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Do you eat well on holiday?

So here at Cruise Nation we were chatting about trying to avoid putting on extra pounds when we travel. The food is so good and so freely available it would be rude not to induldge… right? We want to know what you think…

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth arrives in Southampton

Cunard Queen Elizabeth arrival in Port of Southampton. 8th October 2010. (Photo by Steve Dunlop) Courtesy of Cunard

The Queen Elizabeth, Cunard’s newest ship, arrived into Southampton today ahead of her maiden voyage on Tuesday.

Around 500 onlookers turned up to welcome the third Cunard ship to bear the name Elizabeth. Cunard’s President and Managing Director Peter Shanks said Cunard’s newest ship is a “spectacular addition to a spectacular fleet.”

The ship’s maiden voyage will sail to the Canary Islands on Tuesday on a 13 night cruise. Over 1000 travel agents will preview the ship tomorrow, before the Queen officially names the ship on Sunday. The cruise sold out in 29 minutes and 14 seconds when the tickets went on sale last year.

The first Queen Elizabeth launched in 1938 and sailed for over 20 years between Southampton and New York. Developers bought it after it retired from sailing in 1968 with plans to dock it in Hong Kong harbour as a floating university, but in 1972 it caught fire and capsized.

After the newest addition to the Cunard fleet sets sail you can follow her journey on the live webcam, but for now check out this footage of Queen Elizabeth’s construction and sea trials from the Fincantieri ship yard in Monfalcone:

Film critic Leonard Maltin set to sail with Princess

The renowned film critic and historian Leonard Maltin will be sailing aboard the Coral Princess this December presenting his favourite films of 2010 to lucky passengers.

Photo courtesy of Princess Cruises

Sailing aboard the Coral Princess for a 15-day Panama Canal Cruise, Maltin will introduce four films to movie buffs, as well as leading discusions of the movies and challenging passengers to a film trivia contest.

Princess Cruises’s executive vice president, Jan Swartz said: “Leonard Maltin’s wealth of knowledge about the world of film has made him one of the most recognizable movie experts today.” She added, ”Passengers on this Coral Princess voyage are in for a special treat as he shares these hand-picked films with them.”

Guest will be able to watch screenings in the Princess Theatre or at the giant poolside Movies Under the Stars screen.

Carnival UK reduces CO2 emissions by almost 11%

The first ever sustainability report to be published by Carnival UK shows they reduced their CO2 emissions by about 11 per cent in 2009.

Detailing the performances of Cunard Line, Ocean Village Holidays and P&O Cruises, fuel consumption dropped by five per cent, while water usage fell by almost three per cent. Recycling is said to have trebled, saving enough electricity to heat the average home for six months.

Carnival chief executive David Dingle said the company recognised the importance of building a sustainable industry, “As an industry, we recognise the need to balance out the actions required to sustain an ever-increasing economic benefit for the communities affected by our operations with that of fulfilling wider social and environmental needs.”

Since a programme to recycle used cooking oil from the ships into biodiesel began in 2008, enough has been generated to fuel a family car to travel more than a million miles, with the money raised from the sale of this being donated to marine environmental preservation projects across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and Kent.

NCL and Nickelodeon Team Up

We wrote recently about the innovative new Disney Cruise Line ship, the Disney Dream. Well, here’s another one that’ll please the kids – Norwegian Cruise Line are doing just two sailings of a Nickelodeon themed ship in February and July 2011.

The Nickelodeon All Access Cruise is a fantastic opportunity for families, according to NCL, to have the SLIME of their lives (geddit?).

Here’s what you’ll get:

• Meet the stars from ‘s hottest TV shows in person.
• Watch never-before-seen episodes of hit TV shows like iCarly, Victorious, SpongeBob SquarePants and more.
• Meet all your favorite Nickelodeon characters!
• Everyone in your family can get SLIMED! The ultimate Nickelodeon honor.
• Have Breakfast with Nickelodeon characters everyday of your cruise.
• Plus, plenty of additional surprises.