Cruise Lines

There is something very surreal about looking out of the window of a 122,000-ton cruise ship and seeing sheep running along the river bank.

But that was the view from my cabin on Celebrity Eclipse yesterday as we were tugged backwards down the River Ems in Germany and Holland.

The manoeuvre is known as a conveyance - literally conveying the ship 26 miles down river from the Mayer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, where it had been built, which bizarrely for a shipyard is inland, to the open sea at Eemshaven.

Sounds simple doesn't it, but first they have to flood the river to make sure it's deep enough (they do this by waiting for high tide, then shutting the barrier at Gandersum so it can't escape), and en route they have to squeeze through two locks and pass under two bridges.

Well, when I say under, one section of the railway bridge at Weener is actually dismantled so the ship can pass through it. Thoughtfully, when they built the second bridge they thought to put in a hinge so it could be raised for moments such as these.

And there are quite a few such convenyances. This is the third Celebrity ship to do the conveyance in as many years and there will be another two, one in 2011, the other in 2012. Later this year, the new Disney Dream will be making the same journey. heading for sea trials and getting ready for its launch next January.

It's an amazing spectacle and despite the freezing cold, we were all out on deck, breathing in at the appropriate moment, while hordes of locals huddled around the locks and bridges and watched us from the shore.

In fact, people lined the river bank all along the way and I'm sure many watched us sail through one bit then dashed back to their car and drove to the next key viewing place!

I found it hard to believe we would fit through any of the gaps - so it's probably a good thing I was not the tug driver who has to line the ship up on the approach.

There was a tug at the back, which was the front as we were going backwards, to pull the ship, and another at the front, which was the back. Very confusing when if you try to navigate according to the direction the ship is moving!

The tug driver looked remarkably calm about the whole thing and so did Celebrity's president and chief executive Dan Hanrahan, whoc was on board with us. No doubt that's because until the ship gets safely to Eemshaven and proves it can sail in the open sea as well as down rivers, he doesn't have to hand over the cheque!