We need your vote! Please :)

You will probably remember last October when myself and lots of my colleagues here at Cruise.co.uk took part on the Birmingham Half Marathon in honour of our dear friend and colleague Drew, who we sadly lost to Cancer. Drew set up his own charity ULegend in support of Sarcoma UK. Sarcoma was the rare cancer that he was diagnosed with and so he wanted to make a difference and help the charity in as many ways as he could and he certainly did.

Drews Just Giving Page has so far raised a staggering and incredible £18,813.36 so far - amazing! This has been from a mixture of fund raising events by Cruise.co.uk and Drews amazing friends and family alike. We also did a big cake bake sale here at the cruise.co.uk office where the bakers of the office made some wonderful tasty baked treats for people to purchase. We had people dropping in from all over the town and just under £400 was raised!

Anyway, for all of our efforts Cruise.co.uk has been nominated for the Company of the Year Award 2013 and we are now open to the public vote!!
The 3 companies with the most votes will make the shortlist for the Just Giving Awards 2013 and then the company that gets the highest number of votes will then be announced the Company of the Year at the awards ceremony - so we REALLY need your vote people!

Votes can be placed here www.justgivingawards.com/vote_now.htm until the 15th March.
Send it to all your family and friends and get them to vote too!

If you want to visit Drews Just Giving page and make a donation follow this link:
http://www.justgiving.com/ULEGEND

It will mean the World to us if we win this as we feel it is something tremendous in Honour of Drew who is very dearly missed in our office.

As we all know too well, the 21st Century is the era of Technology where we are required to fill everything on online usually.

Gone are the days now of booking your cruise/flights/holiday and having the excitement of receiving your tickets through the post with all of your holiday details.
Most cruise lines operate an E-ticket process (Electronic Tickets) where all you get is a peice of paper to print off.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises are one of the only cruise lines that still offer a lovely wallet for your Cruise Documentation. Infact, not only do they offer the wallet but they have just announced that they have upgraded it to a keepsake tablet case!


The new holder, which is soft, brown faux leather, snaps with a magnetic closure and features the Regent Seven Seas Cruises logo embossed on the front cover.
The keepsake holder includes a personalized Final Cruise Summary tailored specifically to the guest’s experience containing all reservation information for their cruise such as shore excursions, flight details, pre- and post-cruise hotel stays and land programmes and any other supplemental items booked. It also contains special Regent Seven Seas Cruises luggage tags and the new ‘Welcome Aboard’ pamphlet detailing onboard activities specific to the ship on which the guest is sailing. The new documentation package can then be used to hold a tablet such as an iPad, Kindle or Nook.

I think this is a lovely touch from Regent and just highlights their 6* Luxury standard that you can expect to get from them.

Car parking at Southampton - I've got it covered!

Quite often the cruise lines will offer free car parking from Southampton if you book an early deal.
 

 At the moment P&O and Cunard in particular have their 'Vantage' deal in place whereby you get the choice of either OBC or free parking. What I have found is that the obc they are offering is practically comparable with the price that they charge for the parking, so it technically doesn't really make a difference what you choose - or does it? Well in actual fact it does as we offer a reduced price on our port parking at Southampton which generally tends to save you about £30 on a 14nt sailing! So you are better off taking the obc and booking your parking through us.

Our parking is a meet and greet service at the port. Our chauffeurs will meet you right outside the terminal where your ship is leaving from after you have dropped off your baggage. You just hand your car over and they will park it up for in the secured compound about 2 minutes away. Upon arrival back into the terminal after your wonderful cruise all you have to do is give a local number a call to advise them you are about to disembark and they will have the chauffeur there waiting to greet you with your car - it really is as easy as that! We have been using this service for a couple of years now and I have booked countless passengers with out meet and greet service and it gets rave reviews. They say the service is very smooth and convenient and great value for money!

So what are you waiting for, book your parking with me today and save ££££'s - whether its a new booking or one you already have booked with me, you can add your parking at any time :) 

Royal Princess is upon us...

The time is nearly upon us for the Launch of the eagerly anticipated Royal Princess....
Princess have announced 2 mini 2nt taster cruises that you can book to try out the new ship - on the 9th and 14th June - only Balcony cabins will be on sale and the prices are starting from £349pp - they go on sale tomorrow (Wed 30th) at 2pm if you wish to get yourself on-board this beauty of a ship!

Reading up on the new 139,000-ton Royal Princess, which is due to be delivered in May 2013, there are many fantastic things she has in store such as the Giant Movies under the Stars and the pool area which will turn into an outdoor dance club with lights and water shows. The one thing that really caught my eye was the all new and never attempted before signature "Sea Walk"....

The Sea walk is a fully glass enclosed walkway that cantilevers out more than 28 feet over the side of the ship!! Eeeek! Well that's what my initial thought was anyway and particularly when I saw the proposed pictures. I have to say I am a real wimp when it comes to heights and not quite sure I would be brave enough to walk around it myself? See what you think...

If this wasn't enough for you then on the opposite side of the ship you can sip a cocktail in the SeaView Bar which also has incomparable views through the glass floor..... don't have too many though as you may feel just a little bit giddy!

Although I think these are great features of a new ship and something not tried before I am not too sure I would be trying them in a hurry!

Princess have announced 2 mini 2nt taster cruises that you can book to try out the new ship - on the 9th and  14th June - only Balcony cabins will be on sale and the prices are starting from £369pp - they go on sale tomorrow (Wed 30th) at 2pm if you wish to get yourself on-board this beauty of a ship!

Tailor Made just for you....

Fed up with the Med? Done the Fjords to death? Want to do something a bit more exciting and bespoke?!

Then look no more! Here at Cruise.co.uk we pride ourselves on our Cruise Experience and giving our customers the best available service and knowledge when booking our customers cruise holidays. Well, we have gone that little bit further on what we can offer and have spread our knowledgeable wings into creating exciting and inspiring Tailor Made Luxury Cruise Packages.

Let us take you on a Voyage of Discovery with our expertly chosen and crafted packages. Teaming your favourite cruise lines and itineraries with breathtaking shore excursions to tantalise any traveller’s senses! To top off all of that we have chosen some of the best Hotels around the world to complete your package, stay in wonderful Cities such as New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Sydney, Hong Kong, Rio De Janeiro to name but a few...it really is the most exciting way to take a cruise.

Hong Kong at night!

Las Vegas

Sydney

You can view our full Tailor Made Packages on our website http://www.cruise.co.uk/ or click here Tailor Made We have a specialist team on hand ready to take your calls and don't worry, if you don't fancy a certain hotel or want to add on extra nights take nights off we really can Tailor Make it to your holiday needs, the possibilities are endless....

Never Cruised? Try a mini taster cruise

Have you never cruised before but often wondered what it might be like? Or even not cruised with a certain cruise line before but want to know what they are like to cruise with? You don't want to take the chance by booking a longer cruise because what if you don't like it? Well there is an option for you!

Why not try a mini cruise?!

A few cruise lines are offering 2/3/4night 'tatser' cruises in April and May, June and July this year, which would be a great opportunity for you to try them out.

P&O - has the Azura and Ventura offering a selection of cruises to tickle your tastebuds:

April:
· Departing April 16, 2013, a two-night cruise on Azura (A309P) calling at St Peter Port

· Departing April 18, 2013, a four-night cruise with opera duo, Jonathan & Charlotte from Britain’s Got Talent on Azura (A309Q) stopping at Zeebrugge and St Peter Port starts

· Departing April 22, 2013, a three-night cruise with a special celebrity guest on Azura (A309R) calling at Zeebrugge and St Peter Port

· Departing April 25, 2013, a two-night cruise on Azura (A309T) calling at St Peter Port

May:
· Departing May 27, 2013, a four-night cruise on Ventura (N313N) calling at Zeebrugge and St Peter Port

· Departing May 31, 2013, a three-night cruise on Ventura (N313P) calling at Zeebrugge and St Peter Port starts from £249 per person for a Vantage Fare.

June:

· Departing June 3, 2013, a five-night cruise on Ventura (N313Q) calling at Amsterdam and St Peter Port starts

July:
· Departing July 14, 2013, a two-night cruise on Oceana (E316N) calling at St Peter Port

· Departing July 16, 2013, enjoy a three-night cruise on Oceana (E316P) calling at Zeebrugge and St Peter Port

Royal Caribbean has a couple on their newer class of ships the Independence of the Seas and the Adventure of the Seas:

2nd May 2nts - Southampton - Le Harve (for Paris) - Southampton - great for a romantic city tirp, perhaps a gift for Valentines day?

05th May 2nts - Southampton - day at sea - Southampton - this is a cruise to nowhere but would be fab to just relax on-board and enjoy the facilities of the ship, maybe get pampered in the spa?

07th May 2nts - Southampton - Le Harve (for Paris) - Southampton. Another Romantic city opportunity!

With all of these cruises the possibilities are endless for you to try. You could celebrate a special Birthday with one, or even an anniversary? I'm sure your loved ones are worth :)

2013 is the Year of the River Cruise!

Having worked at cruise.co.uk for nearly 4 years now, every year has been focused on the main Ocean Cruising. River Cruising was not something that was very popular and we didn't really know a great deal about them in all honesty, nor did many of our clients from what I can gather.

That really has changed in last 12 months and River Cruising has exploded into the market, with quite an impact may I add. My awareness of River Cruising became more prominent when I was sent on an Avalon Waterways trip back in April last year. This was on the River Seine and was absolutely wonderful. I really did enjoy the experience and I came back from it with a new love for River Cruising.

Click here to read my full review of this trip

Last year we saw a massive increase in River Cruise bookings compared to the year before, so why is this?
From speaking with customers on a daily basis I find quite a lot have been Ocean Cruising for many years now and because of this they tend to have taken quite a lot of the itineraries in already. The Mediterranean has been done to death by a lot of seasoned cruisers so they are really looking for something new. Because a River Cruise vessel docks mostly in the heart of the Towns and Cities you can really travel to unexplored places within Europe. For Example, on my River Cruise, I was able to visit a beautiful little Village called Giverney where I got to visit the home of Claude Monet and see his famous Lilly Water Garden. Giverney is quite inland in France so is somewhere that on Ocean cruise would never be able to offer you as an excursion. Short of putting a back pack on and travelling around Europe by rail there is no other way you will get to see these unique and beautiful, cultural places. This is the beauty of River Cruising!

A few things I saw on My River Cruise:

Also, the Vessels that are used are quite small and many are rather luxurious, holding an average of about 100-200 passengers maximum. This means that you really get an exceptional service on board with a very high standard of food. You do not have to queue for hours to get on and off the ship in each port, it really is just a case of stepping off to shore.

What I would say is, if you like the razmataz of the big Ocean Ships like Royal Caribbean and you like the entertainment that you get every evening, then a River Cruise is probably not for you as this is all kept very low key really. To be honest, with all the sightseeing and tours you do on one you will be far too tired anyway and need rest for the next action packed day!

If you have any questions about River Cruising then do feel free to get in touch. Ask me for some brochures to get your senses going and see what it’s all about - 2013 is selling out pretty fast now so you will need to be quick or be thinking for 2014. From my personal experienc though, I would highly recommend if you love history, culture, great food, nice people and stunning scenery.....