Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ new flagship, the 46,052gt/1985 built Magellan, arrived on the River Thames on 11th March. Her debut at the London Cruise Terminal, Tilbury took place 12th-14th when she was also officially named by Gloria Hunniford on 12th March. The event was also in support of the bi-annual Red Nose Day charity event.

The 1,250 passenger capacity ship joins the Marco Polo, Azores and Astor on CMV cruises. In 2015 cruises will depart primarily from London-Tilbury plus three from Newcastle and Dundee. The maiden voyage departure commenced from Tilbury up to the Faroe Islands as part of a 12 night cruise. The itinerary includes Invergordon, Shetland Islands, Reykjavik and Tórshavn. Meanwhile the debut of the Azores in the CMV fleet, which caused her to start from Plymouth instead of Avonmouth due to a delayed arrival in the UK, hit a further problem as the 30 night cruise to the West Indies was prolonged by bad weather forcing the ship to shelter in Lisbon.

Instead of returning to Avonmouth on 25th February the ship diverted to Portland, arriving 27th February. The following 15 night cruise to Norway was modified accordingly to ensure a scheduled return to Avonmouth on 13th March.