Two Jews on a cruise - A review

I've just downloaded a new app for my phone that let's me blog direct from my mobile.
As I was talking about Two Jews on a Cruise yesterday I decided to test it out by writing a review of the show as I was watching it; we'll have to see how well it works.

Wonderland: Two Jews on a Cruise

What are you all doing tomorrow night? Actually never mind, it doesn't matter because you're going to need to change your plans.
Wonderland: - Two Jews on a cruise
BBC2
9:00pm
That's my recommendation for the night...........

Is Celebrity Concierge class worth it?

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?

Cruising with your pets

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.

Angry Birds theme park ride

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!

Fred Olsen Braemar chartered for the Olympics

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.

Fencing on the QV

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?

Norovirus soon to be a thing of the past!

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.

Cunards ships crossword puzzle

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.

Fred Olsen 2013 now on sale

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!

Headless Horsemanning and Koalaing

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!

Royal Princess sneak preview

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.

Do modern cruise ships need ports of call?

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?

Problems with getting married at sea

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!

112 - Got your number!

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%!

The Bernie Warner bear

I've reported on some strange cruise stories in the past but this has to be one of my all time favourites!

Perfect table size for a cruise

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.

Why no cruises to Africa?

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?

Should kids cruise free?

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.

Liverpool get go ahead

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).

Fred Olsen drop 5% discount

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.

Top tips to avoid tipping

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.