Would I book a guaranteed cabin?

Yes I certainly would. At the moment there are a lot of great deals for cabins on a guaranteed basis, before booking these though you need to know exactly what you may get.

Look at the cabin grade - the cruise line has to give you this grade of cabin or above. Be careful though they could allocate you a higher cabin grade, which may be on a lower deck, or may be an obstructed view. ie - You may have a guaranteed outside cabin, but be allocated an obstructed view balcony. Check that you would be happy with any of the cabin grades that you could be allocated.

With a guaranteed cabin you cannot choose your bedding configuration - this isn't normally a problem as the cabin steward can always remake the beds however on some cruise lines (Ocean Village and Fred Olsen) you may be allocated a cabin with fixed twin beds. So if you're sleeping arrangements are important then always check with your agent first.

Finally, MSC when giving a guaranteed cabin, do not guarantee that you can stay in the same cabin for the full duration of the cruise. If the cruise is busy there is a very small chance that you will be asked to swap cabins during the cruise.

The plus side of a guarantee cabin is the price, you get the same service on the cruise, everything else is included and you get a great price. Cunard are currently offering a great guaranteed deal on Queen Mary 2 -14June. A balcony cabin on a guaranteed basis is £1199pp, whereas to book a balcony knowing your cabin number you'll pay £2279pp. To save £1080pp I would definately risk an obstructed view.

A Magnificant Bird

I'm not sure what type of bird she is, but she was spotted on board MSC Magnifica at the weekend.

I love that my customers e-mail their photo's to me, feel free to send me any funny ones that you have.

Fly cruises....Your comments please

Well after this Christmas those cruise companies with ships based in the UK are going to be smiling. First of all BA cabin crew threatened to strike putting hundreds of people into panic and uncertainty. The same customers had a small reprieve when the strike was called off only to have snow both home and abroad causing cancelleations all over and people to be stranded at airports with no way of reaching their ships.


We've also had Globespan go bust affecting our Scottish customers and finally the Delta bomb attempt which whilst not affecting cruise customers will certainly put people off flying.

It's interesting to see how the different cruise companies have dealt with the flight problems caused by the weather. Cunard I understand are fully refunding all customers who have failed to reach their cruise, whilst MSC tell you to claim on your insurance. I actually agree with MSC - surely if Cunard refund all of their Christmas customers they will suffer a huge loss of income which will only impact on future prices, whereas a travel insurance policy is rarely claimed on and unlike other insurances you haven't got no claims discount to consider.

 What do you think? I'd also be interested to know if you've been caught up in this and whether you have lost money or been put off fly cruises for life.

The first time is the best time....

I'm not convinced - my first day at school, first day in a new job, first kiss are all events that didn't quite live up to expectation and that I can't remember now. So would I spend a fortune to go on the first voyage of a new ship?

I have been on maiden voyages twice and both haven't been quite as they should have been. Silversea's Prince Albert had workmen painting the decking as we walked along and in-suite flat screens not yet installed and MSC's Poesia whilst fully completed had a crew that really hadn't gelled and didn't know where everything was situated.

A maiden voyage should be viewed as a dress rehearsal, don't expect everything to perfect, know that your crew probably only met each other  the week before and that men in tool belts might be lurking around corners. If you go with this attitude  and have had a good deal you won't be disappointed. However if you're someone who expects the best, my advice would be to wait for the 3rd or 4th voyage. Like a new hairstyle a ship needs a bit of time to bed in.

All that remains to be seen in how Queen Elizabeth's maiden voyage goes. Selling out in just 29 minutes and with customers paying well over the odds, I just hope they get everything right.

Read some Cunard Cruise Reviews at Cruise.co.uk.