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Passengers of a Mediterranean cruise ship could be entitled to make injury … – Injuries Direct News

cruise ship - Google News — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:41:27 +0000

Passengers of a Mediterranean cruise ship could be entitled to make injury …
Injuries Direct News
The Boudicca, owned by operator Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, turned back to Liverpool early after a reported 650 of the 900 passengers on board fell ill with …
Bug-hit cruise liner Boudicca due to set sail from Liverpool againLiverpool Echo

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Norovirus cruise ship Boudicca gets all clear to sail after deep clean – Liverpool Echo

cruise ship - Google News — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:13:25 +0000

Norovirus cruise ship Boudicca gets all clear to sail after deep clean
Liverpool Echo
THE luxury cruise liner hit by an outbreak of a vomiting bug was due to set sail from Liverpool tomorrow. The Fred Olsen liner Boudicca was forced to cut …

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Norovirus Cruise Victims Plan Holiday Illness Claims – Ashley Ainsworth (blog)

cruise ship - Google News — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:20:59 +0000

Norovirus Cruise Victims Plan Holiday Illness Claims
Ashley Ainsworth (blog)
Passengers on the vomit-stricken cruise ship Boudicca are planning to make holiday illness claims after their holidays were ruined. The luxury cruise ship …
Passenger fury as bug-hit cruise ship Boudicca returns to LiverpoolWirral News
Liverpool Echo letters, April 28 2010Liverpool Echo
Liverpool cruise operator Fred Olsen faces barrage of criticism after …Liverpool Daily Post
Liverpool Echo -Liverpool Echo
all 7 news articles »

’600 passengers’ laid low by norovirus bug on British cruise liner – Daily Mail

cruise ship - Google News — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 10:28:56 +0000

Telegraph.co.uk

'600 passengers' laid low by norovirus bug on British cruise liner
Daily Mail
… disgruntled passengers currently on the ship and Fred Olsen should not allow the liner to leave port on the next cruise until it is free of the bug. …
Cruise line ends voyage early after hundreds of passengers fall illUSA Today
Fred. Olsen Cuts Cruise Short Amidst Norovirus FearsCruise Critic
Hundreds fall ill from winter vomiting on cruiseTelegraph.co.uk
BBC News -Liverpool Daily Post
all 13 news articles »

Thomson sails to the rescue

John Honeywell — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:48:49 +0000

As the flight chaos caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland reaches its fifth day, cruise lines are joining Royal Navy ships to bring holidaymakers home to the UK.

Thomson Cruises announced this morning that Island Escape, currently in Funchal, will sail to Falmouth so that passengers can get home without flying. The ship will also carry 300 Thomson holidaymakers who had been staying in Madeira and whose flights have been cancelled.

The ship, which can normally carry up to 1,710 passengers, is due in Falmouth on Friday.

Passengers who had been due to fly to Tenerife, Gran Canaria or Funchal to board the ship over the weekend for a cruise to Barcelona, will be taken by coach to Falmouth instead.

The company’s newest vessel, Thomson Dream, has been drafted in to ferry holidaying families from Majorca to Barcelona, from where their onward journey will be arranged.

The ship, formerly the Costa Europa, had been scheduled to begin her maiden voyage under the Thomson flag from Barcelona next Monday.

Thomson have announced that they have cancelled all outbound flights from the UK up to and including Wednesday, and passengers planning to depart on other Thomson ships this week are advised to check Thomson’s website before travelling to the airport.

After bussing passengers from Manchester airport to Glasgow last Friday, Fred Olsen managed to get them to Bridgetown, Barbados for Braemar’s re-scheduled departure. A planeload of 257 who were due to return by charter flight to Manchester are still on the island, in full-board hotel accommodation and with a company rep on hand to liaise with airlines.

Holland America’s Eurodam, which should have sailed from Civitavecchia (Rome) tonight, will stay in port an extra day to allow for more passengers to arrive. A call at Dubrovnik will take place a day later than planned, and a visit to Corfu has been cancelled. The remainder of the 10-day voyage, to Santorini, Kusadasi, Athens and Sicily, is expected to go ahead as scheduled.

A number of cruise ships will be crossing the Atlantic in the next couple of weeks en route to their summer season in the Mediterranean.

Penny Guy, of the Passenger Shipping Association, has said she expects cruise lines to be asked whether they could take on extra passengers

“It will be up to the cruise companies how they wish to proceed. I’m sure they would like to help, it’s just whether they are able to do so – there will be logistical issues such as passenger limits.”

Top cruise deals this week

John Honeywell — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 23:00:10 +0000

It’s almost that time of year when cruise ships start returning to Alaska, although there are fewer of them this year as operators have pulled out in protest at a $50-per-passenger tax first introduced in 2006.

The state legislature is considering a plan to reduce the tax, and cruise numbers are likely to increase again if it is approved.

Passenger numbers will be down by 142,000 this year, but there are still some bargains to be had – and the spectacular scenery and wildlife is well worth the journey.

First, a holiday combining 10 nights on board the 2,000-passenger Coral Princess and a four-night land tour. The ship sails from Vancouver and calls at Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Whittier and the cruise also visits Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Fares for a May 14 departure from £1,819, including flights. Go to www.AlaskaOnly.com or call 0808 202 6102.

A nine-night cruise on Norwegian Pearl also visits Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, but departs from Seattle and also calls at Victoria in British Columbia. Fares for the July 3 departure start at £1,799. Go to www.AlaskaOnly.com or call 0808 202 6102.

Later in the year, there’s a seven-night cruise on Celebrity Mercury from Vancouver to Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Ketchikan and Hubbard Glacier. Fares from £1,259 for the September 12 departure. Go to www.AlaskaOnly.com or call 0808 202 6102.

Closer to home, the Norwegian fjords rival Alaska for scenic grandeur. Fred Olsen’s Balmoral sails from Dover on May 15 for a seven-night cruise to Oslo, Fredrikstad, Kristiansand and Stavanger. Fares from £499. Go to www.fredolsencruises.co.uk or call 01473 742424

Another Fred Olsen ship, Black Watch, leaves Southampton on May 18 for a 21-night voyage to the Adriatic, calling at Gibraltar, Cagliari, Brindisi, Venice (for a two-day stay), Split, Kotor, Palma and Cadiz. Fares from £1,299 per person. Go to www.iglucruise.com or call 020 8544 6447.

Also sailing from Southampton is Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas. A May 15 departure takes the ship to Gibraltar, Marseille, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Cagliari, Cadiz, Lisbon and Vigo. Fares from £1,179. Go to www.virginholidayscruises.co.uk or call 0871 781 9893.

New to cruising? Visit www.discover-cruises.co.uk for advice on ships and destinations

Flight chaos for cruise passengers

John Honeywell — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:55:19 +0000

Iceland’s volcanic eruption might be a potential attraction for visitors to the island, as I reported yesterday, but right now it’s still causing chaos for cruise passengers hoping to fly to their ships.

Flight restrictions on Scottish airports are expected to be lifted this evening and passengers who were scheduled to fly from Manchester to join Fred Olsen’s Braemar in Barbados are travelling by bus to Glasgow.

A Fred Olsen spokesperson said: “Braemar has stayed in Barbados to wait for them, with the result that the first scheduled port – Castries – has been cancelled and instead the first port now will be Roseau in Dominica.”.

Less fortunate are passengers who should have been flying to Heraklion in Crete yesterday to board Ocean Village. Its seven-night Groves and Gondolas cruise to Dubrovnik, Venice and Corfu has been cancelled. Those who had booked a 14-night cruise onward to Cairo, Cyprus, Rhodes and Athens are being offered the second leg departing next Thursday, or a full refund. Passengers who had already arrived in Crete before the flight shutdown will be taken to hotels until they can be flown home.

Thomson Celebration remained in port at Sharm el Sheik for an extra day, hoping that flights could take off, but the ship has now sailed for Sokhna. Some disembarking passengers have remained on the ship; others are staying in hotels in Sharm.

P&O’s Artemis and Oceana are sailing from Southampton tomorrow, and Oriana departs on Sunday. The only passengers affected will be those who had planned to fly to Southampton. Both of Cunard’s ships are in mid-cruise.

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises will are attempting to fly their passengers to intermediate ports on their cruises. They will also re-book – without charge – onto other cruises. Passengers will be offered refunds if the new voyage is cheaper, but will be required to pay the difference if the alternative is more expensive.

NCL’s website merely advises passengers to check with their airline.

Volcano brings an eruption of interest in cruises to Iceland

John Honeywell — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:37:50 +0000

There can be few sights more spectacular than a volcanic eruption, and while the ash cloud from Iceland may be disrupting UK flights today, cruises to the island this summer will be unaffected.

Even if the cruise companies don’t set up their own excursions, there will no doubt be plenty of enterprising taxi drivers waiting on the quayside at Reykjavik to take passengers on the 90-minute drive to the Eyjafjallajokull volcano which is causing all the problems.

The earliest opportunity to cruise to Iceland from the UK will be on Page & Moy’s Athena, which sails from Harwich on May 14 and after calling at two ports in Norway before four calls in Iceland – Reykjavik being the last on May 23. Details on the Page & Moy website.

Seabourn Sojourn, which leaves Dover on June 6, will be in Reykjavik on June 11, and also visits Heimaey, which was evacuated in 1973 when the port was threatened by an eruption which eventually increased the length of the island from 11 square kilometres to almost 13.5 square kilometres. Cruise details here.

Marco Polo, now being operated by Cruise and Maritime Voyages, sails from Tilbury on June 22 and will be in Reykjavik on June 27 and will also be sailing round Surtsey, a small island created by a volcanic eruption in 1963. Sister ship Ocean Countess departs from Leith on July 12 for a 12-night cruise which also includes a visit to Surtsey and a day in Reykjavik on July 17. Details here.

P&O has three cruises which will reach Iceland this summer as part of voyages which also visit Norway , and all departing from Southampton. Dates are: Oriana , June 2; Aurora, June 18; Arcadia, June 19. More details at P&O’s website.

The boutique ship Ocean Princess leaves Dover on June 25 for an 18-day voyage to New York, calling at Reykjavik on July 3 – and it’s unlikely that flights home from the US will still be affected by then. Big sister Crown Princess sails from Southampton on July 29 on a 12-day voyage to Reykjavik and then on to the fjords.

One of the most interesting cruises to Iceland will be on Saga Pearl II which departs from Dover on June 28 and will call at six ports on the island, including Heimaey and Reykjavik, during the 14-night voyage. Sister ship Saga Ruby leaves Dover on June 30 for a 19-night voyage to Greenland, which also visits Reykjavik. Saga cruises are for the over-50s only.

Spirit of Adventure has a 14-night cruise to explore the geological wonders of Iceland, departing from Dover on July 14, and calling at Seydisfjord, Akureyri, Isafjord, Reykjavik and Heimaey.

Holland America Lines’ Prinsendam, which makes a two-day visit to London on July 23 and 24 then sails via Rosyth to Reykjavik and two other Icelandic ports. The 22-day cruise also visits Spitsbergen before ending in Amsterdam.

Eminent vulcanologist Dr Peter Cattermole, who has lectured at the universities of Wales and Sheffield, will be on board Swan Hellenic’s Minerva when she sails from Dover on July 28 on a 16-day cruise to the land of ice and fire, visiting Reykjavik on August 3.

For a one-way trip, there’s a nine-night cruise on MV Discovery leaving Harwich on July 29, with flights home to the UK from Reykjavik on August 6. The ship spends two nights in port at Reyykjavik before heading off to Greenland and then back to Harwich, so there are also options for a full 23-night round-trip.

Finally in this round-up – which does not claim to be comprehensive – are two cruises on Fred Olsen’s Black Watch. The first, of 15 nights, leaves Southampton on August 7 and heads first for Greenland, returning to the UK via Isafjordur and Reykjavik. The second option is a 12-nighter departing on September 5 and visiting Iceland and Norway.

4/13/10 – MTN Provides VSAT Services for Fred. Olsen

Cruise News — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:42:00 +0000

MTN Satellite Communications (MTN) announces that it has signed an agreement with Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines, an international shipping company based in Norway, to outfit its entire fleet of ships, Balmoral, Boudicca, Black Watch, and Braemar, with MTN’s state-of-the-art VSAT equipment and services providing global, reliable broadband connectivity.

“At Fred.Olsen, we strive to offer our passengers with reliable, high-quality products and

MTN Provides VSAT Services For Fred Olsen Fleets – Space Daily

cruise ship - Google News — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:42:56 +0000

MTN Provides VSAT Services For Fred Olsen Fleets
Space Daily
Olsen Cruise Lines. "As the clear market leader in cruise ship satellite communications, MTN provides superior services with faster connectivity, …