…et a discount on a cruise. For example, if you work for the railways, in a hotel, in the tourism industry, for a tourism board… basically anything that promotes and sells travel. A company that I know relatively well in the UK called Touchdown will sell cruises at great prices to anyone who can prove they’re in the travel industry. Again, it tends to be in that period of 90 to 60 days when the cruise lines are looking to clear cabins that they hav…
…rry about because you unpack, of course, and the ship becomes your sailing hotel until you repack at the end. Your meals are all set for you, your excursions are set, all your briefings are set for you, your transportation is arranged… You literally decide the itinerary, decide where you want to go, and you pitch up without having to make many decisions, so it’s hassle-free. It’s a great, easy way of travelling through Europe. f you wanted to trav…
…se line that might take you from the airport to perhaps a cruise-nominated hotel and then to the ship the next day, or when you disembark, they will offer transfers to the airport or hotels. There’s a sense that they’re actually really poor value, and sometimes I’ve just done them because they’re easy to do, say if you have a flight at an early-ish time, and you want to get off the ship really quickly. If you book one of their transfers, they will…
…the look and feel (the exterior and interiors which is more trendy hipster hotel than other ships). Secondly, the way they way they provide services (like no main dining room just a myriad of alternative venues). Thirdly, their focus on music based partying on and off the ship at their Bimimi Beach Club. This also goes hand-in-hand with the lines partnerships with DJ Producers, like Mark Ronson. If it helps, they describe the ships as “rebellious…
…cruise lines, but there’s no set definition like there is on land, say for hotels, where a three-star, four star or five-star hotel is all consistent, and it has rules around what it’s going to be. Mass-market and premium It’s broadly agreed that there’s several categories in cruising. You have kind of the mass market lines like Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, MSC, Carnival, which offer kind of good value resort type cruising. Then there’s premium cru…
…see the cities where Winnie embarks or disembarks, I encouraged her to add hotel stays, or she will not see anything of them. Tiring Second, a week-long Mediterranean cruise can be tiring. Few have sea days for her to relax, as they call into ports daily. She’ll be out exploring most of the day and enjoying the dining and entertainment onboard into the evenings. She’ll be flying in, so likely tired and jet-lagged. Another good reason for having pr…
…strolling round the famous casino, and posing with the flash cars outside Hotel de Paris (which I stayed in once by the way, over-priced and tiny room). The next four ports are much more substantive, and favourites of mine. Split Split in Croatia is an ancient town of great beauty. Walkable from the cruise port, it is rich in history and has a wide boulevard on the ocean front with lots of cafes to site and people watch after a city tour. Kotor K…
…first port. Covering the costs. I used to book my own flights and pre-stay hotels but no longer. If the cruise line flight and hotel are higher than booking myself, my travel agent builds a package of flights and hotels which, certainly in the UK, through the ATOL package tour rules, provides the same protection. So, when my flights via Amsterdam to Panama City to join an Oceania Cruise were cancelled at short notice, she had to find new flights t…
…s appearing for everything, including sodas. The prices per item are, like hotel mini-bars high. If you have a drink package check if this is included. I didn’t find any that are. This is important as more lines have drinks’ packages within fares, like Celebrity “Always Included”, Princess Plus, Holland America “Have It All” and Norwegian “Free at Sea”. If you are in a suite, like when I was in Cunard Queens Grill, or on one of the Ultra-Luxury li…
…dden. On Celebrity Solstice I stumbled across it when I was invited by the Hotel Director for a sail out party from Costa Maya. There it was, right on the bow. On that Queen Mary 2 trip I noticed a large yellow dot on a wide-open space on the Deck 12 sports deck. On your next cruise when you are on a big open deck space, look down to see if there is a big yellow dot or big letter H and the helicopter pad has been staring you in the face all along….
…it issues or things we wanted sorted or improved. These went direct to the Hotel Director to ensure it was taken care of. High end brands are everywhere, Apple, Cartier, Bvlgari, and Tiffany shops. They have Peloton bikes in the fitness centre. There’s a real sense of upping the aspect of luxury. Celebrity Cruises class-based System They also have upped the premium side of the line, with a class-based system fairly like Cunard, where based on what…
