JUST ADD WATER… by Steve Read

I’M off to New York on Saturday to join one of my favourite ships, the SAGA RUBY, as she heads home across the Atlantic on the final week of her month-long cruise to New England.
Watch out for daily video diaries from the ship on Sky Travel.

IT’S only a few weeks before two of Britain’s best-loved ships cruise for the last time.
But while the SAGA ROSE is going out with a roar with a 37-night grand farewell tour of the Mediterranean, the BLACK PRINCE’s departure is, well, more like a whimper.
Her final voyage for Fred Olsen will be a two-week run down to the Canary Islands.
It will be a sentimental journey for the 43-year-old girl – in her early years she used to ferry tomatoes from the Canaries.
She sailed from Southampton on October 2 for Funchal on Madeira, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, with a call at Lisbon on the way back.
There are still cabins available – £1,325 per person for an outside upper-and-lower, or £1,980 per person for an outside twin.
The little ship – just 11,209 tons and carrying 439 passengers – was built in 1966 for $20 million. Originally she was also a ferry, but had a massive rebuild in 1987 which replaced the car decks with cabins.
She is having to leave the fleet because she will not comply with next year’s SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) regulations.
After her Canary Islands cruise she will leave Southampton for the last time on October 16, heading for Venezuela where her new owners will use her to for inter-island cruises – exempt from the SOLAS regulations.
On October 30 the Saga Rose will leave Southampton for Vigo, Barcelona, Civitavecchia (for Rome), Venice, Dubrovnik, Corfu, Katakolon, Heraklion, Rhodes, Limassol, Haifa, Alexandria (for Cairo), Piraeus (for Athens), Valletta, Toulon, Alicante, Casablanca and La Coruña, arriving back in Southampton on December 14.
Fares for the entire voyage – which will feature entertainers including Katherine Jenkins and Des O’Connor – range from £7,199 per person for an inside to £15,798 for an outside cabin.
The trip has been sub-divided into 18-22 night sectors – Southampton to Limassol, Barcelona to Malta, or Limassol to Southampton – with fares from £3,899 per person.
See Saga’s website, 0800 096 0083

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IN case you’ve been wondering why my videos haven’t appeared on Sky Travel for the last couple of days, it was because of technical problems.
The men with beards and pony-tails have now fixed everything, and today’s video is a bit longer than usual as a result.
Incidentally, if you find that it stops every few seconds for “buffering”, I find the best way is to start it playing, then hit the Pause button and make a cup of coffee.
By the time you get back, it should have buffered enough to play all the way through.

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I RECEIVED some good news today – I’ll be going on the new CARNIVAL DREAM sooner than I expected!
I’ll be flying out to the ship in Venice, before she leaves the Med to head for New York at the end of the month.
The trip is in a couple of weeks time and, of course, I’ll bring you a couple of video reports to show you around Carnival’s biggest-ever “fun ship”.

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HERE’S a great deal – a week around the Med next month on NORWEGIAN GEM for less than £400!
The cruise is out of Barcelona on November 15 and calls at Valletta, Naples, Civitavecchia – the port for Rome, Livorno for Florence and Pisa, and Cannes.
The fare is per person in an inside cabin, and doesn’t include flights – but you can get to Barcelona for £105 return on British Airways if you book early enough.

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THEY’VE opened a new shop onboard the QUEEN VICTORIA – one that will stay open even when the ship is in port.
Most shops on ships are only open when they are at sea, but The Victorian Sweet Shop doesn’t sell things that fall under those regulations.
Staff dress in Victorian-style costume and sell traditional favourites such as Pears soap, pear drops, black jacks, fruit pips, cola cubes and nougat.

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TWO cruise ships will be used as floating hotels during next year’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa – but not the QE2.
Holland America Line’s NOORDAM and WESTERDAM have been chartered by German firm One Ocean Club.
They will be sailing between Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban.
Fares for the cruises have not been announced, but will not include admission to the matches.
Originally the QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 was expected to be docked in Cape Town too, but she isn’t allowed to sail with passengers and local officials have refused permission because she would compete with hotels.
The two Holland America Line ships don’t need permission because they will be sailing as though they’re on normal itineraries.
See

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DO you fancy designing a statue which will be the centre-piece of Cunard’s new QUEEN ELIZABETH?
The artwork will be in the space occupied by a huge clock on the QUEEN VICTORIA, by the grand staircase.
It will probably have to be made of fibreglass, because it can’t weigh more than 640kg, but can be coated to look like wood, metal or stone. It will have to stand around five metres high.
A competition is being run to choose the winning design – see Cunard’s website – and the winner will also have a free cruise on the new 90,400-ton, 2,092-passenger ship.
The statue will take pride of place among almost £2 million worth of artwork being placed on the ship, which launches next Autumn.

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WHILE most cruise lines are reducing their presence in Alaska – largely a result of a $50-per-head state tax – Disney are bucking the trend and planning to cruise there in 2011.
The DISNEY WONDER will sail from Vancouver calling at Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan.
See Disney website .

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THERE are three months to go before SILVER SPIRIT, the new 36,000-ton, 540-passenger ship from Silversea, goes on her maiden voyage.
The ship has a 1930s art deco theme, and five restaurants – that’s more per passenger than most mega-ships.
Silver Spirit’s maiden voyage sails from Barcelona to Lisbon on December 23.
See Silversea website , 0844 770 9030

You can catch up with my daily video diaries on Sky Travel here

MY dear old website, containing thousands of pictures from more than 100 cruises and ship visits, packed up the other week and I’ve had to start again.
I managed to save some of the words - they’re in the “My cruising history” page on the right - but haven’t yet worked out how to restore the pictures.
Bear with me, I’ll figure it out.