HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!!

Greetings to all my past, potential and future clients.
Here we go 2010 We all hope that a new year will be better that the last but  think of lovely times we had with people we  love that are no longer with us we should at times look back and celebrate the past good times, family births, weddings, achievements and of course fantastic memories, most of which we would never change.

I will be raising a glass to memories of the past, present and the future...CHEERS!

Works Christmas Party Cruise comming up...YIPPEE!! and We are back

Tomorrow morning (19 December 2009) almost all of the staff of cruise.co.uk will board the coach at 8.30am to Dover where we will board Fred Olsen's Balmoral. Whilst we will have an informal afternoon and evening, She will take us to Amsterdam, here we will see the sights for the day, on the same evening we have the formal night and arrive back in Dover Monday 21st December.
I will update you next week as to how things went.......Now updated.

My Previous Career

Before joining the company I worked as Cabin Crew for Monarch Airlines, this was a lovely job even though it meant getting up at all hours of the night!

I have been lucking meeting people from all walks of life, gender and nationality.

In my opinion the people you meet in life are a great inspiration and if not then thats also a plus as you learn of what not to aspire to...haha

Tips from me...

Some of the following tips are from me but I have to admit that I pinched a few as well.

A day in the life of a Cruise Consultant....

How lucky are we! our daily working enviroment is modern clean and comfortable, the mood is usually very busy with telephones constantly ringing, with all the different voice tones mixed in, it all rolls into it's own unique up beat sound.

THE GLOVES ARE OFF!

If you are having a day when nothing happens to put a smile on your face, here's what to do......

Artemis Farewell

           WOW!!!

SOLD OUT IN 17 MINUTES!

Strictly Ballroom - Male Dance Host's

Many cruise lines allocate cabins for dance hosts. Dance hosts are expected to socialise with passengers and dance with the female passengers, who happen to greatly out number male passengers on most cruises.

Travel Insurance is it all down hill when we need it?

With thousands of Travel Insurance companies to choose from, albeit you bank, local broker or online, do we get what we pay for?

And there are more yet to come!

Do you have to queue for a shuttle bus at Port?

 From what i'm hearing some cruise lines are charging more and more, with local sevices sometimes offering a free service and just expecting a tip.

Pampered Pets

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  Dog and cat owners who prefer not to fly can cross the Atlantic in style with their pets in tow on Cunard's Queen Mary 2
  
  

Most passengers on board Cunard's Queen Mary 2 are unaware that on Deck 12, there's a luxury kennel with space for 12 dogs and cats.




The kennel is not used by rich passengers who can't bear to be parted from their precious pooches, but for more practical reasons, by the many passengers who are relocating, taking a long vacation or commuting between their various homes in the USA and Europe.

Get Dressed or get a Room!!

Have you been on a cruise, or anywhere where people think it's acceptable to walk around in their complimentry bath robes?

Food Glorious Food!....or is it??

If you are what you eat, then cruise-ship passengers must suffer from an identity crisis. On a typical day, cruise-ship passengers might nosh on escargot, artichokes, tropical fruits, French onion soup, papaya soup,  tossed green salad, salmon, chicken, tenderloin of beef, rack of lamb, spinach ravioli, mushroom quesadilla, strawberry shortcake, chocolate mousse, baked Alaska and ice cream — and that's just for dinner.

Food is quite important to passengers, and usually one of the first questions we get from individuals is, 'How is the food?
The importance individual cruise lines put on their cuisine is emphasized in each company's brochure — it's quite rare to find a color brochure from any cruise line that doesn't have one to four pages of color food photos."

My own experiance has been great, even the caviar (my first taste ever) was delicious!
Having seen the photos and heard about high standards onboard where the food is concerned, have you ever been dissapointed??

Fly cruise...what are the benifits?

Some say fly cruise cuts out the 'boring' bits, others, that it's those 'boring' bits that are the most relaxing part of their cruise.

Luggage is a major player too, with obvious restrictions when you fly to your ship but of course we don't all have the luxury of a long cruise that cuts out the sometimes long wait and the queing for the security clearance, then again its a short cut to those wonderful far flung destinations.

Allowance for luggage is being or has been reduced by most airlines making it more frustrating for cruisers wanting to carry their formal wear as well as everything else, perhaps a lighter weight case and  a light weight ballgown may help to alleviate this slightly.

Alternativly, if you have an item you just have to take, then you might consider paying the excess at the airport but check out the ever changing costs per kilo and per airline.

My most suprising clients....so far

Many years ago i worked for another company, completely unrelated to the travel industry.

I do bump into my old boss and his wife from time to time, whilst discussing holidays he groaned that they hadn't taken a holiday in years as his wife won't fly! They had never contemplated a cruise before. I have gone on to book them both on a Royal Caribbean ship, they were thrilled and now book on a regular basis, it's nice to know my old boss has 100% faith in me, Thank You both...you know who you are!

Think before you dive straight in!

So as a first time cruiser, you must look well beyond the cost of a stateroom or cabin and do some serious research.

Grass on cruise ships - what's next a jungle?

I was lucky enough to stay overnight on The Equinox, where televisions own celebrity Interior Designers Colin and Justin appeared at the pre launch of  Celebrity's latest Solstice class ship. The stars looking very well groomed and glamorous and sipping champagne....and now we can watch them in the jungle on ITV's 'I'm a celebrity get me out of here'

Do you think they are more at home on manicured grass or down and dirty in the jungle?