I was never on a cruise prior to my trip on Magnifica, my trip with MSC was just amazing, I will never be able to do a package holiday again, from the time we landed in Barcelona we were so well looked after, I have a cpap Machine I use at night, the med staff made sure on my arrival with a note in my room where and how I could locate or contact them 24/7, we were shown to our rooms, we had the same people maintain the rooms for the whole 8 days, they were fab, and did little treats of towel animals in my bed most nights, you went for your dinner every evening and on your return to your room , the beds were turned down, it is amazing but by the end of the 8 days I was emotional, I was sad to be leaving the MSC family I had the pleasure of meeting on my tri,, our waiter at dinner was Alex he was a true Gent and all the bar staff and the ships enterners, the staff that attended the children in the kids area......they seemed to be having so much fun, I experienced 4D cinema....that was some roller-coast ride...I screamed like a child it was so much fun I can not Fault a thing with MSC.
We had an Irish woman on the ship with us, she was on deck 12 too she had 2 children with her, she turned out to be a bit of a trouble Maker, She made some of us cringe with shame that we shared our nationality with her, she told some big fibs,and was almost the cause of a staff member loosing his job, (I hope he did not) but outside of this persons conning ability's also her silliness, I had a fab time, and all of the Irish people I met up with also enjoyed our fab entertainment every night we all had nothing but praise on what an amazing experience it was.
I ENJOYED ME EXPERIENCE SO MUCH, I have decided to go again on a med cruise with MSC Also take 5 other members of my Family with me as I would love my Children and Husband to enjoy the amazing experience of traveling with MSC,our ship is different this Oct 11th we will be enjoying MSC Poesia.

From the moment you step on board you feel relaxed with the knowledge that everything has been well organised. The ship is easy to navigate and the balcony staterooms furnished and serviced to a high standard. The food on board is excellent with a varied menu and lots of choice. The brunch is not to be missed. The shore excursions were also well organised with the arrangements for disembarkation in the various ports speedy and stress free.
The theatre shows and other entertainment on board was above average.

Those days were so awesome. I am so thankful to Ocean World Travel

We arrived at our allotted time and went through the check in procedure very easily. We are not too keen on City Terminal but it all went well and we boarded just after 2.15. Our luggage had already arrived so we were soon settled with time for afternoon tea in the Palms Café – where our muster took place. Sailing was on time and calm water took us to Zeebrugge.

The shuttle bus transfer into Blankenburg used boarding passes which did cause a delay as the town had only provided 2 coaches. Probably Cunard had the monopoly of this type of transportation. However, we had decided that we would spend the day in Blankenburg – a town we are particularly fond of and as it was my birthday, we had a nice lunch in a restaurant we have visited before.

From Zeebrugge, we had a day at sea and enjoyed the Captains Welcome Gala. We arrived in Copenhagen late morning, had time for a light lunch then joined our organised trip to Tivoli Gardens Christmas Market which did not disappoint. En route, we stopped at the Little Mermaid for a photo shoot and then for a walk to the Royal Palace with our Guide. We replaced the latter with a visit a couple of gift shops which for Denmark were very reasonably priced. A tour of the city and then to Tivoli where we had 2 hours to explore. It was a good afternoon, the rain tried to keep away but a light drizzle came in as we were walking back to the coach.

The following day was spent in the Kiel Canal, no snow but still very pretty and plenty of chances to use the camera.
Next was Hamburg Christmas Market using the newly opened Underground Train to get right into town. The Markets seemed smaller than before but there were plenty of bargains to be had. Bremerhaven followed and the Shuttle service was spot on. Again the Market was smaller but we had a really good time.

The final day was at sea with, as usual plenty to do. The Captains Farewell was that night and a very fitting end to a most enjoyable cruise. Overnight we had high winds which resulted in slow disembarkation at Southampton as the bad weather had prevented the crane which takes the baggage off the ship from working. Luggage was moved manually and in stead of being called off in deck order from top to bottom, the decks seemed to be called randomly. The Baggage Reclaim area was very wet as a result of the rain the UK had suffered and delayed us getting off.

None of this was a fault of Fred, it was simply weather conditions and the knock on effect.

We were on second sitting in the Avon Restaurant on a table for 8 and had a happy crowd on the adjacent table. The waiting staff were first class and we were joined by the Hotel Manager on the first formal night. The food was as good as ever, well cooked and presented nicely.

It was wonderful to have Victor Stoica as our Captain again, Mr Thomas Rennesland as the Hotel Manager and Ashley Bolton-Burrows as the Cruise Director, ably assisted by Jamie and a great team of hosts/hostesses and the theatre company.

There was a really good atmosphere on the ship, passengers were very friendly and happy and for once, we did not hear the C word (compensation) or many complaints. That was a bonus.

All the staff were great but if we had just one gripe, it would be that there was a new photographic team and not many photos were taken. We collect gangway photos but we only had one at Copenhagen and unfortunately, we were left out in the Avon and on the British Night. With that said, that slips into insignificance as it was such a great cruise.

The sea conditions were much better than expected and the only clue that it was a bit choppy one night was when a champagne flute fell onto the floor in the middle of the night.

The entertainment was first class. We went to the Lido Lounge every night where at 7.45 the show company put on musical shows, a 60’s night, an evening with Elvis, a Christmas show etc and then the main shows in the Neptune where the show company put on really good productions and then of course there was Brenda Collins who was on 3 times – such a funny lady. The Balmoral Orchestra were very good, as was Q Tones, the Rosario trio and the young man in the Morning light bar.

Thank you Fred for another great cruise on Balmoral and to Ocean World Travel for ongoing great service.

We arrived at our allotted time and went through the check in procedure very easily. We are not too keen on City Terminal but it all went well and we boarded just after 2.15. Our luggage had already arrived so we were soon settled with time for afternoon tea in the Palms Café – where our muster took place. Sailing was on time and calm water took us to Zeebrugge.

The shuttle bus transfer into Blankenburg used boarding passes which did cause a delay as the town had only provided 2 coaches. Probably Cunard had the monopoly of this type of transportation. However, we had decided that we would spend the day in Blankenburg – a town we are particularly fond of and as it was my birthday, we had a nice lunch in a restaurant we have visited before.

From Zeebrugge, we had a day at sea and enjoyed the Captains Welcome Gala. We arrived in Copenhagen late morning, had time for a light lunch then joined our organised trip to Tivoli Gardens Christmas Market which did not disappoint. En route, we stopped at the Little Mermaid for a photo shoot and then for a walk to the Royal Palace with our Guide. We replaced the latter with a visit a couple of gift shops which for Denmark were very reasonably priced. A tour of the city and then to Tivoli where we had 2 hours to explore. It was a good afternoon, the rain tried to keep away but a light drizzle came in as we were walking back to the coach.

The following day was spent in the Kiel Canal, no snow but still very pretty and plenty of chances to use the camera.
Next was Hamburg Christmas Market using the newly opened Underground Train to get right into town. The Markets seemed smaller than before but there were plenty of bargains to be had. Bremerhaven followed and the Shuttle service was spot on. Again the Market was smaller but we had a really good time.

The final day was at sea with, as usual plenty to do. The Captains Farewell was that night and a very fitting end to a most enjoyable cruise. Overnight we had high winds which resulted in slow disembarkation at Southampton as the bad weather had prevented the crane which takes the baggage off the ship from working. Luggage was moved manually and in stead of being called off in deck order from top to bottom, the decks seemed to be called randomly. The Baggage Reclaim area was very wet as a result of the rain the UK had suffered and delayed us getting off.

None of this was a fault of Fred, it was simply weather conditions and the knock on effect.

We were on second sitting in the Avon Restaurant on a table for 8 and had a happy crowd on the adjacent table. The waiting staff were first class and we were joined by the Hotel Manager on the first formal night. The food was as good as ever, well cooked and presented nicely.

It was wonderful to have Victor Stoica as our Captain again, Mr Thomas Rennesland as the Hotel Manager and Ashley Bolton-Burrows as the Cruise Director, ably assisted by Jamie and a great team of hosts/hostesses and the theatre company.

There was a really good atmosphere on the ship, passengers were very friendly and happy and for once, we did not hear the C word (compensation) or many complaints. That was a bonus.

All the staff were great but if we had just one gripe, it would be that there was a new photographic team and not many photos were taken. We collect gangway photos but we only had one at Copenhagen and unfortunately, we were left out in the Avon and on the British Night. With that said, that slips into insignificance as it was such a great cruise.

The sea conditions were much better than expected and the only clue that it was a bit choppy one night was when a champagne flute fell onto the floor in the middle of the night.

The entertainment was first class. We went to the Lido Lounge every night where at 7.45 the show company put on musical shows, a 60’s night, an evening with Elvis, a Christmas show etc and then the main shows in the Neptune where the show company put on really good productions and then of course there was Brenda Collins who was on 3 times – such a funny lady. The Balmoral Orchestra were very good, as was Q Tones, the Rosario trio and the young man in the Morning light bar.

Thank you Fred for another great cruise on Balmoral and to Ocean World Travel for ongoing great service.

Sailing Auckland to Sydney, with Christmas at Sea and New Year in Sydney Harbour was fabulous. The ship very well presented, attentive yet unobtrusive service from the crew and the festive celebrations a great touch. Highly recommend the line, ship and Christmas at sea experience.

Just returned from the MSC Splendida this week. Went with my wife and 2 kids, 9 & 11. Boarded in Marseilles for 1 week.
This was our first cruise. It will most definitely not be our last.

I read with interest different good and bad reviews of this ship before I booked. I have to say, how anybody could fault it and MSC is beyond me. The ship was simply stunning, the facilities excellent, the food amazing, entertainment brilliant, spotless, and the staff incredibly warm, friendly and supportive.

We chose the all-inclusive package through cruiseparadise.ie and it was well worth it. We had paid it back after 21/2 days, as it included all drinks, cocktails, spirits, wines and beers. All water, kids ice creams etc.

If you decide not for that option, be aware that prices for drinks are slightly more expensive than at home in Ireland. Expect €8 a cocktail, €7.50 for a G&T, €5.50 for a bottle of beer, €5 for an ice cream. The all inc pack was very affordable at €480 for the 4 of us for the week. Well worth it.

Why MSC? For me it was because kids under 11 travel free (bar port taxes etc.) This meant it was very accessible and affordable for us for the first cruise.

Will we ever travel with them again? Absolutely, can’t wait to go again.

The kids loved it, the ship, the pools, the clubs, the friendships made.

Boarding and disembarking was seamless and fast.

We had absolutely no hidden charges applied.

The room (a balcony) was the right size, was really luxurious, and the beds very comfy.

The ports were well located.

Average age on board was 38, plenty of kids, families, couples and groups. A mixture of Nationalities.

If there is a negative it is that some people have no manners and are pushy in lifts etc. That is in no way a bad reflection on MSC, the ship or the holiday, just on them people, so if you can accept that not everybody is as mannerly as us then you will enjoy it.

We chose to make our own way there and back, with me taking the ferry over and driving down (meaning we could have a few days afterwards in Paris, and could fill up with wine etc.) - Not everybodys cup of tea, but I love driving in France.

Very quickly the ship becomes to feel like home. What more can I say?

After spending two Cruises (Caribbean & Med)in the past 18 Months with Royal Caribbean I was expecting at least the same level of enjoyment and entertainment on this brand new ship. We booked this particular Cruise because of the destinations and we were not disappointed in that respect,except four ports in four days is tough going.
The ship,although new had very little to offer mature clientele in the way of activities, Mini-Golf on two levels?, that didn't come with a charge. The food stations were just about adequate,but you had to search for them. Although the Red Frog Pub was the Venue we most frequented,there was hardly ever anyone there or any of the other Venues. The Piano bar/singer was just downright crude and to be avoided,and as for the two waxwork models in the Atrium,they just did not inspire anyone to hang around. The Atrium on our other Cruises was always a hub of activity where people loved to socialise and dance.
Last but not least and most disappointing was the Theatre,what was served up here on a 12 day Cruise was just downright insulting. The same four shows repeated over and over and a Lionel Ritchie singer that performed all of 8 songs.The shows might have been tolerable if there was live music instead of it being a glorified Karaoke Show,which broke down for twenty minutes in the middle of the Brits Show. You got to have live Music!!
The final point and the one that would definitely put me off going with Carnival again was the 5AM disembarktion,being hounded off the ship by 8.45am,with no facility to stay on board until Lunchtime,as do Royal Caribbean is just not a runner.

An excellent example of how a cruise ship should look and be run, the ideal birthday present for my wife's Big Five O ! We and our two teenage daughters can't wait for the next holiday aboard either the Jade or their super flagship Epic. Well done NCL on such a fantastic liner and equally first class, friendliest crew on the the whole of the ocean waves !

This was our first cruise. We where not disappointed. The Ship was more than we expected. The ships officers and staff where superb. The cruise itself was brilliant, we cruised for 1 week then stayed in Palma, we should have cruised for the 2 weeks. We said we would cruise again with Island cruises, we are in September 2011, same ship different ports of call. A real pleasure to sail on. For the prices great value. Roy Mitchell.

We have just returned from a one week cruise on Carnival Victory sailing around the Caribbean. The ports of call were excellent but unfortunately the ship was not. The cabins were dirty, passengers were allowed to smoke in all areas of the ship and the food in the pacific restaurant was at best luke warm and at worse cold. When we complained about the food being cold we were told it is because it takes so long to reach us (about 30 minutes) but they did offer to take it away and reheat it for us if we would like to wait another 30 minutes. The whole ship seemed like Butlins at sea. The teenagers were allowed to run around the ship without any supervision at all hours of the day and night, even though there were notices up saying no children in areas such as the casino the security guards just ignored them. We joined the ship in Barbados although the main port was San Juan and this meant that we were treated like 2nd class citizens. The information about shore excursions arrived on Saturday evening but by then we only had St Thomas left to visit. When we docked in San Juan we were told we could not eat at our restaurant that night because the new guests were going to be eating there. When we left the ship there was nobody to assist or answer any questions we had. We have cruised before with Royal Caribbean and P&O and loved it but Carnival just did not live up to their standards.

WE HAD A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY ON THE EQUINOX

service beyomd our expectations, food incredible, truly 5 star experience. Our teenage sons had a great time, they didnt want to leave the ship. Great destinations of interest to all our family, thanks to all for a great holiday

Just back from two week cruise of Mediterranean. 2 adults and 2 kids (16 and 10) This was a great cruise; we all had a fabulous time!

Cabins
Our cabin was E421 advertised as a fully obstructed view, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that between two lifeboats we had a clear straight ahead view. We would recommend this as an excellent value 4 berth outside cabin. Plenty of room for 4 organized people. In our opinion the 2 single bed configuration worked very well with 4 people sharing. Our cabin steward, Nimit, was unobtrusive, polite, friendly and kept the cabin very clean. There were chocolates every night, but alas! No towel animals. Children said bunk bed quilts were too small for the bed. Beware - take care if choosing a balcony cabin, many of them are over looked!

Food
Food was excellent in all restaurants. Sabattinis and Steakhouse both were well worth the extra cost of 20 dollars per head. We found anytime dining a good option for us. We expected to have to queue but felt that it could have been organised more efficiently by the head waiters. Average wait time was approximately 20 minutes. Horizon Court buffet restaurant was generally very good. However, there was no indication of what food was on offer before entering the buffet area resulting in quite a few people milling about before selecting food.

Pools
There were 4 heated pools, 2 adults and 2 family pools. Family pools were very crowded on sea days in particular, and pool rules regarding no jumping and diving were not observed/enforced. There were several hot tubs available, and they were HOT! The published 30 minute rule on unattended sunbeds was not enforced either. We could only get a sunbed after 5pm.

Shore excursions/ports of call
Tender service at Alghero was very poor. We waited for over an hour to get a tender. There was no information given by ship staff for the delay. We took the 'Rome by private train' excursion which was unfortunately delayed by over an hour due to signal problems. However, the train was very quick and the tour guide dealt admirably with some very disgruntled passengers. We also took the 'Walking tour of Gibraltar' trip, which was excellent. The guide was very informative and entertaining. We explored other ports of call independently. Although some of the excursion prices seem expensive they get you where you want to go more efficiently with the minimum of fuss. Watch out for pick pockets in all places especially Barcelona - we had a mobile phone stolen in a flash from a zipped backpack in a quiet street in the Gothic Quarter and spent over an hour in the police station.

Entertainment
Shows featuring Princess singers and dancers were pretty average (one of the singers was well below average). Guest acts were not much better with the exception of Diane Cousins and David Copperfield who were very entertaining. Assistant cruise directors Adam, Karen, Little Andy and deputy Dave were all very good but others lacked personality. We really enjoyed the Bingo and trivia quizzes (which is something we don't normally take part in) but found that Movies Under The Stars showed very few family films.

Kids Clubs
Shockwaves seemed geared more towards the 8 year olds than the 12 year olds. The junior chef, which my ten year old daughter was looking forward to, was only available for 10 children and only advertised at the first registration session. Luckily my daughter was able to take part, but there must have been several disappointed children. Remix was very well organised with lots of interesting activities. Good experienced staff were on hand.

General
The ship's general decor was slightly shabby and in need of the refit scheduled for next year. However, everything was very clean and kept tidy. We sometimes found it difficult to get a lift at busy times, and as there were no stairs available in the centre of the ship we often had to walk a long way to reach our destination. There were very few signs and we had still not got to grips with the ship's layout by the end of the holiday - or maybe we are just getting old. We found the Internet Cafe connection very slow and therefore expensive. We cancelled the daily charge of $10.50 gratuity for our children as we thought this excessive, especially as a 15% service charge is automatically added to every drink purchased. There was no problem with arranging this at the purser's desk. As expected there were a considerable number of children on board. The top decks were taken over at night by packs of teenagers. They were mostly good natured and easily avoided. The only time any children got out of hand was at the Gibraltar sailaway party where the cruise staff failed to exercise any control and on the last night where spirits were naturally high. We had a fantastic holiday, but please beware - not only were we mugged in Barcelona, my 10 year old daughter also had goggles and a pair of shoes stolen on board!
On a final note, Captain, please do not be anonymous; you are an important part of the cruise experience. The only officer we heard regularly was a trainee giving the 12 noon position announcement. One tannoy announcement at the start of the cruise does not give the impression you are pleased to have us on board! More so that you feel far too important to mingle with the paying plebs!

My wife and I boarded as foot passengers in May 2010 at Marmaris Marina, Turkey, from where the Ship now turns around every Monday. The initial embarkation process was a bit of a mare as we were 'tagged-on' to a coach party from Holland, where it was presumed our passports should be processed with our new ship-mates! Not the case folks - if you are based in resort (Marmaris) do not let Immigration cancel your Visa as Turkey DOES NOT operate multi-entry Visas, and you will be charged £10 per head again when you disembark your cruise. My Tip Number 1: 'hold on to your passport until you see the Purser on board!
The Ship is well laid out, has above average sized cabins - which are very comfortable - backed up with the services of your own Cabin Steward/ess; inside cabins offer exceptional value for money. In the cruise price is a fully waitered-service restaurant for main meals (not set sittings)as well as a self-service restaurant offering around-the-clock cuisine, from a positively sumptious selection; beleive me there is a dish for every pallete and the Maitre D' will ensure special dietary needs are met or get you a table reservation of the Haute Cuisine restaurant for any special occassions. There is usually one Formal Evening per cruise; this is completely at each passenger's disgresion and non-compulsory - so you need not worry if you dont use all your baggage allowance!
There is an option for fully-inclusive alcoholic drinks package where all your party must take; drinks prices are reasonable (£3.10 for draught beers and £3.60 for ****tails); organisers make much-ado about the forty ml measure for spirits but only one bar we saw (Horisons) stuck to the rules! My Tip No.2: If you like strong ****tails, insist and watch the barman!!
The Celebration has a full entertainment team who are professional, extremely talented and enthusiastic; if you have opted fro a fourteen-day cruise, panic-not as the entertainment programme is nicely tempered over two weeks so you will never be bored. The Cruise Director and his team will ensure all activities go with a bang, down to popular TV style games shows or cash-prize Bingo! The Cabaret Show each night are a delight on the eye and ears.
Shore excursions in the many and varied ports-of-call are extra, well managed and fully couriered/guided but can be expensive overall; its up to the passenger whether to be part of the herd or be more adventurous, self-sufficient and worthy-wise. The Destinations desk will give free advice, as well as town maps. My Tip No.3: You can get to Ephesus (Ancient Roman City as in the Bible) by local taxi from Kushadasi Port for a fraction of the Ship tour - team up with fellow passengers and halve your costs again!
Conclusion: I thoroughly recommend the Thomson Celebration to all: Ship offers much to passengers of every age, the food is extremely good, itineries well thought-out and interesting; is great value for money when Brits actually barter. Marmaris is beatiful in itself, and the trip in and out of Marmaris Bay, is positively breathtaking. www.LowcostCruising.com John Hagan

We Have traveled on the Sea Princess Twice (Nov 05 & Feb 08) and we have enjoyed both times.

The service is great ( although we did feel as if the service was slightly better on the 05 cruise, but this could be that it was our 1st trip and everything was new to us).

Although you may not be interested in some of the activities, there is always something to do even if it is just relaxing.

The shows are excellent and some names appear like Dougie brown, Dianne canon (great yorkshire comediane), Carl strong (very funny American guy) and Sid Little (my wife met him in the lift when he first boarded got chatting as you do and asked "you look familiar, who are you?")

One good thing we found was that Princess operate a watch system on the sunbeds, so if a sunbed is seen to be empty for a long time but with a towel or other items on it. they will remove the items which can be collected later, freeing up the sunbed. This stops people getting up early and saving sunbeds with a towel for later in the day. Once or twice there was no-one to do this service but they were quite busy, as this service was mainly used on days at sea. there were plenty sunbeds for everyone it was the prime spots that were reserved by passengers.

The room steward kept our room spotless and was very friendly (especially Lou on our first trip) and even left a chocolate on each pillow in the evening.

Shops and casino are closed when in port but If you fancy trying your luck in the casino but are not sure how to play, then go in during a quiet time (usually during the day, when at sea) and have a word with one of the dealers and they will teach you the game. I tried this once on our 05 cruise and turned $15 into $220. but be very careful winning is addictive. I tried it on the 08 cruise but only came out even.(again be careful. You might lose).

There are 11 Bars (Including a night club) on the ship and I have had a drink in all of them except the smokers bar (I am not a smoker) but the staff in each of them were great.

If you have kids with you , its worth getting the unlimited soft drinks option, for ?? dollars, this can be bought from the bar or waiter/ress but you get a drinking bottle and you can top it up for free (you dont have to use the bottle, you can get your drink in a glass if you prefer) But make sure you show the sticker on your charge card or they may give you a can or bottle of pop instead which is chargable (only draught soft drinks are free with the sticker)

If you decide to relax on deck and have a drink then most of the areas you will find the waiters/waitresses are around and will take your order for you.

Like lots of cruise ships, no cash is used on board but a card is used to pay for drinks and shop bought stuff and this is added to your final bill (but if you want to, you can pay your bill up to date at any time by going to the pursers desk).

The bar prices were not as expensive as i expected. about the same as a posh wine bar in the uk.

One tip - If you are going to prebook any trips using princess or you may book when on board. Then take a printout of the price list and any confirmation before you leave home as you cannot access your online princess account once the holiday has started. We had a dispute over the price but we managed to get it sorted because we had a printout of the prices advertised.

The Sea Princess has Formal nights. But if you dont feel like dressing up, thats ok but it does meen that on those night you are a bit restricted as to where you can go. But its great fun and you can hire a tuxedo/evening dress to be delivered to your state room on board and collected at the end of the cruise, so it doesn't add to you flight weight allowance. The staff also join in the dancing on some formal nights and its great fun.

A couple of nights will see the steak house open. whereas the food is included in your cruise, the steak house does have a cover charge, but it is worth it as the times we had steaks they were cooked exactly as we wanted.

We tried anytime dining in 05 and fixed dining in 08. Anytime dining is great for those who just want to eat whenever they want but we found that fixed dining was much nicer and if you wanted to do something different on one night (like steak bar or buffet), just let the restaraunt know that you won't be there and its ok.

The promenade deck has a path running all the way around, this path is one third of a mile per lap, so its ideal for early morning joggers of which there were quite a few.

The open air Movies are something you must try. Lying (or sitting) on the open deck on a warm Carribean evening sipping a cool drink watching a film on a huge screen is wonderful feeling, I only wish some of the cinemas back home had this atmosphere.

The ship has self service laundry rooms (auto washers and ironing) on most cabin decks. but these are quite busy at times. we used them first thing in the morning while in port as most people were getting ready to go ashore. you can get washing powder from the pursers deck but its not that great, it would probably be better to take some of your own and conditioner.

Ther are photographers (especially on formal nights) and you only buy the photo's if you like them. they are displayed next to the photo desk the next day and for the rest of the cruise. so we waited until near then end of the cruise and then picked the picture we wanted.

There is Internet access (not free). just swipe your card and you can check your emails etc. they even have webcams so you can see family back home.

If you do go on the sea princess (or any other princess ship) then ask about future cruises - this is a system where you give your details and you receive a confirmation that you will get a low deposit and some onboard credit if you book your next cruise with princess within the next 4 years. it costs nothing so its worth doing.

All in all the ship is well worth a visit.

I was on the Independence of the Seas in May this year for a 10 day Canaries cruise.

This ship is absolutely amazing and the luxury excellent.

Cant praise the staff enough for their attention.

Have already boooked for July 2010 and cant wait to go back, this time for a 14 night med cruise.

Would recommend it to anyone.

Our first cruise and the P&O Ventura and all her crew were fantastic in every way.
Nothing was too much trouble for our cabin attendant, Imran and alos our Head Waiter Sergio.
We were in an inside cabin on A deck but spent very little time in the cabin so a window / balcony was not neccesary for us.
Entertainment was very varied in the evenings and as good as I have seen in the West End.
We ate in the Saffron Restaurant and found the food delicious and the service second to none.

I would have no hesitation in recommending Ventura to all my firends and family and have already booked up for 2009 !

I stepped on board the brand new Norweigan Pearl for her launch celebrations and was very impressed with my first experience of an NCL ship. The facilities onboard are excellent and would keep all the family entertained for the duraton of the cruise.

One of the key selling points for NCL is their freestyle dining concept and the range of choice on board was very impressive. There was a very relaxed feel in nearly all areas of the ship and the choice and quality of the evening entertainment venues was probably the best I have seen on a ship. A good choice for those who enjoy a more relaxed cruise environment.

WOW! This is the largest, tallest, longest ship in the market at least until the Independence of the Seas launches in 2008.
This is truly an experience featuring ice rinks, boxing ring, climbing wall and the revolutionary wave rider. The highlight for me was the Parade, which is basically a street of bars, café’s and shops where you can sit and watch the world go by.
This ship is never ending and has many areas where you can get away from it all and escape from the 4300 other passengers. There are unlimited dining options, unlimited bars, fantastic children’s facilities including a children’s zone called H2O.

Review by Alison Burns (Marketing Manager - The Cruise Team)

This was undoubtedly the best family holiday we have had!
We spent two weeks onboard Oceana on a Caribbean cruise sailing from Barbados. From the moment we checked in at Cardiff airport and deposited our bags, not to be seen again until they were delivered to our cabin, we had a fantastic trip.

The ship was warm and friendly with great facilities to suit families and couples. We didn’t really see our children on the days we were at Sea as they were entertained from morning til night.

We took full advantage of the many fantastic Caribbean Islands we visited taking a taxi at the port out to one of the great beaches in the morning coming back to the port or local town in the afternoon. Each island offered something very different and our favourites were Tortola and Dominica.

What we really liked about a cruise holiday was our very busy days taking in lovely tropical islands and by night dressing for a family dinner enjoying wonderful food and wine served by very friendly waiters.

Tipping on a P&O cruise is at your discretion and it was good to know the waiters and staff that made our stay so enjoyable was being rewarded.

QA says Thanku to u

thanku

I became so happy by memorizing those superb days, I wish I could be there again ..

My husband and myself went on our first cruise on the 3rd march for 7 nights on the Costa Pacifica.We found the whole cruising experience amazing.I was a little worried after I booked when I read different reviews.To my amazement the ship was fantastic and spotless.The food was beautiful and plenty of variety.The staff were very friendly,efficient and extremely helpful at all times.Anything we requested was quickly delivered with no fuss.Our cabin was spotlessly clean and very spacious, at times we forgot we were on a ship.Our Stuart was lovely and always on hand to advise or help in whatever way he could.The cost of this cruise was very reasonable and for anyone reading this review I wouldn't be put off by bad reviews.I think you would have to be an extremely fussy person to find fault with this ship.The gratuities were €8 per day per person but tbh you do get excellent service in the bars and restaurants and cabins so I feel it is a small price to pay for such excellent service.It is great not having to worry about having cash on you as your cabin key card is also your onboard credit card and every purchase is charged to your card.It is very easy to keep a track of your account as you can view all your transactions on your tv in the cabin.You sign and get a receipt for every transaction.The only fault I found was the Internet charges were a little pricy.€20 for 60 mins so it was quite expensive to keep in touch with family etc when on board.But once off the ship mobile phone worked so that wasn't too bad.
Overall it was a lovely cruise and I would have no hesitation booking another cruise with Costa.B.S Ireland.

We have just been on the Oriana on a cruise to Norway to see the Northern Lights X405N.

1. We were 11hrs late leaving Southampton, due to propeller repairs incomplete.
The captain pulled back 10 hrs. on way to Stavanger at a speed of 27.8 knots
2 On boarding we were met with severe restrictions throughout the ship due to Noro virus
3.After one day out cabins on C deck had major water leaks the occupants could not be moved due TO lack of empty cabins
4.Stavanger to Alta uneventful
5.Leaving Alta we stopped for about five hrs. due to engine trouble
6 Arrived Tromso too late to do any trips except evening cathedral concert that day.
We were scheduled to leave Tromso for Bergen at 0500am but our stay was extended until 2.45 pm the following day and tours either rescheduled or cancelled.an extension of ten hours. Our trip around Tromso was changed from 1230pm previous day to 0815 the next. We requested a later time due to my wife's medical problems and they had the cheek to charge us £5.00 for the privilege.
7 We were unable to visit Bergen due to all the delays.
8 We then had two days of very stormy weather.
9 During the last days we had periods without flush toilets and to top it all the hot water system in the Conservatory restaurant failed and there were no hot drinks at breakfast

Finally the cruise diary DVD only about one quarter was our cruise, with no video of any activities on board ship. ( Rubbish)
and on a visit to Sorrento, we waited over an Hour for our main course due the dropping the meals.

Most of the ships staff were fantastic trying to cope.

A wonderful ship one of the Best cruises I have taken .
Still high standards in all departments

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The staff on this ship are brillant. Never got taking care like this before in my life. The range of food, drink enternament was excellent. This was best and most relaxing hoilday i have ever been on, would go back to the Allure of the Sea tomorrow.

As usual, Fred did not disappoint and another great cruise, albeit only 5 days. We were allocated a 12.15 check in but a sick person being evacuated on the way back to Southampton caused Balmoral to be 2.5hours late getting in. The ‘Meet and Greet’ parking was affected badly as folk from the previous cruise were still disembarking. However, we had to sit in the car for no more than half an hour or so but by around 12.30, we were able to proceed as planned, so with the luggage and car dispatched in different directions, it was into the Terminal for the usual queues experienced with City Terminal. Amazingly, the staff made up time and although we were certainly not the first to embark, we were still on much earlier than expected. The luggage was at the door so unpacking was started and afternoon tea beckoned. Safety drill was on time and we sailed much earlier than we thought and probably pretty much on time. Second sitting dinner was in the Avon restaurant and we were served by the same waiter, Jefron who looked after us last time. At the table we met Geoff and Rita (hello Geoff, hope you arrived home ok) who were great table companions. Another couple only sat with us the first night only as they preferred the Palm Café and on the 3rd night, we were joined by another fun couple who joined the ship at Liverpool following an unavoidable funeral. It was a fun table with lots of laughter. The first day was a sea day as we headed for Liverpool and choppy waters stayed with us all day. Naturally for safety sake, the musical show was postponed as it wasn’t safe for the dancers and a few drinks slopped around in the glass but we reached Liverpool on time and had a great morning trip. We saw the homes of Captain Smith from the Titanic. A lady called Rose lives ther now and it was her, who gave name to Kate Winslets character Rose in the film. We saw Ismays home and many homes of various officers. We had the choice of returning to the ship with the coach or to stay at the Maritime Museum and make our own way back. This was definitely the thing to do as we were able to stroll around Albert Dock and take in the ambience of the area. A very enjoyable day and we were even more delighted in Belfast. The Titanic Belfast Visitors Experience was fantastic. We were in there by just after 9am so dodged all the queues expected for Good Friday and were able to experience the virtual attractions and ride without any delays. The souvenirs shop was an Aladdin’s cave and the debit card was red hot. Once back on the coach, we had a city drive for just over 2 hours, Stormont was unbelievable and fortunately for us, the gates were open so our driver was able to take the coach right to the top of the hill. Belfast is a beautiful city and we plan to return there in the not too distant future. As usual, the staff on board were friendly and attentive without being intrusive and full praise must be given to Captain Robert Bamberg and his team of Officers and Staff. This cruise was carrying passengers from many overseas countries as well as the UK and there were more kids on board than we have seen before but they were as good as gold. Prais to the Kids leaders for obviously occupying them so well. As usual, there were the ‘Try Hard’ snobs (Those who try hard to be a snob and fail miserably) and the very noticeable moaners and compensation seekers- what cruise would be complete without them!!! So yet again, our sincere thanks to all concerned.

Was better than expected

I recently cruised with you, booked on the Royal Caribbean, Allure of the Seas ship and stayed in the Bahia Mar Hotel in Florida, it was brilliant and what we found great was there was a walk-way to the beach from the hotel which meant we didn't have to walk on the road. It was very safe and was perfect for us. Also, the staff on the Allure were brilliant and couldn't do enough for us so thank you all for a great holiday.

Travelled on this ship three times in past 18 months. Food has deterioted now at its best could be described as average canteen even in restaurant. Fish is not as advertised sole is cobbler cod is take your pick. Seem to be doing to a price not quality. Complained to Thomson who said most cruisers were happy. I must be the odd one

Just One Word.....WOW!!!!! This Ship Is The Ultimate In Cruising In Every Way. Go And See For Yourself.

Went to Faroes, Greenland & Iceland in August. The cruise was excellent in every respect.

Previously travelled with Celebrity & P&O. Obviously Celebrity is a cut above the rest, this is reflected in the price. Fred Olsen however leaves P&O trailing in its wake.

The only real gripe was the menu, it was quite restricted; the food was certainly good & well served but more choice would have been nice.

Would certainly travel with F.O. again.

jonjo

We had read some reviews before going on this cruise. They said that embarkation and disembarkation were slow and in general they were not happy!
We do not know what they meant by that. The review concerned us slightly as it would. However, not one word of this was correct!
Everything was excellently organised with attention to detail spot on. The coral princess was fantastic. The staff, food, entertainment was all second to none.
This cruise was amazing and we would recommend this to anyone, it is a must. We cannot put into words what it was like because you thought you were dreaming it is so brilliant in Alaska.
The places you stop at Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan are fantastic. It is like being in cowboy and Indian country in Ketchikan. All of these places have lots to offer and see.
Overall this cruise we do not feel can be beaten.
Yes drinks are expensive but you are on a cruise. However we felt the shops on board were very reasonable.
We would certainly recommend a cruise to anyone and with Princess you cannot go wrong. You are treated like royalty. One thing to think about take the next size up in clothes because the food is fantastic!

We had read some reviews before going on this cruise. They said that embarkation and disembarkation were slow and in general they were not happy!
We do not know what they meant by that. The review concerned us slightly as it would. However, not one word of this was correct!
Everything was excellently organised with attention to detail spot on. The coral princess was fantastic. The staff, food, entertainment was all second to none.
This cruise was amazing and we would recommend this to anyone, it is a must. We cannot put into words what it was like because you thought you were dreaming it is so brilliant in Alaska.
The places you stop at Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan are fantastic. It is like being in cowboy and Indian country in Ketchikan. All of these places have lots to offer and see.
Overall this cruise we do not feel can be beaten.
Yes drinks are expensive but you are on a cruise. However we felt the shops on board were very reasonable.
We would certainly recommend a cruise to anyone and with Princess you cannot go wrong. You are treated like royalty. One thing to think about take the next size up in clothes because the food is fantastic!

Highly recommend this cruise for all ages because it caters for all ages. Very highly recommend the level of service from all staff and the level of cleanliness. I would recommend to have the alcoholic drink package if they are still doing it, they have had it on a trial basis for 2011 otherwise drinks can be very expensive. The food onboard ship is out of this world to much, so take some loose cloths by the end of the cruise you will put weight on.

A truly fantastic experience, Wonderful food, destinations,and staff.

A truly fantastic experience, Wonderful food, destinations,and staff.

First of all thanks to cruise nation for constant contact prior to flights due to gatwick closure, now down to the cruise, Ventura is a beautiful ship, the staff were as you would expect and service was as good as any five star facility, the rooms were compact fortunately we had a balcony which gave us somewhere to chill in privacy, the captain should have been on the stage as he was by far the best entertainment on the ship, the on board entertainment was no where up to normal, even when some of the acts reached the ship that were delayed they weren't anywhere near as good as our previous cruises, the ship should look at it's smoking policy as on numerous occasions when sat on the balcony we had cigerette smoke come across our noses, and considering we were on riviera deck we thought we would be out of the way as well as the constant wheeling of trolleys in the waterside restaurant above us creating noise through the cabin at all times of the night. The middle two pools was like a smoke haze on the starboard side, and in some cases would infiltrate in to the waterside restaurant whist you were having lunch.
We dined in the white room and East restaurants and both experiences were worth the additional cost, however the food in the bay tree restaurant was also very good. Photographs seem to be expensive in relation to other lines and no bulk buy packages were available for the whole cruise.
Butlins seemed to exist in the main pool, but that is a personal observation and that's what some people go on holiday for, just not me, fortunately there were a couple of other pools that were quieter. Overall the ship with 3500 people on board was cramped, especially at meal times and trying to get a sun bed, as with other lines they should police these as then it stops possible passenger confrontations and then people will not take the Mick out of leaving towels on beds for hours, the ship was very well kept and luxurious in public meeting areas such as bars and clubs on board, I wouldn't be quick to return on board the Ventura.

Ship Review – Cunard Queen Victoria, visited at Greenock on 28th July 2010.

This visit was to be quite a special one, as it was a ship, and indeed a cruise line to which I had never experienced before, and for the fact that it is very rare to be able to visit any ship from the CCS Brands in Scotland, so I was quite enthusiastic to attend.

The ship in question was Cunard’s 90,000 gross tonne Queen Victoria, an extended version of the “Vista Class” design, to which its sister ships are currently in operation with Carnival Corporation’s Holland America, P&O and Costa Brands.

So, on arrival on a typical cloudy and wet Western Scottish day, I was greeted with the wonderful contrasting black, red and white livery, to which I had only saw once before when it docked beside us in Istanbul in October 2008, only the weather was somewhat different.

On entering the ship, on Deck 2, we walked straight into the three deck high,”Grand Lobby”, with delightful double stairways, and is what is undoubtedly the primary meeting place on the ship.

From there, we were directed to the innovative; “Royal Court Theatre”, again set over three decks, but this had the “First Ever West End Style Private Boxes at Sea”

There are sixteen of these private boxes available, and these can be booked by guests on, “Royal Nights”, for a fee of approximately $20 per person. For this fee, the guests receives additional value of pre-production desserts and coffee and wine in an exclusive lounge, before being escorted to your private box by a Cunarder Bell Boy. During your viewing of the production, the guest then gets a further half carafe of wine or champagne for their enjoyment. In nights other than the Royal ones, guests can accommodate the Royal Boxes free of charge, on a first come, first served basis.

After visiting the theatre, we stepped out side to the,” Royal Arcade” and Golden Lion Pub. I thought this was a great idea due to the fact that you can get traditional pub grub style food as an alternative dining venue, and entertain yourself in the daily pub quizzes as you are eating. Very cosy, I thought! (Don’t know why they didn’t call it the Queen Vic though…)

On to the two tier library, where there are in excess of 6,000 titles to choose from, and the wonderful spiral staircase to which you can navigate from tier to tier.

Our next stop was to visit the exclusive, “Todd English” Signature Restaurant. For a small cover fee, you can enjoy the most exquisite Mediterranean/Californian fusion food available at sea, very much to be recommended to any discerning traveller.

Onwards, to the,” Queens Room”, a lovely little venue to which was based directly on Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, much loved holiday home of the old Queen herself. This signature room spans two decks and boasts cantilevered balconies to where you can look on at elegant ball room dancing. Through the day, this venue can be turned into a dining venue for afternoon tea and lovely, “tea and scones and cucumber sandwiches with no crusts on” in the very best English Tradition. And at night, the versatility of the Queens Room is further portrayed when it is transformed into a Themed Ball Room Dancing, complete with accomplished orchestra and glittering dresses and penguin suits dancing the light fantastic until the bewitching hour.

We were then transported to Decks 9 and 10, to have a look at the outdoor facilities and swimming pools. I am happy to say that deck space was very generous, with plenty space for relaxing and sunbathing, (albeit not in Victoria’s current round UK itinerary.) we also had the opportunity to have a look around the” Royal Spa”, to I am sure many hours at sea could be taken up relaxing in the large array of massage and treatment offers on display.

We then had the good fortune to visit the private areas of the “Queens and Princess Grilles”. There we visited these Grilles private eating and relaxing areas. We visited in particular, the restaurant reserved exclusively for Queen’s Guests the Courtyard for al fresco dining, and also the Grilles Private Deck Area. These are wonderful areas for the premium paying Cunarders, many small details and enhancements that make a Cunard cruise that little bit more special.

As we were visiting the Queen Victoria mid-cruise, we were unable to see any staterooms, due to the fact that the cruise was fully sold out. But apparently this was a cruise to commemorate the 170th year of Cunard, so I could see why this sell out was so!

One o’clock and that meant lunchtime, and thank goodness as I was starving! As we were merely travel agents, we had lunch in the inferior, (compared to the grilles) Britannia Restaurant, and what a feast was served before us. I was especially pleased because instead of wine for lunch, we were treated to jugs of orange juice and water. For starters we had lovely…well I am not sure how to describe it, but it was a small sliver of slightly toasted bread, with a tomato paste, surrounded with vegetables and a lovely creamy sauce. Main course was an absolutely sublime tender cut of beefsteak, done fairly rarely as it was very pink in the middle, a medley of vegetables and the smallest amount of mashed potatoes you have ever seen smeared on the middle of the plate. (I was tempted to ask if there was a potato shortage on the ship, but I did decide against it.) The sweet however was delicious, caramelised apples, with a thin shortbread base and a scoop of ice cream. Yum yum, followed by tea of coffee. A very lovely lunch, but for the first time on a ship visit however, I had to stop off at Mc Donald’s in Port Glasgow to satisfy my appetite.

So, in conclusion this is a very lovely, stylish but understated ship, finished to the highest detail, lots of lovely wood and perfect for the discerning of cruisers of a maybe higher, but maybe middle class positioning. There are some scope for children on board, (a cruise in August has got over 200 children booked on it), but in the mainstream, probably best for adult cruisers only. I have a three year old child and I really don’t think that I would go on a Cunard ship for a cruise vacation with him.

If you like formal evenings to be a priority for cruising pleasure, then Cunard is probably a good choice for you. with up to 45% of evenings dedicated to formalwear.

Thank you very much for reading this review, please do not hesitate to comment on anything that you may agree, or indeed disagree on.

This would have been the end of this review, but for the fact that I had a something a little bit special planned for the evening of this ship visit.

At 1600hrs, myself and karen met up with her father, partner and our son Calum, to whom they brought with them, to board the last Ocean going Paddle Steamer in the world, the “Waverley”, to go a trip “Doon the Watter” from the Glasgow Science Centre, on the Clyde, right down to Greenock itself to escort the Queen Victoria out into the Firth of Clyde as it embarks its next leg of its trip to South Queensferry.

It was quite an amazing experience, as I had never been on a voyage on the Waverley before, so was pretty much a day of ‘first’s’ for me.
The Waverley was built in 1946 as a replacement for an earlier PS Waverley of 1899 that took part in the WW II war effort as a minesweeper and was sunk in 1940 while helping with the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk. The new 693-tonne steamer was launched in October 1946 at builders A. & J. Inglis, Glasgow, and entered service in June 1947. She was built for the London & North Eastern Railway Company to sail on their Firth of Clyde steamer route from Craigendoran Pier, near Helensburgh, up Loch Long to Arrochar, and in her first year in service she wore that company's red, white and black funnel colours. In 1948 nationalisation of Britain's railway companies brought the steamers under the control of the Caledonian Steam Packet Company (CSP), a subsidiary of the Railway Executive, and the funnels were repainted yellow with a black top. In 1965 a Scottish red lion rampant was fixed to each side of both funnels, and her hull was painted monastral blue until 1970.
After a revival of pre-war fortunes in the 1950s, the 1960s saw a gradual change in holiday habits leading to a decline in passenger numbers, and the closure of many of the small piers. Since 1969, and the formation of the Scottish Transport Group, the CSP had been gradually merging with the West Highland shipping and ferry company David MacBrayne Ltd, and in 1973 the company became Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd.

We sailed down the Clyde, past many sights of old and new, including at least 3 Warships being built on the Clyde, to continue a rich vein of ship building history on the Clyde, the new Scottish Transport Museum, built on land previous occupied by ship building trades, numerous TITAN Cranes, brand new shopping complexes, and the Erskine Suspension Bridge (which has the infamous title of being Scotland’s most “popular”? place for committing suicide – up to 30 a year)
After arriving at Greenock around 1745 and taking on more passengers, we paddled past the mighty Queen Victoria and exchanged fog horn salvos, then moved aside to see the majestic ship make a 180 degrees turn and set off down the Firth of Clyde. We paced along her past Gourock, Wymess Bay and Skelmorlie until when we were adjacent to Largs, we again exchanged fog horn salvos, and the Queen Victoria peeled away into the distance and round the north of Scotland to its next port of call in its UK Voyage. It was really quite something to see, sailing no more than 500 feet away from the Q.V. for a number of miles.
It is interesting to note, that the Waverley will be making her way down to Southampton in October to usher in the brand new Queen Elizabeth into port as part of her maiden celebrations. If anyone is down there at that time, then I would strongly recommend a nostalgic sailing on her,
Yours truly,
John Mair


Please contact John Mair at GoCruise Ayrshire on 01563 551300, should you wish any more information on this ship, or indeed information on any other ship and cruises

Ship Visit – Cruise & Maritime Voyages Ocean Countess. Greenock, 2nd August 2010

My second Scottish Ship Visit of the “season”, at a rather windy and rain swept Greenock. This time it was Cruise and Maritime’s Ocean Countess.

This ship was originally built for Cunard Lines and named the “Cunard Countess”It was built in Denmark in 1974-75 before entering service in July 1976 (the same year I was born).

This rather small ship (by today’s standards), has a gross tonnage of 17,593 and has had a rather colourful lifetime. With an array of owners and operators, including In October 1982, after the conclusion of the Falklands War, the ship was chartered for 6 months by the Ministry of Defence, to support troop movements between Ascension Island and Port Stanley whilst the Falkland Islands airfield was being reinstated.

But, back to the present day, and first impressions of this ship were very favourable. Its newly painted navy blue hull and funnel contrasted perfectly against the white mid section during its £3 million refurbishment programme last winter, and it did look very delightful nestling at the port side, but by now I was eager to explore the inside to see what it had to offer.

The Ocean Countess is positioned in the market as a 3 Star cruise ship, and is aimed at the 60 and pensioners age group, and to perfectly honest, I can see why.

We boarded the ship and were escorted to Hamptons Lounge to have pre-tour refreshments, before being shown around various cabin categories. The cabins very well appointed, and were very spacious indeed, compared to ships of larger capacity.

The inside and some lower grade outside cabin bedding arrangements were of an ‘L’ shaped configuration, but were very spacious and easy to manoeuvre round. Also, we saw some Outside cabins, both in lower decks with portholes and also upper deck with larger picture windows, all of which were again airy and spacious. The only thing of note is with the bedding arrangements, where only twin configurations are offered, until you move up to Suite Categories where large double beds are offered and look excellent considering the very generous cabin space offered.

So, with regards of cabin space, this is a definite thumbs up, but the whole range of accommodation that I saw, the same thought that flagged up at me in every cabin that I witnessed was the basic finishing. Everything looked ordinary. Comfortable granted, but average all the same.

After the Cabins Tour, we got on with seeing the rest of the ship. The Buffet area, for Breakfast and Lunch was situated at the Stern of the ship, with some Inside and Al- Fresco dining area’s which I can only imagine would be wonderful cruising in the hotter regions.

The Lido Deck, 9 was packed with an array of things to keep you amused. There was an adequately sized pool with 2 whirlpools alongside, a small Gym with about 5 pieces of apparatus in, a sauna, an internet centre and also, ‘The Tower Piano Bar where all the action happens when it sparks into life at night time. Also through the daytime, the Tower Bar doubles up as an observation lounge, and also a quiet area where there is also a library and Card Room incorporated into the space.

Further down decks you will find the ‘Hollyrood Show Lounge’, where clients can experience West End type shows, along with invited artists and comedians, but also on selected cruises, dependant on the cruise theme, you will be treated and sometimes amazed or enthralled by a varied spectrum of speakers and experts in their fields, such as Professors of Astronomy, Wildlife and Conservation experts, and also speakers such as ex MI5 agents or retired or A, now D List and beyond film stars.

There is also a Small Casino, Jade Beauty and Massage Centre, and the Reception and Tour Information Deck is very pretty with marble finishing.

And of course, no ship visit is complete without Lunch, and I have to say for the standard of the ship, the cooking really does punch beyond its weight.

For starters, I had Beef Broth, which was very tasty, followed by my obligatory Steak, which again was absolutely delicious, with seasonal vegetables and potatoes, then for dessert I had Vanilla Ice Cream. All of which cannot be faulted.

All chargeable items on Cruise and Maritime Ships are in Pound Sterling, and drinks on board are maybe slightly above average compared to land-side.

In conclusion, this ship pretty much does everything it says on the tin. 3 Star Cruise Line for 3 Star People.

Who does this Ship aim for in terms of passengers? Well, it is my opinion it would be your retired couple, or group from a working class background that may go on a Full Board Package Holiday to the Costa’s or equivalent areas. Alternatively, it would be people who frequent the Coach Tour Sector of the Travel Market.

It is a lovely, cosy ship, nothing startling in terms of refinement or décor, but if you could fill this ship with the aforementioned clientele, it would be sure to be a recipe for a happy, fun loving kind of cruise, with the right blend of people on board.

As it happens, when I was waiting to board the ship, a couple sat down beside me who had just completed their cruise and couldn’t speak highly enough about it, he said that the food, entertainment, crew and blend of excursions were just “perfect”. They were in their 70’s and loved every minute of it!

Please feel free to have a look at my pictures to which accompany and further illustrate this Ship Visit.

Link:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/GoCruise-Ayrshire/118482481498879?v=photos

Please contact me, John Mair at GoCruise Ayrshire for any further information on this ship, or any other cruise on 01563 551300. I look forward to hearing from you...

Cruise aboard Oasis of the Seas, 16th October 2010 – Western Caribbean.


This is an account of our 2010 holiday, when in October we spent 16 wonderful days, split between 7 days in Kissimmee in a wonderful Villa, owned by our friend Mike Davies, and then 7 nights aboard the amazing Oasis of the Seas on a Western Caribbean Itinerary, followed by a post cruise stay in Fort Lauderdale.

Ever since my wife Karen, and I, experienced our very first cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Splendour of the Seas way back in November 2004, we were hooked for good.

It was not a holiday that we had ever dreamed or thought of doing, but we were walking past the travel agent’s in our home town looking for something a little bit different, when we saw this holiday advertised for 7 nights doing the Med, visiting a different place every day for a sum of £594 per person full board, including RCCL Flights from Glasgow, Bargain! We thought so we went ahead and booked it!

Even then the Splendour of the Seas, sitting at no more than 70,000 G.T. was gigantic and a sight to behold, and once we embarked couldn’t believe our eyes! This ship had everything, 2 pools, (one indoor), endless entertainment, free flowing food and four star attention to detail.

At the Captain’s address on formal night, he welcomed us to his ship and amongst other things disgustedly informed us that Royal Caribbean’s Flagship Voyager Class ship, once the largest cruise ship in the world, got its accolade ripped from them by the audacity of Cunard building of the 150,000 G.T. Queen Mary 2. he then said with cheeky grin that not to worry because Royal Caribbean had an ace up it’s sleeve with commencement of a 160,000 G.T. cruise ship build for completion in mid 2006, and maybe expect a project of mind blowing proportions further into the future, of course at this time this meant nothing to us.

Combine that with visiting a different port and 3 countries during our 7 day adventure and it was a holiday made in heaven as we don’t like staying put in the one place.

But the memory that will stay with me forever was the disembarkation morning, during breakfast and when everyone was mulling around waiting to get off, you could see genuine sadness every person’s eyes. Nobody wanted the holiday to end and everyone was reluctant to go home. This is when it struck me how good cruising was, and how I wanted to find out more about it.

But it wasn’t until 2007 that we experienced cruising again. This was the year that we got married and decided that this was how we wanted to spend our honeymoon, and this time it was Navigator of the Seas. I am a bit of a techno geek and I wanted to try a bigger ship and heard that this 138,000 G.T. monster somehow had a street running through the middle of it! “How the hell can that happen?” I thought to myself.

We had our cruise later on in the year in October from Southampton doing the Canaries and flew down from Glasgow. As we approached the dock this, ‘Titanic piece of engineering’ came into our range of vision and everyone on the coach just ‘gasped’.



There was no sinking feeling though as we boarded the ship. My first memory was embarking, and going up the aft lifts to Deck 8. I got out and was just taking everything in when I looked to my left I just stopped in my tracks. Before me was the Royal Promenade and it was massive and just something that should not be present on a ship! I just stood there gobsmacked and said “WOW!”

So, it was these 2 instances that got me interested in Cruise Ships and in particular large and innovative ships at that. When on the Navigator we heard talk from the likes of the Dining Room Waiters and various other staff on the ship buzzing about this brand new and amazing massive ship that Royal Caribbean had in the pipelines.

I came off that cruise excited about everything cruising and want to find out much, much more about different cruise lines, what their ships had to offer and sample as many as I could.


Not long after that, the first publicity photo’s appeared of this “Oasis of the Seas” 225,000 G.T. of ship with an open area down the middle of the ship with INSIDE Balconies and a Real Park growing in it. I couldn’t hold my excitement and proclaimed there and then that we would be on that ship,’ one day...

After it got launched in December 2008, I kept an eye out on the fares hoping that I would get even an inside stateroom at the right price, but combined with the flights, it was an absolute fortune.

It wasn’t until July of 2009 that I found a C1 Inside Balcony Stateroom, looking over Central Park for a steal – Better than a mediocre Inside Cabin, so we snapped it up.

This was for cruise only, so I had to package my own flights and accommodation. By this time I had coaxed 3 other friends to come with us to share this experience. To make this the best holiday ever for the 6 of us, I had an idea where to spend the first week in Orlando to visit Disney and Universal Theme Parks, then drive down to Fort Lauderdale to join the Oasis on the second week of our holiday, and this is exactly what we done.

The first week we spent the week at the lovely Mike and Lesley Davies’s beautiful Villa in Kissimmee. This was a perfect villa and a great way to enhance our holiday, because between the six of us, we got an extra week of our Florida holiday for around £200* pp, and that included car rental for the week. This I would recommend to anyone who would like to cruise from Florida in the future.

The first week was amazing, but the second week was what I had been waiting for, for about 2 years, and all my expectations were about to be realised…….








SHIP VISIT / CRUISE – OASIS OF THE SEAS,
7NT WESTERN CARIBBEAN DEP 16TH October 2010 Labadee Haiti, Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico

When we drove near the ship, the first thing we could see was the AFT, with the open area where you could see the inside balconies and part of the Aqua Theater.

I was immediately wowed, and bearing in mind that our three friends were all first time cruisers, you could imagine the sense of excitement in the car. Of course, my wife Karen’s first comment about the ship was, “It doesnae look that big! I thought it would have been bigger than that!” it really does take a lot to exceed her expectations, but once she boarded i’m sure she changed her mind!

The purpose built embarkation building at Port Everglades was amazing, and it lived up to its boast that it could check you in and have you boarded within 15 minutes – and bearing in mind there were 5701 passengers sailing on this cruise, that is quite some feat!

Then it was time to board the ship! Where do I start to describe this amazing feat of engineering?

Well, let’s try and start from the bottom and make our way up to the top!

Deck 3 is where the innovations start with the Studio B Ice Rink, and following the lead from the Voyager and Freedom Class, Royal Caribbean Ships being the only ships at sea that can offer this. Again wonderful productions were offered and revered by everyone.

As we go up a deck to 4, to Entertainment Place, we have exciting venues such as the largest Casino I have ever seen at sea, Blaze, the nightclub for us young ones to dance away to the wee sma’ hours, Jazz on 4, which as the name suggests offers the very best of Jazz Music, and then we have, Comedy Live, this is Royal Caribbean’s new venture to bring ‘well known’ American comedians on board for a laugh a minute entertainment.

Unfortunately, unless you are American, I very much doubt that you will find any of the comedians funny. American humour just isn’t the same as anyone from the UK. Myself, Stuart and Tam went here as a prelude for a “boys night out”, but we failed to generate a laugh from the comedians the whole time we were there. Some of the other passengers however, were a scream! There was one woman sitting not far from us absolutely peeing herself and slapping her hand on the table. Obviously she was American..

Deck 5 now, and the Royal Promenade, wider and more expansive than ever. In here you will find the usual features, such as Guest Relations, the English Globe and Atlas Pub (where you are allowed to smoke in and is very smelly), Champagne Bar and a host of other familiar venues. New venues such as the On Air Sports Bar, which has an abundance of Plasma Screens with major Sporting Viewings on, and at night it turns into a Karaoke Mecca for all those budding singers!

Also in Deck 5 is the amazing Rising Tide Bar. this breathtaking innovation is a bar that slowly rises from Deck 5, up 3 Decks to 8 and into Central Park, which is simply mind-boggling in itself that it is in a ship in the first place, but I will get to this a little bit later on after I take you to ANOTHER amazing part of the ship, which is the Boardwalk

I am mindful that I have used the word, ‘amazing’ quite a lot in this account of the ship, but believe me, there is no other expletive to describe this simply unbelievable piece of engineering.

Deck 6 Aft, and again, the Boardwalk is another ‘WOW’ in this tour of the Oasis of the Seas. This area represents a traditional olde style seaside style boardwalk, complete with a Seafood Shack, Ice Cream Parlour, Johnny Rockets™ Burger Bar, Sweetie and Candy Floss shop and Smile photo shop where you can dress up in hundreds of different costumes and the photo is finished in the old fashioned Sepia or Black and White formats. Really good fun! There is also another first at sea, Carousel Ride to which I do admit to having a shot of, much to the embarrassment of my companions.

Also on this Deck we have Royal Caribbean’s Signature Rock Climbing Walls, but of course, on the Oasis there are 2 and are considerably higher than any of the other ship classes in the fleet. But if you tilt your head skywards there is another ‘At Sea’ first – the Zip Line. From Deck 15 you can fly diagonally over the Boardwalk with nothing below you except fresh air. Totally unbelievable!

You think that is all that there is to be said about the Boardwalk? Then think again, because I haven’t got to the Showcase Feature, (well on this deck anyway), the Aqua Theater.

The 700-seat Aqua Theater is found on deck 6, at the aft end of the ship. The Aqua Theater has both a daytime water show called "Splish Splash", and a night time show called "Oasis of Dreams". Its 17-foot, 9-inch deep pool. Three pool lifts, lighting, and underwater cameras enhance the shows. The divers use 3 different locations--the 3 meter springboards and two spots on the huge towers--one at 10 meters and the other at 18 meters. Guests can watch the show live and on its two huge video screens. This is one of the best and awe-inspiring performances that I have ever seen at sea, and anywhere else for that matter!
In addition to the water shows, the Aqua Theater has dancing fountains with four types of nozzles, including one nicknamed "gargoyle" that shoots high enough to hit the Crown & Anchor RCI logo over the pool. It also hosts the famous ‘Belly Flop’ Competition, and if you can imagine in excess of 700 people watching ordinary cruisers fight for the coveted title, it really is a hilarious sight to behold!
Moving on now to Deck 8 any yet another amazing Royal Caribbean and Cruise Line first – Central Park. The Central Park neighbourhood is a beautiful outdoor park area. Flanked on both sides by 324 inward-facing balcony staterooms overlooking the park, shady Central Park features winding pathways, flower gardens, quiet seating, and tropical trees.

On our cruise, as we were leaving Haiti, a massive thunderstorm of biblical proportions was occurring, and it was just surreal that we were in our balcony, overlooking the Inside the ship, with rain pouring down onto a tropical park, 3 decks down.

In addition to the excitement of the park, it was also a place to relax and dine, with speciality restaurants such as Chops Grille, 150 Central Park and Giovanni’s Table. But also there are bars to just kick back and relax like the Trellis Bar, Park Café and Vintages. And if you are in a buying mood, the Central Park is also the location of the Parkside Gallery, full of fine arts, and also for the discerning lady, the famous COACH Brand has a shop full of the latest fashions.

The next major feature of Oasis of the Seas is the Pool Areas of Deck 15, which boasts 4 different Poolside and relaxing experiences.

Firstly we have the Main Pool, which is pretty much a standard looking area, and to what you would recognise on any RCCL ship.

Then we have the Beach Pool, which is quirky in the way that one side of the pool elevates up from the pool edge to the deckchair area, effectively submerging the first 2 rows chair legs in water for the ‘beach effect’, and it did look pretty cool.

The third pool area was the, ‘Sports Pool’. Here was where entertainment such as water volleyball, basketball etc, and water aerobics were held for the health freaks, and was enjoyed by many on our cruise. Again another very clever option.

Lastly, the H2O Zone, where with our 3 year old we spent the most time. Calum absolutely loved playing here, and we were here at least a couple of hours every day where he had a number of water features to play with, including a large whirlpool where water jets propelled the occupants around for hours on end, and also water guns to where I was terrorised frequently with him, and other children spraying me with water. Of course I had to join in the fun and retaliate, and I didn’t get escorted from the premises so that was a bonus!

But in addition to all that at the Aft of the ship, we had not 1 but 2 Flowriders! This was the first time I had been on a ship with such apparatus and it was great fun. Being a novice at both surfing and boogie boarding I was regularly unceremoniously thrown off the boards into the surf, but it really was the best fun I have ever had on a cruise ship!

As there are a lot of positives about this amazing cruise ship, but it has to be said that for a ship of this size there are bound to be some negatives. And the main one for me is the fact that you have to pre-book every headline show on the ship. Everything from “Hairspray” to the Ice Show or even down to the Comedy Club, everything has to be booked via the booking dashboard on RCCL’s website. Which in theory is a good idea, but when you have booked to watch Hairspray at 1430hrs on a Sea Day when the sun is splitting the sky and you are relaxed at the pool, this gives you no motivation to get packed up, dressed and make your way down to a dark theatre to watch even a show as spectacular as this showpiece. In my opinion these shows should be shown at traditional times at night when you are ready to see such a production.

At this point I am going to end my ship review. There are surely a raft of other things that I have not mentioned or even brushed upon the subject. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information. But in the meantime I have taken many pictures to give you visual appreciation of this wonderful ship to complement the review of above. Please take a look and I will be happy to hear your feedback!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000224120819&v=photos
or look up John Mair on facebook

Kind regards,

John Mair

*please call me at GoCruise Ayrshire on 01563 551300 for any more information on this wonderful ship, and of course should you wish to do the stay/cruise holiday that i did, please get in touch....










Cruise aboard Oasis of the Seas, 16th October 2010 – Western Caribbean.


This is an account of our 2010 holiday, when in October we spent 16 wonderful days, split between 7 days in Kissimmee in a wonderful Villa, owned by our friend Mike Davies, and then 7 nights aboard the amazing Oasis of the Seas on a Western Caribbean Itinerary, followed by a post cruise stay in Fort Lauderdale.

Ever since my wife Karen, and I, experienced our very first cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Splendour of the Seas way back in November 2004, we were hooked for good.

It was not a holiday that we had ever dreamed or thought of doing, but we were walking past the travel agent’s in our home town looking for something a little bit different, when we saw this holiday advertised for 7 nights doing the Med, visiting a different place every day for a sum of £594 per person full board, including RCCL Flights from Glasgow, (knowing what I know now, they must have been throwing it out the door at cost even then) Bargain! We thought so we went ahead and booked it!

Even then the Splendour of the Seas, sitting at no more than 70,000 G.T. was gigantic and a sight to behold, and once we embarked couldn’t believe our eyes! This ship had everything, 2 pools, (one indoor), endless entertainment, free flowing food and four star attention to detail.

At the Captain’s address on formal night, he welcomed us to his ship and amongst other things disgustedly informed us that Royal Caribbean’s Flagship Voyager Class ship, once the largest cruise ship in the world, got its accolade ripped from them by the audacity of Cunard building of the 150,000 G.T. Queen Mary 2. he then said with cheeky grin that not to worry because Royal Caribbean had an ace up it’s sleeve with commencement of a 160,000 G.T. cruise ship build for completion in mid 2006, and maybe expect a project of mind blowing proportions further into the future, of course at this time this meant nothing to us.

Combine that with visiting a different port and 3 countries during our 7 day adventure and it was a holiday made in heaven as we don’t like staying put in the one place.

But the memory that will stay with me forever was the disembarkation morning, during breakfast and when everyone was mulling around waiting to get off, you could see genuine sadness every person’s eyes. Nobody wanted the holiday to end and everyone was reluctant to go home. This is when it struck me how good cruising was, and how I wanted to find out more about it.

But it wasn’t until 2007 that we experienced cruising again. This was the year that we got married and decided that this was how we wanted to spend our honeymoon, and this time it was Navigator of the Seas. I am a bit of a techno geek and I wanted to try a bigger ship and heard that this 138,000 G.T. monster somehow had a street running through the middle of it! “How the hell can that happen?” I thought to myself.

We had our cruise later on in the year in October from Southampton doing the Canaries and flew down from Glasgow. As we approached the dock this, ‘Titanic piece of engineering’ came into our range of vision and everyone on the coach just ‘gasped’.



There was no sinking feeling though as we boarded the ship. My first memory was embarking, and going up the aft lifts to Deck 8. I got out and was just taking everything in when I looked to my left I just stopped in my tracks. Before me was the Royal Promenade and it was massive and just something that should not be present on a ship! I just stood there gobsmacked and said “WOW!”

So, it was these 2 instances that got me interested in Cruise Ships and in particular large and innovative ships at that. When on the Navigator we heard talk from the likes of the Dining Room Waiters and various other staff on the ship buzzing about this brand new and amazing massive ship that Royal Caribbean had in the pipelines.

I came off that cruise excited about everything cruising and want to find out much, much more about different cruise lines, what their ships had to offer and sample as many as I could.

Then in the January of 2008, by complete fate, a franchise opportunity e-mail popped into my inbox, and amongst them was a franchise where I could get to go on numerous cruise ships, AND sell cruises and make (?) money* into the bargain. The rest, as they say, is history.

Not long after that, the first publicity photo’s appeared of this “Oasis of the Seas” 225,000 G.T. of ship with an open area down the middle of the ship with INSIDE Balconies and a Real Park growing in it. I couldn’t hold my excitement and proclaimed there and then that we would be on that ship,’ one day...

After it got launched in December 2008, I kept an eye out on the fares hoping that I would get even an inside stateroom at the right price, but combined with the flights, it was an absolute fortune.

It wasn’t until July of 2009 that I found a C1 Inside Balcony Stateroom, looking over Central Park for a steal – it worked out around £550 per person, cruise only. Better than a mediocre Inside Cabin, so we snapped it up.

This was for cruise only, so I had to package my own flights and accommodation. By this time I had coaxed 3 other friends to come with us to share this experience. To make this the best holiday ever for the 6 of us, I had an idea where to spend the first week in Orlando to visit Disney and Universal Theme Parks, then drive down to Fort Lauderdale to join the Oasis on the second week of our holiday, and this is exactly what we done.

The first week we spent the week at the lovely Mike and Lesley Davies’s beautiful Villa in Kissimmee. This was a perfect villa and a great way to enhance our holiday, because between the six of us, we got an extra week of our Florida holiday for around £160* pp, and that included car rental for the week. This I would recommend to anyone who would like to cruise from Florida in the future.

The first week was amazing, but the second week was what I had been waiting for, for about 2 years, and all my expectations were about to be realised…….








SHIP VISIT / CRUISE – OASIS OF THE SEAS,
7NT WESTERN CARIBBEAN DEP 16TH October 2010 Labadee Haiti, Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico

When we drove near the ship, the first thing we could see was the AFT, with the open area where you could see the inside balconies and part of the Aqua Theater.

I was immediately wowed, and bearing in mind that our three friends were all first time cruisers, you could imagine the sense of excitement in the car. Of course, my wife Karen’s first comment about the ship was, “It doesnae look that big! I thought it would have been bigger than that!” it really does take a lot to exceed her expectations, but once she boarded i’m sure she changed her mind!

The purpose built embarkation building at Port Everglades was amazing, and it lived up to its boast that it could check you in and have you boarded within 15 minutes – and bearing in mind there were 5701 passengers sailing on this cruise, that is quite some feat!

Then it was time to board the ship! Where do I start to describe this amazing feat of engineering?

Well, let’s try and start from the bottom and make our way up to the top!

Deck 3 is where the innovations start with the Studio B Ice Rink, and following the lead from the Voyager and Freedom Class, Royal Caribbean Ships being the only ships at sea that can offer this. Again wonderful productions were offered and revered by everyone.

As we go up a deck to 4, to Entertainment Place, we have exciting venues such as the largest Casino I have ever seen at sea, Blaze, the nightclub for us young ones to dance away to the wee sma’ hours, Jazz on 4, which as the name suggests offers the very best of Jazz Music, and then we have, Comedy Live, this is Royal Caribbean’s new venture to bring ‘well known’ American comedians on board for a laugh a minute entertainment.

Unfortunately, unless you are American, I very much doubt that you will find any of the comedians funny. American humour just isn’t the same as anyone from the UK. Myself, Stuart and Tam went here as a prelude for a “boys night out”, but we failed to generate a laugh from the comedians the whole time we were there. Some of the other passengers however, were a scream! There was one woman sitting not far from us absolutely peeing herself and slapping her hand on the table. Obviously she was American..

Deck 5 now, and the Royal Promenade, wider and more expansive than ever. In here you will find the usual features, such as Guest Relations, the English Globe and Atlas Pub (where you are allowed to smoke in and is very smelly), Champagne Bar and a host of other familiar venues. New venues such as the On Air Sports Bar, which has an abundance of Plasma Screens with major Sporting Viewings on, and at night it turns into a Karaoke Mecca for all those budding singers!

Also in Deck 5 is the amazing Rising Tide Bar. this breathtaking innovation is a bar that slowly rises from Deck 5, up 3 Decks to 8 and into Central Park, which is simply mind-boggling in itself that it is in a ship in the first place, but I will get to this a little bit later on after I take you to ANOTHER amazing part of the ship, which is the Boardwalk

I am mindful that I have used the word, ‘amazing’ quite a lot in this account of the ship, but believe me, there is no other expletive to describe this simply unbelievable piece of engineering.

Deck 6 Aft, and again, the Boardwalk is another ‘WOW’ in this tour of the Oasis of the Seas. This area represents a traditional olde style seaside style boardwalk, complete with a Seafood Shack, Ice Cream Parlour, Johnny Rockets™ Burger Bar, Sweetie and Candy Floss shop and Smile photo shop where you can dress up in hundreds of different costumes and the photo is finished in the old fashioned Sepia or Black and White formats. Really good fun! There is also another first at sea, Carousel Ride to which I do admit to having a shot of, much to the embarrassment of my companions.

Also on this Deck we have Royal Caribbean’s Signature Rock Climbing Walls, but of course, on the Oasis there are 2 and are considerably higher than any of the other ship classes in the fleet. But if you tilt your head skywards there is another ‘At Sea’ first – the Zip Line. From Deck 15 you can fly diagonally over the Boardwalk with nothing below you except fresh air. Totally unbelievable!

You think that is all that there is to be said about the Boardwalk? Then think again, because I haven’t got to the Showcase Feature, (well on this deck anyway), the Aqua Theater.

The 700-seat Aqua Theater is found on deck 6, at the aft end of the ship. The Aqua Theater has both a daytime water show called "Splish Splash", and a night time show called "Oasis of Dreams". Its 17-foot, 9-inch deep pool. Three pool lifts, lighting, and underwater cameras enhance the shows. The divers use 3 different locations--the 3 meter springboards and two spots on the huge towers--one at 10 meters and the other at 18 meters. Guests can watch the show live and on its two huge video screens. This is one of the best and awe-inspiring performances that I have ever seen at sea, and anywhere else for that matter!
In addition to the water shows, the Aqua Theater has dancing fountains with four types of nozzles, including one nicknamed "gargoyle" that shoots high enough to hit the Crown & Anchor RCI logo over the pool. It also hosts the famous ‘Belly Flop’ Competition, and if you can imagine in excess of 700 people watching ordinary cruisers fight for the coveted title, it really is a hilarious sight to behold!
Moving on now to Deck 8 any yet another amazing Royal Caribbean and Cruise Line first – Central Park. The Central Park neighbourhood is a beautiful outdoor park area. Flanked on both sides by 324 inward-facing balcony staterooms overlooking the park, shady Central Park features winding pathways, flower gardens, quiet seating, and tropical trees.

On our cruise, as we were leaving Haiti, a massive thunderstorm of biblical proportions was occurring, and it was just surreal that we were in our balcony, overlooking the Inside the ship, with rain pouring down onto a tropical park, 3 decks down.

In addition to the excitement of the park, it was also a place to relax and dine, with speciality restaurants such as Chops Grille, 150 Central Park and Giovanni’s Table. But also there are bars to just kick back and relax like the Trellis Bar, Park Café and Vintages. And if you are in a buying mood, the Central Park is also the location of the Parkside Gallery, full of fine arts, and also for the discerning lady, the famous COACH Brand has a shop full of the latest fashions.

The next major feature of Oasis of the Seas is the Pool Areas of Deck 15, which boasts 4 different Poolside and relaxing experiences.

Firstly we have the Main Pool, which is pretty much a standard looking area, and to what you would recognise on any RCCL ship.

Then we have the Beach Pool, which is quirky in the way that one side of the pool elevates up from the pool edge to the deckchair area, effectively submerging the first 2 rows chair legs in water for the ‘beach effect’, and it did look pretty cool.

The third pool area was the, ‘Sports Pool’. Here was where entertainment such as water volleyball, basketball etc, and water aerobics were held for the health freaks, and was enjoyed by many on our cruise. Again another very clever option.

Lastly, the H2O Zone, where with our 3 year old we spent the most time. Calum absolutely loved playing here, and we were here at least a couple of hours every day where he had a number of water features to play with, including a large whirlpool where water jets propelled the occupants around for hours on end, and also water guns to where I was terrorised frequently with him, and other children spraying me with water. Of course I had to join in the fun and retaliate, and I didn’t get escorted from the premises so that was a bonus!

But in addition to all that at the Aft of the ship, we had not 1 but 2 Flowriders! This was the first time I had been on a ship with such apparatus and it was great fun. Being a novice at both surfing and boogie boarding I was regularly unceremoniously thrown off the boards into the surf, but it really was the best fun I have ever had on a cruise ship!

As there are a lot of positives about this amazing cruise ship, but it has to be said that for a ship of this size there are bound to be some negatives. And the main one for me is the fact that you have to pre-book every headline show on the ship. Everything from “Hairspray” to the Ice Show or even down to the Comedy Club, everything has to be booked via the booking dashboard on RCCL’s website. Which in theory is a good idea, but when you have booked to watch Hairspray at 1430hrs on a Sea Day when the sun is splitting the sky and you are relaxed at the pool, this gives you no motivation to get packed up, dressed and make your way down to a dark theatre to watch even a show as spectacular as this showpiece. In my opinion these shows should be shown at traditional times at night when you are ready to see such a production.

At this point I am going to end my ship review. There are surely a raft of other things that I have not mentioned or even brushed upon the subject. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information. But in the meantime I have taken many pictures to give you visual appreciation of this wonderful ship to complement the review of above. Please take a look and I will be happy to hear your feedback!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000224120819&v=photos
or look up John Mair on facebook

Kind regards,

John Mair

test

Just to let you know we enjoyed our first cruise very much. It was
> all we expected and more.
> Our cabin was very comfortable and spacious. There was entertainment
> to suit all ages and the staff at all levels were very helpful and
> courteous.
>
> I must say cruising with Royal Caribbean as our first venture to
> cruising has spoiled us.
>
> The only two things that was disappointing was Sunday in Barcelona
> everywhere is closed. and when the plane landed in Dublin very late
> there was no assistants to help me off the plane we had to wait almost
> 45 minuets. With a long minus 9 car drive to get home we were upset
> leaving the airport.
>
> However it won't prevent us looking forward to another cruise. We
> will watch out for special offer similar to the one we have just
> returned from.
>
> We want to Thank yourself for all your help and how well you looked after
> us.
>
> Wishing you a very happy Blessed Christmas.
>
> Margaret Hayden
> John Cahill

test

Hi Vasco.
>
> Just to let you know we enjoyed our first cruise very much. It was
> all we expected and more.
> Our cabin was very comfortable and spacious. There was entertainment
> to suit all ages and the staff at all levels were very helpful and
> courteous.
>
> I must say cruising with Royal Caribbean as our first venture to
> cruising has spoiled us.
>
> The only two things that was disappointing was Sunday in Barcelona
> everywhere is closed. and when the plane landed in Dublin very late
> there was no assistants to help me off the plane we had to wait almost
> 45 minuets. With a long minus 9 car drive to get home we were upset
> leaving the airport.
>
> However it won't prevent us looking forward to another cruise. We
> will watch out for special offer similar to the one we have just
> returned from.
>
> We want to Thank yourself for all your help and how well you looked after
> us.
>
> Wishing you a very happy Blessed Christmas.
>
> Margaret Hayden
> John Cahill

We are just back to freezing Ireland from the Caribbean. Here's a report as promised.

Firstly; American airlines are an excellent company and their seats quite roomy and their food hot and acceptable. Going through Philly was probably foolish. We should have gone aer Lingus Dublin to Orlando - even if we had stayed in Orlando area. apparently there is an efficient train service between Orlando and the port cities. That was our decision and we enjoyed Ft Lauderdale - definitely how the other half used to live. those big yachts and fancy houses are available at knockdown prices all over the place.

Hilton Marina was a lovely hotel. great pool area and a good bedroom - not huge but acceptable. We were in the east wing and had a good view of the waterways. however in some of the rooms your view would be completely blocked by the 2 monstrosities of boats parked outside the windows. Pegasus 2 in particular could be a problem. Advise was to avoid breakfasts there. Yes it was expensive but first class and great service. The general ambience of the hotel was a bit cold and bar food was ridiculous. The water taxi stops in the hotel grounds - a big plus.They have a free bus to the beach but we walked it over the bridge and back - about 3/4 hour to the end of the beach area.

The cruise was excellent. Some days were rough and most days were choppy. We had a lot of cloudy days and even wet days. however we were still in shorts and tee shirts. I would probably go a little later in future although those experienced cruisers say one can get wet weather any time of the year. Food and service excellent. The formal nights were confusing. They certainly turned away those in casual wear but the men varied from full dress suit with dickey bow to casual suits withy open neck shirts. Women were either over dressed looking or just in their usual dinner wear.

We had a slow boarding of the ship as there was extra checks on it due to it having crossed the Atlantic and due to the situation with the Carnival ship that lost all its power the previous week. When our ship was powered down it wouldn't power up the computers for awhile so we all roasted in the terminal. But no one complained - obviously very few Irish about!

Many thanks
Anne

everything about my cruise was fantastic i would do it agin an hope 2 do so.. staff were 100% helpfull. highly recommend this

We travelled on a cruise to the Eastern Med with Celebrity Equinox on June 4th. We had a wonderful holiday loved every minute of it

Fantastic Cruise!

This is my test review.

“You get what you pay for, don’t you?”


My parents never flew in a commercial aircraft on a scheduled flight. Their sole experience of taking to the skies was a twenty- minute spin around Worthing Pier (in a biplane) sometime after World War 2. I myself have never witnessed a premier division football match, and only within the last year or two have I dipped my toe into cruising. Leaving things late seems to be a family trait. First for me in 2008 was the Queen Mary 2, transatlantic and with all the frills. Magic. Enter at a sedate pace from harbour left MS Marco Polo, late of the Soviet Navy. Now some cruise companies own their own vessels, train their own crews and are only beholden, when publicly owned at least, to their shareholders. Others such as Cruise and Maritime claim very few assets and simply lease a ship, lock stock and smoking funnel- captain, crew, the whole shebang.

As with many other shipping operators, responsibility for vessels such as the Marco Polo involves complex and sometimes rapidly-changing ownership, and when Transoceanic went “belly up” late last year, Cruise and Maritime stepped into the breach and guaranteed a certain number of sailings to provide a continuity for Tilbury-based voyages.

So our vessel of choice started life as one of five built in Germany for the Russian navy, all named after famous soviet poets. The Ms Marco Polo saw the light of day first as the Alexander Pushkin and after twenty- five years of heavy Baltic duty was just about ready for the knackers yard. Rescued in 1990 by an enterprising English entrepreneur, one Gerry Herrod (founder of Ocean Cruise Lines), she was divested of all her aging Russian garments and reduced to her steel underpants, a bare skeleton of raw metal. Painstakingly a Dutch engineer and a Japanese interior designer reconstructed her. From Ocean Cruise via Trans-Ocean and now Cruise and Maritime, the Ms Marco Polo has gathered a loyal following of travel agents, journalists and passengers alike. Still with her magnificent hull, ideal for an ice-battering Baltic patrol, her aesthetically satisfying and technically expert superstructure allows her to ride through comparatively narrow gaps, but as it is over forty years from this original refit, she is showing signs of rust and age. Now as MS Marco Polo she plies the Northern climes, the Amazon basin, and presently she is heading for North Africa, Spain, Portugal and France. With her loyal following aging alongside this elegant vessel, my only hope is that the whole lot of us don’t disappear in a final last gasp bathed in a golden sunset somewhere off the Bay of Biscay. Carrying a compliment of about 800 passengers and 330 crew, by modern standards she might be deemed “small”, “intimate” and “traditional” and she, and those who sale with an in her, are the subject of this report on C and M’s “Iberian Highlights”.

Day 1. My arrival at Victoria Coach Station for the journey to Tilbury (£20 return) was marked by a growing unease as I saw what I assumed to be fellow passengers assembling at exit 1 and 2. At this point I gazed at the retreating back of my youngest son, who had helped me with cases to the station, and was tempted to scream “come back!” and do a runner ( a reaction later supported by two other passengers who like me were by now hiding behind pillars.) But then the party was called and the geriatric queue wound its way slowly towards the waiting coach. Still time to cut and run, or to join it? “Better join” said a voice in my head, “the money’s already spent!.” So join I did.

At Tilbury we were shunted on board in double-quick time and immediately left to our own devices. Deprived by the coach journey of lunch, I wandered through the “buffet” facility with heavy heart having briefly tasted luke-warm, gelatinous and severely overcooked pasta. A foretaste of what is to come? Surely not.

Day 2. Cherbourg, from whence The Titanic set out on her epic 1912 voyage. A hint of things to come, maybe? Here I realised, on waking to various announcements about coach party 720B and so on, that on a cruise such as this, one quickly becomes a second class citizen if you opt out of the guided tours organised by the company. Doing a quick calculation I reckon that every coach that leaves the ship for a 3-4 hour local excursion earns the company about £1000 profit, thus five coaches, seven ports of call etc., etc. So after coaches have struggled away in a wreath of diesel fumes, we lonely pariahs make our way onto the deserted quay to stand beneath a sign reading, “shuttle bus”. Glancing down the pole I see resting at its foot a pile of steaming horse dung. Shuttle bus? Twenty minutes later we hear “clip clop, clip clop” noises in the distance followed by the sight of an ancient horse and carriage. Forty minutes beyond this we are proceeding at barely walking pace though an industrial estate and Carrefore carparks on a circuitous route into town (the main bridge being closed for repairs). Time just for a brief coffee followed by a geriatric jog back to the boat, narrowly avoiding second day abandonment on the dock.

Day 3. At sea through the Bay of Biscay. Those of us unfortunates travelling alone are invited to a “singles meeting experience” at the upper deck bar. A desultory group of a baker’s dozen or so, mainly women of an uncertain age, all congregate and proceed to eye each other up with varying degrees of embarrassment and/or distain. Our cruise representative, Leah who previously worked for The Disney Corporation, now clearly prefers brigades of the elderly rather than screaming children to deal with. Leah’s “shadow” and future replacement, Lauren (28ish), enlivened matters just by being there and before long the group divided, amoeba-like and gratefully dispersed to continue with reading their Joanna Trollopes and John Grishams.

Day three marked my decision to observe the behaviour of the (mainly eastern European) crew in their attitude towards the passengers. On the whole this seemed to comprise an awkward mixture of patronising condescension liberally laced with maternal/paternal concern. For example, on arrival at the Waldorf (!) dining area for lunch, where one was placed with others at random, unlike the designated and rigid sitting for evening dinner, I was seated at an empty table for ten and I was quickly followed into their seats by six or so others. As they were settling themselves around me the waiter handed me the menu, so saying, “and where is your other half?” This was probably the first time, on this voyage as a single traveller, that I was rendered literally speechless. As I gazed at him in incredulity he continued, upping the volume somewhat in the belief, I presumed, that I was hard of hearing. “You know, your better half, your WIFE!” By now we had the full attention of not just our table but adjoining ones as well. So raising my voice appropriately I replied, “she ran off with a lounge lizard from Dublin six years ago.” Gasps and nervous laughter insured the lunch, for me at least, was short and sour. On reflection I can only think that the waiter thought my dinner neighbour of the previous night was actually my wife. But this was an outrageous assumption- I may have been gay, or recently widowed, and this incident reflected extremely badly on the training of at least one particular crewmember.
On the evening of the third day came the formal “welcome” by the Captain and his Heads of Department in the Marco Polo lounge reserved mainly for live evening entertainment. A promised glass of champagne with the Captain turned out to be a forty-five minute wait clutching a cheap glass of sweet sparkly. Meanwhile our Captain/host dutifully shook hands- for the benefit of the ever-present photographer- with each and every member of the passenger list (singles excluded) at £4.99 a shot. After introducing his colleagues, all standing to attention and very deferential and most seeming to come from the same part of the former Soviet Union as himself (Croatia), he soon absented himself with the parting shot “if you have complaints make sure you contact one of them, not me!” Basil Fawlty in seaman’s uniform sprung to mind at about this point in our high-seas adventure.
My first taste of the live entertainment, “Venetian Nights” had all the appeal of an immediate elimination from the first round of ‘X’ Factor, enlivened by the sight of an elderly passenger projectile vomiting into the curtains bounding the stage arena. Was this a comment on the performances, I wondered?
So it is about this time that the effects of seasick passengers seem to segue into he unmentionable norovisus. The virus is the bane of cruise operators as this highly contagious and violent combination of sickness and diarrhoea can sweep through the enclosed environment of a ship at sea like a forest fire. It must have been a nightmare in the below-decks hospital area to separate Bay of Biscay refugees from the genuinely ill. Soon the rumours were circulating, someone had died, three ambulances had arrived to meet the ship at Vigo, members of the crew were abandoning ship we are all doomed! What was certainly true, as the company issued no information to us about any of these rumours be they founded or unfounded, was that certain cabin windows were marked with a large taped white cross and their doors were sealed with substantial bands of sticky tape. And we are barely a third of the way through the cruise!

Day 4: Vigo. Tanoy calls for all the moneyed passengers who had coaches booked for Saniago de Compostela leave us plebs facing a faulty gangplank and subsequent tardy arrival on the quay to see the two-hourly local shuttle bus disappearing in a cloud of diesel fumes. It is clearly the policy of cruise operators to keep passengers in the dark about available local bus services as an alternative to the scheduled coaches. Reason? They want you to book their expensive tours instead of helping you into town, even if all you want to do is just to potter around it. On this cruise there were tours ranging for £26-£70. A tidy source of additional income requiring merely the hiring of a local coach for half a day. Easy money, but as far as I’m concerned, a black mark to C and M. So for the rest of us a lengthy trek over concrete and macadam and then a vertiginous climb up and through a (literally) collapsing town. In Vigo many buildings seemed simply to have been abandoned and left, inwardly disintegrating and broken-toothed, to the elements. Occasionally a modern, and surely temporary rescue is attempted when the building is “faced” in cheap steel and glass. A practical expedient to keep things in place for perhaps another decade, but after that, what then?
On return and at a basically inedible lunch of luke-warm plaice covered in brown sauce(?), one fellow passenger tells me why glasses and cutlery are snatched from us almost before they are finished with. Not it appears from pure zeal on behalf of the waiters, rather a severe lack of stock, hence the need to keep all utensils on a circuitous move- from table to mouth, mouth to dishwasher, dishwasher to table, etc., etc. After lunch, through a combination of exhaustion, hunger and boredom I find myself at reception making a late coach booking for the morrow: “Lisbon’s Famous Sights”.

Day 5 Lisbon. A storm seemed to be following our progress down the Spanish coast and our arrival in Lisbon was marked by strong winds and horizontal rain. I raced to the comparative safety of the quayside coach, ready for almost any off-ship experiences. Our coach stopped for the obligatory twenty minutes at each spot designated to be of potential interest to the visitor with two hours to spend in town. In many cases our departure was entirely dependent on the gradual forward progression of the twenty or so charabancs ahead of us in the designated parking places. “Now we shall be stopping for ten minutes, enough for you to take a photograph” seemed to be the mantra of the morning. In the end you simply find yourself behaving like Japanese tourists in London, in, out, ‘snap’, on. Ah well, when in Lisbon….

Day 6: Cadiz. A night of furious rocking as if attempting to sleep on a motorised waterbed saw us, come the dawn, sailing majestically up to the magnificent city of Cadiz. Its proximity to the ocean meant that it was subject to frequent raids and sackings, mostly by us British. To realise that the total population numbers not much more than 100,000 souls, and that the prevailing feeling of friendliness, cleanliness and wonderful Mediterranean ambience of al fresco living adds immeasurably to the charm of its already exquisite architecture. Like Lisbon there is evidence of neglect of some great buildings, but the new lady mayor has apparently galvanised the local populace into action on many new renovation projects. Of all the many cities in Spain (specifically Andalucia) and Portugal , this is by far the one I would chose to live in, or return to soon.

Earlier that day, over a perfectly ordinary dining-room breakfast, I counselled opinion from the sundry guests seated at my table. Without prejudice, two out of three would not choose to travel by C and M, and Marco Polo, again. Of the remaining third, ones who in my observation would not initiate let alone join in a table conversation, but when pressed for an answer would say, abruptly and hurriedly “It’s alright, you get what you pay for, don’t you?”

I buttonholed, on the way back from the Cadiz city tour, one of the young English crewmembers, one Matthew Agg, to ask how he was enjoying his time with C and M. He told me he had worked previously for P and O who own their own ships. C and M basically charter the vessel along with 95% of the crew, without having any direct investment in Ms Marco Polo itself. This, according to Matt, means that there are some fundamental differences in the chain of command between people like him and Heads of Department up to, and including, the Captain himself. In fact he gave me the distinct impression that the Captain in our case was much more difficult to approach than would be the case the case with P and O and Cunard. However Matt was happy with the working conditions and very much liked the smaller ship, which gave him the chance of really getting to know both crew and passengers. He was full of praise for his employees and although I was tempted to feel that he was being naturally guarded in his remarks, his natural enthusiasm was infectious and from this point on I too started to see the positives as well as the negatives of the voyage.

Day 7: Gibraltar and Tangier. Oh dear, Gib. next! In the quayside terminal building it announces its presence in sculptural form as a large, mud-coloured, bare and inhospitable rock. Which, I thought, it pretty much what it is. With rain teeming down four unfortunate tours headed for the sights (rock, monkeys) all hidden in masses of low cloud. Time to wander around this time capsule of old Britain unhassled and unaided. I was expecting to hate everything, but once one leaves the central drag of fish and chip shops and discount stores, there were indeed some pleasant sights to be seen. A Catholic Church opposite an Anglican Chapel, each doing good Sunday business along with the odd police car looking for all the world as if it had just completed its morning M25 duties. All this together with spacious squares, decent sized trees and lush vegetation, alongside red pillar-boxes and helmeted bobbies- plus the cheapest Camel Lights in Europe!

Still locked into day eight, we set sail at lunchtime amid squalls, scudding clouds and rain-lashed decks towards the topknot of north Africa- exotic Tangiers. With barely four hours to “do” the whole place it smacks rather of “if it’s Thursday it must be Belgium”. As we pull into dock I see a series of hastily erected stalls all lined up on the quayside flogging the usual dodgy mixture of handbags, cheap leather belts, kaftans and assorted colourful riff-raff. Astonishingly many passengers choose to make do with this as their only taste of Tangiers, but I decided, thank God, to invest this time in a coach tour of the city and environs, with a highlight walking through the medina and Kasbah. Here are some of this extraordinary city’s oldest parts, a rabbit warren of narrow passageways, some a mere eighteen inches wide. No wonder Paul Bowles, William Burroughs and Betty Hutton all chose Tangiers as a welcoming haven in their stormy lives. Now this mantle has passed to Marrakech, home to Hollywood stars and starlets, nestling conveniently at the foot of the Atlas Mountains. However to my mind Tangiers is by for the more attractive place, resting on cool hills and surrounded by lush green forests. A magnetic, magic place indeed, and all packed into four hurried hours, before it is back to the boat.

Day 8: Portimao, Portugal. Now we come, so to speak, to the fag end of the cruise. Having “done” Gib and Tangiers in barely a day, we turn tail and race up the coast to Portimao where we have a so-called “anchorage point” waiting for us where tender craft will ferry us to the shore. In fact our designated mooring point seems to be marked by a single buoy bobbing some mile or so offshore and with a swell rapidly rising from four to eight feet within minutes of our arrival. A creaking of pulleys announces that one of our emergency lifeboats is being awkwardly cranked into the sea and with heavy hearts we, hanging over the ship’s rails, realise that it is to be in our own escape craft that any expedition to the distance shore will be achieved. After about an hour of shouting, pulling on ropes and general water-based cabaret antics, it is perfectly clear to all that our elderly and infirm passengers would tumble one after the other into the ocean if they were to attempt any manoeuvre from gangplank to lifeboat. Then comes the inevitable announcement that we are to amuse ourselves for the rest of the day and that all excursions are hereby cancelled. A general scrum age for the sun-lounges soon ended in a patchwork quilt of broiling British flesh necessitating a retreat to the inner lounge and the comfort of a draft Becks (£2.80).

Day 9: At Sea. The nine remaining singles assembled, courtesy of Passenger Liaison Services, for an early lunch together and presumably “catch up”. Wine was there waiting on the table, which was generally and tacitly acknowledged to be a nice gesture from the management until it became clear that it had to be paid for (£20 per bottle for the red, £25 for the white). So we retreated to our heavily chlorinated water and I suggested that we took the round table “temperature” of our feelings about the voyage thus far. On a scale of 1-10 the votes ranged from 1 to 7 with a mean average of exactly 4.1. Specific complaints roughly in order of length and strength of comments were as follows:

1. Poor food, frequently served luke-warm or even cold.
2. Hurried and overpriced on-shore tours.
3. Drastically bad inter-cabin sound insulation.
4. Overcrowding of on-board facilities, especially during days at sea.
5. Cessation of free hot drinks by 8.30pm.
6. Surly and unhelpful staff attitudes.
7. Overpriced bar items.
8. Constant circulation of photographers leading to overselling of prints being the subject of a revolving display in public areas.
9. No attempt to relay via the ships GPS systems world news on any kind of regular basis.
10. Age and condition of vessel.

One of our group said that the previous evening he had been obliged to lock his cabin door as a result of a violent altercation in the corridor concerning TV noise levels, not in adjacent but in opposing cabins. This escalated to a physical confrontation, which had to be broken up by crewmembers. Only by asking these kinds of questions of fellow travellers did I mange to piece together a proper picture of the voyage as a whole, which apparently included the decamping of some of the crew at Cadiz as a result of poor working conditions, along with some unhappy passengers too. It appears there was an unexpected death on board as well, and three ambulances were seen to be waiting for us at one of our ports of call. And were we briefly stuck on the mud in Gibralter? There was certainly a great deal of muddy water-churning and unexpected delay in leaving.

Day 10. Gijon, Spain. Just time to stretch ones legs before another 48-hour rush for home. I sensed a general feeling of deflation and dissatisfaction amongst many of the passengers alongside a strong desire for a speedy return to home and beauty. Apart from providing a brief unrocking base for a short walk, Gjon seems to have nothing whatsoever to recommend it at all.

Day 11: Last Day. I spoke this morning with a lady who had paid (for herself and her husband) a total of £3000 for the voyage, who was understandably furious to find late bookers has expended merely a third of this at the last minute for similar cabins and facilities. When asked how she rated the whole experience she replied, 2/10. She also mentioned that the questionnaire issued to all passengers for comments carried the chance of a “free cruise” draw if posted into the reception box by 8.0pm. She was making sure she popped hers into the box well after 8.00 so saying, “I wouldn’t go again with C and M even if it was free!”

Facilities on Board

A small and inadequately stocked library comprising four arms-chairs (constantly filled) and a single desk, with books locked up at most times. Some recent-ish “House and Garden” type magazines, which appeared to “walk” swiftly from the shelves.
Nearby a card room of similar size used occasionally for craft-type activities, which again stretched the available space beyond sensible limits.
On the upper deck tucked somewhere under the eaves a stuffy and hot Internet Room. My one attempt to log-on involved a complicated and completely impossible to initiate password system. Get a Blackberry!
Spa/Hairdressing/Massage. All untested by yours truly, but one middle-aged guest very pleased with her on-board hairdo.

Quite a number of passengers have returned to the Marco Polo for this cruise as a result of previous experiences when the ship was under different managements, and almost without exception the consensus was that C a M fell far short by comparison. It seems that cost cutting by a very cost-conscious regime is contributing in large measure to customer dissatisfaction. However, for the first time cruisers I spoke to, with no points of comparison, such issues wee not raised.

Entertainment

C and M prides itself on a nightly range of live entertainment in two venues, and certainly some passengers were favourably impressed by this fact alone. Others complained that a recent change of management had left the entertainment basically the same, with the exception of a new Cruise Director. In this respect the present incumbent faired badly by comparison with his predecessor, and was generally considered to be both ****y and aloof, an awkward combination for someone of (at best) modest abilities.
The nightly performances of popular middle-of-the-road music (Andrew Lloyd Webber et al) ranged from round one losers from X Factor, to really quite accomplished. Voices were above mere competent, and 4-6 lithe and possibly classically trained dancers in a range of skimpy costumes kept the front row (wheelchair accessible) seats well filled. An orchestra of 6-7 accomplished musicians helped the atmosphere no end, and their native eastern European repertoire was supplement by quite a few American standards, which they clearly liked playing a lot. So an overall seven out of ten on this score.




Overview

The Marco Polo in its current guise is basically a ship appealing to a solid working-class passenger compliment. And before readers throw up their hands in horror at the word “class” I should point out that it is precisely this which forms a very strong element in most kinds of cruise, be it in the observation or in the breach. As passengers we are housed and often fed in a tier system based on an ability to pay (or not) and even the uniforms of crew and the hierarchy of command supports the idea that we slot into a class appropriate to our wealth and station in life. If you want to be treated like a Hollywood star of the 30s, take a Princess Grill cruise on the Queen Mary 2, transatlantic. If you want to swig lager with beer-bellies from up North, Marco Polo is your ship.
So this is assuredly a “value for money” cruise with the emphasis firmly on the budget-conscious. One of the problems facing C and M is that they attempt to present a Cunard or P and O type front, whilst behind the scenes cut-price catering in conjunction with staff clearly unused to British social mores mean they are failing to actually satisfy either end of the spectrum. This together with a compliment of passengers, who looked like the walking wounded from the Napoleonic Wars, means that you have to be on guard to prevent yourself simply falling in and becoming one of them and ending up being carted off in a wheelchair. One passenger who has already told me that the toast at breakfast had been a severe test of his remaining molars put it like this. “Look straight ahead, slightly above the heads of all the others, avoid eye contact, eat sparingly and carefully, bring plenty of booze on board and enjoy the ports of call”. I say amen to that and if you can, leave the Zimmer frame at Tilbury. Ah well, with erupting volcanoes, I guess it wasn’t so bad after all.


4500 words approx.

first cruise as a result of the ash cloud,supposed to be on the holiday of a lifetime to australia for three weeks ,so this cruise was a last minute thing,from setting foot on the ship we were made to feel very welcome ,the room was very clean and tidy, the ship was very clean and well maintained,food was very good in all the restaraunts, but the best part was eating in the penninsular restaraunt all but one night when a very good curry night was on on the conservatory,six course meal in the penninsular restraunt was second to none ,,, couldnt fault it would recomend this cruise liner to all

first cruise as a result of the ash cloud,supposed to be on the holiday of a lifetime to australia for three weeks ,so this cruise was a last minute thing,from setting foot on the ship we were made to feel very welcome ,the room was very clean and tidy, the ship was very clean and well maintained,food was very good in all the restaraunts, but the best part was eating in the penninsular restaraunt all but one night when a very good curry night was on on the conservatory,six course meal in the penninsular restraunt was second to none ,,, couldnt fault it would recomend this cruise liner to all

first cruise as a result of the ash cloud,supposed to be on the holiday of a lifetime to australia for three weeks ,so this cruise was a last minute thing,from setting foot on the ship we were made to feel very welcome ,the room was very clean and tidy, the ship was very clean and well maintained,food was very good in all the restaraunts, but the best part was eating in the penninsular restaraunt all but one night when a very good curry night was on on the conservatory,six course meal in the penninsular restraunt was second to none ,,, couldnt fault it would recomend this cruise liner to all

What a ship, classic looking with modern facilities. Enjoyed a fantastic week in the Caribbean. Hilights include Jamaica, with the Dunns Falls, Caymans and the beatiful Sting rays and fantastic shops and bargains to be found in Cozumel Mexico.

I particularly enjoyed the Champagne bar onboard, and the food was very good, especially the informal Windjammer Cafe with its great views of the ports of call or sea depending on where you are.

All in all great value for money and a great cruise experience, cant wait for this ship to be based in Majorca for Summer 2011.

Rosemary and I were very fortunate to be given the opportunity of sailing on the newly refurbished Seven Seas Voyager as guests, which gave us the opportunity to see and judge at first hand the changes after the recent multi-million refurbishment of both Voyager and her sister ship the Seven Seas Mariner.

$40 million dollars was spent (the largest investment on existing tonnage ever made by RSSC). This includes: new lounge and dining areas, including upmarket loungers and furniture around the Pool Grill; new carpeting, wallpaper, upholstery, light fixtures, and drapes in public areas and suites. And an extended coffee/tea and snack bar with cakes, sandwiches, cheese, fruit etc open 24 hours.

We feel that Regent have got it right – First class accommodation, inconspicuous service throughout the ship (no annoying over the top stuff), food is the best ever tasted, with simple and sophisticated options. The best orchestra at sea, in a spacious theatre, or one of the three lounges, a good variety and standard of entertainment.

These two Regent ships are arguably the best in the world. Regent offers unbelievable space for just 700 guests and Voyager and Mariner are the only two ships in the world to offer every guest an outside suite with balcony. Not only are all the suites very spacious, but corridors, open decks and the open spaces that connect public rooms and restaurants are extremely wide in many areas.

Those planning large multi-stream cruise ships would be horrified at the amount of wasted space! One of the important ingredients that Regent offers is space and a feeling of calmness, which is important to potential guests who live in a stressful, complicated and over busy world. At the time of refurbishment many of the lounges and public rooms were re-designed to create more spacious areas for relaxing. Most of these improvements and refurbishments were based on extensive feedback from Regent’s loyal client base and many have already remarked that the ships are looking better than when they were originally built back in 2001 and 2003. We would totally agree.

A new restaurant was also introduced: a steakhouse called Prime 7. A fresh, contemporary interpretation of a traditional grill. More about this later.

Guest lecturer on board

Another important part of our cruise was the guest lecturer on board, Sandra, who had worked for the BBC on many occasions. She gave several one hour extremely professional PowerPoint presentations in the main theatre at appropriate times through the cruise.

These included: The History of the Baltic and the USSR; ‘The Great Russian Composers’; Scandinavian countries ‘From the Vikings to Abba’ and an amusing one on ‘The True Story Of Hans Christian Anderson’

This important facility is not always recognised and could be an important attraction for future clients. Regent guest lecturers are always of the highest standard and have in depth knowledge of the areas the itinerary includes. This is in addition to the regular lectures made by Regent shore Excursion personnel. All lectures can be viewed later on TV monitors in suites.

Some of you may recognise bits of this report which have been transposed from a previous report I did on the Voyager while travelling on a previous occasion.

The suites are extremely spacious and well equipped. Lead-in categories are still around 300 sq ft, large queen bed or large twins beds, separate sitting area, (seating up to 5 comfortably) with stocked fridge, bathroom probably larger than the one at home with separate bath as well as shower. Large veranda and a walk in cupboard with massive hanging space and safe. Staff kept the suite scrupulously clean – we went for breakfast and it was ready when we returned. Cleaned again in evening.

The food was the highlight of the trip: the lamb, sole, salmon, goose and turkey stand out in my mind as being the best I have tasted – cooked to perfection no matter which restaurant we were dining in.

Which reminds me to explain the dining experience and options on board in more detail. The two larger ships the Voyager and Mariner are similar. The Veranda Café serves buffet breakfast and lunch. This is no ordinary café, it is carpeted, good décor, spacious, with proper table cloths and napkins, coffee and pots of tea (as well as any other drinks) served to your table. Eggs etc are cooked to order and delivered to your table fresh. For anyone with walking difficulties there are more than enough staff to assist. Although this is the café, the food quality is as good as the rest of the ship.

One side of the Veranda Café is turned into an intimate Bistro in the evening. The food and service are first class and smart casual wear is the order of the day, also in an evening. Most of the courses are waiter service; however there are exciting antipasti at the buffet. The sweets are all mainly at the buffet apart from the flambé (different fruits each evening) and ice cream – the cherry one is to die for.

The main restaurant, The Compass Rose, opens for more formal dining at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and will accommodate over 500 people. It has a wonderful selection of food with simplicity selection and healthy options as well as a comprehensive menu changed regularly. The new colour scheme in the restaurant is outstanding – the Chablis and Merlot palettes have certainly given the restaurant a very warm and appealing feeling.


The Cordon Bleu Restaurant, Signatures, (reservations mandatory and can be booked online 30 days before sailing) offers a wonderful culinary experience with plenty of choice. You would only visit this restaurant once on a one week cruise – menu stays the same for one week. Remember no supplements for any dining option and drinks and wine included at all times. The rack of Lamb and the warm chocolate pudding with chocolate ice-cream were wonderful – as well as the beef. Service levels very high in this intimate restaurant. The bold new jewel colours fitted well in this restaurant giving it a unique upmarket feeling.

New Prime 7 Restaurant (replacing Latitudes Asian Fusion – reservations mandatory again). A specially created menu features prime-aged steaks, chops, seafood and poultry. Options include steaks on the bone, New York slow roasted prime rib, fine filet mignon and Porterhouse steaks carved at the table. Surf & Turf, filet mignon steak and Canadian coldwater lobster tail or Alaskan king crab legs, all very popular, are also available. For those who do not fancy steaks the menu includes New Zealand lamb chops (which I can personally recommend as the best), Korobuta Berkshire Pork Chops and oven roasted organic chicken or Maine Lobster. This restaurant proved very popular on the cruise and was full most evenings. There again, it was only created (and its menu) in close consultation with Regent past loyal guests. This is not your ordinary steakhouse on a cruise ship, if you are at all familiar with the standards that Regent offers with their food and experience at any level.

The evening we dined there the food and service could not be faulted –Rosemary had the organic roasted chicken and I had the lamb. The steaks being served to others looked wonderful but we would have asked for half portions! The general feedback from clients has all been very complimentary.

Over recent years the level of spend on food by Regent has increased and it is recognised by the trade as one of Regent’s strong selling points.

The Pool Bar Grill was open most of the day serving delicious snacks, lower swimming pool deck never too busy and the upper deck totally uncluttered without any loungers.

Third Ship to be totally refurbished Regent’s third smaller ship the Navigator (carrying only 500 guests) has only 2 main dining options but again the choice and standards are superb. A similar major refurbishment of this ship will take place at the end of the year (2009) and will include introducing the highly successful Prime 7 restaurant to this vessel. We will keep you informed of developments.

Dress Code

Regent are simplifying their dress code for 2010 by having only two types on an evening: formal and country casual (smart casual). I have included the official document at the end of this report. Having travelled with Regent on several occasions this makes total sense, since most guests make an effort in an evening to wear attractive clothing whether it is formal or more casual.

Many women use wraps or jackets in an evening due to the air conditioned environment and men have casual jackets or smart shirts on non formal evenings.

Remember there are no supplements for any restaurants and drinks, wine and gratuities are included. All the ships have outside suites starting at around 300 Sq Ft and most have balcony (Voyager and Mariner have all balconies and 90% on Navigator have balconies).

Exciting new 2010 Itineraries for all ships

The fully refurbished Seven Seas Voyager & Seven Seas Mariner are, for the first time, offering longer itineraries to the Baltic, Scandinavia and Mediterranean during the summer of 2010.

Seven Seas Navigator inaugural Spring sailing after her restyle will be through the Panama Canal before starting her first ever Alaska season. (She may have an extra couple of sailings prior to this now – we will advise you in due course). Carrying only a maximum of 490 guests she will be well suited to offering a more intimate luxurious experience for discerning travellers who want to visit Alaska. See list of latest brochures and offers at end of report.

A Short note on ports of call for those who are interested.

Gothenburg

Sweden’s second city and largest seaport was strongly influenced by the Germans and the Dutch – confirmed by the many canals and old merchant houses found in the old town.

The compact town lying close to the Gota River and crisscrossed with many canals had a ‘small’ town feel about it; much of it pedestrianised with many attractive shops and cafes as well as a well patronised efficient tram system. The many attractive older buildings with fine architecture, set in sometimes very wide streets, were occasionally interspersed with not so attractive 1960s vintage buildings – however not nearly as ugly as some of the buildings we have inherited in the UK.

The shuttle bus from the dock area took around 20 minutes crossing the Gota River and past the various Ferry Terminals (close to the old town) and dropped us at the Town Hall (Rudhuset) – an attractive old building with a controversial modern extension.

Rosemary and I had time to walk down the pedestrianised Vastrahamngatan walking back up the very wide main street – the Kungsportsavenyn. Taking a boat trip up and down the canals seemed a sensible way of seeing much of the town.

We were both pleasantly surprised with Gothenburg but it is not a destination to stay long at because of costs.

Warnemunde – Germany

We stayed at Warnemunde for the day as the weather was disappointing –the small town and promenade is only about 5 to 10 minutes walk from the pier.

It was one of the main seaside resorts for East Germans and has a slightly run down feel about it. Quite a few tourist shops, beach and lighthouse. You might not want to spend the whole day here. Taking a trip to Rodstock in the morning is a better option.

For those who do not fancy taking the long transfer to Berlin for the day a good alternative is to take the train to the ancient town of Rodstock; trains run every hour and take about half an hour. I believe on arrival at Rodstock Hbf you need to take a tram into central Rodstock which leaves from an underground station below the main railway station.

Alternatively you can take a pleasure boat trip to Rodstock which takes about an hour each way including a tour. The boats leave from beside the cruise terminal and the railway station is close by.

Gdansk

Prior to 1945 Gdansk was known as Danzig and most residents were Germans. The first shots of World War II were fired here on the 1st September 1939 which started the destruction of Poland with many millions left dead.

Most of my generation think of Solidarity when Gdansk is mentioned – the famous strikes of workers from the former Lenin Shipyards in the 1970s against food price increases; led by the famous Lech Walesa. The government of the time was eventually forced to recognise the first independent Trade Union in the former Soviet Bloc.

We took the shuttle coach from the port to the old town (around 25 minutes) in pouring rain – we did carry on despite the downpour and we were rewarded. The old medieval town of Gdansk is absolutely beautiful – mostly pedestrianised with cobbled streets. Most of the many old buildings have been beautifully restored in the old town; in total contrast to the rest of the Gdansk area which looked much ‘run down’ with 1960s buildings and infrastructure and the old ship yards in the distance.

The rain stopped and some sun revealed the many interesting features of the medieval buildings.

We had the mandatory coffee break and joined the locals at a wonderful café

Maraska Marek Krzoska, Ul. Deluga 31-32 (Main st), cost £6 for two coffees and a cake. Most shops will take Euros but cafes prefer the local currency. See currency conversions at end of report.

Places to visit in the Old Town; most are all within walking distance of one another are:

The Prison Tower
The Golden Gate
The Armory
The Town Hall
The Fountain of Neptune
St Mary’s Basilica
The Crane (Krantor)
The Green Gate
St Nikolas’ Church
St John’s Church
St Elizabeth’s Church
St Brigid’s Church
St Catherine’s Church
The Grand Mill
The Old Town Hall
Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers (Pomnik Poleglych Stoczniowcow)
Places in italics 10 minute walk apart from Monument which is much further away.

Klaipeda - Lithuania

One of the few ports that remains ice free year round in the Eastern Baltic.

Much of the town was damaged during World War II and many of the already damaged churches were demolished by the Russians afterwards. A 5 minute shuttle bus ride from the pier takes you to Theatre Square. Close by are many of the historical half timbered buildings.

The place seemed deserted when we were there; the weather did not help and maybe Klaipeda is not quite ready for the tourists. Reminded me of what our town centres used to be like on Sundays when shops did not open.

We walked to the Clock Museum (tells the history of timekeeping), about 15 minutes from Theatre Square, to find it did not open until the afternoon so gave up on that one. Not many of the locals seemed to know where it was.

We did notice however (what seems an eastern Baltic custom) padlocks secured to the iron fences of bridges with inscriptions engraved on them. Many of the shops and stalls take euros but there again I would imagine cafes would want the local currency if you can find one open.

If returning to Klaipeda I would concentrate my efforts on visiting the older historical area and museums around Theatre Square and possibly visit the Clock Museum (15 minutes walk away) later on in the day after checking opening times. You also pass the The Arch after you cross the Dane River which commemorates the joining of Klaipeda to the rest of Lithuania.

Riga – Latvia

Riga was my favourite port, apart from St Petersburg, despite the pouring rain. I was sad to hear of the disruption and destruction caused by ‘stag’ party trips recently, which the mayor and others are desperately trying to solve.

Riga’s old town is about 20 minutes walk along the river bank from the ship – a pleasant walk if dry – we should have taken a taxi.

At the crossroads between East and West Europe, Riga has wonderful architecture and long twisting avenues.

It has inherited Jugendstil Architecture (German form of Art Nouveu); rich in detail with many of the buildings constructed in the early 1900s.

The city has an upmarket feel (despite the Stag party image) about it, completely different from its neighbours – high quality shops, restaurants and hotels abound.

Rosemary and I found a wonderful traditional bakers and coffee shop (Smilsu Pulkstenis, Kalku 7) - 2 coffees and one cake £5. There again cafes want local currency but shops take Euros as well.

We enjoyed walking around the many streets admiring the architecture and were fortunate enough to catch a 45 minute organ recital at the Dome Cathedral at Dorma Square. Cost £5,

Notable places to visit most all within walking distance of one another are:

The Dome Cathedral ( Doma Square)
St John’s Lutheran Church (Skarnu Street)
St. Jacobs Catholic Church (Klostera Street)
St Peters Lutheran Church (Skarnu Street)
The Small & the separate Great Guild (both Amatu Street)
The Melngalvju (Blackheads) House (Townhallsquare)
The Gunpowder Tower (Smilsu Street)
The Three Brothers - Medieval Residence (Maza Pils Street)
The Freedom Monument (between Brivibas and Raina Boulevards)

Tallinn – Estonia

Tallinn is said to be the quickest growing Baltic Capital; although formerly part of the USSR, you are reminded more of its medieval past when you enter the town. It still retains 20 of its original 46 towers built in the middle ages and many sections of the old wall are still intact.

You can walk to the old town from the various piers – around 10 minutes depending on where you dock. We took the shuttle bus so as to preserve our energy for the walk round the lower and upper old town.

The main square is Town Hall Square (Raekoja Plats) where executions used to take place; on one side of the square lies the imposing town hall with its vaulted halls. Avoid the cafes and restaurants in the square (they have these annoying vendors plying for trade – the first and only we saw in the Baltic). There is a good craft Market in the square. Take one of the streets leading to the upper town up towards the beautiful Alexander Cathedral.

We stopped at a lovely coffee shop more off the beaten track between the lower and upper town called Matilda Café 2 - coffees and one cake around £4 (70 Kroon).

Notable places to visit all within walking distance of one another are:

St Mary’s Cathedral, Alexander Nevski Cathedral, St Olaf’s, St Nicholas, Holy Ghost Churches
Toompea Castle
Tall Hermann Tower
Town Hall
Kiek in de Kok Tower
Catherine’s Passage
Museums - Tallinn City. Estonian National Art, and Estonian History.

St Petersburg

St Petersburg was definitely the highlight of the trip for both Rosemary and I. Known as the ‘Venice of the North’ (not Stockholm as I thought which is known as ‘Beauty by the water’), with its network of waterways and canals branching off the wide Neva River. Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, its name has changed three times: Petrograd (1914) Leningrad (1924) and then back to St Petersburg (1991).

Many of the rather grand classical and baroque buildings, palaces and churches have been beautifully restored; the city reminded us of both Vienna and Venice – two cities we loved.

The most famous of the ‘sights’ is the 4000 room Winter Palace where the October Revolution started and finished. Swathed in malachite, jasper, agate and gilded mirrors, this famous palace was the residence of Russia’s rulers from Catherine the Great (1762) to Nicholas 11 (1917). The palace houses the State Hermitage Museum and three other portions are the gallery of the 1812 – Portraits of the 1812 War Heroes. The gold-trimmed green and white palace houses one of the World’s finest art collections begun when Catherine bought 255 paintings from a Berlin art dealer. Many of the best known artists of the European Renaissance and pre-renaissance periods are represented in the collection which now number over 3 million works.

Our particular cruise enjoyed 2 nights stay in St Petersburg (Regent normally offer 3 nights).

Morning Highlights Tour of St Petersburg.

The first day we chose the morning Highlights tour which was ideal as we saw (and photographed) many of the beautiful buildings and architecture. Our first stop was at the The Strelka which gives marvellous views over the Neva River including the colourful buildings and the Winter Palace.

Close by is the Russian battleship Aurora which became a symbol of the Russian Revolution when on 25th October 1917, her crew joined the Bolsheviks and refused an order to take to sea. At 9.45 pm on that date, a blank shot from her forecastle gun signaled the start of the assault on the Winter Palace, which was to be the last episode of the October Revolution.

We continued to the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which lies within a fortress across the Neva River. It is the oldest church in St. Petersburg, and also the second-tallest building in the city (after the television tower). It is home to the graves of nearly all the rulers of Russia since Peter the Great. The Cathedral itself marked a radical departure from traditional Orthodox churches, being built in early Baroque style. The graves of the former rulers and their families from Peter the Great onwards, are very extravagant, and well worth seeing.

One of the many areas we passed was The Field of Mars; a large park and square in the centre of St Petersburg. Named after the Roman god of war, the field was the setting for military parades and drills for imperial guards’ regiments.

During the 1917 February Revolution many people were killed here which led the Bolsheviks to construct the existing memorial and eternal flame and to rename the field to ‘Victims of the Revolution Square’.

We finally ended up at the famous Church of Our Savior of the Spilled Blood. This marvellous Russian-style church was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated on March 1 1881. Constructed between 1883 and 1907, the church was designed in the spirit of 16th and 17th century Russian architecture, inspired particularly by St Basil's Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow. The interior of the church, a memorial to the late Emperor Alexander II, was decorated with different shades of marble and several thousand square yards of mosaic. Today, the church's onion domes have been newly gilded and its interiors painstakingly restored to their former glory. There are also lots of souvenir stalls nearby eager to take your euros, Dollars or local currency. This area was obviously where all the tourist coaches end up and the site was rather spoilt by this aggressive vendor activity!

St Petersburg – An Evening of Russian Ballet (first evening)

We had a rest in the afternoon before going to the Russian Ballet in the evening at the Palace Theatre performed by the Saint Petersburg Theatre Russian Ballet. None other than Tchaikovsky’s Swan lake. The main cast were on tour but the prize-winning understudies were wonderful; an excellent performance.

St Petersburg – Canal Cruise & shopping (second day in afternoon)

We chose to take the afternoon boat trip on the River Neva and the many canals and waterways. – giving us the opportunity of having a relaxing morning on the ship.

This trip was wonderful and I strongly recommend it – a great way of viewing all the wonderful architecture. The particular guide we had was very friendly and not afraid to talk about the changes since Perestroika. The trip included cruising the Moika River, the Neva and the Fountain River. There are many beautiful extremely low bridges including the Anichkov Bridge famous for its bronze sculptures of wild horses and the Lomonosov Bridge with its unusual stone turrets. You had to be careful not to stand upright on the open air section of the boat; no health and safety rules here! The array of buildings viewed included the Yusupov Palace, the Baroque masterpiece Stroganov Palace, the Church of Our Savior of the Spilled Blood, and the imposing St. Michael's Castle. Time was left at the end for some shopping at the aptly named Red shop which offered free shots of vodka and coffee with a good selection of souvenirs.

St Petersburg – Other Places of Interest worth visiting

We did not have time to view the Hermitage (obviously if we had the 3 days of the normal Regent itinerary cruise we would have). I believe an internet site will eventually be available to view most of the works.

St Catherine’s Palace and park, 12 miles outside of St Petersburg is well worth a visit. Peter the Great presented the palace and estate to his wife Catherine in 1712. It was almost completely destroyed by the Nazis during the Second World War (57 of the massive halls were totally destroyed). Although the Nazis did not take Leningrad, which was a major turning point in the war, they did however occupy this Palace. Many of the treasures have been recovered and over half of this magnificent Palace and estate has been painstakingly restored including the intricate interiors – much of the interior restoration work being conducted by a Scot.

There is also Peterhof, the magnificent residence of Peter the Great.

Stockholm

We had stayed in Stockholm before when cruising to Norway, spending a very pleasant 2 nights at the Hotel Diplomat on Strandvagen 7C in a coastal central location close to all amenities. The hotel has super views and good for those who want a smaller boutique type of hotel - not as grand as the SAS Radisson or Grand. It is my favourite of all the Scandinavian destinations visited (perhaps partly because I know it the best)

It is a very clean city, Sweden’s capital and the cultural hub of the Baltic. Most of the city has a feel of openness (apart from the Old Town) including the vast Djurgarden and the nearby island of Skeppsholem with its lovely waterfront.

The pier was only 10 minutes by shuttle bus to the centre and Rosemary and I headed for the Gamla Stan (Old Town) located on the original small islands of the city’s earliest settlements. It retains the original medieval layout, with narrow cobbled streets and attractive individual shops. I would suggest ‘window’ shopping as things are twice what we would pay in the UK. We lashed out and had coffee at one of squares near the Royal Palace (2 coffees and 1 cake £12 plus). The coffee cups were unusual ceramic bowl-type mugs. Probably one of the main attractions of Stockholm is that it has retained its sophistication and is not full of budget travellers and stag party trips. One of the best ports to start a cruise – you could just about afford 2 nights.

Places to visit include:

The ‘Gamla Stan’ (Old Town) including Tyska Kyrkan (German church) and several mansions and palaces.
The Royal Palace (close by)
Skeppsholmen (Island)
Djutgarden (Park)
National Museum
Museum of National Art
City Hall (Nobel prize organisation)
Vasa Museum (The Vasa warship was raised from Stockholm Harbour in 1961, 333 years after her ill-fated maiden voyage in 1628).
Various boat trips

Copenhagen

On this particular cruise we only had an evening in Copenhagen and not a very nice one weather wise.

Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is the largest city in Scandinavia, and is described as one of the most beautiful – I still prefer Stockholm. It is one of Europe’s oldest capitals and the monarchy is the oldest in the World. However it still retains a small town feeling and many of the population commute (33%) by bicycle despite the weather in winter. Much of the city is pedestrainised with cobbled streets as well as a good selection of shops for those who can afford to shop in them. The city has repeatedly been recognised as one of those with the best quality of life and there have been massive investments in cultural and leisure facilities as well as its infrastructure.

The Nyhavn area is particularly attractive – it was established by King Frederick in the 1600s as a port serving the old inner city. Many of the colorful houses are now 300 years old with many shops and restaurants established in the area. The world famous fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen lived many years of his life here from the 1830s where he wrote his first stories. This area is one of the main departure points for Canal Boat Tours taking you around many of the historic sites both in the harbour area and the canals around the city.

Places on your must see list should include:

Royal Castle Amalienborg, Amalianborg Palace and Rosenborg Castle
Church of Our Saviour.
The elegant Town Hall and Round Tower
Louisiana, Arken and - Glyptotek Art Musuems and National Museum
Gefion Fountain, Copenhagen's own Fontana di Trevi,
Tivoli, with its classy amusement park and many restaurants
Stroget – City Centre Street with Designer and fashion stores (including Scandinavia’s largest department store Magasin du Nord
Little Mermaid Statue


What else can one say! Perfect.

I recently took my family on their first cruise and wondered how a 5 year old and 2 year old would cope on a 7 night cruise.

The normal fears went through our mind about safety and how we can keep them entertained but we really need not have worried - they both loved it. the great feature of the voyager class ships are they are really a floating resort with such a wide range of facilities on offer to keep children entertained. The ice skating, mini-golf, dance shows, pools, childrens clubs, roller skating and shopping mall were well used throughout the week.

I must say the staff at the childrens club were very good and the kids enjoyed their time there and were kept well entertained.

The space offered on these ships is very welcome with small children as there is always something to explore and it allows you room to move on the odd occasion that the children get upset/irritable on board.

Overall I think the children adapted very well to a cruise holiday and I would have no issues taking them on another family cruise.

I was privileged to stay on the Queen Mary 11 for her launch in Southampton in 2004. I attended this launch whilst working for Cruisedeals and attended with a few of my colleagues. I thoroughly enjoyed this traditional and very grand ship. At the time of its launch, it was the biggest, longest and tallest ship in the market, dwarfed now by the new Royal Caribbean ship "Freedom of the Seas".
The food was spectacular, the décor very Grand and the whole experience one I would wish to experience again and again. The highlight of this ship for me was its dining experience, the white gloved waiter service was exceptional along with the magnificent decor of the Queens Grill Lounge.
All in all this was a great ship and one which would lend itself well to the transatlatic crossings it has become synonymous with.

Although this is a relatively small ship just in at 47K tonnes, it is surprisingly spacious and well maintained. I was fortunate to have a balcony cabin on deck 11 which is one of the best cabins on the ship, although my colleague inside cabin was spacious enough.
The staff onboard this ship were very friendly and made the relaxing and laid back cruise even more enjoyable. With all the major facilities such as theatres, main dining room, various al la carte options, nightclub, bars, pool etc. I would definitely like to take a cruise on this ship with my family

What a Ship! I felt like this ship was huge and never ending, its unlimited bars and little places to escape were everywhere. The dining options were in abundance and the facilities onboard cater expertly for the many stylish europeans that dominate this cruise ship.
I really enjoyed my time on this ship and loved the decor although not to everyones taste as it is a little loud and colourful.
I would love to holiday on this ship with my family as it has great kids facilities and also something for the grown ups.
Stand out on this ship were the spacious deck areas and numerous out door eating areas.

Alison Burns - Marketing Manager, The Cruise Team

My favourite ship of all! It was the whole trip that made this the best ship experience I have had.
Travelling out to Venice was great and the journey from the airport to the post very short. Joining the Noordam we were escorted to very grand staterooms, majority of them outside cabins.
The service and food were exceptional and the best I have experienced. The deserts were masterpieces and I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the dishes presented to me, they were so beautiful.
A highlight for me was "the culinary arts centre" which is a kitchen theatre style demonstration held in the lounge and features a celebrity chef who will cook and allow you to taste what they have cooked. This is a ship I would definately like to go on again and am in the process of looking at options to take my family away this year.