Jo's Cruise Jollies

Try before you buy...and save some money too

2012-02-15T08:39:00.000Z

Fred. Olsen are offering potential customers the chance to spend a day on board one of their ships with a number of ships visits on offer this summer.

Guests will be welcomed on board and enjoy a welcome drink and presentation from the experienced staff and then be given a guided tour in a small group to see a selection of cabins and public areas.

Guests will then enjoy a buffet lunch and wine in the ship's main restaurant

Any guests booking within 6 months of the ship visit will be given an further 5% discount or £200pp whichever is the greatest (subject to terms and conditions)

If you'd like to go on one of the ship visits which are on offer across the country just conact myself on 0800 408 6088 or joc@cruise.co.uk. The cost is just £40pp

To view the list of ship visits on offer just please read more

Balmoral - Southampton
20 July
03 August
27 October

Braemar - Dover
14 April
31 May
22 September

Boudicca
7 July - Rosyth
10 August - Rosyth
26 August - Newcastle
4 November - Portmouth
18 November - Portsmouth

Black Watch - Dover
11 June
24 June
07 July
02 September

It's sales all round!

2012-02-08T11:48:00.000Z

If you have been pondering the idea of a summer cruise then now is the time book as there are a number of sales this week. These are for a limited period only though so take advantage while you can.

Carnival
Book between today and the 9th February and receive on board credit
$50 per cabin for sailings of 3-4 nights
$100 per cabin for sailings of 5-6 nights
$150 per cabin for sailings of 7 nights
$200 per cabin for sailings of 8 nights or more

P&O & Cunard
Book between the 10th and 13th February and receive a free upgrade from an inside to a balcony cabin on selected cruises. Just read more for the list of included cruises

Aurora - 19 June
Azura - 29 April, 6 & 19 May, 9 & 16 Jun, 14 & 21 Jul, 10 Aug, 2 Sep
Oceana - 13 May, 20 Aug
Ventura - 13 & 20 May, 3 & 17 Jun, 20, 23 & 27 Jul, 21 Aug, 01 & 08 Sep

Queen Elizabeth - 22 Jun, 07 & 14 Aug
Queen Victoria - 04 Apr, 05 & 22 May, 29 Jun, 13 & 21 Jul, 03, 17 & 28 Aug
Queen Mary - 10 & 17 Jun, 04 Sep

Free flights giveaway

2012-02-02T10:48:00.001Z

Well it's back Royal Caribbean are giving away free flights on the majority of their Summer 2012 Mediterranean Cruises. And they are offering them on peak dates too.

They offered these last year and it was really popular, this year they have 10,000 flight seats to give away and are offering free flights and transfers from:
Belfast, Birmingham, Dublin, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Manchester and Newcastle.

The free flights giveaway is great because it means that your fligts and transfers will be provided by the cruise line giving you added protection in the event of strikes, ash clouds delays and cancellations

The dates and airports offered vary on each date and cruise so the easiest way to see which ones are best for you is to call or email me. But please read more to see the list of all sailings with free flights.

The following sailings have free flights attached
Adventure of the Seas
7 nts Western Med
7nts Canary Isles

Grandeur of the Seas
7nts Italian Med
7nts Spanish Med

Liberty of the Seas
5nts Western Med
7nts Western Med

Mariner of the Seas
12nts Greece & Turkey
7nts Western Med
12nts Holy Land

Navigator of the Seas
7nts Eastern Med

Splendour of the Seas
6nts Western Europe
7nts Greek Isles and Turkey
7nts Greek Isles
6nts Greece & Adriatic
8nts Greek Isles and Turkey

Serenade of the Seas
12nts Med Greek Isles
12nts Med Venice

How strict should a dress policy be?

2012-01-25T14:02:00.001Z

There is always lots of discussion as to how formal cruising should be and fortunately nowadays there are several ships to choose from dependent upon your individual preferences. Customers can choose between a cruiseline that has several formal nights on board where black tie is a necessity or they can select a cruise line such as NCL or Oceania where black tie is not required at all.

The dress code is stated in advance and is generally enforced during dining. Now I am all for cruise lines stating their dress code and then enforcing it, customers know what they are booking and should expect to adhere to it. However I have just heard of an incident on board P&O's Azura when I think they were taking it to the extreme.

The gentleman concerned had worn a suit and tie to dinner on a 'semi-formal' night and had then retired to the Planet Bar at about 11pm for a drink. As it was late he had returned to his cabin and dropped his jacket off but upon entering the bar he was politely informed that he had to wear a jacket.
Being he gentleman that he is he returned to the cabin and donned the jacket again.

This time he was allowed to return to his friends, could order a drink and was allowed to remove his jacket to be comfy.

Now I know P&O have had a bad press and people have complained that standards are slipping, but was this really necessary? What do you think, and what do other cruise lines do?

If you need any help....

2012-01-12T16:45:00.000Z

Well we've all only just come back to work but I'm taking another week off and will be out of the office until Monday 22nd January.

Whilst I'm away please call my colleagues on 0800 408 6200 and they will be happy to help you.

Thinking of extending your stay in Venice?

2012-01-07T20:01:00.001Z

If you are then don't forget that they have now introduced the Venice Tourist Tax, which adds up to €5 per person per night to your stay. This tax introduced at the end of 2011 is on charged on a sliding scale from €5 per person in a 5* hotel to €3 per person in a 3 star.

If you're staying in the neighbouring islands or Lido are the cost is slighty reduced to €4.50 per person for a 5* hotel. Children under 10 are exempt for the charge and 11-16 year olds pay 50%
The city is cleverly calling the charge a 'cultural donation' and it is to go towards a £20 million restoration project to save Venice from the sea.

Venice is a beautiful and amazing city however it is an expensive place to stay. It will be intersting to see if this tax puts people off from staying there this summer. Personally I don't think it will, €10 for a couple on a room is probably less than 10% of the hotel cost.

This tax has to be paid by the tourist and isn't included in costs advertised by travel agents or hoteliers so don't forget to have some Euros' with you to pay it.

Happy New Year to you

2012-01-01T12:39:00.000Z

Just a quick note to say Happy New Year to you all.
I'd like to wish everyone a very prosperous year and hope that all your dreams and resolutions come true.

P&O and Cunard to increase their fuel costs

2011-12-27T17:58:00.000Z

P&O and Cunard have announced that their fuel supplement is increasing to £6per person per night for all bookings made from 30th December onwards. The current cost is just £3pppn.

This means that if you are looking at a 14 night cruise your costs will increase by £42pp so it is definately worth booking this week, rather than waiting into the New Year.

OMG I'm going to be 40

2011-12-14T12:00:00.000Z

Well it's finally time to day goodbye to my 30's and move into the next decade of life as on Friday I am going to be 40.

Fortunately I am not too sad about this fact, I have a great family and great job and haven't got any regrets from life so far and hopefully another 40 years to look forward to.

As it's a big birthday and my birthday normally get lost amongst Christmas I thought I'd treat myself so I'm joining friends at Hill House in Norfolk which is a gorgeous manor house.

We will all meet for lunch and the the ladies are off to Dunston Hall for a swim, sauna, relax and catch up whilst the men entertain the children. The girls I have known for 20+ years so I am sure we will have a lot to chat about.

In the evening I have arranged caterers to bringdinner for us and I have pink champagne on ice.

If anyone would like anymore info on Hill House, which is 6 bedroomed property and sleeps up to 13 their full website is just a click away, tell them I've recommended it.

Fancy trying 5* Cruising?

2011-12-08T16:41:00.000Z

Do you normally like to sail from the UK and have you ever thought of trying Celebrity Cruises but are too scared to do so for a 2 week cruise. Well now is your time to do so.

Constellation has just been given a full Soltice Class Makeover and now includes the Martini Bar and Crush which Celebrity claim is the coolest bar at sea, the Cellar Masters wine bar and the Tuscan Grille speciality restaurant.The staterooms have been elegantly refurbished too. The Soltice Class ships are very popular and Celebrity are now taking a large share of the UK Market.

To celebrate this makeover Celebrity are offering a 2 night mini cruise in September 2012 from Amsterdam bask to Southampton a you get a full day at sea to really try out the ship. The prices are fantastic with an inside cabin starting at just £139pp or £259pp for the fly cruise.

I don't think you'd find a 5* hotel to offer you what a cruise does for this price.

For the full details and prices just click on this link Celebrity Constellation

Travel Insurance with pre-existing medical conditions.

2011-12-01T14:23:00.000Z

I recently had a customer struggling to get insurance to include pre-existing medical conditions, her original quote being £1900 to cover a 14 night Caribbean cruise that had cost just over £1000.

As she hadn’t got a computer so I searched the web and found a number of insurance companies that specialised in this type of insurance and using these numbers she managed to get the price down by over 60%. I thought this might be useful for other customers so here are a few numbers for you.

0800 096 4602 www.world-first.co.uk

0844 692 8449 www.travelinsurancemedical.co.uk

01625 505700 www.the-insurance-surgery.co.uk

0844 2770844 www.staysure.co.uk

0844 334 0160 www.goodtogoinsurance.com

01689 859102 www.jdtravelinsurance.co.uk

01223 454 290 www.fredominsure.co.uk

A bit about Swan Hellenic

2011-11-24T15:28:00.000Z

Swan Hellenic's Minerva offers the perfect base for exploring your destination in depth. As a discovery cruise ship you'll enjoy on board guest speakers who will really bring the destinations to life and a programme of included excursions to enrich your days.

The sailings are aimed at like minded people who want to know more about the places they visit, but if you'd rather just relax and explore on your own that's fine too. She is a smaller ship carrying just 350 passengers and and get into some of the samller historic ports of call as well as visiting cultural centres such as Pireaus for Athens and Civitivecchia for Rome.

In those ports that are more frequently visited she offers a choice of excursions, for instance from if it's your first time in Naples you can visit the ruins of Pompeii or as a returning guest you can choose to go to the lesser know Villa Oplontis built by Emperor Nero. I have been lucky enough to have a work trip on Minerva and the level of knowledge given by the excursion hosts was amazing.

Swan Hellenic's prices have no hidden extras too, all you pay for on top of your cruise fare are your drinks. Flights, transfers, excursions, guest speakers and gratuities are all included, as well as your food, evening entertainment and chosen cabin grade.

She is being refurbished in early 2012 and has some great offers for Spring 2012. Postcards from the Mediterranean, a 13 night sailing on the 29th March starts at just £1495pp. For the full details just click here.

Seabourn's connection charges

2011-11-23T14:16:00.000Z

As you know whenever I call a cruiseline to find something out for a customer I like to post it on here. If one persons wants to know the info then I figure many more people may also like to know too.

My latest tit bit is the internet connection charges on Seabourn ships
They have a number of packages dependent on the usage you require.

Stay in Touch –$0.40/minute

Frequent Explorer – 1 hr for $9.99

Business User - $39.99 for 24 hrs

Always Connected - $234 for a week

Loyalty package – for all sailings of 7nts or more, $399.99

this is a one off price for the duration of the cruise.

Hopefully this will be of use to you.

Here's a cheeky chappy

2011-11-16T14:51:00.000Z

I'm having a few days off now which has put me in a happy mood and for some reason made me think of this smiley chappy that I saw on board MSC Opera this summer. I thought I'd post him for you all to see and hopefully put you in a mid week good mood too.

I'll be back in the office on Monday and if you need any help whilst I'm off just call my colleagues on 0800 408 6200 and they'll be happy to help you.

I've heard of the ships cat but never....

2011-11-09T15:29:00.001Z

the ship's fish. Yesterday I was amazed to hear that the ships Quarter Master on Regent Seven Seas Voyager keeps 2 giant goldfish on the bridge of Seven Seas Voyager.

I have tried to find some information out about these and have done a quick search. It appears that they are loving cared for but alas have no names, which seems a real shame so I thought I would start a campaign to name them. I thought maybe Reg for one (short for Regent) but am stuck on a 2nd.

These are the only pets that I am aware of any cruise ship, although Queen Mary will allow dogs to be carried on her transtlantic cruises. If you know of any other pets that are stowed away then please let me know, I'd like to write about them too.

For a photo of the ships fish, just click on this link

The youngest fleet at sea needs a facelift!

2011-11-02T13:17:00.000Z

To celebrate her 8th Birthday Cunard are giving Queen Mary 2 a complete refit, which is fantastic when cruise lines seem to be trying to save money and cut corners at the moment.

She enters dry dock on the 24th November and the 14 day refit will see more than just a token touch up occuring. Cunard have promised the following:

All 1310 staterooms will have new carpets, bedspreads and curtains and an enhanced sense of confort is being promised.
The Canyon Ranch Spa Club will have new fitness machines and improved features in the Beauty Salon.
The Golden Lion Pub - will have a more American Country Club feel with upgraded TV screens and be more similar to the same pub on board Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth
The Commodore Club will also be re-carpeted and have additions to the white leather furnishings
The Grills Restaurants, Commodore Club, Veuve Cliquot Champagne Bar and Sir Samuels will have new carpets.
And finally the Play Zone and Kids Zone will have a complete refurbishment with new soft play areas, and upgrades in the electronic gaming technology and facilities.

Queen Mary 2 has good reviews already so I think Cunard are doing the right thing in refitting her before the rewiews start to slip. If you want to see her current reviews click here and I look forward to seeing new reviews after the refit.

A few more days off.

2011-10-25T13:37:00.000+01:00

I am now out of the office until Tuesday 01 November spending some time with my family whilst it is half term.

I haven't got anything special planned but it will be nice to have some lie ins and to just play for a few days.

Whilst I'm away please call 0800 408 6200 or e-mail contactus@cruise.co.uk and my colleagues will be happy to help you.

Take another look at Regent Seven Seas Cruises

2011-10-20T13:47:00.001+01:00

I have just been looking at a Christmas Cruise with Regent Seven Sea's Cruises and my customer was amazed by what it includes compared to others on the market. They have really increased their offering over the last year I so thought it was worth highlighting a few things.

Regent Seven Sea's Cruises are a 6* luxury cruise line, their service is impeccable and the reviews are great (just click here for a selection of them) Most people are aware of this but what isn't so widely known is just what you get included in the costs.

As with most luxury cruise lines, your exceptional food and drinks are included together with a large suite on the cruise. However Regent also include the flights and they really stand out by including a full programme of shore excursions and not just a token 'walk around the local market' excursion. On this particular cruise they offer a choice of up to 9 free excursions in every port of call and include such things as a 4 X 4 Jeep Adventure, Whale and Dolphin Safari, Champagne Snorkel, Catamaran Trip, Kayak through the Mangroves, Horseback Ride and Swim to name just a few. These are quality excursions that really add up.

By the time you've paid for shore excursions, drinks and speciality restaurants on your average cruise you can more than double your holiday costs. Not many people do a shore excursion everyday because of the costs involved but with Regent you can. The cruise prices may look expensive on paper but it really is worth remebering that once on board you really do not have any need to spend a thing.

If you'd like to see this Christmas Offer just click here - but remember that this is at Christmas time when prices are traditionally higher too, if you look at Regent at any other time they'll be even better value for money.

Staying in touch.

2011-10-13T14:13:00.000+01:00

More and more people now carry mobile phones or want to stay in touch by email when on holiday and many people can't bear to abandon their tech toys, even at sea.

The cruise lines are open to this and provide many different facilities from Wi-Fi hot spots to cabin data ports, from mobile phone service to ordering your meals via an iPad as featured on Celebrity ships. Silversea Cruises reports 65 percent of its guests use some form of onboard Internet access, while 50 percent are using mobile phones at sea.

If you do want to use technology on board though its advisable to check your prices in advance.

Phones -
If you can get connected, remember it may not be cheap. Internet access, ship-to-shore phone calls, and mobile phone usage can be pricey. Calling from the phone in your stateroom may cost $9.99 a minute or more. Mobile phone users will get the bill for international roaming or other fees when they get home. People are getting caught out with the new smart phones which may continue roaming in the background even when you're not using it so make sure you turn all your features off before travelling.

E-mail
Internet cafés at sea are now the norm, not the exception. Even small ships and some new riverboats have one or two computers onboard for guest use. It's good, though, to check with your cruise line before you sail about your technical options; they vary by ship and by line, and the landscape is changing daily. All the major cruise lines show their prices on their websites.

Another useful thing to remember with e-mail is to avoid the busy times, connections on ships are still slow and the more people trying to connect, the slower the connection may be. Try visiting the cafe's whilst fellow guests are dining or early in the morning. Connection is also worse in rough seas, or when at sea so a shore day would always provide a quicker connection.

The other alternative would be to use a shore based Internet cafe, these are generally cheaper than on board. Although this seems a shame when you are in port for such a short amount of time.

I hope you find these tips useful and don't forget when you are staying in touch with friends to send me a quick e-mail too and let me know how you're enjoying your cruise. I'd love to hear from you.

Or simply head for a land-based Internet café when in port. Internet cafés are ubiquitious in cruise ship portsm and usually cost from one to four dollars an hour. Ask the ship's concierge, shore trip staff or other crew members if they know of a facility close to the pier. Local libraries are good bets, and some offer computer use with free minutes.

--

Celebrity enhance their older ships

2011-10-06T16:06:00.001+01:00

I love the newer Celebrity Solstice Class ships and think that they are probably my favourite of all the ships out there currently. And I'm not the only person who thinks this, you rarely get a bad review from any of the Solstice ships.

Now because of this Celebrity are taking the best features of these ships and upgrading their existing fleet with a $120 million upgrade of Celebrity Infinity, Celebrity Summit and Celebrity Millenium. They are being 'Solsticised'

Each ship will now feature Aqua Class staterooms - rooms with complimentary access to the Persian Garden Spa and exclusive dining in the Blu restaurant. There will also be more dining options including a vibrant Creperie and the Qsine restaurant which is so modern that you order your meal using an iPad. My favourite bar at sea the Martini Bar is also been added along with the Cellarmasters Wine Bar.

Infinity will be completed in Dec 2011, Summit in January 2012 and Millenium 2012 so I can recommend all of them for your 2012 cruise.

Regent Prices to increase on 01 October

2011-09-29T10:43:00.000+01:00

Just a quick heads up but Regent Seven Seas cruises have announced today that their 2012 prices will be increasing on the 1st October. This gives you just 2 days to secure your booking at the best price.

If you normally travel with the likes of Cunard, Oceania, Azamara or Holland America then now is the time to consider Regent. As a six star cruise line their service will exceed what you are used to and just look at what's included in their price:

• FREE return flights

• FREE Business Class flights on ALL Mediterranean and Baltic cruises (C-MS suites)

• 1-night pre-cruise hotel stay on Alaska and Caribbean cruises

• FREE and UNLIMITED shore excursions in every port - (I have looked into these and they really are high end excursions that are offered free - the likes of which would could cost over £1000.00 on a two week cruise with other cruise lines

• ALL fine dining including speciality restaurants

• ALL drinks and beverages - including quality wines and champagnes

• ALL gratuities and tips, no service charges

• ALL onboard activities

• And so much more...

They offer an all inclusive, ultra luxury proposition for the same overall cost of a 4 or 5* cruise line.

For more information or a brochure just call or e-mail me

How much would you pay for a wheelchair?

2011-09-28T14:23:00.000+01:00

I was amazed recently when a customer of mine advised me that Holland America had charged him $380 for the hire of a wheelchair on a 10 night sailing on board the Nieuw Amsterdam. The gentleman in question does not always require a wheelchair and can get away without them but due to a health issue at the last moment had decided he would be better to have one so arranged it whilst on board.

To make matters worse the wheelchair had the hire companies name 'Special Needs Group' emblazoned on the back.

This is the first time that I have ever heard of a cruise line charging for wheelchairs although to be honest many cruise lines do not actually provide them so at least Holland America offer this facility.

But $380 seems a bit steep - what do you think?

MSC Opera - food photos

2011-09-22T16:20:00.000+01:00

I know alot of you like to see what the food is like on the different ships so here are some photos of my meal on board MSC Opera.

My parma ham, kiwi fruit and pineapple medley was a nice light starter, the food was all fresh and it was well presented.

Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for the ricotta stuffed crepe. This dish was really waterey and the crepe really mushy. I do not have a problem with frozen foods and microwaves for mass catering but this was just not nice. Sorry MSC

My main course of warmed sliced beef on a bed of rocket was fantastic, the beef was cooked to perfection being slightly pink in the middle and was complemented really well by the rocket which was really fresh. A big thumbs up to the chef with this one.

I opted for chocolate ice cream for desert, again this tasted lovely but I thought they could have presented it slightly better - surely a little sprig of something or even just a wafer on the top might have made it look a bit more special

Finally, here is a picture of the buffet food - I didn't taste it but it did look delicious.

MSC Opera

2011-09-18T17:13:00.000+01:00

Cabins on MSC Opera

2011-09-18T13:08:00.000+01:00

Having visited MSC Opera last week, I thought I'd share some thoughts and advice on the cabins types.
This first picture is a balcony cabin and my advice would be to book one of these. They are slighty larger and with the full balcony window the rooms are bright and airy

MSC is a cheap priced product and the difference in cost between the balcony and lower grades is not that high. However if it is out of your reach then my next recommendation would be the inside cabin. The large mirror above the bed really reflects the light well and made the room seem much larger than it is.

The outside cabins (below) disappointed me, the windows did not let much light in and the rooms therefore appeared smaller and darker than I would expect for an outside cabin.

The inside and outside cabins though are actually the same size and the window is good for the mornings to see where you are and what the weather is like before getting dressed. The cabins themselves do not have lots of room and are basically just a place for sleeping and getting ready, however I like the decor of MSC's cabins, the covers are all bright and colourful and give a cheery to the rooms. Which is just what you want on holiday.

MSC drop the price on their drinks package

2011-09-14T14:15:00.000+01:00

MSC have announced a reduction in there All Inclusive drinks package for 2012.
Passengers travelling this year have paid £33.30 pppn which is a good price but from the 15th September you can add on the package on to 2012 sailings for just £21pppn.

Included in the package are:

All drinks in bars list with bar list price up to € 7,00 / $ 7,00, including wines, beers, spirits and soft drinks.
Take-away ice-cream in cone or cup
A selection of wines in the main restuarant and self service buffet, along with mineral water, draft and bottled beer and soft drinks

Unfortunately the mini bar is excluded along with bottles of wine and anything with a list price of over
€ 7,00 / $ 7,00

This package can be added to all bookings for 2012 including Winter 11/12 and Dubai. And what's more there is a rumour that they are launching this with an 'Upgrade to All Inclusive for £1' offer for all new bookings, I suspect the cruise prices may increase though but will keep you posted.

Viking River Cruises give something back

2011-09-07T12:05:00.000+01:00

I have just completed some additional reading about Viking River Cruises and it bought a smile to my face to learn that they sponsor two elementary schools in China along the Yangtze river.

The schools in the Jingzhou and Yueyang regions give children who due to their economic status would be unable to attend school without this sponsorship, the chance to learn. I think this is fantastic, as a company there is no benefit to Viking River Cruises in sponsoring these schools and it shows a respect for the countries and people that they visit.

Thomson cruises also give something back although they actually do it via their customers. With every booking customers are given the opportunity to pay £1 towards a 'Worldcare Fund' which is used to fund projects overseas and help lead to sustainable tourism.

I would like to say well done to these two companies, I am not aware of any other companies that actively fund projects overseas or give to charities, as tourists we can cause quite a lot of destruction to an area and it is nice to know that people care enough to give something back.

Reminder to book your free car parking - Celebrity Eclipse

2011-08-31T09:29:00.000+01:00

Just a quick reminder to you all that today is the last day to book Celebrity Eclipse for summer 2012 and receive FREE car parking. This will save you well over £100 if travelling for 2 weeks.

Celebrity have said that the offer will definately not be extended after today.

If you have already booked Eclipse then you must call AB parking to confirm the car parking by the 7th September. After this date the free car parking will no longer be honoured.

To call AB parking just dial 0844 8806848 or visit http://www.abparking.co.uk/ and have your Celebrity reference number and car details available.

My holidays are over

2011-08-29T16:01:00.000+01:00

Well it's Bank Holiday Monday and my holidays are over. I'ved just had a lovely week in Cornwall with my family and a friends 5 year old too. We stayed at Well Farm Cottage in North Tamerton which is about 20 minutes in land from Bude. The cottage was lovely and ideal for our needs, it was really well equipped and was set in a courtyard with a play area for the kids which was ideal for the boys.

The weather was kind to us too and as a family that like to explore we had some great days out at Bude, Polzeath and Tintagel Castle. The area is fabulous for families and we all enjoyed the walks, beaches and rock climbing. In particular I loved the great choice of clotted cream ice creams on offer everywhere!

But now alas it is time to return to reality, I have spent the day washing and ironing and am now ready to return to work. However I am really looking forward to it, September is going to be a great month - next weel I am off to see MSC Opera in Southampton and on the 17th I get to look around Grand Princess. Both of these ships are really important to us as the both sail from the UK and are big for both the couples and families markets. Grand Princess has had a major refurbishment this year so I am really looking forward to seeing what they have done to her.

I will get some good photo's of both and write a review for you all and if there is anything in particular that you would like me to look at just let me know.

Whilst I am off.....

2011-08-16T13:02:00.000+01:00

I am now away from the office until the 30th August, enjoying a nice break with my family.

Whilst I am away please call 0800 408 6200 or e-mail contactus@cruise.co.uk and my colleagues will be happy to help you.

If you would like to leave a comment regarding my service, or telling me what you think of my blog in the boxes on the left of this page I'd appreciate it.

Are you a Crown and Anchor member?

2011-08-08T14:13:00.000+01:00

If you are, and you've achieved either Diamond, Diamond Plus or Pinnacle status then you need to book a cruise for December.

If you sail in December you will be recognised and pampered by the entire Royal Caribbean Crew, regardless of the ship you are on or duration of the cruise. (I would expect that from Royal Caribbean anyway) but they are also giving double points for the sailing and triple points if sailing in a suite as well as special commemorative gifts and exclusive events.

There are some great deals for December at the moment to and you could sail with Royal Caribbean in the Med, Caribbean or Dubai at this time of year, have a look at our website or give me a call.

Taking your laptop on P&O ships

2011-08-02T13:33:00.000+01:00

I have just investigated this for a customer so thought I would share it with everyone.

You can take your laptops on board P&O ships which is always an advantage if you have work to do whilst on holiday or just want to stay in touch with friends and family. There are a number of wi-fi hot spots as listed

Adonia: Full Wi Fi access available throughout the ship.

Arcadia - F Deck: The Globe & Spinnaker Bar, Deck 3: Cyb@ Center, Cafe Vivo, Horizon rooms, & Library and Deck 9: Gymnasium, The Belvedere & Aquarius pool and bar.

Aurora - D Deck: Cyb@ Study, Crow's Nest & Library.

Oceana - Promenade Deck : Cyb@ Study, Library, Deck 5: The Atrium Lobby & Explorers Bar.

Oriana - Sun Deck: Cyb@ Study & Crow's Nest

Azura & Ventura - Promenade Deck: Cyb@Study & all public lounges. Also in cabins using equipment that can be provided with the purchase of a time plan.

They do charge you for using their wi-fi and a variety of time plans can by purchased on board, a sample cost is £35 for 100 minutes of use (personally this seems quite pricey to me, but I am only comparing to my monthly at home charges)

If you only need a small amount of use you can also purchase 'Pay As You Go' for 50p per minute.
P&O also offer the chance to use their on board computers when you purchase a time plan or you can hire a lap top on board for £10 per day, subject to availability.

.

I'm off for a few days

2011-07-26T18:15:00.000+01:00

Just to let you know I am away from the office for a few days now, I'll be back in on Tuesday 2nd August.

If you'd like any help whilst I'm away please call my colleagues on 0800 408 6200 or e-mail contactus@cruise.co.uk

Pre book your My Time dining

2011-07-20T13:19:00.001+01:00

There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding My Time dining on Royal Caribbean Cruises so I thought
I'd post a few facts to help you.

My Time dining gives you the flexibility to dine at the time you want to within the normal restaurant hours, this is generally from 6pm to 9.30pm with slight variations per ship. You still dine in the main restaurant and you still receive waiter service.

There are two ways of ensuring you dine at the time you want to, you can either just turn up at the restaurant and be seated by the waiters. At this stage you can ask for a table with just your party, or ask to dine on a larger table with other guests. However dining can get very busy, and if you turn up at peak times you may have to wait for a table to become available.

Royal Caribbean therefore offer you the facility to prebook your My Time dining in advance. This can be done via your cruise personaliser on the Royal Caribbean website, you can either chose to book for the same time for every night of your cruise or look at each night individually and pick a different dining time for each night. This is great if you are trying to fit around shore excursions / days at sea. They offer dining times every 15 minutes so you can really tailor it to suits your needs. You can also again choose to dine alone or with others guests.

Now I haven't actually done My Time dining yet but hope you find this helpful. perhaps if you have experienced it yourselves you can let me and other cruisers know whether you are better to select your times in advance or just sort it on the ship.

Zumba themed Dance Cruise

2011-07-13T13:20:00.004+01:00

As you know I'm a huge Zumba fan so I'm very excited that at Cruise.co.uk we are presenting an exclusive

Zumba Themed Dance cruise as part of our Cruise and Dance Programme.

On Royal Caribbean's Independance of the Sea's this 3 night mini cruise combines 2 full days in Paris with 3 Zumba Fitness dance classes.

She sails on Wednesday 2nd May 2012, and is berthed in Le Havre for Paris all day Thursday and Friday until 8pm and then sails back to Southampton on Saturday 5th May.

Prices are £319pp for an inside cabin, £360pp for an outside and £410pp for a balcony. For more information look at my post on Cruises.co.uk (just click on the link) or give me a call or e-mail

Luxury Cruise Deal

2011-07-06T14:05:00.001+01:00

I've got another special deal for you and this ones a beauty, it's so special that I can't tell you the ship or cruiseline (you'll have to call me to find out) but I can tell you the following
The ship sails a 10 night Norwegian Fjords Cruise on the 7th August 2011 and as a luxury cruise line the following are all included in your price.
Gratuities
Bottled water, sodas and speciality coffee & teas
Selected wines with lunch and dinner
Open seating in the Main Restaurant
Speciality restaurant dining reservations for Club Suite Guests
Complimentary shuttle service in port

The cabins will be allocated on a guaranteed basis at these prices;
Inside stateroom £645pp
Outside stateroom £842pp
Veranda stateroom £1016pp

Flights and transfers can be added however you would be best to add your own. BA have flights from Heathrow for just £179pp, its in and out of Copenhagen and the port is just a short taxi ride from the airport. Which makes this a really cheap holiday.

To get the full information on this cruise just give me a call or send me an e-mail.

How important is entertainment to you?

2011-07-01T11:34:00.000+01:00

People choose their cruises for a number of reasons - if food is your highlight then pick Oceania or Celebrity,
if you're after high action activities then Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas or NCL's Epic are the ships for you and if you're after music or comedy then Fred Olsen are a must.

Each year Fred Olsen have a number of themed cruises where 'Music and Laughter' are the highlight. These cruises do not cost any more than their other sailings and the entertainment is guaranteed to make you smile. They have just announced their programme for Winter 2011 and 2012 and there is a wide range of musical acts on offer from pop to opera.

So if the entertainment that you have on board your cruise is important to you read on and you can select the cruise to suit you.

Boudicca
16 Oct 2011 - D1123 - Classical Music - Classical Connnections
                                                                 Comedy - Don Reid

01 Nov 2011 - D1124 - Jazz - The Phoenix Jazz Band
                                       Comedy - Dave Kristian

26 Nov 2011 - D1125 - 1960's Pop - The Tornados
                                       Comedy - Ricky Jay

10 Dec 2011 - D1126 - Comedy - Berni Flint

20 Dec 2011 - D1128 - Jazz - Colin Bryant & His Hot Rhythm Orchestra
                                      Comedy - Ricky Jay

05 Jan 2012 - D1201 - Comedy - Don Reid

19 Jan 2012 - D1202 - Smooth Soul - Irie J
                                     Pop - Abba Magic

07 Mar 2012 - D1204 - Pop - It Takes Two - Tina Turner & Rod Stewart Tribute

20 Mar 2012 - D1205 - 1960's Pop - The Upbeat Beatles

02 Apr 2012 - D1206 - American Songbook - Robert Habemann, Lee Gibson, Trevor Brown

Balmoral
28 Oct 2011 - L1119 - 1960's Pop - The Upbeat Beatles
                                      Smooth Soul - Irie J
                                     Comedy - Andy Rudge

17 Nov 2011 - L112 - Soul - George McCrea
                                    Country Rock - Beckett Brockovich Band
                                     Comedy - Bob Taylor

30 Nov 2011 - L1122 - Pop - Bee Gees Magic
                                     Comedy - Bob Webb

08 Dec 2011 - L1123 Music & Comedy - Beverley Davison
                                   Comedy - Don Reid
                                   Comedy - Phil Melbourne

05 Jan 2012 - L120112 -  American Songbook - Robert Habemann, Lee Gibson, Trevor Brown

Braemar
28 Oct 2011 M1123 - Opera - The Operababes
                                    Opera - Anthony Stuart Lloyd
                                    Comedy - Barnaby

08 Dec 2011 - M1126 - Disco Pop - Sounds of Boney M
                                       Smooth Soul - Irie J
                                       Comedy - Bob Taylor

Black Watch
01 Nov 2011 - W1118 - 1960's Pop - Steve Love Band
                                        Comedy - Bob Webb
                                        Comedy Magic - Mandy Muden

26 Nov 2011 - W1119 - Jazz - Colin Bryant & His Hot Rhythm Orchestra

17 Dec 2011 - W1121 - Pop - Bee Gees Magic
                                       Pop - Abba Magic

11 Jan 2012 - W120112 Pop - It Takes Two - Tina Turner & Rod Stewart Tribute

                                       Pop & Rock - Across the Pond - Elton & Elvis Tribute

I am Zumba mad

2011-06-23T09:30:00.000+01:00

Now for those of you that don't know me personally I am hooked by Zumba and so am very excited that Zumba classes are being rolled out across the Princess fleet.

Zumba is a latin based fitness class which combines dances moves - salsa, merengue, mambo with fitness move and is set to Latin American style music. It is really contagious and really good for you.
Zumba burns anything from 400 - 700 calories per hour just dependant on your size and the effort that you put in to it.

Now as a girl who likes to eat and drink aswell, Zumba on Princess ships will hopefully offer me the chance to maybe not put on quite so much weight on holiday. I hate doing that 8 week pre cruise diet to just go and put on half a stone on my cruise and have to start again.

Princess have been trialling Zumba on selected cruises since December 2010 but have seen the classes prove to be so popular that they are now taking it fleetwide. Currently it is featured on Caribbean Princess, Dawn Princess, Diamond Princess, Emerald Princess, Grand Princess, Golden Princess, Island Princess, Ruby Princess, Sapphire Princess, Sea Princess and Star Princess and they have promised 1 to 2 free classes on every sailing by 2012.

I am particularly impressed by the fact that it is free - as many cruise lines charge for there exercise classes.

If you're not sure what Zumba is, here is a YouTube clip of some customers enjoying Zumba on Emerald Princess in 2009. Click Zumba Please note this is not one of the classes that Princess are now running - if anyone is going on Princess this summer I'd be greatful if you could send me some footage!

Is a kettle really a health and safety issue?

2011-06-16T15:04:00.003+01:00

I have just enquired with Thomson as to the use of kettles in their cabins and been advised that they are not provided and customers cannot take their own as it is a 'health and safety issue.' My customer is also not allowed to take her own kettle for the same reason.

I am slightly confused as to how a kettle can be a health and safety issue, I understand that hot water can burn skin but surely cruisers can decide themselves if they are willing to take the risk in order to have a cup of tea.

Thomson are not alone in this Celebrity and Royal Caribbean also do not allow kettles in the cabins but Fred Olsen do. Maybe as Fred Olsen customers are generally slightly older they are more reponsible. I can 't quite see why some lines provide it whilst others don't, I assuming it's a cost issue. But in the grand scheme of things a kettle and a couple of cups is hardly going to break the bank but maybe I'm missing something?

Fantastic Late Deal

2011-06-14T15:04:00.001+01:00

Well I don't often put deals on my blog as we have a seperate offers section on forum http://www.cruises.co.uk/ but this was is just so good I wanted to advertise it in as many places as possible.

MSC Opera is sailing an 8 night cruise on the 22nd July 2011 and we have some very special rates for it.
Inside cabins are just £499pp.

She sails a lovely cruise down the coast of France to Spain and calls in at one of my favourite places - La Rochelle, be sure to get off the ship and have some mussels for lunch.
The full itinerary for this 8 night sailing is:

22 July - Southampton
23 July - Amsterdam
24 July - At Sea
25 July - La Rochelle
26 July - Bilbao
27 July - La Coruna
28 July - At Sea
29 July - Cherbourg
30 July - Southampton

There is limited availability left but I can still offer:

Cat 1 inside cabins at £499pp
Cat 9 outside cabins at £549pp
Cat 10 balcony cabins at £599pp
Cat 11 suites at £899pp

And there's free car parking too!

(Unfotunately all the cabins for 3 or 4 passengers are already fully booked)

If you want to take advantage of this great deal, just give me a call or e-mail me your phone number and I'll call you

I've just had a great weekend away..

2011-06-07T12:40:00.000+01:00

Well I've just had lovely few days off, as well as Milo's school holidays it was also a special birthday for my Dad and he paid for us all to go away for the weekend. We stayed in the Cotswold Water Park, which is only an hour away but somewhere that I'd never heard off.

It's an area of 133 lakes covering 40 square miles and despite the fact that it used to be quarries, it is beautifully scenic and offers all sorts of facilities and entertainments from birdwatching and walking to windsurfing and jet ski-ing. It is a place that attracts all types of people and all age groups.

We stayed in a 5 bedroomed luxury holiday home on the Lower Mill Estate, which was a complex of luxury house all with lake views and on a site offering spa facilities, an indoor and heated outdoor pool, children's play areas, trampolines and tennis courts. The site itself was nice and quiet and the house was fab with 3 balconies, giant beanbag sun loungers, a hot tub and barbecue.

We spent most of our time eating and drinking and it was really good to spend some time with my brother's family and my nephews.

If you are looking for a weekend getaway and can't find a mini cruise to fit your dates, then I would recommend this area. The details of the property we stayed in can be found via this link

Plus we have my Mum's big birthday next year, so if anyone knows of similiar places that are great for 3 generation families from 5yrs upwards then let me know.

It's school holidays again

2011-05-31T16:20:00.001+01:00

Well my son has only been back in school for 4 weeks since the last bank holiday and he's off again so it's time for me and him to spend some more quality time together. We are also lucky that after a month of wind, rain and chilly temperatures the forecast is good and I can hopefully get a bit of a tan whilst running round the park.

I'll be back in on Tuesday next week as school holidays are never just a week and in my abscence just call my colleagues on 0800 408 6200

Buy a Celebrity Drinks Package and win a cruise

2011-05-26T16:10:00.000+01:00

Celebrity have just updated their drinks packages on board so to save you all trawling through their website I thought I'd give you the prices here. Plus if you do pre-purchase one of their packages you can then visit
www.celebritycruises.com/thirst1 and be in with the chance to win one of the following:

Tickets to the Olympics including first class hotel, dinner in a leading restaurant and more
A 7 night Celebrity Caribbean cruise including flights and more
A trip for two to the New York City Food & Wine Festival including flights, hotel, director’s passes and more.

Premium Package: $54 per day

Includes unlimited fountain and canned soft drinks, juices, premium
teas and coffee, all speciality coffees, smoothies, Evian®, Perrier® and
Pellegrino®, Red Bull®, Vitamin Water® and all non-alcoholic cocktails. Also
beers, wine by the glass, cocktails, frozen drinks and spirits up to $13.75.

Classic Package: $44 per day

Includes unlimited fountain and canned soft drinks, juices, premium teas
and coffee, all specialty coffees, smoothies, frozen drinks, non-premium
bottled water and beers up to $5.75. Also wine by the glass, cocktails and
spirits up to $9.25.

Premium Non-Alcoholic Package: $18 per day

Includes unlimited fountain and canned soft drinks, juices, premium teas
and coffee, non-alcoholic specialty coffees, Evian®, Panna®, Perrier® and
Pellegrino®, Red Bull®, Vitamin Water®, all non-alcoholic cocktails and nonalcoholic
frozen drinks.

Classic Non-Alcoholic Package: $14 per day

Includes unlimited fountain and canned soft drinks, juices, premium teas
and coffee and non-premium bottled water.

Soft Drinks Package: $7 per day

Enjoy Coca-Cola® fountain and canned soft drinks for the duration of
your cruise.

Bottled Water Package: $12 per day

Refresh your thirst from our selection of both still and sparkling bottled
water, including Evian®, Perrier® and Pellegrino®.

Wine Package

Try our Build Your Own Wine Package – buy 3 bottles at $75 or more and
receive 15% off. Starting from $191.25.

Don't miss the early booking offers

2011-05-19T16:47:00.000+01:00

Just a quick reminder that P&O & Cunard's early booking offers expire at the end of May and so you must book before then to get the additional benefits.

Cunard

Free car parking on all roundtrip sailings from Southampton of 5 nights or more.(excluding roundtrip transatlantics)
On board spend on transatlantics, med fly cruises.
Free child places on selected cruises
Discounts from the brochure price

P&O

Free car parking on all roundtrip sailings from Southampton of 7 nights or more
On board credit on all med and Caribbean fly cruise for all customers
On board credit on all other cruises for past passengers only
Discounts from the brochure price

The other added benefit of booking in advance is the opportunity to select the cabin that you would like and not have to have take a 'guaranteed' cabin where you could be positioned anywhere.

MSC do the right thing

2011-05-16T14:42:00.001+01:00

Customers on board MSC Opera have had an awful weekend following an explosion on board on Friday night and subsequent electrical failure. They have had a weekend of dark corridors, poor sanitation and no air conditioning. This must have been horrendous for them and my heart goes out to all those passengers on board who had no doubt saved for their holiday and were supposed to be enjoying a relaxing break.

MSC though have led the way in customer service by automatically crediting everyone with a crdeit voucher for their full cruise, to be redeemed by December 2012. Giving everyone plenty of time to use it. This I think is great, they could have just offered compensation to cover the lost days, the cruise is due to finish tomorrow or imposed more stringent time constraints on the voucher. It's good to see in today's world of cost savings that some businesses still put the customer first.

Derren Brown to appear on P&O again - pre register now

2011-05-09T11:29:00.001+01:00

All fans of Derren Brown, the psycological illusionist are going to be very excited as he is going to perform on P&O's Adonia later this year. He played on Aurora in September 2009 and the cruise sold out within moments. He will perform a great show and if you are lucky like one of my customers last time you will be asked up on to stage and hypnotised.

Adonia sails on the 12th December and for 3 nights from Southampton and offers a great pre Christmas shopping trip too. She calls in at Zeebrugge to give you chance to buy Belgium chocolates for Christmas presents and Le Havre to stock up on the champagne.

Prices start at £299pp for an inside cabin, which is a great when you consider how much you would pay for a theatre ticket to see him. The cruise goes on sale on Wednesday 18th May and if you would like to sail on this cruise you will have to preregister, so please feel free to give me a call and I will get you booked on the day.

How do I get home after a repositioning cruise?

2011-05-02T14:29:00.000+01:00

There are some really good cruise deals on repositioning cruises - ones where you fly out to the Med or thre Caribbean and cruise back to Southampton or vice versa.

However this can be complicated as your car is often parked at the embarkation point, generally the airport and you are dropped off at the port many miles away. Some cruiselines do provide a return coach if you book the cruise in advance however on the late deals you are often left to your own devices.

National Express offer a daily departure from Southampton to Gatwick from £27.40pp or Southampton to Manchester Airport for £36.30pp. They can all be viewed and booked via http://www.nationalexpress.com/

Alternatively you can take the train from Southampton Central to London Gatwick for £14.90pp or to Manchester Airport for £23.50pp. These can be booked http://www.thetrainline.com/. Remember that train tickets are cheaper the more in advance that you book them.

Cheap parking at Southampton (and airports too)

2011-04-25T08:00:00.001+01:00

I have just been given details of a cheap parking company for Southampton port who are much cheaper than C&PS and AB parking, the two suppliers used by the main cruiselines.

Whilst the parking is not at the port, they offer the convenience of valet parking within the standard costs. You drive to the port and they will meet you there, take your car and park it and then meet you again at the end of the cruise.

For 1 week the prices start at £57 whereas C&PS charge £79.

Why not give them ago... www.looking4parking.com

Do you know what you are being sold?

2011-04-18T15:11:00.000+01:00

Now I don't often like to say how good we are, but I was amazed this afternoon as I have taken two calls in a row where my customer has been quoted a Royal Caribbean fly cruise by other travel agents but not been given information regarding the flight routing.

Both customers were quoted Splendour of the Seas from Venice with flights from Birmingham and neither Thomas Cook or the Cruise Village advised my customers that the flight would definitely be on an indirect route. It is not possible to fly to Venice directly from Birmingham.

As a cruise specialist my job is to make sure that I am telling my customers everything that they need to know regarding their cruise, and not just offering them the cheapest price on the market (although I do like to do this too.) The one lady I spoke to is not a keen flier and so is now looking at other options, had she booked with one of these agents her holiday would have been spoilt.

If you are phoning around for prices, make sure you get the full information from your agent, and my advice would be to stick to cruise specialists who will sell you the cruise and flights that are best suited to you.

It's time for me to take a break

2011-04-12T08:02:00.002+01:00

Easter may still be nearly two weeks away, but the school holidays are now upon us, so it's time for me to take a break.

I've got the next week to spend some quality time with my energetic 4 year old. Whilst we're not going away anywhere we've got an action packed itinerary sorted involving picnics, adventure play grounds and swimming.

Life with Milo is always good fun and I'm looking forward to a break, although I must admit that April isn't the best time to have off with all the 2012 cruises going on sale, It's always a fun month to work and a time when I catch up with a lot of my old customers who always book at launch stage.

I'm back for 1 day on Monday 18th, then back in properly in Thursday 21st April. If you need any help in between just call my collegues on 0800 408 6200

Enjoy city breaks...take a river cruise

2011-04-06T08:32:00.001+01:00

If you're someone who cruises in order to experience new places and try new cultures then river cruising is definitely something for you. Probably the fastest growing part of the travel industry, it is something that not a lot of people know about and that is not that easy to research or purchase. So I thought I'd tell you a little bit about it.

All of the major rivers of Europe and the eastern globe are great for river cruising - from local destinations such as the Seine and the Rhone to the Imperial Waterways of Russia and the Yangtze in China. These rivers are vast - in someplace a mile wide and are home to sumptuous floating hotels.

River Cruises generally accommodate around 200 passengers in all outside cabins and they glide along the waters calling in at the major towns and cities on route. Always stopping in town they are an easy and convenient way to visit many of the major cities. In Budapest you just hop of the boat (we're allowed to call them boats when they're on a river) and you're in the centre of town. You then experience a full day of sightseeing and taking in the local flavours. This is vastly different to ocean cruises, where you may be berthing up to 2 hours away from the place that you are visiting.

River cruising is similar to ocean cruising in that dinner time is a major focus of the day. There is little entertainment on board and the evening revolves around a leisurely evening meal, most cruises pride themselves on having chefs who shop in the local towns and produce meals that are specialities of the region. After dinner there may be some piano playing, or in some cases local dancers come on board and do a small show, but do not expect the west end style shows or comedians and entertainers associated with the large cruise lines.

In terms of price, the head line figures of River cruising can look expensive - however nearly everything is included - most companies provide wine, beer and soft drinks with your dinner, food is all included and excursions are all part of the package. The only spending money you really require is for trinkets and maybe a coffee whilst walking around town.

River cruising isn't for everyone, but if you do enjoy sightseeing and have enjoyed visiting cities and towns in the past, then why not give it a go?

Sailing with a baby?.. Sail NCL

2011-03-31T10:20:00.000+01:00

I am often asked which cruise lines are the best for babies and I think NCL have one of the best offerings for this summer. In particular NCL Epic. There are a number of reasons for this.

She sails from Barcelona and therefore the flight is only a short duration and with only a half hours transfer to the port. This makes the journey more relaxing for you and your child.
Her itinerary is just 7 nights - a good length for travelling with a child and she calls in to the main ports of call with a choice of sightseeing or beaches and the chance to pick up any essentials that you might need.
She offers freestyle cruising - you do not need to put the baby or yourself in a tuxedo and can dine as and when you choose. There is also a choice of waiter service dining or buffet style and she has a whole host of speciality restaurants too.
She has a fantastic splash pool area and the Under 2 Zoo, a play area with toys (tunnels, balls, Leap Frog Leaning toys) for older babies to play with under parental supervision.
There are plenty of facilities for older children and the ship largely attracts families, so you will be sailing with like minded people, who won't mind if your baby is enjoying herself in a noisy way.
Finally - she has reduced prices for babies and they don't charge gratuities for babies. NCL are sensible enough to realise that parents do not want to pay a child price or gratuities for babies, which is where Royal Caribbean let themselves down.

Prices for babies on a cruise only basis start from just £149 for a 7 night cruise in an inside cabin on the 5th June. With £519 for the adults. Flights and transfers can be added with NCL from £337per adult.

Calling all Swan Hellenic customers...

2011-03-24T13:12:00.000Z

I thought I'd tell you all a bit more about a little gem called Voyages of Antiquity, which is a cruise line aimed at those that want a bit more history and culture from their cruise.

Their ship, the Aegean Odyssey is a small vessel, carrying just 350 passengers and as such can get into the smaller ports of call. She sails just in the Mediterranean and Black Sea and particularly the countries of the ancient world. On board they feature top lecturers and guest speakers with immense knowledge of the places being visited, and off the ship the shore excursions are included in the price.

On board the atmosphere is relaxed and casual, entertainment is low-key with music such as a string trio or pianist or maybe a cabaret act. Dinner is open dining and the dress code is generally resort casual, although the occasional night is offered for cocktail dresses and jackets.

In 2011 she sail a series of cruises across the Byzantium and Ventian Empires and many of these start with a pre cruise hotel stay. The holiday's range in length from 9 - 14 nights.

Price-wise, Voyages of Antiquity claim that they are more expensive than the larger ships, but I think their prices are really good value for money - included in the price are:
   •Flights from Heathrow as standard - regional flights connecting with London can also be added free of       charge

   •Shore Excursions
   •Gratuities
   •Expert lecture programme
   •Wine, beer and soft drinks with your dinner.

If you'd like more information on Voyages of Antiquity, just give me a call or drop me an e-mail

Seabourn Sale - One week only

2011-03-18T08:01:00.001Z

Seabourn have today announced a one week sale from Monday 21st - Monday 28th March with reductions on several of their Summer 2011 sailings.

The following sailings will be reduced:

Seabourn Odyssey
25 July - Venice to Athens
01 Aug - Athens to Istanbul
08 Aug - Istanbul to Athens
15 Aug - Athens to Venice
22 Aug - Venice to Athens
29 Aug - Athens to Istanbul

Seabourn Quest
25 July - Athens to Venice
15 Aug - Istanbul to Athens
22 Aug - Athens to Venice

All of the above sailings start at £2249pp including the return airfare. And don't forget Seabourn are a luxury cruiseline, so whilst the prices may look high, you do get six star service and your premium drinks are included. Cunard may have some great deals for this area, but they will charge you $6 for a glass of wine.

Whilst Seabourn are not promoting this sale from Monday at Cruise.co.uk we can offer many of these fares from today.. plus I'm sure we can apply our Cruise.co.uk discount so just give us call today.

Thomson announce new sailings from the UK for 2012

2011-03-17T15:42:00.001Z

Thomson Cruises used to fill a big gap in the market with departures from Newcastle and Harwich, however for the 2010 and 2011 season they repositioned their ships. The good news though is that for 2012 Thomson Spirit will be positioned in Newcastle from May - July and Harwich during August and September.

She is offering a choice of 15 cruises from 3 - 14 nights and will be focusing mainly on Northern Europe - the Baltic’s, Norwegian Fjords and a Belgium and Holland mini cruise. She will also again be sailing to Iceland and around Britain.

Now Thomson Cruises are not everybody’s cup of tea, the ships are older and not as glamorous as some, but they do have a fantastic following and their repeat customer ratio is amazing. They have also been voted as no 1 for entertainment by cruise.co.uk customers.

I haven't got the full details and prices as yet, but as soon I get them I'll let you know. Thomson have advised me that they will have some great early booking offers including on board spend, free parking and cabin upgrades.

I think it's great that Thomson have listened to their customers and are bringing a ship back home

P&O Peninsular Club Cruises - 2012

2011-03-10T07:00:00.001Z

In 2010 P&O dropped the number of sailings on which past passengers receive additional discount. They have now listened to customer feedback and are offering customers an additional 5% discount on 20 cruises for 2012, providing you have sailed with them before.

The list of these is:

Adonia     D203 Eastern Med
                D207 Western Med

Arcadia    J203 Central Med
                J210 Central Med
                J216 Eastern Med
               J118 Western Med

Aurora    R203 Baltic
               R218 Central Med

Oceana    E220 Atlantic Isles
                E301 Caribbean from Southampton

Oriana     X212 North Cape
               X215 Iceland
               X301 Central Med
               X303 Caribbean from Southampton

Ventura N213 Iceland
              N224 Western Med

Azura    A208 Western Med
             A223 Black Sea
             A228 Atlantic Coast

Its a shame that they no longer offer additional discounts to past passengers, especially as Cunard & Fred Olsen both do. However this is a good covering of destinations and an improvement on the last years offering. If you are a past passenger then these will offer the best value for money for you and don't forget as a past passenger you'll get additional on board credit too.

Countdown to 2012/2013

2011-03-03T13:41:00.001Z

Well we're barely in to 2011 and already next year is upon us. All of the major cruise lines are launching their 2012/2013 programmes over the next 6 weeks or so.

Booking early brings it's benefits - you secure your choice of cabin, which is particularly important if you like a particular position or grade of cabin. And additional discounts and added benefits such as free car parking and onboard credit often feature widely in the early booking campaigns.

Fred Olsen have led with 2012 already on sale and they are offering a 5% discount to past passengers. I understand sales are going well.

For the rest of the companies, it is very hush hush as to when they will be launching their programs and as a travel agent I am sworn to secrecy, but I can tell you P&O, Cunard, Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and MSC will all be on sale over the coming weeks.

If you would like a bit more information and advance details of what is going on sale and when then please give me a call or send me an e-mail and I'll be able to talk you through it in more detail and send you the brochures and prices as soon as I have them.

World Cruise Insurance

2011-02-24T11:23:00.000Z

I have just spent the last few days trying to help a customer arrange insurance for a World Cruise on Queen Elizabeth. In my ignorance I thought I could just type it into Google and have a choice of companies to quote me, how wrong could I be.

I tried all the main players - Saga, Age Concern, Staysure, World-first.co.uk, Covermore etc and no one could quote me. The main problem being, that the cruise is 107 days long and costing over £30,000.

Only 1 of these companies could quote for more than 100 days duration, which was Covermore but they could only offer cancellation cover of £25k

Finally though, I was able to find a company that could quote for me for exactly what I wanted. http://www.insuretocruise.com/ offer world cruise insurance for the full duration and with the cost tailored to the level of cancellation cover that you require. Plus not only could they quote me but they were extremely helpful - I was having trouble with the phone lines so I e-mailed them and they called me back to go through the quote. Sarah was very courteous and friendly.

Insure to Cruise offer cover for world cruises for P&O, Cunard, Princess, Seabourn and Holland America Line and can be contacted on 0845 230 7136.

Alternatively for Fred Olsen World cruises you can contact 0845 260 1542 or www.247cruiseinsurance.com/fo

I hope you find this useful and if anyone knows of any other insurance companies that are good could you let me know for future reference.

Celebrity drinks prices set to increase

2011-02-17T13:58:00.001Z

Now as I am sure you are all aware drinks are not cheap on cruise ships, with the American cruise lines being the most expensive. Plus not only do they charge a high price but many cruise lines also add a 15% service charge on to your bar bill, this can be a major shock at the end of your cruise if you haven't budgeted for it.

Celebrity cruises however this week announced a range of changes on board their Celebrity Eclipse ship, which sails from Southampton and attracts a large proprtion of British passengers. Within these changes Celebrity have decided to display drinks prices including the service charge in their bars.

Now this changes is as a result of listening to customer feedback, which is great news, but I feel that they haven't quite understood what the customer is saying. The main feedback that I hear is that drinks are too expensive and there shouldn't be a service charge at all, not that we want to see a higher price from the start.

What are you thoughts - are you happy with paying a service charge? Do you think the drinks are priced OK. Let me know your thoughts?

P&O madness - upsets me and my single passengers

2011-02-10T13:35:00.000Z

P&O have recently infuriated me. I had a single passenger wishing to join friends on an Azura cruise

He was realistic and aware that single passengers often end up paying a hefty supplement, so obviously he was after the cheapest option. Now on this cruise P&O had all grades of inside cabin available for 2 sharing passengers, and had two people been travelling his cabin would have cost £3252. However the lowest available cabin for a just one person was an obstructed view outside cabin at £3379.

I called those nice people at P&O to see if they would allow us to sell him inside cabin, he was willing to pay the price of two people. Or if I could book the inside cabin with a 'pretend friend,’ however I was told a definite no and that if my customer turned up at the port without a friend, he would be charged cancellation charges for the missing passenger and then a single supplement on top.

This seem ludicrous to me, I can see that they want they want as many people spending money on board as possible, but they have just gone and alienated a good customer and his friends. There is plenty of availability on this cruise and I am sure they will end up dropping this price of the inside cabins just to sell the cruise. I do understand the business reasons, but it just seems daft to sell an outside cabin to a single passenger but not an inside.

And again..

2011-02-03T08:45:00.000Z

Thanks once more to Rob for carrying out his promise and displaying the Complete Cruise Brochure on hiscoffee table. It's a shame the dogs were just visiting and no longer able to guard it.

It looks great Rob - lets hope all the neighbours like it and want to book lots of cruises with me.

Thanks to Rob...

2011-01-26T10:40:00.003Z

......for sending in this photo of the coffee table that he is going to put his Complete Cruise Brochure on.

He has 2 sentries ready and waiting to guard it. I'm a bit concerned about Lucy the Labrador’s ability to guard well though - she seems to have a bit of a drinking habit looking at the drink beside her.

The Complete Cruise Brochure is out now

2011-01-20T16:42:00.000Z

I have just seen this year's copy of the Complete Cruise Brochure and it's better than ever. If you haven't cruised before there are loads of pull out guides to help you choose and comparison tables showing all the facilities offered by the differing cruise lines.

We have included our normal guides to kids clubs, bar prices, gratuitie charges etc and this year have also included guides on disabled facilities, services offered for babies and a cruise planner of who is sailing where and when.

The brochure is also jam packed with offers from all of the cruise lines and there are several deals that are exclusive to Cruise.co.uk customers - we have negotiated on board credits, free car parking, free shore excursions and bottles of wine on numerous cruises.

If you are new to cruising this is an invaluable guide to cruising, and as far as I am aware it is the only brochure like this. Our local Thomas Cook shop even uses last year's copy as a reference guide. And the real beauty of it is..it's free.

If you would like a copy just give me a call on 0800 408 6088 or e-mail me at joc@cruise.co.uk and I'll be happy to send you one. It will look great on your coffee table!

Surely fuel is a requirement of all cruises?

2011-01-17T16:39:00.000Z

Fred Olsen have in the last week announced that they are increasing their fuel surcharge for future cruises.
But surely those nice people at Fred Olsen were aware when pricing their cruises for 2011 and 2012 that fuel would be a large part of their costs.

I am not hugely into politics and I didn't study economics at school but I do know that fuel seems to increase in cost every month and I anticipate that by this time next year I will be paying at least another 20p per litre for my diesel. I allowed for this when considering which car to buy last year and looked at my fuel consumption costs. Fred Olsen though don't seem to be able to anticipate this aswell as me.

I think it is grossly unfair of Fred Olsen to add a surcharge, just because the cost of oil has increased. The price of wheat is particularly high at the moment, perhaps they will impose a surcharge for food soon too.

For all keen table tennis players...

2011-01-06T10:00:00.004Z

I've just had a really interesting conversation regarding the position of table tennis tables on the majority of cruise ships.

My good customer is a keen player and a Cunard customer, however on Queen Mary 2 the table tennis tables are out on deck and open to the elements. On a transatlantic sailing with strong winds blowing, this is really not conducive to a good game, the ball being exceptionally light. Fortunately for him, the nice staff on board kindly moved the table indoors into the Winter Garden and he was able to keep playing.

The same customer is off on Queen Elizabeth's world cruise today and having been on board I was able to tell him that once again the table will be subject to wind, although they are sheltered above. I hope Queen Elizabeth's staff are as accommodating for him.

You do have to question though.....why place the tables out on deck in the first place?

2011-01-01T10:11:00.001Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU

I'll be back in work on the 3rd Jan and am really looking forward to 2011. With the Complete Cruise Brochure plus our new tailor made brochure being sent out, it is going to be a really busy start to the year.

I also hopefully going snowboarding soon so will be able to shed all my Christmas excesses on the slopes.

For now though, its back to enjoying my last few days off..I think I'll have another chocolate

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T10:06:00.001Z

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY

I am spending the day with my family and my parents at my brothers house. We'll be eating lots, drinking lots and playing lots of games with my son & his cousins.

Wishing you all a wonderful day too

Royal Caribbean increase gratuities charge

2010-12-14T14:53:00.000Z

Royal Caribbean have announced this week that they are increasing their recommended gratuities charge on all sailings from 01 July 2011. They are now recommending $11.65 per person for a standard cabin and $13.90 per person in a suite.

Royal Caribbean do say that gratuities are at the discretion of the customer, however you do have to be on the ball if you don't wish to pay the set amount, as they are added to your on board account. You can have them removed from your account and tip individually but you have to do this on your first day on board.

You can also pre-pay the gratuities before you cruise and this would be my recommendation. The amount is fixed in sterling at £7.00 per person per day or £8.40 per person per day in suites. At today's exchange rate $11.65 is actually £7.41per person, so it is cheaper to prepay the gratuities. It also means that everything is paid up before the cruise and you then only need to find money for drinks.

More Royal Wedding Announcements

2010-12-07T12:52:00.000Z

Having written about Cunard and P&O's plans for the Royal Wedding, I thought it only fair to advise that Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara Cruises have also announced that they will be televising the wedding live across all of their ships. You will be able to watch in a choice of venues or in your stateroom.

On the two sailings that depart from Southampton, a little bit more is being offered - passengers on Celebrity Eclispe, which departs on the Wedding Day will be able to embark the ship and head for the theatre to watch the festivities before the ship sets sail. Whilst on both Eclipse and Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Sea's, champagne and flags will add to atmosphere.

I'll keep you posted as more cruise lines announce their plans.

Thanks for voting for me...I won

2010-11-30T12:41:00.000Z

Just a quick note to thank all my customers (and a few friends too) for voting for me in our recent Cruise.co.uk competition. I won the 'Best Blog' award, whilst my colleague Tina was 'Best Cruise Consultant.' I enjoy writing my blog and am glad that you all enjoy reading it.

We had a fantastic time onboard Aurora at the weekend and in the coming days I will write a full review of the ship, here is a little taster...drinks well priced ...kids facilities great...food and service not so good.
We're really busy though today with our 'Cunard Super Sale' so back to the phones for me and I will blog again soon.

Watch the Royal Wedding at sea

2010-11-25T11:47:00.000Z

With Prince William and Kate Middleton announcing their engagement this week and the date being set for 29th April 2011, the cruise lines have had a race to announce their plans.

Cunard were the first to announce that the ceremony will be shown on in the Royal Court Theatre on all 3 of their ships. They will also serve a commerative dinner menu and a champagne toast in the evening.
I'm not sure how many people will be planning on watching the wedding but Queen Mary 2's theatre will hold 1000 passengers and if that's not enough the event will be screened in her planitarium Illuminations aswell.

Cunard have a Royal Heritage with Her Majesty The Queen naming Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth, and The Duchess of Cornwall, formally Camilla Parker Bowles naming Queen Victoria. It is hardly surprising that they were the first to announce their plans

P&O followed quickly announcing that the wedding would be shown on all of their 7 ships but details are yet to follow.

Meanwhile - if you are considering travelling around this time you are best to book now. With Easter the weekend before prices are already high, and with the additional bank holiday being announced for the same weekend as the the May bank holiday on Monday 2nd May, the prices will remain high for the following week too. I am anticipating cruise lines increasing their prices as demand for travel this week increases.

The good news is you can now have 10 days off work from Good Friday through to Tuesday 2nd May with only 3 days leave being required. I think I'll put my holiday request in now.

Please vote for me

2010-11-19T14:05:00.000Z

Thank you for getting this far and reading my blog. It's great fun to write a blog and gives me a real buzz to know that people are reading it and enjoying my comments.

With our Christmas party looming next week, Cruise.co.uk are trying to seeing who has the most popular blog and giving an award to the winner

....So as you enjoy my blog please click on the button to the right and VOTE FOR ME.

Thanks
Jo

P&O respond to changing markets

2010-11-16T12:14:00.000Z

P&O have decided to turn Oriana into an adults only ship from November 2011. This will give them 3 adult only ships - Adonia, Arcadia and Oriana. This is a great move by P&O who have started to lose a number of loyal customers, following poor reviews of Ventura and Azura.

The cruise market is rapidly expanding and it is the families market that has grown the most. P&O have recognised the need for family ships and particularly with Ventura they have seen their business in this sector grow. However, it has been to their detriment in some respects, alot of older and more traditional cruisers have not been happy with children on board and have started to take their business elsewhere. By adding Oriana into the adults only market, P&O will be able to offer more of a choice to their customers and continue to grow as a business.

Aurora, Azura, Oceana and Ventura will continue to welcome families on board.

P&O's Oceana is first back to St. Lucia

2010-11-09T15:10:00.000Z

P&O's Oceana was the first ship to return to the hurricane stricken island of St. Lucia yesterday, closely followed by Holland America's Noordam.

The Foreign Office warning is still 'a state of disaster' until at least the 14th November but the port is now operating and duty free shops are open. A number of shore excursion destinations are also operating as normal including Dolphin Watch, Zip lining, and the aerial tram.

I think it is great that the ships can now dock again, I imagine it will be upsetting to visit an island that has been hit by such a disaster but St Lucia depends on the tourist trade and will desperately need people to spend money on the island. My advice would be to please go and spend some money on this island and help them get back up and running as soon as possible.

It will be interesting to see though what customers think - would they rather P&O moved to alternative ports of call or do they see this as an opportunity to help.

Following my ESTA blog...

2010-11-02T14:36:00.001Z

I have been called by a customer who advised me that she hadn't applied for her ESTA and when she got to the States they still allowed her in!

This is reassuring that she wasn't turned back as it is a new system and I'm sure there are travellers who don't realise that they now need one. However I wouldn't advise that you try to travel without one, in order to avoid the charge, US officials are not normally known for their leniency.

I have also been told by a number of people that the ESTA isn't cutting down the waiting times upon arrival to the States which is a shame. It seems this immigration queues are as long as ever.

Your even need an ESTA to transit

2010-10-26T10:25:00.001+01:00

Just a quick note that not only do you know need to pay $14 for an ESTA visa, in order to visit the States, but you need to apply for one even if you are just passing through.

This means that anyone travelling to Acapulco, which is the main embarkation point for P&O's Oceana Caribbean and Panama Canal cruises or to the South American countries on an indirect flight will have to apply for the visa.

I can 't really understand this - other than as a money making exercise for the US authorities. I'm all for the US doing security checks and cutting down time by doing it in advance, but I don't agree with paying for it, and certainly not if I'm not even staying there.

What do you think?

If you do need to apply for an ESTA the link you require is

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.html

Airport Hotels for Caribbean flights

2010-10-19T16:55:00.000+01:00

With the Caribbean season upon us, I am busy giving out flight times now and warning passengers about early morning starts and the 3 hour check in time required. Why not start your holiday a bit more relaxed with an overnight hotel at the airport the night before the flight.

Prices are as follows:

Manchester - 4* Crown Plaza - from £30pppn
Birmingham - 3* Holiday Inn - from £19pppn
Glasgow - 3* Holiday Inn - from £19pppn
Heathrow - 4* Sheraton - from £32pppn
Gatwick - 4* Hilton - From £48ppn

These are all hotels that are either on the airport or very close to the airport for the greatest convenience, cheaper hotels are available if you are happy to be a bit further out.

The prices are all based upon room only - packages are also available with car parking included - just give me a call for details.

It's just like a scene from Poirot

2010-10-12T15:44:00.001+01:00

That is what my partner said when we were going through my photos from Queen Elizabeth at the weekend. He was referring to the photo of the Grill’s sun deck below and he was exactly right. Cunard had promised a ship that was more art deco in design and that is what they’ve delivered. It is subtle and elegant, admittedly the art deco is more browns and creams in design than the more traditional pinks and turquoises, however had they taken this route they would have risked being too tacky. They do have the Cunard branding to maintain, which their customers love and which brings them repeat business year after year.

The games deck was amazing and followed this 1920’s theme perfectly. Customers have the choice of 2 golf driving ranges, a croquet lawn, short mat bowls and a paddle tennis court. There was also a giant chess board and 2 table tennis tables. I really wanted to get dressed up and try my hand at croquet – I’m sure they would benefit from an old time photographic studio. Customers would have a great time dressing up and having their photo’s taken playing traditional games before sampling a fresh cream tea.

The cabins were well appointed, although nothing particularly different to any other cruise line. As always I found the shower too small. The main point of note was that they had plug sockets for the British 3 pin plug so no need to pack your adaptor. And yes, you can still smoke on your balconies if you wish to. I was disappointed in the Princess Grill’s though, the P1 was hardly any difference in size to my A3 balcony. I also didn’t feel it looked like a suite at all, with the living area and bedroom not being particularly separate. (see photo below.) You do get the open dining and separate restaurant with the Grills, but I really enjoyed my dinner in the Brittania restaurant anyway, so probably not worth the money.

After dinner, I enjoyed a good dance in the Queens room. This is something that I haven’t seen on any other ship and really makes Cunard stand apart. It was a fantastic room for ballroom dancing and had plenty of space. If you enjoy dancing then my first recommendation from now on will always be Cunard.

There is so much to write about the different aspects of the ship, but I don’t want to go on too long. In terms of service and standards, she was great, it gets hard when you’ve been on so many ships and I’ve never been a picky person, but she delivered what I was expecting of a Cunard ship. Some of my colleagues moaned that the weren’t enough pictures on the walls or that there was a mix of silver and gold edging, but to be honest I really can’t imagine this spoiling my holiday.

Many of my customers were lucky enough to be on board this weekend and all seemed very impressed with Queen Eizabeth - if you've been on board I'd love to hear your comments.

More photo's

2010-10-11T16:14:00.000+01:00

The reason the Queen is just on the big screen, is because she is currently being shown around the ship.

Here she is coming down one of the grand staircases

First photo of Her Majesty the Queen

2010-10-11T15:54:00.000+01:00

My roving reporter has sent this photo...unfortunately you can only see the Queen from behind and on a big screen, but it's still a scoop as far as I'm concerned.

Wish I was there.

Who's who at the Queen Elizabeth launch

2010-10-11T15:17:00.001+01:00

As a big fan of the new Queen Elizabeth I have an inside roving reporter at the Oceans Terminal now and he has reported back with a list of who's who at todays launch.

There are some very obvious names on here and a few surprise appearances too. I wonder how they chose the guest list.

Currently spotted are:

Judith Chalmers - its been years since she presented 'Wish you were here' but she's obvously still influential
Jimmy Saville - he'll be pleased to know that you can smoke on her balconies
Falklands Veteran Simon Weston
Esther Rantzen - TV & Radio presenter
Terry Waite - Hostage negotiator and former hostage
Robert Powell - Actor - Holby City and The Detectives
Liz Dawn - I wonder how her more famous charater Vera Duckworth would fit on Queen Elizabeth
Alan Titchmarsh - Celebrity Gardener and guest speaker on several Cruise.co.uk past and future voyages.

and of course...Her Majesty the Queen.

If you didn't already know Queen Elizabeth is being named at 3.25 today and is expected to be broadcast across the world this evening.

If you spot anyone else, just let me know.

I am a very lucky lady..

2010-10-09T10:31:00.000+01:00

...because today is the day I'm going to look around the new Queen Elizabeth, and because I'm so excited I'm ready an hour early and sitting waiting for my lift.

I watched her arrive in Southampton on the news yesterday and as always was amazed. Cruise ships have such glamour and prescence as they sail along. They simply command that everyone looks at them. A fantastic feat of engineering and design.

I haven't been on board a Cunard ship before, despite working in the business for so long and I'm really looking forward to it. They have always been the ultimate cruise line renowed for their service and style. This year I've been lucky enough to be entertained on P&O's Azura and Norwegian Epic, both very good ships and very different. Azura was stylish and sleek in a cosmoplitan kind of way, whereas Epic was bold, colourful and full of toys and entertainment.

Queen Elizabeth I imagine will be like stepping back in time with her grand staircases and bowling green. My favourite so far this year is Azura, I think I will like Queen Elizabeth but at the moment don't think she would necessarily be my first choice for a holiday, perhaps a bit too refined for me. I'll wait and see this afternoon.

Rome deserves more than a day

2010-10-05T10:49:00.001+01:00

Rome is a fantastic city but unfortunately it is a good 90 minutes from Civitavecchia port. Whilst you can take an excursion to it for the day and pick from the many beautiful places to visit, you really cannot do it justice in a day.

How do you decide what to visit – do you tour the Vatican and wonder at Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel? Or do you take a break on the Spanish Steps having been shopping along the Via Condotti. You also mustn’t miss the Colosseum or the Pantheon

Clearly there is too much to do in one day.

Fortunately though a lot of cruises start or finish at Civitavecchia port and give you the opportunity to add on short city break before or after your cruise. I have put together a package with Cunard’s Queen Victoria for September 2011. The combination of a classic cruise company and this classical city go well together and September is the perfect time to visit Rome, which is far too hot for sightseeing during the summer months. This cruise also has the bonus of having an overnight stay in Venice at the end and an afternoon, overnight and full day in Istanbul.

07 September 2011 – fly London to Rome

Transfer to the 4* Cicerone Hotel for a 2 night stay. This is well located, just a 10 minute walk from St Peters Square at the Vatican and 5mins from a bus terminal for access to the other sites.

09 Sep 2011 – 12 night cruise on Queen Victoria – calling at Naples, Santorini, Izmir, Istanbul (overnight), Samos, Athens, Zakinthos, Dubrovnik, Venice (overnight)

21 Sep – transfer back to Rome for your return flight to London.

Prices for this package as follows

Inside cabins – from £2099pp

Outside cabins - from £2209pp

Balconies – from £2469pp

Please call or e-mail me directly for further details on this package, or if you would like me to look at adding Rome as a pre or post cruise stay on any other cruise for you.

Ciao

Get extra on board credit with Royal Caribbean...

2010-09-29T10:39:00.000+01:00

If you're looking to sail with Royal Caribbean next year, then now is the time to book.

For 2 days only - today and tomorrow they are offering on board credit on ALL 2011 sailings as follows:

3-5 night cruises $50 per cabin
6-9 night cruises $100 per cabin
10+ nights $200 per cabin

This offer will not be extended so please don't miss out.

Just to warn you our phones are very busy with this sale so please call me directly and leave a message, or e-mail if you would like a quote.

Still looking for a Christmas Cruise?

2010-09-28T11:41:00.001+01:00

As availability gets tight for Christmas and New Year, MSC have offered extra incentives to sail with them this festive season. If you book a balcony cabin on MSC Magnifica, Splendida or Fantasia for a Christmas sailing you can pick your own 'Christmas Present' from a choice of the following:

Free flights (although there is limited availabilty left)
£250pp on board spend (£300pp on Fantasia)
All Inclusive drinks package
An extra £250pp discount.

For New Year the presents aren't quite so generous but they are still giving a choice of:
Unlimited drinks package - this is free drinks with your meals
£100pp on board credit
£100pp additional discount.

MSC Fantasia sails on the 21st December for 8 nights and with prices starting from £889pp for a balcony and that's before the Cruise.co.uk discount you really can't go wrong.

To book it just give me a call / e-mail and let me know which present you would like.

Pre-book your flight seats for your P&O fly - cruise

2010-09-21T11:38:00.000+01:00

P&O have today announced that customers can prebook their flight seats for their charter flights to the Caribbean. This is great news as it gives customers the chance to select where they sit and who they sit with instead of taking pot luck. The only downside is that there is a charge - and a steep one at that. Prices start from £25pp to select your seat.

It's very quick and easy to do - just log onto the P&O website and enter your 'Cruise Personaliser'. From here select the flight details section and enter your e-mail address. You are then given the aircraft plan and can select your seats. Seats are available to book from 12 weeks before departure up until 7 days before departure.

It is available now for the Thomas Cook and Thomson flights from the 5th November 2010 onwards. I would suggest that for the earlier flights you book now, before everyone else does.

Garden Themed Cruises - they're all at it now.

2010-09-15T07:00:00.003+01:00

Here at Cruise.co.uk we consider ourselves the experts on Garden Themed Cruises. Each year we run a programme of specialist cruises on board Fred Olsen's ships featuring top garden experts such as Alan Titchmarch, David Hurrion and Tony Russell. It seems that these have been so popular that others are jumping on the bandwagon.

Windstar are featuring Andrea Guthrie on their Barbados to Barbados sailing on board Wind Surf in January 2011. Andrea is an award winning garden designer and has won 13 Royal Horticultural Society medals. Whilst on board she will be providing tips to customers and will even give advice to customers that take photo's of their gardens on board with them. At Cruise.co.uk we take this as a compliment that others are building on our ideas, and don't see this as competition - afterall we sell Windstar too.

I now have the opportunity to offer you both our own Garden Themed cruises and to offer you others at a cheaper price than the cruise line are offering themselves. Although I must admit I can't offer any advice on gardening as mine is in serious need of an overhaul. Perhaps I should book on to Wind Surf myself.

Me in the Ice Bar

2010-09-08T07:00:00.001+01:00

I have blogged in the past about Norwegian Epic's charges for speciality restaurants. Whilst I tried to keep this generic I feel it may have been negative to the cruise line so thought I would balance this out.

Whilst I was on board Epic I was lucky enough to go into the ice bar and it was fab. It is only 1 of 14 true ice bars in the world, and is currently the only one at sea. The bar and seating were made entirely of ice. It is kept below minus 8 degrees celsius (17 degrees fahrenheit) and you are given gloves, hats and capes to keep you warm. In proper ice bar fashion they served only flavoured vodkas in shot glasses and you get 2 included in your $20 cover charge. I confess I drank my drinks in alot less than the 45 minutes allowed in the bar.

Whilst the charge is quite pricey (can you tell I'm not keen on opening my purse?) It is truly justified, Ice Bars are not common and are expensive to maintain. You are unlikely to come across one on your normal holidays, unless you are a skier, or like city breaks and cold destinations, so if you are lucky enough to find yourself on Epic, I would recommend that you give it a go.

Grand Princess - refurbishment details

2010-09-01T13:44:00.000+01:00

I have been asked several times in the last few days is Grand Princess is being refurbished next year and I can now confirm that YES she is.

She is due to go into dry dock for major refurbishment between 11th April and 5th May 2011. This gives them plenty of time to make her sparkling again and restore her to her original 'Grand' status.

I would really recommend this ship for summer 2011. She sails from Southampton - no messing around with airports and early morning starts. She offers a great choice of itineraries, with cruises to the Fjords, Canaries, Classic Meditteranean and even a transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale that takes in the Azores (a much sort after destination) in May 2011, when she will be at her best.

On board the service this year has still been good and she has plenty of facilities for the whole family, from kids clubs and splash pools for the little ones, to Movies under the Stars for your teenagers, the Lotus Spa for Mum and the Steakhouse for Dad. Despite being 'tired' this year her reviews have still come out well so with this refurbishment planned I think she is the no 1 choice for cruising from the UK next year.

Hooray I'm going on Queen Elizabeth

2010-08-25T17:07:00.000+01:00

Thank you to everyone who looked at my blog over the past 2 weeks, and especially those from the Cruise Forum who answered my plea at the weekend, before my thread was removed. I have now won a place to stay overnight on her before the maiden voyage in October.

I'm really excited to be going on a Cunard ship, having never been on one. I want to see if they are really as good as everyone says, my expectations are high so I hope she doesn't disappoint me.

I will report back in due course and let you know what she's like and in the mean time keep reading my blog and thanks for your support.

How to avoid a noisy cabin

2010-08-24T14:50:00.000+01:00

Did you know that as well as the standard lifts shown on deck plans, most cruise ships have hidden lifts and stairwells for crew use only. On Arcadia there are 9 additional elevators that aren't shown on the deck plans.

They are used from early morning to bring the sanitary trolley’s up and down between decks and can lead to noise for those around them.

Now there is no way of telling where on board these lifts, stairwell and storage cupboards are situated - not even the most specialist of cruise consultants would be able to tell you. However, I can tell you how to avoid being by one of these. Make sure you always have a cabin opposite you. When choosing an outside or balcony cabin, always pick one facing an inside cabin.

If you have customers opposite you, you will not have a lift and will be ensured a nice lie in the morning....although I can’t be held responsible if your fellow cruisers people are late night party people.

Are the rules for changing your cruise fair?

2010-08-19T21:33:00.000+01:00

Cunard are normally quite reasonable with their terms and conditions when transferring cruises. They will allow you to transfer your cruise to any other cruise travelling within 12months of the original departure date, just as long as you are still spending the same amount of money with them.

To me this seems pretty reasonable, they retain your same level of business and you have plenty of flexibility to swap. However - what happens if you need to change your world cruise? Similar conditions apply, you can still transfer as long as you are still spending the same amount of money,and they do allow you to spread this cost across two cruises. However both of these cruises must be within 6 months of the world cruise date. To me this doesn't seem very flexible at all - if you need to cancel a 3 month cruise I imagine it is hard to fit in 2 long cruises (to reach the cost value) within 6 months. Which leaves you no choice but to cancel at loss of deposit.

I know they are running a business, and therefore have to have rules in place to maintain the business. It must cause all sorts of problems having customers cancel high value world cruises at a late stage. But I am sure there are better solutions for everyone. I would suggest that they cut off the transfer date earlier - ie 4 months before departure to give them plenty of time to resell the cabin, but allow customers to transfer to the following years world cruise. Or allow customers to spread the value to 2 or 3 cruises all travelling with 12 months of the cruise.

I don't own my own business though and maybe you agree with Cunard - I'd love a few comments?

Apply for your ESTA now and save $14

2010-08-17T10:32:00.001+01:00

If you are travelling to the States you have to apply for an ESTA visa. Until now this has been free of charge however from 08 September the US Government will be charging $14pp for the visa.

The visa is actually valid for 2 years so if you are travelling within the next 2 years apply for your ESTA now whilst it is still free. In future you will be charged $10 to renew your application, so again my advice is that if you are going to have to renew - just apply for a new one before the 08th September and then you will have a full 2 years for free.

Once the charges are in place always check your charges before you apply - there are a lot of visa service wesited out there that will charge you more to apply for the visa. Never pay more than $14pp. The official US imigration website can be reached via https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.html

Pre-pay your gratuities......and then pay more.

2010-08-10T10:17:00.002+01:00

One of my customers happily prepaid her gratuities for Celebrity Equinox and was happy to do so as she understands the reasons for them and it saved her the hassle of paying at a later date.

However she was surprised that at the end of the cruise an envelope was placed in her cabin for additional gratuities. Whilst there was no obligation to pay she ended up paying an additional $11per day as she felt bad leaving an empty envelope.

Personally I think this was cheeky of Celebrity - you can't encourage customers to prepay the gratuities and then expect them to pay more. Apparently not everybody had additional envelopes and I'm wondering if they'd chosen her as they'd judged her character and knew she'd feel obliged to pay.

Has this happened to you with Celebrity or any other cruis line? If so I'd love to hear from you.

Speciality Restaurants - I think they should be free.

2010-08-05T15:48:00.001+01:00

Having just recently been on board Norwegian Epic I came away questioning whether cruise lines should charge for Speciality Restaurants.

When you book on a cruise you pay a lot of money, but some of this is offset by the fact that your meals are included. However I do find it cheeky that more and more of the restaurants carry a cover charge to dine in them. On Epic - Cagneys Steakhouse charged a $25pp cover charge and then some of the dishes also carried a supplement. La Cucina, which whilst being an Italian restaurant was basically just a pizza and pasta place and again charged an extra $10pp.

One of my last land based package holidays was to a Sandals resort in Cuba. Being a 4* All Inclusive hotel my food in the main restaurant was included. However they also had 3 speciality restaurants. I was allowed 1 night in each of these restaurants during my 10 night stay free of charge - and could book more subject to availability. This is fairly standard to hotel holidays - there are sometimes a la carte dishes that you can pay for but generally you can dine in other venues as part of your holiday package.

This I feel is a much better way to run the system, cruise lines are alienating customers by charging for the privilege of dining in a smaller restaurant. It's great that with each new ship there are more choices of dining venues, but as they have a captive market I personally think its just a clever way to take more revenue on board.You've paid for food and service anyway so why pay more?

What do you think?

Restricted View Cabins

2010-07-29T13:28:00.001+01:00

Cruise ships have to have life boats in case the worst occurs and these have to be positioned somewhere, which unfortunately results in some cabins having a restricted view. These cabins though often offer great value for money, outside restricted views can be cheaper than a high grade inside cabin and give you the benefit of some natural light in your cabin and balcony cabins can offer substantial savings.

You can still sit out in the open and enjoy the breeze and privacy, albeit without the full view. Customers also forget that even with a clear view the view is not always that pretty. When in port you often just see cranes or buildings and whilst at the sea you cannot always see the coast. If you want to make your money go further I would strongly recommend an obstructed view cabin.

These photos give a good indication of a restricted view cabin and are taken from Fred Olsen's Boudicca. - BS grades with restricted view.

Swan Hellenic lead the way with podcasts

2010-07-23T06:00:00.003+01:00

Swan Hellenic have announced that their respected cruise director Paul Carter has produced a series of podcasts to accompany their 2011 itineraries.

These podcasts are a first for the cruise industry and present Paul's expert insights, highlighting elements of each cruise on board Minerva that cannot be seen in the brochure. They provide a personal narrative that really bring each cruise to life.

The podcasts are available to download from www.swanhellenic.com/podcasts

Looking for a family cruise this August..read on

2010-07-16T07:00:00.003+01:00

Royal Caribbean have still got availability for families of 3 or 4 on Voyager of the Seas this August.

The sailing which goes from Barcelona on the 22nd August for 7 nights calls at Naples/Capri, Rome, Florence/Pisa, Nice and Provence has family availabilty on inside, outside and balcony cabins.

She is a great ship for families with an ice skating rink, rock climbing wall, sports court and teen disco on board. Along with a spa and fitness centre, theatre and champagne bar for adults.

The prices are good for school holidays too - cruise only rates for a family of 4 start at;
£2530 for an inside cabin, £3150 for an outside cabin and £3430 for a balcony cabin. Flights and transfers can be added with Royal Caribbean from London for £390pp or you can add your own low cost air. Many companies offer flights to Barcelona and the port is just half an hour from the airport so can be reached easily by taxi.

Azamara Journey - my recommendation for the Caribbean this winter

2010-07-09T13:15:00.001+01:00

If you're looking for a Caribbean deal this winter then my absolute recommendation would be Azamara Journey.

Azamara Club Cruises are an informal luxury cruise line, with more intimate ships that can reach smaller ports of call, and with just under 700 passengers on board you receive excellent service and experience a friendlier ambience on board, than many of the larger ships in the Caribbean.

They class themselves as ‘Primarily All – Inclusive’, this means that as well as your food being included in the cost they also include wine with your meals, bottled water throughout the day, speciality tea and coffees (which are often $5 each on other ships), gratuities, free shuttle buses in ports of call and the self service laundry.

Now with all of this included you would expect the prices to be high, however they are actually on a par with P&O’s Azura. I have just priced a balcony cabin on Azura in November for £1959pp whereas Azamara Journey comes in at just £40 more - £1999pp. What’s more – P&O are offering £50pp on board credit, whereas Azamara are currently offering $500pp. And don’t forget with P&O you have to pay for all of your drinks and pay gratuities. This Azamara sailing is 2 nights shorter in duration being just a 12nights cruise, but this can often be preferable by the time you’ve allowed for a hotel stay before the cruise and overnight flights returning. Both prices quoted include return flights from London.

If you’re worried as to why the prices are so good – don’t be. Azamara are a fairly new brand are are trying to build their presence in the UK market, they have good reviews which you can read on our main website. With offers like this they won’t need to promote themselves for long so my advise would be to try them now, before everyone else has heard of them.

By the way - I believe the on board credit on selected sailings is being increased next week in a four day sale too.

Cunard and P&O 2012 World Cruises

2010-07-04T10:00:00.013+01:00

Cunard and P&O will be launching their 2012 world cruises on the 15th July, but I can give you a sneak preview of what is to come and if you want prices in advance just give me call.

Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth are offering full world cruises from Southampton, both departing on the 10th January 2012. Queen Mary 2’s World Voyage includes a 22 night inaugural Circle Australia voyage after which she returns to Southampton via the Far East, arriving home on 27 April 2012, whilst Queen Elizabeth sail a more traditional itinerary of Southampton to San Francisco, Australia, New Zealand, the Far East and Dubai. She also arrives home on the 27th April. Queen Victoria is doing a series of Exotic Voyages between 8 and 25 nights in length through the Panama and Hawaii, but on a fly cruise basis from the USA.

P&O’s Adonia embarks on her first World Cruise from Southampton to South America and the Amazon, around Cape Horn and into the Chilean Fjords. Aurora and Oriana will take passengers on a full world circumnavigation. Aurora heads west towards the Caribbean, while Oriana heads east out through the Mediterranean. Finally, Arcadia will undertake an epic 109-night Grand Odyssey, which takes in the Orient, Australia and South Africa.

Early booking offers include additional discounts and on board credit for both cruise lines, the amounts varying dependant on the cabin grade and length of cruise chosen. Cunard are also offering to free gratuities on the full world cruises.

There is too much information to detail all the prices and benefits here but if you would like further information on any of the voyages or sectors then just give me a call or send me an e-mail. I’m offering great discounts too!