Cruise Lines

Ever fancied cruising backwards down a river? If so, your time has come.

Celebrity Cruises is offering one UK and Ireland tweeter the chance to win a cruise down the River Ems - backwards of course - on the new 2,850-passenger Celebrity Eclipse.

All you have to do is write a tweet - normal Twitter rules apply so no more than 140 characters - saying why you want to be on the ship for its first-ever cruise, all 26 miles from the Papenberg shipyard in Germany where it has been built, to Eemshaven in the Netherlands, where they will finish kitting it out.

Jo Briody, Celebrity's head of marketing, says they are looking for "succinct creativity, recognition of the innovations onboard the ship (this is one of the Solstice-class ships with a real grass lawn on the top deck) and to engage with the biggest fans of Celebrity Cruises".

So probably just saying your life's ambition is to cruise backwards down a river in Germany won't be good enough.

Jo will be judging the entries, along with Cruise Critic's UK team and cruise tweeter and fellow blogger Capt Greybeard, who always gives me a long-suffering look when I say I haven't got a clue why anyone bothers to twit, oops, sorry tweet.

The competition closes on February 14 at 23.59, which eagle-eyed readers will notice is almost midnight on St Valentine's Day, when surely couples really should have something better to do with their time than send messages to @CelebrityUK.

Plan A is that the conveyance, as this cruise manoeuvre is called, will take place the second weekend of March, but a lot depends on the weather. Too much wind and the wrong tides and they can't get the ship through the narrow locks.

Celebrity Eclipse is scheduled to arrive in Southampton on April 20. It will be named in the city on April 24 and spend the rest of the summer cruising from the south coast port.

The prize is for two and includes return flights in economy from the UK to the ship, overseas transfers and meals and drinks onboard the ship. You must have a passport, be aged over 18 and willing to take part in publicity photographs.