James' Jetsam - Your Cruise Expert

Is Celebrity Concierge class worth it?

2012-02-27T05:20:00.002-08:00

First off Celebrity themselves are great value for money. Their ships, (especially the new Solstice class), are amazing, (see my review here for the last time I was on the Eclipse), but it just seems to me that the Concierge service they offer isn't worth the money you pay for it; but what do you think?
For those who don't know, Celebrity arrange their cabins a bit different to every one else. You have........
Inside cabins
Outside cabins
Balcony cabins
Concierge class balcony cabins
Aqua class balcony cabins
Suites.

Whilst other cruise lines have a straight step up from their balcony cabins to their suites, Celebrity have an in between stage called Concierge class and Aqua class.

Well first I think Aqua class cabins are great value for money. They're all about health and well being so if you book one of these you get....

Priority seating in Blu, a speciality restaurant created just for Aqua class guests that serves a menu of healthy, 'well being' meals.
Hansgrohe shower panels
Aroma scent selections for your cabin
Complimentary bathroom amenities
Plush Frette bathrobes and slippers
Enhanced personal care products
Daily deliveries of bottled water and teas
A personal spa concierge to arrange Aqua spa treatments
Free unlimited access to the Persian garden and relaxation room
Special programming and wellness classes

So as I've said, with unlimited access to Blu and the Persian Gardens Aqua class is well worth the money. So why am I so down on the Concierge class? Well to start with a Concierge balcony tends to be about the same size as a normal balcony but on average costs about £200 more per person. So if the cabins are the same size you're really just paying that extra for the benefits you get with Concierge and they are.....

Early embarkation and disembarkation
Priority check in
Welcome sparkling wind and fruits in your cabin
Main and speciality restaurant seating preferences
Expanded breakfast room service menu
A pillow menu
An extra hairdryer in the cabin
Complimentary shoe shine service

Now that all sounds very nice and if I was getting it for free I'd be very happy but if if it's going to cost me an extra £200pp on average what am I really getting for my money?
Being able to get on the ship earlier, a choice of pillows in my room and an extra hairdryer?
Spin it any way you want I can't see that being good value for money, can you?
So what's my tip?
If it's a free upgrade feel free to take Concierge class. If you can afford it book Aqua class but otherwise I'd stick to the normal balcony grades and save yourself the money.
I may be wrong though, I've never stopped in a Concierge grade cabin. Have you? What did you think of it? Were the extras worth the money you paid for them? Let everyone know what you thought here.

Happy cruising.

Cruising with your pets

2012-02-24T15:14:00.000-08:00

That's right you can take your pets on holiday with you.
I wrote a post a couple of days ago about how you could take fencing lessons on the Queen Victoria, (you can read the post here), and continuing in the theme of revealing little known features of Cunard cruises; today I'm going to tell you about how you can bring your pets onboard the Queen Mary 2.

When I say pets please don't misunderstand me. I don't mean you can bring a horse onboard with you or even the family favourite hamster. Cunard do however let you bring your dog with you onboard the QM2.
Subject to a few terms and conditions of course.

The first point is to always book early. There is only twelve spaces per cruise and the spaces are allocated on a first come first serve basis so make sure you get in early.
You'll have to pay for them of course and a quote can be arranged through your favourite travel agent when you're booking your own cabin.

They can't stay in your cabin with you. They have to stay in the kennels provided or the exercise yard located just next to them at all times although you can visit them frequently.
This service is only available on the QM2s transatlantic crossings.
Cunard's "Pets on Deck" program, includes adding a range of pet-friendly services and amenities whilst onboard such as fresh-baked biscuits at turn-down; a choice of beds and blankets; and even a QM2-logoed coat. As part of the enhanced program, travelling dogs also receive a complimentary gift pack featuring a QM2-logoed coat, Frisbee, name tag, food dish and scoop; a complimentary portrait with pet owners; a crossing certificate and personalised cruise card. It almost sounds as though the pets are pampered as much as the owners whilst on the ship.

Now I've been on the QM2 a couple of times and I'll admit I've never seen the kennels or even spoken to anyone whose wanted to book a dog onboard with them so I'm genuinely interested in it. Have you ever cruised with a pet or have you ever seen a dog on the QM2? What was the experience like? You'll have to let me know here.

Happy cruising.

Angry Birds theme park ride

2012-02-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this is meant to be a cruise themed blog. I know that and you know that but sometimes I come across a story in the general world of travel that's so fun or interesting that I have to share it with you.
This is one such story!

If you haven't heard of Angry Birds yet then where have you been? What's Angry Birds?
It's the immensely popular download game for smart phones, (I-phones and Android), that's been sweeping the world. It's achieved over 700 million downloads not to mention all the money made from the merchandise released in the form of toys and plush teddys.
The basic principal of the game is to catapult your 'Angry Bird' into a castle defended by your enemies the pigs, knocking down the castle and killing the pigs. The concept for the game is very simple but it's proven to be highly addictive for a lot of people.

For any true fans of the game however a pilgrimage may have to be planned in celebration of the game. The Sarkanniemi theme park in Tampere, Finland has just announced it will be introducing an Angry Birds themed ride.
Miikka Seppala, chief executive of Sarkanniemi has said..........
"We wanted to create a unique themed area and associate it with a strong and well-known brand. The Angry Birds characters were born in Finland but known worldwide by people of all ages. This is a perfect fit for our Adventure Park."

Exact details of what will be included in Angry Bird Land are few and far between at the moment but as soon as the ride is finished you can guarantee I'll be booking my flights over to Finland.
Are you an Angry Birds fan? Would you make the pilgrimage to Finland to see this ride? Or is it going to prove just to remote for most people? What do you think?

Happy cruising.

Fred Olsen Braemar chartered for the Olympics

2012-02-21T05:16:00.002-08:00

It's been announced today that Fred Olsen have had to completely re-schedule their cruises for July and August 2012.
The Braemar has been privately chartered by an unknown agency for the full duration of the 2012 London Olympics.
Three cruises have been affected and Fred Olsen are currently in the process of contacting passengers on these cruises.
They will either be offered a transfer to a different cruise of the same length, with some added onboard credit for their inconvenience, or they will be given a full refund for all monies already paid.

I can't really claim that this is great customer service however. Normally when a private organisation charters a cruise ship they do so at least 18 months in advance so that there wont be anyone booked onboard already and it's not like we haven't known about the Olympics for awhile now. This all could of been arranged a long time in advance. I can only assume that the reason it's taken so long is that Fred Olsen have been haggling with who ever has chartered the ship about the price.
That's great for them but if they knew they were going to be chartering it perhaps they shouldn't have booked anyone onboard in the first place; or did they do this as a back up plan in case the deal fell through? As I said not great customer service.

We're still not sure who has chartered the ship, (Fred Olsen aren't saying yet), but if I had to guess I'd say it will be for Olympic workers or maybe the Police/security forces being drafted in. I guess only time will tell. If you've heard anything more please let me know.

If you're worried that a sailing you're booked on may be affected then contact the travel agent you booked the cruise with for all up to date info.

Happy cruising.

Fencing on the QV

2012-02-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

I was talking to a client of mine today who had just got back from a cruise on Cunards Queen Victoria, (he had a great time by the way). We were discussing all the different things he'd got up to when he mentioned he had taken some fencing classes onboard.
I looked into it afterwards and did you know the Queen Victoria is the only ship at sea to offer fencing lessons?

I think the thing I like about this concept is how 'Cunardian' the idea is. Time was about the only type of exercise you could get on a cruise ship was by playing shuffleboard but these days almost all cruise ships come equipped with a gym and you're increasingly finding bigger and better forms of exercising onboard with the likes of basketball courts, rock climbing walls and even boxing rings.
But Cunard, in typical Cunardian fashion, decided to offer a fencing program! That's just brilliant.
You don't even need to be an expert to take part. They have beginner classes on offer with all the correct equipment and qualified instructors from the British Fencing Association onboard.
The only problem is the classes aren't held in the gym but rather the Queens room, a two storey ball room with viewing gallerys on the second floor so anyone who happens to be walking by can see you making a fool of yourself, (I suppose you've always the option of leaving the mask on though).

The following is a quote from one of the instructors onboard.....
"It is a great way to keep fit. You are taking small steps all the time so it is exercising your leg muscles. It is good for your posture and it is a good mental workout as well. Also fencing is a good social sport - - it is a great way to meet new friends".
Classes are held in small groups of twelve and consist of two tier lessons. The first mandatory lesson will show you the basics, familiarise you with the equipment and give you some important safety techniques. It's the second lesson that sees you pairing off against your fellow classmates on a competitive basis, putting into practise all you've learnt from lesson one.
So the next time you're on the QV and fancy trying something different, why not sign up for some fencing lessons?

En garde!

Norovirus soon to be a thing of the past!

2012-02-19T09:46:00.000-08:00

The Seattle Times recently carried a story regarding how close scientists are to developing a vaccine for the norovirus.
I tend to take stories like this with a pinch of salt as the norovirus evolves so rapidly, (as of right now there are over thirty known varieties), it always seems a little unrealistic to me. Still if the vaccine does work this could be great news for cruisers.

Not just cruisers either. I know cruise ships with the norovirus onboard always seem to be on the news but cruise ship infections only account for 4% of all norovirus infections worldwide. By far the majority of infections occur in hospitals and nursing homes, (60%), with schools accounting for another 4%.
Apparently scientists at Arizona state University think a vaccine, in the form of a nasal spray, may be as close as five years away. The first experimental vaccines worked well in a test last year on a trial of 100 people - About two thirds of those who were given the vaccine were protected from infection from one particular strain of norovirus. The problem is any commercial vaccine would need to cover you for multiple strains of the virus - something that complicates matter quite a bit according to the scientists working on it.

I've always thought it a pity that the norovirus is such a big deal on a cruise ship. If everyone followed basic hygiene and washed their hands thoroughly it wouldn't be a problem. A statistic I found quite disturbing however states that although 83% of people say they do this in reality only 17% do!!!!!
It's no wonder the norovirus is such an issue!

Have any of you ever been on a cruise with a norovirus outbreak? What happened? Did it ruin your cruise?

Happy cruising

Cunards ships crossword puzzle

2012-02-19T01:59:00.000-08:00

It's a cold Sunday moring so I've decided to post another 5 minute crossword for you all.
This one is a list of Cunards ships with the clues in the form of general knowledge questions.

Have fun and happy cruising.

The ships of Cunard crossword puzzle game » crossword creator

Fred Olsen 2013 now on sale

2012-02-18T04:33:00.000-08:00

You may remember a post from a week or two in which I was talking about some exciting new itineraries coming for the west coast of Africa, (if you can't you can read it here).
I've just received a notification that they are on sale as of now!
The itineraries are with Fred Olsen for their 2013 season and their press release said.......

2013 Braemar Canaries fly cruise programme

Our exciting fly-cruise programme to the Canary Islands, West Africa and the Cape Verde Islands is now on sale. The fly cruise programme is currently available with very special launch prices, representing superb value.

These itineraries look really exciting, taking in the Gambia, Senegal and Cape Verde; so for anyone that's been looking out for these or just a cruise to Africa then give me a call now as these prices are going to sell fast!

Happy cruising

Headless Horsemanning and Koalaing

2012-02-15T11:45:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has followed this blog for awhile now will know that I've got a bit of an obsession with internet crazes and phenomena. It wasn't too long ago that I wrote a couple of posts about planking and owling which you can read by clicking here.......
Planking
Owling
And I'd still love to organise a flash mob on a cruise ship but in the meantime I've just read about two new crazes set to be sweeping the internet; headless horsemanning and koalaing, which I will be expecting all my readers to trial the next time they're on a cruise ship!

Headless horsemanning I think is genius but will require two of you. It involves one person hiding their head behind some scenery and the other person to hide everything but their head to give the impression you're a headless ghost, (see above picture).

If you can get a shot of yourselves with a cruise line logo in it I will be awarding bonus points and will publish the picture here.

Koalaing, (I think), much like owling before it is just a lazy mans planking as all it involves is hugging something tightlymuch like a koala - One internet craze I'm not impressed with.

Still if you are a fan of one of these......... Planking, Owling, Koalaing or Headless Horsemanning, send me the pictures from your cruise in your favourite pose and I'll publish it here for you for all to enjoy.

Happy cruising.

Royal Princess sneak preview

2012-02-14T10:54:00.000-08:00

Are there any Princess cruises fans out there? Princess have just sent me a sneak peek of their new Royal Princess which goes on sale 15th March.
Check out the video below to be one of the first to see inside this amazing new cruise ship.

So what do you think? Are you looking forward to seeing it in person?

Happy cruising

Do modern cruise ships need ports of call?

2012-02-13T14:17:00.000-08:00

Cruise ships keep getting bigger and bigger and as they increase in size and passenger capacity the cruise lines look for more and more ways of making their ship the 'one' to see. Have any of you ever considered how far this trend will take us though?

Look at the NCL Epic - It's got a rock climbing wall, a bowling alley, an ice bar, Spiegels, (a restaurant that looks like a Big Top with circus performers in the centre), and the world famous Blue Man Group onboard.
Then look at some of Royal Caribbeans ships. They also have rock climbing walls. Most have them have flow riders, ice skating rinks, mini golf courses and their two biggest ships, The Oasis and Allure of the Seas even have parks onboard! Many Carnival ships have water slides onboard them.

So here's my question; how long before the ship becomes the point of the holiday and not the ports of call? Or are we already there?

If I was being slightly unfair and wanted to summarise the attractions onboard 'traditional' cruise ships the list would include bars, restaurants, a theatre, swimming pools and maybe a cinema. So these new 'mega' ships do have a lot to offer people but are the more traditional passengers be happy with the change?

What do you think? Are the older style cruise ships going to be a thing of the past as a new generation of cruisers comes forward all will there always be a place in the cruise world for the likes of Cunards White star Service?

Happy cruising

Problems with getting married at sea

2012-02-12T14:41:00.000-08:00

What could be more romantic than getting married at sea? A tropical clime, a beautiful dress, (for the girl hopefully), the perfect scenery of a beautiful sea, what could possibly go wrong?
Well hopefully nothing but you do need to make sure you do your research!

I heard about a couple recently who had never cruised before but liked the thought of getting married at sea. They checked which cruise lines offered weddings at sea, picked their favourite one and then booked a cabin. They then told all their family to book cabins as well. Then they called the cruise lines wedding planner which is when the problems started. All without speaking to a travel agent for any advice.
Many, many cruise lines advertise the fact that they offer weddings at sea. What many don't advertise though is that it's only a 'blessing'. For the marriage to be legal you also need to go on land at a port of call, (necessitating additional costs), to get married 'properly' with a license. Very few will conduct a legal marriage onboard.
Now some people might not mind this, using it as an excuse to have two ceremonies, which is fine as long as you are aware of it ahead of time.
But if you just want the one ceremony and you want everything to go off without a hitch make sure you speak to a good travel agent ahead of time and definitely before you book anything, otherwise, (and I'm talking to all the grooms out there), you could end up having to plan, gulp, two weddings!!!

Happy cruising.

112 - Got your number!

2012-02-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

If you booked a cruise to the Med and were having a great time in one of your ports of call when the worst happened would you know what to do? How would you reach the emergency services of the country you're in? Have you even ever thought about it?
In a recent survey only 13% of UK residents knew how to contact emergency services when abroad. Only 13%!

That's not a great statistic, especially when you consider how many Brits holiday in the Med every year. So for anyone that doesn't know the number it's...........

112!

This number will work in all EU member states as well as several other European country's like Croatia, Montenegro and Turkey. The Ukraine has also committed to have this number up and running in any cities that will host Euro 2012 matches.

This number is free to use anywhere in Europe from all fixed and mobile phones and will connect to the Police, fire brigade, ambulance, mountain rescue or coast guard.

Whats more you can call and be answered in English in 24 countries, (besides the UK, Ireland and Malta), which are Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Portugal, The Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Finland, Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

So next time you're on holiday make sure you know what to do in an emergency in a foreign country or city. Just call

112!

Happy cruising

The Bernie Warner bear

2012-02-09T14:07:00.000-08:00

I've reported on some strange cruise stories in the past but this has to be one of my all time favourites!
As many of you may know long time serving Commodore of the Cunard fleet Bernard Warner has retired recently, (last April), and it's been reported recently on his blog by Captain Greybeard, (read here), that it seems like Cunard have come up with a rather unique way of honouring him.

Anyone cruising on a Cunard ship this year will have the opportunity of purchasing a unique Bernie Warner bear.
If you still have fond memories of the Commodore and want to help celebrate his career with Cunard then all you need do is book a cruise on either The Queen Mary 2, The Queen Victoria or The Queen Elizabeth this year and pay $24.99 to own your very own Bernie Warner bear.

Now I've seen some crazy things done to commemorate people in the past but I think this is just an amazing idea. I can't wait till I'm back onboard and can buy my very own Bernie bear.

So let's hear from all you regular Cunardians; will you be buying one?

Happy cruising

Perfect table size for a cruise

2012-02-08T13:52:00.000-08:00

I've been writing a guide of top tips for first time cruisers for awhile now but it occurred to me earlier that I'd never really discussed how to pick a table size on your cruise.
For anyone that has yet to cruise, (and what's taking you so long may I ask), when you book a cruise there will be two main areas you can eat onboard. There will be the self service restaurant or buffet where you can sit where you want and dine any time you want and then there will be the main dining room.
The main dining room will normally have two dinner sittings of an evening, first dining from around 6:00 - 6:30 and second dining around 8:00 to 8:30. If you choose to dine of an evening in the main dining room then you will need to choose your table size and with a couple of exceptions this will be where you dine for the entire cruise. I'll address the exceptions at the end of this post but for now it's best to remember that you need to pick your table size when you book your cruise and each choice has it's own pros and cons.

Tables of two - It's best to remember that no travel agent or cruise line can guarantee you a table of two, these are only ever requested and then granted on a first come first serve basis. The great thing about a table of two is the privacy it will grant you. You wont have to share your table with anyone else and so put up with annoying table companions however it does mean you're a lot less likely to meet anyone on your cruise so you need to be happy in just the company of the person you're travelling with.

As I say, perfect for some, horrible for others. The big downfall to a table of two on a cruise is the fact they're only assigned on a request basis which means if you don't get it you will be randomly assigned any other table size. What I tend to do for my clients is tell them to pick another table size they'd be OK with and then wait list them for a table of two. There chances are slightly reduced but it means they don't end up with something that they really don't want.

Tables of four - This is a table preference I've never tried myself so I'd appreciate some feedback from anyone who's actually tried it. If you're put on a table with another couple that you get on really well with then I can imagine you'd end up having a really, really great time but the thought keeps going through my head of what happens if you're put on a table with someone you just really don't get on with? It could spoil the entire cruise! This is the table size I would always choose/recommend last but as I say I've never been brave enough to try it so if you've different thoughts on it let me know.

Tables of six - My favourite choice for a table size and I think by far the most civilised option. If it happens that you do end up seated with a couple that you don't get on with then there's another couple you can talk to. You're also not shouting over the table, as you have to with the larger tables, to talk to the people on the opposite side of the table. One couple will be to your left, the other to your right. As I said, in my mind the perfect combo.

Tables of eight - Not my first choice on a cruise but miles better than a table of four. This table size has most of the benefits of a table of six, only more so, statistically you're that much more likely to find someone to talk to on a larger table. The only problem I've found with this option is that everyone can end up over talking everyone else to speak to the people opposite them so these tables tend to be a bit more lively, great for some, maybe not so for others.

Exceptions to the rule - As with all things in life there are a few exceptions to the rules, the most prominent being the open dining option. Several cruise lines will allow you to dine in the main dining room on an open dining option which means you can turn up at any time during service and request any table size. The plus to this option is that you can try all the above options to see which suits you best, the downside is that you'll be at a different table each night so you wont get to dine with the same set of people over and over. great if you weren't getting on with them, not so great if you were. This option is also only available on a limited basis so request it with your travel agent early and remember some cruise lines may ask you to pre pay your gratuities to select this option.
If you find that you do end up on a table where you're really not getting on with the other couple you don't need to suffer in silence or hide out in the self service buffet every night. You can ask the head waiter to move you to a different table/table size, just bear in mind this can lead to some awkwardness if you then bump into the original couple and they want to know where you've gone.

Right then, I've tried to be as comprehensive as I can but I'm sure I've missed a few things. If anyone thinks of anything to add please do, or even better, if you have any personal experiences you'd like to share fell free and as always

Happy cruising.

Why no cruises to Africa?

2012-02-06T14:28:00.000-08:00

I've been selling, living, breathing and on occasion dreaming cruises for the last couple of years now and do you know what I've noticed in that time? There are hardly any cruises to Africa.
Sure you'll get the odd World cruise that will take in the occasional port, normally Cape Town in South Africa, and you might get the odd repositioning cruise to take in a port or two but apart from that it's woefully underrepresented in the cruise world.
Why is that I wonder?

Sorry to anyone who's expecting me to answer this question because in truth I don't know; I don't understand it either. I think a cruise around the coast of Africa would be amazing, starting in Morocco and maybe finishing up in Madagascar? With the Suez Canal there's no reason you couldn't do a full circumnavigation of it even, but as I say, until now you've not really been able to book an African cruise.

There you go, did any of you spot it? I said until now. That's because I've just read that Fred Olsen will be unveiling an African cruise program for 2013 sailing between January and April and I for one am very excited about it.

One example of an itinerary I've just been looking a reads.........
Southampton : Funchal, Madeira : Mindelo, Cape Verde Islands : Praia, Cape Verde Islands : Dakar, Senegal : Banjul, The Gambia : Arrecife, Lanzarote : Casablanca, Morocco : Gibraltar : Southampton

It's a 21 night round trip from Southampton. But just think about it!

Dakar;

Senegal;

The Gambia!!!

Surely this can't just be me. There must be others out there who think this kind of itinerary is worth a look and who knows, if it proves popular maybe some other cruise lines will start to offer it.

What do you think though? Would you cruise to Africa? Have you? What was it like?

And why do you think more cruises don't call in there?

Happy cruising

Should kids cruise free?

2012-02-05T12:44:00.000-08:00

I've been working as a travel agent for awhile now and I've lost track of the times someone has said to me
"I'm not paying for my child, he's only two", or, "I'm not paying gratuities for my 10 month old, why should I?"
As a Father myself of a three year old boy and a one year old girl I would never dream of expecting this on a cruise. and I'll tell you why.

I actually think kids use 'more' of the ships resources than adults do. On a typical sea day your average adult may hang out by the pool, go to a bar, (and spend money), go to a spa, (and again spend money), or just relax in their cabin. A child on the other hand will spend a large chunk of the day in the kids club, (for free), taking up the time of several members of staff and I've never yet met a waiter or cabin steward who didn't bend over backwards to keep children happy and entertained. They'll go through the menu with them and if they don't like anything they see I've known them to ask the chefs to prepare something else. Quite a lot of cabin stewards will leave towel animals in the kids cabins for no other reason than to make them smile when they get back. These are just two small examples of the extra lengths cruise staff go to give kids a great holiday.
Anyone with kids will also tell you they create a lot more mess than adults, again causing more work for the waiters can cabin stewards.
And depite all this many parents still expect and demand their children to cruise free and refuse to pay gratuities for them, stating, "oh, but they're only little, they're no bother".
Don't get me wrong, I know how expensive cruising with a family can be so if the cruise lines decide to release free child places on particular sailings, by all means take advantage of it. But don't expect/demand free/cheap child places as a matter of course, It's just not fair to the staff.
And as for the people who refuse to pay the gratuities for their children, I just think that's plain wrong.
What do you think though? What have your experiences been with your children on a cruise ship? D you think they got extra attention from the staff and do you tip for them or not?

Happy cruising.

Liverpool get go ahead

2012-02-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

I can admit when I'm wrong, (I can afford to be big about it as it happens so rarely), and I have to say I really didn't think Liverpool would ever get the go ahead to be used as a turn around port.
I thought there was just too much pressure from Southampton, I didn't think Liverpool council would want to pay back the EU cash grant it was given, I didn't think there'd be enough demand for it and mostly I didn't think the cruise lines would want to.
As I've said though, I was wrong, (mostly).

I've wrote a couple of posts on this subject recently which you can read HERE, for the most part stating my opinion that Liverpool, as a turnaround port, (a port cruises can start or finish in), was mostly useless.
Clearly Liverpool council disagreed with me and have agreed to pay back as much as £9,000,000 of EU cash grants to be given this opportunity.
Only time will tell however on how wrong I really was. Just because Liverpool can now be used as a turn around port, doesn't necessarily mean it will be. All the reasons I've put forward before for it not being used, (it's bad parking, it's lack of amenities, it's distance from the Med and Norwegian fjords etc), still stand.
Well have to see how many cruise lines are willing to relocate to Liverpool now. My guess will be not many.
Cruise and Maritime have already agreed to trial a few cruises from there onboard the Ocean Countess, (passenger capacity only about 800), and I've heard Fred Olsen apparently may try one or two departures from Liverpool as they have in the past but I can't see any cruise lines abandoning Southamton wholesale to relocate up north. It just wouldn't be profitable for them.
Still I was wrong about it being granted turnaround status so I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens next
What do you think? Are you looking forward to sailing from Liverpool again?

Happy cruising.

Fred Olsen drop 5% discount

2012-02-03T16:06:00.000-08:00

Why go direct? What's the point? Why would anyone ever book direct with the cruise line?
"Well you're bias", you might say. "Of course you'd say that, you're a travel agent! All these things are true but even given that I still don't understand why anyone would book with the cruise line direct.

First of all how do you know they're being honest with their recommendations? Of course they're going to recommend one of their ships. What else do they have to recommend? what if a different cruise line would suit you better? They wont tell you that; why would they? But an independent travel agent would.
Will the customer service you receive be any better? No. It might not be any worse but it certainly wont be better. And, whilst I can't speak for other travel agents, I personally think the system at www.cruise.co.uk of just dealing with one person right from the start of your quote through to welcoming you back from your cruise is a great system, (yes I admit I may be being bias again).

However to underscore my point I received an email today from Fred Olsen stating that as of Feb 2012 they will no longer offer any of their customers the customary extra 5% discount for booking their product online direct. The price with Fred Olsen will always be the same if you go to them direct, it's only through travel agents will you still get your discounts.

So what do you do?
Do you always book through a travel agent or have you ever gone direct? What did you think and how did it compare?

Happy cruising

Top tips to avoid tipping

2012-02-01T05:47:00.000-08:00

Tipping.Always a contentious topics wherever keen cruisers gather to chat. Should I tip, shouldn't I?
Should I pre-pay them, should they be added at the end of my cruise?
Should I tip who I want, should I let the cruise line give my tips out?
I've seen the arguments go on and on and on with the people on both sides of the argument bitterly divided.
The truth is there is no easy answer to the topic, tipping always has and always will be, (for the British market at least), a personal subject. Now, I've written at length in the past on both sides of this argument and to be honest I'm still not sure where I stand on it but I thought it might be fun today if I put together a, (fairly), tongue in cheek guide on how to avoid tipping on your next cruise.

1. Tell your travel agent not to include any pre-paid tips when booking your cruise. This should always be the first step in not paying any tips.

2. On the first couple of days of your cruise, once you're onboard, speak to someone on the reception desk and tell them not to add any tips to your onboard account at the end of the cruise. Not all cruise lines will be happy with this but if your persistent and they will honour your request.

3. Try to sit at a different table each night for dinner. If you don't get to know any one particular waiter then he probably won't expect any tips from you.

4. Eat in the self service buffet. If you're serving the food yourself then there's no need to tip anyone.

5. If it's a short cruise consider asking your cabin steward not to enter your cabin. If he/she doesn't do anything you won't need to tip them.

6. If you still want to dine in the main dining room do so. Just remember to eat in the self service buffet on the last night of your cruise as that's when most waiters will expect tips to be offered.

7. Be firm and stand up for yourself. Other cruisers may try to 'guilt' you into tipping but if you don't want to then stand by your principles and don't.

Fell free to add your own tips about not tipping if you have any.

Happy cruising

What is wrong with Homeland security?

2012-01-31T14:03:00.000-08:00

At the risk of never been granted a visa to enter the United States I had to ask the question after seeing this story in the news yesterday. How stupid are the American security services? For those of you who didn't see this in the news yesterday, please keep reading, you won't believe it!
Two friends recently travelling to LA were barred from entering the country after a couple of innocent tweets, (messages posted on the social network site Twitter), to each other about their upcoming holiday.

The one person had tweeted....
" Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America"
He had also said.....
"3 weeks today, we're totally in LA p*ssing people off on Hollywood Blvd and diggin' Marilyn Monroe up"

The first tweet using the term destroy was obviously slang for party and the second tweet was a quote from American TV show Family Guy.

However using the terms America and destroy online in the same sentence had obviously flagged up on someones computer and when the pair arrived in the States they were taken into custody by Homeland security.
They then had to go through five hours of interrogations and being locked up for twelve hours before being sent straight back home.
Although they had tried to explain that destroy was British slang for party one Homeland Security officer commented
"You've really f***ed up with that tweet, boy"
Nice!

What I find particular funny about this story isn't even that they were arrested, I'd expect nothing less from Americas finest, (hmmmm), or the fact that they were held on suspicion of 'committing crimes', but the fact that they were searching their bags for the spades they were planning to use to dig up Marylin Monroe, completely ignoring the fact that she was cremated! You'd think the Americans would know that.

I suppose an argument could be made that they should of known better before travelling to America and should of been a bit more sensible about what they tweeted but you'd only think that if you first assumed all American security agents are a little bit , erm, (what's a polite word for mental), shall we say lacking in common sense.

And the moral of the story?
If you're travelling to America any time soon don't tell anyone you're planning on destroying it - The immigration officers won't find it funny.

Happy cruising

Can I wear a kilt on my cruise?

2012-01-30T14:12:00.000-08:00

You can if you want to. People do.
I've seen loads of people on a formal night wearing their full tartan regalia proudly boasting how these have been their clan colours for the last four or five hundred years -
Except, sorry, they haven't.

It's correct that people have worn kilts in the Highlands since at least the sixteenth century but the idea of clan colours is a modern invention that can't be dated back further than the nineteenth century.

Before then kilts were just designed in whatever tartan the weaver liked the look of. You can find traditional highland paintings dating back to the Seventeenth century with every different Scotsman wearing a different patterned kilt, even when they were related.
In fact the idea of 'clan' colours really began on April 8th, 1815 when the Highland Society of London started naming and registering different tartan patterns and ascribing them to the different clans. The modern 'Royal ' tartan, (Balmoral), was designed by Prince Albert and dates back no further than him.

So in answer to my question, feel free to wear your kilts on a formal night, (I actually think they can look quite smart), but don't spend the evening talking to me about your clan colours when I know for a fact you can't date them back any further than an 18th century fad started by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Happy cruising.

Azuras 2013 world cruise cancelled.

2012-01-29T12:35:00.000-08:00

Lets face it who didn't see this coming? A world cruise on a ship this big was always going to be a mistake.
I'm going to generalise a little bit here but the average age of a world cruiser tends to be sixty five plus, (who else but someone that's retired can cruise for a hundred days or more?).
Older cruisers tend to prefer smaller ships, (see, I said I'd be generalising), and P&O have designated the Azura as their largest 'family friendly' ship.
A cancelled cruise was always on the cards.

The pity is that no one at Carnival head office realised this until people had already started to book the cruise. Fortunately there hasn't been loads of bookings for this sailing, (one reason for the cancellation), but it's still left quite a few people disappointed with P&O at a time when the industry needs to be doing everything it can to keep regular cruisers happy.
In an officially released statement an official from P&O based the decision on 'economic troubles' saying......

"Due to current economic circumstances however, we are seeing a growing preference for shorter cruises which leads us to believe that it could become more difficult to fill an enlarged world cruise programme next year. In order to recognise this situation, we have taken the decision to redeploy Azura from her scheduled world cruise in 2013 and instead operate her in the Caribbean."

Anyone already booked onboard has been offered either a full refund of all monies paid or a free of charge transfer to a different world cruise.

What do you think though? Have you or do you know someone that has been affected by this?
Did P&O make a mistake from the start offering a world cruise itinerary on such a large ship or in different times do you think they could have booked all her cabins?

Happy cruising

Ultimate luxury line to host ultimate food experience

2012-01-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

It's hard to imagine Crystal cruises getting much better. Now that they've done away with onboard credit and moved to the all inclusive option onboard it would seem to some that they're about as good as they're going to get.
Well, to start with I'm sure that's not true. I've never known a cruise line to just sit back and rest on it's laurels; they're always trying to improve things onboard.
However, any passengers booked on the Crystal Serenity this May leaving Dover are in for an extra special treat.
I've just heard that Master Chef Nobu Matsuhisa is coming onboard to serve in person as the Executive chef for his speciality restaurants, the Silk Road and the Sushi Bar, onboard the Serenity.

This world famous chef is planning to give cooking instruction, will be personally preparing dishes of an evening, setting up photo opportunities with the guests and signing autographs.
And all this is free and only just now being announced, probably months after most people have already booked! Well done Crystal.
Crystal cruises have released information as to what Nobu Matsuhisa will be up to and the press release includes..........
· Nightly appearances and mingling with guests in Silk Road and the Sushi Bar.I really can't believe this wasn't publicised months before instead of guests just getting a bonus once they're onboard, still I guess it just goes to show the difference you get when booking with a six star line.

Happy cruising

· Special add-on “Omakase” dinner, with sake and sake champagne pairings chosen by Sake Master Fumio Hazu, the man behind Nobu’s exclusive “living” Hokosetsu sake, plus explanations of each course by both.

· Intimate hands-on cooking class in Crystal’s kitchen for 10-12 guests.

· Cooking demonstration for all guests.

· Autograph signings of “NOBU’S Vegetarian Cookbook” and “NOBU the Cookbook”.

· Photo opportunities.

· Sake tasting with Japanese hors d’oeuvres, hosted by Mr Hazu.

Are Costa Cruises offering a 30% discount to Concordia survivors?

2012-01-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

The internet has been ablaze for the last couple of days over a report that Coast Cruise Lines has offered cruise passengers onboard the Costa Concordia a 30% discount off their next Costa cruise as compensation for the disaster.
Whilst I don't think Coast have exactly been covering themselves in glory over this incident I'm afraid people that this report is completely false, or nearly so anyway.
There was an offer of a 30% discount of their next Costa cruise, however this was an offer sent to travel agents recently for anyone already booked on a Costa Concordia cruise that has not yet sailed.
They were offered this as well as a full refund on the cruise they had already booked on the Concordia.

At no time was this offer made to the passengers that were onboard during the crash. The only statement to come from Costa regarding these passengers stated that they would be refunded the full cost of the cruise, any expenses incurred on board the ship (as some passengers had been on the ship for as long as six days by the time of the disaster), and transportation costs incurred en route to the ship and returning home. Passengers will also be reimbursed any medical expenses as a result of the accident.
Nothing at all has been mentioned about any other form of compensation for them although I understand several groups of passengers have already filed claims for compensation so Costa may well be awaiting the outcome of these.

Happy cruising

Coast Guard audio with Captain Schettino

2012-01-24T13:40:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me will tell you my political views lean so far to the left that I'm nearly falling over and I'm a firm believer in a free and impartial trial but I have to admit after listening to this recording even I was left thinking what a coward. If a lynch mob had of walked by my house at the time I would have helped them carry the rope!
Let's hope when it finally does go to trial the Italian court system manages to find an unbiased jury.

Happy cruising

Tourist attractions in Ceuta

2012-01-23T01:54:00.000-08:00

I was looking up a cruise for someone the other when I noticed a city on the itinerary that I'd never seen before. As it was a fairly standard cruise to the Canaries you can imagine this surprised me., I thought I knew all the ports of call in that area.
The more I read about it though, the more interesting it sounded so I decided to put together a little guide for you of "what is there to do in Ceuta" if you ever find yourself there.

First of what and where is Ceuta?

It's an 18.5sq Kilometre city of Spain but is located on the northern tip of Africa surrounded by Morocco.
It's separated from mainland Spain by the straights of Gibraltar and lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. It's also one of only two Spanish territory's located in mainland Africa.
It has a population of over 75,000 people and whilst Morocco has called for negotiations over the future of the city, in a recent poll 87.9% of the native Spaniards voted to remain part of Spain.

So, it certainly sounds interesting, but what is there to do there?

What with Ceuta first being a Roman Naval base, then being fought over by the Moroccan Sultans, Spanish Princes and Portuguese kings; one of your first stops should be to the City Walls.

The fortifications were originally built by the Byzantines and later improved on by the Portuguese and Spanish in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Artillery emplacements and cannons are placed at different heights to defend the city against outside attackers.

Museo Municipal - The Museo Municipal is the main museum in Ceuta. It only has a small collection of artifacts showcasing the peninsula’s archaeological finds from the Stone Age through to the Islamic era. The highlight is the Phoenician and Roman periods, with ceramics and amphorae in display. It's probably worth bearing in mind though that all the labels will be in Spanish.

Museo de la Legion - One of the really interesting, (and I think), must see stops has to be this museum. It's a museum dedicated to nothing but the Spanish Foreign Legion, (not the French), and memorabilia will include uniforms, weapons and paraphernalia marking campaigns up to the Bosnian War. The big plus to this destination though is that tours are available in English!

So, have you ever been to Ceuta? What did you think? Would you recommend it to others? Would you go again?

Happy cruising.

Complete cruise brochure 2012

2012-01-22T01:43:00.000-08:00

Well, it's finally ready! The complete cruise brochure 2012 is here and should be landing on your door mats as you read this, (or maybe a week or two later depending on Royal Mail).
If Royal Mail are particularly bad in your area though I thought it might be nice if you could have a bit of a sneak preview.
Well, not really a preview. If you take a look below I've added the entire magazine for you so you can read it online.

Enjoy

Open publication - Free publishing

Some fun cruise facts

2012-01-21T03:41:00.000-08:00

Just came across a website this morning with some interesting cruise facts. Not sure I can believe all of them but if they are true then WOW! See what you think...................
1. On an average cruise ship over 400 bottles of champagne are drunk every week!
2. A butler on even one of the smaller cruise ships can walk up to 15km per day. That's the equivalent of 11 marathons a month - Eddie Izzard eat your heart out!
3. An average sized cruise ship will get through 26,300 tea bags per week - Not so impressed with that one as that's roughly what my Nan drinks in a week as well.
4. an average sized cruise ship will also use over 750 litres of ice cream in a week.
5. even if it doesn't do a world cruise a cruise ship can travel up to 73,000 nautical miles per year. That's roughly 6 times around the globe.
6. The largest cruise ship in existence, (Allure of the Seas), has room for 5,400 passengers.
7. 152 cruises are booked every hour in the UK - (although if a few more of you wanted to call me to do it that would be fine as well).
8. On a typical world cruise over 840 bottles of vodka, 312 bottles of gin and 285 bottles of scotch will be drunk.

Strange but true.

Friends of...........

2012-01-18T11:08:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been walking around your cruise ship saw a private meeting advertised in one of the function rooms as The Friends of.............A lot of people have asked me what they are as they've seen them on quite a few cruises, so...........

First of, the friends of Bill W. If you've seen this sign on a few different cruise ships the important thing to know is that Bill W isn't just a really popular person. The friends of Bill W is a code name for alcoholics anonymous so that any members have somewhere to go on a cruise.
So if you've ever been walking past with a cocktail in your hand, somewhere in the middle of the Caribbean, my advice is to not pop in to say hello to Bill.

The Friends of Jimmy K - As you've probably guessed by now, not another meeting for friends of Jimmy. If you see this sign on your cruise it's code for a meeting for people with a substance abuse problem, although I have been told that if there's a Bill W meeting on the ship but not a Jimmy K meeting, (or vice versa), you'd still be welcome to attend.

The last one is a little bit different. The friends of Dorothy isn't for people with an addiction problem. The friends of Dorothy, when seen on a cruise ship, is a discreet sign to let people know it's a meeting for any homosexuals onboard, and again I've been told by past passengers of mine that both men and women are welcome.

So that's all the friends of ....... groups that I know of, hopefully it's cleared things up for you but if you've ever seen any other friends of...... groups onboard feel free to post them below.

Happy cruising

Liverpool's still moaning......

2012-01-17T08:35:00.000-08:00

First off, Liverpool is a great city with a lot to recommend it , (apart from it's football, but hey, who's perfect?). My brother lives in Liverpool and I've spent many enjoyable weekends there. However I'm getting a little bored about listening to Liverpool City Council moan about cruising.

I actually wrote a post about this last year, (if you want, you can read it by clicking here), stating that unless you lived in the immediate area, no one, including the cruise lines, would want to cruise from Liverpool because it would add an extra day to the cruise, (to get to and from Liverpool to your cruise destinations). Again you can read more about it on the previous post.

Speaking in an interview with the BBC the other day, Liverpool City Council leader Joe Anderson admitted he was angry that the decision was taking so long.
At present, Liverpool can only currently accept cruise stop-offs at the city's port, meaning the area misses out on a substantial amount of tourism trade.
The City Council applied for permission to allow cruises to start or end in the city last year and were originally assured that a decision would be made by the end of 2011.
However, opposition from Southampton, which currently hosts much of the cruise ship trade in the UK, saw the decision delayed, leading to Mr Anderson's angered response.
"This is now a restraint of trade issue - I believe, quite fairly and quite strongly, the government are restraining Liverpool from operating a facility that brings in jobs and money to the local economy," he said.
Southampton's main criticism focuses on the fact that public funding was given to the port back in 2007, under the agreement that it would not host cruise holidays.
Royal Caribbean Cruises has already moved to state it has no interest in using the Liverpool port, and will continue to base its cruise ships in Southampton.

- Quoted from our cruise forum website www.cruises.co.uk

So I'm sorry Liverpool, (and anyone living in the Liverpool area), but we don't want to cruise from Liverpool anymore.
Southampton is a lot more convenient, (and quicker), for getting to so many other ports of calls that any Northern port will never be able to offer serious competition, there's a reason Southampton has become so prominent in the modern cruising era.
So c'mon Liverpool council, stop moaning and just accept it, Liverpool is fine as a stop off port for around the UK cruises, but in the long run no one will want to start or finish any cruises there.

Long may Southampton reign!

Cunards Victoria vs P&Os Arcadia

2012-01-16T11:02:00.000-08:00

Which is better? Are you a Cunard fan? A P&O fan? Have you cruised on either of these ships?
Did you think there was much difference in them?
What if I told you there was no difference at all?

The new Queen Victoria was set to enter service in 2005 and had been ordered a couple of years previously by the Carnival corporation.
She was nearly finished when the decision was made that the P&O fleet needed a ship much more than the Cunard fleet so what was supposed to be the Queen Victoria became the P&O Arcadia.

Don't believe me?

Next time you're onboard have a look around the ship and think to yourself Cunard. Have a look at the funnel but imagine it red rather that yellow, (pictured here), the shape is even wrong for a P&O ship!

Make your way down to a pub on F deck called the Rising Sun. It's almost identical to every Golden Lion pub I've ever been to on a Cunard ship.
If you can't wait just have a look at the pictures on this post.
The P&O Arcadia was originally going to be the Queen Victoria - strange but true!

Happy cruising

My random week

2012-01-13T14:10:00.000-08:00

May Nan used to be fond of her little sayings any time anything strange happened to her.
"There's nowt queer as folk"
or
"It takes all sorts".
After some of the people I've spoken to this week I'm starting to think she may have had a point.

It started on Wednesday when an 87 year old lady rang me from her care home. She was on our mailing list and had just received a flyer we had sent out about some Fred Olsen cruises. This was how the conversation went..............

Lady: I want to book two cabins on the Balmoral, one for me and one for my carer to push my wheelchair, will that be OK?
Me: Of course. that won't be a problem.
Lady: It might be, you see you don't understand, she's not quite white.
Me: What!!!????
Lady: You know, she's not quite white.
Me: I don't understand, (I did, but I was still hoping at this point that I'd misheard her).
Lady: She'd be a darkie, you know.
Me: What!!!!???? Is this a joke? Because I don't really appreciate that kind of language.......
(It was at this point I realised she wasn't really listening to what I was saying)
Lady: Do you think they'd let her onboard?
Me: Of course they'd let her onboard, why wouldn't they? I! What? I can't believe I'm having this conversation!
Lady: Oh good, well I might ring back and book two cabins then if you think no one will mind but in future you might want to put that kind of information on your brochures .
Me: ......................?

Any regular Fred Olsen passengers will be glad to know that she's yet to book anything so you wont be meeting her onboard any time soon and no, we wont be adding any 'extra' information to our flyers!

As if that wasn't bad enough I then took this call on Thursday..........

Lady: (A different lady this time). I've been reading your blog for awhile now and really trust your opinion, you seem to be really honest.
Me: (Actually I didn't say anything here but my head did get a lot bigger suddenly).
Lady: I was looking at booking a cruise on the Independence of the Seas but I'd be travelling alone and I'm a bit worried. could you answer some questions I have because I know you'll be honest.
Me: Of course, (at this point I was expecting something along the lines of, "will I be lonely" or will I fit in etc)
Lady: Will I be raped and thrown overboard?
Me: ......................................?

I mean seriously people have there been some news stories about cruising getting more dangerous that I've missed?
Ah well, all's well that ends well and I'm off for the weekend so I'll see you back here bright and early Monday.

Happy cruising

I hate call centres!

2012-01-12T13:29:00.000-08:00

Press one to book a land based holiday.
Press two to book a cruise.
Press three if you already have a land based holiday booked
Press four if you already have a cruise booked
(you have selected a cruise)

Press one to book cruise only
Press two to book a fly cruise
(you have selected cruise only)

Press one to book a cruise with P&O
Press two to book a cruise with Cunard
Press three to book a cruise with Princess
Press four to book a cruise with Fred Olsen
Press five to book a cruise with NCL
Press six to book a cruise with Royal Caribbean
Press seven to book a cruise with Regent Cruises
Press eight to book a cruise with Celebrity cruises
Press nine if you wish to book a cruise with anyone else
(you have entered an invalid option please try again being more careful this time)

Press one to book a cruise with P&O
Press two to book a cruise with Cunard
Press three to book a cruise with Princess
Press four to book a cruise with Fred Olsen
Press five to book a cruise with NCL
Press six to book a cruise with Royal Caribbean
Press seven to book a cruise with Regent Cruises
Press eight to book a cruise with Celebrity cruises
Press nine if you wish to book a cruise with anyone else
(you have selected to book a cruise with Fred Olsen)

Press one if you have never travelled with Fred Olsen before
Press two if you have travelled with Fred Olsen in the last five years
Press three if you have travelled with Fred Olsen before but it was over five years ago
(You have selected option one; never travelled with Fred Olsen before)

Press one if you want to book a cruise for 2012
Press two if you want to book a cruise for 2013
(you have selected option two; a cruise for 2013)

If you intend to pay whatever price we quote you please press one
If you want to book a cruise in the next few days please press two
If you're just shopping around please hang up and stop bothering us
(you have selected option one; Mwahahahaha)

You will now be transferred to one of our hardly trained operators, (after listening to five minutes worth of our terms and conditions first), who will then proceed to ask yu all the above questions again.

You have a nice day now.

So come on people, if you hate call centres as much as me lets here your horror stories here and don't forget, (yes I know I'm blowing my own trumpet), I've one direct telephone number and one direct email address I can be contacted on.

Happy cruising

Solo discrimination by the cruise lines

2012-01-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

I'm actually a little surprised that it's taken me this long to write about how badly single cruisers are dealt with by the various cruise lines. I guess as I've never tried cruising solo it's sort of flew under my radar a little. So for all the cruisers out there that cruise on their own I apologise it's taken me this long to comment on it. As you've guessed by now from the title of this post I definitely believe anyone trying to do a solo cruise gets the short end of the stick. But how bad is it really?Playing Devils Advocate I'd probably have to admit that the cruise lines are right in applying a single supplement. If a single passenger wasn't charged any extra for booking a double cabin then the cruise lines would lose out in monetary terms as single cruisers will obviously spend a lot less onboard.

I know you're all probably saying "tough" right now; "who cares if the cruise lines lose a bit of money?" But the thing is if you had your own cruise line you'd probably do the same as well.

What I do think is unfair is how last minute deals are priced and how onboard credit is worked out.

The onboard credit first. Lets pretend a cruise is priced at £1000 with £100 onboard credit per person. That means a couple booking the cruise will pay £2000 but get £200 onboard credit. Now most cruise lines will charge a 100% single supplement so the solo traveller, for the same cruise, will stay pay £2000 but only get the £100 onboard credit as it's calculated per person.
How is that fair!!!!
If they're being made to pay the same as the couple why don't they get the same amount of credit as the couple? All cruise lines calculate on this basis and I've always viewed it as nothing short of theft.

The second thing I take issue with is last minute availability.
On a late deal quite often the cruise line will dramatically reduce the price of the cruise, (this is to make sure there are people onboard booking their shore excursions and spending money in their shops and bars etc). But if they're so desperate to get people onboard why charge a single supplement at all for last minute deals?

So, whilst I can see why cruise lines charge a single supplement for cruises if it was up to me I'd abolish supplements for last minute deals and calculate the on board credit a lot more fairly.

Being as honest as you can, what do you think of single person supplements. Fair or not? How would you try and make things fairer for all?

Happy cruising

Freds do it again!

2012-01-10T08:41:00.000-08:00

Fred Olsen cruise lines have been making a lot of changes recently that I've not been happy with. First of all they introduced automatic gratuities to all their cruises, then they did away with all their casual dress codes. The latest change however just seems to be penny pinching at it's worst with no benefit or even thought given to the customer.
At the moment if you are a past guest of Fred Olsens they will give you 5% off the next cruise you book with them as long as you book it six months in advance. That system has been in place for as long as I can remember. and is applicable to anyone who has cruised with them in the last five years.
However, from the 01st March 2012 this has now been changed.

If your Oceans level, (as their membership scheme is called) is blue then, although you will still get your 5% discount; to be applicable for it your cruise must be booked at least twelve months in advance.
If your Oceans membership level is silver then your cruise will have to be booked nine months in advance.
It's only the gold level members that can still book their cruise six months in advance and still get their 5% discount and as always if you book a last minute cruise that departs in less than six months no one gets a discount.

The thing is, I can't really see the point of it, (unless it really is penny pinching). It's not like the Oceans membership club has been re-structured so that some people benefit and other people are slightly worse off. The whole thing appears to have been designed to make their past passenger benefits worse.
But what do you think?

Happy cruising

Maritime superstitions

2012-01-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

I've just finished watching Sky Ones new drama series Treasure Island, (I recorded it over the Christmas break on V+). I mention it as it was quite good and I recommend you all see it, (even if the ending is completely different to the book and nowhere near as good), but it's also the inspiration for todays post.
As you can imagine there was quite a lot of ships, sailing and sailors involved in the story and one of the sailors happened to mention some maritime superstitions he held.
It gave me the idea for todays post; I thought it might be fun if I put together a top ten list of some of the stranger maritime superstitions/customs that sailors/crew/passengers have held over the years.

1. It's unlucky to depart on a cruise/voyage on a Friday as that's the day Jesus was crucified.
2. Black travelling bags are unlucky for a sailor
3. Not sure how I'd manage this one - Avoid red haired people when boarding a ship as they bring bad luck; the only way to avoid this would be to speak to them before they can speak to you.
4. Flowers are unlucky on a ship as they could later be used for a funeral wreath.

5. Scottish law one required all fisherman to wear a solid gold earring that could be used for funeral expenses if they ever fell overboard and were washed ashore.
6. Pouring wine on the deck will bring good luck as it will be seen as a libation to the Gods of the sea.
7. The old saying the sea will have what the sea wants led to many sailors never learning to swim. If they were going to drown they would.
8. dolphins swimming along the side of the ship will bring good luck but killing one will bring very bad luck.
9. It's unlucky to have an umbrella on a ship.
10. It's unlucky to mention the word drowned at sea.

Happy, (lucky), cruising

P&O customer service

2012-01-07T07:13:00.000-08:00

Far too often here you read about all the examples of bad customer service that I hear about from time to time with the different cruise lines. The thing is though we all know how great the service is onboard a cruise ship, so rather than moaning again I thought I'd share an example of some of the best customer service I've ever experienced whilst on a cruise.
As any regular readers will know I was recently onboard the P&O Arcadia for a mini cruise to Bruges and back for our works Christmas party, (I'll get a review posted soon I promise).
Anyway on the second night a bunch of us got together for a mini poker tournament, (I came second but still think I was robbed for anyone interested), with just a small £10 stake per person.
Having come second I owed the winner Faz £10 but being on a cruise ship didn't have any money with me. I could've paid him when we got back to work as he sits next to me and wouldn't let me forget it but someone suggested I buy him some casino chips with my onboard credit, (Faz
was fine with this by the way). Now I was convinced you couldn't spend your onboard credit in the casino and have told a lot of my customers the same thing but we didn't think it would do any harm to ask the casino attendant.

She was a really nice lady who confirmed that yes I could use my onboard credit to buy casino chips. I still wasn't sure so I asked her to double check and she said definitely yes. So I took out £10's worth of casino chips and settled up with Faz.

You can guess what happened next can't you?
I got my bill through in the morning and it showed as £10 being spent in the casino but didn't show against my onboard credit. As it was only £10 I decided to just leave it and chalk it up to experience but as I was disembarking I happened to be passing the reception desk anyway so decided to mention it just to see what they'd say.

As I'd guessed the casino attendant was wrong and you can't spend your onboard credit in a cruise ship casino however they quite happily refunded me the £10 plus, and the is the bit I was amazed by, they gave me back all my unspent onboard credit as an apology!!!!
£25 better off and over the moon with P&O customer service I disembarked the ship.

Well done P&O!

Happy cruising.

Why is New Zealand called 'New' Zealand?

2012-01-06T11:59:00.000-08:00

I was booking a cruise to New Zealand for someone yesterday when he made a bit of a joke saying"when are they going to start calling it Zealand, it's not really new anymore".After dutifully chuckling for a second I did start thinking to myself, where is Zealand?
York and New York I get, I know Orleans and New Orleans even, but I'd never heard of Zealand; so where is it?
Well as it turns out there's no such place!
As you can guess my first port of call for research was Google. I typed in Zealand and straight away came up with an answer. Zealand is the largest island of the coast of Denmark so I naturally assumed New Zealand was named by settlers from that island. The problem with that idea though is that it's dead wrong!
The name actually comes from two different sources. The original name for New Zealand was Staten Landt, named by one Abel Tasman in 1642 who sighted New Zealand but assumed it was part of the Southern tip of the American continent.

In 1645 Dutch cartographers then renamed the Islands Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch provence of Zeeland, (Dutch for Sealand). The name that stuck though was New Zealand which is the anglicised version that the British explorer James Cook used on all of his maps.

So there you go. Nothing to do with Denmark at all but instead it comes from a Dutch cartographer and a British Explorer.
Strange but true.

If you want an interesting fact about New Zealand for your pub quiz or the next time you're cruising there then how about this one:
New Zealand was the last major land mass to be settled by humans. We didn't arrive there till mid 1250-1300 AD when it was settled by explorers from Eastern Polynesia.
So it's true what they say, New Zealand really is at the ends of the Earth!

Happy cruising.

Cruise consultant of the year 2011

2012-01-04T02:46:00.000-08:00

Hi all, I'm back. did you miss me?The sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed that I haven't posted anything here since the beginning of December. You don't need to worry, I'm fine, I've just been enjoying a well deserved break.So what have I been up to you ask?
Well firstly you may be wondering why I've been off since the 6th of December.
Travel agents, (and us cruise travel agents in particular), tend to be busiest around the summer holidays when all you lovely readers are sailing off on your summer holiday cruises. Consequently my boss tapped me on the shoulder mid November to let me know I still had most my holiday still to take. Hence one months holiday in December.

Still I wasn't just lounging around at home, (at least not all of December). If you're a follower of our forums at www.cruises.co.uk you'll already know I was shortlisted for an industry wide award for Cruise Consultant of the Year 2011. The top three finalists were invited down to Southampton for a lunch onboard the always gorgeous QM2 with the award ceremony being held just before.
As you've probably already guessed from the title of this post I won so I'm now officially the best cruise consultant of 2011, (don't worry my head hasn't gotten too big).
The picture on the right is me with one of our forum members who was off on a cruise that day that I met up with whilst onboard, (hi Richard).

A few days after the award ceremony I was back down in Southampton for a mini cruise onboard the Arcadia, (check back soon to see what I thought of her), to Bruges and back.
After that Christmas and New Year were upon me, (with all my shopping being done on Christmas Eve again), so it ended up being a really nice break.
I'm back now though so you'll be pleased to here normal service will be resumed and you can start checking back daily for all the latest in cruise news, facts and trivia.

Have a great 2012 everyone and as always, happy cruising.

Gon' Fishin'

2011-12-06T11:16:00.000-08:00

Well not quite. I've been fishing once in my life and found it to be the most boring thing ever invented by man so have no plans to do it again. I am however going to be away for awhile as I'm now off work until the 3rd of January 2012.

For the curious I haven't a lot planned.
There's a mini cruise to Bruges on the 15th with work for our Christmas party, (it's on the P&O Arcadia this year), and I'll be down in Southampton on Monday having lunch onboard the QM2, (I've been shortlisted for cruise consultant of the year so I'll have to let you know how that goes), but the rest of the holidays I'm planning on spending with my lovley wife and children, taking a well deserved break.

Pop back on Tuesday to find out about how I did in the cruise consultant of the year competition, (I'm down to the final three so fingers crossed for me), otherwise I'll be back in the new year stunning you all with a new set of interesting or strange, (sometimes both), set of cruise stories/facts/gossip/rumours/tips.

Until then have a Merry Christmas and happy new year.

Which is better?

2011-12-01T06:34:00.000-08:00

I was talking to one of my regular cruisers the other day and we were discussing the various merits and differences of the six star luxury cruise lines. As you can imagine, the service and quality you'll get from any ship that labels itself as six star will always be excellent but the one thing we couldn't agree on was onboard credit compared to free drinks and excursions onboard.

If you've never travelled on one you may not have realised but different six star luxury cruise lines have different ways of doing things.

Some of the lines will offer their guests all inclusive drinks onboard and unlimited free shore excursions. Others will offer free drinks at dinner but you have to purchase your own shore excursions. Still more don't offer any free drinks or shore excursions but will give their guests large amounts of onboard credit to purchase what they want.
The point of todays post is to ask the question, "Which is better?"

I know a lot of people, for obvious reasons, are fans of the free drinks and free shore excursions. Once you get onboard there's no bills to pay and you can relax in the comfort of knowing it's all taken care of. The problem is though if you're not a big drinker or prefer to do your own thing on shore then you're really just subsidising other peoples cruise with your cruise fare and spa treatments will still need to be paid for.
That's why some cruise lines think it's a lot fairer to offer on board credit to their guests. You can then spend your money on what you want; if you're a big drinker you can spend it on your bar bill; if you're an explorer you can spend it on excursions and if you just want to relax you can spend it on the spa treatments.

So which would you prefer, the stress free, no worries approach where you know everything is included?
Or the pay as you go, but spend your money on what you like rather than what the cruise line wants you to option?
Let me know here

Happy cruising.

What's wrong with Titanic?

2011-11-29T02:47:00.000-08:00

Obviously I mean the movie versions, not the actual ship, we all know what was wrong with her!I was channel surfing the other night when I came across a really interesting program about all the historical inaccuracies in the different Titanic movies filmed since the disaster.
Unfortunately I only caught the last 10 minutes or so and I haven't seen it repeated yet but the bits I did learn where fascinating!
Apparently one of the biggest inaccuracies in James Camerons Titanic was the fact that lifeboats were being sent out only half, or a quarter full and that there weren't enough life boats onboard for all passengers. This is true but the reason for it isn't.

Back then the shipping lanes in the Atlantic were a lot busier than they are today. There could be scores of ships out on the Atlantic at any one time so there just wasn't a need to have enough lifeboats to cover every single passenger. Instead the point of a lifeboat was to ferry passengers from one ship in distress to the 'rescuer'. This was also the reason why first class passengers were being sent out first on there own; no one thought there was a need.
The trouble came because the bridge crew had badly misjudged the distance of the next ship, so as we all know the expected help never came. As soon as this was realised they started to fill the life boats but by then it was a case of too little too late.

The other statistic I saw was the levels of casualties in the demographics onboard. There's a scene in James Camerons Titanic where the ships officers actually go to the length of locking third class passengers below decks to stop them getting out; again complete fiction.
In actual fact it was the male, second class passengers who were the worst hit. Women and children, as you would expect, were obviously first, but there was a concerted effort to get the underprivileged, poor, third class passengers to the life boats ahead of others. I'm not sure if this was due to pity, or good old fashioned British politeness, "no, no, I insist, you first", but they definitely weren't locked away.
Second class passengers didn't have the clout of first class passengers to demand a place and no one felt sorry enough for them like the steerage passengers to give them a place!

As I said at the start I found this program fascinating and it's a pity I missed so much of it so if any of you have any other interesting Titanic facts feel free to share them below.
Or if you saw the program and know what it was called or when it will be back on, please, please let me know.

Happy cruising.

Fjord cruises in southern climes

2011-11-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

What do you think of when someone tells you to picture a fjords cruise? Snow?
Ice?
Glaciers?
Rugged Nordic beauty?
Gushing rivers and waterfalls?
Arctic/Scandinavian wildlife?
Would you think about Chile, (the country, not the food)?
Did you even realise that Chile has it's own set of fjords with cruises going in and out of them as well?

It's the perfect destination for any cruisers who find themselves with a bit of a "been there, done that" syndrome as it rarely crops up on a cruise lines itinerary but when it does it's well worth going for.

The scenery will be similar to what you might expect from a Nordic fjord cruise but with a more 'tropical' slant to everything. You'd be swapping Norwegian for Spanish and polar bears for penguins but as well as that you'd be getting some of the most stunning scenery South America has to offer.

The other great option with this cruise is you have the option of staying over longer and seeing sights such as the Iguazu falls or Machu Picchu! Both of them destinations in their own right but a huge bonus when you combine them with a cruise.

So what do you think? Have you ever cruised the Chilean fjords and how would you compare them to Norways fjords?
Let me know here.

Happy cruising

Cruise line wordsearch game

2011-11-27T01:43:00.000-08:00

It's a Sunday morning and I've arrived at the office a bit to early which means I didn't have anything to do for an hour or so. Because I'm such a generous soul I thought I post a bit of a cruise game to while away 20 minutes of your time today. It's free cruise wordsearch game that you can solve online so have fun and let me know what you think.
Happy cruising.

wordsearch game » word search generator

What are Cunard cruises like?

2011-11-26T02:44:00.000-08:00

I've been writing a series of posts lately aimed at first time cruisers to introduce them to the different cruise 'brands' available to them. What they can expect onboard; what the cruise is like, the kind of people they'll find onboard etc.
Today's post will be aimed at what Cunard cruise lines are like.

Cunard currently have three ships in their fleet.....
The Queen Victoria, (2,000 guest capacity),
The Queen Elizabeth, (2.058 guest capacity), and
The Queen Mary 2, (2,620 guest capacity) - This is my favourite ship in the fleet and my second favourite ship at sea!

Cunard have to be one of my favourite cruise brands; I just love a Cunard cruise. They're also one of the oldest with their first ship completing a transatlantic crossing back in 1840.

In fact did you know it was a Cunard ship that carried the horses that were used in the Charge of the Light Brigade?
(Click here for a history of Cunard).

What confuses a lot of first time cruisers about Cunard is that they're an American cruise company.
This is true and you'll find your onboard account will be in dollars, however it won't be an American cruise experience you have onboard. The experience you have will be traditionally 'British'.
The example I always like to give to people looking to compare Cunard to something is the movie Titanic with Leonardo Di Caprio in it, (ignoring the whole iceberg and sinking thing obviously). The scene where he comes down the stairs and everyone is wearing ball gowns and tuxedos is perfect for picturing a Cunard formal night and that's where Cunard really come into their own.
The Cunard experience can be summarised as formal, traditional and elegant. This obviously means they're not suited to everyone though. If you're looking for a holiday where you can just chill out and relax in your jeans Cunard may not be for you. Don't get me wrong the days can be extremely relaxing, just chilling by the pool or whiling a couple of hours away in the library, but the nights are definitely for those you like to get dressed up and enjoy the finer things in life.
They also have one of the best guest speaker and lecture programs at sea so not only can you come back from your holiday really relaxed, you can come back slightly smarter than when you left as well!

So, the Pros of a Cunard cruise...........

Very elegant, traditional and British onboard.
Some of the most beautiful ships at sea.
There's a tremendous sense of history to a Cunard cruise going right back to the early days of cruising.
A great lecture program.
Perfect for celebrating one off or special occasions like milestone birthdays, retirements etc.
The QM2 has the only planetarium at sea.

Cons of a Cunard cruise...............

Some people can find Cunard a bit too formal sometimes, they may find it a bit 'stuffy'.
Because they're American owned you will find your gratuities are automatically added onto your onboard account;
and a 15% service charge will be added onto your bar bill, (this is standard practice in America).
They don't have an open dining service, just a fixed dinner sitting of early or late dining.
The ships are very traditional and don't have many of the modern, 'fun', features of other cruise brands.

Feel free to share your own experiences of Cunard below or ask any questions about the cruise line.

Happy cruising.

Free carparking for your cruise

2011-11-25T07:41:00.000-08:00

How many times have you seen a cruise advertised with free carparking only to find out that the 'offer' isn't applicable to what you want.Or have you seen a cruise suddenly advertised with free carparking only to find the price of the cruise has gone up by the exact amount the carparking would have cost you?
Well, it doesn't always have to be that way.
I joke you not, I've seen the above examples happen more times than I count. As well as that I've seen cruise lines with ridiculous T&C,s and hidden fine print regarding their free carparking as well as offers with the deal with the 'free' carparking being hundreds of pounds more than the offers without it.

With all this going on it's nice to know some companies do it right, (at least in my opinion!)

I was chatting to a rep from Voyages of Discovery the other day talking about different issues with cruises when the above subject came up. Here's what he had to say.
If you book a Voyages of Discovery cruise sailing out of the UK you will always get free carparking with your cruise.
It doesn't matter if you book it 18 months before hand or the day before. It doesn't matter if you book an inside cabin or one of their top suites, you still always get free carparking with your cruise.

I think that kind or reliability is nice from a cruise line and speaks volumes about them, what do you think?

Happy cruising.

Parasailing from a cruise ship.

2011-11-23T06:48:00.000-08:00

Can you parasail whilst on a cruise? Not anymore I'm afraid.Sadly there have been several deaths recently relating to shore excursions where parasailing was offered and as such many cruise lines are choosing to remove it as an option whilst you're in their care.

A 60yr old Celebrity cruises passenger was killed and her 34yr old daughter injured after a parasailing accident whilst on a shore excursion. Following this incident four cruise lines immediately took the decision to remove parasailing from their shore excursion options.

The companies that have banned parasailing are Royal Caribbean, Celebrity cruises, Norwegian Cruise lines and Carnival, pending an investigation by the US coast guard and half a dozen other agencies.

The problem stems from the fact that whilst there are over 1,300 parasailing companies operating worldwide there are almost no regulations or legislation controlling them. Whilst I'm sure there are many reputable companies out there you're just never sure who you're booking with.

Strangely, Holland America Cruises have decided to continue to offer parasailing as a shore excursion option, but only at their own privately owned island, Half Moon Cay and only to be operated 'in house'.

What do you think though? Whilst it's very sad what happened, is this an over reaction from the cruise lines or do you think they're justified in their reaction?
I guess only time will tell.

Happy cruising.

Can you cruise if you're a Sikh?

2011-11-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

Probably not, which is a shame I think. At least you can't if you're an orthodox Sikh anyway.I had an enquiry about this a day or two ago about cruises from Southampton and I thought I'd share with you what I'd learnt today.
Before I tell you why they can't cruise a quick bit of info might help about what makes a Sikh orthodox.
An orthodox Sikh will follow the five Ks or the Kakars. They are -

Kesh - Uncut hair
Kanga - Wooden comb
Kara - Metal Bracelet
Kachera - a specific type of cotton underwear
Kirpan - A strapped, curved sword.

Although adhering to these isn't necessary to call yourself a Sikh they are the articles of faith for anyone who wants to consider themselves an orthodox Sikh so they have to have these with them at all times.
Have you spotted the problem yet?

You obviously can't take a knife onboard a cruise ship. Or can you?
I asked around and whilst most cruise ships gave me a flat no P&O, Cunard and Princess have said it was nothing to do with them. They wouldn't forbid anyone taking a knife onboard, instead they'd leave it up to the ships security. If they're happy to let you onboard then so are P&O etc
The issue then obviously becomes however if they do try to take it and you don't want to board you're not allowed any kind of refund. Not sure I'd be happy leaving it to the last minute to find out if I could cruise but it was still the most positive response I had.

What do you think? Is this a form of discrimination from the cruise lines or just a safety issue; I can kind of see both sides point of view.
I know I wouldn't be happy with the ides of people onboard carrying knives but by the same token I wouldn't like to think of a group missing out.
What side of the fence do you fall on?

By the way, the above is all about cruise only options from Southampton, I couldn't find any information at all about flights. Does anyone know how orthodox Sikhs get around this?

Happy cruising.

Are cruisers too unrealistic?

2011-11-21T10:53:00.000-08:00

Cruisers, on the whole, are some of the loveliest customers I've ever booked anything for in my life.
And believe me, coming from an insurance background I'm more than used to being shouted at by irate customers.
So my general opinion of you all is that you're fantastic.
There, my backs covered now and the reason I say that is that I've noticed some peoples expectations of their cruise can be a little on, shall we say, the high side.
It's by no means all cruisers, but by the same token it's not really a small minority either.
Is it something particular to cruise holidays or do you think people are like this for all their holidays?
I wrote a post last year, (read it here), that was a bit tongue in cheek about some general complaints people had made to their travel agents.
The below complaints are genuine complaints that I've received, personally, from cruise passengers.

"I got onboard and the wood was fake plastic, not real wood at all. It ruined the effect of the whole cruise. Can I have a full refund please?"

"I had a free upgrade from an inside cabin to an outside cabin but the outside cabin had an obstructed view; who do I complain to?

"The person next to my balcony was smoking, can I have some compensation?"

"I booked a suite cabin but on our table for dinner there were people who had booked inside cabins. Is this normal?"

"The cruise line are making me print my own tickets out, it wasn't like this five years ago!"

As I said, all of these are genuine complaints from people I've personally booked cruises for. Whilst some of the above may sound a bit extreme it always amazes me the things people do complain about.
E-tickets;
luggage labels;
smoking policies onboard, (for and against);
meal sittings, the list goes on and on.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not moaning about my passengers. Even a quick glance to your right on the Rate My Service section of my blog will show you that I'm happy to bend over backwards to help anyone. It's just some of the the thinks cruisers moan about either sound really trivial or should of been researched before they booked the cruise.

Whilst I try to give as much information to someone as I can before they make a booking and I'll answer all their questions that I can, I can't cover everything.
Do you think people should do some research about the cruise they're doing before they contact a travel agent? I'm always amazed that people moan about cruise line policies that should have been researched before booking; like smoking on balconies; like set dining times; like dress codes, but people quite often book the cruise, pay for it, get onboard and then moan about things that they should of checked first.
What do you think? Should the responsibility be with the travel agent who should cover absolutely everything possible or should cruise passengers accept some responsibility for the cruises they book?

Happy cruising.

Flotsam, Jetsam and............

2011-11-18T04:56:00.000-08:00

Someone emailed me a few days ago saying how useful they found my blog, especially the section for first time cruisers. The one thing they didn't like about it though was the title of James' Jetsam as they weren't sure if Jetsam was my surname or not and if it wasn't what it actualy meant.
Todays post then is for anyone who's been wondering the same thing.

Jetsam is part of a ships superstructure, cargo or equipment that is deliberately thrown overboard and either sinks or is washed ashore - Hence the title of my blog James' Jetsam - things that have come from a ship.

There are then three more terms, according to marine salvage definitions for items that have come from a ship, which are.....

Flotsam - any part of a ship or it's cargo after a wreckage that is floating on the sea/ocean.
Lagan - is cargo that has sunk to the bottom of the sea/ocean but is normally marked by a buoy for later retrieval by it's owners and
Derelict - is cargo that is also at the bottom of the sea/ocean but which no one has a chance of recovering.

So now you know what flotsam and jetsam is and where the title of my blog comes from.

Happy cruising.

Too religious to cruise?

2011-11-17T12:58:00.000-08:00

How religious are you? Too religious to cruise? Does such a thing even exist?
I obviously don't mean that a religion has made it a sin to travel on a cruise ship, (at least I don't think so); what I mean is do you have to schedule your cruises around any religious festivals or holidays?
Well, not any more you don't.

I've just heard that Princess cruises offer celebrations onboard for religious festivals for several major religions. As well as that inter-denominational services are conducted every Sunday by the ship's staff (the Captain or cruise director, etc.).

Princess cruises will also place guest Catholic and Jewish clergy onboard for the following religious holidays, (Catholic clergy will perform both Catholic and Protestant services when onboard).
I'm not sure how happy some people would be with a Catholic priest conducting Protestant services, but on the other hand it could be seen as a nice sign of religious co-operation.

Easter Sunday
Christmas
Passover
Yom Kippur
Rosh Hashanah

Princess cruises website does ask Jewish cruise passengers to note that during Passover, there will be a Seder dinner held onboard. The Rabbi will determine when the Seder(s) will be held. For Hanukkah, a Rabbi is not placed by Princess.
However, services are available and led by Jewish passengers with wine, Challah bread, prayers and Menorah provided by Princess.

So how religious are you? Have you ever missed a cruise due to a religious festival at home? And would this news make you more likely to celebrate it at sea?

Happy cruising.

Cruising all year round

2011-11-13T04:07:00.000-08:00

You all know the feeling. You've just got home from your cruise, the post is waiting to be be opened, (and you know there are bills waiting for you), you need to unpack and wash all your clothes and you want nothing more than to capture that feeling of being back onboard.
Well know, thanks to Princess cruises you can, at least in part.

Princess have just released their own internet radio station aimed to attract cruisers to them all year round.
The website will offer three choices of 'personalised tracks' along the themes of Relax, Rejuvenate or Escape Completely.
Their listeners will be able to choose between these options by sliding a controller on screen shaped like a Princess ship.

The music featured on the site will be heavily based on the 60's, 70's, and 80's and will include artists such as.......

John Mayer;
Bonnie Raitt;
Bill Withers;
Michael Buble;
Marvin Gaye;
Elton John and
Paul McCartney, as well as many others.

Princess cruises, as far as I know, are the first cruise line to offer a radio station. I'm sure plenty of cruise ships offer internal radio stations whilst your onboard, but this is the first 365 day a year one I've heard of.
What do you think then? Will you be tuning in? If you want to the website is www.princess.com/radio

Happy cruising.

How can you cruise only half the Panama Canal?

2011-11-12T04:43:00.000-08:00

Cruising down the Panama Canal has to be on the bucket list of every serious cruiser out there, normaly from Fort Lauderdale to L.A or vice versa.
For people who either don't want to or just don't have the time most cruise lines also offer the option of only cruising half the canal so you can say you can experience it without it taking up a good chucnk of your holiday.
But here's a question for you. In a great big cruise ship, how do you cruise only half a canal, it's not like you can turn around half way through?
Is it?
Well actually that's exactly what you do.
The canal itself, a man made construction finished in 1914 is actualy a set of three interconnecting lakes -
The Miraflores lake,
The Pedro Miguel lake and the
Gatun lake.

The three lakes, with the Gatun lake being closest to the Atlantic, are connected by a seiries of locks of the same name enabling ships to pass through.

Whenever you see a cruise line advertising a partial transit cruise through the Panama canal what will happen is that you'll cruise up the Panama canal to Gatun lake where the cruise ship will then turn around and exit the canal by the same point.

Happy cruising

Royal Caribbean change age of of drinking

2011-11-11T08:58:00.000-08:00

I wrote a blog last week about how I thought Royal Caribbean was perfect for families with small children or adults on their own but were sadly lacking for the 17-21yr old age bracket.
This is because at the age of seventeen the average British teenager is far too old for the kids clubs but won't be allowed to drink on any of Royal Caribbeans cruise ships until they turn 21, (you can read the full article here).

Now I'm not claiming responsibility for their policy change, I'm just saying it's a bit of a coincidence it happens a week after I write about it.

Hmmmmm, yes I know, I've got a big head!

The good news for Brit travelers is that Royal Caribbean have now brought there drinking policy in line with the countries that they sail from meaning that if you are on a Royal Caribbean cruise sailing out of Europe, South America, Asia, Australia or New Zealand you will now be able to drink onboard from the age of 18 without needing a waiver from your parents, (18yr olds can currently drink on Royal Caribbean cruises as long as their parents sign a form and are also present on the cruise).

The only cruises this change wont affect are any departing from North America where the legal drinking age will stay at 21.

However before you rush out to book a Royal Caribbean cruise, these changes don't come in effect till spring 2012.

So what do you think? I think it's a great thing bringing Royal Caribbeans drinking policies in line with their departure ports but I can see where more traditional cruisers may be against it. Are you worried about hordes of drunk teenagers onboard?
Now if we can only get them to change their gratuities policy to coincide with the countries they sail from as well!

Happy cruising.

Alaska - Top ten little known facts

2011-11-09T04:02:00.000-08:00

I was researching a cruise for a client recently who wanted to add a land tour to his holiday in Alaska. I was reading about the different tours that were available to him and trying to match them up to his cruise when I stumbled over a website full of unusual facts about Alaska.
I'd always known that Alaska was a pretty special destination to cruise to but I hadn't realised how many unique features it had as well.
I've put together a top ten list of little known facts about Alaska below.............

1. Alaska has over 3 million lakes! And that's just the ones that measure over 20 acres!
2. Alaska has over 40 active volcanoes.
3. This one is perfect for cruisers - Alaska has over 33,000 miles of coastline and is the only American state to border two oceans, The Arctic and Pacific.
4. Alaska has over 10,000 glaciers to see; that's over half the worlds glaciers in one place!
5. For most 'Western' countries the favoured method of private transport is by by car. In Alaska it's by small plane.
6. Are you a fan of wildlife? Well an Alaskan cruise holiday is perfect for you.
Alaska has - More bald eagles than anywhere else in the world
Grey wolves that inhabit 85% of the country
All three species of North American bear are to be found in Alaska; the Grizzly, Brown and Polar.
Alaskan mooses are the largest of their species to be found.
7. The furthest reaches of the Alaskan state, (Cape Wragnell), are further west than Hawaii, (although will probably be a bit colder)!
8. Of the 20 highest mountains in the US 17 are in Alaska with the highest being Mt McKinley at 20,320ft.

9. Juneau is the only city in the US with no road access. It can only be reached by sea or air.
10. There is a town in Alaska, (Barrow), that has 64 days a year without any daylight at all!

See I told you Alaska was a strange state! Feel free to add your fun facts about Alaska below.

Happy cruising.

What does customer service mean to you?

2011-11-08T09:28:00.000-08:00

It's a thought that's been prying on my mind over the last couple of days after a bit of a run in with Boots online.
What, for you, would mean good customer service from a company?
Always answering your calls?
Always being polite?
Never making a mistake?
Well read on to find out what I think real customer service is..........
Harry, (my three year old son), recently asked for a Leap pad explorer for Christmas. For the non parents amongst you it's this Christmas' must have toy and has actually made the 2011 list for must have toys at Christmas.

As you can imagine it was a nightmare to get a hold of.
I couldn't find one anywhere! Every where I checked was sold out.
Then someone told me Boots online had them for sale and not only that but had them on a buy two presents get the third free - What a bargain!
So I picked my two other gifts, paid online, received my Boots advantage points, (my wifes account not mine, honest), and just sat back and waited for the gifts to arrive knowing Harry was going to have a great Christmas.
Then I had a phone call yesterday. There was a mistake on their website and they were actually out of stock, we're very sorry Mr Crossland, they said but we can't get you your Leappad before Christmas.

This is where we get to the customer service and how I define it. If a company makes a mistake and admit it I don't mind so much.
Everyone makes mistakes; the bottom line being we're all human and these things will happen occasionally. What makes a company stand out in my eyes, and it's how I've always tried to treat my clients, isn't by saying we never make mistakes, it's what happens once a mistake has been made.

The guy I was talking to at Boots online checked the original price of my Leap Pad Explorer, then checked where else had them. There was some being sold on Ebay but they were £35 more expensive.

So he said I could keep the cheapest of the three gifts I had picked for free, he gave me a full refund of all three purchases and let my wife keep the Boots advantage points for the entire order, even though I was getting a full refund and not spending any money with them.
I then went away and bought the Leap pad from Ebay.

Yes I was disappointed that it had happened but all's well that ends well; Harry's getting his Leap Pad for Christmas and I'd be happy to buy with Boots online again because of the way I was treated after they made an error.

So how do you define good customer service?

Happy cruising.

Silversea to partner with Choozi entertainment

2011-11-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a huge fan of cruise ship entertainment. I'm not even sure I've ever sat through an entire performance onboard.
Don't get me wrong, I love cruising, I've just always found the shows a bit, 'cheesy', like a bad Abba tribute act at a social club, (although that's just my opinion, I know loads of people who love the shows).
With that in mind you can imagine I was quite sceptical when a piece of news crossed my desk this morning stating that Silversea cruises had partnered with a company called Choozi Entertainment to completely revamp their onboard shows.
The blurb sent through from Silversea read -

In a move away from traditional production shows, the new concert-style concept will feature an outstanding cast of classically trained vocalists and musicians performing a lively celebration of music from Motown and opera to pop and rock. The star-studded cast and production team are headed by visionary director and choreographer Christopher Childers and his sister, Suzanne Childers.

I think what surprised me so much about this news wasn't the fact that Silversea were doing it, after all, all cruise lines change their entertainment from time to time, it was more the company they had chosen to do it with.
I had a look at the website for Choozi entertainment, (you can see it by clicking here), and couldn't imagine a company further from the ultra luxury Silversea but that being said I think they look really fun and could actually imagine myself sitting through most of this companies performances, (most).
They will be putting on different performances around the ship in different venues to let guests sample a bit of everything that they offer.
I've listed some examples of what guests can expect here -

In the Show lounge -
They will have a show called Signed, Sealed and Delivered that will represent a journey through the history of Motown. Another is to be called High Cs and will be a collection of well known arias from across the board, anything from Verdi to Puccini to the most popular songwriters of today.
The one that has me most worried as I just can't see if fitting onto a Silverseas cruise is a cruise called Fabbalicious and yep, you've guessed it, it's an Abba tribute act or more correctly, (according to Silversea), a show that "faithfully recreates the original sound and iconic look or the 70s Swedish pop band". - So a tribute act then?

Hmmm, not sure how this last one will go down with regular Silversea cruisers but wait, there's more!

Up on the Pool deck there will be -
A show called Decades which will be a tongue in cheek look at the history of pop show casing anyone from Madonna to Lady Gaga in a party atmosphere by the pool.

But as well as all this there will be ship specific acts ranging from Lennon and McCartney, Boubil and Schonberg, (no idea), songs from Miss Saigon Les Miserables and Billy Joel.

It's a bold move from Silversea as I think there's a lot there that the more traditional luxury cruiser might not like but from someone who wouldn't normally enjoy a cruise ships entertainment I think it sounds amazing.
What do you think though?
Have you cruised with Silversea before? How does this new program compare to what you experienced onboard? And to anyone that hasn't cruised with them before, would this make you more or less likely to book a cruise with Silversea?

Happy cruising.

Booking a back to back cruise

2011-11-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

I wrote a post yesterday about one of the pitfalls of booking a back to back cruise, (it was just from America), but it occurred to me that the post was a bit one sided as there are some great benefits to booking a back to back cruise as well.
Todays post then will be all about the pros and cons of back to back cruising. Feel free to add your own underneath if you think I've missed any.

Pros -
1. You get to spend longer at sea, (who wouldn't want to be at sea for as long as possible).
2. You can tailor your itinerary much easier to your needs.
3. Cruise lines will often offer a discount for booking the cruises back to back.
4. You don't have to stay on the same ship, or even the same cruise line. If your travel agent is good enough they should be able to time it so you can get off one ship and straight on to another.
5. Many cruise lines will offer double loyalty points for anyone booking a back to back cruise with them.
6. If you let them know at check in you can normally check in for both cruises at once.

Cons -
1. You might not always be able to stop in the same cabin, meaning you might need to move to a new room halfway through your holiday, (the porters will move your luggage for you if you ask).
2. Depending on how you organise it you can end up doing the same itinerary twice.
3. Some cruise lines won't discount for a back to back cruise, leaving you paying full fare for two separate cruises.
4. See the post I did yesterday for problems in booking back to back cruises from America, click here to view it.
5. Annoyingly if the two separate cruises come with onboard credit it has to be used per cruise, not over the entire back to back trip.

So what do you think? Have I missed anything?
What have your experiences been like on back to back cruises? Let me know here.

Happy cruising.

Problems with back to back cruises.

2011-11-03T06:20:00.000-07:00

It's true what they say you know. You're never too old to learn something new.
At least that's the conclusion I've come to this morning after speaking to a client and then the cruise line about booking a back to back cruise for him.
I'm posting what I found out here for you as it's possible it could ruin your holiday; so if you're planning a back to back cruise it's worth double checking with your travel agent/cruise line.
First of all - what's a back to back cruise?
Quite simply it's when two cruises are booked and taken one after the other. There are several pros and cons involved, (which I'll go through another time), but the main thing you need to consider is the Passenger Vessel Services act of 1886!

It's strange to think that a law put into force back in 1886 could have any relevance today to modern cruising but the internet is littered with horror stories regarding this.
In a nutshell the act states that any ship not registered and flagged in America can't start a cruise in one American port and finish it in a different American port unless it also calls somewhere along the way in a non American port.
Sound confusing? Well it is.
What it's basically saying is that if you are sailing say from, Seattle to Seattle and then do a back to back option that will finish up in a different American port you may be refused boarding.
It's OK if the cruise starts and finishes in the same American port or if it takes in a foreign port outside the US, (don't ask me why), but if it's a pure American sailing you'll be in trouble.

Now the cruise lines obviously know this and take it into account when planning your itinerarys but if you change things by booking back to back and your travel agent doesn't warn you then the cruise line might not notice until it's too late. - You have been warned!

Hopefully that all makes sense to you but if you have any questions regarding this feel free to post them below. The upshot is just be extra careful when booking a back to back cruise in America.

Happy cruising.

Lidl cruises

2011-11-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

I've always tried to bring you the most up to date gossip and rumours that cross my desk relating to the cruising world. Combined with that I've always enjoyed sharing crazy or unusual cruising stories with you.
The nice thing about the rumour I heard today was that it ticked both the above boxes.

Lidl, the giant German supermarket retailer, is rumoured to be expanding their business interests and will soon be offering cruise package holidays. I heard about the story from Seatrade Insider who had been told that

"major planning for an offensive focused on the German ocean cruising mass-market sector is underway".

My own opinion is that they will start small with just one ship designed for the German market but if it proves popular expand into the rest of Europe as they have already done with their supermarkets.

Actual facts relating to this are thin on the ground at the moment but I'll keep you up to date if I hear anything else.

Happy cruising.

Off on my hols

2011-10-27T04:37:00.000-07:00

Don't worry if you don't hear from me for a few days; I've not disappeared anywhere I'm just off down south for a long weekend with the family.
I'm going to be stopping on a Haven site, (I've never done that before so I'll have to let you know how it goes), so fingers crossed the weathers nice and I'll be back and posting again come Tuesday, (1st Nov).
In the meantime voting's now open so don't forget to cast your vote for me on the link below...

http://www.twcoverstars.com/jamescrossland
Thanks in advance again and see you soon.

Happy cruising.

Can I ask a favour?

2011-10-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

Hi guys and gals.
As you can see from the title of today's post I'm asking you all for a little favour.
I've entered an online competition for travel agents to win a trip to New York for an exclusive make over. (You only need to see a few pictures of me to see I could do with it).
If you've read this blog and enjoyed it could I please ask you to click the link below and vote for me.
Voting will run from the 27th October to the 08th November.

http://www.twcoverstars.com/jamescrossland

Thanks in advance, (I'll keep you posted if I win).

PS feel free to share the link with friends on Facebook and Twitter etc

Problem with Royal Caribbean cruises?

2011-10-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

You may or may not remember me mentioning before that one of the things I like to do after I've booked a cruise for someone is to give them a call when they get back from said cruise just to make sure they've had a good time and that nothing went wrong.
It's also useful in finding out what the different cruise lines are up to onboard and which lines are best recommended to different people.
I was making one of these calls today when my passenger highlighted what he thought was a major flaw with Royal Caribbean.
But what do you think..........?
He had booked onboard Royal Caribbeans Independence of the Seas and was cruising with his wife and 17 year old son.

The problem was his son......
His 17 year old son.....
He had tried going to the different kids clubs and activities organised by Royal Caribbean, (the son, not the Dad), but had found them too juvenile and in his words " full of teeny boppers". But when he had tried to hang out with his parents in the bars and clubs he had been refused entry, even if he was only drinking soft drinks as he wasn't 18 or 21.
For anyone that doesn't know Royal Caribbeans kids clubs are........

Fisher price 6-36 months, (parent supervision required)
Aqua tots - 18-36 months
Aquanaughts - 3-5 years
Explorers - 6-8 years
Voyages - 9-11 years
Navigators - 12-14 years
Guests - 15-17 years

Now I got into cruising well past the age of 17 I'm afraid so can't comment from personal experience but I do remember being 17 and the thought of being stuck in a kids club with a bunch of 15 year olds would have horrified me! 17 is just on the cusp of adulthood and that's how I'd of wanted to be treated.

I think the problem may stem from Royal Caribbean being an American cruise line; adulthood to them means 21 not 18 so there's a big gap there.

What do you think though?
Is this a problem on all American cruise ships? Obviously no one wants a situation where there are loads of 17 year olds hanging out in the night clubs but ask yourself this.....
Thinking back to when you were 17,would you have been happy in a kids club with kids two, three years younger than you? Or would of you wanted to be in the bars with your parents?

Happy cruising

Cruise industry set for a massive shake up

2011-10-23T04:33:00.000-07:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm not a big fan of sea days. Cruising for me is all about seeing the different ports of call on my itinerary, not relaxing onboard staring out at the ocean.
Don't get me wrong, the occasional day at sea in between ports is nice to break things up but four or five days in a row? No thanks!
The problem is that some new fuel regulations that will come into play in 2015 may well mean a massive increase in sea days.

Currently ships at sea must emit no more than 1% sulphur in ECAs, (Environmentally Controlled Areas), but the new legislation that will be coming in will change that figure to 0.1%. This will massively increase the cost of fuel for a ship and, just like a car, the ships use less fuel when they're at sea going at full speed.
This new ruling will mean that the cruise lines will either have to massively increase their fuel supplements or, much more likely, start offering completely different itineraries with much fewer ports of call.
Several large cruise lines are looking at ways of working around this, most particularly by bringing in the concept of an average emission so that the 0.1% emission total is worked out over the total voyage and not just when they're in an ECA area.

So what does this mean for us cruisers? Well no one really knows at the moment but it's a good guess that cruise ships will all be travelling slower to avoid burning fuel. The up shot of this will be either fewer ports of call on your itinerary, with cruise lines focusing on building much bigger ships so the the cruise ship itself becomes the point of the holiday and the ports are just an added bonus or the cruise lines will have to find a whole new set of ports of call to stop at, much closer to each other so that they can all be reached at the new slower speeds..
Whatever happens though 2015 is going to look a lot different to anything were used to at the moment.

Happy cruising

Celebrity cruises - Behind the scenes

2011-10-22T03:07:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm, it's not often you'll hear me criticising Celebrity Cruises. I think they're a great cruise line with some of the most amazing ships at sea, (click here to see my review of the Celebrity Eclipse).
The one thing that does bug me about them however is the amount of things you're charged for whilst your onboard and the cost of those things in general.
If you're not careful you can walk away from your cruise with a huge bill on your onboard account and I don't think Celebritys latest brain wave is going to help this situation much.

They've just announced a new behind the scenes program whilst your onboard called the 'See how it's done tour' and the 'Bridge sail away experience'.

The tours will provide guests with a back stage pass allowing them to see how different aspects of a cruise ship is run like the Bridge, the galley, the engine control room and more.
And the price of this?

See How it's Done Tour - $150
Bridge Sail Away Experience - $75

How much!!!!????
Now don't get me wrong, I've had a bridge tour before, (QM2 - for free), and it was a great experience and I'd love to see how a ships run behind the scenes but $150 to look at a kitchen!
Come on Celebrity who are you trying to kid!
I may be wrong though. They must have done some research into this and decided that that's what the market could bear.
What do you think though?
Would you be interested in a behind the scenes tour of a cruise ship and more importantly how much would you pay for it?
Do you think Celebrity cruises are ripping people off with this?

Happy cruising.

Does all inclusive = Chav cruisers?

2011-10-21T01:50:00.000-07:00

I added some news recently to our forums at cruises.co.uk about how MSC have a deal on at the moment for an all inclusive drinks package.
One of the comments made about this was that MSC were obviously lowering there standards and that there would would be lots of horror stories "of people being ejected at ports and numerous cruisers lost at sea."
On first reading it I thought it was a little harsh but on further thought it did have me thinking, when you offer something like an all inclusive drinks package does it attract the 'wrong sort' to the cruise?

Now I'm sure this may raise blood pressures on both sides of the fence so I'm going to try and stay impartial and look at the arguments fairly.

Cruising always has always been, and to a greater extent still is, considered a higher class holiday. However, in recent years with more cruise ships being built cruising has become much more 'mass market' with the cruise lines being forced to drop their prices to fill the ships.
Whilst for the vast majority of people this is a good thing, with a fantastic cruise holiday now becoming affordable, the knock on effect has meant certain standards have slipped or to be more diplomatic changed.

Cruise ships are no longer as formal as they once were, indeed some cruise lines like NCL have done away with formal nights all together. Most of them also offer a much wider range of things to do onboard than they once did, from waterslides to rock climbing walls to ice bars.
It's clear to everyone that the cruise industry is changing but are all the changes a good thing?
As in for instance all inclusive drinks packages. There are several cruise lines trialling this at the moment but will making your cruise experience all inclusive make it better?

I suppose the easy answer is that there's no way to tell until it's fully implemented except for the fact that several cruise lines already offer this and have done for years.
I can think of at least two off the top of my head offering all inclusive drinks. The ultra luxury six star cruise line Regent and then Thomson cruises offer it as well.
In terms of price, onboard experience, clientele and style these two cruise lines couldn't be further from each other and yet both have been offering drinks packages for years without, and I quote again "people being ejected at ports and numerous cruisers lost at sea."

But what do you think? My own thoughts are that an all inclusive cruise, rather than encouraging drunkenness, just lets people relax and not have to worry about their bill at the end of the cruise; I can't imagine anyone getting absolutely wasted every single night.
So would you prefer the all inclusive option or do you like things the way they are?

Happy cruising

Disneys AquaLab, a must for children

2011-10-18T01:54:00.000-07:00

The AquaLab on the new Disney Fantasy ship has been custom made by Donald Duck especially for his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie with a variety of different water experiments for them to play with and enjoy.
The problem is just as you board the ship you will find that they have had to rush out on an adventure leaving a hand written note for your kids telling them they're in charge of the lab till they get back.
Your children will be in charge of the Aqua Coaster and by turning wheels and pulling levers they can change the speed and temperature of the AquaDuck.
The problem is, the AquaLab, having been built by Donald Duck, wasn't made very well. There is a leaky wall where kids will have to try and keep the water circulating by covering the holes in it with their hands and in other areas they'll have to be quick to stop the leaky pipes from filling Uncle Donald's row boat.

Sounds fun doesn't it? The AquaLab will be featured on deck twelve near the entrance to the AquaDuck water coaster and as well as all the above will feature pop jets, geysers and bubblers in 1,800 sq foot of space all designed to get the entire family soaked.

This is just one of the new features that will be available on the new Disney Fantasy when it launches in 2012.
As well as this it will have a new exclusive adult area for the over 18s on the upper decks for anyone needing a break from all the kids.

It always surprises me that Disney cruises don't sell better in the UK market. They are massively popular in the US and have sailing both in the Mediterranean and Caribbean but when anyone over here thinks family ship they always think Royal Caribbean or NCL.
What do you think? Have you ever done a Disney cruise or thought about one? If not ask yourself why and give your favourite travel agent a call to see what they can offer.

Happy cruising.

River cruising - The naked truth

2011-10-17T06:23:00.000-07:00

I recently wrote a post about a swingers cruise on an Azamara ship sailing in 2013, (you can read the post by clicking here), and at the risk of giving myself a bit of a reputation I've just come across another cruise in a similar vein.

Rather than being a swingers cruise though this one has been designed for naturists.

As I said in the last post this kind of cruise, where a group will charter a whole ship for a specific purpose is actually quite common as you can now see. Themed and chartered cruises sail all the time with loads of different themes available.
It's on an e-waterways luxury river cruise, unusually for a river cruise sailing the coast of Adriatic, island hopping rather than heading straight down a river, (not quite sure how this cruise would've worked going down a river, with people waving from the bank).
They are offering four different dates with slightly different itinerary on the 16th June and 25th August with prices, cruise only, from £465pp and the 9th June and 18th August with prices from £389pp, again cruise only.

What's interesting me about this cruise though is people reactions. I remember when I posted about the swingers cruise everyone was absolutely disgusted and couldn't believe Azamara would do something like that where as with this one all the comments seem to be a bit more tongue in cheek.
What do you think? Would you do a naturist cruise and bare all to the elements or is this not the one for you?

Happy cruising.

Top five tips for how to sleep on a plane

2011-10-14T07:04:00.000-07:00

You say the word cruise and people automatically think luxury and comfort and when you're sailing out of your home port I think I'd agree with that.
But what if you have to do a long haul flight first?
Now I deliberately don't take long haul flights as with two small children in tow, (Harry's 3 and Summer is only 7 months), the thought of a long haul flight terrifies me. I'd have no idea on how to keep them entertained for that long!
But for those looking to connect with a cruise ship on the opposite side of the globe a long haul flight can sometimes be a torturous ordeal. Sleeping through it is normally the best option but I know a lot of people do struggle to sleep on planes.
That's where this guide comes in...........

Tip one - Trick your body into sleeping. This is actually a lot easier than it sounds. The main reason so many people struggle to sleep sitting up on a plane is that their bodies tense up and they struggle to settle into a sleep pattern. If you can, (it won't always be possible), try to lie down for half an hour/an hour before your flight, (maybe in the concourse somewhere), it will help relax your body and you should just drop off, (fingers crossed).

Tip two - Wear your pyjamas. Well maybe not quite, but the days of people wearing their suits to fly on a plane are long gone. Dress comfortably. There's no point dressing to look good when you arrive if you're going to look like a wreck when you get there because you haven't been able to sleep.

Tip three - Stick to your routine. I don't mean sprawl right across the plane and steal the duvet off the lady opposite you either. I mean if you always brush your teeth before you sleep then do so, if you always have a drink before bed then do so. What ever you can do to trick your body into thinking it's bed time is a good thing.

Tip four - Travel equipped - Ear plugs to drown out the noise of everyone around you, an eye mask to block out the light of the guy reading in front of you and some kind of pillow for extra comfort. Bring them along and you should be sleeping like a baby.

Tip five - Follow the crowd. If the cabin crew are walking around offering drinks, handing out meals or going through safety procedures then there's no point tying to go to sleep, you're not going to manage it. Be patient, let everyone settle down and try and sleep at the same time as everyone else; you'll find it a lot easier.

Obviously I've just included the top five tips that I could think of from experience. If any of my readers have any better tips than feel free to add them below.

Happy cruising.

How to beat a cruise ship casino

2011-10-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

Cruise ship casinos work a bit different from their land based counterparts. To start with they're obviously a lot smaller. They're also much more focused on entertaining you rather than emptying your wallet.
That being said however they're still, at heart, a casino and all casinos the world over tend to operate on the same rule, "the house always wins".
There are however a few simple rules you can follow that, whilst they may seem obvious, should give you an edge.

Rule one - The house always wins! You'll find loads of 'systems' in books and on the internet, most asking you to buy them first, all stating it's a guaranteed way to beat the house.
They're all rubbish.
If you play for long enough you will eventually lose all your money, so the first rule is never gamble more money than you're happy to lose. Ask yourself why anyone with a guaranteed 'system' to beat a casino is writing a book rather than out using it.

Rule two - Know the odds - You'll be amazed how many people don't know the odds involved in the games they play.

This is fine if you're just messing around for a couple of pounds but if you do want to walk away with your money, (and the casinos), learn the game and know what your odds of winning are for each bet.

Rule three - Know when to quit - This rule works both ways. There's no point winning a small fortune if you're going to give it all back to the casino and vice versa there's no point throwing good money after bad. Set yourself a limit. Know how much you're willing to lose and have an idea how much you'd like to win so you know when to walk away.

Rule four - Don't drink - Unlike normal casinos a cruise ship casino won't be plying you with free drinks, (mores the pity), but it's worth pointing out that under the influence of alcohol people make stupid decisions, (just look at the ring on my wedding finger if you don't believe me), and none of the tips are going to help if you're four sheets to the wind.

Rule five - Always, always remember the golden rule.
The only way to leave a casino with a small fortune is to enter with a large one!

Happy cruising

PS If my wife is reading this I was joking about the wedding ring thing - Honest.

Language mix ups

2011-10-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

Most of us will have done it at some time or another, you're abroad, you're trying to make yourself understood to Johnny Foreigner and you've resorted to the Del Boy method of communicating.
You've repeated what you've just said, in English, slowly and loudly just expecting to be understood. Obviously you weren't but it's nice to know that it's not just us that have these problems. It also affects big multinational companies as well.

The American Dairy Associations campaign "Got Milk" was so successful that they decided to extend it to Mexico as well. The problem being the direct Spanish translation for "Got Milk" was are you lactating?

When Electrolux started selling vacuums in the US they used the slogan "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux". Hmmm. not quite Electrolux

Clairol introduced a new curling iron to Germany called the Mist stick, the problem was in German mist meant manure - Anyone for a manure stick?

In the Chinese market KFCs slogan "finger lickin good" comes out as eat your fingers off.

When Pepsi started marketing its products in China a few years back, they translated their slogan, "Pepsi Brings You Back to Life" pretty literally. The slogan in Chinese really meant, "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave." Mmmmm, zombie Pepsi!

In Italy, a campaign for "Schweppes Tonic Water" translated the name into the much less thirst quenching "Schweppes Toilet Water." - I'm guessing not the perfume?

Chinese translation also proved difficult for Coke, which took two tries to get it right. They first tried Ke-kou-ke-la because when pronounced it sounded roughly like Coca-Cola. It wasn't until after thousands of signs had been printed that they discovered that the phrase means "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax," depending on the dialect. Second time around things worked out much better. After researching 40,000 Chinese characters, Coke came up with "ko-kou-ko-le" which translates roughly to the much more appropriate "happiness in the mouth." - Not sure that one's much better!

Ford introduced the Pinto in Brazil. After watching sales go nowhere, the company learned that "Pinto" is Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals." Ford pried the nameplates off all of the cars and substituted them with "Corcel" which means horse.

Happy cruising

My babys first word!

2011-10-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry if this post sounds a bit mushy but I'm doing the proud Dad thing today. My little daughter Summer has said her first word and it was Dada!!!!
I missed it unfortunately as I was busy at work organising lots of nice cruises for you all but she said it again when I got home, "Hiya Dada". Not bad going for a seven month old; obviously genius runs in the family, (cough, cough).
I'm particularly pleased as Harrys first word was 'Mama'.

She's also just started furniture walking at the weekend so I had to get myself up in the loft yesterday and dig out all the old stair gates, as you can see here.
It only seems like a couple of months since I was bringing her back from the hospital; doesn't time fly?
Oh well, it wont be long before she's answering me back beacause she knows best, just like her big brother Harry.

Happy cruising

Are Fred Olsen trying too hard?

2011-10-07T03:25:00.000-07:00

First off, I like Fred Olsen. I like their ships, (well the Balmoral); I like the atmosphere onboard; I like their staff and normally I like the way they operate, but just lately it's started to feel that Fred Olsen are trying to be something they're not.

Where I think Fred Olsen come into their own is in the fact that they're a great, traditional, British brand. Everything on board is run in a very British way, with none of the pretentiousness that you can get with some cruise lines.
As I've said though, just lately it almost feels as though they're moving away from that and trying to compete with the likes of Cunard; the problem being the two brands are nothing alike.

You may remember a post I wrote last year, (No thanks Freds, we're British), about how Fred Olsen had started to add gratuities automatically to guests onboard accounts. I remember thinking at the time that it was strange for such a traditionally British company to introduce such an American way of doing things and I wondered what they'd be doing next.
Well it turns out that the next thing they're trialing is to do away with all casual dress codes onboard in an attempt to make their ships more formal, (again why are they trying so hard to be something they're not?)

The official release from Fred Olsen reads:

To avoid confusion, you'll now find that there is no longer a casual dress code onboard, leaving formal, informal, smart casual and, of course themed. In keeping with the more relaxed atmosphere of our theme nights, guests who prefer not to follow the evenings theme can choose to wear smart-casual attire instead.

Now obviously this is nowhere near as bad as introducing automatic tipping and I know that an argument could be made that a more formal cruise is much more 'British' but I don't know, to me it just feels that Fred Olsen are moving away from what made them great in the first place. What do you think?

Happy cruising

Sex n' Drugs n' Onboard Credit

2011-10-06T04:03:00.000-07:00

Well two out of three isn't bad. As you may have already guessed todays post is going to be about the slightly darker side of the cruise industry.

A famous luxury cruise brand has just announced that one of their ships has been chartered out for early 2013 to host a swingers themed cruise. (For the more innocent amongst you I'm not talking about dancing either).
It's an Azamara ship, the Quest, chartered for 16th May 2013, sailing from Valencia to Nice. If you are interested then you have to book it through a special swingers site, (you can find it here).
The reason for todays post however is because I'm quite surprised about the amount of back lash I've seen from Azamara passengers about this.

It would be fair to say that the vast majority of responses I've seen about this announcement has been horror that a luxury cruise liner like Azamara would consider doing this and that others were worried about booking onboard accidentally.
To set one worry to rest, you can't book onboard accidentally. The entire ship has been chartered so has to be booked through one particular website, you can't get onboard by mistake, no matter how hard you might protest to your other half!
As to the people that are surprised Azamara has done this, (one lady was talking about canceling her Azamara cruise entirely), it's actually quite common for a cruise line to charter out one of it's ships for private cruises. Yes a swingers cruise might be considered by some to be slightly more controversial than other themed cruises, (I know we don't have any plans to start offering them), but when you consider how many people have probably stopped in your cabin before you there's nothing that's going to happen on this swingers cruise that wont have already happened many times before. Most themed cruises of this nature tend to be naturist, nudist, sci fi etc, I remember reading once about a crossword themed cruise.
So come on people, lighten up. It's just a bit of fun between consenting adults and I'm sure much worse has gone on in your cabins before now.

Happy cruising

PS And no before anyone asks I haven't booked onboard myself!

Does a river cruise have to be expensive?

2011-10-04T06:41:00.000-07:00

Does a river cruise always have to be expensive? I don't think so, for several reasons.
Before I answer it though a bit of background information on river cruising may help, (you can click here for a previous post I've done on the pros and cons of river cruising).
River cruises are the smaller cousins of their ocean going counterparts. For obvious reasons they are built on a much smaller scale so you get a much more intimate atmosphere onboard and they just sail up and down the different rivers of Europe, Russia or China, dropping their passengers right into the middle of a town so they don't have the long transfers from port to town like so many ocean cruise have to do, (Civitavechhia to Rome anyone?)
This means that the focus of a river cruise really is on the itinerary and not the ship itself.

They are smaller as I have said, many don't have balcony cabins and the entertainment onboard tends to be along the lines of a man with a piano or a string quartet; no big Broadway style shows on these ships I'm afraid!
The plus side is you can get right into the heart of a continent; seeing destinations you'd never see on an ocean going cruise whilst keeping all the benefits of a cruise ie unpacking once, great dining, multiple destinations etc.

The problem is that for a lot of people river cruising, whilst it might sound interesting for them, is forever out of their budget. There is a general perception that river cruising is very expensive.
Of all the different river cruises that operate there are very few 'budget' cruise lines which is strange when you consider certain points.
The luxury ocean going cruise lines justify their prices by citing the fact that their ships get to the small hard to reach places that other cruise lines can't.
Well you don't get that with a river cruise.
By their very definition they all have to offer the same itinerary; they're all stuck going where the river goes.
The next justification is that the luxury ships tend to be a lot better but again due to size constraints most river cruise ships tend to be very similar. So where does the difference in price come from?
It's simple. Shore excursions tend to be included free as do your drinks at dinner.
The shore excursions I wouldn't be to worried about. As I've said a river cruise will drop you in the heart of the town you're visiting anyway so what need do you have for a guide? It's just as easy to make your own way around the town. The second big thing is all inclusive drinks at dinner but is a cheap bar bill worth paying an extra £1000 for your holiday? Again I don't think so.
There are a lot of river cruise lines that offer nine day cruises with home pick ups for as low as £800 a person, (a great example can be seen here), but in the meantime if you've always fancied a river cruise but didn't fancy taking out a second mortgage, give me a call. You don't have to pay over the odds for them!

Happy (river) cruising.

Is my Canaries cruise still safe?

2011-10-03T03:39:00.000-07:00

If you've been watching the news over the last few days and you've a Canaries cruise booked you might be feeling rather nervous.
If you've not heard then to just catch you up the Spanish government has issued a yellow alert to all travellers and residents in the Canaries area due to an increase in seismic activity in the last few days.
El Heirro has suffered what is called an earthquake swarm, over 8,000 tremors in the last two months!
Experts say that this is normally a good sign that a volcanic eruption is imminent.

There are over 10, 000 people living on El Heirro although so far only 53 of them have been evacuated but the Spanish army has been mobilised and is ready to perform a mass evacuation if one becomes necessary.
So far no cruises have been affected although there will be several ships in the area in the next few weeks including......

Royal Caribbeans Independence of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas;
Silver Seas Silver Spirit;
P&Os Ventura;
Cunards QM2;
The Costa Delioziosa;
The MSC Melody;
Holland Americas Rydam;
and all of Fred Olsens ships, the Boudicca, Balmoral and Black Watch.

No cruises are scheduled to arrive in El Heirro so as of yet there has been no changes to any itineraries but as I always say "the nice thing about a cruise holiday is that if something bad does happen then the Captain can just take you somewhere else, you're not stuck on the island like you are with a land based holiday".
So so far so good, if you have a Canaries cruise booked in the next few weeks you should be ok but if I hear any more news I'll keep you updated.

Happy cruising.

Where have you been?

2011-10-02T05:18:00.000-07:00

I found a great little website today that I thought I'd share with you all. It allows you to create a virtual map of all the countries you have been to in your life and also calculates what percentage of the globe you've traveled to.
If you interested the link is enclosed below.

Where have you been to?

Just click the title highlighted words in black and it will take you to the site.
I've enclosed my map below.

Hmmmm, rather embarrassingly for a travel agent it looks like I've only managed to visit 2.66% of the world; still I suppose it gives me plenty of other places still to cruise to.
What percentage of the globe have you traveled to?

Happy cruising.

Did you know?

2011-09-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

Do you want to hear something really strange?

I was shopping for a birthday present for my son Harry the other day, (he turned 3 today), when I noticed a book called 'The Wreck of the Titan' by a man called Morgan Robertson.

Nothing strange about that you may say. No? Well read on.

It's the story about a doomed luxury cruise liner named 'The Titan'; the largest, fastest, most luxurious and glamorous cruise ship ever built.

She was carrying the wealthy and well to do from Southampton to New York on her maiden voyage in the month of April with her Captain determined to beat the nautical speed record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Then, in the middle of the night the ship hit an iceberg and sank, with most of the crew and passengers dying due to a lack of lifeboats onboard.

So what you say? Obviously this Morgan Robertson was just writing a cheap rip off the Titanic disaster. What's so strange about that? Well this is where it gets weird. The Wreck of the Titan was written in 1898, fourteen years before the Titanic sank! How bizarre is that?

Strange but true.

Owling - What is it?

2011-09-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the internet is a strange place!
You may remember a post I did a few months ago about a craze sweeping the internet called planking, (you can read the post by clicking here).
In essence you had to lie down as stiff as a plank and then up load a picture of your self doing it to a site such as Facebook to share with all your friends. The weirder the place you did it in the better. Well this craze has now led on to a new internet fad called owling.

What is owling I here you ask?
It couldn't be more simple; you just have to crouch down on your haunches whilst staring off into the middle distance like an owl.
No, I'm not making this up and less you think I am it's already made it's way onto your cruise ship, as you can see below.

So the next time you see someone posing in a weird position on your cruise, don't worry it'll just be the latest fashion sweeping the internet, you don't need to call the head Doctors but if you do fancy joining in make sure you send me the picture so I can publish them here.

Happy cruising.

Crazy American laws

2011-09-23T00:40:00.000-07:00

It's Friday, I've got the weekend off and I'm feeling pretty good about it. In honour of that I've decided todays post is going to be fun and light hearted; especially after what one of my past passengers told me yesterday.
He'd just come back from a holiday in Las Vegas where he had been charged a $20 a day resort fee to help pay for the complimentary teas and coffees in the morning.
What???!!!!!
If any of my lovely readers have a spare dictionary knocking around could they please highlight the word complimentary and send it over to America please. Clearly they're not sure what the word means.
In honour of this amazing piece of abuse of the English language I'm going to share these with you.
This isn't a joke.
All these laws are real in America, still on the books and you can be arrested and prosecuted for breaking them. If you're planning a trip to America any time soon be careful.
You have been warned!

In Alabama it is illegal to drive whilst blindfolded - Hmmmm I'm glad someone thought of that one!

In Alaska it is illegal to look at a moose from a plane or to push one out of a moving plane - Presumably it's OK to push one out of the plane if it's landed though?

In California it is illegal to set a mouse trap without a hunting license
It is also illegal for a "Dog to be in public without it's master on a leash" - Maybe someone needs to work on the wording of this one.

In Colorado it is illegal to allow a cat to run loose without a taillight - What?????

In Connecticut it is illegal to cross a road whilst walking on your hands - I've actually been campaigning for years to bring that law over here, with little success.

DC - It is unlawful for small boys to throw stones at any time in any place - good luck enforcing that one!

In Florida it is illegal for single, divorced or widowed women to parachute on Sunday afternoons - But it's OK if you're married?
Rats are forbidden from leaving any ships docked in Tampa Bay.
Men may not be seen to be publicly wearing a strapless dress - At least it's still OK in private

In Georgia it is illegal to say "oh boy"

In Idaho it is illegal for a man to give his partner a box of chocolates that weighs less than 50lbs - I'm guessing there's a lot of large women in Idaho then?

It is illegal to speak English in Illinois - This might make sense, does anyone know if this law is country wide?

In Chicago it is forbidden, by law, from dining in a building that is on fire.

In Indiana citizens may not go to see a movie or ride on any public transport within four hours of eating garlic - Finally, a law that makes some sense!

In Kansas Fathers aren't allowed to frighten their daughters boyfriends with a gun.

In Louisiana biting someone with your natural teeth is simple assault whilst biting someone with your false teeth is classed as aggravated assault. - Do they have a lot of violent OAPs in Louisiana?

In Maine the exact wording of the law is "it shall be illegal to bite the landlord, no matter how much he deserves it".

In Maryland you are forbidden from mistreating an oyster - answers on a postcard to the usual address if anyone knows how to mistreat an oyster.

In Massachusetts you may not snore unless your bedroom windows are securely shut and locked - I can see the point of the shut thing, but why locked?
You may also not grow a goatee unless you have purchased the appropriate licence and paid the fee.

In Michigan a womans hair legally belongs to her husband.

In Kansas City minors are not allowed to buy cap guns - They can however legally own a shotgun.

In Nebraska a parent may be arrested if a child burps during a church service.

In Nevada you may not drive a camel on the highway - the law is silent about driving a camel on side roads though.

In New York you are banned from playing golf in the street.

In North Carolina dogs and cats have been banned, by law, from fighting - It's about time someone stopped them!

In North Dakota you cannot go to bed with your boots on.

Oklahoma has forbidden whale hunting throughout the entire state - never mind the fact that it's landlocked on all sides.

In Tulsa opening a pop bottle without a licensed engineer is illegal.

In Tennessee it is illegal to catch a fish with a lasso - Now this might just be my opinion, but I think if someone can catch a fish with a lasso he should be given a medal, not arrested.

There's literally hundreds more of these so if I've missed one of your favourites feel free to add it below.

Happy cruising.

What's a Thomson cruise like?

2011-09-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

Todays post will be another entry into my current series of blogs, introducing the different cruise lines for first time cruisers. That's not to say more experienced cruisers might not also find this of some use, especially if you've never cruised with Thomson, but it's primarily designed for people looking to take their first cruise.

So who are Thomson cruises?
They're another of the great 'British cruise lines' providing tremendous value for money for a lot of cruisers.
They have four ships...

Thomson Dream - (Which is the biggest)
Thomson Destiny
Thomson Celebration
Thomson Spirit.

I know some cruisers can get a bit snobby when you mention a Thomson cruise, thinking them somehow inferior to other cruise lines. Whilst they might not have all the bells and whistles that say, a Royal Caribbean cruise might have, for the money you pay they are tremendous value.
You may or may not know that on our website we have a voting system where people can rate their favourite cruise ships, (click the highlighted line to see it).
Here's how Thomson score, (and bear in mind this is out of all the cruise ships out there, including the 6 star luxury cruise lines).

Entertainment on board - First!
Staff onboard - Second
Best shore excursions - Third
Best ships at sea - Fifth
Best cabins - Ninth
Best overall cruise line - Fifth
Best food - Sixth
Best for children - Fourth
Best onboard activities - Sixth

Not bad going for a cruise line that some people refer to as a budget cruise line is it?
As well as all that though there are several other reasons that make Thomson worth thinking long and hard about.
Being a British cruise line their drinks prices are very reasonable and you can pre-purchase an all inclusive drinks package before you leave, (if you book far enough ahead they'll normally give this for free).
Again, being a British cruise line tipping isn't compulsory or even expected.
Having their own airline also comes in handy for them as they offer regional flights on all their cruises from 20 different UK airports. That's more than any other cruise line out there. There luggage allowance is also very generous at 27kg per person. And because they have their own airline they're great at offeing last minute bargains as well.
Next year they have also extended their cruise to include sailings leaving from the UK. They'll be departing from Harwich and Newcastle, (handy for any Northerners not happy about the journey down to Southampton).

So, have you ever cruised with Thomson? What did you think of them? Did they live up to what our passengers have said of them?
Let me know here.

Happy cruising.

Can you scatter someones ashes from a cruise ship?

2011-09-20T05:26:00.000-07:00

I know most of you who read my blog will be, by now, used to my tongue in cheek style, however this could be quite an emotive subject for some people so I'm going to try and keep it brief but respectful.
"Do cruise lines allow you to scatter someones ashes from a ship?"

The answer isn't what you might expect.
I thought it would be a flat no response from the cruise lines. Whilst I was sure they would want to help I had images of the ashes being caught by the wind and blowing into the balcony cabins below.
The answer is actually a lot simpler. The cruise lines don't have anything to do with it.
If a request is made to spread someones ashes at sea they will put you in touch with the purser of the ship in question who will check with the Captain. Sometimes the request will be granted, sometimes it won't be. The Captain, at your request, may even perform a small ceremony if you request it.
So the answer is it depends on the type of cruise you are doing and the Captain of that ship.

I hope this helps and if anyone has anymore information about this subject feel free to add it below to help others.

When's the best time to to do a Fjord cruise?

2011-09-19T05:50:00.000-07:00

This may well sound like a bit of a strange question as 90% of cruise lines only offer Fjord cruises during the summer months but the answer isn't what you might expect. The best time to cruise the Fjords is anytime.
The unique geography of the Fjords offers something a little different depending on which season you travel in, offering something a little different each time.
Find out what below.

Spring - A lot of people might not think it's worth doing a cruise to the Fjords this early as the nice summer weather has yet to arrive but I think it might be one of my favourite times of the year in Norway.
One of the big reasons for booking a Fjord cruise is to see the scenery and what better time to enjoy the best nature has to offer than spring? During this season all the spring melt, (all the melted water from the winters snow), is surging down the rivers and Fjords, really making the waterfalls roar. As well as that all the trees will be full of blossom lending an extra element to the beauty of this great destination.

Summer - The most popular time to cruise to the Fjords. It may surprise some of you but temperatures can rise as high as 25-30C during the summer, so whilst you might not be strolling around in a bikini you can definitely leave the protective winter gear at home! A lot of people travel to Norway in the summer in the expectation of seeing the Land of the Midnight Sun. This is certainly possible during this time, just bear in mind that the peak times are June - July and you'd need to travel right up to the North of Norway, so make sure you check your itinerary carefully.

Autumn - Now the Fjords aren't the first place many people would consider for an Autumn cruise as the weather is starting to get that little bit worse as it heads into winter but for the interested traveler they can offer something nearly unique.
Have you ever considered going to New England for the Fall? A lot of people in America, (and further afield), do as there's something about the climate and latitude of New England that makes the scenery particularly beautiful during the Autumn. As the leaves start to change colour you get dozens of different varieties of red, brown and gold, making for some spectacular views.
If that sounds interesting for you but you can't fit the USA into your budget you may want to consider a Norwegian fjord cruise instead as the two places look and feel very similar during the Autumn months with the added benefit that Norway is a lot closer to home.

Winter - Most people wouldn't even consider a Fjords cruise during the winter months as they think the weather would be miserable.
I'm not going to sugar coat it for you, if you do a winter fjords cruise it will be cold!
However, where else do you get the chance to see the Northern lights in such spectacular glory?
This is the big selling point to a winter Fjord cruise; long, long nights where you'll have a tremendous opportunity to see the Aurora Borealis above you as well as the chance to enjoy great shore excursions like snow mobiling, huskie sledding and stays in a hotel made entirely of ice. Now hows that for a holiday?

So what do you think? What's your 'Norwegian season'? Have you ever cruised Norway and would you recommend it to others?
Let me know here and.......

Happy cruising.

Free cruise game

2011-09-18T01:38:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I brought you any cruise themed games so I thought for todays post I'd provide a little sailing challenge. I've been thinking about Star Clippers a bit over the last week as an old passenger of mine was enquiring about their Southampton departures next year. In honour of that I thought today I'd give you a free game you can play online all about tall ships.

Happy cruising

To control your ship just use the directional arrows on your keyboard - Good luck and feel free to post your high score below.

Do you like your toast done on one side?

2011-09-17T04:27:00.000-07:00

This may sound like a really random question but it was bugging me last night. I was listening to some old Sting songs when An Englishman in New York came on.
For anyone that doesn't know it, it's about a quintessential Englishman complaining about how things are different in New York.

"I don't drink coffee I take tea my dear

I like my toast done on one side"

It caught my attention because I remember on my first ever Cunard cruise ,(click here for a review), this was how they served my toast at breakfast, only toasted on the one side. I remember thinking at the time it was really strange but what with it being my first ever cruise, (as well as my first Cunard cruise), I just assumed this was how all toast was served on a cruise ship.

It wasn't until I heard those lyrics last night that I thought there might be something more behind it.

A quick search for toast related questions on Google revealed the fact that for some reason the rest of the globe thinks all Englishman only toast their bread on one side.

This came as news to me. I've been toasting my bread on both sides for years! I'd never even heard of this.

A little more research revealed that this was the traditional 'British' way of serving toast before the advent of toasters which obviously toast the bread on both sides. Apparently some 'high end' places, (like Cunard cruise ships for example), still do this but I'll admit it's a new one on me.

So what do you think? Are you a quintessential Englishman? Do you toast you're bread on just one side?

I tried it this morning and actually quite liked it but I'm still left with one question.
"Which side are you meant to butter?"

Strange but true

Who are Fred Olsen?

2011-09-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

I'll be continuing my series of posts today looking at the different cruise lines first time cruisers might be interested in and just providing a bit of background to them with some pros and cons.
Todays post will be all about Fred Olsen.

Fred Olsen are a great, old, British company. They're very traditional in their approach to cruises and this should be considered very carefully by anyone looking to book onboard a Fred Olsen cruise.
The one major factor in considering Fred Olsen that you should take into account is their target market. Fred Olsen cruises pitch themselves at the over 55s. These means that there will be a mix of 55+ up to 80/90+ aged people on the cruise. Obviously perfect for some but I know others may not enjoy that.
They currently have four ships.......

The Fred Olsen Balmoral - (1350 passengers)
The Fred Olsen Braemar - (929 passengers)
The Fred Olsen Boudicca - (856 passengers)
The Fred Olsen Black Watch - (804 passengers)

Even a quick glance will tell you that these aren't huge cruise ships of the likes of Royal Caribbeans Oasis of the Seas or even P&Os Azura but again they're a perfect size for the people that book onboard and that's where, I think, Fred Olsen come into their own. The loyalty of their past passengers is enormous.
If you speak to anyone who has ever been on a Fred Olsen cruise you'll find that they rave about it to you.
Another big benefit to Fred Olsen is local ports. Almost all of their sailings are out of the UK but they don't always use Southampton. You can quite often find them in smaller ports like Dover, Portsmouth, Newcastle and Rosyth. They do have a couple of fly cruises, to places like the Amazon, but these itineraries are rare, (normally around Feb each year).
Another big plus to Fred Olsen cruises is their bar prices. Being another UK cruise line their drinks always come in very reasonable as they're not adding another 15% to the price as a tip for the barman, (as most American cruise lines do).
The one thing I think that does let Fred Olsen down is that even though they are a British cruise line they do impose automatic gratuities of £4 per person per day. In their defence these can be removed but if you don't they will be added onto your account at the end of the cruise.

So in summary............

Pros of cruising with Fred Olsen

Very traditional
Very British
Good use of local ports around the UK with lots of UK departures.
55+ plus age range so you won't find hordes of children onboard, even during summer holidays.
Cheap drinks
The staff - it's the one thing about a Fred Olsen cruise that everyone comes back raving about.

Cons of cruising with Fred Olsen

Very traditional - (Formal nights aren't for everyone)
Very British - Not everyone enjoys this atmosphere onboard.
The age range - They're not really suitable for younger couples/families. It's not that you wouldn't feel welcome, you might just feel out of place.
Even though they're British they do have automatic gratuities, (naughty naughty Fred Olsen!).

So what do you think of Fred Olsen? Have you ever cruised with them before? How did your experiences match up with my list of pros and cons and can you add any more of your own?
Let me know here.

Happy cruising

Nautical terms on a cruise ship - explained

2011-09-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

Continuing my series of posts about top tips for first time cruisers I thought it might be useful if I put together a short guide about some of the terms that commonly get used by travel agents or cruise lines whilst talking about cruises and ships in general. A lot of them you could probably figure out but some of them can be a bit confusing, hopefully this guide will help.

Aft - Towards the back of the ship

Berth - 1. A space needed to move a ship around
2. the dock or pier
3. Your cabin

Bow - The front of the ship

Bridge - The command centre of the ship. Located at the front of the ship, this is where the ship is piloted from. The Captains cabins will always be situated just behind here.

Bulkhead - A wall/walls dividing the ship into sections that can be sealed shut in the event of fire/flooding.

Course - The direction your cruise ship is heading in.

Disembark - To leave the ship

Draft - How far down in the water the cruise ship sits once it's taken on all it's supplies and passengers

Embark - To get onto the ship

Fathom - This is a measurement of the depth of water. 1 fathom = 6ft

Forward - The front part of the ship

Galley - A kitchen, where all the food is prepared

Gangway - A ramp that allows passengers to enter and leave this ship

Hull - The outside of the ship

Itinerary - A list of destinations you will visit on your cruise.

Knot - 1 Knot = 1.5 land miles or 1 nautical mile, (not sure why a nautical mile is longer than a land mile)

List - A sudden tilt to one side as in a storm - "The ship was listing quite badly"

Mast - The pole that supports the sails and all the rigging. That doesn't really apply to most modern cruise ships although for the old fashioned amongst you check out my cruise deals for a company called Star Clippers.

Midships - The central part of the ship

OBC - On Board Credit - Money given by the cruise line that can only be spent onboard. See this guide here for more information on it.

Obstructed view - An outside or balcony cabin with a lifeboat hanging outside your cabin. Click here for more details

Onboard - Anything that is/will happen on your cruise ship

Pitch - The way the ship moves up and down in the water

Port - The left side of the ship

Pilot - The Captain of the ship

Stabilizers - These come out from the side of the ship and limit the rocking of the ship in rough weather. Almost all big cruise ships come with these nowadays

Starboard - The right side of the ship

Stern - The very back of the ship

Tender - A small boat used to ferry passengers to and from a port when the port in question is too small to hold a large cruise ship.

I think that about covers it but if anyone can think of any terms I've missed or you want to ask me the definition of a term feel free to post them below.

Happy cruising.