Cruise Lines

The headlines are full of news about the nightmare passengers endured on Brilliance of the Seas off Alexandria last weekend.

So what better moment for Norwegian Cruise Line to announce it is keeping two ships in the Mediterranean year-round in winter 2012/13.

Because after what Royal Caribbean has termed "a serious incident" on Brilliance, we'll all be flocking to cruise in the Med in winter!

Bad weather can strike anywhere of course - the Drake Passage is notorious and everyone goes over the Bay of Biscay braced for the worst - but off Egypt? Seems even the captain of Brilliance was caught unawares by that one.

So now the cruise line is giving passengers a full refund for their cruise. An extraordinary precedent that other cruise lines are not happy about.

NCL's decision to put a second ship in the Med is part of the biggest European deployment in the company's history - four ships in summer, two in winter.

* Norwegian Epic is back for a second summer season sailing seven-night cruises from Barcelona between April 29 and October 14 2012. There will also be a four-day cruise departing on April 25 2012.

* Norwegian Spirit makes its European debut, sailing 12-day voyages between Barcelona and Venice through the summer and from Barcelona to the Canary Islands between November 2012 and April 2013.

* Norwegian Jade will be based in Venice, offering alternating seven-day cruises to the Greek Isles and to Greece and Turkey, each with different ports of call so these can be combined into a 14-night voyage. Between October 2012 and April 2013, Norwegian Jade will be based at Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, sailing 10 and 11-night cruises to Egypt, Israel, Greece and Turkey.

* Norwegian Sun will be based in Copenhagen for a summer series of nine-day Baltic Capitals cruises. It will also be offering one 14-night cruise to Iceland, the Norwegian fjords and Faroe Islands on September 16 2012.

Would you choose to cruise in the Mediterranean in winter? Share your thoughts below.