Where have you been?

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.

Are cruise ships a good thing for a city?

Cruise ships bring a lot of money to a city in the form of tourism and port taxes etc but is a large number of cruise ships always a good thing?
I'm thinking about this after having just read a report about Barcelona which so far this year has been visited by 355 cruise ships, bringing in a total number of cruise passenger tourists of over 1,000,000!
Now Barcelona is a big city and can cope with that number of tourists, (the pickpockets and thieves preying on the tourists of Barcelona being a separate issue), but I'm thinking of the small Caribbean islands, or the small Fjord village ports that play host to the likes of Allure of the Seas or P&Os Ventura and Azura.
When these ships come into port the population of these places can sometimes double and that's assuming only one ship is docked; most experienced cruisers will be able to tell you nightmare stories about two or three big ships being docked at a small port at once. Whilst there's no doubt that these ports benefit from the revenue that level of tourism brings I can't help thinking what happens the day after when there aren't any ships in and the residents need to clean up after 2,000 to 3,000 cruise passengers, or what happens when in the off season if the ports don't get any cruise ships visiting them at all. What happens to all the jobs created by the ships visiting and the people that depend on them?
What do you think?

Happy cruising?

Timeline of a cruise; Booking to Packing

A lot of people get nervous about booking their first cruise, (or even there 50th), they're never sure what to do when; when they can expect flight tickets; their cruise tickets; how they get their luggage labels etc.
I thought some people might find it useful if I put together a time line of how the perfect cruise, (barring any problems), should proceed just so you know what you have to do/what you should expect and when.

Happy cruising

Do you know where you're really cruising to?

"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I know; my cruise line has given me a clear itinerary!"
Well, it's not always that easy, strange as it may sound, especially if you're new to cruising or haven't traveled a lot in the past.
So, on the assumption that all the cruise lines aren't deliberately lying to you, just what am I talking about?

Cunards Grills - Another name for first and second class?

I recently wrote a post about all the different benefits you can enjoy when you book a Princess or Queens Grill onboard a Cunard ship, (if you're interested you can read the post by clicking here). Ever since I wrote it though it's been praying on my mind a little. Are the Cunard Grills just a higher grade of cabin, as available on all other cruises lines or are they a sneaky form class system ie first, second and steerage?

A cruise game for you

I know today is normally when I'd bring you your regular cruise crossword but I thought I'd try something different for a change. Rather than designing a cruise crossword I've built a cruise style hangman game for you to enjoy. Let me know how you get on.

Happy cruising

What are you giving up for lent?

I don't know if any of you read my blog the other day on whether you should cruise with MSC or not. If you missed it you can read it by clicking here.
Someone reading it obviously wasn't too keen on MSC and said my recommendation of them sounded like a used car salesmans!
A little unfair I thought as I'd made a conscious effort to give the good and bad points of the cruise. I suppose I may have come across enthusiastic but that's just how I talk about cruising in general, it's not just MSC. I'm a big cruising fan and I'm on the hunt right now for my next cruise.

Lost in Le Havre?

Something that confuses a lot of people about cruising is destinations/ports of call. You think you’re booking a cruise to Rome and actually end up somewhere called Civitavecchia. You think you’re off to Amsterdam and end up in Ijmuiden. You think you’re going to Paris and end up in Le Havre.
So what’s going on? Are the cruise lines lying to you about your destinations?
Has the cruise had to swap destinations a the last minute?
Nope, none of the above.