Celebrating at Sea

Today I have speaking to clients who have just returned from a cruise with Cunard to the Adriatic visiting Venice and Corfu and well some spectacular destinations.

This cruise was a cause for celebration as whilst on board they were celebrating 40 years of marriage which in this day and age is a very special achievement.

The cruise was booked over 12 months ago and for such a special occasion where everything needed to be just so then my clients made just the right choice.

We forwarded their wedding certificate to Cunard so that they could receive any special goodies for celebrating their 40 years of life together.

Well the clients were absoloutely thrilled when they reached their stateroom as it was laden with flowers, there was a bottle of bubbly and all manor of treats.

They were really pleased with the efforts we had all made to ensure that their time aboard the Queen Elizabeth was a special one, in fact so much they booked another one straight away.

Now for anyone looking forward to a special birthday or anniversary what a wonderful treat it can be to book a cruise and experience your special day in beautiful surroundings and exotic places. I think I need to start dropping some big hints now ready for my next big milestone...

Is Dressing up for dinner becoming a thing of the past

I have just been speaking to one of my clients who has recently returned from a cruise on the Caribbean Princess in and out of New York.

He had a wonderful cruise, however he had a few comments to make that I actually found quite surprising.

He had gone to the trouble to pack his dinner suit with him as he finds that on the formal evenings for him it is part of the cruise experience to dress up in his dickie bow and tails...

He said he was shocked that on the Captains night he only spotted about 4 gentleman who had made the effort to dress up fully and not many more on the other formal occasions. Instead of feeling special he was left feeling a bit of the odd one out... and more importantly it made him question taking his stuff on future cruises as this was a fly cruise obviously a full dinner suit takes alot of space...

Now whether this was because the cruise left from New York and the Americans do not treat the formal nights in the same way as us or whether times are changing I really dont know.

All I can say is what a shame if it is the latter because personally I think it is lovely to see the men dressing up in their full dinner attire, and it would be a shame if numbers started to dwindle..

Please let me know your experiences..

Freedom of The Seas takes a battering

Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, apparently sustained some damage on Sunday off the coast of Florida.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., Freedom Of The Seas experienced extreme wind and sea conditions. The conditions were definately not what they were expecting at all..

According to a statement from Royal Caribbean, the ship experienced wind speeds more than three times what was forecast.  The combination of the wind and sea conditions caused severe ship movement.  At this time there have not been any serious injuries reported..

The ship has sustained some damage to the public areas and guest staterooms, which in no way affect the sea-worthiness of the ship the company added.

Well one thing is for sure we cannot always predict what mother nature is going to throw at us, lets hope that the passengers aboard have now got over their experience and are enjoying the rest of their cruise.

Eating at night in the Buffet Restaurant - what do you get?

I myself have never been on a cruise ship and used the buffet restaurant at night, so I wondered what do you get ?
I raised this question because today I was talking to one of my clients who had just returned from a cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse.

He mentioned to me that he was a little disappointed because the food was exactly the same at night as it was in the day and the look and feel of the restaurant was just the same as it would be if you had been in there at lunchtime. No effort was made to make you feel like you were not eating in a cafeteria.

Now on a previous cruise with Royal Caribbean they had put table cloths on the tables to give the restaurant a nice feel and really I think that is a nice touch, he had also been able to experience a different menu.

I also have a gentleman that always travels with Fred Olsen who prefers to use their buffet restaurant at night sometimes and he has never had anything bad to say, so I am presuming that they must make an effort to provide something special.

Now I cannot speak with authority as I have never used these restaurants at night but what I wonder is are you treated differently, with so many people now choosing to opt to use these restaurants at night, will you be made to feel special or will you be made to feel like you are eating in a motorway cafeteria...

Any comments of experiences you have had on different cruise lines would be most appreciated...