No special requests at the Waldorf Astoria

Some customers of mine have just returned from a Cunard cruise and enjoyed a stay at the Waldorf Astoria - one of New Yorks finest hotels.


My customer is allergic to butter and ordered some dry toast and jam. When this came out already buttered, he asked the waiter to return it and provide a fresh piece. Only to be told 'I'm sorry Sir, but all our toast comes pre-buttered'

Cunard charge £225 per person for a 1 night stay at this hotel, you would have thought that for that price they would be able to accommodate such a simple request wouldn't you?

Do you have any similar experiences?

Liberty and Freedom of the Seas to get ‘Oasis Attractions’

Royal Caribbean have decided to take some of the best features of Oasis of the Seas and to add them to their Freedom Class ships, starting with Liberty and Freedom in 2011. These ships already have flo-riders, water parks, ice rinks with excellent shows, casinos, spas, miniature golf, inline skating and more but will be enhanced by the following.


In terms of entertainment large 18.5-foot outdoor video screens for movies under the skies will overlook the main family pool area.

To tempt your palate they will feature the popular Cupcake Cupboard, which has proved a real hit on Oasis and the wine bar ‘Vintages.’ The wine bar allows you to taste rare vintages by allowing you to purchase wine by the millilitre, you get to taste several wines without breaking the bank (always a bonus on a cruise ship)

The ships will also have the Digital Wayfinder video screen – like your own personal sat nav, it outlines your route on board and gives step by step instructions on how to reach your destination. It also holds info on the ships entertainments, restaurants and daily menu’s.

And finally they are extending their babysitting service to include the ‘Royal Babies and Tots Nursery’ offering care for children six to 36 months. This special program was created in cooperation with the Fisher-Price and Crayola companies.

The 2 ships will go into dry dock at the start of 2011, so if you’re looking to sail next summer, you’ll get to experience them all

Winter in the Canaries ..just £799pp - and that's for 11nts

I have worked in travel for far too long, and don't think I have every seen the Canaries this cheap at this time of year. The Canaries are the only real place locally with heat and what's more you can sail from the UK so no worries about flights being cancelled.

Independence of the Seas is sailing an 11night Canaries cruise and on the 29th November & 10 December prices start from just £799pp including the taxes. Plus you'll get a free cooch transfer to the port.

Call me for the full itinerary and to claim an additional £30pp discount.

Hurry though, this offer ends 31 May. This is a deal that you should definitley book now...don't wait for the price to go down..it won't!

Take a friend or child on Fred Olsen for £99

I've just come across this great deal for Fred Olsen's Black Watch - the 3rd and 4th passengers are just £99 each.

The sailing is 31 August for 5 nights, from Southampton and calling at Rouen in France for 2 days and an overnight. St Peter Port Guernsey, St Malo in France and back to Southampton.

The first two passengers start at just £649 for an inside cabin and 679 for an outside.

Give me a call now

Would you go on strike now, given all the problems with air travel?

BA cabin crew have just announced a series of 5 day strikes throughout May and June. The first one starts on the 18th May and the following ones are scheduled for 24 May, 30 May and 5 June. I can't imagine it will get that far, surely these will be stopped first, but I can't believe that the BA cabin crew have the audacity to announce these strikes. They will lose all credibility and could bring down the collapse of the company they work for. As well as bringing untold misery to thousands of passengers.


I for one don't support them at all and say well done to all the captains who worked extra last time keeping flights in the air. What do you think?

Further comments on fuel costs

Thanks for your comments and questions on my recent blog - it's good to know people are reading this.
As a general comment, last time the cruise lines introduced fuel surcharges it was for new bookings only on all lines except for Swan Hellenic, who applied them retrospectively. Swan's customers ended up having to pay an extra £200 or so on their cruises.

So far Fred.Olsen and P&O have added fuel surcharges for next year and so we are expecting the others to follow suit soon. I'll keep you informed.

Predicting the cost of fuel.....P&O make me angry again!

P&O make me really angry, they have just launched their 2011 programme and advised customers that the early booking offers are in place until 30 June 2010.

Now they go and announce a fuel supplement for all sailings from 01 November 2010. At £2.50/day this puts the price up by £35pp on a typical 14 night cruise. How the cruise lines get away with charging a fuel supplement I don't know - this is a charge to allow for the increase in the global price of fuel.

Predicting the price of fuel is clearly not rocket science.  It has consistently increased in price over the last few years and will continue to go up over the next year. Surely P&O realised that they need fuel to run their ships and could have calculated this cost into the brochure price.

But hey, I'm not the one doing the pricing, just the person on the end of the phone trying to explain it to the customer.

This new charge applies to all bookings made from 10th May onwards, so if you want to avoid the charge book now.

What happens if my airport is closed due to the volcano

Well it looks like the airports may be closing again due to the ash cloud. Fortunately this time we are more prepared and can offer our customers help and advice in advance.

If your flight is cancelled and you booked the flights as part of a package with the cruise line, they will refund you or try and rearrange the flights and cruise for you. If they can get you out to another a port of call to join the cruise they will.

If you booked your flights and cruise separately, the cruise line will NOT refund you, if you fail to make the cruise. You will then need to try and claim on your travel insurance. It appears that about 50% of insurance companies covered customers last time.

Cruise lines cannot say in advance if your flights are likely to be cancelled and you will need to keep an eye on airline websites.

Hopefully you find this information helpful, and if you are travelling this week I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you.