party of the year'. like any one of us on our birthday, the queen has booked her local hall! it is, of course, the stunning and historic royal albert hall. the performers came from across the commonwealth. kylie minogue from australia, shawn mendes from canada and from jamaica, shaggy. # bombastic, say me fantastic, touch me in me back, she say i'm mr # ro... the queen is said to know the lyrics of all the george formby songs — a ukulele orchestra, supported by some celebrity players, paid tribute to him. # you should see them bill 'n coo # you'd be surprised at the things they do # when i'm cleanin' windows. prince harry was there with meghan markle. the wedding is just over a month away. your majesty, if you do not mind me saying, you are not someone who is easy to buy gifts for.

many members of the royal family were at the event, along with the british prime minister and commonwealth heads of government. surrounded by performers, the queen came on stage at the end to a short rousing tribute from prince charles. would you all give her majesty three unbelievably rousing cheers on her birthday? hip, hip, hip... hooray! the queen is spending the day after her 92nd birthday at windsor castle. let's talk about the weather with darren burnett. 23.2 degrees, officially the hottest marathon ever? far too hot for running a marathon. anyone who has done it, i take my hat off to them, if i was wearing

one, of course. great for spectators, very warm for runners, we start to see some changes as the cooler air behind this band of rain. petering out, but we have the last of the warmth of the south—east. cooler and fresher air coming in behind. could trigger one or two sharp showers and the far south—east and east anglia. we will have a westerly breeze becoming established. showers in the north. are much more comfortable night for sleeping. no thunderstorms for this coming night. we start the night quite bright with some sunshine. this is where the weather is coming from. increasing cloud and rain patchy rain to western fringes of northern ireland later. temperatures near normalfor northern ireland later. temperatures near normal for the northern ireland later. temperatures near normalfor the time northern ireland later. temperatures near normal for the time of year. this is bbc news.

our latest headlines: social media companies are threatened with new laws by the health secretary if they don't do more to protect children online. he has accused them of turning a blind eye to the problems arising from social media use. ministers may increase the powers available to police and the security services to try and stop terror attacks at an early stage of planning. verne troyer, who is best known for playing mini—me in the austin powers films, has died at the age of 49. sir mo farah finishes third in the men's london marathon in a british record time. kenya's eliud kipchoge came first, in an event started by the queen. a record 41,000 runners

are thought to be taking part in the 26—mile race. it will be a massive personal best. kenya's vivian cheruiyot won the women's elite race to become the fourth fastest woman in history. i'm not sure they can catch. david weir will win once again london! britain's david weir won the men's elite wheelchair race for the eighth time. and australia's madison de rozario won the women's. now on bbc news it is time for the travel show. on this week's show: i'm all at sea on board the world's biggest cruise ship, meeting a man who has to feed up to 9,000 people every night.

no pressure? absolutely not, no. no pressure at all. and i find out why it it pays to be cool and collected up on the bridge. first, we try and keep it as calm as possible, and not so exciting. simon is here with advice on the best way to backpack through south america. horn blows ..and, we take a trip back in time aboard china's last surviving steam train. we start this week at sea, where holidays afloat are enjoying a boom right now,

thanks in part to a fleet of megaships that has been built and designed specifically to attract a new generation of younger and fun—loving cruisers. behind me is the biggest of them all, the symphony of the seas. she makes her maiden voyage this month, and i am going tojump aboard for a sneak preview. the scale of this ship is truly vast. she can carry close to 9,000 passengers and crew. she is longer than four football pitches laid end to end, weighs over 220,000 tonnes, and she has a staggering 18 decks and 23 swimming pools. constructed at shipyards in france

at a cost of over $1.5 billion, symphony of the seas is the biggest passenger cruise ship ever built. but does that make it the best? at this point i have a bit of a confession to make. this is not my first cruise, in fact i'm a bit of a fan. so i am keen to see how this one measures up. i am jumping on board a special two—night cruise between the spanish ports of malaga and barcelona, along with a big group of travel journalists and industry experts, to explore the ship before she welcomes her first paying passengers. and although there is a party atmosphere on board, the crew know this is an important event if the ship is going to make waves around the world. these corridors go on forever, which is not surprising because there are almost 3000 rooms on this ship. so finding your own room can be a bit of a challenge. this is mine i think, 592.

it is quite spacious actually! and not a bad view. most rooms here in the ship are a pretty standard size, although you will pay extra for a balcony and sea view, and if you really want to push the boat out, there is a whole range of upscale suites with a suitably enormous price tag to match. but it's a seemingly endlessly array of dining options, entertainment and attractions on board which really sets the ship apart. this is the fourth ship in the class, it's called the oasis class, we introduced the first one back in 2010, and they arejust huge hits. the demand for these kinds of vacation experiences is growing, they are very popular. we have a metric that measures customer satisfaction, and these ships literally knock it out of the park. tonight's special sailing is due to get under way around 9pm, and before we slip anchor,

the party atmosphere is already kicking in. i am at the bionic bar where there is no human bartending staff, but we do have two robots, rockem and shockem, who will make my drink for me. i have found a lovely sounding drink which is the bionic bahama mama, and all i need to do is just press this button and the robots will go to work. so off we go. now i think is going to be the shaking bit... there we go! hey! laughs. a little bit of spillage, some dripping, he is a bit messy, this robot bartender. and here we go!

the finished product. look at this! my drink. thank you shockem! well, we are setting off. soon the lights of malaga there will disappear into the distance. next stop, barcelona. the following morning it's up early to try some of those on—board attractions, aimed at making this ship as family friendly as possible. first stop, the abyss. at 100 feet it is the longest tubular slide at sea, and sends you plummeting a full ten decks in as many seconds. woohoo! the zipline is 82 feet long and it

goes from deck 16 down to deck 15. on a good day we put through hundreds of people, and of course it is available for all ages, but you have to be a minimum of six and you have to be 52 inches. over the past ten years, the cruise industry has undergone something of a revolution, as it tries to move away from its traditional stuffy image and appeal more to younger holiday—makers and families. gone are the days are when some slot machines and fizzy drinks were expected to keep the kids happy. and, if all that activity builds up your appetite, then there's 22 restaurants, cafes and bars on board, some of them open around the clock. all operated under the watchful eye of gary thomas. i guess you have to provide a really

wide array of food to people who will have very different tastes? absolutely, of course, and that is where my knowledge comes in, we do have fixed restaurants, we have mexican themed, seafood themed restaurants. but in the public buffet areas is where i have lots of freedom. everything i do is about the guest demographics, and i have all this information prior to the voyages, so i can adjust a lot of what we do based on the guests we carry. you have been a chef on land for a long time, and now you are on sea. what are some of the challenges you face when you are out at sea? if you run out of food at sea, there is no running down the road. you have to get it right all the time. you have to anticipate what is going to happen on board. many, many cruises in advance, i have to order up my food, so if i miss a particular item, a popular item, i go from the most popular man on the ship to very quickly the most unpopular. it is not hard to see why this formula of all—inclusive fun,

food and sun on a gigantic scale is proving increasingly popular. but some people aren't as delighted to see this mammoth style of ship take to the seas. with cruise ships growing bigger and bigger it is not surprising that concerns are being raised about the environmental impact they are having. firstly, there is the issue of pollution. it is said that the maritime grade diesel many ships use causes far more emissions than the fuel used back on dry land. the cruise industry says it is doing what it can to capture and filter these emissions, but campaigners claim they could do more. and there is also the criticism of the huge amount of waste that some of these floating resorts create. waste, landfill on a fleet of ships, is close to zero. and often i am asked a question, well, these ships are so big and there is a lot of waste and everything, i often liken the ship of this size to a small village or town,

and i would challenge any small village or town to put their environmental footprint up against the ship of this size. and what about the social and cultural impact of a ship this large turning up at possibly a quite small port? again, we are a community, we're taking people on vacation, they have happy times, and you have to have dialogue and communication with all destinations. when we are encountering a destination that says hang on, guys, we think the ship is too big, let's talk about it and understand what that is, is there a way of solving it, or should wejust avoid that destination? we are looking for win—wins, we want people to be happy, we live in our communities, we don't want to cause people any concerns, and we work very hard to try and achieve that. late last year, local protesters in venice turned up in force to say they had had enough of visiting cruise ships. they tried to block the city's port with a floating blockade to draw

attention to the strain mass tourism is putting on venice's already fragile architecture and infrastructure. these cruise ships are six times taller than the tallest house in venice. please, jump in a gondola, jump in a venetian boat, that are small, that are respectful of the scale of the city, come in a small boat, and don't come with these monsters that really are destroying our city. and, although venice is not currently on this cruise ship's itinerary, some protesters on the spanish island of majorca are not happy that she will be regularly visiting their capital palma. there is no doubt that for some people cruising is a great way to see the world. travelling in comfort as you tick off multiple destinations over the course of a week or two. by 2020 it is estimated that almost 27 million of us per year will decide to holiday this way. so expect to see more of these super

ships take to the seas over the coming years. but let's hope that through dialogue and maybe more regulation, everyone stays happy, not just the holiday—makers. still to come on the travel show: coming up, i head to the bridge to meet the man who captains this colossal cruise ship. we try to keep it as calm as possible, and not so exciting. and, we travel to china, to chug back in time on board their last remaining scheduled steam train. so, see you after the break. well, i am on the bridge of the world's largest cruise ship, and here i have captain rob, who is in charge of this whole ship.

hopefully you can show me through the bells and whistles here on the bridge. sure, sure, with pleasure. i would think the bridge of a ship as big as this would be bustling with activity, but it seems very calm and not too many people up here. what are these guys doing? well, first we try to keep it as calm as possible, and not so exciting. first officer anton is driving the ship right now. assisting him is second officer dario. together they are navigating the ship at the moment. here we have displayed in front of us many different systems. from propulsion systems to navigation systems, including the radar, electronic charts, and all of them monitoring various aspects. you will see our three pods, and right now we are turning 75 rpm on all three of them. they are pointed forward

because they pull, they pull the ship along, even though they are at the stern where traditional rudders would be. at 75 rpm we are making 15 knots. that is actually 111.9 through the water, which is quite good. we have the wind with us. and you can see whitecaps out there. but if you look to the next screen you will see we only have about seven knots of wind across the deck. we can be pointed this way but actually going this way, because of the current and wind that is always moving the ship around. we are not connected rigidly to the earth, we are sliding along through the sea. same with the speed overwater and speed overg round, they are generally different as well, for the same reasons. everything around them and above them serves a purpose. some more than others. some are just light dimmers. some are communication. searchlight control. ship's whistle. all of the above, it is all there. it might all look similar

but it is quite different. welcome to the slice of the show that tackles your questions about getting the best out of travel. coming up, seeing america in two weeks? first, though, cruise passengers may be delighted to learn that india's e—visa scheme is now allowed for arrival by sea as well as air. you can sail into the ports of mumbai, goa, cochin, mangalore or chennai. next, geraldine hardy in kuala lumpur has this question. divide your trip into three segments. first, the east coast

heritage trail. start in boston, the birthplace of independence, and end up in washington, dc, calling at new york city and philadelphia. all of those places are connected by fast trains. then, take a four—hour flight across the midwest and the prairies to the mile—high city of denver, with a wonderful view of the rockies. step aboard the californian zephyr train, ending up in san francisco as the sun sets on the golden gate. then go by train, plane or automobile south along the pacific coast to los angeles, a wonderful sprawl with highlights that include venice beach, santa monica and of course hollywood. finally, meena in london has a friend backpacking

through south america. check the latest foreign office advice for any particular hazards and devour guidebooks. my personal highlights include lake titicaca, divided by bolivia and peru, the ancient inca capital cuzco, the amazon, and if you can possibly manage it, a river trip from iquitos in peru, downstream to leticia in colombia. by an open—jaw ticket into la paz and out of cartagena, and get plenty of american currency. the us dollar is king in latin america. whether you are going budget backpacking or wanting to live the high life, the bbc‘s travel show is here to help. so email: from me, simon calder, the global guru, bye for now, and see you next time.

to finish this week we've got the first in a series of films from china — a country that has undergone massive change over recent decades as it moves to modernise. but, if you know where to look, some glimpses of the past remain, and we've headed to the sichuan province to take a step back in time. well, that's all we've got time for for on this week's show. but do join us next week, when henry heads to australia to meet the people behind the world—famous royal flying doctor service as they celebrate an important anniversary. what a remarkable bit of kit you've got here. and we head back to china to discover a novel way of skiing which is claimed to be an 8,000 years old. that's next week.

but in the meantime, don't forget you can catch up with us when we're out on the road or at sea in real—time by signing up to our social media feeds, where you can also share your travel stories with the world. but now, from me and the rest of the travel show team here, somewhere in the mediterranean, it's goodbye. hello. we have managed to cram in quite a bit of weather over the past 12 hours or so. were not quite done yet. of really quiet start to the day over some parts of england and

wales after the dramas of last night, thunder and lightning. that's not the end of the story. a weather front gradually sweet to down across england and wales over the course of the afternoon. behind it, cooler and fresher skies through the morning. for the north and west of scotland, you still have cloud and rain hanging on to the more northerly portion of the front. are cool and fresh regime starts to dominate over all parts overnight. we maintain the theme as we start the new week with some decent spells of sunshine. don't bank on it blank —— lasting in western parts. the temperatures are much closer to the seasonal norm. good afternoon. the health secretary, jeremy hunt, is threatening social media companies with new legislation unless they voluntarily come forward with safeguards to protect children's mental health. he's written to platforms such as facebook and google accusing them

of "turning a blind eye" to the problems arising from social media use. our business correspondent joe lynam reports. it is the new worry of the digital age. how can parents better control what their kids are viewing online?