go to see a piece of steel lowered to the ground, but there is something rather special about being there at the start of a new ship build.

This time it was for the birth of F3, Norwegian Cruise Line's next new ship - 150,000 tons, 4,200 passengers. Two of these giants are due to launch within months of each other in 2010.

Before going to the shipyard we dropped in on the place where they are developing the cabins, where NCL president and chief executive office Colin Veitch gave us a taste of just how different this ship promises to be (look out for details in Travel Weekly next week).

We also each struck a coin bearing the F3 name (I trust they will come up with a snappier one soon, as also for the next biggie, which currently goes under the moniker F3 - 2).

Then it was to the shipyard, a few more words from Veitch and the first piece of the keel - number 5006, weighing 322 tons - was lowered into place. Once it had landed, beside an unflinching mistress of ceremonies, we all placed our coins in a box that was welded shut and will be forever part of the first F3.

If only all cruiseship entertainment could be like this. Imagine: a warm spring day, another new ship in Southampton, 1,500 consumers on board waiting to be impressed - and out comes Scouting for Girls to give a live concert by the pool.

The ship, in case you've lost track, is Royal Caribbean International's Independence of the Seas. It arrived in Southampton on Friday and is playing host to visiting trade and those consumers (all competition winners, on for Saturday night only) before it is named on Wednesday.

So there we all were around the pool, waiting for the band to come on and music from Goldfinger strikes up. What is it with 007? P&O Cruises chose a Bond theme for the naming of Ventura and here he was again. All to do with the song "James Bond", which I trust fans will already have guessed (I knew the song, had heard of the band - well only just, to be honest! - but hadn't put the two together).

It was a good gig, short and sweet, ending with the band jumping in the pool, much to the delight of the audience.

Will they be back on board? Sadly no. They were there because Virgin Radio stumped up the cash to celebrate its 15th anniversary. If you cruise with Indie, you'll be back to the likes of that evening's show, Under the Big Top, which is a terrific cure for insomniacs, and the ice show, which had good costumes and accomplished skating, but all was overshadowed for my money by the violinist.

Congratulations to Cunard and Queen Victoria, which has just appeared on Conde Nast Traveller's Hot List of top hotels and spas around the world. Not bad going for a ship that launched less than five months ago.

The magazine's editors noted:

"she is a grand ship that harks back to the romantic era of cruising"

and refers to its sober yet elegant design. Couldn't have put it better myself.

Foodies will have a field day this October, when Crystal Cruises sets sail with a wine and food festival. They might not have lined up top TV celebs, but if the executive chef of the Dorchester Hotel and owner of Michy's in Miami can't cook up a cruise to remember, then no one can.

Onboard there'll be cookery demonstrations and tastings; on port days Crystal has lined up cooking lessons in Sorrento and wine-tasting in Sicily among other gourmet delights.

Luckily both Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony have big gyms where passengers will be able to run off all that food.

Bad news this week for cruisers and agents trying to sell cruises. Hot on the heels of Royal Caribbean's decision to hike its surcharges, there's news of a similar move by deluxe line Oceania Cruises.

Anyone booking Oceania from May 1 will pay an extra $10 per person per day, which as anyone with basic maths will know is $70 a week and $100 for a 10-night cruise. Not an insignificant extra when you consider that passengers will also be forking out a similar amount at the end of their cruise in gratuities, not to mention what they have to pay for drinks, shore excursions, spa treatments and all the other extras that make cruising so enjoyable.

Clients booking with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises or Azamara Cruises are now paying £4 per person per day, but no more than £56 per cruise.

In the Telegraph this week, I note that senior management is amazingly calm about the amount of new tonnage being launched against a credit-crunching background of rising prices.

But I wonder how much higher these supplements can go before clients start to feel enough is enough. And what then happens to all this extra capacity? Discounting?

Lower prices might be great for clients and help fill the ships, but at what price? It's a dangerous one-way street road where none but the very skilled can manage a u-turn.

It was enough to bring a tear to even the most hardened cynic - well almost - as Elizabeth Hill admitted being chosen as godmother of Royal Caribbean International's new ship, Independence of the Seas, was like a dream.

"Ordinary people like me don't do this sort of thing," she told the packed 1,320-seat theatre. "I am sure I'm going to wake up any minute."

Of course, that was the whole point of her being there. Royal Caribbean wanted an ordinary woman who has done extraordinary things ... and that's what they got. A farmer's wife from Derbyshire, Elizabeth works tirelessly to help young people and adults with physical and learning disabilities through a centre on the farm where they can learn horticulture, art, pottery, how to work with animals and a host of other skills.

"I'd like to thank my husband, because it's his farm. And my family. And my daughter. This is starting to sound like an Oscar's speech, isn't it?" Well yes, but carry on Liz, because there's not a dry eye in the house, especially after we learned that daughter Alicia, coincidentally celebrating her 13th birthday as mum was doing her godmother bit, nominated her mother and said she hoped if she won she might get to go on a cruise and have a holiday.

Unlike other recent namings this was not all about celebrities. We had Scottish pipers, Irish dancing and God save the Queen to mark the fact the ship is sailing out of Southampton. And that oh so American cruise director Ken Rush, who has this way of referring to England as if it is one of the colonies. Forgive me, but I'm sure it used to be the other way around?

Sadly, the Champagne bottle didn't break - and this time there wasn't a back-up film (look back at previous blogs to read of P&O Cruises' con trick). What bad luck - literally. But a word of advice for Elizabeth: Next time you name a ship, don't put your hands to your face in agony when the bottle bounces. We were almost fooled by the loud explosion as the bottle hit the hull!

I've come across the sad story of Bill Burr on the TW Blog, a regular cruiser who has just discovered that all is not as it seems when cruiselines recommend certain shops in ports around the world.

Recently I was quite dismayed to learn that one of my favourite shops [in Gibraltar] is not one of the 'recommended' shops promoted by the shopping lecturers aboard ship. When I questioned the owner, I was shocked to learn that he had been asked, not only for a large sum of money for advertising, but also for hefty percentages of whatever the shop sells to 'recommended passengers'.

I can't believe it! Or maybe I'm just a little gullible, but I always thought that Shopping Lecturers were working for the benefit of the passengers. Now I find that all they are doing is lining their pockets by pushing hapless shoppers into shops that are, in all likelihood, more expensive than their competitors (after all, they have to pay thousands of dollars for the privilege!).

Maybe I'm just a little cynical, but I assumed cruiselines were doing this for money from the moment I took my first cruise and have therefore always steered clear of shops brandishing cruiseline stickers.

In fact I can't believe Mr Burr really thought cruiselines were expending time and energy on port talks to get nothing in return. They want you to buy what are often very expensive excursions and spend money in shops that will give them a kick back.

After all, they are not charities and if they want to keep the headline costs of cruises as low as possible, they have to make their money elsewhere.

I wrote a piece for my Telegraph column recently on cruising in a "bubble" that included the following:

Go on a cruise to the Caribbean and the ships’ daily newsletters will even have a map of “approved” shops where it is safe to buy.

Safe to buy? Whatever happened to caveat emptor? If the price seems too good to be true, chances are it is, but if it shines and you like it, do you really need cruise ship approval before you buy?

The same can equally be said on Gibraltar or anywhere else around the world you end up on a cruise.

I note that Mr Burr cruises a lot with Royal Caribbean. He may be interested to know that on a trip to the Baltic with Princess Cruises, I was given very detailed information on how to get into the cities where it was not obvious, even in Gdynia, where they explained how to get to the train station (taxi), buy a ticket (not so easy in small town Poland where they don't speak English and my attempts at Russian were not appreciated!) and catch the train to Gdansk.

Princess is not faultless, if indeed recommending shops for a percentage payback is a fault, because they also have their recommended lists at various ports. But I really appreciated the fact they were doing something for passengers that did not make them a penny, but saved me plenty.

This month's prize for the most contrived cruising link has to go Trips Worldwide for the following:

She weighs more than 80,000 family cars or 32,000 adult elephants and at 1,112 ft. is longer than 37 double-decker buses… If you don’t fancy rubbing shoulders with 3,999 other passengers, a holiday aboard the new 160,000-ton Independence of the Seas may not be for you…

Tailor-made specialist, Trips Worldwide, has opted for more bijou vessels, Coral I & II (both around 108 ft. long) for its four-night Galapagos wildlife cruise, part of a longer two-week itinerary that includes a stay at Huaorani Ecolodge in Amazonian Ecuador. Departures from London by air are available daily.

The words bandwagon and jumping spring to mind. Any other entries gratefully received...

Good to see that Ocean Village's ship Ocean Village the original (how I wish they could come up with something simpler - how about Ocean Village One given there is now an Ocean Village Two?) now has a Club Lounge.

Ocean Village Two, launched in April 2007, had a Club Lounge when I cruised on it last summer and it proved a fantastic place to get away from the masses and enjoy a much more personal service.

Of course there is a catch. It is only available to passengers staying in top-grade AA or BB suites and it costs £70 per person. But for that you get unlimited access to the lounge, continental breakfast, afternoon tea, unlimited soft drinks, free alcohol served between 5pm and 8pm and free access to the Internet, so it is a bit of a bargain. Even more so given children of lounge-paying passengers can go in for free and still get the free soft drinks.

Nice move OV. Now how about that name?

The number of Europeans - including the British - taking a cruise has hit the four million mark two years earlier than expected.

According to the European Cruise Council, numbers leaped 17% last year to hit the new record, which is up from 2.6 million five years ago. The ECC had predicted four million in 2010.

The UK is way ahead of the rest with 1.3 million passengers. Germany comes second with 763,000, up 8% on 2006, followed by Italy at number three with 640,000 passengers, up 24% on the previous year.

Another ship is leaving Norwegian Cruise Line's NCL America, the US-flagged company with mostly American crew set up to cruise within Hawaii (others can cruise to the islands but there are strict cabotage laws that the NCL America operation was designed to circumvent).

According to Cruise Critic, Pride of Aloha will revert to being Norwegian Sky, go into dry dock for the casino to be put back (no gambling allowed in waters around the 50th state) and Freestyle 2.0 upgrades to be added, and will start sailing three and four-night cruises between Miami and the Bahamas in July.

The ship was originally going to join the Star Cruises' fleet - Star being the parent of NCL - having previously been deemed unsuitable for the investment needed on the upgraded amenities.

This is the second ship to leave NCL America - Pride of Hawaii has been reflagged and renamed Norwegian Jade and is now sailing in Europe - leaving just one vessel, Pride of America, whose future must also now be in serious doubt.

It's a shame but not a great surprise. NCL America has been dogged with problems since it started, not least because the Americans proved less then enthusiastic about spending months away from home on a cruise ship - and wanted proper wages to boot.

It's been a costly lesson but NCL deserves marks for trying.

I was amazed to read this week that Louis Cruise Lines has sold the 42-year-old Princesa Marissa. Not because it has been sold; more that Louis still had the ship in the first place.

I had the misfortune to sail on it once, thankfully for just two nights, and have to say it was a perfect example of how not to do it - a dingy cabin. iffy food and cheesy entertainment.

Worst of all, when we boarded in Limassol, Cyprus, the ship was listing, which made me doubly alert on the lifeboat drill.

Thankfully I survived the experience and even carried on cruising (there is surely a film there somewhere?) despite their best efforts to put me off.

Incidentally, Louis has also sold the Serenade, which unbelievably was even older (it has another 10 years on Marissa), as part of a fleet upgrade programme. You may remember it has just bought Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Majesty from Norwegian Cruise Line.

Now we know why.

Just back from a meeting with Bernard Carter, sales and marketing director UK and Europe for Oceania Cruises, and I'm pleased to report all is well in its upper premium world.

Except for August 12, that is. Oceania has wait lists for wait lists on all its ships for much of the rest of the year - what's that about a credit crunch? - but Nautica's August 12 12-night sailing in the Med is proving about as popular as the proverbial ham sandwich at a Jewish wedding.

OK, so that's an exaggeration, but there's enough space left for Oceania to have been inspired to come up with some incredible offers - £818 per person for an inside cabin. It is cruise-only and it is an inside room, but you can have a balcony for £1,126 per person, which is a real bargain.

Don't blink or you'll miss them...

Louis Cruise Lines' Aquamarine had to make an emergency stop in Milos after a five-foot breach in the ship's hull was discovered. That's a hole to you and me.

According to Cruise Critic, the ship safely docked carrying 872 passengers and 407 crew, all of whom are expected to stay on board while emergency repair work is carried out. Cruise Critic reports:

A spokesman for Louis Cruise Lines blamed the ship's contact with the pier [while departing from Iraklion, Crete] on high winds and the pier's lack of protective rubber fenders, and said that the damage never posed any danger to passengers.

Nevertheless, it must have brought back chilling memories for Louis and the passengers. Last year, its ship Sea Diamond struck a reef in Santorini and sank, losing two French passengers, presumed dead. Aquamarine was due to go to Santorini before changing course to Milos.

All this talk of holes and breaches has not gone down well at Louis Cruise Lines.

They reckon Aquamarine's hull suffered "cosmetic damage" that was above the water line so there was never any danger to passengers.

The ship docked at Milos for a sticking plaster repair and is being fixed in Piraeus today. It is due to leave the port this evening on its next sailing.

Passengers are being compensated for missing Santorini, which was the last port. There were no Brits on board.

It's been a busy time at the Aker Yard in St Nazaire, France. Norwegian Cruise Lines' F3 keel-laying last month, a coin-laying ceremony for MSC Cruises' Magnifica this.

Like smashing Champagne, coin laying is all about good luck. MSC laid a specially-minted gold coin bearing the City of Venice coat of arms on one side and the cruiseline's logo on the other, Aker Yards laid a 1978 50 French francs silver coin.

Magnifica will be a sister to the newly-launched MSC Poesia, have 1,259 cabins and carry a maximum 3,779 passengers. It will join the fleet in spring 2010.

With its yacht-style cruising and fares that take your breath away (yes, I know, they are all-inclusive but even so!), there are some who would say Yachts of Seabourn is already in with the in-crowd.

However, it gets even more "in" for 2010, when the ships will be making more calls at that jet-set heaven otherwise known as the France Riviera. St Raphael, Bandol and Antibes are all slated for visits, as are a few other millionaire playgrounds - Portofino in Italy, St Barts in the Caribbean, the Isles of Scilly. Where? Don't worry I do know - have actually been there a few times - and while it might not quite be up there with the rest, it's a beautiful place nonetheless.

2010 also marks Seabourn's first world cruise, on Seabourn Odyssey, which launches in June 2009, expanding the ultra luxury segment of the cruise industry for the first time in six years, according to president and CEO Pamela Conover.

As it's the first of three Seabourn ships on order, each for 450 passengers, and Silversea is building too, could it be that luxury is not longer a luxury, it's a necessity?

At last, only four months after I was due to get a first glimpse of Balmoral, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines' new ship, I am on board.

Formerly Norwegian Crown, the vessel was acquired from Norwegian Cruise Line last year and has been stretched - literally it was cut in half and a new bit inserted - so it takes around 400 more passengers.

It was due to set out on its maiden voyage under Fred Olsen colours in January but the work overran and the first cruise was delayed until February.

Is it Fred still? Actually yes. Despite being bigger, it does have that oh so British Fred feel that ageing Olsen groupies know and love. Not quite so intimate though, and there are more lost souls aged over 60 wandering around, still not sure where everything is.

More interesting still... yes, you can see the join.

Cruising fans of Carrie and the girls will be in seventh heaven with Princess Cruises' decision to show the entire first series of Sex and the City on Sea Princess' Movies under the Stars big screen as the ship cruises out of Southampton this summer.

A reason to book? For some, maybe. I remember trying to watch this once on TV, but went back to watching paint dry as it was more exciting. Just what was the point?

Agents who attended the first day of the Association of Cruise Experts' cruise convention in Southampton yesterday had a great opportunity not just to see Crown Princess, which was on its way to Copenhagen to start a summer season of sailings in the Baltic, but also pick up some really practical and helpful hints and tips on how to profit from selling cruising from Princess Cruises head of brand marketing Pieter van der Schee (there is a repeat presentation on Monday so don't panic if you missed it).

This was the event ACE business development director Andy Harmer didn't think could happen. With the three-day convention proper starting Monday, he reckoned maybe 50 agents would turn out for the Friday Premiere.

In the event, there were 150 or so (and many of them are so keen to learn more they will be back in Southampton on Monday for the rest of the convention) which means a total 850 agents will be attending the convention over the four days.

That's an incredible result considering the American equivalent of ACE only manages to attract 1,000 agents. Just think how many more agents there are in the US!

If you are one of the many who was too late to secure a place at the convention, keep an eye on Travel Weekly, which will be reporting all the news and views from the event.

And remember to follow the advice you give your customers next year and book early! 

Interesting letter in Travel Weekly this week about gratuities, which always manage to raise a few heckles among the British cruising fraternity. Why? Well as the letter says, a tip is supposed to a reward for good service. Ah yes. But not where cruising is concerned.

On a cruise, the gratuity is an extra cost dressed up as a tip to save cruise lines having to pay crew higher wages, which they don't want to do as it would mean having to charge more for the cruise itself.

How else can you explain the fact that Royal Caribbean International allows passengers to pre-pay their gratuity? So you are rewarding service before you have even stepped onto a ship. Make sense of that. Or that Costa Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line have replaced gratuities with compulsory service charges?

Other lines automatically add the gratuity to your on-board account and you can ask for it to be taken off or for the amount to be reduced, but it takes a hard person to dare look so mean.

Cruise lines argue that putting the tip on the bill is for passengers own good. Saves them having to find lots of extra cash at the end of a holiday - and it is a lot. From about £30 per person per week, which is £120 if you are travelling with the family. So they have a point.

But it would be a stronger point if they asked when passengers check in,"would you like us to add the £5 a day gratuity to your cruise account?" - and then explain the reasons. I suspect there is the likelihood too many would say no, which is not what the cruise lines want.

I have heard a prominent cruise line CEO say he would love to remove gratuities and pay crew more (OK, not his exact words, but it's what he meant) if other lines did the same, but he wasn't going to put himself at a competitive disadvantage. Understandable.

The big question is why the Brits - and the Spanish also, I am told - dislike tipping so much. Cruise lines say we are mean, embarrassed, not sure how much to tip (which is why they tell us).

I think it's more that we dislike being told what to do. Get the Brits on a package holiday and they will follow their tour leader over a cliff, but when it comes to money they want to think for themselves, tip because they want to, because they feel have had good service.

There is also something not quite fair - or British! - about going up to a bar to get a drink and having to tip for the pleasure.

There are ways to escape tipping. It's not the done thing on a luxury line - affluent cruisers don't want to be troubled by anything so common as money! - but then you pay a lot for the privilege.

At the other end of the scale, cruise lines like Island Cruises, Ocean Village and Thomson Cruises, aimed squarely at the Brits, have got it right by taking tipping out the equation.But I bet many passengers also leave something for their cabin steward/ess or favourite barman as a genuine thank you. It would be interesting to find out.