Cruise Lines

There are all sorts of good reasons for taking a cruise, not least the fact that it's the best - as in easiest - way to visit a lot of exciting places. South America for one, Alaska for another.

You'll be able to find out all about them at the CRUISE Show * in Birmingham in a couple of weeks, but to whet your appetite before the doors open, I bring you the 10 hot places to explore on a cruise in 2011 as compiled by Cruise Critic, the cruise reviews website.

It's a comprehensive list, but if you're feeling more adventurous, don't forget there are exciting cruises to Antarctica and the Arctic, around the Galapagos, up the Amazon River and around Asia. You'll be able to find out about all these - and more - at the show.

Have fun exploring!
 
Australia It's a huge country and the popular tourist spots are often hundreds of miles apart. However, you can avoid long coach tours, time-consuming drives and expensive internal flights, by taking a cruise and stop at all the best tourist spots -- from the Great Barrier Reef to Sydney harbour.
 
Vietnam/Cambodia Vietnam and Cambodia offer beautiful scenery and vibrant cultures but making your own travel arrangements to tour these exotic destinations can be daunting. A cruise along the Mekong River is an excellent way to enjoy these two countries, without forgoing too many home comforts.
 
Middle East A cruise is a gentle introduction to the region and an easy way to explore this part of the world. You'll be able to experience the sights, cultures and traditions from a number of countries and retreat to the familiar surroundings each evening onboard ship.
 
Alaska Unless you have the constitution of a husky dog, a cruise is the easiest and most relaxing way to enjoy this beautiful, but uncompromising region. The views from the water are spectacular and often the best way to see wildlife and reach the coastal towns and villages.
 
South America A South American cruise is the perfect way to explore ports in Chile, Argentina, Brazil and beyond. Travellers get a taste of the rugged, natural beauty, vibrant cities and wonderful cultures, while enjoying the comfort, safety and ease of travelling by ship.
 
Northern Europe Viewing the Norwegian fjords or visiting St Petersburg by ship is not only a great holiday, but the inclusive pricing offered by cruise lines -- which includes meals, accommodation and transportation -- can make Russia and Norway much more affordable.
 
Western Mediterranean The Med is a top choice for Brits looking for a holiday in the sun. A cruise, however, not only offers a new way to experience this region, but you'll enjoy a new town, city or beaches every day.
 
British Isles Traffic and over-priced accommodation are reason enough to cruise around the UK, but more importantly you get an entirely new perspective on your own country, as well as the opportunity to visit out-of-the-way places such as the Orkney Islands.
 
Europe's Rivers River cruising has brushed up its image, added some wonderful new ships and more active excursions, which means that it now offers excellent value compared to going it alone in the Eurozone. It's a great option for visiting a handful of countries in a single trip.
 
Caribbean If there's one thing better than spending a day on a beautiful Caribbean island, it's spending the next day (and the day after that) on another. It's expensive and time-consuming to fly between islands, so take a Caribbean cruise and let someone else worry about the travel arrangements.

* The CRUISE Show is at the NEC in Birmingham on October 16 and 17. Tickets cost £6 per person if booked in advance or £10 at the door. Book here or call the ticket hotline on 0871 620 4024. Under 16s go in for free.

Royal Caribbean International is looking for a fun-loving family of would-be journalists to report on Allure of the Seas, the world's biggest cruise ship, launching in December.

To enter, you'll need to provide a video of up to 45 seconds showcasing your family's on-screen talents. It can be on whatever you want but Royal Caribbean advises you to make it as wacky as possible because competition will be tough.

The video must be downloaded to the Reporters at sea section of the Allure of the Seas website by October 10 (where you'll also find the official rules) so you need to get recording fast.

The shortlist will be announced on October 15 and the public will get to vote on the best video between October 15 and 29.

If you win, you'll be flown out to Miami to report a four-day preview sailing on Allure from Fort Lauderdale from November 19 to 23.

You'll get a behind-the-scenes look at The DreamWorks Experience featuring the "How To Train Your Dragon" ice show, get to enjoy a "Madagascar" aqua show, character breakfasts, Adventure Ocean kids' club, character meet-and-greets, parades and sail-away parties, and 3D films in the ship's 3D theatre. Even get backstage access to Chicago: The Musical.

From my experience on sister ship Oasis of the Seas last year, I can tell you that's a lot of working and a lot of walking so be sure to pack comfy shoes.

Good luck!

Still wondering what to do this Christmas? Why not escape all the hassle of cooking, washing-up and being nice to auntie by escaping on a cruise?

To help with the budget, Cruise and Maritime Voyages (0845 833 9798) has slashed £800 per person off the cost of their Caribbean Christmas cruise on Marco Polo.

The cruise departs Tilbury on December 6 and gets back on January 10. You'll spend Christmas Eve in Aruba, and Christmas Day and New Year's Day at sea.

Prices start from £1,999 per person for an inside cabin - that's just £57 a night - or £2,699 for a room with a view.

Oceania Cruises (0845 505 1920) special offer this week is not for the Christmas period, but with discounts of £625 per stateroom on cruises in Alaska, plus $1,000 on-board credit, it'll help to get you in the festive spirit.

The cruise line is making its Alaska debut next summer, offering a selection of 12 and 14-day cruises around the 49th state with new prices from £1,406 per person cruise-only.

Island Cruises' (0871 231 3253) free all-inclusive drinks package - as much beer, wine, liquor, fizzy pop as you can drink, as well as selected cocktails - will certainly get you in the festive spirit. It's available if you book any 2011 cruise before October 31 2010.

The cruise line's one ship, Island Escape, will be sailing in the Canary Islands in winter 2011, then relocating to Palma, Mallorca, for seven-night cruises around the Med in summer.

To avoid another Watchdog incident (Island Cruises is owned by Thomson Cruises) please note that Island is a budget brand with an old ship, and all about casual cruising, with no dress code and self-service meals.

Put it another way, you do not get a luxury cruise paying £654 per person - and that includes flights and all meals don't forget - for seven nights in the Canaries. You have been warned.

I thought the Thomson Dream story would have run its course by now, but no. Now the lawyers have got involved.

Law firm Irwin Mitchell, which was contacted by 400 disgruntled passengers in the summer and has been instructed to act for 140, has taken a fresh bite at Thomson in the wake of the Watchdog programme the other week.

Clive Garner, who heads the firm's travel team, says the cruise line should offer "every single passenger who fell victim [to being violently ill] onboard the ship an apology, reassurance that issues have been addressed and fair financial compensation for the suffering caused".

In a statement, the firm says many of Thomson Dream's passengers were confined to their cabins during the cruise due to illness, ranging from stomach cramps to sickness and food poisoning.

Not at all nice if you're the one who's ill, but sounds to me like most of them came down with the so-called cruise ship bug, norovirus, which strikes at random and spreads like wildfire on cruise ships.

I've heard the dreaded bug blamed on old people, dirty people, dirty ships, children and the crew. If you can believe all of what they are saying about Thomson Dream - and I struggle having been on the ship, admittedly back in April - it's all of these things.

Oh and also the fact the ship is 20 years old, smelt of poo and was involved in a fatal crash in Sharm el Sheikh in February.

Thomson was intending to splash out £5 million when Dream goes into dry dock in November. I know spending money goes against their religion, but might I respectfully suggest they up the ante and knock this problem on the head once and for all.

The Dream will be sailing a brilliant Caribbean itinerary this winter and it would be such a shame if it was marred by whingeing Poms and smelly toilets.

Royal Caribbean International took a lot of stick from passengers when it started charging for steaks in the main dining room a couple of years ago - including from Carnival Cruise Lines' senior cruise director and ace cruise blogger John Heald.

Now it seems Heald going to have to eat his words (but maybe do without his steaks) because Carnival has started charging for top-cut steaks and lobster in the dining room on Carnival Triumph, Carnival Paradise and Carnival Inspiration.

Specifically you'll have to pay $18 for a 9oz filet mignon, an 18oz grilled prime rib chop, a broiled Maine lobster tail and a surf-and-turf combo (a half lobster tail and petite filet mignon).

The excuse is that these three ships don't have speciality steakhouses so Carnival is giving them the option to pay for a decent steak in the dining room.

The lesser-quality steaks on the always-available menu will still be there and still be free for those who don't want to pay, but if the responses on USA Today's Cruise Log are anything to go by, charging for food in the dining room is still the beginning of the end of the world as we know it.

This from TX_Dave

"Extra charges in a special dining venue is one thing, extra charges in the main dining room are another. I don't like it."

And this from missdew

"These cruise lines just keep giving me more reasons not to cruise."

It does go against the grain of all food is free in the dining room I know but personally I can't get too excited about it because:

a) you have a choice. If you don't want to pay, don't have the steak;

b) to me, the point of paying extra to dine in a steakhouse - or any other speciality restaurant for that mattter - is to have the more intimate surroundings, better service, with time to digest food between courses, and food that's cooked to order just as you want and served hot, something few cruise lines manage when serving several hundred people at once in the dining rooms.

Would you pay for a steak in the dining room or is this the start of the slippery slope? Let me know.

I'm struggling to see the point of this. A five-day non-stop circumnavigation of mainland Britain on Saga Pearl II from Dover so you never get the chance to go ashore.

You sail past the Giant's Causeway in Ireland, see the Scottish coast from the deck of the ship and they'll point out see where Tintagel is.

To me cruising is all about visiting lots of different places/countries/cultures so this seems like purgatory.

Five days sailing around the UK and seeing, well, the sea. It's not even as if it's a pretty blue like in the Caribbean. In fact, given it departs at the end of August, during the British summer, there's a good chance it will be raining or blowing a gale.

If Saga needs to fill five days, I'd suggest a cruise to the Channel Islands - a couple of days in Guernsey and Jersey, with a few hours on Alderney or Sark. That actually sounds rather nice.

Funnily enough, when Royal Caribbean International's giant Oasis of the Seas launched last year I asked if they would consider sailing seven-night cruises to nowhere as it struck me there was lots to do on the ship and it would save the hassle of queuing to get off and on.

The answer was a definite no.

Have to admit I never thought Saga would do it instead.

What do you think? Will you be rushing to buy this five-night cruise to nowhere?

Pity the poor passengers on Swan Hellenic.

Unless Lord Sterling gets his way and persuades Portsmouth Port to segregate them from the yobs that travel by ferry, they are going to have to see semi-naked lorry drivers with BO when they go to board their ship next year.

Just as bad, they might have to step over young people who "lay around" as they wait for a cheap ferry to Bilbao.

Now I know Swan passengers are a select breed but I can't help thinking his lordship is getting a little carried away.

I have travelled a lot by ferry in my time - even from Portsmouth - which clearly makes me some kind of layabout on the Sterling radar, but Swan passengers didn't seem to notice that when I cruised on Minerva last year. In fact, I got on very well with most of them.

Could Lord Sterling be having a dig at P&O Ferries, which was part of the giant P&O he used to be in charge of? If so, he'll be happy to hear P&O Ferries has dropped its ferry services from Portsmouth to Bilbao and they have been taken up by the altogether-more-refined Brittany Ferries, which moves in on the route next spring.

I hope most people read his comments with a smile. A nice bit of publicity for Swan and the fact it is sailing out of Portsmouth next year rather than anything to be taken too seriously.

Which is more than I can say for the fact he calls Minerva a five-star ship. Hang on. Wasn't Thomson Cruises just hauled over the coals on national rent-a-whinge TV because one of its agents called the Thomson Dream five star when it isn't? Any more than Minerva is.

It's a nice ship, very comfortable, with a good, friendly crew. I had a great cruise on it to Libya and it is perfectly suited to the discovery-style cruises it does for the 65-plus-year-old passengers who love it (I was the baby on board!).

But sorry, your lordship, that does not mean it is merits five stars.

Douglas Ward, author of the Berlitz cruise guide, rates Minerva three-star-plus. For once, we are in agreement.

Tune in to the Travel Channel (Sky channel 251) tomorrow at 8.30am, Saturday October 9, to see yours truly waxing lyrical about my favourite subject on one of their new half-hour cruise programmes.

I'm talking about cruising in the Arabian Gulf, with the help of their cruise expert Jonathan Beaumont.

If you miss it first thing, the programme is on again at 7.30pm and on Sunday October 10 at midday and 4pm.

It will also be streamed on line from Monday October 11. Click here and choose episode 73.

Looking for some inspiration for your next cruise?

Then check out Princess Cruises' new Bucket List, named after the eponymous film, which follows Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson on a road trip with a wish list of things to do before they "kick the bucket".

The list is being posted by Princess' own travel experts - staffers who have been been with the line for more than 15 years - but as they are only adding one a week for the next 50 weeks so you'll have to be patient in your hunt for ideas.

Or maybe you should just nip along to the cruise show this weekend and see if the experts there - myself included - can give you some inspiration for your next cruise.

It's at the Birmngham NEC on October 16 and 17, entry £10. Click here for more details.

Saturday Night Fever, the 1970's film that catapulted John Travolta to fame, is to be performed on Royal Caribbean International's Liberty of the Seas starting in April 2011.

It's the third "real" musical Royal has got a license for and shows the cruise line is getting far more adventurous.

It started with the oh-so dull Hairspray on Oasis of the Seas last year, will have the more challenging Chicago on Allure of the Seas when that launches next month - I'm going on a three-day inaugural on the ship in November and that, and the Brazilian steakhouse, are on my list of to-do's.

And now it's disco-mania time. Someone will have his work cut out trying to emulate Travolta in those dance scenes that are guaranteed to send you back in time to an era of glitter and platform shoes.

Liberty will be cruising from Barcelona next summer, up against Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Epic, which must explain why it has been selected to stage Saturday Night Fever.

Royal needs something big to pitch against Epic's Blue Man Group and Cirque dinner show, and the tired shows by the ship's singers and dancers, no matter how they are dressed up to be cool and trendy, just won't pass muster.

During a January dry-dock, Liberty will also be getting the DreamWorks treatment, with parades and character breakfasts (Epic has Nickelodeon), 3D movie technology in the theatre and a video screen by the main pool.

They'll be putting iPod docks in every cabin, which is a first and something you normally only see on the ultra-lux lines, and adding a few features that have worked well on Oasis including touch-screen technology to help passengers get around the ship and see the day's schedule of events (I saw this on Oasis and it was brilliant).

There's also a Royal Babies and Tots Nursery for little ones up to 36 months, a Cupcake Cupboard selling ... well I'll let you guess... and Vintages, which serves wine by the glass.

I'm about to head off to Southampton where security is at red alert for today's naming of Cunard's new ship Queen Elizabeth by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

If Cunard's past naming ceremonies are anything to go by, this will be a magnificent event, culminating in Her Majesty saying the immortal words and a bottle of wine - a reliable source tells me it's not Champagne - smashing against the bow.

I'll be there to watch it and will then race on board so I can see something of the ship, seen here arriving in Southampton for the first time, before it sets off on its maiden cruise, a trip the Canary Islands, tomorrow. Look out for my reports later this week.

The cruise sold out in just over 29 minutes and people paid from just under £2,000 each to be on the maiden voyage, according to president and MD Peter Shanks, who was on Radio 4's Today programme this morning being hammered for suggesting people booked a cruise with Cunard for the value.

Let's hope all goes well and the QE maiden voyagers agree with him.

Was I the only one expecting the Queen to appear over the wall on a motorbike when the band started playing the theme music from the film the Great Escape during the naming ceremony of Cunard's Queen Elizabeth in Southampton yesterday?

Either that or she would emerge from a tunnel.

But no, she was driven around the corner from the ship to the naming arena in her Bentley. What a way to make an entrance!

I said before I left for Southampton on Monday that I expected it to be a magnificent ceremony and it was. But how lucky were they with the weather given it was all outside and there was no plan B if it rained.

Imagine an rectangle, with the ship forming one long side and the audience the other. At one end was the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and soprano Lesley Garrett, at the other the VIP seats for Her Majesty, Carnival Corporation CEO Micky Arison, Cunard's president and MD Peter Shanks and a few others.

We had screens either end of the arena where we could see Her Majesty as she was taken on a tour of the ship - was that the bar bill she was seen signing? To the right was the bow of the ship and the all-important bottle.

This was pomp and ceremony as only Cunard can do and get away with - Handel's Zadok the Priest, the National Anthem, Jerusalem and Amazing Grace.

Peter Shanks said a few words - don't miss the Queen's face when he says Cunard has had three ships bearing the name Queen Elizabeth, starting with the original QE in 1938, and only one person in the audience had been at the naming of all three! - the ship was blessed and then Her Majesty spoke the immortal words to name the ship, pressed the button and the bottle smashed.

And then she was driven away to the sounds of, what else but Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No 1.

Click here to see excerpts from the ceremony. Enjoy.

The self-service on Celebrity Cruises' Century and Millennium-class ships is becoming a, well, self-service, from the end of October.

Have to say I'm amazed to discover that currently there is only waiter service in the lido on these ships - that's the Celebrity Century, Constellation, Infinity, Millennium and Summit - and no option to pick and choose what you fancy from the buffet.

Celebrity is calling the new lido dining an "international marketplace", but basically you get a plate, fill it with food, find a table and eat it. That's self-service to you and me.

I'm sure some passengers will complain at having to fetch their own food but I reckon they'll find the new offering will be much better.

There are curry and pasta stations where the food is made to order so it'll be served hot and you can ask for the chefs to spice it up a bit.

There's stir-fry Asian food, a Mediterranean antipasti selection of olives, cheeses and cold meats, a carving station with grilled meats and of course an area serving uber-sweet desserts.

A made-to-order pizza station will be open until 12.30am.

This is something for all those who fear getting they might be seasick on a cruise - a night out on Cruise and Maritime Voyages' ship Marco Polo while it's tied up at Tilbury cruise terminal.

That's the place Marco Polo calls home and this is a great opportunity to get on board and see what low-cost British-style traditional cruising is all about.

There are three options, all available on Saturday October 30.

1. Look around the ship, see one of the shows and have a five-course lunch with wine for £29pp.

2. Go on board for evening cocktails, a five-course dinner with wine and a show, leaving at midnight, for £49pp.

3. Go for the evening event but pay an extra £20pp - so a total £69pp - and stay on board for the night and breakfast the next morning.

Having been to the Tilbury cruise terminal, I can think of many better places to spend the night but no matter. This is a good-value night out - certainly cheaper than any hotel you'll find.

To book your Marco Polo day or evening out, click here or call 0845 833 9798.

And don't forget you can see Cruise and Maritime Voyages - and many other cruise lines - this weekend at the Cruise Show at the NEC Birmingham. The doors open on Saturday and Sunday at 10am.

I'll see you there.

Is Alaska out of the doldrums that has encouraged several cruise lines to cut capacity?

Princess clearly thinks so as it's putting a fourth ship back on the Voyages of the Glaciers route in 2012 (that's a one-way cruise between Vancouver in Canada and Whittier in Alaska, sailing either north or south-bound).

Alaska hit problems a couple of years back when the legislators slapped a head tax of $46 per person on everyone visiting the state.

Cruise lines including Carnival Cruise Lines, NCL, Holland America and Princess objected and cut capacity, threatening Alaska's tourism business and causing the legislators to back down.

Earlier this year the head tax was reduced to $34.50 per person, except on cruises visiting Juneau and Ketchikan, when it falls to $19.50.

So now Princess is going back up to four ships on the Glaciers route, which means it will have a total seven vessels sailing in Alaska in 2012. Details of the actual Alaska deployment will be announced next spring.

I've always questioned whether Alaska's star was fading due to the head tax - which didn't really make that much difference to anyone who could afford an Alaska cruise in the first place - or just because Alaska was out of favour as people looked for somewhere new to cruise.

Princess is clearly confident the state is still in big demand.

What does anyone else think?

After seeing the turnout for the Cruise show at Birmingham's NEC this weekend, the latest prediction from the Passenger Shipping Association that UK cruise passengers will increase by 8% to a record 1.77 million in 2011 comes as no surprise.

Well before 10am, visitors were queuing to get into the show. When the doors opened, the stampede reminded me of a Harrods sale.

By 11am, All Leisure group, which owns Swan Hellenic, Voyages of Discovery and Hebridean Island Cruises, was sending for fresh brochure supplies. Royal Caribbean brought two staff to the show just to keep the brochure racks full and they were struggling to keep up with demand.

And the queues of people waiting to book on Royal Caribbean's stand had to be seen to be believed. Royal had some great offers and a great day as a result.

Sunday started slower, but it was soon a packed house again. I was in a panel discussion in one of the theatres at 11am and it was standing room only. And it was the same for my presentation about the Galapagos and Alaska in the other theatre at noon.

It was brilliant to see so many of you there and I hope you all found it useful. To those who didn't make it: Bad decision guys. Make a note to attend the London one next March!

You certainly won't be alone given the way cruising is growing in leaps and bounds. The PSA also predicts the number of Brits taking a flycruise in 2011 will top one million for the first time in 2011, while 710,000 will join their ship in a UK port.

Disney Fantasy, currently under construction in Germany, goes on sale today.

The ship - the second new vessel being built by Disney Cruise Line - will be setting off on its maiden cruise on April 7 2012.

It will be sailing alternating seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral in Florida, the former visiting St Maarten and St Thomas, the latter Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

Both itineraries also have a day at Disney's private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay, where you can go snorkelling, cycling or just relax on a beach. Or do all three, as I did when I was there last year.

Check out the website for more details.

Disney's first new ship, Disney Dream, starts sailing on January 26 next year, but I'm going to get a sneak preview in a couple of weeks when it floats out of the same shipyard in Germany where Fantasy is being built.

With a few months to go before launch there'll still be plenty of work to do I'm sure, but I'll be able to give you an idea how it's looking so far.

I'm especially excited about seeing the AquaDuck - the first ever water-coaster at sea. What a wow that will be! But there are plenty of other great new features on board.

As Mickey would say, stay tooned.

I'm just back from a travel convention in Malta, when sadly no one told the weather the island was on show to the UK's travel trade.

Rain, gales, stormy seas. You name it, Malta threw it at us. When I went for a ship visit to Azamara Quest, which called at Valletta on Wednesday morning, I learnt they'd had an unpleasant night rocking and rolling around the Med before they docked, only to find the wind still blowing furiously.

"We wanted to make you feel at home," one of the staff told me as I checked in at the Hilton in Portomaso on Monday, having just got soaked walking a couple of yards from the taxi into the hotel. Funny man.

Apart from the weather, my brief sojourn was memorable for one of the debates at Tuesday's cruise forum called tradition vs innovation service, which revolved around the importance or otherwise of getting tickets in faux-leather wallets.

No one cares, the man from Carnival UK said, revealing they have saved £3 million a year by getting passengers (or their travel agents) to print tickets on-line.

Not true, said the travel agent, who reckoned many of his older customers only book a cruise for the smart ticket wallet they get (that was a joke by the way - or at least I hope it was! - but the point is they want their tickets presented formally in a wallet and not just a piece of paper they have had to print out themselves).

I had to feel sorry for him. He says his printing costs have escalated since cruise lines switched to sending all documents by email, the killer being when his customers want the shore excursion booklet - maybe 64 pages - printed as well.

Personally I am happy to check in on-line but object to the way cruise lines see this as a way to glean as much information about you as they can. Things they really don't need to know and are frankly none of their business.

Not to mention the fact their systems are often not up to the job. I remember trying to fill in the Carnival Cruise Lines' Fun Pass for a visit to Carnival Dream last November. The one thing it was not was fun.

What do you think? Do you want wallets or is online OK? Let us know.

The best place to pick up good deals recently was the Cruise Show in Birmingham, so for those of you who missed out, bad luck. While you ponder your mistake, here's a selection of offers that have come my way in the past couple of days.

Spirit of Adventure (0800 300 432) has last-minute availabilty on its 22-night Christmas and New Year Trade Routes of India cruise from Dubai to Port Louis in Mauritius departing December 12 2010. Prices from £3,849 per person including flights, excursions and gratuities.

P&O Cruises (0845 3 555 333) has availability on a couple of sectors of Oriana's world cruise, which unusually started in October rather than waiting until January, as is the norm with global circumnavigation.

There's a 22-night Singapore to Southampton leg between November 25 and December 17, which is being sold off at £1,199 per person, or £54 a night, excluding flights but you'll get up to £75 to spend on board

There's also a 16-night voyage from Mumbai to Southampton from December -17 from £999 per person excluding flights, but including up to £50 on-board spending money.

Hopefully the good citizens of France will have got over their revolutionary fervour in time for Royal Caribbean International's (0844 493 2061) three-night cruise from Southampton to Le Havre (for a day out in Paris) on Independence of the Seas. Prices from £349 per person departing on April 27 2011.

With the first frosts of winter now here, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines (01473 742424) has picked a good time to cut the cost of a 15-night Eastern Caribbean cruise from Montego Bay in Jamaica on Braemar on November 25. Prices start from £1,141 per person including flights and fuel supplement, plus you'll get up to £150 credit to spend on board. Golfers can book a Flagship Golf package - four rounds ashore and practice sessions on board - for £425 per person.

AMA Waterways (0808 223 5009) has knocked more than £650 per person off a seven-night Christmas cruise from Budapest to Nuremberg departing December 20. Cost is now £1,295 per person, which includes flights, all food, wine with dinner and a gala Christmas lunch.

* Prices are correct at the time of posting but can change at any time.

I've never quite understood this new-ish fad for learning to cook on a cruise.

Don't most people go on holiday to escape domestic chores such as cooking? And if not, isn't it because they don't know what a kitchen is because they live on M&S ready meals and other such healthy dishes? So why would they suddenly want to find out?

But understand it or not, cookery is the latest cruise ship must-do.

What's that? No surely it's not just because the cruise lines see a way to make money from it!

There are cooking demos on P&O Cruises and Yachts of Seabourn, P&O has classes that cost when Marco Pierre White is on board and Royal Caribbean International has just started cookery lessons on Liberty of the Seas that cost anything up to $125 per person.

Anton Mosimann is on a cruise on Silversea's Silver Cloud in January. Oceania Cruises, meanwhile, is installing a culinary centre (that's a posh word for kitchen) on new ship Marina, launching in January.

Holland America has always been into these culinary capers as well, and now reports it has signed BBC celebrity chef Valentine Warner to share his cookery skills on a Fjords and Highlands cruise on Eurodam next year. Demos will be free, classes will carry a charge.

Warner made his name on the BBC series What to eat now, all about the best food for autumn. Which naturally led to a what to eat in summer programme. Seems he never made spring and winter so not sure what you do then. Starve? Or go back to those ready meals?

The Eurodam cruise departs Dover on June 3 2011 for a 12-night voyage around Norway and Scotland. Prices from £1,129 per person.

It's time to shed a tear.

Ocean Village, the cruise line that made its name with the slogan "the cruise for people who don't do cruises", has set off on its last voyage.

The ship left Crete last week and is now heading to Singapore, where it will go into the Sembawang Shipyard and emerge 36 days later as Pacific Pearl, flying the colours of P&O Cruises Australia.

Ocean Village was set up in 2003 to provide a low-cost casual alternative to P&O Cruises. Its one ship, also called Ocean Village, was joined by a second, Ocean Village Two, in 2007.

They sailed from Palma and Crete in the summer, and in the Caribbean in winter, and had a strong following among people who wanted a fun-in-the-sun holiday with no dress codes or formal dining rather than spending days sailing over the Bay of Biscay.

But that wasn't enough for the powers that be at Carnival UK, who decided the two ships could make more money for P&O Cruises Down Under.

Ocean Village Two left the fleet this time last year - it now operates as Pacific Jewel - and now the original Ocean Village is on its way out.

And so ends Carnival UK's dalliance with being casual.

An interesting aside: Pulling OV has left a gaping hole for cruises from Palma that Royal Caribbean International has been quick to plug.

It is basing Grandeur of the Seas there next summer, offering seven-night cruises around the Western Med - just as OV did. Carnival UK said they couldn't make any money from the cruises because of the cost of the flights. Be interesting to see if Royal can.

Another interesting aside: Carnival UK might not have been able to make any money from OV's Mediterranean fly-cruises, but that's not stopping P&O Cruises from giving it a go for the first time next year with Adonia, the ship currently sailing as Royal Princess for Royal Princess and which joins P&O next May.

Adonia will reposition to the Mediterranean from Southampton in October 2011 and sail six fly-cruises, departing variously from Savona, Athens, Trieste and Naples.

What Norwegian Cruise Line's CEO Kevin Sheehan called the world's worst-kept secret is out: NCL is to build two ships for delivery in spring 2013 and 2014.

"Someone showed me a picture he'd taken of me talking to Bernard Meyer [boss of Meyer-Werft shipyard] on Norwegian Epic," Sheehan said during a webinar to officially announce the news yesterday. "So I guess it was the world's worst secret."

Meyer must be rubbing his hands with glee. While other shipyards stare empty order books in the face, his Meyer-Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, is finishing off one Disney ship and has another to build for 2012, has two more Celebrity Solstice-class ships to finish - one for 2011 and another for 2012 - and now this order, worth about €1.2 billion.

I would so love to be on board as they negotiate these giants backwards out of the shipyard, through the narrow locks in the River Ems and out into the North Sea.

The new ships are sisters to Epic, but a little smaller - 143,500 tons vs 150,000 tons and with 4,000-passenger capacity vs 4,100. Sheehan said they'll take the best bits from Epic and integrate them with new wow factors.

What they might be is anyone's guess as neither Sheehan nor Andy Stuart, NCL's executive v-p of global sales and passenger services, would be drawn.

Will they have Studio cabins for single people? What about the Blue Man Group? Will they have a water-coaster (Meyer-Werft is putting one the Disney ships so they have the technology)?

Will the new ships have that unattractive top-heavy villas complex at the front of the ship (I suspect not, and the picture they showed during the webinar seemed to suggest not, but Stuart did emphasise it was just a "conceptual rendering" so I'm not laying any bets just yet).

But even more interesting, how do you top Epic when it comes to a name? Epic-er, Epic-est, Even more Epic I and II?

What should they call these ships? Post your suggestions below.

OK, they are not so much cruises as a low-cost night out in a floating hotel in tantalising Tilbury, but the last one was so popular - it sold out in 48 hours - that CMV has added three more chances for you to go on board Marco Polo and see what its traditional British-style cruising is all about.

Once again there are three options:

1. Go on board for lunch with wine, a look around the cruise ship and to see a sample of a show for £39 per person.

2. Go on board for cocktails, a five-course evening meal with wine, and late-night cabaret, leaving the ship by midnight, for £59 per person.

3. As 2, but stay overnight for £79 per person.

The new dates are November 30, Wednesday December 1, and Thursday December 2.

To book, call 0845 833 9798 or visit the website.

I told you the Cruise Show in Birmingham was busy.

Figures are now in from the organisers, Escape Events, showing there were a total 14,607 visitors over the two days, which wasn't so very far off the 16,378 who attended the London show at Olympia in March.

It was an incredible result given it was the first year the show was in Birmingham and especially as the NEC is in the middle of nowhere, so everyone who went was there because they wanted to find out about cruising, not because they happened to be passing by and decided to join the queues.

The only shame was that a few key cruise lines decided not to go because it would have been nice to see a hall filled with stands that gave everyone who came a really good day out discovering the great diversity of the industry.

But that's my opinion. I suspect the cruise lines who did go - both river and ocean cruise companies - were delighted their competitors weren't there as they picked up all the business!

All eyes at Escape are now focused on the London event, which is being held at Olympia on March 26 and 27 2011. To sign up for show news and the Cruise and Travel Magazine click here.

Italy's MSC Cruises is offering servicemen and women, and their families, half-price cruises for summer 2011 if they book between Armistice Day in Europe, November 11, and November 15.

The offer also applies to all veterans of the armed services.

To qualify, you'll need to be registered with the Ministry of Defence and have a valid service number. The discount applies to one cabin per service number and to the cruise portion of the booking only.

For more information or to book call MSC on 0844 561 1955 or visit the website.

In a flag-changing ceremony today, Royal Caribbean International will become the proud owner of Allure of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship.

Yes, I know Royal already owns Oasis of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship when it launched last November. But that was then.

Their new baby, Allure of the Seas, is 5mm bigger so sorry Oasis, you've just lost your crown.

Does size matter? Well I'll tell you after I've been on board Allure next month.

Richard Fain, Royal's chairman and CEO is out in Turku, Finland, now for the handover, and reports that all is unusually calm ahead of a handover because the work is so well advanced.

I love the way he compares his wife to a 225,282-ton ship...

"My last visit here [Turku] was over a month ago and the change is startling. I've drawn an analogy to the process my wife goes through when she gets dressed. There is a lot of preparation and organization which seems to take forever. Then at the end, the final pieces of livery and jewelry go on and the transformation is complete."

...and then redeems himself absolutely...

"In both cases (that of my wife and the ALLURE) the result is breathtaking."

What a charmer!

Royal Caribbean's new Allure of the Seas will feature the first Starbucks at sea when it launches next month.

In the Royal Promenade, the glitzy "shopping street" that cuts right through the middle of the ship, it will have trained baristas serving signature coffees and food between 7am and 11pm daily.

So whether you want a really good espresso, cappuccino or Frappuccino, there's only one place to be. Well almost. Royal has been serving Seattle's Best Coffee for the past 10 years and that, if you can believe the name, must be quite good as well (as I don't drink the stuff I have no idea).

Royal says Starbucks' on-board prices will be "comparable to US pricing". Which doesn't tell me anything really.

But I'll let you know when I am on Allure next month.

I would not like to be Captain Hernan Zini, master of the new Allure of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean International took delivery of their new big baby yesterday; today the ship leaves Finland, where it was built; next stop Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where it will be based.

All nice and easy, you'd think, if the Atlantic behaves itself  - except on Saturday the vessel has to pass under the Great Belt Bridge between the Danish islands of Zealand and Flynn, height 65 metres above the sea.

Which coincidentally is the same height as Allure.

Luckily someone with a long tape measure worked out that A into B (Allure into Bridge) would go if they didn't do something clever.

So they did something clever. Fitted the ship with retractable funnels that reduce the height by all of one metre (that's three feet in old money).

Tons of room for manoeuvre then!

As I say, I would not like to be Captain Zini.

But then again....

He's master of an incredible new cruise ship, the giant of the seas, which whether you think it is too big or not, you have to admit is amazing with its zipwire, bar that acts as a lift, Brazilian steakhouse, Mexican cantina, park with real shrubs and much more.

Let's be honest. How could anyone not want to be Captain Zini?

I was going to point out how wrong fellow blogger Captain Greybeard was in predicting that cruise fares were going to rise next year, but I see he has beaten me to it.

How do I know he was wrong? Well although the cruise lines have just have reported some really strong results, look at the latest offers that have arrived this week. This doesn't smack of an industry thinking of putting up its prices.

Fred Olsen Cruise Line has raised its on-line discount from 5% to 10% for six 2011 cruises, listed below with the cruise numbers to help you find them. The offer is only valid for two weeks, until November 11. Click here to reach the website.

M1109: 14-night Canary Islands cruise on Braemar from Dover on April 30.

L1104: 14-night Baltic cruise on Balmoral from Southampton on May 13.

M1110: 14-night Western Med cruise on Braemar from Dover on May 14.

W1116: nine-night UK and Ireland cruise on Black Watch from Dover on September 25.

D1123: 15-night Canary Island cruise on Boudicca from Newcastle on October 16.

L1120: seven-night Northern Europe cruise on Balmoral from Southampton on November 10.

Royal Caribbean is giving away 10,000 free flights on selected 2011 Mediterranean cruises, saving an average £200 per person, provided you book between October 30 and December 20 2010.

The free flights, for cruises from Palma, Venice, Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) and Barcelona, will be given away on a first-come first-served basis so you'll need to get in quick. The offer applies whether you book through a travel agent or direct.

And for those who prefer a no-fly cruise, Royal is offering savings of up to £500 per cabin and free port car parking on selected Independence of the Seas departures.

Ultra-luxury cruise line Silversea is offering business-class flight upgrades on eight 2011 Asian cruises from £599 per person one-way and giving away $250 per person on-board credit on many of the voyages. There are also Mediterranean and Northern Europe business-class flight upgrades from £249 per person return.

The airline says the offers are "capacity controlled", which basically means you need to book early.

**The best of the rest**
 
MSC Cruises is offering Caribbean cruises on MSC Poesia this winter from £399 per person for seven nights and £550 for two weeks. Need I say the prices are cruise-only? It means you'll also have the cost of a flight. Call 0844 561 1955 or visit the website for more information and to book.
 
Budget cruise line Cruise & Maritime Voyages has slashed £1,000 off its 35-night Christmas Caribbean cruise on Marco Polo departing Tilbury on December 6. It now costs from £1,799 per person for an inside - equal to £52 a night. An oceanview cabin costs from £2,299 per person. Call 0845 833 9798.

Cruise Thomas Cook has an eight-night cruise on the Danube with Viking River Cruises from £719 per person including flights. Departure is on November 28, sailing from Passau in Germany to Budapest in Hungary. Call 0800 916 6070 or visit your nearest Thomas Cook or Going Places shop.

Virgin Holidays Cruises has a special offer on a 10-night holiday combining three nights in an all-inclusive resort in Barbados with a seven-night Southern Caribbean cruise on Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Victory departing January 30 2011. Prices start from £1,499 per person including flights and an inside cabin. To book, call 0871 781 9893 or visit the website.

A very special guest turned up to help celebrate the moment Disney Dream was tugged out of the shed at the Meyer-Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, where it was built, and moored up outside for the world to see.

No I don't mean me, or indeed the hundreds of Germans and Dutch folk who had come from far and wide in their camper vans and cars to witness the event, undeterred by the cold and wet.

Who else but Captain Mickey himself, seen here with his shiny new ship in the background, being tugged slowly out of the shed.

I'm just one of two UK journalists invited out here to see the moment the ship, the first Disney Cruise Line has built for 11 years, was unveiled to the world.

How fantastic is that?

The band played - Disney toons of course - the rain started again and slowly, slowly the ship started to move.

Disney Dream will stay at the shipyard for another two weeks as around 2,000 workers from the shipyard and suppliers hasten to finish the interiors, then begin the conveyance down the River Ems, squeezing through the locks and under bridges (well OK, they don't squeeze under, the bridges are taken down), to Emshaven in Holland and sea trials in the North Sea.

It's heading off across the Atlantic to its new home in Port Canaveral, Florida, in mid-December and being christened in January 2011 - and yes, Mickey and I will both be there to see that.

Dream starts sailing three, four and five-night cruises to the Bahamas on January 26.

Before the doors at the Meyer-Werft shipyard opened and Disney Dream started to inch out into the daylight, I was lucky enough to get a tour of the shed where it was built.

Here it is nose to tail with a rather unfinished Celebrity Silhouette, which will be the next Celebrity Solstice-class ship to launch. That's next July.

And I also saw the first blocks that, once put together, will become Disney Fantasy, the second new ship being built by Disney Cruise Line. That just recently went on sale and launches in 2012.

This is me, in my jaunty hard hat, with section 2607 of block 31. Like Disney Dream, Fantasy will be made up of 80 blocks, each made up of a varying number of sections, which again each have cables and wiring pre-installed to make it easier to put them all together.

It's rather like a giant lego set, safety manager Markus Wahler joked as he showed us around.

I'm forever losing things in a house a fraction of a size of these places, so I'm in wonder every time I visit a shipyard and see all the sections and blocks lying in and around the enormous sheds. How does anyone ever find the bit they want?

In another shed, by the way, there's German cruise line Aida's new AidaSol, due to launch in April next year, there are bits of Celebrity Reflection lying around - that's the last of Celebrity's new Solstice-class ships.

And as I reported last week, Meyer-Werft has just won the contract to build two new 4,000-passenger ships for Norwegian Cruise Line.

No wonder shipyard boss Bernard Meyer was beaming when he joined us in the VIP tent for the moment Disney Dream was tugged out of the shed.

It's the kind of healthy order book other shipyards would give their right arms for.