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This is the YouTube channel of a user calling themselves 'MSCCruiseLines'.

Take a close look at the favourites...

Tom Cruise goes crazy? The unfunny truth about Scientology? Some crazy scientology stuff?

Needless to say, this channel isn't anything to do with MSC Cruises. The user has been reposting official MSC vids as replies to other cruise clips, such as ours - which is what brought it to my attention.

A quick call to MSC Cruises UK head of PR (and former TW editor) Sarah Longbottom reveals that there is no official MSC Cruises YouTube channel, though there are nicely curated ones here and here.

How to deal with it? Well, YouTube's T&Cs don't directly deal with impersonating a brand, and a 2007 article on Marketing Sherpa suggests that usernames are basically first-come-first-served. It's unlikely that MSC could expect direct help from YouTube or its owner Google.

The brand whose case is discussed on Marketing Sherpa got this response from YouTube:

We are not in a position to adjudicate the appropriateness of a user's name selection. We do not disable accounts in response to such allegations. We recommend instead that people pursue any claims they may have directly with the user in question.

Speak to your lawyers, in other words, and no doubt the lawyers would (eventually) be able to do something about it - there's clearly a case for saying this brings the brand into disrepute.

Ultimately it's just a minor irritant, and could probably be ignored. But it's another interesting case study on brand protection in the social media badlands...

Just read through the proofs of the forthcoming TW Cruise supplement (published with Travel Weekly on 20 February). I know I would say this, but there were some great pieces of information in there. The focus is on cruises out of the UK (called ex-uk cruises). Here are some highlights:

• British-style cruising increasingly popular - Fred Olsen Cruises and Cruise and Maritime Services doing well
• Massive ships will be with us in 2010 - Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas (5,400 passengers) and P&O Cruises' Azura (3,000 passengers)
• Costa Cruises' Costa Luminosa is operating out of Dubai
• You can visit Iran with Princess Cruises
• Silversea and Hurtigruten are expanding their Arctic programmes
• River cruising will be boosted by launch of Viking River Cruises' new ship Viking Legend in April  
• MSC Fantasia will suit 40-55 year old Brits
• There are lots of offers out there

They'll put all sorts of crazy stuff on cruise ships these days, but the prize for least likely suggestion goes to Youtube user jpbalkenende.

Here's his/her comment on our vid of Oasis of the Seas under construction:

What would be cool [is] if they had a blue whale sculpture in their central park like the the one in the New York Museum of Natural History. Biggest ship of the seas and biggest animal of the seas. But it would take up some room and obscure some views I guess.

Nobody loves a natural history exhibit more than your blogger, but... yes, jpbalkenende. Yes it would.

Here's a map - the pink markers are photos from flickr. (Markers not showing up in Internet Explorer? Try Firefox.)

View Larger Map

[Thomson Celebration] is now stationed at Langton Cruise Terminal, a quayside warehouse with only very basic modification. Located deep in the dockland, it is difficult for passenger access and in very unappealing surroundings.

• Thomson Cruises is not obliged to offer a refund
• All passengers will get an 80% discount voucher for future bookings

Busy day yesterday. Here's what happened...

The TTA-Worldchoice merger got shareholder support

Consumers: The merger would create a huge travel agent consortium.

In a consortium, member travel agents are technically independent but benefit from the spending and buying power of a large organisation - so theoretically you may see more products and better technology on the ground.

The other big consortiums are Advantage and Global Travel Group (with Worldchoice they form the superconsortium Triton).

Andrew Laurie announced he is to quit

Consumers: Won't affect you. Laurie is quitting Stella Travel Services UK, which owns a number of UK travel businesses.

Oasis of the Seas went on sale

Consumers: For existing cruise fans, you can now book what will be the biggest cruise ship in the world.

Non-cruise fans should look at the sheer volume now going into this market - cruiselines need to fill these ships, and that means winning over new passengers.

Heavy marketing is a certainty, and discounting a possibility - so you might yet find yourself swayed...

Other good stuff from the issue:

• Will 2009 be a lean year for late deals?
• Nominations open for our Globe Travel Awards

TW's student journalist Tiffany Evans, gives feedback on her visit to Royal Caribbean International's call centre in Addlestone, Surrey, on the day Oasis of the Seas tickets went on sale (here's our video from the day).

Tiffany writes . . .

Royal Caribbean started its general sale of Oasis of the Seas today and I went along to see if the hype around the ship, really had grabbed the public's attention.

I was not disappointed, as soon as we entered the office the phones started to ring and the bookings began.

There was a general buzz about the office, which incidentally has a cruise liner style as it was created by one of their ships designers. 

The company decorated the desk areas with balloons and organised an 'oasis' chill out area, with treats and the juice drink oasis for the staff.

Associate vice-president and general manager, Jo Rzymowska (pictured), was wearing an apron with 'Domestic Goddess' written across the front, and was wandering around the desks with a trolley offering staff snacks as they worked.

The senior management including the Vice president and managing director of Royal Caribbean International, UK and Ireland, Robin Shaw were mucking in and answering calls which they found to be trickier than they first thought.

Martin Couzins, managing editor

I was up at London Cruise Terminal in Tilbury, Essex today to visit Transocean ship Marco Polo, and ended up interested in a site whose first impressions are a little underwhelming.

• It dates back to 1930, when PM Ramsay MacDonald opened a landing stage at Tilbury Docks (archive footage)
  
• Empire Windrush docked here in 1948, bringing West Indian immigrants to the UK
• It is in the frame for redevelopment funding as the 2012 Olympics approaches

It's also convenient for Transocean's passengers, who are generally a sedate, 55-60 and above crowd. They can do without negotiating big, busy terminals with piles of luggage (and if you're not an initiate, note that negligible restrictions mean cruisers tend to pack more than air travellers).

UK cruises

It was also interesting to hear that one of Marco Polo's most popular itineraries is a Tilbury-Tilbury round UK cruise - passengers for which come almost exclusively from the terminal's south-and-east catchment area.

Jane Archer, who writes our Cruise Lines blog and accompanied me around Marco Polo (watch her video review on Travel Weekly) pointed me to a cruisecritic.com article that suggests Transocean rivals Fred Olsen and Voyages of Discovery are seeing a similar demand for UK cruising.

What do we make of it? A growing desire to see more of the UK? Disinclination to go abroad becuase of the weak pound and iffy economic lookout? Or just an appealing price point?

That's right: you, Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas, free Ben & Jerry's ice cream. The catch is you have to stare at their backsides.

The cabin above Independence of the Seas' Ben & Jerry's outlet has - as you can see - a restricted view of the Royal Promenade; as compensation, the occupants get free ice cream.

I would.

The photo was taken by Travel Weekly Cruise Club member Tracy McFall, a disabled travel specialist who sent us her thoughts on IoS's facilities and accessibility.

Nathan Midgley, web producer

TW's editor-in-chief Penny Wilson just visited the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh. Here's the lowdown.

Edinburgh taxi drivers are a chatty bunch.

I have just returned from a splendid dinner on board the Royal Yacht Britannia with Scotland's finest agents and operators - courtesy of Air France and KLM who wanted to say a big thankyou for the support the company had experienced from that part of the world.

Having spent the last four years travelling abroad, I had to admit to not having been to Edinburgh for some time, so I asked the cabbie whether he was Scottish or British.

"I am Scottish first and foremost, and British in times of conflict," he replied.

And as for the Royal Yacht, I've never seen anything so narrow in my life as her majesty's bed. No room for anything else but a tiny person in there.

Word of warning to travellers to Edinburgh courtesy of the Central Cab Company - Edinburgh is being torn apart by preparations to re-introduce trams.

Victorian utilities are being replaced before tram tracks can even be considered. All this is costing millions of pounds and will cause massive traffic delays for another two to three years.

Another message from Louise Scott on easyCruise...

Just been chatting to a senior member of ship personnel who let slip that a customer spent a couple of hours in his office the other day having a moan.

Being a sticky-beaked journo type I asked why and he said she was an older lady who'd been on loads of (posh) cruises before this and wasn't happy with how easyCruise Life was shaping up in comparison - one of her main gripes being the food.

Hang on a minute, I thought, isn't that a bit like comparing Pizza Express to The Ivy? Or going to Maccy D's and expecting steak?

Okay, so the grub may not be the most varied in the world, but it's pretty nice if you ask me (or any of the folk I've chatted to about it). The disgruntled lady didn't take kindly to the generally informal style of the ship either, by all accounts.

Agents, the moral of this story is this: be careful who you recommend a holiday on easyCruise Life to. Those looking for a bit of swank, smarm and Silver Service will not find it here. This is firm flip-flop brigade territory.

Chilled-out types of all ages who would hate the traditional idea of cruising and want to see more of the ports of call than the portholes on deck will love easyCruise Life, though. It's easy peasy.