Will a new cruise terminal at Liverpool make the Welsh see red

There have been many debates about whether or not there will be a new cruise terminal built in Liverpool.

Now it appears that the Welsh are not too happy about this..

Wales currently has six cruise ports – Cardiff, Fishguard, Holyhead, Milford Haven, Newport and Swansea and Holyhead has recently spent 9 million pounds on a terminal attracting 13 cruises to the area.

The UK Cruise Port Alliance is concerned that around 80 million pounds worth of revenue could be lost to Liverpool if the council get their way and a new terminal is built.

So of course you can understand why the Welsh are not very pleased with this when they have been spending money to improve facilities to attract cruise ships to their ports and then fear that they may end up losing out.

I think it is great that there are many more ports now able to attract cruise ships of varying sizes around the UK to just make those around Britain cruises more interesting and of course give some clients the opportunity to take a cruise where in the past it may have been difficult to travel to the nearest ports.

I am sure that this debate is going to be around for some time until decisions are made as to what when where and if something is going to happen

Are smaller ships more sociable ?

I spoke to a couple of clients over the last week who have made particular comments about the larger ships and the difficulty they have found making good friends.

I was very surprised that the one client said that they would choose to travel on a Thomsons ship any day rather than travel on a Royal Caribbean.

This particular client commented that when they went on Royal Caribbean as much as the facilities and cabins were beautiful they found that the ship lacked that sociable feel that they had experienced on Thomsons ships.

The main thing that was missing in their opinion was that with the smaller ship if you get chatting with people at dinner or by the pool or at a bar the chances are that you easily meet up with them again and friendships can be formed easily without you having to be pushy by arranging to meet up at a particular time and place.

Today I called one of my clients who had returned from one of our Gardeners World cruises and she was telling me exactly the same thing , that she had been on a Royal Caribbean ship and it was less friendly and that she had a wonderful time on the Fred Olsen Balmoral, the gardening cruise helped as she was meeting up with other members of the group, but she has been with them before and just found the whole experience alot more enjoyable, not just the camaraderie but the whole experience just alot more friendly.

In this age there seems to be more larger ships being commissioned than smaller ones, I wonder whether the future will see clients looking for the smaller ship again.

Have you experienced something similar or disagree with the above I would love to hear your comments.

A storm in a port transfers to and from ships

I have spoken to a couple of customers this week who were very disappointed in the costs of transfers to/ from the ship to their port of call.

One of the customers had been on a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Malaga and although had a wonderful cruise felt that when the cruise lines are having to use ports well away from the town as the ships are too big, they should be charging smaller fees or no fees at all.

As 15-20 dollars at most ports soon amounts to a large amount of money.

Another client told me that on a visit to La Rochelle they were really faced with no choice but to pay extra as they were in an industrial port not the main town area and it was put across to them that it had to be paid if they wished to leave the ship.


I do understand that the cruise lines do need to make money but I think that they would earn more respect off their customers if they were to charge a little less and make this a service rather than a huge profit making exercise.

It used to be that you paid more for a taxi and less for a quick shuttle transfer but my customers were intimating that they would have spent out less money in a private taxi.

What are your experiences in this matter and what advice would you give the cruise lines.

Riots now affecting the cruise industry

As the civil unrest has spread around the country tonight we know of two companies who have had to shut their offices early due to the troubles that now many parts of the country are experiencing.
Over the last few minutes the news are reporting troubles in Wolverhampton, Birmingham and now in Salford so we may find tomorrow many more companies having to open late or shut early.

Cruise operators as well as any other business have a duty to protect their staff so if they have been advised to shut early then thats what they should do.

Two of my colleagues found the Viking had shut early and also MSC cruises and we wish our colleagues safe passage home and trust that their offices will not be affected by the troubles.

As many of you know I work from home which is now France and my French neighbours cannot believe what is going on back in the UK... As we are all aware with the protests that happen in France they are a nation who do stand up for their rights but not on a scale that they are seeing in the UK.
The news of our unrest is being viewed all over the world and what we do not want is this affecting our tourism as their are many travellers who not only visit our Country for a holiday but many who fly into the UK to join a cruise ship to take them around Europe.
London is now a focal point with the lead up to the Olympics next year and certainly we do not want our country seen in such a bad way.

We can but hope that there will be end to all these troubles swiftly

Bad Weather halts play for me

Last night over in France we endured some spectacular thunder storms and possibly for anyone on a cruise ship travelling up the North West coast of France they may have been subjected to the same as me....

At just after 5pm UK time the sky changed and distant rumblings could be heard and then it went darker and darker and I took this picture at 6.30pm UK time and bearing in mind it shouldn't be as dark as this until at least 9.30pm UK equivalent.

We were subjected to hours of booming and crashing with sheet and fork lightening all around, a spectacular display I must say in the sky with the lightening offering pink/purple streaks across the sky and a constant boom that I can only describe as what it must of sounded like for those hearing the bombing strikes in the second world war.

My apologies for anyone who was trying to get hold of me last night as such is the power of these storms all electricals including the phone line are un-plugged.

I have never been lucky enough to be on a cruise ship to witness a powerful lightening storm but I am sure that it must be extremely spectacular.

If anyone has any spectacular pics of storms taken from a cruise ship I would love to see them.

The Pacific Princess gets some special guest speakers

For the Pacific Princess world cruise in 2012, Princess have recruited some very special speaker to appear during this special cruise. These guest speakers will be on board on the Fort Lauderdale to Venice sector of the cruise and include the following:

Rolly Crump -- Disney Imagineer (January 13-28: Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego)
One of the original Disney Imagineers, Crump joined Disney in 1952, first in animation, contributing to legendary films such as "Lady and the Tramp,". Crump worked alongside Walt Disney himself to create the Haunted Mansion, Enchanted Tiki Room and other attractions, and later designed projects for Disney's EPCOT Center. Crump will talk about Walt Disney the man and the early days of designing iconic Disneyland rides

Gavin MacLeod -- TV and Film Actor (January 28-February 10: San Diego to Pago Pago)
Perhaps best known as "Captain Merrill Stubing" from the long-running television show The Love Boat.

Colonel Robert C. Springer -- Space Shuttle Astronaut (February 10-18: Pago Pago to Auckland)
A two-time space shuttle astronaut who has spent  237 hours in space. After joining NASA in 1981 he  served as a mission specialist on shuttle flights in 1989 and 1990. Now retired from NASA and the U.S. Marine Corps, Springer currently works for The Boeing Company as director of quality systems, Integrated Defense Systems. Springer will talk about the shuttle program, his adventures in space, and the future of NASA. 

Suzanne Lloyd -- Granddaughter of Harold Lloyd (March 12-20: Tokyo to Hong Kong) The granddaughter of one of Hollywood's founding fathers and silent film legend Harold Lloyd, Suzanne Lloyd will screen a mini film festival of her grandfather's silent comedy classics and talk about growing up on her grandfather's legendary Bel Air estate: Green Acres.

Tab Hunter -- Actor, Screen Idol (April 12-30: Dubai to Venice) A screen idol from Hollywood's golden age, Tab Hunter starred in more than 50 major films, including the Academy Award-nominated "Damn Yankees." Hunter also reached the top of the music charts with the hit song Young Love, and starred in his own television series.

In addition, World Cruise passengers will also have the benefit of a variety of expert lecturers who will share their knowledge on diverse topics, including:

Concorde Pilot -- A former British Airways Concorde pilot will speak about the glamour and technology of the Concorde. (January 13-28: Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego)

World War II Historian -- Bruce Petty, the author of several books about World War II in the Pacific, will talk about topics such as Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Iwo Jima, and aircraft carriers in the Pacific. (January 28-February 18: San Diego to Auckland)

South Pacific Naturalist -- Ann Burgess, an expert on the natural history of the South Pacific region, will talk about a variety of related topics including Polynesian explorers and indigenous wildlife in the area. She will also host animal spotting sessions on the top deck to help passengers catch a glimpse of sea life such as dolphins and whales. (February 18-March 12: Auckland to Tokyo)

Ambassador/Diplomat -- Douglas Hartwick, a former ambassador to Laos and State Department diplomat, will talk about the life of a diplomat living abroad. (March 12-29: Tokyo to Singapore)

Computer Forensics Expert -- Mark Harrington, computer forensic company executive, will lecture on how computer footprints can find terrorists and criminals. (March 20-29: Hong Kong to Singapore)

Astronomer -- An astronomer will join the ship to teach passengers about the night sky, the solar system and the latest space exploration from NASA, plus will host stargazing sessions on deck. (March 29-April12: Singapore to Dubai)

United Nations Official -- John Renninger, a UN official and adjunct professor at NYU, will talk about the UN's peacekeeping role and Middle East topics. (April 12-30: Dubai to Venice)

With such a diverse range of speakers I am sure passengers will be able to enjoy listening to a great variety of subjects, from special people with first hand knowledge.

Now I am not too familiar with all of the above but I must say that I would find most of them extremely interesting to listen to.

Striking Taxis Drivers cause havoc at Piraeus Port

I was talking to a client last night who has parents on a cruise on the Celebrity Solstice at the moment.

He had received a number of texts from them telling him that unfortunately their scheduled stop in Piraeus had been cancelled due to striking taxi drivers blockading the port of Piraeus.


I thought this needed an investigation and yes indeed not only was the Celebrity Solstice unable to dock but also the Voyager of the Seas.
Although the cruise lines were aware of what was going to happen and had tried to put contingency plans in place, unfortunately the taxi drivers had other plans and decided to stop any passengers from leaving the ships to travel on their sightseeing trip to Athens.

The good news however was that the Seabourn Odyssey was allowed to disembark their passengers who were travelling home for the airport and take their new passengers on board so at least the taxi drivers did have some compassion.

The yellow cab drivers are protesting against deregulation of their industry as part of the economic reforms demanded by Greece's international creditors

Thankfully the strike was due to end at 5am tomorrow so normal service can be resumed with at least 3 cruise ships a day visiting the port of Piraeus the cruise lines will be feeling relieved that for the moment this industrial action has finished and I am sure with all the recent troubles in Greece they are keeping their fingers crossed that no further troubles will affect their passengers especially now we are into the peak summer weeks.