Balmoral - A Christmas Cracker

Having sailed on Black Watch last year I was prepared for good food, friendly staff and drinks that are as cheap as my local pub. What I wasn’t expecting on Balmoral was a bright and airy ship with great feeling of space, a choice of bars and evening entertainment and better still a great nights sleep. Read on for a review of my 3rd Cruise.co.uk Christmas party

We were lucky enough to given a superior outside cabin on Lido deck  - nice and spacious, plenty of hanging space and shower into the bath. Only a small bath I would have liked a larger one to soak my weary body in but at least I was able to sit down. Compared to Black Watch the cabins were far superior (although BW has now been refurbished.)  I would definatly recommend a higher deck as their was none of the noise I have experienced on lower decks in the past.

A quick refresh later and it was off to dinner  - the menu had a great choice and most of my colleagues chose the steak, which looked fabulous. I  went for the angel hair pasta in a ragout sauce, which did it's trick and warmed me up. The main dining room was lovely - good selection of table sizes and plenty of space. The waiting staff were polite and efficient and won me over when I was too full for desert but fancied something sweet so they bought me a selection of chocolates instead. I hadn't asked for these so it was a very nice touch.

The following morning and it was time to check out Amsterdam - the cruise director sold it to me with 'it's minus 3 degrees, blizzard conditions and blowing a gale' This was the first time snow had fallen in Amsterdam since 1981. I decided I had to take a look but first had a quick look around the ship. She really is a lovely ship, a bright appearance and plenty of space. Lots of people had chosen to stay on board and seemed very content just enjoying a coffee and relaxing.

Amsterdam itself - was blowing a blizzard, I've been 3 times before and have a hectic time at home so decided on the comfy option of the Palms Cafe and coffees with my colleagues for the day instead. There were also plenty of activities on offer - Pilates, a pub quiz and a hair striagtening technique class to name a few. The Pilates carried a

£5 charge which I thought was cheeky though.

Sunday night came and it was Gala Night. A cocktail with the captain was enjoyed and then time for the annual Cruise.co.uk christmas photo. This was my 3rd christmas cruise with the company and definately the best yet. Balmoral was a great venue and my collegues are all good fun. It's hard to fit in 3 days away so close to Christmas but  I can't wait to see where we go next year

Traffic Chaos hits Cruise.co.uk Christmas Party

Even travel agents have trouble getting to their holidays. On Saturday morning we left Redditch at 9am sharp, knowing that Dover port and the M20 were closed and Balmoral not yet in dock. This photo gives a clue as to how the journey ended but read on to find out more..

After a good journey down, a re-route to the A2 and a coach driver threatening to turn back we hit traffic 7 miles from Dover, just outside of Whitfield. ½ an hour and less than ½ a mile later the more crazy of us made the decision that walking was clearly the only way to make the ship.

After 50 minutes of trudging along the side of the road the traffic cleared a bit and the coach caught us up. Feeling a bit stupid I happily got back on a settled down for the rest of the journey. Just 4 miles to go according to the driver.

40 minutes later and we hadn’t moved at all. It was 3.20pm and 3 hours to the new scheduled departure time of 6.30 and it was time to pick those bags up again. Now or never. Caroline Kyle and myself were first off and boy does she walk fast, but is a great travel companion. At 4.50 we walked up the gangplank. Slightly dishevelled, shaking and aching, but at least we made it. The whole company had got off the coach and made a sterling effort, all 50 of us made it on board with a mixture of blisters and ailments.

Our boss (Andrew) had said we were crazy to walk---‘Stay on the coach, they’ll hold the ship’ Normally I listen to Andrew, I’m glad I didn’t. Balmoral sailed at 7 and was 300 passengers light.

The cruise itself was fabulous..read my separate entry and view the photo's tomorrow

Party Time

Well that's it, I'm off for 4 days now and ready to party with my work friends on Balmoral. I just wanted to say thank you to anyone who visits my blog whilst I'm away and thank you for your comments on 'rate my service' You can also comment on on any of the articles, or the blog in general, via add a comment.

I'll be back in the office (possibly a bit jaded) on Monday afternoon, so will update with stories of the weekend then.

Free Wine on Azamara Club

Azamara have some really exciting news for 2010, with  a change of name and the addition of  many luxury benefits.

 From April 2010 you will now have complimentary bottled water daily in your stateroom and public areas, speciality coffees and teas are now complimentary and quality house wine will be provided with your meals. They will also provide a free shuttle bus to the local town when in port and gratuities will now be included in the cost of all cruises. They will still charge a service charge on your bar bill though.

If you've already booked then you will receive all these benefits too - so well done for booking early. And if you haven't booked for next year then do so now. Azamara Club Cruises have advised us that prices are increasing to cover these extras, but that it will take a bit of time to reprice everything, so the sooner you book the better.

Regent price increases on 01 Jan

Just a quick heads up... Regent are increasing all of their prices on 01 January 2010 but for 2011 departures they are adding FREE flights and FREE unlimited shore excursions.

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas to you all. I hope that Santa brings you all that you wish for, although I have a sneaking suspicion that he won't be bringing me an Audi TT, despite my good behaviour all year.

Happy New Year aswell, lets hope 2010 is more prosperous for all of us and that our belts can be loosend once more (and not just from too much turkey)

Have a good one.

Jo

BA Cabin Crew make me SO ANGRY

I cannot believe what the BA cabin crew have gone and done by announcing a 12 day strike over Christmas & New Year and cannot believe that they could be so heartless and insensitive. Not only are they going to cause heartbreak to millions of families around the world, who either cannot travel anymore or will not see their loved ones for Christmas. But they will also cause worry and upset to thousands more whose jobs rely on British Airways sales. Hundreds of small cruise travel agencies and indeed cruise lines will have sold customers British Airways flights as part of a package, they have little or no chance of finding alternative flights now and will presumably have to refund customers. Companies will experience a huge loss of profit at a key time of year. Last year I had a number of friends who lost jobs following the collapse of XL airways and I fear the BA strike will have the same impact.
BA staff are being asked to work harder (staff numbers being cut on each flight) and will get a pay rise in return. This is happening everywhere - although most staff haven't been lucky enough to get a pay rise.
I just hope that when the tuck into their turkey on Christmas day, they spare a thought for the people who face a very bleak New Year.