Cruise lines to pull out of Greece

I've been hearing some worrying gossip recently that several major cruise lines are getting fed up of the disruptions in Greece and are threatening to pull all their cruises to Greece unless the Greek government does something to resolve the situation.

Free upgrades on a cruise ship

I've always liked to think I'm quite a fair person, so when I took a call the other day from a passenger who wanted to complain about a cruise I'd booked for him I was obviously concerned. As it turns out the complaint was about P&O cruises, not me, but it really did leave me gobsmacked.
I really wasn't sure what to say to the passenger. Have a read and see what you think.............

Fred Olsen finally go on line! But will people be happy?

It's finally happened! Fred Olsen have joined the 21st century! But is it a good thing?
Fred Olsen have finally jumped on the dreaded e-ticket bandwagon and from today all your tickets will be available to print out direct from their website.

Is Azamara a five or six star cruise ship?

I was having a debate with someone in the office the other day about this. Do people tend to class Azamara as a five or six star cruise line?  I've always tended to class her with other six star lines like Seabourn or Crystal but I've heard other people only class them as a five star line.
So what do you think.................?

Confiscated luggage

Have you ever had any luggage confiscated from you on your cruise?
A bottle of wine perhaps?
A sneaky bottle of whisky?

Well don't worry you're not alone! A recent report from Southamptons port and operations security manager Glen Gardner revealed this rather scary picture.......

Repositioning cruises, what are they?

If you've been looking for a cruise at any point in the last, well ever, you may have heard the term repositioning cruise mentioned. They're not common in the cruising world but they do tend to happen once or twice a year for each ship; but what actually are they?

Problems with taking children on Royal Caribbean cruises

There's nothing quite as special as taking your kids on their first cruise, (apart from leaving them at home and cruising in the peace and quiet on your own - I'm joking), but if you're not careful you can have a lot of problems with some cruise lines; in some circumstances I've heard of people being refused boarding!

P&O going green - What they aren't telling you.......

If you've booked a cruise with P&O lately and had a look at your cruise personaliser you may have noticed something new. There is now an option on there for you to go green.
Now we all know about global warming; we all now about deforestation; so the automatic reaction is to tick the yes box on something like this; yes please I'd like to go green!
But what aren't P&O telling you?

Have you ever seen a horse on a Fred Olsen ship?

No this isn't a joke, I'm genuinely asking if you've ever seen a horse on a Fred Olsen ship.
Obviously not the live variety, that really would be weird. What I meant is have you ever seen a picture of a horse in a painting?
Or a statue of a horse as a decoration?
Or anything else even remotely 'horsey'?
I bet you haven't!

Fred Olsen fuel surcharges - Are they being unfair again?

A few months ago I wrote a blog about Fred Olsen imposing gratuities on their guests automatically, (you can read the post here). I thought it was a bit unfair of them at the time but since then I've not hear much from them. There latest move however strikes me as really unfair!
A couple of my colleagues have blogged recently about the Fred Olsen fuel surcharges currently being added to existing bookings.
For those of you who don't know, because the price of fuel has risen so much in the last few months Fred Olsen have been contacting passengers who have already booked their cruise and adding a fuel surcharge to their bookings. If I'm going to be honest with you that's all passed me by a little.
Yes I think it's a little unfair that Fred Olsen are doing this to passengers that have already booked but it is in their Terms and conditions.
However........

Did you know - The Jade and Jewel

I was chatting to a customer today on one of my regular pre cruise calls, (I like to call everyone up just before their cruise to make sure they're all set for their cruise and that no last minute problems have arisen), when we got talking about the NCL cruises he had done in the past. He told me an interesting piece of gossip about the NCL Jade and the Jewel that I just couldn't resist sharing with you today.

Choosing the right cruise ship

Lets ignore costing issues for a moment and lets forget about itinerarys and flights and everything else. If the only decision you had to make was how to choose a cruise ship how would you do it?
What for you are the hallmarks of a great cruise ship? Or looking at it in a different way, what for you makes a bad cruise ship, (does such a thing even exist?)

The I-Phone cruise.co.uk app is here!

You all demanded it and it's finally here. I know all us I-phone users have had to wait a bit longer than our android cousins but I checked it out last night and the wait was worth it! Just search the I-phone app store for cruises and it will pop straight up for you. (The delay was Apples fault, surprise, surprise).
The app links back to our forums so is perfect for anyone with any emergency questions whilst out and about, or even whilst they're on their cruise. It almost acts as a 24/7 help centre as so many of are members are on there around the clock.
Not to mention the fact that you can keep up with all the latest cruise, gossip, chat, deals and discussions whilst on the go.
So why are you still reading this? Go download it now!!!

Happy cruising

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What's wrong with American check-in staff?

Hmmm, where to start. Most of them seem to be rude, obnoxious, racist xenophobes who delight in making visitors to their country jump through hoops for their own amusement, or so past passengers have told me from there own experiences.

Live Hurtigruten broadcast - 134 hours!

Hurtigruten have been on my radar for a year or two now. I simply love everything this companies marketing department do. They converted the top couple of decks of their mail ships into passenger decks and started selling cruises to see the northern lights, (for those of you who hadn't realised Hurtigruten go further north than any other cruise line so they are perfect for the 'light hunters' out there looking to see the Aurora Borealis).
But the latest marketing ploy is simply genius!

Project Sunshine - Have you heard?

As you know I always try to keep you all informed of the latest cruise news, gossip and rumours. Working for a specialist cruise travel agency I obviously get to speak to a lot of reps from the different cruise lines and hear some of the juicer gossip.
Something I heard today however has got me quite interested so I thought I'd share it all with you straight away.

How to overcome a fear of flying

Don't fly, book a cruise! There we go that was nice and easy! All joking aside though the thought of flying terrifies a lot of people so I thought today I'd give you a few handy 'tips' I've picked up over the years to help if it is a worry for you.......