Known to many as Captain Greybeard, John passed away at the weekend at the age of 69, from lung cancer.
He previously worked for several national newspapers including Express Newspapers and latterly the Daily Mirror group.
In 2009 he left the newspaper world to write about his passion of cruising full-time.
His friend and former colleague Dave Monk said: “As a professional journalist who applied the same nose for news, attention to accuracy and scepticism for authority into the world of cruise, he was sometimes the bane of public relations executives with his views and revelations, but John was loved and respected by all who worked with him.”
John leaves behind his wife Sheila and sons Nick and Russell. “They have lost a wonderful husband and father,” Monk said, “whose love for the sea was surpassed only by the love for his family”.
