Felicity is on Maternity Leave

My name is Emma from Cruise.co.uk and it is just a quick note to introduce myself.

Felicity, who may have helped you book (or look) for a cruise before, is now on maternity leave & she has asked me to look after all her passengers. To re-assure you, I have been in the travel industry for over 8 years with the last 3 years specialising in cruise here at Cruise.co.uk and I’m very lucky in having cruised several times on a variety of ships.  I also pride myself on how well I look after my clients, so I can confidently say you will be in safe hands! 

Please contact me for any reason either via email emmad@cruise.co.uk or 0800 408 6129– I would be delighted to help.

To find out a bit more about me and see comments from many of my satisfied customers under the “Rate My Service” section, please visit my personal blog www.emmaoncruise.blogspot.co.uk (or just click on the my business card below)

I look forward to speaking to you soon.

Kind regards,

Emma

Emma Davis

Direct Line: 0800 408 6129

Holland & America Hit Europe Bigtime for 2013

The summer of 2013 is set to be a great one with so many cruise lines bring more and more ships to Southampton and Europe.

Holland America Line has just announced plans to deploy seven cruise ships to Europe for the 2013 summer season, while also revealing exciting new ports of call on its itineraries.

The seven ships coming tp Europe are - ms Eurodam, ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Noordam, ms Prinsendam, ms Rotterdam, ms Ryndam and ms Veendam - will together cover 107 departures throughout the region.

Covering trips around Scandinavia, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, they will also sail to a collection of ports, ranging from iconic European cities to little-known gems.

Holland America Line has announced plans to deploy seven cruise ships to Europe for the 2013 summer season, while also revealing new ports of call on its itineraries.

The seven ships - ms Eurodam, ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Noordam, ms Prinsendam, ms Rotterdam, ms Ryndam and ms Veendam - will together cover 107 departures throughout the region.

New ports of call for 2013 include Alanya in Turkey, Alcudia in Spain, Galway and Killybegs in Ireland, Hydra and Igoumenitsa in Greece and Sassnitz in Germany.

Richard Meadows, executive vice president of marketing, sales and guest programmes for the cruise line, said: "While the popularity of European cruising continues to grow, the region is opening new ports, which enable us to offer more maiden calls and exciting new itineraries."

In total, Holland America Line will offer 53 different European itineraries ranging from seven to 64-day sojourns.

We will also be welcoming Princess Cruises new ship the Royal Princess to Europe and not forgetting that Royal Caribbean are introducing another ship Adventure of the Sea's into Southampton for our non flying cruisers! And of course not forgetting Disney Cruises and Carnival also upping the anti in Europe for 2013 with new ships and great itineraries

Roll on 2013...................

A Princess Party

Princess Cruises are holding a party night for all of us here at Cruise.co.uk to say thank you for all our hard work and the amount of guests we book on their ships. It really is very generous and lovely of them it's a great motivator when companies recognise all the hard work you put it.

We will be treated to a champagne reception (very posh) then we will be participating in a quiz and tucking into some scummy hot food.

I am really looking forward to it tomorrow night and will make sure that lots of pictures are taken to update you all with.

It's A Boy

You may have read my recent blog about me finding out that I was expecting a baby..... well....... It's
a boy.

I had a gut feeling the baby would be and all my family predicted that it was going to be a boy, which is lovely for us as my family consists of mainly girls.

The trouble is that I have only ever had girl names in my head that I really like and now its a boy I am struck. I do like traditional names such as George and Oscar however I would like something a little different I was thinking the name Cruz would be quite appropriate although its unique to the Beckham family really.

If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them ???

Surprising Times

Well I thought I would share my very surpising but great news with you all.......... I am expecting, due on the 7th November!

It has come as quite a shock as it was not planned but I am very happy and can not wait to meet my little bambino, the next few months are going to very busy for me and exciting as I decorate the nursary and buy all the essentails and non-essentials lol.

I must say I have had a quick look into the baby buggy world and it all seems very compilcated detailed ,and expensive I actually think it is easy picking out and getting prices on cruises....... do you agree??? So many different brands then the model and spec then theres the quality and of course the price, oh and not forgetting the dreaded reviews.

I am sure it will all fall into place and I am looking forward to taking my little one on a cruise one day especially as most of them offer such good baby and child facilites now.

Confused? Late Deals Explained !!

If you have been shopping around for a late deal cruise holiday lately you will have noticed how fantastic the prices are now compared to past years. However you also may be a little confused as I was at the beginning at some of the offers regarding port parking and on board credit and what is actually included in the late deal...................well...............



Basically here's the real deal............

Option 1 - The really low fare, NO EXTRAS !!! all these from £399pp deals that have been flying around are real they are available but you do not get any port parking or on board credit it is simply a one off low fare and nothing else. With this fare it also has to be paid in full at time of booking no matter when the cruise is departing and is 100% cancellation charges! Also you do not get to pick you cabin number you are simply booked on a grade and are guaranteed this grade of cabin or above if you are lucky and get upgraded, all cabins are allocated by the cruise line.

Make Sense?

Option 2 -  Pay a bit more and get the extras your use to !!! certain cruise lines such as P&O and Cunard are currently running a June Summer Sizzlers promotion along side their low fares no extras promotion. These deals mean you will pay more for the cruise but you will receive your free port parking and some on board credit, also you can pick you cabin number. Every cruise is different and it really does depend on the cruise you have chosen as which deal is better for you. Your specialist cruise consultant will make sure they check both deals to ensure you get the right one for you!

I hope this helps as I have had a lot of questions about this and clients thinking that you get the on board credit and port parking on the low fare deals, fact is these low fare deals are already amazing and I know we all want something for nothing but also we know that life doesn't quite work like that.

Are We Safe At Sea?

New reports show that over the past 30 years, eight cruise ships have sunk, resulting in a total loss of life of 36 people, most of whom were crew on the tall ship Fantome, attempting to outrun a hurricane, when it sank in the Caribbean in 1998. Today, the Concordia incident adds 17 more to that list, and perhaps 16 more that were missing at press time.

While any loss of life is one too many, the modern-day cruise industry has a strong safety record, having carried more than 200 million passengers over the past 30 years. And not to forget, more than 4,000 people were safely evacuated off the Concordia under very difficult circumstances, despite the many media reports of panic and chaos.

In the unlikely event of having to "abandon ship” is how the importance of lifeboat drills is typically stated to passengers. With the Costa Concordia grounding and the lingering pictures of the capsized ship, that event may not seem so unlikely anymore to the millions watching television and reading newspapers. But the fact is that major incidents are unlikely, considering that more than 19 million people cruised in 2011 and more are expected to cruise in 2012.

There are many systems and procedures in place to ensure the safety of passengers and crew, but it boils down to the human factor: the competence and professionalism of officers and crew, which in turn is put into place through training and recruitment. Life-saving equipment includes lifeboats on each side, capable of accommodating at least 50 percent of the people onboard, so that the lifeboats on both sides will accommodate at least 100 percent of the people onboard. In addition are inflatable rafts for at least 25 percent of the people onboard. The latest generation of lifeboats are bigger and better equipped, enclosed and self-righting. New regulations are intended to make release and retrieval systems safer. Ships also carry lifejackets for passengers and crew, as well as immersion suits for crew.

So people I would say ignore the above picture as this is a very infrequent occurrence and YES we are safe at sea !