Porthole |

Porthole

August 25, 2011

	Last night the annual Cruise Down Under conference in Newcastle, NSW was officially opened by local Lord Mayor John Tate. The venue for the welcome cocktail party was the brand new Museum of Newcastle, which was touted as providing a new shore excursion option for cruise ship visitors. Built at a cost of more than $23 million, the facility showcases Newcastle’s industrial history – but there’s a lot more too including a space-age Supernova science display similar to Canberra’s popular Questacon. Tate made his speech in the atrium of the Supernova display, which is dominated by a gigantic scale model of the world suspended high above visitors. As can be seen in the picture here, guests hung back but he beckoned them forward, saying “it won’t fall down. “I know, because it cost $600,000 to make sure it won’t,” he quipped.
	What beautiful memories. A British couple who wed onboard P&O’s Arcadia have been left with some rather abstract avant garde memories of their big day, after the vessel’s photographer, according to the bride, turned out to be a chef. Of their wedding snaps, particular favourites now include ones with the bride’s head cut off, (see pic), pictures of empty seats, photos of the ship’s carpet and a blurry shot of the couple with the captain signing the registry. P&O has since apologised to the pair, blaming stranded crew for the debacle, and refunding them £4,500.
	The scourge of the seven seas, on land. Captain Jack Sparrow’s Black Pearl has been created in car format by a crew of four tourists travelling through Europe. The Black Pearl, manned by three passengers and one driver dressed in pirate outfits, was spotted and apprehended by police in Brunnthal, Germany. Pearl additions to the car included full wooden cladding, a wheelhouse, galley and mast, which were given the all clear by the police after the pirates presented them with a road safety certificate for all modifications. “We wished them a safe voyage and allowed them to continue on their way,” a police spokesperson said.
	LOOK twice before you get off your flight for your cruise. Southwest Airlines has released photos ofthe hundreds of thousands of possessions left onboard its aircraft annually. And it’s not just hats and coats, with the airline confirming it picks up thousands of expensive watches and electrical devices like Kindle e-readers (pictured) after landing.
	NEW cruise art craze? A US art student, Joel Brochu, has possibly started a new fad in the art world, by making headlines for his fine art project which payed homage to pointillism (painting with small distinct dots) and the post-impressionist painter Georges-Pierre Seurat. The project, a picture of a beagle having a bath, was created with painstaking precision over an eight month period, using 221,184 candy sprinkles. The picture used six colours of sprinkles placed individually on a four by one and a half foot board covered with double sided tape and glue. Probably not for the shorter cruises, sprinkle art could take off on full world voyages…

	70,000 tons of metal and some pretty maids. Cruisers will be beside themselves with joy to know that the Danish heavy metal band Pretty Maids has confirmed it will join the 70,000 Tons of Metal floating festival onboard Majesty of the Seas in Jan 2012. Pretty Maids will join 29 other delightfully named bands including Grave Digger, My Dying Bride, Dark Funeral, Suffocation, Pestilence and Cannibal Corpse. “Make no mistake, 70,000 Tons of Metal is not your grandma’s cruise,” said the cruise’s organisers. Heavy metal fans are pictured (R) at last year’s cruise.
	IT’S a fish, no it’s a person, no it’s a…mermaid. If you happen to be staring down into the ocean from onboard your next cruise and spot a fish shaped person, you may in fact be looking at the women’s longboard champion, Mischa Davis. Davis fessed up to media earlier this month that when she is not hitting the surf on her board, she is swimming in the ocean in her custom-made mermaid outfit. The suit is out of wetsuit material complete with free diving fins. ‘’Watching surfing from underneath the water gives you a whole new understanding and appreciation of waves,” Davis said. “It also helps e hold my breath when surfing in big sets because I can pretend I’m a mermaid wearing my fin,” she added.
	GET onboard! Rather than beating down court-room doors or stalking out his home, many Italian citizens are choosing humour to express their anger at the disgraced Captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, snapping up a new line of tshirts which sport the words “Vada a Bordo, Cazzo”. The line is taken from the now world famous conversation between the Harbour Master Gregorio De Falco and Schettino, where Falco ordered the latter to get out of his life-raft and back onto Concordia to coordinate rescue and relief efforts, and translates to “Get back onboard, damn it”. Now a national hero, Falco has played down his heroics telling media he was just doing his job.
	WATER monsters are real? A cameraman is claiming to have captured proof of the existence of the legendary Icelandic lake serpent Lagarfljót’s Worm, whilst filming at its supposed place of residence, the river Jökuls´ í Fljótsdal, in east Iceland. In parts of Northern Europe, the worm is held in the same kind of esteem as the Loch Ness Monster, and is mentioned in Icelandic legends as far back as 1345. Unfortunately for the cameraman, according to legend, sightings of the serpent are usually a bad omen.
	SERIOUS deck chairs. A British sculptor, Stuart Murdoch, is hoping to take the title of World’s Biggest Deck Chair for his six-tonne, eight and a half metre high chair creation. The sculpture could possibly be a ‘first’ for one of the new mega ships currently being dreamt up by cruise companies, however at present it has made its home on land in the seaside town of Bournemouth in the UK.
	WE ALL live in a yellow submarine. If you have ever wanted to experience life under the ocean, outside of the realms of a Cold War movie, a Dutch submersiblemanufacturer UBW, has released two submarines for charter. As part of its charter offer, individuals, companies or organisations can opt for a personal quest or to sit back and enjoy being ferried around underwater sights and wonders. The subs have a maximum operating depth of 100 metres, however only allow one to three passengers at a time. Powered by state-of-the-art Lithium-ion batteries the submarines can dive for up to six hours at a time and emit zero ocean pollution.
	THE SKY IS NO LIMIT FOR COSTA. Costa cruises spared no expense at the christening of its newest baby, the Costa Favolosa opening celebrations to the entire city of Trieste. Set to the backdrop of the Piazza Unità d’Iltalia, Favolosa’s naming ceremony involved everything around the square, from the sea to buildings, and was also included in the official celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification. To add theatrics Costa not only took over the ocean but the sky, when a woman stole the show, swooping in on a cloud of white balloons.
	FUNNELLING DOWN TO COMPLETION. Costa Cruises has released photos of the ongoing construction of its 16th fleet member, Costa Fascinosa. Scheduled for delivery in the Northern Spring 2012, Fascinosa is pictured below having Costa’s distinctive yellow funnel installed.
	A BEAST FROM THE WATERY DEPTHS. A 4.5-ton sea creature has washed up on a Chinese beach in Guangdong, but it is so decayed that researchers are having trouble identifying what it could have once been. Measuring longer than 17 metres, the sea creature was discovered by locals wrapped in fishing lines. It is suspected that the creature was caught by fishermen, but was too heavy to haul in, and so they cut their nets. According to a local media outlet, curious bystanders removed two teeth from the carcass, which measured just shy of two metres. Since its discovery hundreds of people have flocked to the beach to have a look.
	CELEBRITY SILHOUETTE’S CAPTAIN DIMITRIOS Kafetzis has breathed a huge sigh of relief after the successful completion of first stage of the $750m vessel’s 26 mile reverse park. Necessary to move Silhouette from her Papenburg shipyard to the open sea in Emshaven in the Netherlands, the first stage of the epic journey gave crew more than a few extra grey hairs, with stretches of the river only allowing around 1.5 metres of room on either side of the new vessel. The geography of the shipyard and the river also forced Silhouette’s crew to steer the ship backwards out of the yard, assisted by tugboats.
	CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF THE SHARK KIND. A surfer plying his trade off New Smyrna Beach in Florida, felt an unusual shower from above, as a shark jumped over him and his board- spraying the pair with seawater on its descent back into the sea. The moment was captured by photographer Jacob Langston who was filming the surfers at Smyrna Beach for a multimedia project. Langston didn’t notice the shark until he got back to his office and was sorting through his pictures. Local reports posit the shark was of the ‘Spinner’ variety.
	A NEW CRUISE OFFERING PERHAPS? Cruise lines may want to take note of a possible new trend, after a Chinese woman, Yuan Li, broke the mold with what could be the first ever divorce ceremony. Celebrating the end to her unhappy 27 year marriage, Yuan was picked up from her apartment with her three children in a Lincoln car and taken to a local hotel where her service was held. Proceedings were opened by a host who announced to Yuan’s guests that “the divorce ceremony now starts”, after which Yuan walked on stage to take her “vows”. A slight twist on the wedding ceremony the vows were initiated by the host who told Yuan “From today on, he, the one you used to devote your whole life to love, will have nothing to do with you. No matter he is rich or poor, healthy or ill, chasing or caring, you won’t have any relationship with him; will you agree?” To which Yuan said “I agree”. The vows were followed by the untraditional ripping up of wedding photos, and the depositing of her wedding ring into a goldfish bowl.
	WHAT A WATER VIEW! Visitors to Rhossili Beach in Wales may be forgiven for not believing their eyes recently, when 400 shivering naked people ran towards the water and plunged into the sea. The group braved an 8am start and the chilly water in a bid to take out the World Record for skinny dipping and to raise money for the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity. It is believed that the previous record sits at 250.
	BLUE LOBSTER. A lucky lobster caught off the coast of Canada’s Prince Edward Island has managed to avoid the boiling pot, by the simple virtue of a genetic mutation which made it blue. Yes that’s right, a blue lobster. According to reports the mutation which turns lobsters blue only happens to around one in every million crustaceans, and is caused because of the overproduction of a certain protein.
	NAKED AMBITION. Intrepid Irish adventurer, Keith Whelan, has had to cut short his world-record bid to row across the Indian Ocean- naked, after foul weather caused him… complications. Known to many as the Naked Adventurer, Whelan struck trouble off the coast of Geraldton (WA) when rough seas and large waves beat at his boat and body, resulting in a gash to his head, and a drop in his jovial spirits. Following a distress call a kindly merchant ship, the Fuji-Fuka, changed course to help the naked man in the middle of the ocean. Wilkinson is now onboard the Fuji-Fuka, having his injuries assessed. Onboard Wilkinson ‘tweeted’ his followers saying “feeling a bit down but I am ok physically”. Wilkinson is pictured here not-so-naked.
	THAT’S GRATITUDE FOR YOU. A couple of cruisers sailing on Carnival Fascination last month were so impressed with the creations fashioned for them out of towels and left in their room each night by the ship attendants, that they decided to say thanks. Pictured below, their ‘Thanks’ was crafted out of their own room towels and left for the attendants on the last day of Fascination’s voyage.
	PIRATE COVE IS THE NEXT HOT DESTINATION. Movie-goers in the US have responded to a recent travel survey, saying they would most like to visit “Whitecap Bay” out of Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides, above any other destination showcased in the current slew of blockbusters. Whitecap Bay, the fictitious body of water surrounding an un-named bay inhabited by slightly menacing mermaids, plays a starring role in the latest Pirate’s movie, as the pirate cove in which Captain Jack Sparrow, Black Beard and Barbossa visit whilst sailing On Stranger Tides to discover the fountain of youth. In the real world Whitecap Bay is actually closer to most peoples reach, being that filming for the Whitecap Bay scenes was undertaken in Halona Cove on Oahu, whilst some sandy shots were also taken in Puerto Rico and other parts of the Hawaiian Islands.
	A NEW TARGET MARKET FOR CRUISE LINES? There seems to be a growing number of travellers who like to take their pets away with them, including one English lady, Jane Hartley, who made headlines recently after she revealed she likes to take her pet parrots on ski holidays to the Alps. Hartley told media that she does not like to keep her birds in a cage, and as such they routinely join her on the morning and afternoon school runs, shopping trips, bicycle rides and family holidays. When skiing, Hartley tucks the birds into special pockets in her outfit to keep them toasty and happy.
	THE POWER OF NATURE. Yesterday locals at Avoca Beach on the NSW central coast were treated to a rare viewing of a sea twister. Created when rapidly rotating columns of air form underneath cloud coverage and cause air pressure and temperature to drop to create spinning cylinders of condensation, waterspouts are rarely seen on the NSW central coast – except for yesterday, when four mighty tornados were spotted by passers-by.
	Destiny will be rock and rolling all night, with a planned upcoming charter by 1970s rockers Kiss. The forthcoming four day Kiss Kruise is scheduled to depart Miami on 13 Oct and visit Half Moon Cay and Nassau, with pre-registrations open to members of the Kiss Army Fan Club. It’s a long way from Detroit Rock City to a Caribbean cruise, and the move probably reflects the fact that most hard core Kiss fans are definitely entering an ageing demographic. The Kiss Kruise is expected to be opened up to general sale on 07 June.
	CAKE BOSS EAT YOUR HEART OUT! Last week, chefs throughout Carnival Corporation’s fleet of ships (which includes P&O, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises World Cruising, Costa Cruises and Carnival Cruise Lines vessels), were kept busy by each crafting their version of the biggest and best cake, to celebrate the deliveryof the company’s 100th ship, Carnival Magic. Pictured below is the cake created by the team onboard Pacific Jewel, which features a book made of cake, with the 100 names of each of Carnival’s vessels. To create the masterpiece, chefs on-board Jewel crafted a 120kg butter cake base, topped with a dark chocolate brushed scroll, a marzipan covered kangaroo and the book which took an additional block of butter cake to make and weighs in at a hefty 60kg.
	CRUISING FROM HOME. An inventive cruise enthusiast, Carrie Duwelius, has won a US only competition run by Carnival, by creating a cruise ship out of everyday items. The Build a Ship competition, run by Carnival, asked contestants to fashion their very own vessel out of materials that they could scrounge up from their own home. For her entry Carrie crafted a large 2D vessel using cardboard and various other household items, which was then voted by the public as the best vessel on show. For every entry and every vote, Carnival donated US$1 to the US St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. For her efforts Carrie won her family a seven-day Caribbean cruise onboard Carnival Magic. Carrie’s entry is pictured below.
	TOP deck view. If you think the view from the top deck of a cruise ship is impressive, then you will be left speechless by footage captured by astronauts on the International Space Station. Captured by the astronauts of Expedition 30, the still life photographs include shots of the sparkling lights of major cities, flashing thunderstorms over Africa, and the green glow of the Aurora Australis over the Indian Ocean. The shots have since been collated together as one four-minute moving picture of the earth from 400kms above. To view the video CLICK HERE.
	IT’S a girl! Celebrity chef Cat Cora raised a laugh from audience members at the Christening of her Goddaughter, Oceania Cruises’ Riviera, with her quip “I want to say as the mother of four boys- finally I have a girl! And isn’t she a beauty”. According to Oceania Cruises Founder, Frank Del Rio, Cora was chosen by the cruise line for the honour of Godmother because “we wanted someone whose life achievements, whose passions and whose values aligned with those of the Oceania brand”. “Being a cruise line for foodies, we quickly zeroed in on this remarkable woman,” he added. Chef Cora is pictured right with her new, rather large, baby girl.
	SHORE tour of a different nature. Cruisers visiting Mare, P&O’s new Pacific Island destination, are being won over by a coconut coloured dog with a taste for the tropics. The pup spends her days happily leaping off a rocky outcrop into the waters of Tadine Bay to fetch falling coconuts which she then carries across sharp rocks to one of her husk coloured “workshops”. Here, she uses her teeth and paws to rip away the tough outer shell, a job usually reserved for a machete, to get to the sweet coconut meat and juice.
	POMP and ceremony. P&O Cruises’ chefs have added a bit of pomp and ceremony onboard Pacific Jewel, Pacific Pearl, Pacific Sun and Pacific Dawn, cooking up special Union Jack cakes to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Guests celebrated the Queen’s 60 year reign whilst cruising around Australia and the Pacific Islands, tucking into the Diamond Jubilee cakes and enjoying some good old fashioned Royal bunting (pictured below).
	DISNEY Cruise Lines set a record last weekend in New York, when the Disney Magic arrived in the Big Apple sporting the world’s biggest bumper sticker. The massive sticker, pictured below, measures 11 x 50 feet – bigger than a city bus – and says ‘Disney + NYC = Magic’. The stunt was to mark the beginning of Disney’s first-ever cruise holidays based out of Manhattan.
	HUMANS aren’t the only mammal to love the water. A team of 17 water loving pooches has set the Guinness World Record for surfing at the annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition in San Diego. More than 50 doggie surfers hit the waters in the hopes of securing their place in the annals of dog surfing, but it was the 17-strong team of miscellaneous dogs that took out the record for the most dogs surfing on a single board.
	DAWN sees guests gather in Gallipoli on the Sun. Hundreds of guests onboard Sun Princess gathered at the break of daylight to remember the thousands of Australian and NZ soldiers who fought at Gallipoli in 1915. The moving service was led by Captain Andrew Froude and priest Kevin Taylor whilst Sun sailed the waters of Anzac Cove on Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula. The service (pictured below) included a tribute sung by around 140 members of the ship’s onboard passenger choir, which was followed by a wreath ceremony performed by Returned Service League official Graham Fisher, who cast a commemorative wreath on the waters of the Cove.
	GOT a spare $4.6 million for a nice boat? An inventive Austrian company is hoping to lure millionaires looking for water views with a new boat, titled the Orsos Floating Island. The bulbous boat sports six luxury bedrooms, and space for 12 wealthy island residents and a staff of four. Powered by wind, water and solar energy, the sand-less island can be tailored to individual tastes, and features a sun deck area, BBQ area, 15-person jacuzzi, aquarium, storage for water sports equipment, a mooring for motor boats, a kitchen, restaurant and a bar. For those who may baulk at the price tag, it is important to note that other “floating islands” usually have a price of upwards of $100m.
	COMING to a cruise near you? With cruise lines constantly competing for the newest, hottest and tastiest food offerings, the latest food trend to hit the US market, Squeez Bacon- otherwise known as bacon in a bottle, may just turn up at a table onboard your next voyage. Hailed by its makers as a “breakthrough”, and dividing foodies worldwide, the bacon in a bottle has been available in Sweden since the end of WWII but has only just hit US shelves. According to the company, the bottled pork product is “fully cooked 100% bacon” which is rendered into liquid format via a patented electro-mechanical process. This process, according to Squeez Bacon, means that the liquid bacon requires no preservatives or other additives. “Each serving is as healthy as real bacon, and equivalent to 4 premium slices of bacon!,” the company said. Interestingly, Squeez Bacon has a shelf life of 12 years.
	TIME for cruisers to dust off those blue suede shoes! Royal Caribbean Cruises’ vessel Rhapsody of the Seas is set to become a floating Heartbreak Hotel on 11 Nov this year as 2,000 Elvis mega-fans board “The King Tribute Cruise” for a three night voyage dedicated to the King of Rock n Roll. Some of the best Elvis impersonators in the world will be flown in to join the cruise to keep the passengers swingin’ their hips, including female Elvis impersonator, Jacqueline Feilich (pictured right). For more info on the cruise see www.musiccruises.com.au.
	KID set to rock the sea? For some the idea of being stuck on a ship with nothing but Kid Rock music, fans and the man himself would be akin to water torture, but for others it is a dream come true. And it is this select group of Kid Rock aficionados that has led to the announcement of the fourth annual Kid Rock sailing, onboard Norwegian Pearl. Departing from Miami on 06 March 2013, the four-night Chillin’ cruise will include Kid Rock performances, sweaty rocker fans and themed parties.
	CRUISING in the outback. The Director of Carnival Cruise Lines in Australia, Jennifer Vandekreeke, showed off her own Aussie spirit prior to the arrival of Carnival Spirit in Australian waters in October, by tackling the Australian Outback Marathon. Vandekreeke and her family, Robin and twins Phoebe and Chase, arrived in the Red Centre last month with the aim of seeing some of the country’s most spectacular landscapes, learning about Aboriginal culture and running the marathon to raise funds for the Cathy Freeman Foundation. Held on 28 July between Yulara and Uluru, the race saw 309 runners take place, taking on a combination of marathon, half-marathon, 11k and 6k races. “My husband Robin decided at the last minute to do the 11k because it was just too beautiful not to race,” Jennifer said. “I have to say that the energy of Uluru carried me through the entire race with a smile on my face. “The countryside is so striking that the race flew by in no time. Visiting Uluru has made me fall even more in love with this raw, wild and fascinating country,” she added. As a result of their efforts, the Vandekreeke family raised $2,150 dollars for the Cathy Freeman Foundation, with funds going towards improving the educational outcomes of Aboriginal children on Palm Island.
	VOLCANIC ice shelf at sea? A New Zealand navy ship sailing around 1,000kms from kiwi shores was shocked to come across a huge chunk of solidified lava stones (pumice) clumped together, which strongly resembled an ice shelf, moving up and down with the ocean’s swell. “The rock looked to be sitting two foot above the surface of the waves and lit up a brilliant white colour in the spotlight,” said Lieutenant Tim Oscar. “It looked exactly like the edge of an ice shelf [and it was] the weirdest thing I’ve seen in 18 years at sea,” he added. It is believed that the pumice originated from the grumbling eruptions of an underwater volcano named Monowai. Pictured right is an aerial shot of the pumice island.
	AN’ old sea dog. Having taken Britain by storm, the winning duo from Britain’s Got Talent, Pudsey and Ashleigh decided to take their act into international waters. Boarding Cunard’s flagship Queen Mary 2 after a month-long tour of the United States the pair wowed the ship’s 2,600 passengers with two special performances of their Charleston dance routine from the Britain’s Got Talent semi-finals. Not content to rest on his paws, Pudsey also impressed crowds waiting on the quayside in Southampton with a special performance. Pudsey is not the first pup to pound the pavement on QM2, with the vessel fully equipped to take doggie passengers, sporting special kennels, food and walking tracks for four-legged cruisers. Speaking about their voyage, Ashleigh said “We’ve really enjoyed our time on board Queen Mary 2 – I’ve been on a cruise ship before but Queen Mary 2 is so much grander. “The food and service onboard have been great, and we’ve had such a warm welcome – and there was a special dog-walking deck where Pudsey could get his share of sea air! I could tell Pudsey really enjoyed performing onboard – he just loves the limelight!,” she added. Ashley is pictured above with Pudsey showing off his jumping skills in front of QM2 .
	HOLLAND America Line to the rescue. Many people think of taking a cruise as a rescue remedy to stress, but few people actually get rescued by a cruise, however 70 hapless day-cruisers can now add this to their resumes of life experience. The group, who was out for a day cruise, got into trouble after their 79-foot sightseeing vessel Baranof Wind struck a rock near Russell Island in Glacier Bay disabling its steering and propulsion and causing the boat to take on water. Volendam responded to their distress call by sending out a tender to pick up the 69 tourists and one Glacier Bay park ranger, and bring them back onboard. Once they had cleared Volendam’s security the group was given a safety briefing and a good meal, whilst the ship sailed onto Margerie Glacier. Volendam rendezvoused with an Allen Marine boat at around 6pm that evening to transfer the rescued passengers back to Bartlett Cove, where their excursion originated. The ship proceeded on to its next port call at Ketchikan. Speaking in the wake of the excitement, Stein Kruse, president of Holland America Line said “We are proud of our officers and crew, and this is a shining example of how our training prepares us to react to any situation.” The rescue tender is pictured right returning from its mission.
	TOUCH the bridge. Its not often that passengers get the chance to touch the underside of a bridge that their vessel passes under, but that’s exactly what guests onboard American Queen did as she cruised under the BB Comer Bridge in Scottsboro, Alabama recently. The event was made possible by low water levels on the Mississippi, and was marked by an ondeck party to celebrate the occasion.
	EYE of the tiger. Of all the animals you may expect to see while cruising, a tiger is probably not top of the list. Despite the odds, one cruiser, 70-year old Ian Gregory managed to snap a picture of a white tiger whilst travelling onboard Sun Princess’ recent 104-night world voyage. Gregory got up close and personal with the rare tiger whilst on an early morning shore excursion to Singapore Zoo. For his efforts, Gregory managed to win Sun Princess’ world cruise photo competition. “This particular tiger seemed quite reflective – he was walking around and then he got into the water and swam close to us … I felt he was swimming across to me,” Gregory said. The win was a bonus for Ian and his wife Janice, with the Sydney couple enjoying their global odyssey so much they have already booked to travel on Princess Cruises’ 2013 world cruise from Australia.
	LOVE the water? Why not surf to work? One English water lover, Oli Barrett, did not let local flooding put a dampener on his week, instead taking advantage of the situation and surfing to work. Barrett was able to surf the flood waters by using his friend’s 4×4 as a tow boat, to which he hitched a line which he held as the car navigated the road and pulled him along. “There were four of us and we thought we’d have a change and do some outdoor surfing,” he said. “You don’t normally find yourself surfing along a road. “A few drivers passed us smiling and giving us the thumbs up,” he added.
	DON’T play with sharks! A British photographer, David Caravias, has learned not to play with sharks whilst on a cruise off the coast of South Africa. Caravias was taking photos of a 16-foot great white shark whilst also dangling a piece of tuna over and in the water then withdrawing it before the shark could eat it. Moments later the shark burst out of the water and towards Caravias, who only just managed to get out of the way. “The shark must have come only an inch from us and I was convinced we were goners,” he said. “This was a complete freak incident but it definitely puts you in your place, it shows you cannot get complacent with the sharks,” he added.
	LANDLUBBERS ahoy! CW received an unusual delivery of tea this week, as part of P&O’s Landlubbers campaign that cruising can be anyone’s cup of tea. The tea came in six flavours, each one corresponding with a former landlubber that was converted to cruising after taking a P&O voyage. To view their stories visit landlubbers.com.au.
	THE composer of the theme song for Dr No – the first ever James Bond film – has taken a “license to cruise” by embarking on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 this week. The melody from Monty Norman’s iconic musical creation, which debuted fifty years ago in 1962, has featured on 25 Bond films since then – so he’s probably a bit sick of it by now! He’s pictured with his wife Rita at the premiere of the latest Bond film, Skyfall, at London’s Royal Albert Hall last week.
	ROYAL Suite available! P&O Cruises utilised Pacific Jewel’s prime position at Sydney’s Circular Quay last Friday to try to lure Prince Charles and his wife Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall onboard. The dangling carrot involved a large 24×7 metre banner unfurled across Jewel’s bow which read “Royal Suite Available”, and which was able to be seen by the Prince and Duchess as they strolled through Circular Quay on Friday. “Of course, from the Captain’s cocktails through to our fine dining restaurants, everyone on our ships is treated like royalty, but we wanted Prince Charles to know we’d love to have him and the Duchess of Cornwall onboard too,” said P&O Cruises Senior Vice President Tammy Marshall. The Prince is pictured right with Jewel and her cheeky message sitting just behind him. As yet, there has been no word as to whether the Prince will take up the offer.
	NOW that’s a tight fit. Think getting into your summer swimsuit is going to be tight? Spare a thought for the Captain of Seabourn Pride, who managed to navigate the Corinth Canal in Greece on her way from Europe to Asia. The Canal connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea in a 6.4 kilometre long stretch which measures a tight 21.3 metres in width. The squeeze was impressive given that Pride is measures a healthy 19.2 in width herself. The photo was taken by Pride’s Hotel Director Nick Burger who went ashore and positioned himself on a bridge to snap the perfect shot.
	END of the world is no problem for Noah’s Ark. A Dutch businessman, Johan Huibers, has finally fulfilled his 20-year old dream, of building his very own Noah’s Ark. Just in time for the end of the world on 21 Dec this year, the Ark is 130m long, 29m wide and 23m high, and takes its design and dimensions, according to Huibers, from descriptions of the original Ark in the Bible. Rather than gathering two of each animal onboard however, Huibers is hoping to turn his enormous life raft into a tourist attraction to draw up to 3,000 visitors a day to where it is docked in the Netherlands.
	HOW Christmas is celebrated underwater. Sydney Aquarium’s resident dugong, Wuru, celebrated Christmas early with an edible Christmas tree constructed entirely from her favourite food – lettuce leaves. “While it may seem rather dull in comparison to an indulgent, brandy-soaked fruit cake, our dugongs certainly love their cos lettuce leaves, and so we couldn’t think of anything more suitable than a lettuce tree this Christmas,” said Andrew Barnes, Dugong Keeper. Wuru is pictured here enjoying the Cos lettuce Christmas tree.
	ONE boating experience you may be glad you did not participate in. The annual Collingwood Raft Race kicked of in NZ this week, seeing competitors coated in a mix of rotten eggs, squid and whey, as well as flour, as they battled it out to claim the coveted Bright Shield. This year 18 rafts entered the comp, with designs incorporating bathtubs, pallets, buoys, and for one inventive team, a spa. As tradition dictates, once competitors neared the finish line, they became prey to locals standing on a near-by bridge armed with foul smelling concoctions to dump on the intrepid rafters. The race was won by team Strange One. Team members from Dairy for Life are pictured right getting into the spirit of the race.
	A PROTESTER lobbying against a new oil-drilling joint venture between Russian and Norwegian firms in the Arctic tried to make his point by rowing down a Russian river dressed in a polar bear costume. The Greenpeace activist was spotted paddling down the Moskva River in Moscow aboard a home-made iceberg with two signs that said “Help” and “Arctic not for sale”. Russian authorities promptly arrested the protestor, who was later released without any charges being laid. The two companies are planning to drill for untapped oil reserves in the Barents Sea, north of Russia.
	DARLING Harbour mainstay attraction Sea Life Sydney Aquarium has celebrated its 25th birthday with a different sort of party. Attended by a Leopard Shark, Black Tip Reef Shark, Grey Reef Shark, Smalltooth Sawfish and dozens of tropical fish, several aquatic guests descended into the world’s largest Great Barrier Reef tank to celebrate the milestone underwater. The human attendees donned fancy dress and “blew out” candles on an inflatable birthday cake to mark a quarter century of success of the harbourside attraction. “To celebrate the milestone this way seemed a fitting gesture to recognise and celebrate the attraction’s 25-year journey,” senior aquarist Amy Wilkes said. Over the coming school holidays, the Aquarium will be showcasing a number of historical photos and videos, also releasing a special 25th anniversary souvenir book available for purchase.
	SHOWING its support for Red Nose Day late last week, Carnival Spirit sailed into its Sydney homeport sporting a giant red nose – the largest ever to appear on a cruise liner. The nose-piece (pictured below) measured seven metres in diameter and was brightly lit up from within to celebrate the liner’s partnership with the SIDS national charity to raise awareness for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Red Nose Day is the organisation’s long-running fundraising day, which has contributed $16m to fund research since the event was born. Passengers aboard Carnival Spirit also put their contributions in, participating in a number of activities, such as colouring-in competitions and games with kids during the ship’s turnaround in Sydney, with face painters & clowns also entertaining.
	IT’S A BOY!!! No, wait…it’s a BUOY!!! Princess Cruises decided to add its own unique spin on the hysteria and celebration currently going on around the world relating to the birth of the future King of England. Considering the newborn king’s mother, Kate Middleton’s final official engagement before the birth was to name and christen the new Royal Princess, the Princess Cruises Australian team staged the photo, below, holding their own Sun Princess, or should that be Son Prince, buoys. The team is pictured below welcoming the future monarch to the world, and from left is Devan Lal, Shaun Fleischer, Tatiana Bersais, Laura Dening, Zach Gregory and Elise Wellfare.
	Presumably, sharks should be safe in the knowledge they are at, or very near, the top of the ocean food chain…or so you’d think. Scientists placing locators on sharks off the Eastern coast of the USA snapped the amazing photo below of a shark which had just been consumed in its entirety by a much bigger shark. The researchers were trying to bait a sand tiger shark, but the menhaden they used attracted a much smaller dogfish shark, only for the original target to swoop & grab both. According to Science Live, the dogfish shark was about one-metre long but was completely swallowed by the three-metre sand tiger shark. The larger beast was tagged and released with its sizeable meal still in its mouth.
	Councillors in the Thames-adjacent English town of Sonning, in the county of Wokingham have said they will be forced to remove a traditional red mailbox which mysteriously appeared just above the waterline attached to the buttress of a small bridge (pictured below). The mailbox, which in its current position is only accessible by boat, violates town planning rules and must be removed, local officials say. Theories as to how the mailbox got there in the first place are being thrown around, with the literally inclined thinkers noticing a remarkably similar box that was attached to the local pub having recently disappeared. The more radical, such as a three-decade long resident, believing the mailbox is linked to the ghost of a child wandering the bridge. However, the general consensus is that the mailbox’s location is merely the result of an elaborately executed alcohol-induced prank.
	CARNIVAL Cruise Lines is getting very social, with passengers on board a nineday Mediterranean cruise this week being engaged to showcase Carnival Sunshine on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The “social media takeover” includes daily posts on Instagram where fans of the ship can participate in live interactive ‘meet the crew’ chats asking questions of crew members with on-the-spot responses. Whoever is looking after the promotion on board looks like they’re having a good time, with one of the images posted this morning (right) showing a refreshing pint of ThirstyFrog Red at the onboard RedFrog Pub. Passengers on the cruise can also send Instagram video “shout outs” to their family and friends at home. Next month Carnival Sunshine, which was transformed earlier this year in a US$155 million makeover, relocates to New Orleans. See instagram.com/carnival.
	WHAT on Earth could possibly be inside? A mysterious barge (pictured below) floating at Treasure Island in San Francisco harbour is attracting ferocious speculation, purely due to the fact it is owned by Google, who are going to extraordinary lengths to cover it up. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the barge is being described by some online conspiracy theorists as a floating Area 51, with curious cats being shooed away by security housed in two guard stations. The old, unassuming barge is stacked four storeys high with customised shipping crates, fuelling speculation on its contents ranging from teleportation and time travel machines through to ridiculous notions such as the world’s largest Easy Bake Oven. News crews from across the world have been travelling to San Francisco to cover the possible story, leading to more speculation it could be nothing more than Google proving some internal point about marketing. The closest that speculation has come to guessing what could be inside is nothing more than a data centre, which came from CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman based on some patents Google took out to use seawater as a cooling technique. For now though, we must wait to see what becomes of the mystery barge.
	WE HERE at TD Cruise Update love sharing stories of utter extravagance perpetuated by people who clearly have too much time and money to spare. Dubai’s Crown Prince, for whom clearly money is no object, has decided to purchase himself a fleet of amphibious James Bond-style cars designed to travel on land and water. The latest models to come out of the cars’ Californian studio carry a 450-horsepower Corvette engine and hold the Guinness World Record for the World’s Fastest Amphibious Car, retailing for US$135,000 each. The Crown Prince quickly paid for six of the cars (pictured).

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