Cruise Lines

Has there ever been an April like this? As if four cruise ships to be named in as many weeks was not enough, Norwegian Cruise Line has managed to squeeze a keel-laying in between the launching frenzy.

I’m counting the days I’ll be at home rather than the time I'm away.

Kick off is this weekend, when MSC Cruises’ Poesia is named in Dover in a glitzy event starring Sophia Loren as godmother; next up is P&O Cruises' Ventura, with Helen Mirren and the Champagne-smashing Royal Marines taking centre stage in a gala do in Southampton.

Then it’s all eyes on Greece, where a new-to-easyCruise ship takes on a new life - as easyCruise Life - for the budget brand. Finally it’s back to Southampton for a smashing time with Royal Caribbean International as it gets set to sail its newest megaship from the UK.

And that NCL keel-laying? It’s for a new generation of F3 code-named ships – huge beasts that will presumably take the Freestyle concept to another level. We will have to wait and see.

I love cruiseship naming ceremonies so this month is like manna from heaven for me, but I’ll have my eye on one new ship in particular.

Ventura, P&O Cruises’ new offering, promises to be nothing like the P&O we have come to know and love. Old and stuffy? Forget it. If all the hype is to be believed, this is young and funky; dare I say even glitzy in places (or so it would seem from the website) and all about having fun.

The traditionalist we-love-P&O brigade I cruised with on Aurora recently, who disliked foreign food and wanted everything to be like it was 20 years ago, would be horrified.

Personally I can’t wait to see if the ship lives up to the promise of lively evenings, good food (hopefully not just in Marco Pierre White's restaurant), contemporary tableware and designer kettles in the cabins - yes, really – and great activities for kids, including a circus school (never mind kids, I rather fancy that!) and giant Scalextric track.

And I am so looking forward to seeing Noddy fly by in his little yellow-and-red plane. What do you mean there is no such person as Father Christmas?

Am I glad I’m not clearing up after yesterday evening’s ceremony in which MSC Cruises took official delivery of new ship MSC Poesia from the ship yard in St Nazaire, France.

As the bottle of bubbly smashed, pink and white balloons were loosed from their netting and cannons shot pink and white paper circles into the air. Not just a few, but hundreds, coating the ground and all who sat there.

Environmentalists would no doubt moan about it, but hey. This was a great ceremony – it actually started and ended on time, which must be a first for MSC – with a marching band to keep our spirits up in the cold wind, the customary switching of flags and lots of speeches in French and Italian (I gathered that the shipyard is honoured to have MSC’s business, which is good because it has another three MSC ships on its order book, and MSC’s boss rather likes his new toy).

Let’s just hope this new-found punctuality lasts until Sunday morning.

With free-flowing booze, Italian diva Sophia Loren to cut the ribbon and the likes of Andrea Bocelli and KT Tunstall to keep the troops entertained, it was always a dead cert that the naming of MSC Poesia in Dover would be a successful event.

But will it achieve the ultimate aim of increasing business from the UK for MSC Cruises? And at what cost?

An oft-repeated conversation between fellow scribes at these events revolves around the question, can the cruiseline ever get back what it has spent? How many passengers do agents need to book and over what time frame to make this - literally - worthwhile?

If anyone has some answers, I would love to know. Not only would I sound intelligent, but I could move the conversation on next time around.

Until I am enlightened, I will continue to wonder at the massive sales job UK agents now have on their hands if they are ever to repay MSC for a great evening. The few I spoke to were certainly excited and enthusiastic about the whole experience.

For MSC's sake, I hope that enthusiasm infected the many and can be translated into sales.

Can't believe I am going to say this....

My dinner last night in one of the dining rooms on P&O Cruises' Ventura was really good. Tasty, hot - and when I wanted to go off-menu for the starter, it was sorted without so much as a murmur.

I'm back on board tomorrow night for the naming ceremony. I would so love for that to be the case again, although it means I'll also have to eat my words about the quality of the food cruiselines serve in the main dining room.

Here's hoping.

I think it's time for a proverbial pat on the back as first news of what's on Royal Caribbean International's new 220,000 monster ship, code-named Genesis, comes out.

Here's what I predicted in my cruise column on the Telegraph website in December last year.

I’m betting on inside balcony cabins, overlooking the Royal Promenade – a “street” that cuts through the centre of the ship and is a trademark of its new vessels...

The picture shows what we can actually expect. This is Central Park, on deck 8, open to the elements, with trees and shrubs and look - inside balcony cabins.

It will have a cafe and Vintages wine bar (both in the Royal Promenade), Chops Grille, which is on the other big ships but by the self-service, and a swanky new-to-Royal Caribbean restaurant called 150 Central Park.

And look what else I wrote:

...and restaurants fore and aft, breaking design tradition, so passengers at the front don’t have to walk all the way to the back every time they want to eat.

OK, so I was talking more about the self-service and main dining rooms, but guess what? Central Park is in the centre of the ship; likewise its restaurants. Not quite fore and aft but on the right track.

I admit I've not been over excited by the idea of a ship that holds 5,400 people - which makes it twice the size of my village - but having seen this first picture, I am starting to get a bit of a tingle...

With the Royal Marines lined up to abseil down the side of the ship and smash the bubbly (after Queen Victoria's naming, when the Champagne bottle failed to smash, P&O Cruises wasn't taking any chances!), Ventura's naming ceremony was always going to be different.

But wow, never did I dream they would put on such a fun show for the 1,500 or so agents, celebrities (Rowan Atkinson, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Celia Imrie, Stephen Tompkinson and Cherie Lunghi to name but a few) and hacks who had travelled to Southampton for the big day.

For about 20 minutes, I actually forgot just how cold I was in my evening finery, standing open to the April elements on the top deck of the ship.

Picture it if you will. P&O Cruises' managing director Nigel Esdale appears on stage, a female agent from TV show Spooks starts dashing around, yelling into a wrist mic and and then M – aka acress Patricia Hodges - appears on a big screen with a "smashing" mission that only one man was deemed capable of completing.

The latest 007 blockbuster movie had started.

We saw Samantha Bond as Moneypenny, cameo rolls for Roger Moore, Bond villain Jonathan Pryce and news reader Selina Scott (not quite sure of the 007 link there; any suggestions welcome), before the camera turned on Dame Helen Mirren, the godmother to be, being escorted through the ship by the Royal Marines.

Cheers erupted as she appeared on stage, laughing and smiling. I'm sure she was enjoying it as much as we were. The all-important words uttered, two marines went over the side and smashed the bubbly. As we were showered by streamers, fireworks lit up the night sky.

I feel rather sorry for Royal Caribbean International, which is next on April's cruise ship naming conveyor belt. How can you beat that with just two weeks to go?

Anyone who has missed the fact that P&O Cruises has launched a new ship must have been on Mars for the past week or so, during which time Ventura has been doing a sterling job in Southampton, selling itself to past and future passengers, agents and just a few passing hacks.

But what is the ship really like? Is it that different to the P&O norm?

If only all cruiseship entertainment could be like this. Imagine: a warm spring day, another new ship in Southampton, 1,500 consumers on board waiting to be impressed - and out comes Scouting for Girls to give a live concert by the pool.

The ship, in case you've lost track, is Royal Caribbean International's Independence of the Seas. It arrived in Southampton on Friday and is playing host to visiting trade and those consumers (all competition winners, on for Saturday night only) before it is named on Wednesday.

So there we all were around the pool, waiting for the band to come on and music from Goldfinger strikes up. What is it with 007? P&O Cruises chose a Bond theme for the naming of Ventura and here he was again. All to do with the song "James Bond", which I trust fans will already have guessed (I knew the song, had heard of the band - well only just, to be honest! - but hadn't put the two together).

It was a good gig, short and sweet, ending with the band jumping in the pool, much to the delight of the audience.

Will they be back on board? Sadly no. They were there because Virgin Radio stumped up the cash to celebrate its 15th anniversary. If you cruise with Indie, you'll be back to the likes of that evening's show, Under the Big Top, which is a terrific cure for insomniacs, and the ice show, which had good costumes and accomplished skating, but all was overshadowed for my money by the violinist.

It was enough to bring a tear to even the most hardened cynic - well almost - as Elizabeth Hill admitted being chosen as godmother of Royal Caribbean International's new ship, Independence of the Seas, was like a dream.

"Ordinary people like me don't do this sort of thing," she told the packed 1,320-seat theatre. "I am sure I'm going to wake up any minute."

Of course, that was the whole point of her being there. Royal Caribbean wanted an ordinary woman who has done extraordinary things ... and that's what they got. A farmer's wife from Derbyshire, Elizabeth works tirelessly to help young people and adults with physical and learning disabilities through a centre on the farm where they can learn horticulture, art, pottery, how to work with animals and a host of other skills.

"I'd like to thank my husband, because it's his farm. And my family. And my daughter. This is starting to sound like an Oscar's speech, isn't it?" Well yes, but carry on Liz, because there's not a dry eye in the house, especially after we learned that daughter Alicia, coincidentally celebrating her 13th birthday as mum was doing her godmother bit, nominated her mother and said she hoped if she won she might get to go on a cruise and have a holiday.

Unlike other recent namings this was not all about celebrities. We had Scottish pipers, Irish dancing and God save the Queen to mark the fact the ship is sailing out of Southampton. And that oh so American cruise director Ken Rush, who has this way of referring to England as if it is one of the colonies. Forgive me, but I'm sure it used to be the other way around?

Sadly, the Champagne bottle didn't break - and this time there wasn't a back-up film (look back at previous blogs to read of P&O Cruises' con trick). What bad luck - literally. But a word of advice for Elizabeth: Next time you name a ship, don't put your hands to your face in agony when the bottle bounces. We were almost fooled by the loud explosion as the bottle hit the hull!

Richard Fain might be chairman and chief executive of Royal Caribbean Cruises, the big boss of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises, but give him a wave and surf board and he's really just a kid at heart, as these pics from Independence of the Seas show. What a great sport.

But surely you've done this before, I asked, as he emerged half-drowned from the FlowRider (this is the third one on Royal Caribbean ships). "Yes, but it's hard you know." I do actually - but it's also great fun.

It's been a busy time at the Aker Yard in St Nazaire, France. Norwegian Cruise Lines' F3 keel-laying last month, a coin-laying ceremony for MSC Cruises' Magnifica this.

Like smashing Champagne, coin laying is all about good luck. MSC laid a specially-minted gold coin bearing the City of Venice coat of arms on one side and the cruiseline's logo on the other, Aker Yards laid a 1978 50 French francs silver coin.

Magnifica will be a sister to the newly-launched MSC Poesia, have 1,259 cabins and carry a maximum 3,779 passengers. It will join the fleet in spring 2010.

Project Genesis is dead, long live Oasis of the Seas. Oasis? As in a fertile spot on the desert? Well, yes. But also a place of refuge, relief or pleasant contrast, according to Royal Caribbean International.

Apparently Royal Caribbean received 91,000 entries in a Name that ship competition run with USA Today to find a name for the giant 220,000-ton, 5,400-passenger ship launching late next year.

Interesting to see how quickly the name catches on, given it has been known as Genesis for so long. Royal only had to add "of the Seas" at the end and they would have saved a lot of time and effort.

To be in with a chance of winning, entrants had to suggest two names, so we now also know that the second Genesis - sorry, Oasis - ship, launching in 2010, will be named Allure of the Seas.

Want to know what luxury looks like?

Here's the hull of Yachts of Seabourn's new ship Seabourn Odyssey, on its way from the Gulf of Venice, where it was built, to the T Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, where the rest of the ship is being put together in time for its June 2009 launch.

It's Seabourn's first new ship for six years and will mark a big step forward for the ultra-lux line - or at least so we are told. Hard to picture from this giant lump of steel.

Costa Cruises is going for an industry first by floating out two ships on one day. On June 27, as the 2,828-passenger Costa Luminosa hits water for the first time at Fincantieri's Marghera yard in Venice, the 3,780-passenger Costa Pacifica will be doing the same in Fincantiari's Genoa yard.

Once they are in the water, work will start on kitting out the ship's interiors - the first to be themed a ship of light, the other a ship of music.

The two vessels, which will give Costa 13 ships, will then share a naming ceremony in Genoa at the end of April 2009. As tey say, two' company...

If you've ever wondered what all this luxury cruising lark is all about, this is it, Yachts of Seabourn style.

Not only was there a free excursion for everyone on the ship during my voyage - it's called an Exclusively Seabourn event and there's one per cruise (ours was into the Sicilian countryside, to taste olive oil and wine) - but a welcoming committee of crew for when you get back.

True, this costs a lot on paper, but it can work out cheaper than lesser-starred cruiselines when you take into account the fact that all drinks and gratuities are included ... and that includes in the spa, where you pay the cost of the treatment and that's it.

Even more impressive, after a lovely massage this morning, I didn't have to fend off the usual hard sell for anti-ageing, anti-stress or anti-anything-else products that I neither need not want.

It's not all rosy in the Seabourn garden though. I've got a lovely big shower but the actual shower head is so far in one corner I can't actually get under it, and my so-called French balcony is big enough to stand on...Just. And hit bad weather in one of these tiny 8,000-ton yachts, as we did last night, and you know all about it - at least I and many of the other passengers did.

But all these negatives are why Seabourn is building bigger ships. Will it ruin the Seabourn style, where I exit my cabin to be greeted by name by my stewardess, not just as ma'am.

Let's hope not, or we'll all just have to keep taking the pills - literally!

Do luxury and exploration cruising go together? Ultra-luxury line Silversea was certainly in no doubt when Prince Albert II - previously known as World Discoverer - arrived at London's Tower Bridge to collect its first complement of luxury explorers.

Silversea has done a lot of work to bring this 132-passenger ship up to its luxury standards, but somehow it misses the mark.

Maybe it's the faux teak on deck seven - such a shame as the real teak in the outdoor grill one deck down looks every bit the upmarket part - or the MFI-look furniture in the cabins (sorry, suites) although some tooms are a nice size, achieved by knocking two into one, and they really have done a great job with the bathrooms. And can you really call one room with a table a spa?

Must admit my heart sank most, though, when I spotted the chains in the dining room that will be used to stop chairs flying around in rough weather. The joys of small ship cruising.

Prince Albert II sets off on its maiden voyage tomorrow, cruising from Tower Bridge to Tromso with around 85 passengers on board.

It will cruise the Arctic and Norwegian fjords until August, when it heads over to the US, South America and on to Antarctica, all the time with a complement of ultra-enthusiastic hippy-style biologists, geographers and anthropologists on board to lecture the luxury lovers before and after they venture ashore in off-beat places on the fleet of inflatable Zodiacs.

If you expect exploration, this ship will be great. If you expect Silversea-style luxury, you'll be disappointed. But I am still not convinced that luxury and real exploration go together anyway. Only time will tell.

The website Cruise Critic reports Hurtigruten is pulling the Nordnorge out of Antarctica because the vessel is needed to replace one that sails along the Norwegian coast between bergen and Kirkenes - Hurtigruten's core business - and is being sold.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=2640

Maybe they are also rather fed up with the difficulties of operating in the White Continent. This is the ship that last year went aground in Deception Island and then came to the aid of passengers who had escaped from the sinking Explorer. This year Fram, its newest ship, which will continue to do Antarctica cruises, had to limp home early after hitting an iceberg.

The first ice bar at sea will be among the evening hotspots - or do I mean chill-out zones? - on Norwegian Cruise Line's new generation of F3-coded ships.

First it was wavy cabins, now a new reveal, as the Americans insist on calling the simple process of telling us what will be on board its new 4,000-passenger Freestyle ships launching in 2010, lists all the nightlife venues being lined up for these big ships.

There's an adults-only POSH Beach Club - OK, not just for evenings - and wonder of wonders, no theatre. Could it mean the Broadway-style show really is dying. One can live in hope.

Interestingly it looks like that sacrosanct all-inclusive entertainment on a cruiseship bit could be going out of the window. Especially interesting because on my first cruise with NCL they charged for a comedian - and then said if it had happened (the UK office obviously doubted me but I still have the paper to prove it) it was a mistake. Are they about to make another mistake, I wonder?

And while we are on interesting, all this has come out almost in tandem with Royal Caribbean International's next big reveal - there's that word again - about the neighbourhoods (no longer areas, you note) on the giant new Oasis of the Seas. That's Genesis with its 5,400 passengers, in case you've forgotten.

There will be the Boardwalk with a carousel and tattoo parlour (how tasteful), double-decker suites and the first zipline at sea.

At least it will be a quicker way to get down the decks than the lifts on the Freedom-class ships.

There was so much that was really great about Holland America Line's new ship, Eurodam, in Southampton for a Friday-night bash so that it could be shown off to the UK trade, journos and past and prospective passengers.

My stateroom was lovely, with a comfy bed, super-soft dressing gown, super-big balcony and large bathroom - thankfully without the garish gold sinks that penthouse people have to live with - with his and hers sinks, and a separate bath and shower.

The new Tamarind restaurant, on the extra deck that makes this a Signature-class ship instead of a Vista-class, really looked the pan-Asian part. And I loved the NCL-type hideaway alcoves in the Silk Bar, which is also a new addition.

But what were those private cabanas all about?

The ones by the Lido pool, with their lovely made-for-two loungers, are one thing - although I'm struggling to know why anyone would want to be hiding behind curtains on a pool deck (for sure you wouldn't be soaking up the sun, as one HAL person suggested, and if couples have anything else on their minds, I would suggest a busy pool deck is not the place).

But the ones on deck 11 - the Retreat - looked like plastic seaside tents at best and builders' huts at worst (workers were making a few finishing touches to the ship so it was an easy connection to make). And just outside was a spartan deck area with some ordinary loungers and chairs. Why would you want to lounge/sit there, just to watch others in their cabana? Or indeed for a view of the closed curtains?

Princess Cruises' brilliant adults-only Sanctuary they certainly ain't, even if the price (from $30 per day for the Lido, $45 for the Retreat) does buy you a butler to douse you in Evian water if you get too hot, iced fruit skewers mid-morning and a glass of bubbly in the afternoon.

I have been picking up a few useful pointers on P&O Cruises' Ventura from Phil at the Cruise Village/Save 'n' Sail as he was on the ship in June and I am on later this month. Ventura, for those who have already forgotten, was launched in April and is the biggest in the P&O fleet, with lots of new-for-P&O stuff on board.

http://www.mycruiseblog.co.uk/

It all sounds pretty good, although he reckons the cover charge in The White Room is too high given the limited choice on the menu. I'll reserve comment on that issue, but I was surprised at the launch to discover that they have gone for flexible pricing in the speciality restaurants so people on shorter cruises pay more. I struggle to see how that can be justified, other than to the bean counters.

But what interested me most is his comment that Freedom dining is not working well because too many people book tables at their preferred sitting time each day so when radom diners turn up to eat, there is no room.

The turn-up-and-dine concept works very well on Princess Cruises (where it is called Anytime Dining) so I wonder what the problem is.

Could it simply be that Princess staff are more experienced at handling flexible dining because they've been doing it for so many years or because P&O people haven't got to grips with this idea of Freedom after so many years of being told when to eat and where to sit.

I just hope things are improving - and fast....

Will people pay more to cruise on the giant 220,000-ton Oasis of the Seas just because it's got a Central Park, Boardwalk and all sorts of other amazing features?

Royal Caribbean's chairman and CEO Richard Fain has said it will carry a premium, cruise blogger Anne Campbell questions whether that is realistic when fuel prices are escalating, airlines are taking planes out of the air and experts are determined to talk us into a recession.

http://www.cybercruises.com/cruisecolumn_july7.htm

Of course, Oasis is not due out for another 18 months - the maiden voyage is December 12 2009 - by which time the economy might be on the mend. The question surely is, even if they can afford it, will people buy the principal of paying a premium for a big ship with lots of features?

My thoughts go to the many conversations I've had with passengers resistent to paying $15 or $20 each to dine in a speciality restaurant because food on a cruise is "supposed" to be included in the price and this paying lark is the cruise lines trying to "nickle and dime you".

The classic has to be the man who wrote in response to a piece I wrote in the Telegraph about Gary Rhodes' restaurant on P&O Cruises' Arcadia, saying the food was so bad he wasn't going to pay extra money to try it! I paraphrase, but you get the drift.

If anyone has any thoughts on Oasis and paying extra, I'd love to hear them. 

Have one too many on the new Carnival Splendor and you'll start to see pink spots in front of your eyes. No wait. That's what you see if you are stone-cold sober.

Carnival's new baby is a real vision in pink - another creation from Joe Farcus, the man behind all the over-the-top designs on Carnival ships, and lately the Costa ones too.

I must admit I am a bit of a Farcus fan, if only because I am intrigued how he comes up with his ideas and because the attention to detail is quite incredible.

Pink spots notwithstanding, Splendor is a very muted Farcus. I'd say he was considering the sensibilities of the British market, but suspect we are really not that important to Carnival, even if the number of Brits booking has doubled in the past year, as president and CEO Gerry Cahill said during his naming speech.

In fact, apart from the spots, which I really rather like, and the garish lions above the thermal pool in the otherwise very lovely, and very large, Cloud 9 spa, I really haven't seen anything very worthy of note.

Surely that can't be right?

My heart went out to the Royal Navy's Christian Rumming, the man chosen to shin 60 feet up the side of Carnival Splendor during Thursday's naming ceremony in Dover. In a pair of flippers.

And all because the lady loved, well, English sparkling wine.

In honour of the fact the ship was being named in the UK, Carnival shunned smashing the usual bottle of good-luck bubbly and chose instead a home-grown sparkling wine, cruise director John Heald explained during the ceremony.

Nothing to do with the the fact the thinner glass made it easier for Christian to smash when he finally got to the top of his rope, of course, although the event organisers didn't want a repeat of the naming of P&O Cruises' Ventura, when two Royal Marines went over the side of the ship (yes, it does sound very similar doesn't it?) to smash the bubbly and reports came back that one bottle didn't break.

The lady in question, by the way, was Splendor's godmother Myleene Klass, singer, classical pianist, model and I'm a Celebrity star (oh dear, and she was starting to sound really talented), who managed to do the naming honours while holding down her skimpy red dress, which was flapping nicely in the wind.

"That only worked for Marilyn," she quipped as she shouldered her responsibilities well and promised to send Splendor a birthday card every year.

Carnival Splendor cruise director and fellow blogger John Heald's entry from yesterday does not cover the UK travel industry in glory.

Once you can get past his new-found love for Splendor's godmother Myleene Klass, his dislike of Chekhov and the theatre, he tells his readers about the open bar card Carnival gave all its non-paying guests.

This means that all the beverages were free.............and this means three awful long nights for the poor bar staff. While some of the agents treated the card with respect by ordering just one drink at a time others looked upon it as though they had just been given use of Bill Gates' Black American Express card for 3 days and therefore ................they were going to get absolutely hammered ...................and they did.

I saw things the last three nights that made me so not proud to be British as the Brit Travel industry let loose. I actually ventured into the dance club last night just to see the DJ and discovered Dante's hell. People were ordering three drinks at a time or more and the once polite country I knew and loved so much seemed to have given birth to young people who had not been taught words like "please" and "thank you" and "No, I have had enough to drink, I am going to bed............alone."

Just what the trade needs when it is trying to convince the world - or British travellers at least - that they know their cruising stuff and can make intelligent and sensible recommendations to help customers choose a cruise. Wonder if they realise that the stuff they are supposed to know isn't how quickly you can get served at the bar.

Sad words in view of an earlier blog this morning in praise of the trade.

I'm pleased to say Heald does go on to say most agents were well behaved and ends with a story of how over-indulging on Le House Wine hen in his 20s got him locked up in France for a night. It's very funny, so stick with the blog - and let's hope his readers remember that, and not the agents' antics, as they tune out.

I thought it had to be Balmoral, but no. This "giant" is Fred Olsen's new Braemar, fresh out of the shipyard where they cut it in half and added a 31-metre mid-section. It now takes more than 200 more passengers - 950 in all - has more cabins and an extra restaurant.

But it was still dwarfed by P&O Cruises' Ventura, on which I'm sailing, which was towering over all in Civitavecchia today.

Interesting comments this week on cruise.co.uk about the benefits or otherwise of dine-when-you-want options on cruise ships.

Is it working well? Tsang didn't think so after her experiences on P&O Cruises' Ventura and I have to agree, after a week on board, that the staff are struggling with the concept.

So many people are booking that half the dining room is blocked out for the evening, which means if you do get a table the room is often half empty. But passengers are still turning up at the door and being turned away. "I guess we should book as well, but it kind-of loses the point of being Freedom," one man on a neighbouring table told me a couple of nights ago.

One of the problems is that the ship is packed with families who want Freedom dining, but two out of the three dining rooms are set aside for fixed dining. It wasn't always like that. When the ship launched, two out of three were set aside for Freedom dining, but the older - I'm guessing - passengers on the maiden voyages wanted fixed, so it was switched around.

And no one thought to change again when the passenger profile changed.

One evening my partner and I eventually ended up sharing a table for 10 with, um, two other people. We did look very lonely, especially with empty tables around us. They said one couple they met had asked for Freedom dining and been told they couldn't have it; another couple requested fixed and, yes, you've guessed it. They were told they couldn't have it.

The dual system works for Princess Cruises so guess it's just early days for Ventura. Im sure they'll get it right - but sooner would be better if they want to stem the moans I've heard.

I never really knew the correct time on Ventura. Reason? Every clock was wrong, some by five minutes, some by an hour, others by more still.

The problem was that passengers waiting by the lifts thought it a good joke to move the hands forwards or backwards. And yes, you could do that, I am reliably informed by someone close to me who shall remain nameless!

Not sure why the ones that were out of reach were so wrong.

But full marks to Hurtigruten. Fram, launched a year earlier has digital clocks on each deck that all show the correct time. Not so much fun, of course, but as my watch is invariably wrong at least I now know whether I am coming or going.

I see Trista and Ryan Sutter are to christen Ruby Princess in Fort Lauderdale on November 6.

OK I admit it. I'd never heard of them either, but according to the news release, the Sutters are one of the best-known romantic duos in broadcast history (maybe that should be US broadcast history?), having shot to fame after meeting and marrying on The Bachelorette, a reality TV programme that I guess doesn't need much explaining.

Princess Cruises senior vice-president Jan Swartz says the decision to invite the duo - who will be celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary - to do the deed is in keeping with the cruiseline's reputation for romance and reconnection (no I don't understand that last bit either).

If you're still bewildered, it's all to do with Love Boat, the long-running 1970's TV series that starred a Princess' ship. I don't remember it but plenty in the US do and it is almost a cult, I discovered, on a Seabourn cruise earlier this year. No wonder Princess keeps the link alive.

Just as everyone was thinking the new ship building boom was over - I refer you to a report on Tripso by Anita Dunham-Potter - sharp-eyed cruise watchers spot news on Aker Yards website saying MSC Cruises has ordered two more Musica-class ships.

Sisters to MSC Poesia, the ships will weigh 89,600 tons and carry 2,550 passengers and be delivered in Febrary 2011 and February 2012.

MSC notwithstanding, Dunham-Potter is surely right in predicted the end of the new ship boom As she points out, all the cruiseships on the shipyards' books bar the MSC duo - she estimates 35 vessels at a cost of $22 billion - were ordered before the price of fuel shot up and world economies shot down.

But does it matter that the boom is over, for a couple of years at least? We all love new ship launches, but I can't help thinking it will be a good thing to give the new capacity coming into the market time to settle - there are still 35 ships to come, after all, and two of those are Royal Caribbean's giant 5,400-passenger vessels.

Simple supply-and-demand economics also tells me that a shortfall in capacity means prices will go up. And higher prices surely are better for cruiselines and agents. Given that, I wonder whether MSC wouldn't be better to watch and wait until it starts to command higher fares.

Do we need more cruise ships? Let me know what you think.

Can Seabourn Odyssey be the luckiest ship about to launch?

As the ship sets off on its maiden voyage from Venice on June 24 next year, all 450 passengers on board will be named godparents (guess it can't be a traditional godmother because some will be men!). Birthdays are going to be like, well, Christmas.

I'm sure the passengers will consider themselves ultra-lucky as their names will be inscribed on a plaque for all to see. Quite an honour and definitely worth the few thousand dollars they have probably spent.

Wonder if they will be eligible for the occasional free cruise, just like traditional godmothers?

So this is it. The day Royal Caribbean, travel agents and hopefully the British public have all been waiting for. Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship ever built goes on sale at 1pm UK time.

This ship is longer than four football pitches, higher than Nelson's Column - 220,000 tons and with room for 5,400 passengers.

Royal is moving staff from other areas into reservations to cope with an expected 50% more bookings than on its previous busiest sales day. Senior managers have been drafted in to deal with booking inquiries and Jo Rzymowska, associate vice-president and general manager, has promised to make the tea.

Some £1 million has been set aside to make sure this behemoth sells. It's going to be a long day.

Either I've not been paying attention or this is new. Passengers who book one of the 99 suites in the VIP Yacht Club on MSC Cruises' new MSC Fantasia, launching December, have soft and alcoholic drinks included in the price.

Suddenly it becomes a lot more attractive!

Yacht Club people also have 24-hour butler service, a VIP swimming pool, hydro-massage pool, solarium, lounge and direct access to the spa.

The ship holds a massive 3,959 passengers and takes pride of place in MSC's new 2008/09 brochure. It will be sailing the Med - the maiden voyage is an eight-night Christmas cruise, then there's a New Year sailing and 12-night itineraries out of Genoa.

How much extra does it cost for the Yacht Club? Unfortunately my press release skips over the money bit and as I'm away and it's now 7am in the morning UK time, I can't find out.

If anyone can enlighten me, I'd love to know.

MSC Cruises has not only found the money to buy two new Musica-class ships - 93,000 tons and 3,013 passengers - but they have already been named. MSC Meraviglia and MSC Favolosa, to be delivered 2011 and 2012.

I just hope the names sound better when spoken by an Italian!

Agents who make three confirmed bookings of seven nights or more with Celebrity Cruises before September 28 will be entered in a draw to win a cruise for two on the new Celebrity Solstice as part of a Celebrity's autumn campaign. There are also 10 runners-up prizes worth £500 each.

Celebrity Solstice is the ship with a real lawn on the top deck and live glass-blowing. It launches in November, offering seven-night cruises around the Caribbean.

To stand a chance of winning, agents need to make the bookings and then fill in the entry form at www.cruisingpower.co,uk

Seatrade Insider reports that a contract dispute between Norwegian Cruise Line and Aker Yards could affect the delivery of NCL's first 4,200-passenger ship, code-named F3, scheduled for early 2010.

It's a confused story, with Aker Yards on the one hand saying work on the first F3 is on-going, likwise discussions with NCL, but refusing to confirm the delivery date, and unnamed sources saying the F3 newbuild is not going ahead.

NCL says it will not comment on commercial or legal matters. Unfortunately that only heightens speculation that the story is true.

Good news for all agents who are going to miss seeing Celebrity Cruises' new Celebrity Solstice - this is the one with the real lawn and the first new Celebrity ship for six years - which comes out of the shipyard in November and goes straight to the US/Caribbean.

Jo Rzymowska, managing director for Celebrity Cruises UK and Ireland, tells me that the next Solstice-class ship, Celebrity Equinox, will be making a first stop at Southampton when it leaves the shipyard in Germany next August.

After the trade has had time to see it, Equinox will be picking up its first paying passengers in th south coast port for a cruise to Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, where it will be based for the rest of the summer alongside Solstice, which comes back to Europe after an inaugural season in the Caribbean.

Two new Celebrity ships in the Med? That's confidence for you.

Incidentally, I'm lucky enough to be one of a select few from the UK going on board Solstice at the end of next week as it sails out of the shipyard at Meyer Werft and down the River Ems to Gandersum, so keep an eye out here for my first impressions.

When P&O Cruises launched Ventura this April, it was all about kids. Noddy, Mr Bump and racing cars around a Scalextric track (although having seen them clustered around the table, I reckon that's really for the dads!).

Apparently when sister ship Ventura II is launched - at the moment known as Hull 6166 but I prefer Ventura II until the real name is revealed at the keel-laying on October 27 - things might be different.

At a dinner this week, P&O Cruises managing director Nigel Esdale said the new vessel, which launched in 2010, could have a different appeal.

He said launching Ventura, P&O Cruises' biggest ship, had created challenges, which in turn have led to some on-board refinements.

For instance, I am told by a colleague who attended that they will now be using empty tables in the Club Dining restaurants - that's where the fixed diners eat - to accommodate passengers on Freedom dining (Freedom diners have been facing over-long delays getting a table in the evening) and using themed buffets in the self-service to draw people away from the dining room.

It's probably not an ideal solution, but it's a positive response to the moans from passengers that have filled websites this summer and shows the bosses have been listening.

"We're learning, we're refining, we're changing some of the emphasis, changing some of the service styles, moving some of the manning around, experimenting with some of the flows around the ship in terms of the schedules of the shows and activities."

Aker Yards in France has broken ranks and spoken of its dispute with Norwegian Cruise Line over the cost of NCL's two 4,200-passenger ships, codenamed F3.

Seatrade Insider says Jacques Hardelay, president of Aker Yards France, has confirmed there are issues over construction costs.

In projects with this magnitude of complexity, we have in this industry several examples that discussions arise during the project execution. We regret that we have a situation with a dispute.

Earlier Seatrade reports spoke of a meltdown in relations between Aker Yards and NCL and said Aker Yards had approached other cruise lines to take over the building project.

Hardelay says building work is going on, but other reports suggest the yard has stopped work on the F3s.

NCL is officially saying nothing but Travel Pulse say the company has told employees that the first F3 ship order has been cancelled (backed up in the comments section by a mother of an NCL officer, who says all the crew were told last week) and a decision has not been taken on whether to proceed with the second ship.

Travel Pulse also reports that NCL has called off its search for a sales executive to replace Andy Stuart, who was moved left, right or up (not sure which) to oversee the F3 project. It speculates he could be about to return to his old role in charge of sales and marketing. 

Some in the industry have suggested that it would be a good thing if the order were cancelled because it would mean less capacity in the market from 2010, when the two ships were due to launch.

Maybe, but what a large dollup of egg NCL bosses would have on their collective faces after the great song and dance they made about these ships and how they were so different. If the reports are true, seems they are just too different - no theatre, wavy cabins - for other lines to be interested.

This is me on the lawn on Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice this weekend - one of the first people allowed to stand on the green stuff as it was only laid last week - at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, the day before it left the yard to sail up the River Ems for eight days of sea trials.

There's an amazing half-acre of grass that passengers will be able to go putting or picnicking on, even play croquet. Royal Caribbean's Cruises chairman and CEO Richard Fain, who was over from the US for his monthly visit to see how the build is going, tells me the grass was chosen after much research to withstand Caribbean sun, saltwater and lots of feet.

Moreover, each sod has been carefully washed so there are no ants, spiders and other crawly bugs lurking beneath the grass.

Fain - whose had the idea of putting real grass on the ship - saw it laid for the first time last Fridau, just a day before me, and admits he was "blown away".

What happens if it rains? I asked. People will get muddy shoes, Fain replied. Ah, of course.

This was the view awaiting me as I arrived at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, on Saturday afternoon. The Germans and Dutch had turned up in their thousands to see Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice - and as they had the camper vans they were ready to wait. They even had what sounded like a live band to entertain them Saturday night.

This is actually only about half of the number of camper vans parked up waiting to see the ship leave the yard and head off down river for its sea trials.

We were supposed to leave Saturday evening but in the end it left about 1pm Sunday. All to do with the wind and water levels in the river. By the time I left the ship at 11am Sunday, another car park had filled with new arrivals and an overflow car park was starting to fill.

Now that's what I call true Celebrity.

Entertainment staff "flying" over the audience in the theatre, a floor to ceiling wine tower in the main dining room and dancing fountains. These are just three of the "wow" features on Celebrity Cruises' new ship Celebrity Solstice - apart from that grass, of course!

The ship was not finished when I was on board this weekend, and to my untrained eye there looks to be a lot more work to do, but apparently it is 97% ready.

The plastic protective sheeting on the carpets and stairs has to be to be lifted, furniture has to be unpacked and put in situ, there are more paintings to hang, bits that need painting. And at the end of it all, one hell of a cleaning job.

But despite all this, it is easy to see that Celebrity has done a very good job with this ship. There are lots of big open spaces, plenty of rooms to swallow up the 2,850 passengers and some really smart design ideas.

My favourite has to be the Grand Epernay dining room, a vision of white and silver, light, bright and modern, a welcome change from the heavy decor favoured by so many cruiselines. At one end is the wine tower, a name that hardly does justice to this giant piece of art in which wine will indeed be stored and which will have wine "angels" to fetch bottles from the top level.

Sky lounge is also lovely; more silver, more light and bright, and the water feature in the solarium is captivating. There's another fountain by the pool; apparently they may even have party nights up there and allow passengers to dance in the water. Whatever turns you on.

I was much more excited by a suggestion that the ents team could teach passengers how to "fly" in the theatre. Ocean Village does something similar with the trapeze but sadly that looks like a no-go for the Americans. Health and safety strikes again.

As Celebrity's biggest ship, it's no surprise that Solstice has more speciality restaurants than any other vessel in the line's fleet. Fixed dining in Blu for health-conscious passengers in the Aqua-class cabins, a steak house, reached through a "barrel", an Asian fusion restaurant that will serve big plates of food to share, a 24-hour bistro with soups, sandwiches, crepes.

But there are also a few design faults. The bathrooms are spacious but the loo roll is in the wrong place, the bedside tables are just about big enough for a book - nowhere for my alarm clock and lotions and potions - and there is no main light switch by the bed. In fact I only learned in the morning how to switch off the main lights while leaving on the bedside light on.

I suspect they will be handing out leaflets at check-in to stem a run of questions or risk a spate of broken toes as passengers struggle to get into bed in the dark. Where are the health and safety people when you need them?

With Celebrity Solstice off doing its sea trials around the North Sea, workers at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, are turning more attention to Celebrity Cruises' Solstice Number 2, otherwise known as Celebrity Equinox, pictured here behind me.

The ship, a sister to Solstice, launches in July 2009 and will make a first call in Southampton so UK agents and prospective passengers can get a look, before it sets off on its inaugural cruise from the UK to Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, for what remains of the summer season sailing in the Med.

All the talk at a meeting at Royal Caribbean HQ in Addlestone, Weybridge, yesterday was about the new ships - Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice and Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.

But this wasn't the usual stuff about Central Park, Boardwalks and zipwires, but rather a day for the techies to find out some behind-the-scenes stuff about these ships.

About the wonders of non-toxic silicon paint on the hull, for instance, how they will be using waste heat from the engines to heat water, how common rail diesel engines have been fitted as they are more efficient and reduce emissions, how air-conditioning and lighting is cleverer, so it uses less energy and so helps the environment.

The air-con changes mean there will be a 25%-30% improvement in energy efficiency (personally I would just turn it down - or is it up? - so passengers don't freeze, but maybe that's too simple) while lighting-related energy consumption will fall 40%.

We learned that Solstice has 500 square metres of solar panels, which will provide enough energy to power the passenger lifts - all the jokes about being stuck in the lift when the sun goes behind a cloud illustrates why they won't actually be used for that purpose!

We also learned that the pipes sticking out of the funnel on Oasis are telescopic, allowing them to disappear inside the funnel to allow the ship under low bridges.

True, you don't get that many bridges in the ocean, but without this cute mechanism the ship couldn't get out of the Baltic - it is being built in Finland - or into New York.

Cue more jokes .... but I'll leave you to work that one out for yourselves.

At the meeting at Royal Caribbean HQ yesterday, it emerged that the grass on Celebrity Solstice is sitting on a bed on clay and limestone rather than "dirt", as the Americans call soil, to disuade any crawly things from taking up residence and avoid problems with customs people worried about the ship-born diseases. It will survive on the nutrients watered into it.

After many months of searching and trialing - they even had a patch of grass in the car park at HQ in Miami - they decided on a grass from Austria, which is reckoned to be tough enough to withstand hot Caribbean sun, Mediterranean summers, salty air and being stomped on by thousands of feet.

It was transported in refrigerated lorries from Austria to the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. Eighteen hours from "harvest" to being laid.

"Ice rinks on a ship? Now that was easy," said Harri Kulovaara, Royal Caribbean's executive vice-president maritime.

Kulovaara also revealed that when Royal Caribbean built Song of America (now Thomson Destiny), in 1982, the designers reckoned it was as big as a cruise ship could go. It was 37,773 tons and held 1,450 passengers. Oasis of the Seas, launching next year, is 225,000 tons and will hold 5,400 passengers.

Just goes to show you should never say never.

I guess it had to happen. A cruise ship launching with a 4D cinema - the 4th D being where they shake you, spray you with water and blasts of air. The first film I was ever all shook up over was that masterpiece of the silver screen, Earthquake.

Disaster, death and destruction. Just what you want to take your mind off the fact that you are at sea, miles from anywhere on a lone cruise ship, at the mercy of the deep blue sea!

The cinema will be on AIDAluna, a 2,050-passenger vessel being built by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, for German cruise line AIDA Cruises - which is part of the Carnival Corp empire - and launching next April.

Anyone booking a suite in Ruby Princess will be able to start the day with a peaceful breakfast in Sabatini's, away from the madding crowd in the self-service or the main dining room.

It's a great idea - makes suite passengers feel special and means a few less people for the morning scrum - and one of several new features making their debut on Ruby, Princess Cruises' new ship, launching next month.

On sea days, for instance, they will be serving a British pub lunch in the Wheelhouse Bar (ploughman's or bangers and mash anyone?) and they are adding cheese to the menu at Vines wine bar - 12 varieties will be available each day for a "nominal" fee.

The Scholarship@Sea programme is being expanded so passengers can learn new skills, such as the art of entertaining, navigation, astronomy (I guess those two go quite well together) and how to mix a cocktail.

There will be "misting" stewards around the pool to help passengers keep their cool, more audience-participation entertainment (karaoke is bad enough, so dread to think what this will entail) and a Wizards Academy for kids.

Best news for me, though, is that wifi will be available in the cabins - no more trudging down to the atrium with a laptop, hunting around for a seat next to a plug. They are also adding the connections needed for passengers to use their mobile phones while at sea. Another very welcome addition.

Princess will no doubt wait to see how all this is received, but I think we can expect most of it to be rolled out to Ruby's sisters, Crown Princess and Emerald Princess, if not other ships in the fleet, in very quick time.

The Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, officially handed Princess Cruises the keys for Ruby Princess yesterday and the ship set sail for Fort Lauderdale.

It will be named on November 6 by Trista and Ryan Sutter from the ABC TV show Bachelorette, who will also be celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary.

I am among the UK contingent going to see the ceremony and enjoy a two-night cruise on the ship. Keep watch here for my first impressions.

It's official. Celebrity Solstice belongs to Celebrity Cruises.

The keys were handed over on Friday and the ship is now on its way to Fort Lauderdale, where it will be named on November 14 after a mini-cruise to nowhere. Celebrity promises "formal ceremonies" but details of the naming are under wraps.

I'll be there and keeping you updated on the pros, cons and the naming itself so keep watching TW's Cruise Lines.

P&O Cruises next new ship will be called Azura.

The keel for the vessel was laid today. The ship will be floated out in summer 2009 and delivered to P&O in spring 2010. That's barely 18 months for a 3,100-passenger cruise ship to grow from a lump of metal into a vessel setting off on its maiden voyage. I don't know how many keel-layings and new ships I've seen, but I still find it amazing.

I was among a small group of British journalists supposed to be at the keel-laying ceremony today at Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard in Trieste, Italy, but the event was called off last week because of the tragic death of a worker on the Ruby Princess.

Azura's first section laid weighs 650 tons and is made up of six pre-manufactured blocks ready-fitted with piping. In all, 50 sections and several interconnecting steel blocks will be used to build the ship.

There have been hints that Azura will not follow sister ship Ventura down the big-for-families route, but for now all speculation remains just that. The next news bulletin is on November 25.

A Californian couple will be adding a new twist to the "I name this ship" stuff during the Ruby Princess naming ceremony in Fort Lauderdale next week, saying "I do" as they become the first couple to tie the knot on board the new Princess Cruises' ship.

Trista and Ryan Sutter, who met and married on US TV five years ago, will be doing the naming honours and also acting as the new couple's attendants (I am guessing that's a US version of a witness).

The Sutters say they will be coaching the couple to be on how to make the wedding special and intimate. Intimate? When the wedding and naming will be on the Princess website the next day. Who are they kidding?

By the time you read this, I'll be on my way to Miami for the celebrations to welcome Princess Cruises' new ship Ruby Princess.

There's a naming ceremony in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, followed by a two-night cruise to nowhere, which will be a great chance to experience Ruby's facilities.

I'll be reporting back so watch here and in Travel Weekly for news and pictures.

I hope to be discovering lots of new features on Ruby Princess today, but let's not forget some of the favourites for which Princess Cruises is so well known.

This is my favourite - The Sanctuary, an adults-only area at the top of the ship where Serenity Stewards (yes, that's really what they are called) are on hand to look after you.

And here's the Movies under the Stars area. You can just make out the picture ... a repeat of the 1970's US TV show Love Boat, the show that put the romance into Princess.

It was a very red evening on Ruby Princess as Trista and Ryan Sutter, godparents to the new Ruby Princess, pressed the button and smashed the bubbly, watched by Carnival Corp chairman Micky Arison, Captain Tony Yeomans and Alan Buckelew, president and CEO of Princess Cruises.

They call it the Ultimate Ship Tour. Ultimate Ship Snore, I thought, when reading about this new feature on Ruby Princess. Yet there I was, in line to get a taste of what it's all about during our two-day cruise to nowhere on the new ship last week, little knowing I was about to be enthralled and forced to eat a substantial slice of humble pie.

The real tour lasts about two and a half hours and takes you to all kinds of places you never knew you wanted to visit - the ship's laundry, print shop, medical centre and photo lab. We didn't get to stop at these but all necks were craning as we walked past tantalising open doors. We really did want to visit them after all.

What we did get to do was climb into the funnel - no I didn't know what that was all about either, but look at a picture of a Princess ship and focus on the grill on which the logo is mounted; I was behind there. The pictures below were taken inside of the funnel, the bottom one looking out through the grill.

We went up to deck 18, but there are ladders right up to deck 21, 60 metres above sea level. No, was the short answer when I asked it we could go to the top.

Then we went down to the engine control room, the heart and soul of the ship, according to chief technical officer Robin Sutherland, who gave us a fascinating insight into the ship's engines, propulsion and the hi-tech waste water systems.

Yes I know it sounds nurdish, but it was really interesting - and I loved the idiot's guide to waste on the computer, which had a picture of a toilet to denote black water and a sink to illustrate grey.

Last stop was the food stores, where about 150 tons of eats and drinks is kept - that's just per cruise - and from whence comes the necessary bits to create around 20,000 meals a day.

Paying passengers will also visit the galley, where they will be served champagne, caviar and canapes and be presented with a chef's coat, go back stage at the theatre and have bubbly and strawberries on the Bridge, and their picture taken with the Captain.

All that for a cool $150 per person, which sounds a lot but as only 12 people per cruise will get to do it, I reckon passengers will snap it up, if only because it is so exclusive.

After all, how many people do you know who have been in a cruise ship's funnel? The folks at home can't help but be impressed.

Anyone who read my blogs from Crown Princess this summer will know I am a big fan of the "street" entertainment they put on in the Piazza, aka the atrium, because of the way it brings the area alive.

There were some great acts on Crown and the ones on Princess Cruises' new ship Ruby Princess were just as good. Here are acrobats Vitalli and Dani doing their muscle-man stuff and comedy juggler Nick Pike doing his thing on a unicycle with a little help from a passenger. All good, honest fun you can dip in and out of, which I much prefer to the big production shows with mediocre singers and dancers who take themselves so seriously.

Another week, another ship launch. This time it's the turn of Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice, and again it's in Fort Lauderdale.

So after a day at home on Sunday and a day at World Travel Market yesterday, today I'm flying back out to Miami.

We've a two-day cruise before the naming so I'll be keeping you posted here and in Travel Weekly on how things are looking.

Another week, another new ship. This time it's Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice - the one with the real grass - which is hosting hundreds of agents and journalists from around the world on minicruises from Fort Lauderdale.

Last time I saw Celebrity Solstice, it was about to leave the shipyard in Germany and was full of bubble wrap and cardboard boxes. All that has now gone, leaving behind a classy-looking ship with some special touches.

My favourite has to be the solarium, pictured here, which has smart loungers and a few of these wonderful giant chairs.

The bottom picture shows some of the comfy loungers on the Solstice Deck, an exclusive area on deck 16 where only those who can be bothered to walk will find. It will either be empty because no once can be bothered; more likely though, there will be some battle royales as passengers grab their place in the sun and refuse to shift for the rest of the day.

If you thought having a real lawn on a cruise ship was bizarre, how about this? A glass-blowing studio on Celebrity Cruises' new Celebrity Solstice where gaffers - apparently that's what the people who blow glass are called - can be seen plying their trade.

The oven is called the Glory Hole and is 1,120 degrees Centigrad. Fine on a cool, overcast day in the Med, not so much fun when the outside temperature is a sticky 80 degrees.

MSC Cruises says it took 47% more calls in October than in the same month in 2007, while bookings for the month were up 84%.

Managing director Giulio Libutti attributed the bookings surge to the fact the call centre is open longer and also on Sundays for the first time.

Apparently a lot of bookings are coming in for MSC Lirica, which is sailing the Baltic from Dover next summer, and the giant MSC Fantasia, which is being named in Naples on December 18.

This is the ship with the much-anticipated VIP Yacht Club - a separate area of the ship where top-paying passengers will enjoy butler service in their cabins, have a private swimming pool and observation lounge with bar. 

Is this the first casualty of the credit crunch?

Seatrade Insider reports that the "new" Orient Lines president and CEO Wayne Heller has cancelled the resurrected cruise line's first European season due to the current econimic climate.

"We are exploring possible options to relaunch our cruise program at a more favourable time in the near future."

The maiden voyage on Maxim Gorky, which has been renamed Marco Polo II, was supposed to be on April 15 from Barcelona.

Booked customers will receive a full and prompt refund.

Royal Caribbean International's giant Oasis of the Seas has to be seen to be believed ... and I was lucky enough to see it on Friday, at STX Europe's shipyard in Turku, Finland, where it was about to be floated out.

The Caribbean it wasn't, with snow and ice on the ground and freezing temperatures, but we were kitted out with big coats, steel toe-cap shoes, gloves and hard hats for a walkabout in the dry dock and on board - the first groups to get a glimpse of what this levathon will be like.

After a lightening tour of some of the key places on the ship, we were taken dockside, a cannon was fired - so loudly the ground shook! - and the sluice gates were opened, allowing water to touch the hull for the first time.

The gates were opened at about 5pm and the dry dock was expected to be filled by midnight so the ship could be sailed out to a new berth where the interior will be fitted out. They have just under a year to transform it from looking like a mass of steel and scaffolding, as below, into a luxurious cruise ship.

This is the Royal Promenade - the very same feature you'll find on the Voyager and Freedom-class cruise ship, except this one will be more than twice as wide as the "street" on those vessels. When finished, there will be a pub, shops, cafes and the amazing Rising Tide Bar.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines chairman and chief executive officer Richard Fain, who was guiding my group, said they decided they needed a lift to get passengers from the Royal Promenade to Central Park above and those little box things most of us manage with to get up and down floors was just too boring. So they are putting in a bar. Of course.

The idea is that it acts as a lift, but I can see passengers grabbing a stool for the evening and staying put.

Unless of course they are tempted away by the antics in the Aquatheatre at the back of the ship.

There is a pool, 17.9 feet deep (this one pool will hold more water than all the pools on the Freedom-class ships) surrounded by amphitheatre-style seating and with a bridge 10 metres above from which performers will be diving into the water. Sort of Cirque de Oasis, I guess. Apparently one show will have a row of divers going off the bridge all at once, which would be quite spectacular

When the pool is not needed for swimming, the bottom can be raised so it also becomes a dance floor.

These rectangular bars of metal on the pods on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas look a bit like those things tyre fitters use to balance your car's wheels.

In fact, they are sacrificial anodes and their job is to divert the corrosive attentions of salt water away from the pods they are positioned on. When their job is done, they are simply replaced. Quick, easy and a darn sight cheaper than replacing a corroded engine.

So simple. And apparently they really work too!

First stop on the way to the shipyard to see Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas was a bike shop in Turku where, in one corner, we were able to tramp through a mock-up of a standard version of one of the 28 new loft suites that will be on the ship.

Was this to keep it away from the prying eyes of the competition, I wondered? Who would think of looking in a bike shop? But no. We were told it was actually only because the factory happened to have a bit of space available. Sometimes fiction is so much better.

These loft suites are spectacular, two decks high and with a floor-to-ceiling glass window which looks out over the balcony and out to sea.

Downstairs there is a bathroom, dining table that slides out of the way after use and a sitting area with a flat-screen TV and sofa bed. It then opens out to the balcony.

Upstairs is a mezzanine with another bathroom, this one with a shower with his and hers shower heads - RCCL chairman and chief executive officer Richard Fain was amazed I'd never seen such a thing and then revealed he has a his and hers shower at his home and that it is very handy when him and her are different heights because you don't have to keep moving the heads up and down - and a double bed with a flat-screen TV that opens out of the ceiling.

Oasis of the Seas has such a lot of new things on board to thrill and excite passengers that the ship had to be the size it is just to hold them all, explains Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines chairman and chief executive officer Richard Fain.

Speaking at the float out of the ship, in a snow-covered shipyard in Turku, Finland, he said Oasis is one-third traditional Royal Caribbean, one-third evolutionary and one-third revolutionary.

The traditional is, for instance the Schooner Bar, which can be found on other Royal Caribbean ships. The evolution is the Royal Promenade, which is twice the width of the promenades on other ships, and will twist and turn instead of running in a straight line. The revolution is Central Park, a huge open area in the middle of the ship that will have real trees and shrubs, the loft suites, the Aquatheatre, zipwire and more.

"I know size is what everyone focuses on, but we didn't set out to build the world's biggest ship. Oasis is big because we decide what we want to put in and than wrap a ship around it. We don't just take rooms from other ships and make them bigger, but we add more, to give passengers the opportunity to do things they never would have thought of doing on a ship."

Fain revealed that he initially thought putting a rock-climbing wall on the Voyager-class ships was a really stupid idea, but went along with it because it was the least stupid idea he was presented with at the time. He now jokes that it was one of the best ideas he ever had ("that's one of the benefits of being chairman!").

Oasis of the Seas is now 65% ready. Its first sea trial is scheduled for June, with a second one in September.

It will weigh 225,000 tons (this is the shipyard's figure, which keen readers will notice is another 5,000 on the tonnage previously quoted), which makes it more than twice as heavy as an aircraft carrier, and carry 5,400 passengers.

Inside, there will be 5,000km of electric cable, 250km of pipes, 100,000 electric points, 90,000 square metres of carpet, 8,000 square metres of windows and there will be 2,300 metric tons of water in the pools. In all, it will be made up of about 500,000 individual parts.

Now Oasis of the Seas is out of the dry dock, the yard can start work on sister ship Allure of the Seas. The keel-laying is on December 2, with delivery slated for late autumn 2010.

P&O Cruises is going back to its core values of delivering a traditional British cruising experience with new ship Azura, launching next year.

The ship will be a sister to Ventura, managing director Nigel Esdale said, but it will not be the same. Crucially, instead of the big push for families that accompanied the launch of Ventura, Azura will be aimed at couples looking for "a serene holiday experience" that is unahamedly British.

"Azura will establish P&O as a contemporary brand that delivers a stylish large ship experience in tune with what the British want. British tastes will drive the decor, entertainment and shore excursions .... All passengers will be British so they need to be able to feel at home"

That's not to say families will be banned on this ship. Azura will have as much space devoted to kids and teens as Ventura, and Noddy and Mr Bump will be on board - as will bungee trampolines, high up on deck 19.

Azura will have an Indian restaurant, Sindhu, created by Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar (this will be where East is on Ventura) and a new restaurant-cum-wine-bar, The Glass House, being created with the help of TV wine expert Olly Smith.

There will also be a new fine dining restaurant - presumably where The White Room is on Ventura - but it has as yet no name, as well as the usual self-service outlets and dining rooms. There will be three dining rooms, with fixed and dine-when-you-like options available.

A couple of things have been "borrowed" from sister brand Princess Cruises - an adult-only Retreat on the top deck and an open-air cinema (respectively the Sanctuary and Movies under the Stars on Princess ships) - but new for P&O (in fact new for any cruise ship built this century) there will be single cabins. There are just 18, it's true, and they will carry a premium but nothing like the double occupancy price that many lines charge.

Also new are a couple of large suites suitable for families or groups of friends and designated spa cabins located near the Oasis Spa.

Michelin-starred chef Atul Kocchar, the man behind Sindhu, the Indian restaurant opening on P&O Cruises' new ship Azura, tells me his dishes will be Indian "with a British twist".

The "twist" being that there will be no hot curries, but rather a tasty use of spices. "What if some like it hot?" I asked, a little dismayed. We can cater for them too, Atul promised.

Atul said Sindhu will also be all about presentation. The food will look more attractive than the stuff dished out at your local Tandoori, with meat and sauces served separately so diners can see what cut of meat they are eating (I know what he means - I always go vegetarian at my local curry house, just in case....).

As well as creating the menus, Atul will be helping to design Sindhu and also training the staff who will work there, either by going on board himself or having one member of staff learn the ropes at one of his restaurants (he owns Benares in London, Vatika in Southampton and Ananda in Dublin) so he or she can teach the others.

Meanwhile, he is getting ready to embark on his first P&O voyage, in March or April next year, so he can see what this cruising lark is all about. "I've been on Ventura in Southampton and am confident this will work," he says. "The biggest challenge for me is not having an open fire."

And for that I think we can all be grateful.

Travelmole reports that Yachts of Seabourn is to name its second new ship, Seabourn Sojourn, in London, when it launches in June 2010.

The vessel will be the second of three sisters bring built by Seabourn. The first, Seabourn Odyssey, comes out of the shipyard in June 2009.

It's yet more proof of how much faith cruiselines have in the UK market, even in these credit crunching times, following hot on the heels of Celebrity Cruises' announcement a couple of weeks ago that it will be offering its first cruises from Southampton, aimed at British cruisers, in summer 2010.

Seabourn president and CEO Pam Conover said the UK has a large and loyal following of repeat cruisers from the UK and expects this to grow.

"In the long term, the UK represents a huge growth market for Seabourn as UK cruisers look for a more intimate, personal experience offering exceptional value for money, all of which can be found on our yachts." 

Considering its launch is only a year away, we know very little about Silversea's new ship Silver Spirit, which merits just two paragraphs on the cruiseline's website.

Compare that to Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas, which comes out at roughly the same time, has its own website and has already had journalists nosing around it in the shipyard.

But in response to a question about world cruising in 2010, I am told Silver Spirit will be sailing a Christmas voyage from Barcelona to Lisbon in December 2009, a transatlantic in January 2010 and a Grand Voyage around South America, starting in January 2010.

So now you know.

Apparently more information will be released in the next couple of weeks. I hope so. The ship carries 540 passengers and none can book unless they have some itineraries and prices.

MSC Cruises took delivery of MSC Fantasia in a ceremony at the STX Europe shipyard in France yesterday. The STX Europe and French flags were lowered and the flags of MSC Cruises, Italy and Panama were raised.

The ship has now left the shipyard and is sailing to Naples by way of Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona and Marseilles. It will be named in Naples by Italian diva Sophia Loren on December 18.

I'll be there to watch the ceremony and also staying on board for a two-night cruise to Genoa so look out next week for reports from the ship.

Costa Cruises has marked the start of its third season of cruising around the Gulf from Dubai by announcing new ship Costa Luminosa, launching in June 2009, will be homeported in the Middle East port in winter 2009/10.

That's quite a commitment given this is still such a new market. Usually, somewhere new has to put up with the smaller, older ships for quite some time, until they have proved themselves.

I guess Costa feels Dubai has already done that. When they launched Dubai cruises in winter 06/07, they had one 1,680-passenger ship and carried 44,000. Last winter they put on a second ship and carried 70,000.

This winter there are also two ships - the 1,680-passenger Costa Classica and the bigger 2,394-passenger Costa Victoria - and they expect to carry 100,000 passengers.

The numbers are made up of Europeans, including Brits, but also increasingly passengers from China and the Far East.

But maybe also Costa is making sure it is in a good position to head off competition from Royal Caribbean International, which is positioning Brilliance of the Seas in Dubai in January 2010, also to operate cruises around the Gulf.

The 92,700-ton Costa Luminosa carries 2,828 passengers and will have all the mod-cons you expect of a new ship including 772 balcony cabins, a luxurious spa, 4D cinema and Grand Prix driving simulator.

Rumours are that it is - or at least it is but for one ship instead of two, and at a much increased cost. But as usual Norwegian Cruise Line and STX Europe are not saying a word. Leaving us all free to continue to speculate.

I'll be in Naples in a few hours, to watch the naming ceremony for MSC Cruises' new ship MSC Fantasia.

As usual, Sophia Loren is doing the honours so there's no news there, but there should be lots to say about the vessel, which is the biggest MSC has ever built, with room for almost 4,000 passengers. So keep looking here for news and pictures.

Norwegian Cruise Line and STX Europe have broken their silence and announced an agreement on the building of NCL's new-build project, code-named F3.

The deal means instead of two vessels, as scheduled, the shipyard will now build only one of these 4,200-passenger ships. Delivery is scheduled for May 2010.

And that's all we know for now. NCL promises more info about what's on board another time.

MSC Cruises laid on an epic show for the launch in Naples of its second ship of the year, the 3,274-passenger MSC Fantasia.

Over the course of almost three hours, acrobats tumbled, drummers drummed, speeches were spoken and three of Italy's favourite singers warbled. I cannot tell you my relief when the cameras picked up godmother-to-be Sophia Loren and Gianluigi Aponte, the owner of MSC, making their way to the tent so she could do her naming thing.

It wasn't so much that it was an over-long show - although it was - but I was getting colder and colder as the evening wore on, despite the polythene tent they had erected quayside for the event and the big coat and gloves I had thought to take.

Ms Loren said a few words in Italian - probably something along the lines of "yes folks, I'm godmother yet again" (this must be the fifth or sixth MSC ship she has named) - before making her way over to the ribbon.

That should have been the moment she said "I name this ship", but that job fell to someone else - "she never says it," an MSC insider told me - the ribbon was cut, the bottle smashed and the tent filled with confetti.

It was the moment I had been waiting for and worth the wait, although I confess I missed the fireworks in my mission to get back to the warmth of the ship as soon as possible.

Job done. Now it's all hands on deck at MSC because in just seven months, it will be the turn of MSC Spendida, another 3,274-passenger ship, which is being named in July in Barcelona by... you guessed it, Sophia Loren. Talk about déjà vu. But at least it will be warm!

Eagle-eyed readers will note that MSC Cruises' new ship MSC Fantasia seems to have shrunk somewhat according to my blog entries, now holding 3,274 passengers where once it held almost 4,000.

I guess it's the ship equivalent of clever accounting. Most cruiselines "size" their ships on double occupancy, with a second higher figure to show the maximum that can be squeezed on with third and fourth berths in cabins filled.

MSC Cruises has always quoted the maximum occupancy in relation to MSC Fantasia - 3,959 passengers - but as that doesn't allow for proper comparisons with other ships I am now going to quote the double-occupancy figure.

I know it doesn't sound so big, but it means the space ratio rockets from 33.7 to 40.7. Which means there is more room for everyone. Surely a bigger selling point for Brits after a bit of peace and quiet?

MSC Cruises' new ship MSC Fantasia is beauty and the beast all rolled into one. From the outside big and boxy, really not very attractive, yet elegant and stylish inside. Not "the most beautiful cruise ship in the world", as MSC would have us believe (but they are biased, after all), but certainly a contender.

Interestingly, for this day and age, they have kept the design under control. Take the theatre. Grey seats, red carpet with white flecks, silver railings and a wavy ceiling. And that's it. No drapes, bright colours or wow. But it works. And it's huge, with room for 1,800 people, yet it has only two pillars to get in the way.

Deck seven is nice, with bars and coffee shops, each with their own style - the Manhattan Bar with brightly-coloured stripes around the bar and windows, the elegant liner-looking Transatlantico piano bar, the Wild West-themed Cantina Toscana, a wine-tasting bar outside the Tex Mex restaurant.

My favourite, the Piazza San Giorgio, is just below, on deck six, an "outside" piazza but indoors, complete with wrought-iron chairs and stone floor.

But things are not so great further up the ship. The VIP Yacht Club is the big new feature and fine, but nothing special. The cabin I saw was the same size as my non-VIP one but had a walk-in wardrobe and bathroom with a tub and shower (the shower is in the bath though).

I am told VIPs get toiletries while my cabin was notable for the absence of anything other than a couple of bars of soap and cheap shampoo in a dispenser.

On the VIP open deck area, tacky plastic sun loungers lower the whole tone of the place.

This water slide also caught my eye. Great fun for kids, but look where the slide ends. I hope no one slides very fast. The picture below it is the entrance to the French Restaurant, taken when it was shut I admit, but there is no name anywhere. Lots of people couldn't find it and no wonder. A shame, because it's quite nice inside.

I wondered whether I had listed my profession incorrectly when I opened the door to my cabin on MSC Cruises' MSC Fantasia. Having taken in the uber-red décor inside, I checked outside to see if there was a red light.

Seriously, it is a bit OTT - really the only thing that is OTT on the ship - but I rather like it. It gather all the decks have different colour schemes, green for deck nine, brown for 12 and so on. Makes life in the laundry a bit more interesting.

At a meeting at Royal Caribbean International's UK HQ in Surrey in October, I heard about the innovative "green" aspects of the giant new Oasis of the Seas.

I also heard how building was progressing fast, prompting me to ask if, as with other new ships of late, it would launch earlier than planned. Very unlikely, I was told.

I asked the question again in November, when I went to Turku for the Oasis float out and heard sea trials would be in June and September. Same reply.

But now - surprise - Royal Caribbean has announced that Oasis will indeed enter service earlier than originally scheduled.

A new four-night cruise departing December 1 2009 will call only at Labadee, Royal Caribbean's private island - to celebrate the opening of new facilities and excursions there - while the seven-night Eastern Caribbean inaugural will now depart December 5.

Anyone booked on the original December 12 inaugural has until January 11 2009 to switch to the either of the new sailings, or they can put the two new departures together to make a longer cruise and get $200 per cabin on-board credit as well.

Service at dinner that took so long the diners were not able to have dessert, poor foor - as in quality and temperature, crew trained only to say "is no possible".

It's hard to believe Matts' review of MSC Cruises new flagship MSC Fantasia on Cruise Talk could have been any worse. Oh, but then I neglected to mention the three and a half hours he waited to check in ( I refuse to use the word queue when discussing an Italian ship), unhelpful shore-ex staff and a refusal to serve iced water at dinner.

Can he really be talking about a cruise, where crew are always to polite and helpful, food is wonderful (hmmm -- always a moot point, I find) and the waiters usually try to drown you in iced water. Can he really be talking about MSC Cruises, which makes such a virtue of its Italian-ness, right down to the Italian crew?

Sadly yes, because I can relate to so much of what he said, both from previous experience with MSC Cruises - although I did think things were improving on MSC Poesia - and my two nights on MSC Fantasia after the naming.

Unlike Matts, I found the crew are trained to say "no" or "I don't know". Both usefully negative though and guaranteed to make you walk away in frustration so they don't have to do anything. Either that or they ignore you. I had two trawl three bars one evening before I could find one where the barman acknowledged my presence, let alone served me a glass of wine.

I will put in a good word for the spa though. The woman behind the desk took time and trouble to show me around. She even smiled. She was from Indonesia. Just a shame that with one day to go before paying passengers came on they did not even have brochures ready listing treatments and prices.

Reminds me of the time I was on board for the naming of MSC Musica. In the speciality restaurant - their first one, actually part of the self-service, but it looked the part - I asked to see the menu. "Not open" was the gruff response.

I tried again, pointing out I just wanted to see what they served. The answer was they didn't have any menus. But in fewer words. And yes, paying passengers were about to come on. Italians mainly, of course. I suspect either they have the magic words to get things done - or maybe they are just too used to chaos to care.

Was launching two ships in one year just too much? Seatrade Insider reports that MSC Cruises has decided to postpone the launch of MSC Magnifica until March 2010 but does not give a reason.

It's the second change for the yo-yo-ship. It was originally going to come out in March 2010, but the launch date was changed to December 2009, with a naming ceremony in Hamburg and an inaugural season in the Caribbean.

But now that inaugural season has been scrapped as well. Instead the ship will operate in the Med until September 2010, when it will reposition to New York, where MSC will have a debut season of autumn foliage cruises between the Big Apple and Quebec City. As winter 2010/11 draws in, it will move to Fort Lauderdale, and pick up on the seven-night Caribbean cruises.

MSC Cruises, you will recall, got last year's launches underway when MSC Poesia was named in Dover in April and also signed off the year with a naming ceremony in Naples for MSC Fantasia in December.

I wonder whether they felt Poesia had suffered because they were having to promote Fantasia before the former had even come out of the shipyard. Maybe after the experience in Naples, when we all froze watching the naming ceremony, they have decided Hamburg in December is not a good place to be. Could they just want to keep their euros in the bank a little longer?

It'll be interesting to see how Costa fares this year. They have two ships launching in 2009. The difference is they will be entering service so close together they are sharing a naming ceremony. So at least it makes sense to be talking about two new ships at the same time.

Bad news for all parents who had hoped that they were taking their kids on a cruise so they might learn a bit about the world. Nope. They will have their noses stuck in Playstation games, just as they did at home thanks to Costa's latest on-board addition.

I can just imagine it. Mum (thinking of all the money spent): "Remember that great cruise we did to Rome and Naples?"

Offspring: "Was that the one where I beat you all at SingStar. Awesooome."

I exaggerate of course. The reply will be a grunt as said offspring has his or her nose stuck in the same game because, joy of joys, the games are also for sale on board.

I suppose it's better than one of those cheesy family portraits people take home to show off to bored neighbours.

The Playstations will be on new ships Costa Pacifica and Costa Luminosa, both launching this year and due to be named in a joint ceremony on June 5.

You have been warned.

MSC Cruises next but one ship MSC Magnifica is well and truly on the way, having been floated out at the STX Europe shipyard in St Nazaire, France. The ship, a 93,000-ton sister to MSC Poesia, is due to launch March 2010.

The first 550-ton block for Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Eclipse was laid at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, last Friday. Only another 71 blocks to go and they will have something resembling a 122,000-ton cruise ship.

The ship is Celebrity's third Solstice-class vessel - the first, Celebrity Solstice, launched in Fort Lauderdale in November last year; the second, Celebrity Equinox, seen below in the shipyard, will be named in Southampton at the end of July, before it sails to Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, to complete the summer sailing Med cruises.

Celebrity Eclipse, launching summer 2010, will be based in Southampton, offering Celebrity's first ex-UK cruises for the British market.

Times might be tough for the cruise industry right now, but even a mean-old global recession can't dampen spirits when it comes to new ships.

In the past couple of days I've reported on the float out of MSC Magnifica and the keel-laying for Celebrity Eclipse. Now on Cruise Industry News Oceania bosses are talking about their new baby, Marina, being built now and launching in September 2010.

Oceania has some amazing offers out there - 50% off summer cruises, single supplements down to 25% - but are the men in charge worried at the thought of yet another ship to fill? And another after that (a sister ship is due summer 2011)?

Apparently not.

The new 1,260-passenger ship is a gift for anyone who likes food - eight places to eat, including a French country restaurant and Pan-Asian diner, and a secretive "culinary-related something" that isn't on any other cruise ship. My money's on a Chinese takeaway.

The ship will be sailing the Med in spring and autumn, the Baltic in summer, and the Caribbean, Amazon and Panama Canal in winter, freeing the smaller Regatta to do some offbeat destinations.

Homepage image: Jacob Lindner / WestEnd61 / Rex Features

After all the trials and tribulations Norwegian Cruise Line has gone through to get the F3 ship built, is it any wonder they have called it Norwegian Epic?

No sooner was the name out than the Cruise Critic message boards were buzzing. And the consensus? Sorry NCL. Most are not keen. One says, "I hope it grows on me" and I'm afraid I agree.

The good news is that once this 4,200-passenger Epic leaves the shipyard in St Nazaire, France, in May 2010, it will be stopping in the UK for some "spectacular inaugural events" so we Brits can become New Wave travellers in the curvy cabins and get our chills in the ice bar.

It will then head over the Pond to its new home in Miami, where it will be sailing alternating Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises.

Jami Sales, managing director of UncommonCruises.com, tells Travel Agent in the US that agents should get themselves "pumped up" about the new cruise ships launching this year "then pick up the phone and let clients know that something very exciting is going on - and that you want to be sure they know about it."

I'm with Jami on this. She might be talking about the US market but there's nothing British cruisers like better than to think they are among the first passengers on a new ship. And why not? We all love new things.

With nine new ships coming out this year (that's excluding three others not on sale in the UK), ranging from uber-luxury with Yachts of Seabourn and Silversea to fun in the sun with Carnival Cruise Lines, there's got to be one that appeals to everyone.

You can have big or small - sizes range from Viking River Cruises' 189-passenger Viking Legend to Royal Caribbean International's 5,400-passenger behemoth Oasis of the Seas - Italian style courtesy of Costa and MSC Cruises, or go green with Celebrity Cruises' next Solstice-class ship - that's the one with real grass on top. Anyone for croquet?

P&O Cruises must be breathing several sighs of relief now that wayward teenager Ventura finally seems to be settling down.

Head of brand marketing Philip Price tells me the ship achieved record satisfaction scores at the end of January, with 89% of passengers rating it excellent.

"As a brand we target 90% so this is fantastic. I know we have had some issues marrying the new and old but Ventura is bedding down and we are delivering an excellent product."

Within weeks of Ventura's launch last April, passengers were sharing horror stories on the internet about Freedom dining - namely that it wasn't working - and the lack of sun beds. I added my own voice to the moans in a report on the Telegraph website, pointing out that P&O seemed to realise there was a problem but seemed able to move fast enough to fix it.

But the fixers have done their job now, says Price. Evening entertainment schedules have been changed and there are now three shows a night so people don't all rush to eat at the same time, which has taken pressure off the Freedom dining restaurant.

"We have studied the flow of the ship and structured entertainments around them. Passengers don't have to rush to get to the theatre for 6.30pm or 8.30pm so waiters know they can slow service and dinner can be a more sedate affair."

When I was on, waiters were clearing plates with one hand and serving the next course with the other in their rush to clear tables, which did not make for a good dining experience.

If there is a rush of Freedom diners and space in the fixed dining rooms, they will be seated there rather than having to wait. Also, the Freedom dining room has stopped taking bookings - one of the things I complained about because it blocked out swathes of tables each evening - so it really is a turn-up-and-eat option.

In addition, the Beach House, part of the self-service, has been turned into a waiter-service New York-style diner in the evening with grills, pizzas, saleads and steaks, which has taken pressure off the Freedom dining restaurant and also the buffet.

Joy of joys, Price says you can now also walk up to a bar and get a drink. When I was on last July the order had to go though a drinks waiter, who would pass the order to the barman, who would give the drink to the waiter, who would eventually bring it to you with the bit of paper to sign - although sometimes that bit came later still. And all that happened even if there was no one else at the bar. Irritating? You bet.

Disgruntled sun worshippers now have 120 more sunbeds on deck 19, where the trapeze used to be. It's a shame it's gone as it was good fun, but I'm delighted to say the bungee trampolines have stayed - which is a good excuse for me to show you a picture of me on this modern-day instrument of torture.

When the ship gets back to Southampton for the summer season, P&O will also be replacing the giant tables and upright chairs on the balconies with reclining seats so passengers can sunbathe in their own private space. A sensible move that begs the question, why were they not put on in the first place?

I am going back on Ventura in May, on a cruise to Norway, and can't wait to see how all the changes are working. I'll keep you posted.

Just as I was posting comments from P&O Cruises head of brand marketing Philip Price about the changes on Ventura, my friend Phil Nuttall, the boss of specialist agency Cruise Village, was giving his own take on how things have improved after a cruise in the Caribbean this month. He was last on the ship in June last year, just two months after it launched.

His report is very detailed but the overall verdict is that the ship really has settled down and is delivering great cruises.

It's an interesting read, but what really caught my eye was Phil's report about the open day in the atrium, where passengers were able to try to spot a rogue bag on the security scanners, try their hands at making beds, even have a go "driving" Ventura on a ship simulator.

It sounds great fun but apparently only happens occasionally. I'm keeping all things crossed for my cruise to Norway in May. I've always fancied myself as Captain.

There's definitely a joke there - unless you are one of the many cruisers who book to be on a maiden voyage, only for another cruise to be slotted in before yours because your vessel is ready earlier than planned.

It's an understandable decision by the cruiselines - they don't want their ships sitting around when they could be earning money - but it is occurring with alarming frequency these days.

Ventura, Celebrity Solstice and Ruby Princess (pictured) all had new maiden voyages last year; earlier this year Royal Caribbean announced giant Oasis of the Seas would set off on its maiden cruise on December 1 - that's after they had sold an inaugural departing on December 12.

Now Celebrity Cruises has slotted in a new maiden cruise for Celebrity Equinox, a sister to Solstice, which is being named in the UK in July.

The new cruise is an eight-night sailing from Southampton to the Norwegian fjords priced from £999. It will be followed by the original inaugural cruise - a 10-night sailing from Southampton to Civitavecchia (the port for Rome).

It's not all bad news if you booked the Rome inaugural to be the first on board though. Celebrity says you can combine the two cruises in to an 18-night voyage and get $200 per stateroom ($300 per suite) on-board credit.

Don't all rush now.

Anyone tempted to book the new maiden voyage from Southampton to the Norwegian fjords scheduled for Celebrity Equinox will have to be quick.

A delighted Jo Rzymowska, Celebrity Cruises' associate vice-president and general manager UK and Ireland, tells me the cruise sold out within 24 hours of going on sale, either with confirmed bookings or options.

Within another 24 hours the res team was chasing passengers to see if they wanted the option or if they could release the extra space.

It bodes well for Celebrity Eclipse, a sister to Equinox, which will be based in Southampton in summer 2010 and offer cruises aimed at the UK market.

Thanks to computer wizardry, we are able to see what Norwegian Cruise Line's new ship Norwegian Epic will look like.

This 153,000-ton giant is being built at STX Europe's shipyard in St Nazaire, France, and launches May 2010. It will have room for 4,200 passengers and goes on sale this spring.

According to my Thesaurus, epic means 'larger than life', 'impressive' and 'ambitious'.

Two out of three ain't bad.

You'd have had to have been living on Mars for the past 12 months not to have heard about Central Park, the zipwire and Moving Bar on Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas launching in December.

But how many of you know what's going to be on Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Dream, which comes out in September? They have kept very quiet about it, but not only is it the biggest ship of the fleet - 130,000 tons and with room for 3,646 passengers - it will have some great features.

All the usual spas, kids' clubs, restaurants, of course, and also that latest cruise ship must have - a water park.

But hang on. This is no ordinary water park. We are not talking the usual fountains and jets, but a four-deck-high corkscrew water slide and a four-lane racing slide.

I wasn't impressed when I saw the water park on Carnival Splendor during its inaugural sailing from Dover last year but the one on Dream looks great.

I just dread to think what the queues will be like.

It's all systems go for Oceania Cruises, as the keel is laid for new ship Marina at Fincantieri's Sestri Ponente shipyard near Genoa, Italy.

The Oceania-class ship, the cruiseline's first new build, will hold 1,252 passengers - almost twice as many as the three other vessels in Oceania's fleet - in 626 cabins, of which 96% will have teak balconies. The ship will have six open dining restaurants. It launches next year.

At the keel-laying ceremony, Oceania's founder Frank Del Rio, now chairman and CEO of Prestige Cruise Holdings, Oceania's parent company, welded a US silver dollar and a pre-Castro silver Cuban peso into the keel of the new ship to ensure its good fortune. A steel block was then lowered into the dock.

Only another 54 to go and they will have a ship.

Del Rio is on the left, with Bob Binder, Oceania's president, on the right.

Considering the stuff Disney trades in, I guess we shouldn't be too surprised the cruise line picked Dream and Fantasy as the names for their two new ships. I just wish I had put money on it.

Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy will be launched in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Each is 122,000 tons and carries 2,500 passengers (but there's room for 4,000 with all the berths in use).

Steel cutting began last week at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, and guess who was there to help the day along?

Oh dear. Hasn't anyone got anything nice to say about Norwegian Cruise Lines' new ship, Norwegian Epic? I think it's safe to say it has made an impact -- but for all the wrong reasons, if comments on the Cruise.co.uk and Cruise Critic websites are anything to go by.

Maybe things will improve once it has the trademark NCL graffiti down the sides?

I see the lucky folk on Silversea's new ship Silver Spirit, cruising from New York to Southampton on an April/May transatlantic, will be calling at Plymouth, that well-known cruise mecca where Sir Francis Drake is said to have played bowls as the Spanish Armada approached.

I can't help wondering why. I was brought up "over the bridge" from Plymouth and can't think of a single reason to visit the place. The Pilgrim Fathers had the right idea. They left. And that was before the post-war architects got their hands on it and created an ugly concrete jungle.

Interestingly, next port after Plymouth is Southampton, so maybe there will be an opportunity for a few favoured guests to see the ship if there's no time when it comes out of the shipyard in December.

Plymouth aside, there are some great cruises in a new dedicated Silver Spirit brochure. An amazing 91-night Grand Inaugural round South America from January to April 2010, cruises through the Western and Eastern Med, into the Black Sea, lots of overnights in many of my favourite places - Sorrento, Venice and Istanbul.

The ship returns to the Caribbean at the end of October.

In less than four months, this ship - Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Equinox - will be shining like a new pin and in Southampton so would-be passengers and travel agents can get on board and take a look see.

The ship will leave the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, on June 19-20, when it will sail down the River Ems to Emshaven in the Netherlands, for some last-minute finishing off and sea trials. Celebrity Cruises takes delivery of the ship on July 16.

Celebrity Equinox is being named in Southampton; its maiden cruise is an eight-night voyage to the Norwegian fjords.

Richard Fain, chairman of Royal Caribbean Cruises, has started a cruise blog about new big ship Oasis of the Seas. This is the one that holds 5,400 passengers. He says it's taken him five years to write the first blog. He'll have to speed up a little. The ship is launching in seven months.

Royal Caribbean International hasn't even launched the giant Oasis of the Seas yet but already sister ship Allure of the Seas is going on sale.

Diamond and Diamond Plus members of the Crown and Anchor Society can book from April 2. Bookings open for all other Society members on April 8, and for the rest of us from April 13.

The maiden voyage is slated to depart on December 12 2010 - that's 12 months to the day after Oasis was supposed to launch (Oasis is now coming out early; the first cruise is on December 1).

There's more that's the same. Allure will be following Oasis of the Seas around the Eastern and Western Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale. Not surprising as there are only so many islands that can take these big ships, but not exactly exciting either.

It's hateful being the younger sister.

Disney Wonder is to move from Port Canaveral, Florida, to Los Angeles in 2011, making way for the two new ships, Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy, joining Disney Cruise Lines in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

An agreement was expected to be approved yesterday for the ship to operate from the Port of Los Angeles for three years, with an option to extend for another two years.

The move makes a lot of sense for Disney Cruise Line. With all the additional capacity coming along (each of its new ships will carry 4,000 passengers when all berth are full), it needs to explore new markets outside its traditional Port Canaveral base.

Los Angeles is a logical new homeport as it allows passengers to combine a cruise with a stay at Disneyland in Anaheim, but it is also testing the waters on this side of the pond again next year with a series of Scandinavian and Mediterranean cruises on Disney Magic.

For the Scandinavian cruises, the ship will be based in Dover - the first time a Disney ship has been in UK waters.

I was once told by one of the Disney people over here that the cruise line was not interested in the UK market because the ships could easily be filled with Americans.

Was she taking the Mickey? I don't think so, judging by the total lack of information about the cruise line that comes from the UK press office.

But times have changed and recession is upon us all, so now they might be pleased to have a few Brits filling their berths. Having a cruise ship in Dover is a terrific opportunity for them. I just hope they get their act together and spread a little Disney Magic so would-be cruisers and agents can get to see the ship.

Costa Cruises is inviting travel agents from around the world to come up with names for its next two ships, which I shall call numbers 16 and 17, for obvious reasons, launching in 2011 and 2012.

Has Costa run out of ideas? It says not. It's just a fitting token of thanks to the trade for helping to sell their cruises.

The three travel agents whose ideas are judged best will be invited to number 16's naming ceremony in 2011.

They will also get a Costa workstation, which comprises a computer with two screens, wifi keyboard and mouse, office chair, desk lamp and limited-edition pen holder, and the one agent who submits the winning pair of names will be invited on number 16's maiden cruise.

One or more pairs of names (because there are two ships, remember) can be submitted online any time before June 5.

In case it helps, the ships will be 114,500 tons and carry 3,780 passengers, and based on past experience I would suggest a name beginning with Costa. That's it. You're on your own now.

Anyone passing the Belvedere Restaurant in Holland Park, London, on Saturday must have wondered what on earth was happening. Instead of the silence of speechless diners forking out ludicrous sums of money for lunch and wine (of which more later), there was a gangway into the building and the screams of happy children emanating from inside.

This was Azura day - a brilliant few hours when some of the exciting stuff on P&O Cruises' new ship, launching April 2010, was on display for invited guests.

They had done a great job transforming the place for the event, with a Wii sport downstairs so we could practise our ski jumps and golf (and yes, there will be a Wii on Azura), and a kids' area next door (hence the happy screams). Upstairs, there was a spa and nail salon, and wine-tasting sessions.

I was treated to two spa taster treatments courtesy of Andrew - a much-needed neck, back and shoulder massage after a week of fun rock-climbing and failed crab hunting (we found five and two of them were dead!) in Cornwall and the much more exotic-sounding pada-abhyanga.

I've no idea how you say it, but it's one of three new ayurvedic treatments that P&O Cruises will be offering in the spa and was lovely. I had just 15 minutes in Andrew's hands; it didn't need much imagination to see that 30 minutes or so will be pure bliss.

Naturally I also made it to one of the wine-tasting sessions, hosted by TV wine guru Olly Smith, who is selecting the wine for the Glass House, a restaurant-cum-wine bar that will debut on Azura.

He dug out some great wines for us to try, from an almost cheap-and-cheerful £7.99 South African white (sold in the restaurant for about £79...see what I mean about the prices?), which I really enjoyed, and a £400 red (I didn't dare ask ....).

Olly will be selecting 72 wines available by the glass for the Glass House (as well as all the wine for the rest of the ship), which will be expertly matched to each course served there by the ship's sommelier.

Whoever he is, I'm sure he'll know his stuff, but I can't help thinking Olly will be sadly missed as much of the enjoyment of the session was in his inimitable presentation. He will be Azura on four times a year - and once on holiday! - so he can make sure everything is working OK.

My advice? Find out those dates and book one of the cruises. You'll hae a fun time and be able to bore your friends with your new-found knowledge about classy plonk.

P&O Cruises might not have achieved the bookings it was hoping for on day one of Azura being on sale, but managing director Nigel Esdale wasn't looking too glum at the Azura day on Saturday.

Especially when he revealed that the 29-night Christmas and New Year cruise, departing December 10 or 11 2010 and taking in 17 ports in the Caribbean, sold out in less than five days. That's 3,080 passengers booked - and the ship doesn't even launch until next April.

If you missed out, don't despair. They have started a waiting list. But with demand like that, you'd better get your name down fast.

It might win the award for ugliest ship of the decade, but I do like the sound of the additional restaurants Norwegian Cruise Line is planning for new ship Norwegian Epic, revealed last Friday, along with details of an aqua park, abseiling wall and big kids club.

There will be 14 places to eat on the ship, launching next July, including NCL favourites such as Cagney's Steakhouse, which will be serving skewered meats a la Argentina for the first time, the Teppanyaki Grill and an Italian farmhouse-style eatery....

...but also new places such as Shanghai's for Chinese food and Taste (pictured below), in the atrium, for traditional and contemporary cuisine. Exactly what that is, I have no idea, but I'm guessing European stuff, to go with the Euro retro-style decor.

For those who can't sit still, not even to eat, there is the Manhattan Room supper club with a big dance floor and live music so diners can strut their stuff between courses. Gives me indigestion just thinking about it, but I know it's popular and the room is apparently elegant and romantic.

More me is the abseiling wall - I'm terrified of heights, but I've always wanted to try abseiling - and the Epic Plunge water slide. Haven't a clue what it's all about but I get the idea it's the mother of all water slides at sea!

Epic will also have a 33-foot high extreme rock-climbing wall, a 24-foot tall climbing cage, and bowling alleys in the Bliss Ultra Lounge and O'Sheehan's Neighborhood (sic) Bar and Grill, another new eatery, with flat screens that will show sports events.

If all that's not enough to keep kids occupied, they can spend their days in Recess, for the two to 12s, with Wii games, karaoke, a cinema and more, or Entourage for teens ages up to 17, where there are video games by day and places to hang out in the evening.

There's more information about another restaurant and three new bars on Epic to be revealed May 20 in New York. Then that's it. All the news is out; we just have to wait for the STX Europe shipyard in France to build the ship.

It's Epic stuff. And now I know why the powers that be at NCL choose that name for the ship.

With just 12 weeks to go before Yachts of Seabourn takes delivery of Seabourn Odyssey, it's all hands on deck, so to speak, at the T Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, Italy, to the get the vessel ship shape.

I had a tour around the ship yesterday with Seabourn chief executive officer and president Pamela Conover and had planned to bring you pictures of the interior, but all there is to see right now are wires, dust and workmen.

Even the exteriors are far from finished - or so it appears to an unpractised eye. Conover tells me the shipyard is confident it will be ready on time.

This is me on the balcony of one of two Signature suites at the forward end of the vessel. It's not quite the biggest suite on the ship if you measure the interior - that honour goes to the two Winter Garden suites - but this balcony is huge. Just right for a party.

The balconies, of course, are the big change for Seabourn as its three smaller ships, Seabourn Pride, Spirit and Legend, only have so-called Juliet balconies - French windows for fresh air and a veranda you can just about get your foot on. Some 90% of staterooms on Odyssey will have balconies.

The other big change is the size of the ship. Odyssey is three times the size of Pride, Spirit and Legend, but - and I'm still trying to get my head around this now I've got a real feel for the size of the ship - it only takes twice as many passengers. The feeling of space will be incredible.

Despite all the wires, dust and noise, I could see this will be a lovely ship. I especially liked the Seabourn Square concept, where, instead of counters, there will be three guest relations desks manned by staff each doing the job of reception, booking tours and generally answering questions.

Around the Square, there will be a coffee-shop-cum-bar, a library and internet café where passengers can wait, and there will also be a roving tours manager and other staff who can answer queries in their area of expertise.

As on the other Seabourn vessels, there will be a marina at the back of the ship - inside this hole. When sea conditions allow, a platform opens so passengers can try their hand at a few watersports - waterskiing, windsurfing, sailing and so on.

After the tour, I went to a warehouse somewhere close by to the shipyard, where there is a mock-up a suite and a penthouse. The top picture is part of the standard suite, the next three pictures are a penthouse - the sitting area, bedroom (note how you can look through to the sitting area and balcony from the bed - except the balcony curtains are shut because... well it is just a warehouse) and the huge bathroom.

Then finally it was off to Portofino, one of the most beautiful places I know, for a night at the Hotel Splendido. I have looked at this property wistfully from afar a few times, while walking between Portofino and St Margherita, but never been inside before. It's more Magnifico than Splendido - below is the view from my balcony. Make sure you come with the one you love.

After writing I didn't understand the written explanation of what the Epic Plunge on the Norwegian Epic was all about, I was kindly pointed in the way of the presentation last week that revealed all.

Put it on and go and make some tea because the bit you want is at the end and the rest is long and cringe-worthy - a jokey presentation to an almost silent audience. It doesn't work.

If you can't be bothered to wait, basically you sit in a rubber tube, get shot out into this big bowl which the tube will circle a few times (centrifugal force and all that) before you go through the hole in the middle. It does look amazing - it's the purple slide in the picture - and a lot of fun. And as a friend pointed out, no skill is required so it is something everyone can do.

As the (none-too-impressed) readers of Cruise.co.uk point out, though, the big "reveal" last Friday, which included detail about most of the restaurants on the new Norwegian Epic, left a lot of questions unanswered. Like which of the 14 restaurants will you have to pay for? And how much?

My question is whether there be a charge to go on the Epic Plunge? And if not, how will they control queues?

Block 642, known as the pointy bit to us cruising types, oh OK then, the bow, was lowered into place on Norwegian Cruise Line's new ship Norwegian Epic yesterday.

It took 100 workers at the STX Europe shipyard in St Nazaire, France, about two hours to get the block, weighing 445 tons and measuring 85 feet long by 108 feet wide and 30 feet high, into place. Here's the speeded-up version.

Everyone at Royal Caribbean Cruises must be breathing several sighs of relief after securing funding for Oasis of the Seas.

The 220,000-ton 5,400-passenger behemoth is costing an eye-watering $1.4 billion and up until yesterday Royal didn't have the money.

And there's me worrying about paying my credit card bill.

When chairman Richard Fain wrote his blog "Thanks a billion" yesterday, I'm sure it came straight from the heart.

I was surprised when last year I learnt that funding for new ships is usually the last thing the cruiselines worry about. It would be pretty high up on my list of considerations. But it has been taxing Royal Caribbean somewhat earlier than usual because, as Fain points out, "these are not normal times and normal financing is abnormal today".

And they might have only wanted 80% of $1.4 billion, but that's still rather a lot of money.

Anyone interested can read the details of the deal on Fain's blog. Suffice to say the banks, Finnish government and shipyard have come together and provided the financing.

I know there were many observers who thought we would have trouble arranging this financing ... but we always thought those concerns were naïve - those naysayers underestimated the financial value of the ship; they underestimated the strengths of our relationships with Finland and with our bankers; and they underestimated the determination and ability of our team to make it happen.

Is this man Mr Cool or what?

Onlookers at the keel-laying ceremony for Holland America Line's Nieuw Amsterdam didn't just have an unidentifiable lump of steel to look at, but also the front section of the ship, which was constructed in Fincantieri's Sestri year near Genoa and floated around Italy to Fincantieri's Marghera yard near Venice.

The section of keel was lifted into the dock and joined to the front section. A few more such building blocks and they will have an 86,000-ton, 2,106-passenger ship, which is scheduled for delivery in late June 2010.

The interior design of the new Nieuw Amsterdam - a sister to Eurodam, which launched last year - will refect the glamour and history of New York, called Nieuw Amsterdam in the 16th century when it was a Dutch colony.

It will be the fourth Holland America ship to carry the name. The first was launched in 1906, the second served as a troop ship in the Second World War. Nieuw Amsterdam number three launched in 1983, weighed 33,930 tons, carried just over 1,200 passengers and now sails for Thomson Cruises as Thomson Spirit.

I am so glad to read that I am not the only one who looks at a cruise ship under construction and sees, well, a building site.

In his latest blog on the progress of Oasis of the Seas, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' chairman Richard Fain admits it's very frustrating that all he can really ever see when he visits the shipyard in Turku is scaffolding. Do they put it up just because he is coming? It love the image and just wish I could draw the cartoon!

For Fain, seeing the ship as a building site must be like buying clothes without seeing if they look good. He's about to fork out $1.4 billion to pay for this little bundle of clothes.

However, he does say that the Diamond Club lounge is taking shape and uses the moment to admit - sort of - that Royal made a mistake by changing the rules and taking away Crown and Anchor Diamond members' (10-24 cruises on Royal) access to the ships' concierge lounges on ll but the very biggest ships.

Lounge access meant a nightly happy hour with free alcohol and a concierge to book spa treatments, shore excursions and the like. As a replacement, they were offered one party night per cruise with free drinks.

The official reason given for restricting access to Diamond-plus members (25 or more cruises with Royal) is that the lounges are getting too full. Strangely, most Diamond members believe it's all to do with money. Give away less booze, profits go up. Simple economics really.

Such was the opposition - check out Cruise Critic to see just how strongly people felt about this - that Royal has been forced to make concessions. First the changes won't happen until September 1. Second, there will now be a nightly party, from 5pm to 8pm, with free wine and champagne, and 25% off the price of other drinks. Diamond members will also have their own continental breakfast area.

Fain attributes the "brouhaha" to the "value" loyal Crown and Anchor members "put on a place where they could relax and enjoy themselves in the company of other similarly minded souls".

No Richard. They were just annoyed that you were taking away their free drinks.

But back to Turku. Because Oasis of the Seas is so big - 220,000 tons with room for 5,400 passengers - it will have a very big Diamond Club lounge so even mere Diamond members will be allowed in.

I can now attest that Oasis' Diamond Club is a major step forward. The actual location and space are terrific.

I suggest Diamond members cruise only on Oasis (and sister ship Allure of the Seas when that launches next year). That way their problem is solved. Until the goal posts move again.

So Royal Caribbean International is putting a "real" Broadway show on new giant ship Oasis of the Seas? Could this be the start of something new for cruiselines?

The Oasis' Hairspray will be its own version of the Broadway show (currently playing London's West End) that shot to fame recently when it was turned into a film with John Travolta in a fat-suit and drag.

Crucially, it will be shorter and feature the ship's own singers and dancers rather than Travolta or any other celeb.

I just hope they don't murder it and Royal resists charging.

I can't be alone in welcoming the fact that instead of the usual mish-mash of songs from the shows strung together and presented as Broadway-like, there will be a real show with a real plot.

Did I say plot? Actually that's a bit of an exaggeration. There's a message in there about race relations but really it's a vehicle for lots of singing and dancing and for everyone to have a good time.

But that's what makes it so perfect for a cruise ship. Somehow Jesus Christ Superstar just wouldn't be the same.

A team of experts is reviewing how wind might impact the guest experience on Oasis of the Seas.

A quick word with the chef surely would suffice?

And then I realised it's not that sort of wind.

The next Oasis webisode from Royal Caribbean will feature the cruiseline's engineers, partners and designers reviewing and deliberating how the wind might impact passengers on the outer decks while the world's largest cruise ship is at sea.

Before you get too excited, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the cruise buffs discuss the solutions and testing process the 220,000 gross tonnage ship has undergone.

You've no doubt already seen news that The Blue Man Group will be performing on Norwegian Cruise Line's new ship Norwegian Epic.

I was one of the lucky few from the UK to go out to a steamy New York (temperatures in the early 80sF) for two nights this week to hear first hand the last big news about what is going to be on board this mega 4,200-passenger ship when it launches in July 2010.

Our first full day started with a trip to the Top of the Rock - the observation deck at the top of the Rockefella Plaza. The original deck's design was inspired by the ocean liner's of the era (there's the cruiseing link!), complete with deck chairs.

They've long gone - the Observation Deck was shut for 20 years and reopened in 2005 after renovation work - but it's definitely worth a visit if you're in town, for the magnificent views.

The guys from NCL laid on a great event, attended by around 300 journalists and travel agents, following the presentation about the new entertainment with a cut-down version of The Blue Man show in the delightful little theatre in Astor Place where the blue thing all began. There is still a show there, but it's now also in six other venues around the world.

The show is certainly different and will no doubt be very popular, but it's not to my taste. Instead, I'm looking forward to the new Cirque Dreams and Dinner, where you eat while watching a two-hour show featuring acrobats, jugglers, contortionists and the like.

NCL's executive vice-president global sales and passenger services Andy Stuart promised he wasn't joking when he said performers will be coming down from the ceiling to refill diners' water glasses!

If it's anything like the great theatrical dining experience in NCL's Teppanyaki Room they are on to a winner here.

There will be two set-time dinner shows a night on at least six days of every cruise, in a venue themed to look like a rather garish big top.

Just so they can say it's the first big top at sea, I guess.

The last time I saw Celebrity Equinox it was little more than a lump of metal in the shipyard's eye. How it has grown!

I hope the wing mirrors are good as the Captain is having to back out of the shed. But that's nothing. Next week he will have to pilot it down the River Ems (for some strange reason the Papenburg shipyard in Germany was built quite a way from the sea) to Eemshaven, on the coast. The conveyance is planned for the end of next week.

After sea trials, final fitting out and various inspections are completed, Celebrity Equinox, a sister to Solstice, will come to Southampton for a week of special events for the press, travel agents and consumers.

Its first cruise is from Southampton to the Norwegian fjords, then its off to Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, for a summer season in the Med.

Some you lose. And the so-called "blimp" that made its debut on Oasis of the Seas last week, while Royal Caribbean International's megaship undertook its sea trials, was definitely a loser. Quite literally.

Apparently the vague idea is that the aerostat might fly 50 metres above the 5,400-passenger ship, as it is in the picture, offering thrill rides for those who fancied giving it a go. Problem, is, it might have been a little more thrilling than Royal was planning as during the trials it somehow became untethered and crash-landed into the sea.

I'll let Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean Cruises chairman and chief executive officer, tell it in his own inimicable way.

Then this morning, something happened and the balloon broke free. It ended up in the water and we are now taking steps to recover it and determine what happened. This is precisely why we do such tests (and why I don't take credit until we know whether or not they are successful).

Here's something new for MSC Cruises - there will be two mini 10-pin bowling alleys on MSC Splendida when it is named in Barcelona next month.

The alleys have been scaled down to fit in the Sports Bar - even the balls are smaller to make them more manageable for youngsters - and while the surface looks the real thing, actually it is made from a tough phenol compound so passengers don't need special bowling shoes.

Of course, there is nothing new about bowling alleys at sea. Norwegian Cruise Line already has them on two ships - full size at that - and they will also be on the new Norwegian Epic, launching next year.

But as MSC points out, it is a first for a European ship. Meaning, I suppose, they now have something that Costa Cruises does not.

Now there's a challenge...

Costa Cruises has dubbed Costa Luminosa, its new ship, "the ship of light". After a few hours on board while it was in Harwich the other day - the tallest thing around as you approach the port - it was easy to see why.

There are spotlights, light clusters and chandeliers everywhere, all cleverly used to bring out the best bits of the design of the ship, which is another Joe Farcus masterpiece.

I'm can't say I am a huge fan of the OTT designs Farcus usually comes up with for Costa and Carnival Cruise Lines, but I can't help but admire his imagination and fantastic attention to detail. I've seen this C on the door handles on Costa ships before but I still think it's a great touch, and how about the C under the tables in the Grand Bar?

Actually, Luminosa is far less over the top than many of Farcus' designs - almost elegant in places. There are no pink spots or models of ships hanging upside down on the ceilings, not even any spaced-out mermaids (well none that I saw anyway), but there are some very clever light designs, like these blue clusters that are then repeated on the side of the bar.

One of the things that really struck me about the ship is how much room there is - in the corridors, in the bars, on the open decks. It's hard to imagine there will ever be a shortage of sunbeds, although you could get exhausted wandering around trying to find a free one.

There are also some neat touches - after struggling to open one for a few moments, I discovered the doors into the public toilets are automatic, no doubt to try to help reduce the spread of norovirus (but automatic toilet flushes as well would have made more sense) and I love the late breakfast station just inside from the aft deck. Great for getting a snack without having to get covered up for the buffet, but why wasn't it open at lunchtime?

Unfortunately I didn't get to see the thermal suite in the spa. As people were using it, I wasn't allowed in, which was annoying but only right for those who had paid for privacy. But it sounded good and I made do instead with checking out the sauna in the ladies changing room which has a big window so you can sweat with a view.

The notice outside says "bathing suits must be worn". Inside there was one topless woman. Well it is a European ship you know.

The most talked-about part of Norwegian Cruise Line's new ship Norwegian Epic has been lowered into place. The block, the ship's rather unattractive "crown", where the villa people will reside, weighs 563 tons - about the same as 64 elephants - and took an hour to get into place. The radar mast has to be added and then it's time for the float out. That's scheduled for July 11. 

I am intrigued to know what persuaded Mr Meyer - or whoever started Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany in 1795 - that it would be a good idea to build ships up a river, miles from the sea.

I admit when the idea was conceived, ships were a lot smaller and who back then who would have thought they would get as big as Celebrity Cruises' 122,000-ton 2,850-passenger Celebrity Equinox, which managed to squeeze through the locks at the weekend, en route to its sea trials in the North Sea.

The ship had to be tugged backwards down the river (which is confusing when you are finding your way around as if you walk in the direction the ship is moving, which is forwards normally, you are actually going to the back, and vice-versa) and there was also a tug at the back, which was really the front, to keep the ship on course.

At about 10.30pm the cry went up that the lock gates connecting the shipyard to the river had opened so we rushed out to watch the first manoeuvre. I was still not convinced the ship would fit through the gap - especially when the clock ticked on to 12.30am and we were still in front of the first lock, pictured here.

I assumed they were carefully calculating widths. But no.

Apparently opening the lock gates created a wave and we had to wait for the wave to come back (I'm not entirely sure where it went but given the long wait it must have been a long way away) to give the ship enough depth to get through. It really was that critical.

"There's no way I'm buying till it gets out to sea," Dan Hanrahan, Celebrity's president and chief executive officer, had joked earlier. At least I think it was a joke.

Both sides of the locks were lined with locals who had been waiting in campervans for much of the day in the hope the ship would set off - it is always a bit touch and go whether this so-called conveyance will happen as planned as the wind and tides have to be exactly right.

As we went through, touching some grass overhanging the the bank I am sure, Rod Stewart's "We Are Sailing" blasted out from somewhere on land. Corny but appropriate.

The ship tugged on through the night - I am told at one point a bridge had to be dismantled for it to get through but I'm afraid I was asleep by then (I reckoned it would have been too dark to see much anyway). By 6.30am this was the rather murky view from my cabin.

By 7.30am, people were starting to line the river bank to watch our progress and by 10am, we were face to face with the next lock - well more a barrier - at Gandersum. Again it looked far too narrow but Equinox sailed through with room to spare! Enough space to park a London taxi cab, I am told. Really? That much?

All the unessential folk - that included me, other journalists and travel agents, and even Dan Hanrahan, who's only wanted next to sign the cheque - were dropped off at Emden in Germany and the ship sailed on to Eemshaven in Holland to collect provisions before heading out to be put through its sea trials.

With luck, that's where it is now. Another month and it will be in Southampton, where it is to be named by.... Ah sorry, you'll have to wait a few more days to find that out.

I got the feeling grass was a bit of a sensitive subject at Celebrity Cruises on the transfer between Amsterdam Airport to the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, to see the new Celebrity Equinox.

A warning came through that the grass was brown - something I suspect myself and others in the group would have noticed when we went on board, so no doubt it was an attempt to forstall all jokes about the wrong-coloured grass.

It certainly was rather brown, but all was explained by Dan Hanrahan, Celebrity's president and chief executive officer, as he took the British group of journalists and travel agents on a tour of the new ship.

The brown grass was from warm weather seed (Bermuda grass, grown in Italy), which will be overplanted by cold weather seed so as the ship moves from one climate to another, the appropriate grass will grow and the other will hibernate.

It sounds logical and as it was more like March than April in the shipyard, I guess it made sense that the hot stuff wouldn't be looking its best. I just hope they get the cold stuff in and doing its green thing in time for the ship's arrival in Southampton next month.

Equinox is pretty much a carbon copy of Celebrity Solstice, which launched last November. That's partly because Solstice was so well received the guys in charge thought they might as well give their fans more of the same, but Dan Hanrahan admitted they were also so nervous about bringing out two big ships - each with capacity for 2,850 passengers - so close to each other that they decided to play safe and not tinker too much.

But there are one or two new things on Equinox. Safes have been moved out of the wardrobes to free up hanging space, there are a couple more heated loungers in the Persian Garden thermal suite and these rather elegant drapes have been fitted in the Sky Observation Lounge, creating some rather nice semi-private areas.

They have also teamed up with a liquid chef, who creates cocktails that have been frozen with liquid nitrogen. Margherita slush anyone?

I'm pleased to say the elegant white dining room has not been changed - it has to be the only dining room on a cruise ship with a wow factor - and it features this amazing floor-to-ceiling wine rack they first brought out on Solstice.

Finally, some information about Oceania Cruises' new ship Marina, which launches at the end of next year - and it's all to do with food.

I guess we shouldn't be surprised at that given they are calling it a ship for epicureans on account of it having 10 places to eat. I know that doesn't sound so many these days, but it is on a vessel the size of Marina, which will hold just 1,258 passengers.

The ship will have a culinary arts centre with individual workstations, where passengers can learn to cook alongside the ship's top chef. Classes will last anything from 45 minutes to three hours (and this is a holiday?) and cater for every level, from "how do I break an egg" beginners to "veal in its own jus" dinner party types.

The chef will also take passengers on tours of local markets and maybe arrange private tastings at local wineries. Now that sounds more like it. Sign me up!

Marina will also have a new five-course de gustustation (sic) restaurant, Red Ginger, featuring food from Thailand, Japan and Vietnam. Fresh interpretations of Asian classics are promised, which sounds great, unless of course you are particularly partial to those Asian classics, in which case it might be disappointing!

It's a sampling menu, which means you'll get bits of everything, that will take you on an Asian culinary adventure (president Bob Binder's words, not mine but it sounds good).

Have to say, the sample menu sounds delicious. Sign me up for that too!

What a difference 12 weeks makes. Last time I saw Yachts of Seabourn's new Seabourn Odyssey, president and chief executive officer Pam Conover did not want any pictures taken inside because it was really just a building site and understandably that was not the image of the new ship that she wanted to portray.

That was April. Now it's June and the first paying guests will be coming on board tomorrow and the ship is looking lovely. Well almost lovely. Workmen are still hard at it in certain areas and some unspecified technical problems mean plans for our two-day cruise keep changing by the minute.

We were supposed to have anchored off the coast of Slovenia today and had a few fun hours playing with the water sports equipment - water-skis, jet-skis and the like - that are carried on the ship. Then because the workmen had to work, they came up with plan B - we spend the day moored up outside St Mark's Square.

I'm not entirely sure which plan we are now on, but as I write this on Tuesday morning we haven't left the port at Venice - because we can't. The ship got here from Genoa but now they can't get it moving again.

I just hope Seabourn manages to sort things out before tomorrow because while this has to be one of the better ports in the world, with Venice just a 15-minute stroll away, a maiden cruise to nowhere is not what the passengers signed up to.

But on to the ship, which, as I say, is looking lovely. I was just raving about the dining room on Celebrity Equinox. At the risk of being repetitive, I have to do the same about the one on Seabourn Odyssey. And eat my words, because here is another dining room with a wow. The white décor is fabulous and I love these "hi-top" tables at either end of the room.

The self-service (below, set up for waiter-service dinner) is equally elegant - so much so it took a while before I realised this was the buffet restaurant. It also has hi-top tables. On Seabourn's three sisters (Seabourn Pride, Legend and Spirit), Restaurant 2, which pairs different tastes (hence the name) has to alternate with the regular speciality restaurant. On Seabourn Odyssey, it has its own room, which has an very Asian feel.

Seabourn Central is a clever idea - an internet café, coffee bar, library and guest relations all rolled into one, and without the traditional guest relations' desks. Instead, there are individual desks in an area inside the room. If you want to see someone, you can have a coffee, read a book, check your emails while waiting and then sit down and have a normal conversation with someone instead of having a tall counter between you and the receptionist. A great touch.

Unlike the sisters, Odyssey has full-size balconies, a pool and a pool-side grill. It's a walk-up service, with semi-cooked food then prepared to order and waiters on hand to carry passengers' plates to the table. All very nice but yesterday it was also all very slow. I suspect they might turn it over to a fully-served option to avoid long queues.

I discovered my first fault while eating my burger. The cushions on the seats at the grill have a soft suede feel but after you've been sitting on one in the sun for a while in a pair of shorts they get a little - how can I put this - damp. And so do you.

The same material has been used on these cosy double sunbeds at the front of the ship, but of course people will be lying on towels. That's the obvious solution when sitting on the chairs as well, but you have to know.

At about 11.45am today the engines started and Yachts of Seabourn's new ship Seabourn Odyssey finally set sail for a 30-minute cruise to Venice. OK, not very far, but the cruise from the port has to be one of the best in the world.

We sailed past St Mark's Square, heaving with people as always, and the Doges Palace and now we are moored a 15-minute walk from St Mark's. Plan Z on this ever changing itinerary is that we'll be heading out to sea at 5pm for a quick spin around the Adriatic, then coming back to the port for the night.

Then tomorrow all the journalists and travel agents get off, making way for the really important people - the paying passengers.

In a major break from tradition, all 450 of them will become the ship's godparents (well it would be embarassing for the men to be godmothers) tomorrow when the ship is officially christened here in Venice. Their names will be engraved on a plaque displayed on board.

A bottle of prosecco - Italian sparkling wine - will be smashed against the bow, which has raised a some daft comments about Carnival Corporation's cost-cutting.

Yeah, well naturally they will be looking to save a few euros here and there given they have committed to spend almost $1 billion on three new ships (there are another two sisters to follow Odyssey, Seabourn Sojourn next year, another, as yet unnamed, in 2011).

I think I'll go with president and CEO Pam Conover's explanation - that it is fitting to break a bottle of Italian fizz on a ship that has just been built in Italy.

I just hope they have a smashing time.

Cunard has lined up another Royal rendezvous in New York on January 13 2011. Exactly three years to the day since the last time it happened, its three Queens will meet in the Big Apple.

Except this time Queen number three will be Queen Elizabeth, launching in autumn 2010, not the QE2.

Queen Elizabeth will be there on her maiden world cruise, which departs from Southampton, Queen Mary 2 will be starting her fourth round the world, departing from New York, and Queen Victoria, taking a break from globetrotting in 2011, will be about to set off on an 18-night Mexican Adventure.

And you can be there. You could just join one of the cruises, of course, but Cunard has also put together a three-in-one world cruise - Southampton to New York on Queen Victoria, New York to Sydney on Queen Elizabeth and Sydney back to Southampton on Queen Mary 2.

Sounds great, but just think of all that packing and unpacking.

Queen Elizabeth's maiden world cruise sets off from Southampton. From New York it goes to the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia and then comes back to Southampton via the Far East, Middle East and Suez. A total 103 days away and prices from £9,999 per person.

Queen Mary 2 will sail from New York to the Caribbean and then turn left, heading to South Africa the Indian Ocean, Australia and New Zealand and Asia - a mere 96-day voyage. Prices start from £8,999.

The 2011 world cruises go on sale July 1.

I promised you the name of the godmother to Celebrity Cruises' new ship Celebrity Equinox this week and here it is - Nina Barough, founder of the charity Walk the Walk, which is dedicated to raising money for breast cancer research.

UK-born Barough, herself a breast cancer surviver, will be naming the ship in a gala ceremony in Southampton on July 29, culminating in a bottle of bubble made by the Corning Museum of Glass (these are the guys who do the glass-blowing shows on the Solstice-class ships) being smashed against the hull of the ship.

Let's hope they remember to leave a little crack so it breaks at the right moment.

Cruise.co.uk has been running a "who is the ugliest of them all" poll with Royal Caribbean International's mega Oasis of the Seas pitched against Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Epic.

Sorry NCL, but I reckon Oasis has it - just. I would have to agree with the majority, but again, only just. I love Spartan of Kent's comment that Epic looks gas powered - the lump on top being the box with the gas. Bet the villa passengers booked to go in the "box" will love that.

But as Roberto Martonoli, NCL's president and chief operating officer, pointed out to me last month when I was in New York to learn about the Blue Man Group, it doesn't really matter what the ship looks like from the outside. It's what the passengers enjoy inside that matters. He has a point. And Epic promises some great new features, as indeed does Oasis.

As well as going head to head in the beauty stakes, the ships appear to be competitors when it comes to places to eat. And sorry, NCL, but Oasis again seems in the lead, having just announced it has 24 "distinct" dining venues.

They include 150 Central Park, serving the latest cruise ship dining must-have - a tasting menu and wine pairings - and Giovanni's Table, also in Central Park. which is a casual replacement for Portofino, the classy Italian found on other Royal ships. Chops Grille and Johnny Rockets are back, and there are some new healthy places to eat, including a pastry cafe, pizza and burger bar, a Donut (sic) Shop and Ice Cream Parlor (sic).

Yes, that was a joke. Passengers will either have to pack a huge dollop of self-discipline or some outsized clothes to get them home. Or maybe they'll keep fit walking to and from the restaurants on this giant of a ship.

If my experience on Freedom of the Seas is anything to go by (and it is half the size of Oasis) some stout walking shoes wouldn't be a bad idea either.

A milestone in the short history of P&O Cruises' new ship, Azura, was reached on Friday when the valves of the dry dock at the Monfalcone shipyard, near Trieste, Italy, opened so water could hit the hull for the first time.

The float-out is always a big occasion for a new cruise ship - it's the moment when the superstructure is finished and the shipyard can turn its attention to fitting out the interior - so naturally it wasn't going to pass without ceremony.

But first we were able to have a quick peek inside the ship, which launches next April.

In terms of size and layout, Azura is a sister to Ventura, but in style the two siblings could not be more different. Ventura was a bit of a rebel, but Azura is going back to P&O's heartland, out to attract the line's regular cruisers.

This will be Sindhu (if you know Ventura, it's where East is, but unlike East it will open out onto the corridor), an Indian fine dining restaurant created by Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar.

It won't be blow-your-mind hot stuff, he tells me (shame because that's what I really love), but he promises he will be using a lot of spices, so the food should be packed with taste. Atul is also creating an Indian tapas-style menu that will be served in a seating area around the restaurant's open kitchen.

Below is The Glass House (Las Ramblas on Ventura), where TV wine expert Olly Smith is creating a wine-cum-dining experience.

Each course will be accompanied by a different wine, which will be "presented" to diners in a lively and passionate Olly-style spiel (tune into Saturday Kitchen to see him in action). "It won't be in a bow tie or pretentious way", he promised. "Enjoying wine should be all about informality and having fun."

Sadly that was to be Olly's last word on the matter because when he saw where The Glass House will be, he was rendered speechless - he reckons for the first time in his life. "It's amazing, brilliant," he managed as he surveyed the huge area. Personally I think a bit of work on the decor might not go amiss but hey, who am I?

Seriously though, Olly has already picked the 32 wines that will be served in The Glass House, and also the glassware ("it's got to show off the wine but be strong enough to survive life on a cruise ship"), and is now concentrating on getting people trained and sorting out things like storage issues so the wine is always served in peak condition.

As The Glass House will be as much about Olly's presentation as the wines, P&O is planning to run a competition to find an Olly number two, who will be doing the theatricals when the main man himself can't be there, which will be most of the time.

The quick look-see over (the top is Malabar, the Tamarind Club on Ventura, below is me with the adult-only Retreat in the background), we watched as a £2 coin and euro were welded at the foot of the ship's mast for good luck. Here is Carnival UK chief executive officer David Dingle wielding the iron ...

...and then headed dockside for speeches, a blessing, and to see the madrina Amanda Dowds, wife of Azura's captain Keith Dowds, press the button that sent a bottle of Italian Prosecco smashing into the ship's hull, signaling the moment for the valves to open and the water to be allowed in.

A madrina (or godmother) at this stage of the construction, by the way, is Italian shipyard tradition. Amanda is godmother of the float-out, but there will be another godmother to name the ship.

Sea trials are planned for the end of the year and P&O Cruises takes delivery of the ship on March 31. There will be a few days of inaugural celebrations in Southampton before the ship's maiden voyage, a Mediterranean cruise departing April 12.

Sneaky or what? Less than 10 days after Cunard announced it had extended its contract with Canyon Ranch, the US spa company has signed a deal with Oceania Cruises.

Canyon Ranch spas will be installed on Oceania's existing three ships, Regatta, Insignia and Nautica, by September this year, replacing Steiner's Mandara brand. It will also be on new ship Marina when that launches at the end of 2010.

Cunard won't be happy - they make a big deal of the fact that Queen Mary 2 has the only Canyon Ranch spa at sea - but Oceania passengers will be delighted. I used the spa when I was on QM2 this month and once I had got over the cost of the treatments, I really enjoyed the experience.

Staff seemed more genuine and were not so aggressively sales orientated as those from the Steiner school of (no)charm, who push you towards the highest-priced treatments and whose therapists invariably try to sell you hugely-expensive lotions and potions afterwards, one-to-one in the treatment room when it's awkward to say no.

It's a shame as the tactic negates any relaxation induced by the treatment, leaving you a little annoyed (or out of pocket if you're anything like the crazy woman I once met who spend a fortune on the therapist's say-so because she felt she "had to") and wondering why you even bothered at all.

Next time you book a cruise that either starts or ends in Venice, be sure to add a night or two at the Cipriani.

It was my home for the night before the Azura float-out and it is wonderfully romantic, on an island across from St Mark's Square so you are away from the madding crowds but as there is a launch to take you back and forth 24 hours a day you can take on the hordes whenever you feel like it.

The service is truly classy (I asked the man who showed me to my room about using wifi and when I went downstairs 10 minutes later he had already arranged an access code for me) and my bedroom was gorgeous, with a bathroom big enough to get lost in. I think it has to be the only hotel I've stayed in that has ceramic holders for the pens.

Of course none of this comes cheap, but it is a perfect add-on to a ultra-luxury cruise. And as the luxury lines have so many deals around at the moment, you can always treat yourself to the hotel with the money you save on the cruise.

Just remember to take the one you love.

It was a case of one out, one in at Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard near Trieste this week. The "out" was P&O Cruises' Azura, which was floated out last Friday, freeing up the dry dock for the "in" - Cunard's new Queen Elizabeth.

Construction started at a keel-laying ceremony yesterday, when the first section of the ship's hull was laid in the dry dock.

The section is made up of six pre-manufactured blocks, weighs 364 tons and is fitted with 104 tons of pipes, cables, insulation and other equipment. Once another 52 have been put into place and they have done a bit of work on the inside, the ship will go from looking like this...

to this...

The shipyard has 15 months to get the vessel looking ship shape and ready to depart on its maiden cruise, which leaves Southampton on October 12 and sold out in a record-breaking 29 minutes, 14 seconds back in April - before work has even started on the vessel.

Now that's loyalty.

Italian line MSC Cruises now has 10 ships after taking delivery of MSC Splendida at a ceremony at the STX Europe shipyard in St Nazaire, France.

The ship will be named in Barcelona on Sunday July 12 by serial MSC godmother Sophia Loren.

The vessel is a sister to MSC Fantasia, which was named in Naples last December, and holds 3,274 passengers, or 3,959 when all berths are taken.

At the moment Splendida is on a pre-christening cruise. It has visited Vigo, Lisbon, Malaga and is in Mallorca, in Palma, today, alongside MSC Fantasia, an event  MSC has likened to a "phenomenon that can only be compared to an astronomical marvel". That's what I love about MSC. Never knowingly overstated.

If the captain recovers enough from this miracle to drive the ship, Splendida will be sailing to Marseille tonight, arriving in Barcelona on Saturday July 11, where it will be based for the rest of the summer.

Norwegian Epic, the well, epic, new ship being built by Norwegian Cruise Line, was floated out last weekend, tugged from the dry dock at STX Europe's shipyard in St Nazaire, France, down the Loire Estuary to a new mooring at the outfitting dock, where STX will start work on the interior.

The ship, 153,000 tons and with room for 4,200 passengers, is due to be delivered in late May 2010 and after a short stop in the UK, will head across the Atlantic to start a series of seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries from Miami starting July 17 2010.

This was the sight greeting onlookers in Southampton yesterday - Celebrity Cruises' new ship Celebrity Equinox arriving in the port for the first time.

The ship will be staying here until July 31, allowing travel agents, consumers and the press to crawl all over it (not too literally I hope, although I'm sure there will be plenty of bubbly doing the rounds to celebrate the occasion) and get a taste for 2010, when sister ship Celebrity Eclipse, still under construction, will be based in Southampton and sailing for the British market.

On July 29, while still in Southampton, it will be named by Nina Barough, who founded the Walk the Walk breast cancer charity. Two days later it's off to the Norwegian fjords for its maiden cruise and then it'll be leaving the UK and taking up its summer residence in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome.

The ship cost £700 million to build, weighs 122,000 tons and carries 2,850 passengers, and has a half-acre lawn on top. I'm on board on Sunday and again for the naming next week and am looking forward to seeing whether the grass has greened up at all since my last visit, for the conveyance out of the shipyard and down the River Ems in Germany.

This is what happens when you turn your back on civilisation and go to the Arctic for a few days, cut off from both internet and phone.

A cruiseline names another ship.

This time it was MSC Cruises and the new ship was MSC Splendida, which that master of the understatement chief executive officer Pierfrancisco Vago has branded "the most beautiful ship in the world".

But at least he has admitted he was wrong when giving that moniker to sister ship MSC Fantasia when that was named in Naples in December last year. It would have been pushing it, even for MSC, to have two most beautiful ships in the world.

This is the 10th ship to join the MSC fleet, named as ever by Sophia Loren, but this time it all happened in Barcelona. Next one on the conveyor is MSC Magnifica, which will be named in Hamburg next year - I predict by, you've guessed it, Sophia Loren.

Am I the only one who feels that's getting just a little boring? Are there no other Italian woman up to the job? Maybe we should start a competition? My nomination - Carla Bruni aka Mrs Sarkozy.

The naming actually happened on July 12 but seems the emails via the Arctic so took a little longer to get to me than one would expect (!). Never mind. I liked the pictures so much I had to use them anyway.

Not content just to launch a new ship next week - in case you've missed the news, Celebrity Equinox will be named in Southampton next week - Celebrity Cruises has also launched a new on-board programme.

It's all very American, so guess that should really be program - especially as one of the three program categories is Savor. The other two are Discover and Renew.

It sounds very grand but basically it's all about encouraging people to spend lots of money while on board, but cleverly dressed up to sound really special. Never mind. There are some interesting things in among the options. Here are a few examples:

Savor - attend mixology workshops, wine tastings (they call them events but what is wine if you don't taste it?) and cookery classes and competitions.

Discover - learn new languages, listen to lectures on subjects such as history, culture and art, and uncover the secrets of iTunes, Blackberries and Photoshop.

Renew - learn how to keep looking young (by having Botox and the like), keep fit (indoor cycling, personal training) and use things like acupuncture to stave off stress.

Celebrity Life launches on Equinox and will be rolled out to the rest of the fleet by November.

Celebrity Cruises' new ship Celebrity Equinox might still be in its inaugural mode - the first proper cruise with real passengers departs from Southampton to the Norwegian fjords on Friday - but it is feeling like an old friend to me.

I was on board for the conveyance down the River Ems in June, joined a one-night cruise to nowhere last Sunday night, when the great and the good from the world of cruising were on for the annual Passenger Shipping Association bash, sorry dinner, and embarked again yesterday for the naming ceremony.

And on top of that, I spent three nights on sister ship Celebrity Solstice last year when that was coming out of the shipyard and at launch time.

Did I say sister? These babies are more like identical twins. True, the art work is different and there are a few design tweaks here and there but you need sharp eyes to spot them. It makes my life very easy as after so many times on board I always know where I am going. Well almost always.

Coming on these three times means I have been able to hop between cabins (but never a suite unfortunately), which has been a good way to see some of the differences.

For the conveyance I was in a deluxe balcony cabin, on Sunday I had an aft-end balcony cabin, which was a little bigger and had the additional attraction (for me) of having the bed by the balcony. I just love sitting in bed and watching the sea go by. Well I like the idea; sadly I never seem to have time to do it!

   This time I'm in one of the AquaSpa cabins, which comes with a few little extras, including the three lotions and potions at the front of the tray (lip balm, facial mist and foot spray), horizontal massage jets in the shower, a pillow menu and free and unlimited access to the thermal suite.

For a 10-night Eastern Med flycruise this cabin would cost £1,746 per person, while a deluxe balcony, which is the same size but without the extras, is £1,524 - a difference of £222 per person.

I'll let you judge if it's worth the higher price tag, but should also add that if this was a normal cruise I'd have a table reserved in Blu, the healthy food restaurant, instead of having to dine in the main dining room. I'm dining there tonight so I'll let you know what it's like tomorrow.

Happily, someone up there heard me and allocated me an AquaSpa cabin with the bed by the balcony, but it is pure chance which way around your stateroom is because beds alternate between being by the balcony and by the door.

That's not because the designers were trying to be clever, but because the cabin has to be wider around the end of the bed so you can get around it. So where one room bulges out, the next door accommodation has to be narrower, and so on down the corridor.

Complicated or what? I can't help thinking it would have been easier just to make all the cabins a tad wider in the first place! Of course, that does mean fewer bods on beds and less revenue.  

At last, yesterday afternoon, Celebrity Cruises' new ship Celebrity Equinox came into contact with a bottle of Champagne and officially got its name.

"We're not outdoors because this is England," quipped Royal Caribbean Cruises chairman and chief executive officer Richard Fain as he got ready to hand the scissors over to Walk the Walk breast cancer charity founder Nina Borough.

But not before Nina had a chance to say a few words, including "they don't know I am going to do this, but...."

Fain admitted afterwards they are the 10 little words guaranteed to strike terror into his heart as these events are rehearsed to the nth degree. Thanksfully, in the event all she asked was that we hold hands with the people next to us and give the person to the left a hug.

"I've done lots of naming ceremonies but not one where I have held hands with the Captain," a very relieved Fain joked.

But back to the bottle. England's weather did not let us down. As we were warm and dry in the ship's theatre, outside it was raining and blowing.

It meant we had to watch the bottle smash on a big screen, which is a clever trick the cruiselines have learned to love as it means no one really knows what they are watching (was it recorded earlier?) and makes "the bottle didn't break" stories so much harder to write.

"It was all live and the bottle did smash," I was assured afterwards. I'm less convinced about the bit about the pink ribbon stretching all the way from the theatre to the Champagne on the top deck.

The ribbon was delivered to the stage by this aerial acrobatic-ist - that bit was true as I had to vacate my seat so she could take off and land again! - and it was supposed to be like a domino. Once cut, the ribbon would relax and the bottle break.

Well, it sounded good!

One of the first things I wanted to see when I was on Celebrity Cruises' new ship Celebrity Equinox last week was how the grass was looking.

In June, when I was on the ship for the conveyance down the River Ems, it was looking very sorry indeed. More brown than green. Just you wait, I was told, mainly by Celebrity's president and chief executive officer Dan Hanrahan.

And he was right. Now it is a lovely green, just perfect for sitting on (well it would be if you were somewhere warm; in fact it was a little damp thanks to wonderful British summer) and for this game of boules I spotted. On one of the inaugural days they even had a crocquet match, which I believe Travel Weekly's team won.

Royal Caribbean International will need to find 410,400 passengers between January and the end of September 2011 to fill its two mega-ships, Oasis of the Seas, launching this December, and Allure of the Seas, launching in December 2010.

That's based on the double occupancy capacity of 5,400 passengers per ship over 76 Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings.

If they want to fill all the berths they'll need 471,200 passengers. That's the British armed forces twice over. 

Wow.

If you're still not entirely sure what this Glass House thing on P&O Cruises' new ship Azura is all about, tune in to P&O's website and all will be revealed. Well sort of.

TV's Olly Smith, the man behind the cork screw in The Glass House, is hosting four online wine-tasting sessions starting this week. Each will feature one red and one white, with information about the wines and vineyards followed by a tasting.

Each week viewers will be able to enter a competition to win a case of their preferred wine; on the final week, Olly will host a live web chat, answering questions about the wines and his Azura venture.

A list of all the wines to be tasted is online so webisode watchers can join in. As Olly is a wine man of the people, they are all very affordable - between £5.99 and £8.99 - and available from supermarkets and wine merchants.

Similar tastings in his own rather irreverant style will be in offered in The Glass House - mostly given by an Olly clone, if there could ever be such a thing, though, as the man himself will only be on Azura four times a year - where you'll be able to learn how to match different wines to different foods.

At the end of the webisodes - every Thursday at 7pm starting this week, September 3 - there will be a grand draw to win one of two places on a two-day trip in late October/early November with Olly to the Settesoli vineyard in Sicily to see how the house wine blend for Azura has been created and be the first to taste it.

An Epic transatlantic. Sounds terribly grand doesn't it, but actually it's a transatlantic crossing like any other - it just happens to be on NCL's new ship Norwegian Epic.

Did I say like any other? Well not quite, because usually when you book a transatlantic you know the date and price.

Not with NCL, who have announced neither date nor price, nor even the itinerary. The only clue is that the ship has to get from the STX Europe shipyard in St Nazaire, France, where it is being built, to Miami, from where it will be sailing, in time for a first Caribbean sailing on July 17 2010.

So if you're free in late June/early July next year and fancy being among the first on board, ask your agent to get your name down now, either by calling 0845 201 8900 or registering your details online.

Did you all remember to watch Olly Smith's wine tasting webisode on P&O Cruises' website last week? Well worth a few minutes to enjoy his laid-back, informal style and see what's coming for the folk on Azura .

Here's the link.

http://www.pocruises.com/azura/_html/wineOnTheWeb.html

I know I've used the heading before, but it's happened again. Celebrity Cruises' new ship Celebrity Eclipse is being delivered earlier than expected so they've squeezed in another cruise.

It happened with Celebrity Equinox, P&O's Ventura, Princess' Ruby and Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, which was due to set off on its maiden cruise on December 12 this year but now has its first sailing on December 1.

As the Eclipse extra will be the first cruise with paying passengers, it is what most people would class as the maiden, but as other folk have booked specially to be on that - a four-nighter to Cork - and would be a little upset to find their maiden pulled from under them, so to speak, this one is being sold as a "taster" cruise.

It really is just a taste - three nights, Southampton to Le Havre and back from April 26 to 29. Prices for a balcony cabin start from £399 per person, which is a really great price.

Before that expect several days of celebrations and ship visits in Southampton, as well as the naming ceremony, to welcome the vessel to what will be its home port for summer 2010. It's expected to arrive the week commencing April 19 so clear your diaries.

Or "a quick lesson in how to build a ship".

Ever wondered how 32,000 tonnes of sheet metal, girders and fittings becomes a luxurious cruise ship? Then check out this video released by Yachts of Seabourn showing how its new big ship (450 passengers!) Seabourn Odyssey was put together.

It's come out just in time to promote a new offer for the 14-night maiden voyage of Seabourn's next new ship, Seabourn Sojourn.

The cruise departs Greenwich, London, on June 6 2010, visits Scotland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands and ends in Dover on June 20. Prices start at £5,599 per person cruise-only including all drinks and gratuities but if you want a balcony, it'll cost from £6,199.

For details call Seabourn at 0845 070 0500 or visit www.seabourn.com.

Still wondering about the hero bit in the headline? The Odyssey was all about the wanderings of Odysseus, the hero of the Trojan war. Tenuous or what?

It really was a quick look on Saturday, when Oceania Cruises' Regatta was in Dover for a turnaround - on at 10.45am, off at 2.30pm, but long enough to remind me why I like these former Renaissance ships just in time for Wednesday, when I will be cruising on one of her sisters - Princess Cruises' Royal Princess in the Black Sea.

But more of that later.

It's an exciting time for Oceania, which has the three sisters (the others are Insignia and Nautica, also former R vessels) but is also launching a new ship, Marina, next year. Or at least that's the plan, but I gather there is some debate going on as to whether it's a good idea to launch at the end of 2010 when people's minds are on the festive seas, or wait and come out in early 2011, when hopefully they are thinking of holidays - and specifically cruising.

Whichever it is, as Marina will be almost twice as big as the sisters, holding 1,252 passengers instead of 684, you can expect to hear a lot more about Oceania in the coming months as sales step up a gear.

Back to Regatta....

I was on the ship with several agents and we managed to see a standard balcony cabin - OK but quite small - and a Penthouse (pictured below), which is a real step up in size and presentation and come with a butler. Apparently these are popular with passengers who usually travel with the ultra-luxury lines because they are a good size, but quite a bit cheaper.

Well they should be because you don't get the free drinks (alcoholic and soft), although for summer 2010, Oceania is including soft drinks and bottled water in the price.

Bernie Carter, Oceania's UK sales and marketing director, said the standard suites on Marina will be close in size to the Regatta penthouses, which should make them very attractive to the ultra-luxury market.

The picture below is one of the Owners' Suites, a nice-sized room at the aft end of the ship, and below that the speciality restaurants, Toscana and Polo Grill. Every passenger gets an "allowance" in terms of the number of times they can eat in these restaurants, but they can book more evenings if there is space. There is no charge.

Bernie tells me they are just trialling a new system that will allow passengers to book the restaurants on line. "We don't like queues," he said, as we passed passengers who had just come on board standing in line to make their reservations. I can see why.

Marina, incidentally, will have these two speciality restaurants and two new ones - Red Ginger for pan-Asian dishes and Jacques, for French "comfort" food. Not sure exactly what that is but I'm thinking (probably incorrectly) cassoulet and tartiflette. These will also be free.

One of my favourite things on Regatta was these double loungers - they looked so inviting in the Dover sunshine (yes, the sun does shine there now and then). I also loved the library - it's where you get the real country house-style feel these ships are known for.

I have to admit the food was pretty good too - and they did a great job pulling out all the stops when it transpired the ship did not have my dietery requests after all.

"The best food at sea" is how Bernie describes it. But then he is a bit biased.

As I predicted, it had to happen. Carnival cruise director and fellow blogger John Heald reports that the cruise line has changed the way they do the lifeboat drill on new ship Carnival Dream.

People now gather in the loungers instead of having to stand in line at their muster station, which is more the norm these days anyway, but surprise, surprise, passengers no longer have to bring their lifejackets to the drill.

Sound familiar?

That's one more down, how many more to go?

...and to celebrate the new ship's inaugural cruise, Carnival Cruise Lines' president and chief executive officer Gerry Cahill took on cruise director and fellow blogger John Heald on the two-lane racing slide in the vessel's Aqua Park for the princely bet of $1. Winner takes all!

Heald, being British, decided the best way to do this was with his socks on. Oh, and almost fully dressed as well.

You can read all about it, and see more pictures, on John's blog.

You saw them here first - some of the trees and shrubs that are destined to be in the Central Park neighbourhood on Royal Caribbean International's mega new ship, the 225,000-ton, 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas.

They are being grown at nurseries around South Florida and as soon as Oasis arrives in Fort Lauderdale in November, they will be shipped out and take up residence in their new home.

The first picture shows Garcinia Spicata, commonly known as Mangosteen. Of course it is. Helpfully, the website I looked it up on also tells me it is a tree.

The second picture is of a vine - Trachelospermum Jasminoides, to be precise, known as Confederate jasmine or Star jasmine. Apparently it's not a true jasmine but it does like to climb. Could be interesting for the passengers in inside balconies!

Can you see it? Excursions to see eco-tourism, archaeological exploration and voyeuristic visits to Vodou rituals when passengers arriving at Labadee, Royal Caribbean International's private island in the Caribbean, on the new Oasis of the Seas can stay in the Royal enclave and go zipwiring, ride on a roller coaster or just spend a few hours chilling on the beach.

The Miami Herald reports that the Haiti Tourism Association certainly hopes so. The association seems to think the arrival of Oasis of the Seas, which launches in December, coupled with the $55 million Royal has spent on Labadee, spells a new beginning for Haiti tourism.

Apparently it's all because there is now a pier at Labadee, so cruise passengers no longer have to tender ashore in small boats.

As an aside, that's something of a relief given there will be 5,400-plus passengers to get ashore from Oasis of the Seas. Using a tender, the last ones would arrive just as it was time to leave!

I'm struggling with this tourism thing though. How likely is it that Americans will go touring in Haiti, the poorest and most troubled country in the Caribbean, given the following advisory from the US State Department:

"....warns its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution when traveling to Haiti. While the overall security situation has improved, political tensions remain, and the potential for politically-motivated violence persists."

Until September, it was advising against all non-essential travel to the country.

This is what the UK Foreign Office says:

"We advise travellers to exercise a high degree of caution whilst travelling in Haiti, because of the threat to personal security. Although the overall security situation has improved .... political tensions remain and there are still incidences of violence and kidnappings for ransom."

Sorry Haiti, but I reckon it will need more than a new pier - or even a visit to Labadee from former US president Bill Clinton, the UN's special envoy to Haiti - to kick-start your tourism industry.

In a shipful of unusual features, the studio cabins on Norwegian Cruise Line's new ship Norwegian Epic seem to be causing the most debate.

These are inside cabins, just 100 square feet in size but with a window out on to the corridor and access to a two-storey communal living area where there will be a bar, two TV screens and a concierge.

David Molyneaux, writing in the St Louis Today, reckons NCL has started a race among cruise lines to offer the best budget inside cabins, citing Royal Caribbean International's inside cabins with a view onto the Royal Promenade as opposition.

But they are not really in the same league. As he himself says, these are "crash-pads", aimed at budget-conscious travellers who just want a place to sleep. Or should that be party?

I admit these would not suit me as I like real daylight and lots of space, but they are a brilliant idea. After all, Epic will have a ship-within-a-ship-villa complex at the top of the ship for those with money, so why not these studio pads for those without it? They are also ideal for single cruisers as they will meet up with others as a matter of course in the living room.

I see that most cruise.co.uk contributors agree there are plenty of people out there who would be happy to stay in one of these. Guess all we have to do now is wait and see what NCL tells us about the booking figures.

Or maybe some agents reading this can give us some feedback on levels of interest. I'd love to know.

Just been reading in Travel Weekly US about all the investment at the Caribbean ports that Royal Caribbean International's mega-ship Oasis of the Seas will be visiting.

We're talking phenomenal amounts of money, from $2 million for a pier lengthening project in Costa Maya in Mexico, to a $75 million investment in a state-of-the-art terminal at Oasis' homeport, Port Everglades, to the new, $121 million port in Falmouth, Jamaica, due to open in November 2010.

Apparently they all think it's worth it because once the ship starts its Eastern and Western Caribbean cruise itineraries in December, it will be bringing 6,000-plus passengers and 2,000-plus crew to each port every other week, hopefully all spending loads of money.

I just hope they are right.

It's been a mad week and another is to follow.

Last Saturday last week I flew to Antigua for a few days at the beautiful Blue Waters Hotel. Lovely place but very strange for me as there was not a cruise ship in sight. I even went to the port in St John's to see if any were in.

Of course it's a bit early in the season, but it was interesting to see the capital now has a proper harbour mall area with expensive jewellery and diamond shops - why do they think that's what cruise passengers want to buy? - but also a market with stalls selling the usual t-shirts, baseball caps, bracelets, necklaces and other trinkets. Oh and a Cheers! bar.

That's all new since I was last there 16 years ago.

An overnight flight on Thursday got me home for Friday night, then today (that's Saturday again) I am about to head back over the Atlantic for one night at Walt Disney World before joining Disney Wonder on Sunday for a four-night Caribbean cruise.

I'll be visiting Nassau, Castaway Cay and there'll be a day at sea before returning to Port Canavaral. From there, I am flying to New York for one night to hear more details about new ship Disney Dream, launching in 2011.

Disney is big news for the UK right now as Disney Magic will be based in Dover next summer, sailing 12-night cruises to the Baltic. Then there are the two new, and bigger, sister ships - Disney Dream launching in 2011 and Disney Fantasy in 2012 - which will increase Disney's capacity hugely and means they need to open a few more markets. Hence the Dover cruises.

They'll certainly be an easy way for the Brits to get on board and see for themselves how the Disney magic works at sea.

But that's all to come. In the meantime, internet willing, I'll be reporting back on what it's like to cruise with Mickey and co. So stay tuned, as they say.

Inside cabins will never be the same again. First we had Royal Caribbean International's inside balcony cabins on Oasis of the Seas that look out over Central Park, then Norwegian Cruise Line's budget studios on Norwegian Epic that have a window onto the corridor.

Then at a special unveiling in New York on Thursday I learnt that the inside cabins on Disney Cruise Line's new ship, Disney Dream, will have virtual portholes, with a view of the sea streamed in from cameras on the outside of the ship so passengers really can see the waves as they happen (not quite sure if that's a bonus when it's bumpy but the porthole can be turned off).

And then every so often, a Disney character will appear on the water. This is Steamboat Willy chugging along.

It's a great idea and should help to sell inside staterooms, but enough to persuade balcony lovers to trade down, as I overheard one journalist at the event suggest? I don't think so.

I always thought a roller coaster of some sort would be among the innovations on Oasis of the Seas. I was wrong, and now Disney has beaten Royal to it with the AquaDuck, which looks great fun - a water slide-cum-roller coaster the length of two football pitches that drops and climbs, all powered by water.

And then there is this little guy. He's called Crush and is in the Disney film Finding Nemo. There's one of these "magic theatres" in each of the kids' clubs, where the children can "talk" to the turtle. And it's not every day you can say you have done that.

But this is Disney after all.

It's been an exciting few days for Royal Caribbean as the cruise line finally took delivery of Oasis of the Seas and the 220,000-ton mega-ship set sail for its new home in Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

The ship has been six years in the making and during that time has managed to stir up plenty of mixed emotions - "too big", "too many people", "ugly", "can't wait", just plain "wow".

Whichever category you fit in, and of course it won't suit everyone, you have to admit Royal has come up with something truly spectacular.

The Central Park with real shrubs, a zipwire, inside balcony cabins, a bar that thinks it's a lift, an AquaTheatre, hundreds of places to eat - well OK, 20, but it's still a huge number. And then there's the FlowRider and rock-climbing wall that are already on other ships, but Oasis has two of each, and also an ice-rink.

I'm lucky enough to be going to be cruising on Oasis in November, just before the naming ceremony on November 30, and am already feeling exhausted just thinking of having to get around to see all these things.

But that's a while yet. More immediately, it seems Oasis will be making a technical stop at in Southampton on Monday at about 12.30pm to off-load people not needed for the transatlantic crossing.

I remember Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean Cruises chairman and chief executive officer, saying a while back that this was on the cards and that no, I would not be able to go on board to have a look. Well it was worth a try! But anyone in the area at the ETA specified should be able to see the ship, even if it is not docking. 

If that fails, there is still room on the inaugural seven-night Eastern Caribbean sailing - and therefore I'm guessing on most departures thereafter - for anyone who wants to make history and be among the first to cruise on the largest cruise ship in the world.

Your local travel agent will be able to help or click here to book on line.

If you like the idea of making cruising history, why not make a date to be on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas for the official naming ceremony.

It will be on November 30 and places are being sold for a one-night inaugural celebration to raise funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

Tickets for this one-off event cost from $750 per person. You can then stay on for the four-night pre-inaugural inaugural cruise to Royal Caribbean's private island of Labadee, departing December 1, which costs from $650 per person cruise-only.

Contact Cynthia Paez at Royal Caribbean on cpaez@rccl.com for more information.

Most ships make do with one godmother, but then no other cruise ships are the size of Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas - 220,000 tons and with space for 5,400 passengers.

So Royal Caribbean has decided to give the vessel seven godmothers, one for each of the neighbourhoods on board.

"An extraordinary and innovative ship deserves an extraordinary and innovative naming," says Richard Fain, chairman and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises. I agree.

On the big day - November 30 - all seven godmothers will set off from their own neighbourhood and converge on the AquaTheatre at the aft of the ship for the official naming, when each will get to cut the ribbon. Once seven cuts have been made, the bottle (of best bubble I hope) will be released - and hopefully smash.

It promises to be really different (I'm especially intrigued that they have made special scissors for the event - as in, what makes them so special?) and don't forget you can be there to watch it all.

Oasis is now on its way from Finland to Fort Lauderdale and is due in Southampton today, according to Solent Shipping News, although the ETA has moved from 12.30 to 14.00. But I should add that at 11.45, as I write this, the Oasis website is showing the ship somewhere between Denmark and Sweden. Who is correct? Only time will tell!

For the first and no doubt last time, the world's biggest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas, arrived in the Solent yesterday.

There was certainly no mistaking this 220,000-ton giant as it cruised past the Isle of Wight, heading for Southampton, where it was dropping off some 300 shipyard workers not needed for the transatlantic crossing.

The ship is now off again, back en route to its new home in Fort Lauderdale, from where it will be sailing seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises.

You can watch its progress on line, where there are some great videos, for instance showing how the ship got under the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark, which Captain Bill Wright admitted could be "scary" for those who have not done it before. Why? Because the ship is 72 metres high and the clearance under the bridge is 65 metres. Click here to see how it was done.

Costa Cruises has announced the names for its next two ships - they will be Costa Favolosa and Costa Fascinosa, and are due for delivery in summer 2011 and spring 2012 respectively.

In fact, the first building block for Favolosa is being laid today - remember, remember the fifth of November - at Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard in Italy.

The names were the favourites from a shortlist of 25 pairs of names posted on the website. Apparently 42,000 visitors to the website voted.

So how unfortunate - and indeed coincidental! - is it that they picked one of the names arch-rival MSC Cruises had chosen for one of its next new-builds? Interestingly the website shows Costa Emozione and Costa Passione in the lead at 6,347 votes, with Fascinosa and Favolosa is languishing well behind with just 562.

Here are some of the other results. Note that my favourite is at number two!

01 COSTA  EMOZIONE   COSTA  PASSIONE 6347

02 COSTA  PERLA   COSTA  CRISTALLO 4887

03 COSTA  SOLARE   COSTA  LUNARE 3637

20 COSTA  FASCINOSA   COSTA  FAVOLOSA 562

21 COSTA  ARGENTEA   COSTA  DORATA 528

Apparently Favolosa is supposed to evoke thoughts of a magical voyage in a "contemporary enchanted castle", while Fascinosa is designed to express the glamour of a cruise ship and its capacity to bring out strong emotions and passions.

Maybe you have to be Italian.

Last Friday evening I was glued to my computer, listening to a live Norwegian Cruise Line webcast about the entertainment on Norwegian Epic.

I admit I wasn't enthralled with the Blue Man Group, which is going to be performing eight times per cruise on Epic. It's great to have something different on a cruise ship, but I caught a taste of their performance during the "reveal" in New York in May and felt quite queasy (!) watching what they did with what I think were marshmallows.

I'm not saying more - you'll have to go on board to find out!

But on to Friday's news. There will be duelling pianos in a late-night rock-and-roll show called Howl at the Moon, which is performed at 14 venues across the US and will be playing four times per cruise, and Legends in Concert, a tribute show that plays in Las Vegas among other US cities.

I'm not usually a fan of someone pretending to be a big star because too often they don't have even the physical presence to carry it off, never mind the voice, but judging by the website the "Legends" at least have to look like the people they are playing.

I'll have to wait until I go on board the ship, which launches next July, to judge if they sound like them as well, but I reckon both shows look really fun and exciting.

During the webcast, NCL's entertainment's chief Richard Kilman said his goal is to change the face of cruise ship entertainment on the 4,200-passenger Norwegian Epic.

Wouldn't it be nice if, in so doing, he changed the face of cruise ship entertainment per se and we were able finally to put to rest the dire songs from the shows.

After all the Freedoms and Liberties, the cruise industry has moved on to Dreams.

I am now on my way to the ship that will become Thomson Dream next April and after a quick nip back to the UK to chair a cruise session at World Travel Market on Tuesday (it's from 12.30-1.30 so if you're at the show, why not come along), I'm off to New York to join Carnival Cruise Lines' new ship, Carnival Dream.

I'll be there for the naming and a three-night cruise to nowhere, and I'm just hoping it will be warm so I can try out all the water slides!

Then in January 2011, Disney Cruise Line will be launching the Disney Dream. Too early to know what I am doing there, but there are some exciting things on board as I reported from New York last week.

But back to Thomson Dream. At the moment the ship is sailing as Costa Cruises' Costa Europa, but it joins Thomson next April on a 10-year charter.

I was last on the ship for the celebrations when it joined the Costa fleet, which is some time ago, so I'm looking forward to seeing it again - and interested to see how good my memory of the vessel is after all these years.

I'll let you know.

Who would have thought even a couple of years ago that Dubai would become the next battle ground for cruise lines?

Yet it is. Costa got there first, offering seven-night Arabian Gulf cruises initially in winter 2006/07, along with Germany's Aida, and is now to be joined by Royal Caribbean International, which is basing Brilliance of the Seas in Dubai from January 2010.

Royal tied up a deal with Dubailand, which owns shopping malls, hotels, golf courses and will have a load of theme parks when it is finished, to enhanbce its commitment to the region. Now Costa is naming a ship there - the Costa Deliziosa - to "further strengthen ties between Dubai and Costa Cruises".

Deliziosa will be named in the emirate on February 23 2010, during the ship's grand inaugural cruise from Savona in Italy to Dubai, departing February 5. It will be the first cruise ship to be named in an Arabian city and passengers will be able to attend the christening ceremony.

Incidentally, there is a second maiden leg, so to speak, from Dubai to Goa, Cochin, Mumbai and back departing February 25, which can be combined with the Savona-Dubai voyage.

I hestitate to use the word battleground and Vietnam in one sentence, so instead I'll note that Vietnam also looks set to become the next BIG thing in cruising. Not for ocean cruise lines - they are aleady there - but for the river operators.

At World Travel Market on Tuesday, AMA Waterways president Rudi Schreiner told me they start building a new vessel to cruise on the Mekong River between Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap in Cambodia before the end of this year, with launch set for 12 months hence.

Why? Because AMA already has one ship in the Mekong, La Marguerite, but it's in such demand it's often sold out.

Schreiner admits its inevitable that other river cruise companies will start to move in to the Mekong (Pandaw already sails there but it's not a big name in the UK and doesn't have the marketing skills of AMA).

I'm sure he's right. In fact, when I was cruising the Yangtze in China in May 2007 with Viking River Cruises, chairman Torstein Hagen was on board and in talks with a Vietnamese company (a representative was also on the cruise) about building a vessel for the Mekong. The recession made him put plans on hold, but Hagen, and others, will be back for sure.

Has anyone any thoughts about other hotspots for 2010? Why not drop me a line and let me know.

After leaving Costa Europa, soon to be Thomson Dream, in Barcelona, I managed to sneak in a day at World Travel Market, where I was hosting a cruise session, and now I am in New York, where Carnival Cruise Line's newest ship, Carnival Dream, is being named on Thursday.

As well as watching the ceremony, and seeing godmother, actress and New Yorker Marcia Gay Harden cut the ribbon, I'll be joining the ship for a two-night cruise to nowhere.

Internet willing, there'll be news and pictures from the ceremony and also from the Carnival Dream itself.

The burning question now is, what will designer Joe Farcus have come up with this time? Keep checking back and you'll find out.

Having staggered my way through all the on-line form filling necessary to complete the Fun Pass needed to get on board Carnival Dream, I can't help thinking Carnival Cruise Lines needs to come up with another name for the document.

Even the people who put it together know it's a long and laborious nightmare as there is an opt out on each page to save what you've done so far and come back later.

I'm all in favour of saving trees and cutting back on the expense of posting out documents, and I even appreciate that security has to be tight in this day and age.

But did they really need to know my inside leg measurement and shoe size, all in the name of Homeland Security?

Yeah OK, I'm exaggerating. But for how long!

The powers that be at Carnival Cruise Lines had done some quick calculations in preparing for Carnival Dream's christening, adding New York to November weather and coming up with the answer that the naming ceremony should be indoors.

Thank goodness!

As the rain fell and the wind blew, and it was generally cold and miserable outside, we were all comfortably tucked up in the Encore! theatre learning how cruise director and MC for the day John Heald "carried" the extra big bottle of bubbly from the airport to the cruise terminal.

Happily it was French, which gave Heald plenty of ammunition to throw at our Gallic friends. What was that about seeing an army coming and running away? Hmmm. Luckily there weren't too many French people in the audience.

Anyway as he made his was through the New York crowds, he was totally ignored - in fact the only people who even noticed him were these two Japanese tourists, who were rewarded by having their picture taken with Heald and the "bottle".

Gerry Cahill, Carnival's president and CEO, also said a few words - something about Dream being a perfect name as the ship was designed to make the passengers' dreams come true by providing fun, memorable holiday experiences at an affordable price. Well he would, wouldn't he?

More interesting was when he said he thought Dream was the best-looking ship in the fleet. I've only managed a quick look around as yet but so far have to agree. And apart from some Doctor Who-type giant red spiders crawling across the ceiling in the Burgundy Lounge, there are not many of the usual Joe Farcus design shockers! I'll bring you some pictures later.

But back to the naming.

Naturally we also had a few words from Marcia Gay Harden, actress, New Yorker and now godmother of the Dream, before she took a swing at the Champagne "bottle" (so there was a reason for Heald's story after all!), showering herself in confetti and signalling someone on the outside to press a button, sending the real bottle smashing into the side of the ship.

Royal Caribbean International's mega 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas has arrived in Fort Lauderdale after a none-too-smooth transatlantic crossing from Turku in Finland, where it was built.

There are now a few hectic days as the finishing touches are applied to the ship, including planting the 12,000 trees and shrubs that will fill Central Park.

On November 19, Rihanna will be giving a concert on board, the following day the ship will be on ABC TV network's "Good Morning America", all to be followed by minicruises to nowhere for the press and agents, and finally the naming ceremony, on Monday November 30.

And then finally some paying passengers will be boarding and Royal Caribbean can start to earn some money from the beast. Or at least that's the general idea, I believe.

Unfortunately, Carnival Dream has been more of a nightmare since we left New York yesterday as the sea is rough, the wind is well, windy, it's grey outside and generally very unpleasant.

Even more unfortunate is the fact that the filthy weather means they can't open the waterslides so I have not been able to have a go on them. There's the 303ft-long Twister, the DrainPipe, which they describe as a giant funnel attached to a 104ft spiral slide and an 80ft racing slide.Luckily, I managed to have a good look around the ship while we were tied up in New York and it was still possible to walk in a straight line. I'm pleased to report that my first impressions were correct - the interior design is a lot less outlandish than on previous Carnival ships.

That's deliberate, according to Joe Farcus, the interior architect who has designed Carnival's ships for more than 30 years, who says he is trying to raise the image of the ships. So out go the mermaids and Medusa heads, and in come muted, calmer designs.

Well almost. Farcus decided to have a little "concept design" fling in the Burgundy Lounge, which is all based on carnival in Venice with masks on the walls and ceilings. This is the room that has the Dr Who-style giant red spiders.

While I might not want his designs in my house, I admire his imagination and have always been amazed at the attention to detail he gives to everything he creates. Whether outlandish or muted, that hasn't changed.

There are several really nice features on this ship. The kids' and teens areas are huge - I even caught myself saying "wow" as I went inside Club O2, for the 15-17s, as it is enormous - and they have made clever use of the atrium, with a stage above the bar.

The Serenity adults-only area, above the spa and split over two decks, will be good when they are cruising the Caribbean from Port Canaveral in the sunshine. I especially like these big whicker hooded chairs - remarkably similar to the ones on the Celebrity Solstice-class ships!

There's also a great new so-called inside/outside Ocean Plaza entertainment area on deck five, which houses the main public areas of the ship.

What makes this area different is that instead of being a corridor with net-curtained windows so you can't see out, as you get on the equivalent deck on other ships, one section on Dream has floor-to-ceiling glass windows and doors leading from the inside to, yes, you've guessed it, the outside.

More specifically out to the Promenade deck, where there are "scenic" whirlpools. At least I'm told they are scenic; in this weather I am happy to take their word for it.

The Ocean Plaza itself has a coffee bar, a stage for a live band, a dance floor and a bar, a combination of features that seems to make it work well as a venue in the daytime and in the evenings as well.

One of my favourite areas is The Gathering, a strange name for the self-service restaurant. It's awful at breakfast, because all the food is in a line so you have to queue past the milk, yogurt, fruit, cereals and so on before getting to the hot stuff. Fine if you want it all, tedious if, like me, you just want a bit of bacon or a bread roll.

However, come lunchtime, this place transforms into my idea of heaven, with different stations serving different food from around the world. There's a Mongolian wok area - I filled a bowl with vegetables, took it to Joseph and he stir-fried it all up with meat and sauce of my choice. It was hot, fresh and tasty. Just perfect.

There is also an outdoor tandoori and a new Pasta Bar, in its own area above the rest of the self-service. As I can't decide which to have today, I'm planning to try them both. Not great for the diet I know, but so far I haven't been very impressed with dinner so I'm making up for that. Or at least that's my story.

Up one more deck from the Pasta Bar is the Chef's Art steakhouse, the speciality restaurant. It's very elegant and from past experience on a Carnival ship the food will be good, but we've not had a chance to eat there because this is a revenue cruise to nowhere and they want passengers to have first pick of the tables as they are paying $30 per person supplement.

Never before has one cruise ship been named by seven godmothers, but then never before have we seen a cruise ship the size of Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas - 225,282 tons (it keep changing but this seems a very exact figure so I'm going with that!) and with capacity for 5,400 passengers.

There is one godmother for each of the seven neighbourhoods and they will start the naming ceremony in their respective areas and then all come together for the final cutting of the tape.

The line up is an interesting mix of celebrities and Olympians, chosen because they are seen as role models for us all.

* Gloria Estefan, singer, songwriter, actor and author, formerly godmother of Royal Caribbean's Empress of the Seas.

* Michelle Kwan, Olympic Games medalist, most decorated figure skater in US history and American Public Diplomacy envoy promoting education, positive health practices and respect for diversity.

* Jane Seymore OBE, a multiple Emmy and Golden Globe winning actress, who is actively involved in the J and J Foundation benefiting children in need.

* Dara Torres,multiple Olympic medalist and oldest female swimmer to compete in a record five Olympic games.

* Keshia Knight Pulliam, film and television actress known for her role as Rudy Huxtable on the "The Cosby Show"; most recently seen in the hit motion picture "Madea Goes To Jail".

* Shawn Johnson, four-time Olympic medalist at the 2008 games and cancer philanthropist who works with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

* Daisy Fuentes, international television personality and producer, beauty and fitness expert, committed to improving children's health and treatments through St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Starlight Children's Foundation and the March of Dimes.

Royal Caribbean is selling the naming ceremony, on November 30, as a one-night inaugural to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Prices start from $500.

Former Royal Ballet principal dancer Darcey Bussell has been named Godmother of P&O Cruises' new 115,000-ton ship Azura.

Bussell will be naming the 3,100-passenger ship in front of 1,200 invited guests at a gala ceremony in Southampton on April 10 2010, before the vessel sets off on its maiden voyage, a 16-night Mediterranean cruise that includes calls at Malaga, Corfu, Dubrovnik and Venice.

Darcey, who officially retired from ballet in 2007, lives in Sydney, Australia, but will be flying back to the UK for Azura's glittering naming ceremony, details of which are being kept under wraps.

P&O Cruises managing director Carol Marlow said Darcey Bussell would be the perfect Godmother as she epitomises glamour, sophistication and elegance, which are all qualities the cruise line has strived to achieve in Azura.

"Azura will offer the service, quality and entertainment associated with cruising at its very best and as dance will play a key part in this, it is entirely fitting for Darcey to give Azura the best possible start in life."

Bussell said she is "excited and honoured" to be Godmother, but also "somewhat filled with trepidation".

The naming ceremony will benefit three international charities chosen by Bussell - Sydney Dance Company, the Royal Ballet School and the Prince's Rainforest Project.

With less than a year to go until Cunard's next new ship launches, a worker at the Fincantieri shipyard in Trieste, near Venice, welds its name on the bow.

The Queen Elizabeth launches in October. The maiden voyage, on October 12, is sold out but there's still room on other cruises in the maiden season.

On Monday evening I was treated to dinner on Hebridean Island Cruises' 49-passenger Hebridean Princess, one of the smallest cruise ships in the world.

Now I'm on my way to Miami, Florida, for a three-night cruise to nowhere on Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas, the world's biggest cruise ship - a whopping 225,000 tons and with room for 5,400 passengers - 6,200 if all the berths are full.

Hebridean Princess is spending this week moored in the heart of Docklands, five minutes' walk from Canary Wharf, so would-be passengers can come and have a look. It will then be going into drydock for all kinds of work to be done so the ship can meet new maritime regulations coming into force next year. It returns to service in March.

It's a lovely little ship with a lounge with a real fireplace; Oasis is packed with features such as a Central Park with real trees, the Boardwalk with the first carousel at sea, a zipwire, two Flowrider surf waves and two rock-climbing walls.

There are also 20 restaurants, a bar that thinks it's a lift and goes up and down between decks (I will definitely be trying that!), inside balcony cabins and two-storey staterooms.

Could any two ships be more different?

I'll aim to post impressions and pictures from Oasis, but as always it's internet willing and, given that there is so much I need to see, also time-willing. I've made sure to pack flat shoes as there'll certainly be plenty of walking!

So fingers-crossed all goes to plan. In the meantime, here are some first pictures of the interior.

This was on my list of "must do" things as I planned my tour around Oasis of the Seas - going up and down between decks five and eight in a bar that thinks it's a lift. Or should that be a lift that thinks it's a bar?

I found a glass of bubbly with my name on it at the bar so took my seat for two journeys up and two journeys back down.

Result, I didn't finish my tour. But here are some pictures from that very moving experience. The water fountains are on deck five and where I "boarded". Look at the word cafe in the next two pictures and you can see we have moved. Finally you'll see us nearing the top, deck eight, where it opens out into Central Park.

I admit it. I was one of the many Oasis of the Seas' refusniks, wowed by the thought of the ship and all the things on it but convinced that Royal Caribbean International's new mega-ship would be just too big.

It took a couple of hours on the vessel, which weighs an incredible 225,000 tons and holds just over 6,000 passengers, for me to change my mind.

Specifically it was the moment I saw Central Park for the first time. I love the way it has been laid out with the real trees and shrubs, but the important thing is the way it is an "area", enclosed, it's own little bit of the ship.

Then at the aft, there is the Boardwalk, bigger than the Park - or does it just seem that way because it's not broken up with the greenery and opens out onto the sea? - and another "area" (what Royal Caribbean calls neighbourhoods).

It's a cliché, I know, but the design of Oasis means you rarely feel you are on a big ship. Even on the top deck, there are enough areas - the sports deck, the pools and aquapark - to break up the long view from front to back.

But what the eye doesn't see, the feet certainly feel. Mine had no doubt how big Oasis was after a day exploring, walking front to back a few times. Handy hint: Be sure to pack comfortable shoes for the daytime if you're planning to book a cruise on this ship.

Happily, I quickly discovered the Solarium Bistro at the front of Oasis, not far from my cabin. It's a self-service restaurant and has saved me the long trek to the Windjammer buffet at the back for breakfast and lunch. There's not such a big selection of food, but plenty nonetheless and it's wonderfully peaceful.

Windjammer is actually very well laid out with lots of food stations which should help to cut queues, and the food I had there one lunchtime was very tasty.

If that doesn't appeal, there's a Johnny Rockets' fast-food joint, just like the one on other Royal Caribbean ships, the Seafood Shack, which has always been busy but I've avoided as I don't eat either fish or seafood, a café on Central Park, a pizza parlour and lots of other places to eat and snack.

One thing I don't much like are the inside balcony cabins. They are an amazing idea and they look great from the outside, but how odd is it to go on a cruise and not have a view of the sea (and yes, I know it's the same for an ordinary inside cabin, and I think that's odd too)?

True, it does get very boring watching waves go by, but there's nothing to beat the excitement of being out on the balcony early morning as you sail into port or that Champagne moment, again on your own balcony, watching as a country fades into the distance as you head off in the evening for somewhere new.

Oasis is so smooth that I reckon passengers in those inside balcony cabins will never even know when they are at sea or docked. Maybe that's the idea? It's a cruise for people who don't do cruises. Oh hang on. Someone else has got there first with that slogan!

Personally I also don't like the idea of people in the cabins opposite mine being able to look across at me and I've noticed the ones overlooking the Boardwalk are very noisy. But although they don't appeal to me, others seem to love them as these cabins are commanding a premium over their sea-view equivalents. But then that's what this ship is about - something for everyone. Clearly it works.

One thing Royal has done very well on Oasis is the signposting. It might be a big ship, but it's very hard to get lost, especially as they have new touch-screen panels which not only show you where the venue you want is, but also also how to get there.

More and faster lifts - there are only fore and aft lifts, none mid-ships - would be nice, but speedy lifts have never been a Royal Caribbean strong point.

On their other ships, the queues at the lifts have been bad on port days and at disembarkation. On Oasis I imagine they could be horrendous as 6,000 people try to get off at once. Maybe that will be the cue for more cruisers to discover those things called stairs!

One of the more intriguing questions to be asked of Adam Goldstein, Royal Caribbean International's president and chief executive, on Oasis of the Seas this week was the significance of the 150 in the name 150 Central Park.

That's the new upscale restaurant, strangely enough in the Central Park neighbourhood of this just-launched mega 5,400-passenger ship.

"I'll give you two options," Goldstein replied. "It's either because it only costs $35 [per person] to eat there, but the value of the food you'll be eating is actually $150.

"Or, we mark the size of a ship from bow to stern in metres and the restaurant is at the 150-metre mark."

Nice answer - even getting a quick "value" message in there - but I gather it's actually because the ship is constructed using a series of building blocks and it sits on number 150.

There's a nice piece of trivia to pass on to other passengers if you're ever on board.

When you launch a ship as big as Oasis of the Seas, you've got to consider the fact that it's easy for people to disappear on it. Especially kids.

Royal Caribbean has considered it and come up with Royal Connect, a system whereby kids who register in Adventure Ocean, the children's club, get a wristband that has a tracking device embedded in.

Parents can then hire an iPhone - $17.50 per device for the week - loaded with technology that allows them to keep an eye on the whereabouts of their little darlings while they are on the ship.

Believe me they need it. Trying to find people on that ship is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I know, because I've been trying to do over the past few days ---- and failed. In fact, trying to find your offspring on ships that are half the size of Oasis is well nigh impossible. I know because I've had to do that too!

For your $17.50, you also get unlimited texts to other iPhone users and can use the device to see what activities are happening on the ships.

It's a brilliant idea. Just wish I could get the idea of "tagging" and criminals out of my mind!

Regular readers will know I am not a great fan of the lifeboat drill on cruise ships. Not because it's a waste of time - on the contrary they are very important - or because I have done them so many times, although that doesn't help, but because the muster crew seem so determined to treat passengers like idiots.

"Your muster station is D3." Ah, yes. That'll be the number on the front of the lifejacket then. "Everyone take off your lifejackets as we will be doing a demonstration about how to put them on later in this muster." Right....

So I cannot praise Royal Caribbean enough for their new-style muster, which I experienced for the first time last week on Oasis of the Seas.

No rush to get back to your cabin to collect a lifejacket (in fact they no longer have lifejackets in the rooms) which is a good thing given the size of the ship, only to have to make your way back downstairs through crowds of people, either lost, chatting, bored or generally doing their best to avoid standing in lines. And then the lengthy roll-call of cabin numbers starts.

But that was then, and this is now on Royal Caribbean. You simply go, lifejacketless, to your muster station where your cruise card is scanned, sit down, watch a film that has all the salient bits but is quick and to the point and then off you go.

It really is that easy.

Not only that, but it is a more reliable way for the Captain to know, via the scanned cards, who has done the drill. More importantly, in case of a real emergency, passengers cards will be scanned as they get into the lifeboats so everyone is accounted for.

How sad to read of the armed attacks that have forced cruise lines to suspend excursions in Nassau, in the Bahamas.

I was there in October with Disney Cruise Line and had a fantastic day out at Dolphin Encounters. I do hope that is not one of the excursions that has been hit. As it is on an island, out of the town, I suspect all is well.

At the time of choosing our excursions, I asked if we could do the Earth Village as well as the dolphins as I have always wanted a go on a Segway.

It never happened, I suspect because there was just not enough time, but it looks like that might have been a good thing as that is one of the trips that has been pulled by Disney and Royal Caribbean International.

As Nassau will now discover, it is easy to get a reputation for being unsafe, but very hard to get rid of it, no matter how many police you throw at the situation or reassurances you give. Look at what happened in Egypt after the shootings at Queen Hatshepsut's Temple in 1997.

It's very tough on all those people in Nassau who depend so heavily on the cruise ship visits for their income.

It's hardly great news for the cruise lines either, as Nassau is such a popular stop, especially for short cruises from Florida.

And Royal Caribbean must be extra worried. Nassau one of the very few ports in the Caribbean that the huge new Oasis of the Seas can get into (and then only because the authorities in Nassau have spent a fortune dredging the harbour to take the 225,000-ton giant).

With so few places the ship can visit, the last thing they need is to have to pull a port.

At last - some news from the will-it, won't-it new ship launch of 2010.

No, it's not the long-awaited itineraries or prices for Oceania's 1,258-passenger Marina, even though the ship is supposed to be launching at the end of next year, but news that the ship's Owner's Suites will be furnished entirely from the Ralph Lauren Home collection.

That means everything from the furniture to the fabrics, and from the lighting to the bedding will be a designer-label lover's dream.

The idea is to make these suites feel like a luxurious estate home, Oceania Cruises president Bob Binder said. If the pictures here are anything to go by they have certainly achieved that.

The ship has three Owner's Suites, each measuring more than 2,500 square feet, all with separate sleeping and living/dining areas and all sumptuously finished with inset wood panelling, marble, plush carpeting and walls of mirrors.

They each have a mahogony Mayfair dining table, caramel leather dining chairs, a baby grand piano, various chandeliers and a Bel Air bed littered with throw pillows and, of course, a marble master bathroom with separate shower and large soaking tub.

The release has a lot more detail but to be honest the pictures tell the real story. Namely that the suites are big and look fabulous. Well, they'll certainly do for me, anyway!

Interestingly, when I finally got to the end of the release, having read about all sorts of trimmings, edgings and faux this and thats, I discovered news that Marina's itineraries will be released in the coming weeks, with bookings from January 2010.

So maybe is going to happen next year after all. If they could just time the launch between Queen Elizabeth in October and Allure of the Seas in November/December, avoiding World Travel Market as well, it would be much appreciated!

It's my last trip this year and the last new ship of 2009 - Silversea's Silver Spirit. I'll be joining it for a short hop from Monaco to Barcelona, where it will be taking on its first paying passengers for one cruise in Europe before it heads over the pond to Fort Lauderdale.

The ship is something of a monster in Silversea terms - room for 540 passengers, compared to the 382-pax capacity of its two other big ships, Silver Whisper and Silver Shadow. Just think, if you add a nought on the end - 5,400 - you have the double occupancy capacity of Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.

I feel I know very little about this ship as Silversea has kept quite quiet during the building process. There have not been any yard visits, I've not had any pictures or artists renderings of the vessel.

So all I know as I set off is that there are more balcony suites than on the cruise line's other ships, and more places to eat, which is not a surprise given its bigger size.

Internet willing, I'll be reporting back from the ship over the next couple of days, and hopefully also trying my hand at a bit of videoing, so keep checking in.

One of the nice things about a small ship is that is it manageable. I spent two and a half days on Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas in November, working it's true, so I was kept very busy, but when I disembarked my feet were tired and I realised there were parts of the ship I hadn't even seen.

In one afternoon on Silversea's Silver Spirit, I had managed to get my bearings, see all the public areas, and even zap off a few pictures for the blog.

First stop, of course, was my suite - never a cabin on Silversea. It's all to do with the dividing curtain apparently. If it has one, allowing you to separate the sitting and sleeping areas, as mine does, it's a suite, if it doesn't, sorry guys, but it's just a cabin.

Last time I cruised with Silversea, going around India on Silver Wind, I was lucky enough to be in an Owner's Suite, which was fabulous. Several rooms, never mind a dividing curtain.

This time I'm in a Veranda suite, which is a lot smaller, but spacious nonetheless. A corridor leads from the door, past the bathroom and walk-in wardrobe to the sleeping area; beyond that is the sitting area, leading out to the balcony.

I had only just put down my bags when my butler, Manikiran, or Akula for short (OK, it's his surname but he finds people can remember it more easily), rang my doorbell.

When I was on Silver Wind in March, only the top suites had a butler; now everyone has one. It's great for me in my more lowly Veranda suite status, but I can't help thinking it's better to have the differentiation to encourage passengers to trade up.

Akula came bearing a tray of toiletries for me to chose from - Bulgari, Neutrogena or Salvatore Ferragamo - and also show me around my suite. Most importantly, though, he was able to show me how the TV worked.

This is the real piece de resistance in Silver Spirit's suites. TV's that are hidden away behind the mirrors. There's one in the sitting area and one opposite the bed.

I very rarely even bother to put on the TV when I'm on a ship, but I've been switching them on and off, discovering all the things you can do apart from just watching TV or a film, such as check out the excursions and the places to eat on board, see what is happening on the ship today and keep an eye on the bill.

It's all clever stuff, but actually all I really want to see is the picture emerge from the mirror. How sad is that!

One of the big differences between Silversea's new ship Silver Spirit and the other vessels in the fleet are the number of places to dine.

There's the main dining room, of course, for waiter-service breakfast, lunch and open-seating dinner, and La Terrazza, which is a buffet at breakfast and lunch time, and a fine Italian restaurant in the evening. You do need to make reservations for this, but there is no charge.

There is also Le Champagne, pictured below, where they have themed menus - French, Italian, American, and so on.

You can opt to pay $30 per person just for the food (but you have to buy your wine from the wine list whereas in other venues on Silversea all drinks except the premium brands are complimentary) or choose the $200 per person degustation menu. In this case, the food is paired with specially-selected wines.

So far no changes, as these three outlets are on the other ships (although there are more themed menus in Le Champagne, of which more later), but Silver Spirit has another three dining outlets.

There's the Stars Supper Club, which is a food-cum-entertainment venue open from 9pm where you can order bite-size portions of paired dishes (five to choose from including black pudding, frog's legs and scallop or lobster, swordfish and monkfish) while enjoying the live singing. The idea is you dine somewhere else and then come here later to snack.

Seishin, pictured at the top of this post, is also new and is an Asian speciality restaurant - the name is Japanese for Spirit - all about fish. So there's sushi, sashami, scallops, spider crab, seafood tempura and more. Basically 11 courses of anything that comes from the sea and starts with an "s".

I am joking of course. There is no "s" in wagyu beef, the one non-fish course. Oh, sorry yes there is. It's "signature" wagyu beef.

The restaurant looks super and I understand meal times are all very theatrical, with the sushi and sashami prepared at the chef's table in the centre of the room. I suspect the food is excellent too - as long as you like fish, of course.

Stars is free, but Seishin has a $40 per person cover charge. For another $40 per person you can try seven different sakis with the meal. Pay $200 per person and you get a wine-pairing experience.

Last but not least there is new al-fresco casual dining by the pool. It's beef and chops, that sort of thing, which are seared in the galley and then served on hot stones, on which the meat is "finished" at the table by the passengers.

It's definitely an eating option with my name on - and I gather it has been rolled out to Silversea's other ships - but sadly it was so wet and cold when I was on this week we never go to see it in action. It was so miserable, in fact, that even the pool bar stayed closed for the duration of the cruise. The joys of cruising the Med in winter!

Executive chef Rudi Scholdis said he will also be serving a spa breakfast at the pool grill and spa food will be available in the outside deck area of the thermal suite.

It's a lovely area, with heated mosaic loungers, a steam room and sauna inside and sunloungers and a plunge pool outside, but as the thermal suite is small (there are only four mosaic loungers) and costs extra ($25 for a day pass, $99 for a weekly one), I'm not sure that many people will there to tuck into the food. 

Last time I cruised with Silversea, in March 2009, there were five themed menus to choose from in the cruise line's super fine dining restaurant Le Champagne. a Relais & Chateaux collaboration and the nearest thing to a Michelin-starred restaurant at sea, according to executive chef Rudi Scholdis.

On new ship Silver Spirit there are 11 themed menus, with foie gras and Champagne, game, cavier and truffles among the new ones, adding to the previous selection of Burgundy, Bordeaux, Italian, North American and Spanish.

In May, I had the Burgundy one and the food was superb, but I reckon Julie Le Gallic, the chef in Le Champagne on Silver Spirit, went even better.

We had the foie gras et Champagne menu, which really was foie gras with everything - a foie gras terrine to start, white bean soup with foie gras, and then steak topped with foie gras. I wondered if the "surprise" in the dessert would be that there was foie gras inside, but alas there was not.

Or given it was a very minty dish maybe that was a good thing!

It reminded me of a restaurant I took my family to in France once which we called "Death by duck" as everything was indeed some part of a duck. In fact they even gave us a bill at the end (sorry couldn't resist that)!

I know a lot of people have an issue with foie gras, but with 10 other menus to choose from it's easy to avoid if you do have a problem with it. As I can't eat fish or seafood, it was a fantastic menu for me. I didn't have to ask if chef could prepare something different, which I hate doing, and the food was delicious to boot.

In fact my only complaint was that the soup was too rich. In my humble opinion, more bean and less foie gras would not go amiss. Several of us just couldn't finish it.

As ours was the $200 per person degustation menu, each course was served with a different wine - or in this case Champagne.

Usually maitre d'-cum-sommelier Marcello Belelli will explain where the wines come from, their finer qualities and why they have been selected for that particular course but not this time as we didn't have quite the right Champagne (it was due to be loaded in Barcelona, after we had disembarked).

However, he did tell us of a couple booked on Silver Spirit for five months who have reserved a table in Le Champagne every night. And of a past passenger who always dines in Le Champagne, asks for a hot dog and buys a $900 bottle of wine to go with it.

"Can he go off menu like that," I wondered. For $900 a bottle he can do whatever he likes, Marcello replied.

Christmas is a-coming - and so, finally, is Oceania Cruises new ship Marina, seen here at Fincantieri's shipyard near Genoa covered in a light dusting of snow.

The new 1,258-guest flagship will have plenty of bars and lounges and 10 places to eat, including Jacques, Oceania chef Jacques Pépin's first restaurant at sea, and Red Ginger, for Asian cuisine.

It will also have a Bon Appétit Culinary Center, for hands-on cookery lessons, Owner's Suites furnished with Ralph Lauren Home, a grand stairway and lobby area custom-crafted by Lalique and a full-service Canyon Ranch SpaClub and fitness center.

Oceania has finally admitted the 2010 launch is off and it is now scheduled for January 2011. Itineraries and fares will be announced on January 13 2010 and past passengers will get first pickings during a five-day members-only reservation period from January 13-18. Reservations will open to all on January 18.

For more information or to order a brochure, contact a travel agent, visit the website or call  on 0845 505 1920.

Everyone raved about the Hairspray show on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas so I know I am a lone voice when I say it didn't do anything for me. I fact when the show was halted for the second time because there was a problem with the sound, I took it as my cue to leave.

But the performance at the AquaTheatre show venue? Now that was something else.

I call it a show venue, but actually by day it's just an ordinary passenger pool. Ordinary that is, if you forget the fact it is the largest and deepest saltwater pool at sea - 6.6 metres by 15.7 meters and an incredible 5.4 meters deep.

It's got to be, because in the evening dare-devil divers take to the platforms high above the pool and dive in.

I held my breath the first time I saw one go headfirst into the pool - not so much because the platform she went off was a long way above the pool (although it was quite high enough for someone like me who is bad with heights) but because she dived into water that seconds before had a floor over it.

You need a lot of faith in the equipment and the guys operating it.

It's all to do with the hydraulic stage that causes the pool's depth to rise or fall depending on the needs of the show. These pictures show more clearly what I mean. They start with cruise director Ken Rush doing his intro, don't forget to clap, thing on the stage, then the stage is going... going... gone.

Royal Caribbean has lined up quite a cast for the Oasis of Dreams dive show, comprising 18 high divers, 10 synchronised swimmers and six gymnasts, all either Olympic athletes or experts from the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The show ends with a stunning dive from the platform at the very top - 10 metres above the pool.

A second show, Splish Splash, performed five times per cruise, is more about family fun but there's stil plenty of Olympic-style diving.

These shows are bound to be very popular and the venue only seats 600 people so if you're going on board, be sure to get there early. Better still, make use of Royal Caribbean's new online booking system for the shows on Oasis. There's still nothing to pay but you do get some guarantee of a seat.

Even better, splash out on one of the AquaTheatre Suites that are at the aft end of the ship and therefore have perfect birds' eye views of the action. They don't come cheap, but the balconies are huge so you could always rent the space and start to recoup the cost.

It's called on-board revenue generation!

In case you're wondering what's been happening in the world of cruising for the past two weeks, apart from the launch of Silversea's new ship, Silver Spirit, here's a quick update.

* Celebrity Cruises has announced its fourth Solstice-class ship will be called Celebrity Silhouette. And I was betting on it becoming a Star, in keeping with the astrological theme set by sisters Solstice, Equinox and Eclipse. Oh well. The 122,000-ton ship will carry 2,850 passengers and is due to launch in 2011. Like its sisters, it will have a half-acre real grass lawn on the top deck.

* Tempted to try Norwegian Cruise Line's new ship Norwegian Epic but can't afford a week in the Caribbean? Then a one-night taster cruise from Rotterdam to Southampton departing on June 21 2010 might be just the ticket. I can't guarantee sunny Caribbean skies or steel bands (a blessing you may say!) but it won't break the bank. Prices start from £89 per person plus the cost of a one-way flight to the Netherlands. See your travel agent or click here.

* French cruise line Compagnie du Ponant is courting the British with a selection of new on-board features. From now, all officers and crew will be bilingual, and shore excursions, daily programmes and menus will be in English and French. The cruise line is launching new yacht-like ship, the 264-passenger Le Boreal, in May 6 2010.
 
* Yachts of Seabourn is calling all motor enthusiasts for a seven-night Mediterranean cruise from Monte Carlo on Seabourn Legend on May 17. The cruise starts as the Monaco Grand Prix ends, so Seabourn points out it's a perfect voyage for anyone who will be in the Principality anyway for the race. Prices start from £1,799 per person including drinks and gratuities but excluding flights.

While all eyes in the UK were focused on the snow yesterday, over near Trieste, Italy, shipworkers at Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard had a much bigger thing on their mind.

The float-out of Cunard's new ship Queen Elizabeth. That's the moment when the dry-dock valves are opened and water hits the hull for the first time.

It's now all hands on deck to get the vessel ship-shape in time for its naming ceremony in Southampton on October 11 and maiden cruise to the Canary Islands departing the next day.

Apart from the extra dining venues, the big new thing on Silversea's new ship Silver Spirit is the spa.

Well it's big in relation to the spas on Silversea's other ships, with nine treatment rooms and a new hammam where you can be steamed and scrubbed.

There is also a thermal suite with four heated mosaic-tiled beds, a sauna and steam room (a pass costs $25 a day or $99 for a week) and an outside relaxation area with loungers and a tub to dip in.

I tried the hammam treatment and also a new Thai herbal poultice massage, both courtesy of Yoko, who did a great job and earned my eternal thanks for not trying to sell me any products afterwards. You can see more on my video and a couple of pictures of the spa below.

Incidentally, you can also watch my video tour of Silver Spirit by clicking here.

Finally one of the big cruise lines has broken away from the pack and acknowledged that single cruisers are nice people to have on board after all.

I say that with all due respect to P&O Cruises, which is building new ship Azura (launching in April) with 18 single cabins. I thought that was a positive step.

But on Wednesday evening, NCL announced that the 128 Studio cabins on its new ship Norwegian Epic, launching in June, will go on sale as single rooms from January 18.

They will cost from £599 per person for a seven-night Caribbean cruise (excluding flights), which NCL claimed did not to contain any of that dreaded single supplement.

Out of interest, I checked my brochure, published way before this announcement, and that quotes Studios from £479 per person with up to 100% supplement for a single person.

I was also told that in response to a question during the annoucement, NCL said the per person price will be slightly lower if two people are shoehorned into one of these tiny Studios - they are 100 square feet, which means you can take your cat but cancel all thoughts of swinging it - which means there is a very small supplement.

But hey, for £599 who really cares? The room might be small, but Studio passengers get access to their own lounge where they can go to watch TV, have a drink and make friends. It's brilliant if you are travelling alone, as you can identify the other lone cruisers.

So will other cruise lines take up the singles challenge? Realistically, no. NCL is not being altruistic by catering for singles; it just happens to have these Studios on Epic, which senior vice-president marketing Maria Miller admitted had sold mainly to single people anyway. "We are positioning them where the market is," she said.

Having said that, it only takes one cruise line to do something for the others to follow. Speciality restaurants, poolside screens, adult-only lounges, whizzy water slides, automatic gratuities. They all started somewhere.

Now we just need one of the big cruise lines to actually have the courage to break away from the pack and do something about tipping, not just say they are "looking" at it.

Or is that just being too unrealistic?

Silversea's new ship Silver Spirit officially got its name in Port Evergales, Florida, last week

It was a very traditional ceremony, unfortunately marred by the wind. Executive vice-president and chief operating officer Ken Watson struggled to keep hold of his notes and the gusts kept the champagne from smashing against the hull (you can't tell that from the video, but Cruise Critic's Carolyn Spencer Brown was there and reports that it was finally smashed by hand).

Silver Spirit has now set off on its inaugural 91-day circumnavigation of South America and I hope the weather is kinder than than it has experienced so far.

We had a bit of a rough ride sailing from Monaco to Barcelona before Christmas, and the transatlantic crossing was not always a bundle of laughs, judging by comments on Cruise Critic.

Ah well, that's life on the high seas, I guess.

The ceremony is quite long so before clicking the play button, I suggest putting on the kettle so you can sit back and enjoy it with a nice cuppa.

Silver Spirit Christening Ceremony from Silversea on Vimeo.

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.

I'm getting a feeling of deja vu.

Royal Caribbean International says Allure of the Seas, the second of two world's biggest cruise ships - 225,282 tons and with room for 5,400 passengers, will be launching early. The first revenue cruise will now be December 5 this year instead of December 12 as planned.

Sound familiar? That's because the same thing happened with sister ship Oasis of the Seas, which was also due to set off on its inaugural on December 12 last year and launched one week early on December 5, but they threw in an extra four-night cruise to Labadee on December 1 as well.

Clients booked on Allure's original inaugural can switch to the new maiden voyage - a seven-night Western Caribbean cruise. If they switch by the end of February, they will be guaranteed the same cabin.

Prices for the December 5 sailing start from £774 per person cruise-only. Clients already booked will pay the lower of either the price paid or the current price.

I've had three frantic days at home since my trip on Spirit of Adventure and now I'm back at Heathrow, en route to Dubai, where Costa Cruises' new ship Costa Deliziosa will be named on Tuesday.

The ship is a sister to Costa Luminosa, which launched last June, and is based in Dubai this winter, sailing seven-night cruises around the Arabian Gulf like the one I did last year on Costa Victoria (I can't give you a link on the computer I'm using but search back in Cruise Lines and you'll be able to read all about it).

After the naming ceremony, Deliziosa is cruising to India. It then comes back to Dubai, where it will stay until May, sailing the Gulf with its sister.

The naming ceremony will be a double celebration, as it also marks the official opening of Dubai's new cruise terminal. There'll be speeches from the Italians, Dubai's cruise chiefs, some song and dance from both sides no doubt, and I'm hoping for a fabulous fireworks display to make sure the whole event ends with a bang.

As to the identity of the godmother? Costa is saying nothing at the moment. Keep looking in and I'll keep you posted.

Costa Cruises and Dubai deserve a collective slap on the back for making yesterday's first-ever cruise ship naming in the Middle East a day to remember, with dancers, singers and horses. Yes, really.

First a little scene-setting. A blue sky, a lovely warm day (hard to imagine after our lousy UK winter, I know), and some 3,000 guests - 2,200 of them passengers who had sailed from Savona to Dubai on Costa Deliziosa - in specially-erected seating on the quay by the bow of Deliziosa, beneath a giant white awning.

In front is the stage, with two big screens so people at the back could see all the action, and a sandy arena. Up in the air, paragliders are circling, dragging banners saying "Welcome to Dubai", to the right was QE2, looking sad and alone, and in exactly the same place as when I was last in Dubai, in January 2009.

The naming ceremony started with a display of Middle Eastern dancers twirling sticks and guns, moved on to Italian singing - Nessun Dorma and Ol Sole Mio of course - and then came the horses and a super dressage display by these beautiful Arabian mounts.

The action all came to a halt as Dubai's Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktoum and his entourage - he must have been surrounded by at least 30 minders - took their seats.

Then came the national anthems for Dubai and Italy, welcome speeches, a few words from Costa chairman and chief executive officer Pier Luigi Foschi, more entertainment, more dressage displays and the big moment, when godmother Tala Dionisi, wife of the Italian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, was asked to cut the ribbon.

A ship is usually christened with Champagne, but when in Rome - or in this case Dubai - and all that. So Deliziosa was due to be bathed in date juice. Assuming the bottle smashed, of course.

And it did, with a resounding thud. Confetti streamed, everyone clapped and proceedings came to a halt again as the Crown Prince and his minders left. Then the dancing started again.

No doubt the show went on to keep us in our seats until the CP was safely out of the way but even after his helicopter flew off overhead, the horses were back, this time galloping the length of the arena while their riders rolled around in the saddles.

Passengers went back on the ship for lunch, but the rest of us dined in the old terminal - the official opening of a new one was times to coincide with the naming ceremony but it had been nabbed by Royal Caribean International, which is also sailing the Arabian Gulf from Dubai - and then had a couple of hours on board to see the ship.

I'll tell you more about that another time, but I can't resist putting in a picture of me on this chair.

One of the more outlandish creations interior designer Joe Farcus managed to sneak onto the ship, which he says is aimed at appealing to the "highest level" of customers. You've got to love it!

Meatballs without spaghetti and popcorn fish and chips are just two of the dishes that will be on the menu in a new restaurant on Celebrity Eclipse when it launches in Southampton in April.

Called Qsine, it has been created by chef Jacques van Standen, who is also Celebrity's vice-president of culinary operations.

Van Standen took time out on Wednesday to unveil details of the new diner, which will replace the Silk Harvest Asian fusian restaurant on sister ships Solstice and Equinox.

Basically this new one is all about serving up a new take on old favs such as the meatballs, which will be served alone on stylish platters and you'll only get three - one kobe beef, one veal masala and one turkey in cranberry and sage gravy.

There are spring rolls served in springs, a soup and souffle dish, sushi lollipops, Chinese food served in Martini glasses and popcorn fish and chips. Of course.

There are no appetisers or main courses, you just five in and order what you want from the waiters, who will be called "chefs" and guide you through what's on offer on the menu, which will somehow be illuminated.

They've obviously had a lot of fun with the menus. The dessert one is a magic cube which you have to unfold to find what's on offer. "Some people will think it's weird," Van Standen admitted. Surely not!

He has come up with all sorts of funky phrases to describe the food - palate pleasers, playful, making the ordinary unordinary - but the whole concept is really just a 21st-century take on Spanish tapas, where you order lots of dishes to share.

In fact, the look and style of Qsine reminds me of Restaurant 2 on Seabourn Odyssey, where you also get a taste of each dish. It's a style-over-substantial scenario, but the little taste you got was always very nice.

Actually, what excited me more than the food in Qsine was news that the wine list will be on an Apple iTouch. You tap in what you want (red, white, bubbly, whatever), drill down to get a description of the various wines available in that category, give the order and the wine waiter goes to fetch it.

Van Standen said they hope to have it working by the time of the launch. I hope so too, as I'd like to see that in action.

The chiefs of MSC Cruises must have left Southampton after their hugely successful two-night visit with new ship MSC Magnifica this weekend with grins as large as the Cheshire Cat's.

Some 2,800 travel agents and top cruise journalists (and yes, yours truly was there) went down to see the ship over the two days and came away impressed with what we saw.

Words like "classy", "tasteful", "Italian" (well MSC is an Italian-owned company after all) were being bandied around with gay abandon.

And quite rightly. The hardware is impressive. Smart interior designs, rooms that flow well so it was easy to find your way around. There is no real "wow" - even the Tiger Bar was somewhat muted compared to its predecessor, the Zebra Bar on MSC Poesia - but I'm not sure that really matters if passengers come away liking what they saw.

Although this is a sister to Poesia, a few things have been changed. There are a couple of mini bowling alleys in the nightclub and one of the swimming pools has a roof that can be closed in bad weather. Very useful when you're in Southampton.

I was sorry to see the French-style wine bar on Poesia has been replaced with the Sporting (sic) Bar. It's very orange and not nearly as attractive, but it did give me a chance to pose in this bob sleigh!

Away from the design, however, there were service and food issues that need to be addressed if MSC wants to appeal more to the Brits. Which they do.They have MSC Opera sailing from Dover this year and it will be moving to Southampton in 2011, competing for the British pound with the likes of P&O Cruises, Royal Caribbean and Princess Cruises.

Service wasn't actually bad, but I felt the crew were going through the motions rather than giving that little bit extra. A cheery hello to acknowledge passengers, even if you just happen to be passing in the corridor, goes a long way. And you know, you can forgive a slightly haphazard service if you get plenty of smiles instead.

The cooked breakfast looked as if it had been sitting around a very long time and my dinner the first evening was poor, lacking in taste and served almost cold, which was disappointing. The second evening I was lucky enough to be in the Oriental Plaza Chinese restaurant (that's it pictured above), which was a much better experience.

Glasses still didn't get filled quite as quickly as they should have, but the waiter was a lot cheerier and helpfully produced a vegetarian option not on the menu when asked. And it was quite tasty too.

Having said all of that, I must acknowledge that the ship had only just come out of the shipyard in St Nazaire, so the crew were only just finding their feet. One has to be a little forgiving in those circumstances and hope that the shakiness was down to inexperience.

If it is, and they can get these issues resolved, this will be a great ship for the Brits. And just perfect for those cruises out of Southampton given it has that covered swimming pool and a lot more pizzazz than Opera.

MSC chiefs, take note!

But no need for special glasses - this is one Eclipse you can look at safely.

It's the first view of Celebrity Eclipse, the third of the new Solstice-class ships being built for Celebrity Cruises in Papenburg.

The ship emerged from the Meyer Werft shipyard over the weekend and will be heading off, still backwards, down the River Ems next week, heading for the open sea.

Its sea trials await, and no doubt some last-minute finishing off, and then it will be coming across the North Sea to Southampton, where it will be named and homeported for the rest of the summer, sailing for the British market.

It's the first time Celebrity has has a ship specially for the Brits and they have made some concessions for UK tastes. There are kettles in cabins and steak and kidney pud and mushy peas on the menu. It will also have a new restaurant, Qsine, serving fish and chips and spring rolls in ways you have never seen before.
 
I'm hoping to be on board Eclipse for the conveyance from the shipyard to Emden next week and then will be back on the ship in Southampton for the christening and a two-night cruise from April 24-26.

Hopefully I'll be reporting back from both events so keep checking in.

MSC Cruises is the latest cruise line to come out with an AA-sponsored drinks package. "Sponsored" as in it is clearly trying to drum up trade for Alcoholics Anonymous.

The cheapest alcohol package is £33.30 per person per day. Now I just happen to have a bar list from MSC Magnifica, from when it was in Southampton at the end of last month, and can tell you a large draft beer (40cl) costs €4.70, which at today's exchange rate is £4.40.

You'd have to drink more than seven of those each day to make that package pay.

Let's assume you'll have a bottle of wine with dinner. The list has bottles from £15.00 (excellent value, by the way) so you can down a whole one each (this is a per person package remember) every day and still have plenty of credit left for beers and cocktails.

There is also a premium drinks package at £37.80, which I assume includes spirits, and a couple for non-alcoholic drinks costing £18.90 and £23.40.

I'm all in favour of drinks packages as I dislike the way waiters have to otherwise hover over you for your cruise card and signature - and it's not very nice for them either - but they are all so ridiculously priced. Unless you really are a candidate for AA.

Of course clever people will buy one and use it between two. It means you'll have to get a drink at one bar and then go to another for the second one, but suddenly the package looks excellent value. Just don't say I suggested it!

MSC is giving away a drinks package with bookings for balcony cabins on MSC Fantasia (sailings from March and October) and MSC Spendida (sailings from March to November) made before March 31.

An offer not to be cheered at, I feel.

There's a storm a-brewing over Papenburg, the email on Monday said.

No it's not a stand-off between Celebrity Cruises and the Meyer-Werft shipyard over the new Celebrity Eclipse. It's bad weather on the way.

It means Celebrity has had to bring forward the date of the so-called conveyance, when Eclipse is tugged backwards down the River Ems, through narrow locks and under too-low bridges, towards the open sea.

It also means I'm heading out there two days earlier than originally planned. Hopefully I'll be arriving there around midnight tonight and the ship will start moving at 7am tomorrow morning.

Internet willing, I'll be bringing updates and pictures, so keep checking back.

At the recent floating out of Oceania Cruises' new ship Marina, the line made the surprise announcement that its next ship would be called Riviera.

They then surprised the invited guests further by saying that work on the ship was to start that very moment.

So, everyone jumped on coaches waiting dock side where Marina was being fitted out and made the short journey to another section of the Genoa shipyard where the ships are built.

Here Riviera's first steel was cut. Watch our video to see how a multi-million dollar cruise ship starts its life.  

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!

What a cool guy Celebrity Cruises president and chief executive Dan Hanrahan is. Not just calm as his new ship Celebrity Eclipse negotiated the obstacle course known as the River Ems, but also totally laid back about the fact Eclipse looks a long way from being finished.

"When I see Bernard Meyer panic, I know it's time to get worried," he told me. "There is a lot to be done but I am confident if they tell me it will be ready on time, it will be ready on time."

Incidentally, Bernard Meyer was on board for the conveyance, and was quite confident that all was going according to plan.

Nonetheless, there are hardboard walkways, plastic sheets and bare rooms all over the ship, which is crawling with workers hammering, drilling and painting.

And this is how the lawn is looking....

It's been too cold in Papenburg to get it laid - and I can certainly testify that it was freezing there last week - so the plan now is to ship the grass from Italy, where it has been grown, to Eemshaven, on the edge of the North Sea, where the ship is now and, fingers crossed, they'll get some warm weather and be able to get it sorted.

Among other changes on the ship, Celebrity Eclipse will have a new speciality restaurant, Qsine, the brainchild of chef Jacques Van Staden, Celebrity's vice-president of culinary operations.

Jacques was on board for the conveyance and enthusing about the fish and chips popcorn and other weird foodie things on the menu. He dubs them "uniquely unordinary". I admit I was just struggling to envisage what it was all about.

To help us out, in the evening of the conveyance they served a few things from the menu in the Oceanview Cafe.

We sampled the popcorn fish, below (turns out it's pieces of battered fish served in a box - only about five or six pieces in each though, as the box is mainly filled with packaging), garlic brioche wrapped in paper cones, Crunchy Munchies, right, which are basically calories in a cardboard cone) and Disco Shrimp, bottom (it's prawn cocktail on a bed of plastic ice that flashes).

It'll cost $30 per person to eat there, which seems steep to me for what is rather ordinary food served in bits of cardboard and paper. Reminded me of McDonald's, but with more packing.

Of course we did only have a taste of things to come, not the whole menu, so rather than have to eat my words I'll stick with saying "seems" and wait to see the reaction of passengers when the ship launches - and don't forget, it'll be mainly Brits on Eclipse initially as the ship is sailing no-fly cruises from Southampton this summer.

Actually it's the first glimpse and the last one for a while, because if all goes according to plan, the 446-passenger Saga Pearl II will be off today on its inaugural cruise in its new colours - an 18-night voyage from Southampton to the Norwegian fjords.

I say "if all goes according to plan" because the refurbishment of the ship, which was built in 1981 and formerly called the Astoria, has not gone quite as smoothly as Saga might have hoped.

But I saw it in Southampton yesterday and although there are workmen crawling all over it still, it is looking smart and everyone is confident things will be in place and ship-shape when the first paying passengers come aboard today.

Saga has done a lovely job with the refurbishment, which unusually was carried out in Swansea. Flying the flag for Britain.

OK, they have thrown £20 million at the ship (that's the official figure but I suspect the final cheque will be quite a bit more) to practically rebuild it - much of it has gone on techie bits the passengers will never see like the engines but they have also installed new balcony cabins - so you should get something good.

But it's more the look and feel they have gone for that impressed me.

For one thing, they have opened up the ship so you can see from one side to another, which gives a real feeling of space. For another, the furnishings are bright and modern, not at all how I would have imagined a Saga ship to be (this is the first time I have been on one). The wood floors give it a real yachty feel, as does the colour scheme they have chosen for the cabins.

On the Bridge Deck, outside the Sundowner Bar, there are al fresco soft sofas to lounge around on - very Celebrity I feel - and a modern hi-top table which I could see myself sitting at, glass of wine in hand, watching the sun go down. Well at any other tme as well, actually!

Shackleton's Bar looks very smart and I like the way it is open to the corridor where there is more comfy seating. I just wonder if there is enough seating in the area altogether as it could be a popular place for pre and post-dinner drinks.

The library is next to the bar - there are a staggering 3,400 books - forward is the Discovery Lounge, the main entertainment venue but more suited to concerts than shows as the stage is not very big, aft is the main dining room.

Saga is being very daring on Pearl II and switching from fixed dining to open seating, where passengers turn up to eat when they want, sitting with whom they want. It works a dream on sister brand Spirit of Adventure, so it'll be interesting to see how Saga passengers take to it.

I suspect there'll be talk of rebellion initially, but after a while they'll realise actually it's quite nice to be able to sit with friends - much like when you go out to a restaurant at home, after all - or alternatively that's it's an easy way to meet new people. The real joy is, if you don't like them, you never have to sit with them again.

The only downside is that the dining room is not big enough to hold all 446 passengers at once, so many will have to dine upstairs in the Verandah (the last picture in the sequence above).

That's the self-service by day but it will be waiter service in the evening, serving exactly the same food as in the dining room.

I'd be very happy to eat there as it's a nice airy room but I reckon many passengers will see it as second best, which will lead to an evening stampede for the dining room.

I would not like to be the maitre d'.

Has anyone else been following the fois gras fracas that has been playing out on the Cruise.co.uk website?

It all started when P&O Cruises revealed foie gras was included on the menu in Seventeen, the new speciality restaurant on Azura.

Must say, it made up my mind. I'm definitely eating in there if I ever get the chance.

Seems I might be the only one though. And I might have to get through the card-carrying "save the geese and ducks" protesters to get to my table.

The same ones who no doubt eat fish that has been snarred on a hook and cheap battery-farmed chickens from Tesco, and who rush to the dining room for lobster night while proclaiming it's cooked at its best when thrown into boiling water while still alive.

And how funny they don't protest about veal, another favourite on the cruise ship menus.

You've seen the stills, now you can watch my video of Celebrity Cruises' new ship Celebrity Eclipse squeezing down the River Ems. The second video is a quick tour of the vessel, although it's not quite finished yet.

Enjoy as this will be your last look until Eclipse arrives in Southampton on April 20.

Celebrity Eclipse ship tour

If Queen Elizabeth is late for her naming date in Southampton in October, blame Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard in Italy where it is being built because seems they have been otherwise engaged, building this rather lovely cutaway model of the ship.

It was unveiled at Seatrade in Miami this week, is eight feet long, nearly two feet high and weighs almost 80kg, and it gives you a idea what this new Queen will look like.

I suspect Cunard president and managing director Peter Shanks, right, is trying to locate the cabin with his name on, with the help of Fincantieri's CEO Giuseppe Bono.

Wonder what they will do with the model when the real Queen comes out. They could always put it on board and see how much they can get for it at one of the art auctions. It would at last be something passengers might like to buy.

Cunard also announced the new QE's 2011 itinerary this week, which includes cruises to the Mediterranean and Israel, the Baltic, Norwegian fjords, the Canary Islands and around the British Isles.

In other words, the standard cruise fare offered by ships based in Southampton.

Far more exciting is the Royal Rendezvous on January 13 2011, when all three Cunard Queens will be meeting in New York - three years to the day after Queen Mary 2, QE2 and Queen Victoria met there. It'll be quite a moment.

Up until yesterday there were 20 dining options on Norwegian Cruise Line's new ship Norwegian Epic, but it seems they have found another, taking the total to 21.

"Who knows how many we'll have by the time the ship launches," quipped Andy Stuart, NCL's executive vice-president global sales and passenger services during a webinar last evening.

The extra restaurant is nothing to do with a late change to the design of the ship, but has appeared because the powers that be at NCL have decided to split Cagney's and the Moderno Churrascarla, which is all about meat, like Cagney's, but Brazilian inspired.

I gather waiters will be coming to the tables brandishing knives and skewers, on which they will spear various types of meat. The name comes from the Portuguese word for barbecue.

Moderno Churrascarla will be one of 10 restaurant on Epic that cost extra, in this case $18 per person. You'll also pay more for the Italian La Cucina ($10pp), Shanghai's ($15pp), the French Le Bistro ($20pp), Cirque Dreams and Dinner ($15pp or $20pp depending on your seating) and the Teppanyaki and Cagney's (both $25pp).

Wasabi (for sushi) and Shanghai's Noodle Bar are both charged a la carte and there is a new pizza delivery service - $5 for a 16-inch pizza delivered anywhere on the ship (but not to another restaurant!).

That leaves 11 places to eat with no charge. As well as the usual self service, grills and room service, there's the Manhattan Room supper club where Legends in Concert will be performing three times a week and Spice H20, an adult-only venue on the aft deck serving Asian and Latin cuisine.

There's O'Sheehans bar and grill, the Studio Lounge that goes with the single cabins, Taste, pictured below, in the atrium where there is also a cafe serving tapas, and the Epic Club or Courtyard Grill for passengers in the villa section of the ship.

It's an impressive selection of places to eat, and you'd be hard pressed to try them all on a seven-night cruise. But would you want to? According to one caller, the paid-for restaurants on a recent cruise were only ever half full.

Seems passengers who only want to eat for free are a problem generally for NCL, as Stuart revealed they are trialling a dining package to encourage more of them to fork out (no pun intended) for the speciality restaurants. If it works, and apparently it is going well, it'll be rolled out across the fleet.

While on the subject of food and dining, check out this report on Cruise Critic about the new Cirque Dreams and Dinner experience on Norwegian Epic.

I nearly got the chance to go and see this preview in the US a couple of weeks back but in the end all the spaces were taken by American journalists.

Have to say I'm really disappointed now as it looks pretty amazing - even to this old cynic!

Here we go again.

Royal Caribbean International has just added yet another new inaugural cruise for its next big ship, the 5,400-passenger Allure of the Seas.

It's a four-nighter going from Port Everglades in Florida to Labadee, Royal's private island in Haiti, on December 1. Just like they offered when Oasis of the Seas launched last. Even the dates are the same.

Anyone booked on the previous maiden cruise - a seven-night Western Caribbean voyage departing December 5 (which only replaced the original December 12 inaugural last month) - has until April 30 to decide if they want to add the four-nighter to their original booking, making an 11-night holiday.

If they do, the price will be adjusted as necessary and Royal will throw in $100 onboard credit per stateroom.

For those keen to try out Royal's next behemoth, the minicruise went on sale today. Prices start from £521 per person.

I was unable to make it to Volendam in Holland last weekend to see Avalon Waterways' new vessel christened - I was otherwise engaged as one of the speakers at the Cruise show - but by all accounts it was a great occasion.

The ribbon was cut by godmother Measha Brueggergosman, whose previous engagement was singing at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and Avalon Felicity is now getting ready to operate a seven-night Romantic Rhine cruise from Amsterdam to Basle (and vice-versa). It runs from April 11 to the end of October.

A sister to Cosmos, Avalon is one of a rash of new river cruise companies to appear on the UK market in the past 12 months or so.

Except this one has actually been around for some time, but relying on other companies to sell it here in the UK. You can now book their cruises direct or through your local travel agent.

Felicity is Avalon's 10th river cruiser, 361 feet long and with capacity for 138 passengers in 65 cabins and four suites. Most have floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors with French balconies, which means you can get air in but there's not even room enough to stand outside.

A sister vessel, Luminary launches in July.

The Romantic Rhine cruise visits Strasbourg, Rudesheim, Koblenz, Cologne and Amsterdam, and costs from £1,325 including return flights, UK and overseas transfers, daily shore excursions and wines, beers or soft drinks with dinner.

It's not often that a company is big enough to hold up its hand and admit it got things wrong, so hat's off to US river cruise company Uniworld, which is sold in the UK by Elegant River Cruises (part of Titan Travel) and Saga.

River Tosca was supposed to be one of the most luxurious vessels to sail the Nile when it launched last year; instead, it seems there was nothing but complaints from passengers about the shoddy workmanship.

There were scratched floors, loose tiles, bad paint and wood work. Hardly life and death stuff, but not exactly luxurious either. So Uniworld took a deep breath and removed the River Tosca from service for seven weeks so the workmen could have another go (different ones I presume, although history does not relate).

Anyway, the seven weeks is up and the vessel is back in service, and looking rather good, if this picture of the lounge is anything to go by.

Uniworld president Guy Young is certainly pleased. He might be a bit biased but let's face it, he does need to make sure they have got it right this time.

"I can now proudly say after visiting the Tosca that all the deficiencies have been resolved. All the floors in the staterooms, corridors, stairwells, and restaurant have been replaced. There are new wall coverings in the staterooms and the furniture has been reupholstered with tones more appropriate to the destination."

I just hope they had a "not-up-to-scratch" (unfortunate term in the circumstances) clause in the build contract to help pay for the changes.

Not that Uniworld can be short of a bob or two because it has also been busy sprucing up another couple of its river cruise vessels - River Queen, which sails the Rhine and Moselle and is claimed to be the only river cruise vessel "in the entire (sic) world" to have a working fireplace, and Rhine River, which cruises the Rhine.

Cabins and public rooms have been redecorated, bathrooms have been upgraded and kitted out with L'Occitane products, Christies of Manchester towels and bathrobes.

This is a cabin on River Queen. Must admit it does look rather nice.

Celebrity Cruises has been so flattered by press and public reaction to the iLounge that is making its debut on Celebrity Eclipse this month, that it has decided to roll it out to two more ships.

Both Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Summit will get the i treatment, creating what has been dubbed a "hipster haven" on both.

Well if that's the definition of a lounge where you can go on line using MacBooks and buy said laptops and iPods, then that's what it is. Sounds to me more like my office transposed into a nifty new retail opportunity.

There will also be Apple-trained staff on hand running photo, movie, DVD and web courses for people who go on holiday to spend hours in front of a computer screen.

And I always thought it was the days at sea that were dull!

The iLounge will be unveiled on Eclipse when it is named in Southampton on April 24 and goes live on Solstice on May 30. On Summit, the lounge, which will be split between the existing computer classroom on deck six and cybercafe on deck four, goes live on May 16.

There will also be an iLounge on Celebrity Silhouette, which comes out next year, and the fifth - and last - Solstice-class ship, as yet unnamed, launching in 2012.

Which leaves me wondering what they have against Celebrity Equinox, the only Solstice-class ship missing from that line-up. Any suggestions?

Celebrity Cruises will have all four of its Solstice-class ships in Europe next summer, adding to the Mediterranean battle royale that is shaping up as cruise lines position a record number of ships on this side of the pond for 2011.

I knew there would be three Solstice-class ships - I'd got that much from talking to Celebrity Cruises president and chief executive officer Dan Hanrahan when I was on Celebrity Eclipse sailing backwards down the River Ems in Germany.

What he kept up his sleeve was the news they are also bringing Celebrity Solstice to Europe for summer 2011. The ship has been stationed in the Caribbean since it launched in 2008.

Celebrity Equinox will be back and again based in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, where it will be sailing 10 and 11-night Med cruises.

New ship Celebrity Silhouette, launching in July 2011, will sail a one-off maiden cruise from Hamburg to Civitavecchia, a one-off nine-night Med cruise and then 12 and 13-night Eastern Med voyages to Israel.

That's shaping up to be one of the hot back-on-the-map destinations for 2011.

Celebrity Eclipse will be sailing a second summer season from Southampton, while Celebrity Solstice will be based in Barcelona, adding to the big ship cruise fray that's building up there for 2011 (Royal Caribbean will have Liberty of the Seas, Norwegian Cruise Line will have Norwegian Epic, Carnival Cruise Lines will have the new Carnival Magic).

In all, Celebrity will have a record six ships in Europe next year - the others are Celebrity Mercury and Celebrity Constellation, which is soon to be retro-fitted with a few Solstice favourites and will be sailing seven-night cruises from Piraeus, the port for Athens, to Israel (see what I mean about it being hot?) and the Greek Islands.

Bookings for summer 2011 cruises on Solstice and Equinox open today, with Silhouette on sale to Captain's Club members from today and opening to all on April 20. Eclipse is already on sale. Mercury and Constellation on-sale dates have yet to be announced.

P&O Cruises' 3,100-passenger Azura sailed into Southampton this week with all the pomp, ceremony and grey skies that are always reserved for new cruise ships arriving in the UK.

P&O has dubbed Azura its back-to-the-future ship - classic P&O with some modern twists, namely Atul Kochhar's classy Indian restaurant Sindhu, and the Glass House, a dining-cum-wine-tasting outlet fronted by wine guru Olly Smith.

I see more of a wedding link - something old (that's the traditional stuff), something new (as above), something borrowed (the ideas of a big screen by the pool and The Retreat adults-only area, "borrowed" from Princess) and something blue (the name of course).

I'll be on board on Saturday, one of 1,200 lucky guests who have been invited to see the ship and watch it being christened by top ballerina Darcey Bussell. Check back here next week for pictures and a video of the best bits.

Azura sets sail on its maiden voyage on Monday, cruising to the Mediterranean.

On Saturday night, I learned - not for the first time - why it's not a good idea to have cruise ship naming ceremonies in the UK. And why, if you have to christen a ship here, it should be done indoors.

As we all shivered as the sun went down on what the forecasters had billed a hot weekend - maybe they were talking about the weather in the Caribbean? - some 1,200 guests, myself included, on P&O Cruises' new ship Azura were treated to a gala ceremony of dance styles through the ages to welcome the new ship, before ballerina Darcey Bussell took to the podium to cut the ribbon and give the vessel its name.

As the bottle smashed, confetti fell and fireworks exploded. P&O announced details of Azura in November 2008. Now, just 17 months on, it has officially become one of the P&O fleet.

This is P&O's "back to the future" ship, which is an attempt to say to past passengers "this is not Ventura" - a sister vessel, but one that was a little rebellious, shall we say.

Actually there are more than a few shades of Ventura in some of Azura's décor, not least the Manhattan lounge and atrium, but generally the latter has a more sober look and feel.

P&O has also been careful to add stuff to appeal to their past passengers who crave cruising as it used to be. So out go fun things like the bungee trampolines and circus school - but there are still extensive kids and teen areas so there will be families in school holidays - and in comes a classical quartet for dancing in the atrium and a library (albeit a very small one).

Actually that's not quite fair as I reckon the Glass House (above), where they sell wine by the glass - but you can have a bottle if you want of course - will be a fun area, especially when wine guru Olly Smith is on to give his inimitable wine tastings.

I guess my favourite area has to be Sindhu, the Indian restaurant - and not just because I love Indian food. It looks and feels the part as well, with subtle background music that takes you back to Mumbai.

Unfortunately the restaurant was closed on naming day so I didn't get to eat there, but I have dined a few times at Benares, Atul Kochhar's restaurant in London, and assuming it's as good, which I'm sure it will be, diners will be in for a treat.

We're talking subtle flavours with lots of spice rather than fiery curries. And all for just £15 per person, excluding drinks, which makes it a bit of a bargain.

Or maybe it was The Retreat, above, the adult-only area up at the front of the ship. I do like the look of those comfy loungers and the thought that you can relax there in peace and quiet.

I also like the look of the menu in Seventeen, below, a P&O fine-dining creation - and the one that caused all that foie gras controversy. I'm would have happily ordered the foie gras had the restaurant been open (this one is £20 per person), but I was disappointed to find it looks so much like the White Room on Ventura, which I found rather sombre.

Now if it had been really white, like the dining room on Celebrity's Solstice-class ships, it would have been spectacular. But maybe that was just too revolutionary, even for Ventura.

Disney Cruise Line has teamed up with French master chef Arnaud Lallement, from two-Michelin-star restaurant l'Assiette Champenoise outside Reims in France, to create Remy, a classy eatery on new ship Disney Dream.

As Disney fans will have noticed, it's named after the star in Ratatouille. Yes, that'll be the rat.

I'm pretty sure there won't be a rat in Remy (no jokes about rats and sinking ships please) but it does sound as if dining there will nonetheless be a very lavish affair.

The restaurant, seating 80 passengers, is in Art Noveau style, tables will be set with Frette linens, Riedel glassware, Christofle silverware and china made exclusively for Remy, and waiters will wear long white aprons, black jackets or burgundy vests and bow ties.

Dining starts with a chilled Champagne cocktail made table-side and moves on through eight or nine courses created by a culinary team overseen by French-trained executive chef Patrick Albert.

There is also a private Chef's Table dining room that seats 16 passengers, who get a different multi-course menu. Apparently the room offers a "glimpse" into the kitchen. Could that be when the chefs come in and out of the room's separate entrance to the galley?

Can't tell you what the menus will be as they are still being created by Lallemen, working with Chef Scott Hunnel from Victoria & Albert's, one of the top restaurants at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

Can't tell you what it will cost either, but I don't think this will be one of the cheapest options on the new ship.

The 2,500-passenger Disney Dream (but it can hold 4,000 when all the berths are in use) is being built at the Meyer-Weft shipyard in Germany and due to launch in January 2011. It will will be sailing three and four-night cruises from Port Canaveral in Florida to the Bahamas.