The Celebrity Apex

1 October 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  7 minutes

near Hoek van Holland © flickr.com - kees torn/cc-by-sa-2.0

near Hoek van Holland © flickr.com – kees torn/cc-by-sa-2.0

Celebrity Apex is an Edge-class cruise ship operated by Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Constructed at Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, France, she is the second vessel in the company’s Edge-class of ships, following the delivery of her sister ship, Celebrity Edge, in 2018. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her debut sailing was from Athens on June 19, 2021 to the Greek Islands.   read more…

Mediterranean Region

29 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera, European Union, Living, Working, Building, Sport, UNESCO World Heritage, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  28 minutes

Monaco © Tobi 87/cc-by-sa-3.0

Monaco © Tobi 87/cc-by-sa-3.0

In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin, also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea, is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and warm to hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation.   read more…

Tigné Point in Malta

25 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

View from Triq Marsamxett to the Tigné Point © Marie-Lan Nguyen/cc-by-2.5

View from Triq Marsamxett to the Tigné Point © Marie-Lan Nguyen/cc-by-2.5

Tigné Point is a peninsula in Sliema, Malta. The area was originally occupied by several fortifications and a British barracks complex, which were left derelict for many years, until the area was redeveloped in the early 21st century. The area now contains many modern buildings and is popular among both locals and tourists. The peninsula was originally known as Punta di Santa Maria, and its extremity is also known as Dragut Point.   read more…

The Sea Cloud Spirit

1 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Hamburg, Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  < 1 minute

Sea Cloud Spirit in Hamburg © Jkg52-wiki/cc-by-sa-4.0

Sea Cloud Spirit in Hamburg © Jkg52-wiki/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Sea Cloud Spirit is a three-masted full-rigged ship built as a cruise ship by the Hamburg shipping company Sea Cloud Cruises. The ship was ordered on March 22, 2007 from the SpanishVigo. The ship’s keel was laid on July 18, 2008. In the summer of 2010, the shipyard went bankrupt. The further construction of the ship was then initially set.   read more…

The Crown Iris

1 October 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  10 minutes

Crown Iris © Sotiris Boutsaxis/cc-by-sa-4.0

Crown Iris © Sotiris Boutsaxis/cc-by-sa-4.0

MS Crown Iris is a cruise ship owned by Mano Maritime. She was originally ordered by Birka Line as MS Birka Queen from the Wärtsilä Marine Turku Shipyard in Finland, but completed by Kvaerner Masa-Yards as MS Royal Majesty for Majesty Cruise Line. In 1997 she was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line as the MS Norwegian Majesty and lengthened by 33.76 m (110 ft 9 in) at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany. She was sold to Louis Cruises as the MS Louis Majesty from 2008 to 2012 when she was chartered to Thomson Cruises as the MS Thomson Majesty before being returned to Louis Cruises/Celestyal Cruises, as the Majesty. In 2018 the ship sold to >Mano Maritime.   read more…

St. Julian’s in Malta

23 August 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

© panoramio.com - Michelle Maria/cc-by-3.0

© panoramio.com – Michelle Maria/cc-by-3.0

Saint Julian’s (Maltese: San Ġiljan) is a town in the Central Region of Malta. As of 2020, its registered number of inhabitants stands at 13,800. It is situated along the coast, north of the country’s capital, Valletta. It is known for tourism-oriented businesses, such as hotels, restaurants and nightclubs which are centred mainly in an area known as Paceville. The town is subdivided into informal districts which are Paceville, Ta’ Ġiorni, Tal-Għoqod and St Andrew’s, as well as the regions surrounding St George’s Bay, Spinola Bay, Balluta Bay, and Il-Qaliet cliffs. St Julian’s is a tourist destination, especially during the summer months. The Portomaso Business Tower, which is Malta’s current tallest building at a height of 97.54 metres, is located in St. Julian’s.   read more…

Mellieħa in Malta

20 June 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Malcolm grima83/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Malcolm grima83/cc-by-sa-4.0

Mellieħa is a large village in the Northern Region of Malta. It has a population of 10,087 as of March 2014. Mellieħa is also a tourist resort, popular for its sandy beaches and natural environment. Mellieħa is a popular tourist destination during the summer months. It is well known for its beaches, with the most well known being Għadira Bay and Golden Bay. Ċirkewwa is also popular as a dive site, and it includes the wrecks of MV Rozi and the P29 patrol boat. In 2009, Mellieħa was awarded the title of European Destination of Excellence due to its sustainable initiatives.   read more…

The Marella Discovery

1 June 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  11 minutes

leaving the River Tyne, England © Spooglecruft/cc-by-sa-4.0

leaving the River Tyne, England © Spooglecruft/cc-by-sa-4.0

Marella Discovery (formerly Splendour of the Seas and TUI Discovery) is a former Royal Caribbean International Vision-class cruise ship now sailing for Marella Cruises. The second in the line of the Vision-class ships, she features a seven-story lobby, rock-climbing wall, and a 9-hole miniature golf course. Following the announcement on 9 October 2017 that Thomson Cruises would be renamed Marella Cruises, TUI Group also announced that TUI Discovery would adopt the name Marella Discovery at the end of October 2017, and also that she would become the first ship in the Thomson fleet to be based in Asia, home porting Malaysia in Autumn 2018, following the end of her UK debut season.   read more…

The MSC Meraviglia

1 June 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  7 minutes

at Grand Harbour in Malta © Estormiz

at Grand Harbour in Malta © Estormiz

MSC Meraviglia is a cruise ship owned and operated by MSC Cruises, built at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France, by STX France. MSC Meraviglia is the lead ship of MSC’s new “Vista Project” vessels, the Meraviglia class, with MSC Bellissima following in 2019. Each vessel has a passenger capacity of 4,500. When it entered service in June 2017, it was the sixth largest cruise ship in the world, behind Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class cruise ships and AIDAnova.   read more…

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