Thanks to the unrelenting ash of Iceland, I missed inaugural festivities in Southampton, England, in April 2010 when godmother and yachtswoman Emma Pontin provided the naming honors for Celebrity Eclipse. What I really missed was a chance to taste cruising’s newest restaurant, Qsine. While the Eclipse is Celebrity’s third in the Solstice series — following the Solstice of 2008 and the Equinox…
Celebrity Cruises newest ship, the Eclipse, has yet to be christened — the official naming is Saturday in Southampton, England — but already she is on a rescue mission. The 2,850-passenger ship is loading Spanish travelers, trapped in England by the volcanic ash that has disrupted air traffic all over Europe, and delivering them to Bilbao,…
The Eclipse, Celebrity Cruises newest ship, has passed its first test. While still a month away from an inaugural cruise in Europe with paying passengers, the Celebrity Eclipse was cheered by thousands of well wishers and curious onlookers as she slowly made her way on Thursday along 20 miles of the river Ems from shipyard…
As Germans celebrate this next week and the world watches — 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and Iron Curtain — here are some Internet sources for remembering, with maps, pictures and perspectives. You might start with my series: Remembering the Berlin Wall and Cold War, including ideas for travelers to explore…
One of this year’s sleekest new cruise ships stakes its reputation on style and food. Celebrity Equinox, second of five new ships planned by Celebrity Cruises, poses the question: Can a big ship provide service and dining that is equal to a vacation on land? So far, the answer is yes. Reviews have been solidly…
Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and end to Germany's Iron Curtain, David Molyneaux returns for the celebrations. This is his seventh blog. Eastern Germans remember 1989 as the year of the big surprise. Decades had rolled by without much reason for hope of democracy. Then, in a matter of months, the old East German regime…
Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and end to Germany's Iron Curtain, David Molyneaux returns for the celebrations. This is his sixth blog. Folks who live in Leipzig, Germany, are proud of the museum dedicated to the horrors of the old East German secret police, the Stasi. Truth gains value after you live in…
Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and end to Germany's Iron Curtain, David Molyneaux returns for the celebrations. This is his fourth blog. In late October 1989, when there were two Germanies, The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, Ohio, sent me to West Germany to write articles for the Travel Section. Dour East Germany, behind the Soviet…