This is a cool video of two Hurtigruten ships meeting up at Paradies Bay in Antarctica.  This video gives a great taste of what it is like to cruise Antarctica.

Just when you thought you’ve seen it all from the British press here comes another stomach turning headline – literally. An outbreak of norovirus has been reported onboard Cunard’s new Queen Victoria and they are blaming it on HRH Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.According to Cunard, 78 passengers have become infected with the bug, but what does this have to do with the Duchess?  Absolutely nothing, but that doesn’t stop the British tabloids from a good Camilla conspiracy theory.

You see London’s Daily Mail is reporting the big reason for the norovirus outbreak is because the ship is “cursed” and it’s all Camilla’s fault.  The Daily Mail states the “curse” was caused by the first ceremonial champagne bottle not breaking against the ship’s hull during the naming ceremony on December 10 that was presided over by Camilla.  No worries, as this journalist observed the backup bottle broke just fine so the Duchess did not put a hex on the Queen Victoria. 

Even worse the Daily Mail goes on to sensationalize the bug by deeming it a “killer” that is spread by “food handlers who fail to wash properly.” That’s a highly incorrect statement. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, passengers are more often the catalyst for spreading norovirus, not crewmembers. The Queen Victoria carries 2,014 passengers and 78 afflicted guests amounts to less than 1 percent of all passengers. The CDC considers an outbreak to be when more than 2 percent of the passengers become infected. Currently, Queen Victoria’s crew has deployed the necessary protocol to deal with the virus and to stop it from spreading.  Nevertheless, according to the Daily Mail, passengers plan to sue Cunard for the inconvenience.

This is not the first time a brand new ship has been hit with norovirus on its maiden voyage. In May, several hundred passengers onboard Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas became infected with the nasty norovirus.

For more information on the Queen Victoria and norovirus you might be interested in these articles:

A new ‘Queen’ of the world
Code Red: Norovirus aboard ship
Passengers can make a ship sick

Watch ExpertCruiser’s video of Camilla christening the Queen Victoria:

The Hurtigruten MS Fram carrying 318 passengers and crew drifted into an iceberg in the Antarctic causing damage to the ship. No passengers or crew were injured in the incident. Early reports indicate that the Fram had not hit the iceberg particularly hard and had only sustained superficial damage to the vessel.

According the the cruise line the accident was caused by engine failure and the crew was able to get the vessel’s engine started again outside Browns Bluff. “It was just after finishing a planned landing at Browns Bluff that the incident happened at 0930 local time and safety procedures were started and all passengers assembled,” according to Hurtigruten’s statement. 

It was then decided to go to the Chilean airbase Frei at King George’s Island where investigations of the damage and the reason for the engine trouble would be discussed, the company said. After this it would be decided whether the Fram would go directly to Ushuaia or continue the cruise with planned arrival in Ushuaia on January 2.

Launched in the spring of 2007, the MS Fram is the latest addition to the Hurtigriten (formerly known as Norwegian Coastal Voyage) fleet and is specially adapted for polar cruising.

This latest incident follows last month’s sinking of Canadian cruise ship MS Explorer. Interestingly, that ship’s passengers were rescused by another Hurtigruten ship, the MS Nordnorge.

Read ExpertCruiser’s earlier coverage of the MS Explorer here.

The first and only meeting of Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth 2 and new Queen Victoria is scheduled for Sunday, January 13 in New York harbor.

The trio is to depart at 6:30 p.m. Queen Mary 2 will cast off from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, while QE2 will sail from Pier 92 and Queen Victoria will depart from Pier 88, both in Manhattan. The three Queens will rendezvous and sail past the Statue of Liberty during a fireworks celebration at approximately 7 p.m.

“This is an historic occasion for Cunard and New York, marking the only time that the three ships will be together…ever,” said Carol Marlow, president of Cunard Line. QE2 departs on her 26th and final world cruise and Queen Victoria will depart on her maiden world voyage.

It will be the first time in Cunard’s 168-year history that three Queens have been in service at the same time and, with QE2 retiring in November 2008, it will be the only time they are together.

Those lucky enough to be in New York City during this time can view the ships from numerous viewing locations including Battery Park on Manhattan’s southern shoreline; Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park, overlooking the Hudson River; The Esplanade, running the length of Battery Park City along the Hudson River; and Hudson River Park, which extends for five miles along the Manhattan shoreline from Battery Place to West 59th Street.