A cruise jigsaw for you

It's Sunday so it must be time for another cruise game again and this week I thought I'd put together a jigsaw puzzle for you of the flow rider onboard the Independence of the Seas. You'll have to post how quickly you manage to solve it.

Happy cruising

Cruise.co.uk now has an app!

Just a quick update for you all today. As you've probably guessed from the title of this post cruise.co.uk has finally joined the 21st century and released its own app. I know it's been a long time coming, (you know you're behind the times when Fred Olsen has an app before you), but it's finally here.
At the moment it's only available on the android market but fingers crossed it'll be released for I-phones soon as well. If anyone reading this has an android phone just do a quick search and download us. Let me know back here what you think of the app and who knows your suggestions might be included in version 2.0

Happy cruising

Dreamworks with Royal Caribbean - Did you know?

It seems I'm having a bit of a Royal Caribbean month this month on my blog and no for the cynical amongst you they're not paying me, (although if anyone from Royal Caribbean's reading this feel free to call me up and offer me some money). The other day I wrote about how most RCCL ships have boxing rings in the gym, (you can read the post by clicking here), and I recently wrote about the secret topless sunbathing deck on the Independence of the Seas, (which again you can read by clicking here). Today's post is going to have a bit more of a family cruising theme as I'll be telling you how some Royal Caribbean ships have Dreamworks characters onboard to entertain the kids, (and any young at heart adults).

Planking - Have you tried it yet?

I'm normally pretty good with internet fads, being right there at the front when they start, but I''ll admit this one passed me by a bit so if you've already heard of it my apologies for todays post.
For those of you that haven't 'planking' a variation on an old game called, imaginatively, the lying down game, is the latest craze to be sweeping the internet.
But just what is it?

Fight Klub - Another secret gem of the Indy

I've written a couple of articles recently about the different little known extras you get on a Royal Caribbean cruise. I think the last one I wrote about was topless sun bathing, (which, if you want, you can read by clicking here). Following on with the same theme I'll be posting today about the Fight Klub onboard the Independence of the Seas.
Did you know she had a usable boxing ring in the gym?

Latest ash cloud news

It looks like it's happened again although fingers crossed this time all the experts are saying it shouldn't be as bad.
What am I talking about?
Well if you haven't heard already another volcano has erupted up in Iceland and is once again spewing ash and dust throughout Northern Europes flight lanes.

American vs British service

One of my colleagues recently wrote a post about how much better the service was on an American cruise ship as opposed to a British one, (surprise surprise she's American herself). If you're interested you can read her thoughts on the matter by clicking here.

Obviously my patriotic pride wasn't going to just sit back and take that lying down though so I thought for todays post I'd explain to you all why the service on a British cruise ship and by extension British service in general, is so much better than the service you can expect from our Colonial cousins.

Britons refuse to sample new food

I was reading an article in the paper yesterday about Britains eating habits that shocked me,(yep, you guessed it I'm about to jump back up on my soap box). One of the big things I love about cruising is the amazing menus and the chance to try local cuisines first hand but according to the article in the Metro one in five British adults were so unadventurous that they had never tried an olive! Not once!

Sneaking Alcohol onto a cruise ship

First off, this isn't a continuation on the debate about whether it's right to sneak alcohol onto a cruise ship or not. That debate's been done several times in the past and I don't think either side are ever going to agree with each other.
From my point of view I can see two main reasons for bringing alcohol onboard yourself. Firstly, you fancy a quite drink in your cabin before you go out or as a night cap without having to wait for room service or walk all the way to a bar yourself. The second reason is that you have decided the cruise lines prices for drinks are too expensive so you bring your own booze to get drunk in your cabin before going out for the evening.

Will the British market say no?

Unless you're a dedicated cruiser until a couple of years ago you probably hadn't ever heard of MSC. They're an Italian cruise line that have grown very large over the last few years. Currently they're trying to break into the UK market by offering cruises from Southampton onboard the MSC Opera.

A cruise anagram game

It's Sunday morning so it must be time for another cruise style game. This week I've set you a series of cruise anagrams to solve. If you get stuck there are hints available but see how far you can get without them first.

Happy cruising

My top five cruise movies

I was chatting with some friends last night about the amount of times a cruise ship gets used in a movie either as a setting or as a plot device and someone made a comment that there always seemed to be hundreds of movies featuring cruise ships about.
As one, everyone turned to me as though I'd be able to list every movie ever made to feature a cruise ship. With a bit of thought though I was hard pressed to come up with even ten, let alone ten good ones.
It's with that in mind that for todays post I've listed my top five favourite movies featuring cruise ships. Bear in mind it was a slim list I was picking from so if you can come up with a better top five, or you can even think of some cruise movies I've missed, feel free to add them below.

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?

Three and four berth cabins

One of the big questions I get asked a lot from families booking a cabin on a cruise ship is what will the three or four berth cabins look like.
It can be quite worrying, especially if you've never seen one before, as it's quite hard to imagine how they will be set up. I had a quick look on the internet this morning and there aren't even that many pictures. With that in mind I thought I'd show you some pictures of three and four berth cabins on a cruise ship so that you can judge for yourselves as to whether you'd be happy in one.
There are however a couple of points with this kind of cabin that you should remember......

Celebrity Eclipse - The best ship I've ever seen, (so far)

I've just got back up from Southampton after a travel agent day visit to the Celebrity ship, The Eclipse, (It's a hard job but somebodies got to do it). The cruise lines invite us all down every so often to tour their ships and enjoy some lunch in the dining room so that when my lovely passengers ask about a particular ship we can comment from personal experience.
Today was the turn of the Celebrity Eclipse.
If you'd asked me about it before I would have told you that Celebrity cruise lines were Royal Caribbeans big sisters.
Stylish, sophisticated, elegant, innovative, modern and relaxed.
My opinion of them hasn't changed after today, Celebritys ships, especially the Eclipse, are all these things. What I didn't realise till this morning was that those descriptions were just words.
I didn't realise how stylish she was. I didn't realise how sophisticated she was. I didn't realise how innovative she was. And neither will you until you sail on her. The pictures I've added below, (and there are a few), don't do her justice at all. Until you're onboard, surrounded by her elegance, bathed in her mood lighting and relaxing in one of her many bars, (the martini bar is my favourite, more on that later though), you won't be able to appreciate her either. I really do have to repeat, these pictures don't do her justice; however, hopefully they will wet your appetite just enough to book a cruise on her. Trust me, you won't regret it!

The problem with airplanes

A passenger of mine recently sent me an email about some engineers reports who had been sent in by the pilots when they had noticed a problem with the plane.
As the weekends fast approaching I thought I'd share some of them with you to bring you a bit of a smile before Saturday gets here.

Happy cruising

Topless sunbathing on a cruise ship

I've just had a past passenger come back from a cruise onboard the Independence of the Seas and they reminded me about something on the Indy that I hadn't thought of for quite a while. Now I'm not sure if it's just the Indy that has this or all RCCL ships as I've only been on the Independence but have you ever been on the San Tropez deck?

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