Cunard Launch day - huge success for Cruise.co.uk!

Well, i am back home and exhausted after, what can only be described, as an extremely manic but exciting day!

We were all hands on deck at 1pm today for the launch of Cunard 2011 sailings, finger and phones at the ready to secure our pre-registered clients the best cabin availability and boy what a good job we did! I am pleased to report they we literally managed to get nearly all of the cabins required, a huge success even if we do say so ourselves!

The QE was obviously going to be the most popular and difficult to get hold of, I had 4 cabins to try and secure. It started off with a bang at 1pm when we were all trying to access the sailings, one of my sailings on 28th October 2011 QE was completely locked out on the system, it was sheer panic....but once up and running we managed to secure our cabins without a hitch, phew! Then we have the great job of calling our clients back to be the bearer of good news and let them know they are all booked up, best part of the job if you ask me :)

Its not over yet though, today was just the beginning as tomorrow is the start of the P&O cruises from 8am.....here we go again....!!!

Going for Gold...P&O Launch day!

Today was the launch of the 2011 dates exclusively for the P&O Gold Tier Portunus members. This morning we were all hands on deck (excuse the pun!) at 9am for Adonia and 11am for all other sailings, and I am happy to report that it was all smooth sailing!


Every agent in the office seemed to be able to secure their clients the exact cabins and grades they wanted and more importantly at the prices specified!!!

There is still time to get yourselves Pre-Registered for the launch dates next week of all other sailings - this is the best way to ensure you will get the best availability at the best prices.

STILL TO COME...

Monday 26th April:

Princess –Europe - to everyone from 8 AM
Cunard – World Club members from 1 PM

Tue 27 Apr
P&O Cruises - March, April and May cruises on sale to everyone from 8 AM
Cunard to all From 8AM

Wed 28 Apr
P&O Cruises - June, July, August cruises on sale to everyone from 8AM

Thu 29 Apr
P&O Cruises - September, October, November cruises on sale to everyone from 8 AM

Fri 30 Apr
P&O Cruises - Remaining cruises including 2012 spring Euromed and Caribbean cruises fly programmes on sale to everyone from 8AM

Celebrity saves the day! Eclipse is off to Spain....

I came in to the office yesterday all excited about my impending trip on the brand new Celebrity Eclipse which was scheduled for Thursday and Friday, only to receive this email....


"Dear Guest

Clearly the volcano in Iceland has caused havoc to the travel industry and holidaymakers worldwide. We have been monitoring the considerable impact that the eruption of the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland has had and owing to this unprecedented experience, we have been considering how Celebrity Cruises, new ship, Celebrity Eclipse, could help repatriate some of the stranded holidaymakers to the UK.

With this in mind and after much consideration we have taken the decision to deploy Celebrity Eclipse to Spain this week to collect UK and Irish holidaymakers who have been delayed, by up to five days, to assist with their repatriation.

Therefore regrettably we have taken the decision to cancel the first two-night inaugural celebration sailing from Southampton (22-24 April).

Whilst we know that this will be a disappointment, we hope that you understand this change of plan.

We thank you in advance for your understanding"

Obviously I was absolutely distraught but I have to say I was VERY impressed with Celebrity for offering to do this, especially with one of their brand new ships! It really does show true camaraderie for the stranded passengers who have, until now, not really had any kind of hope of returning back home anytime soon! My Colleague Emma is stranded in Lanzarote and my friend Jo is stuck in Turkey; neither of them has been able to yet get a flight home and are likely to be stuck for a few days more. It really is a shame, but God does work in mysterious ways and we should never forget this!

All in all after a nightmare of being stranded the passengers being collected are in for a real treat with the Eclipse, not a bad way of being returned home if you ask me!

Want Free Money? Think P&O.....OFFER EXTENDED

MONEY = MONEY = MONEY = MONEY = MONEY = MONEY!


Then think P&O!

DOUBLE ONBOARD CREDIT OFFER HAS BEEN EXTENDED!!!

Offer now ends FRIDAY 23rd APRIL- DONT MISS OUT!


click here for full sailings and onboard credit on offer
Double Onboard Credit



MONEY = MONEY = MONEY = MONEY = MONEY = MONEY


juliar@cruise.co.uk


0800 408 6089

Want free money, think P&O...

MONEY = MONEY = MONEY = MONEY = MONEY = MONEY!

Then think P&O!!

As a booking Incentive P&O are offering, until 18th April only, double onboard credit on selected sailings!

From £100 - £200per person! That means you can get upto £400 free spending money per cabin! Amazing!

click here for full sailings and onboard credit on offer

P&O double onboard credit

Offer ends THIS SUNDAY 18th DONT MISS OUT!

MONEY = MONEY = MONEY = MONEY = MONEY = MONEY

juliar@cruise.co.uk
0800 408 6089

P&O Azura Review...what were my thoughts?

Well, what can I say except WOW! I have recently returned from an overnight stay on the Azura, we are very lucky in this business in that we get lots of freebies and get to go on most of the new ship launches! This is all for your benefit so we can advise you first hand on each ship, giving our own personal opinions and experiences rather than you having to rely on the cruise lines marketing for the ship.

Want to know what my real thoughts were??

Back from Azura!

After an initial panic of losing my passport and thinking I was not going to be able to get onboard (note to self always know where your passport is!!) I am now back from my little Jolly on the Azura where I had an absolutely fabulous time onboard this truly magnificent ship!

I will be posting some pictures for you to view firsthand what she is like with some information on the ship so stay tuned keen folkes....!

Thinking about the Azura? Well ask me!

I thought I would let you all know that I am heading down to Southampton tomorrow to go onboard the brand new Azura - P&O's latest addition!


I know a lot of you are extremely interested in her, I have had many of my clients enquiring therefore I will be soaking in lots of info and taking a few pictures for any of you who are keen to know what she is like (blog to follow)

If you have any questions about her then please feel free to contact me or leave a comment and I will do my best to answer them and give you my best advice!

Speak to you soon hopefully!

Obstructed or none obstructed? That is the Question!

Have you ever been offered the choice of an obstructed view as opposed to a clear view as a cheaper alternative? Confused by what it is and if it’s worth the risk? Well, let me explain it a little further in detail for you so you can make your own mind up!

As you will be aware every cruise ship will have a deck where the lifeboats will be positioned. These are for your safety and obviously cannot be avoided. It does mean however, that all the cabins positioned on that deck be them a suite, balcony or ocean view, will be obstructed either fully or partially by the lifeboats positioned on that deck.

With an obstructed view you will still have all of your natural light coming into the cruise cabin, so you will know whether its day or night as an inside cabin can be quite disorientating! You can generally see out of the window and see some of the view (other than the lifeboat) i usually try and make my clients picture it as like looking out of your own kitchen window, where, you will probably see imminent objects such as trees or maybe another house but you can also see everything around the objects like the sky etc.

Take a look at an example of some pictures i have found and see what you think....

Now, the price difference between a clear ocean view with no obstruction and obstructed view can be anything up to about £300pp which, to me is a lot of spending money particularly, if like most of us, you are on a budget! In an ideal world we would all like to have the best of the best but sometimes in order to save money things have to be sacrificed. I have stayed on an obstructed view cabin and i would personally rather save the money, still have natural light in my cabin and go up on deck if I wish to check out the views! After all, how long really are you planning on sitting in your cabin? Hopefully you will be up and out enjoying each destination.

To summarise then, I feel they are well worth considering rather than dismissing.

Let me know if any of you have stayed on an obstructed view cruise cabin and what your thoughts were/are on them? I would be very interested to know!