Sam's Sea Stories

The hulking shell of the world's largest cruise ship slid into the waters off western France on Friday June 19th, with workers aiming to have it ready for a 2016 inaugural trip. The huge vessel, Royal Caribbean Internationals' "Harmony of the Seas", has been under construction since September 2013 in the…

There is no shortage of weird and wonderful theme parks around the world, there is an Angry Birds park in Finland and probably the weirdest of all is the Kingdom of the Little People in China which requires all its employees to be shorter than 4 ft 3 inches tall. However the Chinese seemed…

Over recent years the 'themed' cruise has become more and more popular, you can now take a 'Nudist Cruise', a 'Psychics Cruise' and even for the ardent Trekkies among you a 'Cruise with a Klingon' but it seems music festivals at sea continue to prove the most popular.   So…

It's taken over 3 years but the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner is finally ready for scrapping, after being gutted of its insides. The giant vessel was pulled away by tugboats on Tuesday from Italy's Genoa harbor to finally be demolished and scrapped. The ship hit rocks and partially capsized off the Italian island…

MSC Cruises, the world’s fourth largest cruise line, has announced that it has suspended remaining 2015 calls in Ukraine and Egypt, replacing them with a number of choice Mediterranean alternatives. This comes after MSC Cruises earlier this year dropped Tunisia as a port of call following the appalling incident on…

In an unusual situation last week almost 500 passengers were held overnight in Lisbon, Portugal after their ship was denied leave from the port. The Cruise and Maritime Voyages operated MV Azores was served with a court order issued by Portuguese lawyers concerning allegations of an unpaid debt. This led the harbour…

As springtime arrives so does warmer weather, longer evenings and calmer seas right? - Wrong! It has been reported today that hundreds of passengers are stranded aboard a cruise ship and a voyage delayed after it was unable to dock in Southampton due to a storm this morning. Looks like the great…

I read an article recently which told the story of one couple who've taken 100 cruises on the same ship, that's 100 cruises on the same ship! Last week, Bernard and Janice Caffary from Lakeland, Florida, set sail on their 100th voyage on board the same cruise ship, Carnival Sensation,…

It’s just been announced that Cunard Line are the latest cruise operator to include All Inclusive alcoholic drinks on selected cruises as part of their March campaign. The All Inclusive drinks package used to be the mainstay of the premium/luxury brands such as Regent Seven Seas and Silversea who have…

I believe the cruise industry receives so much bad press far to often relating to illness or mechanical failure (it happens, get over it) but a recent article I read really made my blood boil. Published online it was the biggest non story I have read in a long time,…