Tag Archives: cruise critic

Customers threaten Island Cruises with legal action

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Customers threaten Island Cruises with legal action

By Phil Davies

Customers threaten Island Cruises with legal actionA group of 50 passengers are taking legal action after an outbreak of illness on the ship Island Escape.

Law firm Irwin Mitchell has been instructed to investigate the concerns of 50 passengers who travelled on the Tui UK & Ireland ship between March and June this year.

The solicitors said many were confined to their cabins after suffering diarrhoea and sickness and there were also complaints about food, damp rooms and overflowing toilets, the Yorkshire Evening Post reports.

Leeds pensioners Ralph and Patricia Hewitt said they were left traumatised when the ship listed violently to one side after leaving the port of Civitavecchia, near Rome.

The ship lurched suddenly to one side, throwing passengers – many of whom were in bars and restaurants – to the floor and causing injuries, they said.

Then the second week of their trip was ruined when they caught a sickness bug which had been rife onboard

The grandparents joined the Island Escape in May for a week’s Mediterranean cruise and then a week in a hotel in Majorca.

A spokeswoman for Island Cruises said: “We are sorry to hear of this experience on board the Island Escape. As this case is now subject to legal proceedings it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.

“The ultimate priority for Island Cruises is the health, safety and comfort of all our customers. We operate stringent health and hygiene procedures in line with industry standards.”

Royal Caribbean, MSC further restrict smoking

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Royal Caribbean, MSC further restrict smoking

By Tom Stieghorst
Two cruise lines have announced new restrictions on smoking.

Royal Caribbean International has done away with smoking on stateroom balconies, leaving Norwegian Cruise Line as the only major holdout.

In addition, Royal Caribbean extended its ban on smoking to almost all indoor areas except the casino, which will have a designated nonsmoking section.

However, on select cruises departing from China, a nonsmoking section in the casino will not be available.

Smoking is allowed in the cigar bars on Freedom- and Voyager-class ships and in The Vault, a nightclub on Voyager of the Seas.

The changes take effect starting Jan. 1.

Separately, MSC Cruises said that starting Nov. 2, when the MSC Divina departs Venice on a repositioning cruise to Miami, it will limit smoking on that ship to the Cigar Lounge and the port side of designated outdoor decks.

Smoking won’t be permitted in the Top Sail or Black & White lounges or in the MSC Yacht Club area.

In addition, the casino will become nonsmoking, although MSC said the casino manager at his discretion may allow some players to smoke in clearly designated areas.

Divina is scheduled to sail year round from Miami.

Has P&O boss made an Olympian decision about his new cruise ship?

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The publicity machine is cranking itself into gear for P&O’s new baby – the biggest cruise ship ever to be built for the British market.

As construction gathers pace in an Italian dry dock, the company has disclosed the team of senior officers who will command the ship.

The long-awaited announcement of the vessel’s name is expected to be made before the end of the month, and speculation is beginning to build.

The only certainty is that – in common with every other vessel in P&O’s fleet – it will end with an ‘a.’ Beyond that, predictions (or guesses) have veered from a revival of the much-loved Canberra to something new. My money was mischievously on Carolia – after managing director Carol Marlow – until it was announced she would be leaving the company.

Gerard Tempest, the chief commercial officer at parent company Carnival UK, told me in July that his boss, chief executive David Dingle, would have a big hand in selecting the name.

“David is a walking encyclopedia of shipping and of P&O,” said Tempest. “He knows exactly what has gone before and what the name for the new ship will mean in terms of the heritage of the business.

“Before we can make a final decision there’s the whole legal business of registering the name as a trademark and ensuring that we actually own the name.”

So it is interesting to see that within the past few weeks, Carnival UK has registered two trademarks with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office.

First to be filed, on June 12, was Olympia. It was followed on July 27 byBritannia.

If either of them is the chosen name, it will be an interesting selection. Britannia is, of course, the name of the Royal Yacht, now a tourist attraction in Leith, Scotland, rather than an active ship on Her Majesty’s service. Britannia was also the name of the first steamship built for Cunard’s Transatlantic mail service, in 1840.

Olympia has been used to name a previous P&O ship, albeit more than 100 years ago.

Both names have other historic echoes. Olympic and Britannic were sister ships to the Titanic, a name you may have heard of and which is guaranteed never to be revived.

Those crew names, by the way: Paul Brown and David Pembridge are to be captains.

Brown joined P&O in 1996 and was first promoted to captain in June 2007 on board Aurora. He then went on to be master on board Artemis, Oriana, Ventura and Azura.

Pembridge joined the company in 1976 and was first promoted to captain in October 2002 on board Pacific Princess. He then went on to be master on board Royal Princess, Sun Princess, Artemis, Oceana, Ocean Village 2, Oriana and Aurora.

Martin Allen and Hamish Sunter have been named as deputy captains, and Darljit Sharma and Keith de la Mare as executive pursers.