Always book your drinks in advance with MSC

MSC offer great value cruises and these are made even better by adding on the All Inclusive drinks package at just £20 per person per night.

The Allegrissimo package offers drinks 24 hours a day, so you can sip a fruit smoothie by the pool after your morning swim, enjoy a glass of beer with your lunch, indulge in a classic cocktail before dinner, accompany your meal with some delicious wine and round off a day in the main onboard restaurants, self-service buffet and all bars (not valid in à la carte restaurants).

The package includes unlimited wine by the glass (choice of 2 whites, 1 rosè, 2 reds, 2 sparkling wines - 1 dry and 1 sweet), draught beer, soft drinks, mineral water and a wide selection of drinks and cocktails from the bar, as well as take-away ice-cream in a cone or cup.

If you prepay this package it includes your gratuities however if you wait to purchase it on board they will add a 15% gratuity charge to every drink that you purchase, which can really add up.

The average cost of drinks on board MSC is 3.50 euros for a glass of wine, 2.70 euros for soft drinks and 4.50 euros for beer, so by the time you've had a few of these plus your gratuity charge it really does make the drinks package worthwhile.

The kids facilities on Royal Princess

I was  impressed by the kids facilities on the Royal Princess, in particular the older age group and thought it would be useful to share some photos with you.

For teenagers there is a large 'lounge area' where the youngsters can hang out and play games (table football, table tennis, computer games to name a few) and then they also have their own outdoor sunbathing area complete with it's own hot tub. This I thought was fantastic and isn't something that I have seen on many ships other than Disney. As parents you could enjoy the adult only Sanctuary whilst your teenagers sun worship in their own spot.

The younger age group - 8 years plus have the Shockwaves area. Again this is well equipped with computers, a flat screen TV with a selection of the latest films, table football, air hockey and a number of tables laid out with craft activities.

This room led into the Pelicans area for children 3-7 years which had a great soft play area. These children also had their own outdoor area, although this was equipped with a slide and climbing equipment as opposed to the cool sunloungers of the teenagers

 As a ship she doesn't have the huge family facilities of Royal Caribbean, there are no rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks or surf simulators and she also doesn't cater for babies. So if you are after these sorts of facilities then Royal Caribbean will be better for you.  But in terms of kids clubs I did think that she had some of the best rooms that I have seen on a ship. So if you are after a ship that will cater for children and offer them a fun and safe environment but won't be overrun by them then I would definitly go for Royal Princess. Her kids club operate on port days too, leaving you with the chance to sightsee in peace.

My stay on board the Royal Princess

I have just returned from a two night mini cruise on the brand new Royal Princess and have had a fantastic time. This was her first ever sailing and sometimes you hear horror stories of these preview sailings but Princess had their act together and all went well.

I had a standard balcony cabin and at first this appreared to be small and it lacked a sofa. However it had a huge warddrobe/dressing area which I really appreciated and I would rather have this area than a sofa that I only ever put my bags on anyway. The colour scheme of the cabin was tan, which wouldn't be my choice, however it really didn't restrict my holiday experience. Over the years I have read many reviews of 'garish colours' or 'uninspiring beige' and you can't decorate to please all of the people all of the time. On the plus side the corridors had some amazing landscape photo's taken from other Princess ships around the world. The bathroom was equipped with Lotus Spa toiletries.

 Once on board we headed to the Horizon Court for our buffet lunch. I really liked this area, the dark wood and sectioned areas made it more like a restaurant and less of a canteen than on other ships. The carpets and soft furnishings were plush helping to keep the noise levels down. The Horizon Court blended into the Horizon Bistro and The Pastry Shop well, offering a more conservatory style option and fantastic puddings. The food in all 3 venue's was fresh and plentiful even though we were dining late.

For dinner we opted for Anytime dining and on this ship two restaurants were given over to Anytime dining, presumably a sign of it's ever growing popularity.  We always eat late and had no trouble on either night getting a table for 2. The menu was great, some 'safe everyday options' mixed in with really unusual dishes.

As you wander around the ship I liked the abundance of small intimate areas. There is a good selection of bars and they are all fairly small in size, making the large ship seem smaller (in a good way.) The only bar / area that I wan't a fan of was the 'Wheelhouse Bar' this was billed as a pub but didn't really have that ambiance and felt more like a gentleman's club. It did offer a good selecetion of 'Pub Grub' though for lunch which I'm sure will go down well with her American guests.

Entertainment was a little bit different to what I was expecting. They didn't put on the typical 'West End Style' show although I expect they will on normal sailings and instead on the first night we saw David Cats a magician and illusionist. He was amazing, using slight of hand tricks he wowed us with his card tricks and I have no idea how he did them. He was big on audience participation and despite the fact that I tried to keep my head down he somehow spotted me and I was pulled up on stage, blindfolded and had a sword put through my neck! Fortunately I lived to tell the tale. You can watch a video of it on my previous blog by.
On the second night we chose to do Movies under the Stars. This was probably my favourite bit of the whole cruise, we sat wrapped in blankets up on deck 16 watching James Bond's Skyfall on the huge screen, it was the formal night on board and  fellow guests wandered by in their tuxedo's adding to the atmosphere. Whislt we watched, the attentive crew brought us popcorn, pizza and cookies with milk. Chocolates and ice cream were also available at no charge and of course I had a cocktail or two, shaken not stirred of course. The only down side of the movie was that it was a long film, 2 hours 23mins and shown at 7pm. This meant dinner had to be early or late and therefore there was only a handful of people watching.

Outside of the main entertainment we also tried out the bars and the prices were cheaper than I'd expected. The majority of cocktails were $7.25 each and I paid the same for a glass of champagne (187cl), soft drinks were $1.95 each. Around the ship there was also iced water and iced tea freely available along with coffee which was extremely hot,  hot chocolate and a huge selection of tea bags.

On the final morning disembarkation went smoothly, it is a shame that they kick you off the ships so early but I understand that the staff have their jobs to do. We all had a disembarkation time and this prevented any huge queues to get off.

I hope that you have enjoyed my review of the ship. I thought she was a fantastic ship and Royal Princess is now one of my favourite ships alongside the Celebrity Solstice ships. I would definitly sail on her again and will have no hesitation in recommending her. If you would like to see more of my photos just click here

She is sailing between Barcelona and Venice this summer before moving to Fort Lauderdale for the winter. Just give me a call if you like any more information.

I was tied up and blindfolded on board the Royal Princess

On my recent 2 night cruise on the Royal Princess I got more than I'd bargained for when I went to see David Cats and his magic and illusion show. David Cats has been the resident magician on board the Ruby Princess and is now set to wow passengers on board Royal Princess

My partner had suggested that we sit on the front row so that we could see well, however I refused as people on the front always get picked out and we opted for a safe position a few rows back. To start with he amazed us with some fantastic card tricks and illusions, I can honestly say I have no idea how he performed any of the tricks, picking cards that guests had selected and turning a whole deck to glass. 

He then added a twist to the show by pulling me on to the stage, tying me to a chair, blind folding me and putting a sword through my neck! Not quite what I was expecting in a pre-dinner show.

The video isn't the best quality I'm afraid, unfortunately we'd left the camera in the cabin that night and the lights were very bright. There is sound on here, if you need to turn your volume down.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this and if you are lucky enough to be sailing on the Royal Princess then make sure you go and see David Cats.

Photos of Royal Princess

I was lucky enough to sail on board Royal Princess for her first ever sailing this weekend.
Here is a selection of my photo's

The large wardrobe area. Plenty of space for a longer cruise. 

A standard balcony cabin. This lacked a sofa but had a large wardrobe area instead.

The Horizon Bistro, an extention of the buffet restaurant

 .

The pool deck - splash pool area



Movies Under the Stars - an amazing experience.

In dock in Guernsey



I'm sailing on Royal Princess this weekend

I am lucky enough to be sailing on the first ever cruise on board the brand new Royal Princess and I am so excited. She is the first new Princess ship for 5 years and looks amazing, she has so many facilities on board and is a large ship that I really don't think that 2 nights is going to be long enough for me.

The main things that I am looking forward to are the new SeaWalk, which is a glass bottomed walk way extending out over the sea, the adults only swimming pool as on this holiday I am leaving my son at home, (don't worry his grandparents are coming to stay with him) and the outdoor night club.
My work collegues will tell you that I have a passion for dancing and the thought of dancing under the stars and out in the fresh air really appeals.

I also intend to sample as many of the food and beverage venues that I can, although I think I will struggle to fit them all in. First on my list will be the Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar for a sushi and sashimi lunch and then I'm heading to the Gelato for a designer sundae.  Following this I am going to have a champagne cocktail in the Bellini Bar (below) and one or two of the 75 different martini's in Crooners.

On my Monday my port of call is St. Peter Port in Guernsey which I've never been to and believe is beautiful. As it's my first time here my plan is to just get off the ship and wander around the town, I understand there are some great shops and restaurants.

I will obviously report back here on my thoughts on Guernsey and more importantly the Royal Princess and I intend to take lots of photo's which I will post up next week.

Now all I have to do is pack, oh and diet and exercise for the next two days so that I can sample all of those restaurants without feeling guilty.

Brilliance of the Seas now fully revitalized

Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas has just been enhanced as part of their $300 million revitalization programme and I was lucky enough to be invited on board to see the changes.

As part of this programme the Radiance Class ship has been fully refurbished and the changes were amazing. She is an elegant and sophisicated ship and this is seen from the moment that you arrive and her trademark glass structure glisten's at you.

On board we started with a tour of the new features, which includes a whole host of dining venues.
The Chef's Table a select dining venue for 16 guests, serving a 7 course pairing menu with the your expert chef and sommelier guiding you through the courses.

Izumni - sushi and sashumi  and hot rock dining where you watch the chef's prepare your food. Giovanni's Table for true Italian fare and my favourite, Rita's Cantina which offers Mexican mains and snacks in a casual environment looking out to see.
On top of these speciality dining venue's there is still the Windjammer restaurant offering one  of the best and freshest buffets at sea. I visited it for lunch and a quick afternoon cookie stop to tide me over. I particularly like that Royal Caribbean serve a choice of soft drinks complimentary in here, whilst others cruise lines only offer water. And for waiter serviced dining there is the Minstrel dining room where I enjoyed the most amazing scallops in a cheese sauce and perfectly cooked steak. The service here was slightly slow but the quality of the food more than made up for it.

 There was also a host of new bars, particularly worth a mention are the King and Country pub which my smoking colleagues enjoyed for obvious reasons and the R Bar which was my favourite for its classy cocktails and champagnes. Situated in the atrium this is the perfect venue for seeing the new Centrum WOW aerial entertainment  - acrobats swinging above you across several decks. I didn't see this in action but intend to go back to see the show soon.

Other new features include the nursery which parents can use for $8 per hour and which looked well equipped and the staff were very freindly and caring. Brilliance of the Seas already had the rock climbing wall and mini golf for older children and the addition of the nursery will appeal to younger families. The outdoor movie screen is a great addition to the pool area, somehow it works in all weathers and it doesn't matter where you sit or how bright it is the picture is always perfect.

My cabin was an E3 balcony on deck 7 and was a decent size, having last had a balcony on NCL Epic the space around the bed here was much better, although the bed curved at the ends so not so good if there's 2 people both with long legs. There was also a curtain to divide the room if you have people using the sofa bed and wardrobe - wise the storage was good and more spacious than on P&O. The down side of Royal Caribbean is the toiletries, you just get a small bar of soap and a dispenser on the wall with a combined shower gel/shampoo that was similar to one you'd find at your local council swimming baths.

I did get to have a nose at other cabin types and was particularly interested in the family accommodations. It was interesting to see that in the balconies you can still have the lower beds configured as a double when the upper berth is in use. They also have a new double balcony cabin which sleeps up to 8 passengers across 3 rooms with 2 bathrooms. At a lower level than a suite and without all the living area of additional extras it should be an affordable option for larger families or 3 generations travelling together.

I haven't been on many Royal Caribbean ships but do really like the feel of them. They are glitzy and glamorous and have a feeling of energy about them. I sailed on Independence of the Seas last year but must admit that I preferred Brilliance, maybe because she was smaller so had more of an intimate feel about her. She has had a few poor reviews in recent years, probably because she was in need of an upgrade but I can honestly say she is a fabulous ship now and I look forward to reading the reviews this summer.

Brilliance of the Seas - Speciality Dining

Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas has recently been revitalised and now offers a number of new speciality dining options. I was only on board for one night and dined in the main restaurant which was fantastic however I was able to visit the new restaurants and have little samplers in many of them. I thought it would be useful to share my photo's with you.

The Chef's Table
Seats 16 and serves a 7 course meal paired with fine wines to suit each course.
Cover charge $95pp. My friends were lucky enough to dine here and said it was amazing. The chef and sommelier were knowledgeable and the evening good value for money.

Giovanni's Table
Exquisite Italian Cuisine, open for lunch and dinner. 2 sittings. Children can dine here on request.
Cover charge $15 lunch and $20 dinner. I had a bread and oil sampler here which was delicious.

Chops Grill
Offering a selection or steaks, seafood and side dishes.
Open for dinner only with a smart casual dress code.
Cover charge $30pp. A very classy restaurant.

Rita's Cantina
Mexican Restaurant in a great location. Casual dining with a great selection of Mexican meals, snacks and cocktails. Cover charge $3pp plus A la Carte pricing.
Open 11am - 1am.
The margueritas was just to my taste.


Izumi Asian Cuisine. Serving a selection of sushi, sashami and hot rock plates. Izumi offers a fun place to eat. Smart casual dining and open for lunch and dinner. Cover charge $3pp plus A la Carte dining.

The Grand Canyon - a truly memorable day.

The Grand Canyon is one of the most amazing natural phenomenons on our planet and I am fortunate enough to have visited it. Following a stay in San Diego we stayed in a small town called Williams  and from here drove to the Grand Canyon Village. The approach was amazing, one long straight road and then all of a sudden the stunning views as the ground opens up and the canyon appears.

As we were celebrating my brother's wedding on this holiday my Dad treated us to a light aircraft flight over the Canyon. This is a truly memorable experience. Brad our pilot was very knowledgeable and gave us a full history of the area. Rocks at the bottom of the Canyon date back 2 billion years and the River Colorado has been running through the land for over 10 million years. Nowadays it is a National Park and had been a forest preserve since 1892.

Following the flight we took a trail down into the Canyon - not for the faint hearted, good walking shoes and a bottle of water is strongly recommened. We didn't go to the bottom as it is a full day's walk and requires you to camp their overnight. However we didn't feel short changed by just a few hours hike and were overcome by the sheer size of the Canyon.

As the day came to an end we climbed up some rocks and perched up above the Grand Canyon to watch the sunset. National Geographic lists the Grand Canyon in its Top Ten places to watch the sun set and I can see why. It was awe inspiring. We were surrounded by people of all nationalities just basking in the last of the sunlight and as the sun finally set, silence engulfed everyone as the colours took over. It was surreal.

 

The Grand Canyon will stay etched in my memory for ever and one day I hope to take my son there.
Whilst we stayed close to the Canyon it is really easy to do as an excursion from Las Vegas. We offer a choice of trips from a full day coach tour, which also calls at the Hoover Dam en route to a choice of light aircraft and helicopter rides, or a combination of the two. If you're thinking of seeing the Grand Canyon as an add on to a cruise and stay holiday, just ask me for details.

Fred Olsen 2014 - No single supplement deals

Fred Olsen have released their prices and itineraries for 2014 and they have a number of cruises with no single supplements on selected cabin types including outsides, balconies and suites. These prices are valid on twin cabins for sole use so give you a decent amount of space as well as a great price.

Balmoral - 19th April 2014 - 3 nights - Easter Chocolates Mini CruiseSouthampton - Antwerp - Southampton
Singles offer - outside cabin from £299

Balmoral - 10th October 2014 - 14 nights - Historical Islands and Cities of PortugalSouthampton - Praia da Vitoria - Horta - Ponta Delgada - Madeira - Lisbon - Oporto - Southampton
Singles offer - outside cabin from £1199.

Boudicca - 11th October 2014 - 28 nights - Empires of the Med and the Black SeaLiverpool - Tangier - Valletta - Varna, Odessa - Sevastopol - Istanbul (overnight), Izmir, Athens, Santorini, Sicily, Almeria, Gibraltar, Liverpool.
Singles offer - outside cabin from £2449.

Balmoral - 24th October 2014 - 10 nights - Artistic City BreaksSouthampton - Oslo - Amsterdam - Antwerp - Southampton
Singles offer - outside cabin from £949

Braemar - 20th November 2014 - 3 nights - Paris Mini CruiseSouthampton - Rouen - Southampton
Singles offer - outside cabin from £239, balcony cabins from £349, suites from £439

Boudicca - 19th December 2014 - 2 nights - Dublin Mini CruiseLiverpool - Dublin - Liverpool
Singles offer - outside cabin from £149, balcony cabins £219


Balmoral - 19th December 2014 - 2 nights - French Pre-Christmas Mini CruiseSouthampton - Le Havre - Southampton
Singles offer - outside cabin from £189, balcony cabins from £279, suites from £299

Fred Olsen have always been popular with single passengers with smaller friendly ships making it easy to mix and make friends with these prices I think they'll be even more popular. The number of cabins sold for sole occupancy are limited so I'd recommend early booking. To secure your cabins a small deposit is all that's needed.

Just call or e-mail me for more details.

Introducing Quantum of the Seas - Royal Caribbean's latest cruise ship.

Royal Caribbean have announced details and pictures of their lastest new ship Quantum of the Seas.
and she looks amazing.

With 18 decks and a guest capacity of 4,180 she is larger than the Freedon Class ships but not as huge as Oasis of the Seas or Allure of the Seas.

As innovators in the cruise industry Royal Caribbean have not disappointed me with the 'toys' that she has on board and again they are introducing many 'firsts at sea' including the RipCord by iFly a skydiving simulator.

The North Star offers a London Eye style journey over the sea.

Whilst Sea Plex offers the first ever bumper cars at sea.

Quantum of the Sea also offers all the standard Royal Caribbean favourites - the Flow Rider, Rock Climbing Wall, Dream Works Experience and Solarium

Quantum of the Seas^SMwill Sail from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey, offering a range of 7-night to 12-night itineraries to the Bahamas and the Caribbean during her winter 2014- 2015 season.  She goes on sale on the 3rd June 2013 and the best deals will be had by those who book early. If you would like to be kept up to date to with her itineraries or prices just contact me on the details below. 

0800 408 6088 or email joc@cruise.co.uk

How to sail from your local port in 2014.

Fred. Olsen have now announced their 2014 itinieraries and they are the best choice if you would like to sail from the UK  but do not want to travel down to Southampton or Dover.

For 2014 they are offering  sailings from 10 ports as follows

Greenock - 2 sailings on Boudicca
Rosyth - 4 sailings on Black Watch
Newcastle - 7 sailings on Black Watch
Belfast - 2 sailings on Boudicca
Liverpool - 10 sailings on Boudicca
Harwich - 3 sailings on Braemar
Tilbury - 3 sailings on Black Watch
Avonmouth - 4 sailings on Boudicca
Dover - 12 sailings on Braemar and Black Watch
Southampton - 29 sailings on Balmoral, Braemar, Black Watch and Boudicca

They are also offering 8 fly cruises from Tenerife on board Braemar.

These sailings go on sale on the 24th April and are open now for pre registrations for Oceans Members.
For full details of the itineraries please call on e-mail me on 0800 408 6088 or joc@cruise.co.uk

Oasis of the Seas Prices

Royal Caribbean have created huge excitement  this week by announcing that Oasis of the Seas is coming to Europe in September 2014.

She will be offering the following sailings:

01 Sept - 12 nts from Florida to Barcelona
13 Sep - 5 nts Barcelona round trip
18 Sep - 5 nts Barcelona round trip
23 Sep - 7 nts Barcelona to Rotterdam
15 Oct - 12 nts Southampton to Florida

She goes on sale to Crown and Anchor members (Royal Caribbean past passengers) on the 9th April and  customers are invited to pre-register in order to get the best possible chance of securing a cabin on this ship.

Royal Caribbean are not announcing the itineraries or full prices until she goes on sale but demand is so high that people are prepaying their deposits now.

If you would like to try one of these sailing, just give me a call. I can talk you through the expected pricing and take care of everything on the day. These sailings will sell out, so the earlier you register the better.

 

P&O Greed.

P&O have launched details of their 2014 cruise programme this week and  they have really let down families with their new family pricing.

Ventura is marketed as a family ship yet for her school holiday sailings the child reductions are appalling. She sails a 14 night Caribbean Christmas Cruise on the 19th December 2014 and originally they offered zero child reduction for children sharing a cabin with their parents. Faced with pressure from travel agents they have amended this and are now offering children a 5% reduction from the adult cost.

 'Rude' is how we described it at Cruise.co.uk today.

For the summer holidays the discount is not much better, P&O are offering Ventura's children a 20% discount.

Last year passengers booking for 2013 were offered 35% reduction from the adult cost for both August and Christmas.

Ventura isn't the only ship hit by this sharp increase in child prices, Aurora another family friendly ship is also only offering a 5% redcution for children on her 25th July Central Mediterranean sailing.

Personally I think P&O are being plain greedy with these child reductions. These children are occupying a cabin with their parents, do they really need to charge so much?

 Interestingly last year they tried to charge 100% single supplements on the Christmas sailing but quickly changed this policy following outrage from customers and agenst. It will be interesting to see if they change these discounts under pressure, before the sailings go on sail in April.

 Watch this space.

2 Adonia passengers shot in Barbados

P&O have confirmed that 2 passengers from Adonia have been shot whilst on a visit to Bridgetown, Barbados.

The details are minimal at the moment but the man thought to be in his 70's and woman in her 50's were believed to have been shot during a robbery and have been taken to hospital.

A Foreign Office spokesman has confirmed that they are aware of the incident and are investigating and providing consular assistance.

Adonia is currently on her 85 night world cruise and due back in Southampton on the 3rd April. My heart goes out to the family of the 2 people involved and to all of those passengers and crew still on board Adonia.

Ship runs aground in the Fjords

The Marco Polo has suffered damage to it's hull when it ran aground in a remote Norwegian fjord north of the Arctic Circle at the start of this week.

The 22,080-ton, 800-passenger  Cruise and Maritime Voyages vessel struck an uncharted rock as it was leaving Sortland, Norway, under the command of a local pilot.

Hugo Naess, Port Director for the Port of Sortland, expressed surprise over the grounding: "This has never happened before in the 15 years I have worked at the port, and about 2,200 different ships per year use the port. The Norwegian Coastal Administration are responsible for the correct charts, and they will be investigating the incident."

No injuries were reported in the incident, and Marco Polo immediately returned to the port for a damage assessment. Following inspection, preliminary repairs were made to the hull, and the ship was  origianlly cleared to carry on with the remainder of its 14-night cruise. However the cruise has since been terminated for the ship to be repaired and her passengers flown home from Stavenger airport.

This is the second incident in the Fjords in as many weeks. Last week the Hurtigruten ship Kong Harald also struck a submerged rock at the entrance to Trollfjord and needed to wait for the tide to come in before she could lift off the rock. Again the remainder of the cruise was cancelled whilst repairs were made.
Let's hope that is it now for maritime dangers in the Fjords, or indeed anywhere.

British cruising on the increase.

The Passenger Shipping Association  has recently released figures regarding our cruising habits in 2012 and it makes really interesting reading.

In 2012 1.7 million British passengers took an ocean cruise, with cruising accounting for 1 in 8 overseas package holidays. The popularity of river cruises also grew by 14% with 130,000 taking a river cruise.

The most popular destination for British cruisers was unsurprisingly the Mediterranean which accounted for 698,000 passengers. However there was a huge increase in passengers visiting Northern Europe with 443,000 visiting this region, 29% up on 2011. Nearly 50 % of these visited the Norwegian Fjords.

About half of British cruisers actually choose to cruise from a UK departure port and the continued growth in this sector is largely fuelled by the ease of cruising from the UK and the number of ships on offer. This summer Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Cunard, P&O, Princess, MSC, Cruise and Maritime, Holland America and Fred.Olsen all have ships based from the UK. The luxury cruise lines also account for 1.7% of British cruises passengers and Silversea, Regent and  Crystal all offer itinerariries from the UK.

There has also been a huge increase in the number of passengers visiting a UK port during their cruise with an 11% increase. The economic benefits of  customers from around the world coming into our country are great.

All in all it has been a great year for British cruising and the growth is expected to increase in 2013.
If you haven't cruised before perhaps you too should try it.

2014 on sale this month

Well it's that time of year and all of the Cruise lines are now launching their 2014 cruise itineraries.
There is a lot of debate as to whether you should book early or late but my advice is that you should always book early in these cases:

If you want to guarantee getting on to a particular sailing or need to sail on a certain date. If you leave it until late you may be disappointed.

If you require a cabin for more than 2 passengers - most cruise lines rarely reduce the fare on family cabins and the best deals are to be had early.

If you are a single passenger - some now have a handful of single cabins available at a reduced rate, paricularly P&O's Azura, Ventura and NCL Epic. These prices are again never reduced and do book up quickly.

If you require an adapted cabin - these again are small in number and therefore book up early.

If you want to ensure a certain position on the ship - ie midship. Most late deals are now on a guaranteed basis with the cruise lines selecting the cabin number for you, book early and pick your cabin number.

If you require a particular dining time - whilst you can still select your dining time with P&O and Cunard's Getaway fares (late deals), it is rumoured that in future you will not be able to select your dining, so if it is important to you book now.

Currently NCL are the only main cruise line on sale for 2014. With a handful of the luxury and river cruise lines too. Over the coming weeks we have:

Princess

The itineraries and prices have now been announced and can be viewed by clicking here

P&O and Cunard

Itineraries - Mid March

 

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity

UK itineraries and prices are being announced this week

Med itineraries expected next week.

 

If you are interested in sailing in 2014 on these or any other cruise line then please get in touch with me via phone or e-mail and I will keep you updated with all of the itineraries and prices.

 

0800 408 6088 or joc@cruise.co.uk

 

 

The growth of Dubai

I came across this photo of Dubai in 1991 compared to Dubai now and it really is amazing. I can't believe how much the city has changed in such a short space of time.

Dubai is now a major cruise port and is particularly popular as an embarkation port on World Cruise sectors with sailings back to Southampton or from Dubai towards the Far East.

MSC and Royal Caribbean also offer 7 night cruises from Dubai. MSC Lirica will be sailing from November 2013 onwards calling at Abu Dhabi, Khor Al Fakkan, Muscat and Khasab whilst Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas is based their this winter. She is sailing until the end of April and calls in at Fujairah, Muscat, Abu Dhabi and includes an overnight stay in Dubai.

If you fancy seeing Dubai and sailing in this region just give me a call. I can package up a great hotel stay at the start or end of your cruise, or just help you with the cruise only.

Royal Caribbean increase their gratuity charge

With effect from the 1st March 2013 Royal Caribbean are increasing their gratuity charge to US$12 per person per day. This will be automatically added to your on board account. The cost for suite customers will be US$14.25pppd.

There has been quite alot of press about this increase but it is only a 35 cents increase from the previous amount and follows on from P&O and Cunard who have also increased their charges recently.

As a customer gratuities are still at your discretion and if you are not completely satisfied with the service on board you may visit Guest Services to decrease or remove the amount being added to your account.

Royal Caribbean also offer the option to prepay your gratuities and those that have chosen to do so will not be charged any extra when sailing this summer. With this in mind I would always recommend prepaying your gratuities if booking in advance. You never know when prices will increase.

Requirements for driving in Florida

If you are planning a trip to Florida and are looking at driving there the laws have now changed and non-US residents now need and International Driving Permit. This law came into effect on the 1st January and is now being enforced.

“The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has advised that should drivers of rental cars in Florida be involved in an accident, or traffic offence or any other reason for interaction with the Florida Highway Patrol, they will be required to have an International Driving Permit in their possession and if stopped, law enforcement may be applied,” Abta said in a statement.

You will also of course require your own driving license too and will need to take both the photograph and paper copy with you.

An International Driving Permit can be obtained for £5.50 from Post Offices, the Post Office website, RAC and AA. If you cgo to the Post Office in person you can obtain the permit there and then.

 

A week in Val D'Isere

I have just spent the last week on my annual snowboarding holiday and had a fab time. This year we travelled with Esprit Ski who are a family ski company and excellent for children and we picked Val D'Isere as the resort.

Val D'Isere is a gorgeous resort with some fabulous shops, although these were way out of my league and it's ski area, when linked with Tignes is vast. As a snowboarder though it does have a lot of flat runs and some walking involved, so the Tignes side of the mountain is preferable.

This year the weather wasn't as great as it could have been. It snowed all day on 4 of the 6 days making visibility poor although it was at least soft to fall on and the day temperatures were in the minus 20's in resort with strong winds high up. I had to wear a huge amount of layers so unfortunately look larger than normal in all my photo's.

My son who has a charmed life and has skied before came on really well this year. He had 'improvers' lessons in the morning and then skied alongside us in the afternoon and even achieved his first black run on the last day. It was wonderful to see him achieve so much and really enjoy himself.

Now that I'm home it's still snowing, which is a shame, I like to come back from snowboarding and look forward to spring plus my warm clothes all need a wash. However I have got my next trip to look forward to which will be on board Royal Princess in the summer.

Gratuity charges on the rise.

Just to let you know that as from this spring both P&O and Cunard will be increasing the amounts that they charge for gratuities.
P&O will now be charging £3.50 per person per night from the following sailings:

Adonia D302 - 03 April 2013
Arcadia J302 - 14 April 2013
Aurora R302 - 24 April 2013
Azura A308 - 04 April 2013
Oceana E305 - 30 March 2013
Oriana X305 - 28 March 2013
Ventura N307 - 07 April 2013

P&O only charged for passengers aged 12 and above and these figures are still low in comparison to the majority of the main cruise lines.

Cunard will now be charging $11.50 per person per night for customers staying in a Britannia stateroom and $13.50 per person per night for those in a Princess or Queens Grill Suite.
Cunard are introducing these charges from:

Queen Elizabeth Q308 - Iberian Adventure - Sunday 7th April

Queen Victoria: V304 - Spring Getaway - Friday 26 April 2013
Queen Mary 2: M304 - Westbound Transatlantic - Friday 26 April 2013

Join me on a cruise.

I have been lucky enough to win a mini cruise on the brand new Royal Princess and I'm very excited.

Royal Princess is the first new ship for Princess in 5 years and she is full of innovative features. Carrying 3,600 passengers she will feature their largest top deck pool ever with a water & light show, and an enhanced Movies Under the Stars® screen. The atrium is 50% larger and piazza style with enhanced entertainments and the dining rooms are richly elegant. I'm sure you'll agree the pictures look amazing.

Royal Princess is doing 2 preview sailings on the 9th and 14th June before her maiden voyage on the 16th June. These 2 night cruises sail from Southampton to St Peter Port in Guernsey for a day and back to Southampton.

In terms of staterooms all exterior staterooms come with a balcony giving you a choice of insides, balconies, deluxe balconies, mini suites and suites.

For the preview cruises prices start at £349pp for a balcony cabin and they go on sale on Wednesday 30th January. Customers  interested in sailing on them are strongly recommended to preregister for the sailing to ensure that you are not disappointed on the day.

So if you fancy joining me one of these memorable voyages just get in touch.

New Silversea Mini Cruises

Silversea have decided to follow Crystal Cruises lead and have announced a series of short duration cruises for this spring and summer. These are fantastic for customers celebrating a special occasion, wanting to try out a luxury cruise line without too much expense or just for a little treat. The sailings range from 4 to 7 nights as follows:

11 March - 5 nights on board Silver Wind
Lisbon - at sea -Malaga - Cartegena - Valencia - Barcelona
From £1190pp

16 March - 4 nights on board Silver Wind
Barcelona - Monte Carlo overnight - Livorno - Rome
From £1040pp

16 April - 7 nights on board Silver Spirit
Lisobon - Portimao - Cadiz - Malaga - at Sea - Ibiza, Valencia - Barcelona
From £1960pp

14 May - 4 nights on board Silver Wind
Rome - Bonifacio - Calvi - Livorno - Monte Carlo
From £1150pp

18 May - 5 nights on board Silver Wind
Monte Carlo - at sea - Soller de Mallorca - Ibiza - Valencia - Barcelona
From £1570pp

25 May - 7 nights on board Silver Spirit
Athens - Katakolon - Corfu - Kotor - Dubrovnik - at sea - Sorrento - Rome
From £1960pp

09 June - 6 nights on board Silver Cloud
Southampton, Honfleur, Ostende, Antwerp, Amsterdam overnight, Hamburg
From £1610pp

15 June - 4 nights on board Silver Cloud
Hamburg overnight, transit the Kiel Canal, Warnemunde, Helsingborg, Copenhagen overnight,
From £1120pp

All of the above are based upon cruise only but can be packaged with flights from around the UK and with pre and post cruise stays as required.

Ports of call....Kotor, Montenegro

At the end of last year I was lucky enough to have Kotor as a port of call on my Crystal Serenity sailing. I will be honest and admit that Kotor wasn't a place that I knew much about and often hoped that customers wouldn't ask anything in depth about the resort. Now that I have been there I thought it was worth sharing my photo's and knowledge on the resort.

Kotor really is an truly beautiful place and to really appreciate it I strongly suggest you go up on deck for the sail in. The waterway into Kotor is a submerged river canyon known as a Ria but it is described as the southern most fjord and only fjord in the Adriatic. Crystal Serenity sailed along the sea into her at about 5.30 am and the scenes were breath taking. I was up on deck with a host of well traveled people who all seemed to agree that it is one of the most spectacular places along this coast line. My pictures really don't do it justice.

Once in port Kotor is a small town built into a hillside. At the base of the hill this UNESCO World Heritage Site offers many cute bars, cafes and restaurants. Built between the 12th and 14th centuries it is a hive of narrow criss cross streets and within them you'll find the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon which dates back to 809 AD. 

 You can wind your way up through cobbled streets and even through people's back yards and up the steps of the ancient walls which ascend 3 miles above the city. You do have to pay 3 euros's to climb these walls so make sure you have some change. At the top you'll find the ruins of the Fortress Sveti Ivan (St John's) and the views over the old town and the bay are amazing.  The walk is long and hard so wear some good trainers and water is recommended too 

I hope this has given you a taste of what Kotor can offer you and if you would like details of cruises that sail here just give me a call.

Free internet access with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Regent Seven Seas Cruises have announced free internat access on 5 sailings this summer, for bookings made before the 31st March. Making them now the most All Inclusive product on the market.

The included sailings are:

 

24 April - Seven Seas Mariner - Istanbul to Barcelona - 10 nights from £2969pp

01 June - Seven Seas Mariner - Venice to Rome  - 10 nights from £3439pp

28 June - Seven Sea Mariner - Venice to Athens - 10 nights from £3719pp

29 August - Seven Seas Mariner - Rome to Venice - 10 nights from £4339pp

06 October - Sevene Seas Mariner - Rome to Monte Carlo - 7 nights from £2939pp

 

Along with the free internet you will also have included in your fare:

Flights

Transfers

A luxury hotel stay before your cruise

A huge choice of unlimited shore excursions

Open bars and lounges including cocktails, champagnes and premium drinks

Mini bar replenished daily

Speciality dining at no extra charge

Gratuities

As someone who's partner works for himself and rarely takes a break this would be perfect for me as I could laze by the pool while he could both have a holiday and keep up with his business. However I'm not convinced that everyone likes to stay on line whilst away so I'm not sure how much this will work to promote sales for them - what do you think?

P&O's Oceana

I am very lucky in my job to celebrate Christmas on a cruise each year and I can honestly say that this year's trip on P&O's Oceana was the best yet. Now a lot of this is down to the people that I work with who are all good fun and enjoy a party, but also because  I enjoyed the ship.

Oceana has been refitted recently and showed no signs of being 12 years old. Whilst she maintains the traditional P&O feel her public areas bright and colourful putting you in the holiday mood from the start.

In particular I really liked my inside cabin. I'm not normally a fan of inside cabins but on Oceana the cabin was light and airy and had a lot of storage space. I would have no hesitation in recommending one for a longer cruise.

 At 77, 000 tons and carrying 2016 passengers she is a mid sized ship but  is very easy to navigate your way around and she offers a variety of entertainments. In the evening I enjoyed a drink and a game in the Yacht and Compass bar and a dance in Le Club, although I could have easily sampled the show in the theater or tried my luck in the casino.

I dined in the Horizon Grill and Cafe Jardin, her two speciality restaurants and the food was fine, although the service was slightly slow. However some of my colleagues opted for the main restaurant one evening and claimed that the food was even better there - and at no additional charge.

All in all we had a fab time and I hope you enjoy the photo's.

Is this the end for the travel agent?

2013 sees a lot of changes for the cruise industry with the majority of cruise lines now 'fixing' prices and advising travel agents that they can no longer offer additional discounts from their commission payments. P&O, Cunard and Princess introduced this policy over a year ago and now the likes of Fred Olsen, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise to name just a few have followed suit.

As a customer this will make booking a cruise holiday a lot easier, you will no longer have to trawl the internet and spend hours on the phone trying to get the cheapest price for your cruise as all agents and the cruise lines directly will be selling at the same price.

This though has led to concern over the impact that this will have on travel agents. Why book through a travel agent, if you are no longer getting a better price? Personally though I don't think it will be an issue, the UK cruise market is growing and growing, around 1.7million Brits cruised in 2011, a similar figure is expected to be reported for 2012 and predictions are high for 2013. There is more than enough business for everyone and the savvy customer will book with the agent that offers the best service.

Add to this the fact that more and more passengers are cruising for the first time and the travel agent is the obvious person to book with. Why would you call a cruise line direct when they can only offer you one product? There are so many different types of cruise to chose from, from small adult only ships like P&O's Adonia to mega cruise ships with Shrek on board such as Oasis of the Seas. It is only an independent Cruise Specialist  that can talk you through your full options and make sure that you book the cruise that is right for you.

I  have worked in this industry for many years and always made sure that my customers always get the best advice and I relish the future and a return to service being as important as the price that you pay. And the good news for you too, is that there are some great offers out there this year, which I look forward to sharing with you.