JUST ADD WATER… by Steve Read

NCL are on the brink of signing a megabucks deal for at least two, maybe three, new cruise ships.
Not from STX in France, who built the Norwegian Epic, but from Meyer Werft – who built seven NCLs, the last one being the Norwegian Gem.
Meyer, whose shipyard at Papenburg in Germany is 20 miles inland, is currently building Disney Dream, AIDAsol, Celebrity Silhouette, Disney Fantasy, two more AIDAs and another Celebrity Solstice class ship. The last ones are due out in 2012.
If the NCL order goes through – it’s for two, with an option on a third – the first one will come out in 2013.
No wonder Bernard Meyer always seems to have a smile on his face. But how are the other yards doing?
Fincantieri, who have just about finished the Queen Elizabeth, have two Carnivals (Magic and Breeze), two Costas (Favolosa and Fantastica), two for Oceania – the Marina out in January and one more – and two new ones for Princess due in 2013 and 2014. That’s nine.
The STX yard in Turku has nothing cruise-wise once Allure of the Seas launches next month, and the France STX yard has one ship for MSC, the Fantastica, and one 3,400-passenger ship which is being built for Libya.
Not counting the NCL ships, that’s still getting on for 56,000 new cruise ship beds to be filled every week. And it’s a whopping $14 BILLION worth of orders.

WHEN the memorial to Titanic’s engineers was originally unveiled in Southampton in 1914, two years after the “unsinkable” ship hit the iceberg, thousands turned up to watch.
The monument has just been refurbished by Channel 4, who are making a documentary about the Titanic, and on Sunday there was a ceremony to mark the event.
They have done a good job - the memorial is gleaming, a fitting tribute to the engineers who stayed at their posts keeping the boilers going and the ship’s lights on until the last.
Just over the road is a much, much smaller tribute to the Titanic’s musicians, who also stayed at their post as the ship sank beneath them.
Blink and you’d miss it.

NEWS from Allure of the Seas, the 225,000-ton, 5,400-passenger ship soon to be launched by Royal Caribbean.
She’s pretty much a twin of Oasis of the Seas - except she will be a whopping three-tenths of an inch longer - but there have been a few tweaks on the inside.
They include replacing a “healthy options” eatery with a “churrascaria” restaurant where waiters will pile you up with meat on skewers until you tell them to stop.
Here’s today’s video…

IT’S official … The Queen will name the new Cunard liner that bears her name next month in Southampton.
Everyone has assumed she would be doing the business for ages, but today Cunard president Peter Shanks confirmed it - with a fanfare of trumpets on the steps of Carnival UK’s headquarters in Southampton.
She named the Queen Mary 2 and the QE2, and was there in 1938 when her mother named the original Queen Elizabeth.
When she named the QE2 she deviated from the script, calling the ship “Queen Elizabeth the Second”.
Maybe this time she’ll keep it simple: “I name this ship … ME!”

Here’s today’s video diary…

AND we’re back!
From today you’ll be able to follow the cruise video diaries at Travel Trade Gazette’s website.
Here’s today’s…

I’VE SPENT the last couple of days in Dover - such a lovely port: easy to reach, everyone friendly and loads of parking - filming aboard the Saga Pearl II, the Saga Ruby and the Spirit Of Adventure.
The videos will be up later.

IT’S been six weeks since Sky Travel closed down and I have to say, I’m missing it a lot.

Actually it’s been quite a tumultuous few weeks, but there will be plenty of time for that.

For now, let’s get back to talking about cruises.

Sorry about the sound quality in today’s video, it will be fixed in time for the next one.

It’s good to be back!

WHAT a fabulous trip this was, on a tiny boat with just ten passengers - one of the most memorable cruises of the many I’ve been on.