Cruise.co.uk xmas party.

We at Cruise.co.uk had our xmas party the weekend just gone on the Balmoral and I have to say it was a bit of an adventure for us all. Before we had any festive food and drink we had to try and get to the ship which was leaving from the Port of Dover and it ended up being a real problem.

We thought due to the weather it would take a little longer to get there than normal but I don’t think any of us expected the traffic we was stuck in and we finally found out that it was down to a strike in Calais. We managed to

Introducing the new Adonia.

P&O Cruises is to add a small ship to its fleet that will accommodate 710 passengers and visit “off the beaten track” destinations off limits to bigger vessels.

The new ship, which replaces Artemis in the fleet, will be named Adonia and will join the fleet in May 2011, to become the smallest of P&O Cruises' seven ships. It will be an adult-only ship, along with Arcadia.

Adonia was built in 2001 and has previously been with Princess Cruises and Swan Hellenic. More than 75% of its cabins have balconies.

The sweet smell of success.

MSC Cruisesis looking to add something new with fragrant cruises. A special perfume, MED by MSC, has been custom designed for the new MSC Splendida and will be infused at low levels into the air-conditioning and detergents on the ship, pumping the "fresh, fruity and warm scents of fig, almond and vetiver" into the subconscious of its passengers.

A press release rhapsodizes: "Think of the Mediterranean and one immediately thinks of sensory delights; the perfumed lavender fields of Provence, the fruit of fig trees warmed by the summer sun, fresh herbs and citrus flavours and the enchanting scent of floral jasmine caught on an ocean breeze. Many of these typical Mediterranean scents are represented in this ambient fragrance."

It pays to be different...Azamara reveals new changes.

Azamara, one of cruising's youngest lines, is embarking on an ambitious overhaul that starts with a name change. The "new" Azamara Club Cruises will become a destination-focused cruise line that takes aim at the notion that people who cruise aren't genuine travelers.

With a new tag line that reads "you'll love where we take you," Azamara's primary focus will be on creating dynamic itineraries, shore excursion menus and enrichment-oriented programming that will make cruising as much about the destination as it already is about the journey. The effort aims to overturn one of the ironies of cruising, which is that travelers visit a lot of different places -- but never have much time to really see them. Azamara intends to provide, onboard and onshore, a cruise experience that is all about people and places that you meet along the way, says Larry Pimentel, president.

Christmas 2010...get in early!

I have found out this year that it is best to book early for Christmas cruises because there can be more problems than just the cruise being sold out

Christmas is a real popular time for people who want to holiday and cruises are no exception and are extremely popular and the biggest problem I have found this year is flights. Cruise lines have an allocation on flights and sometimes they can request more room and get other flights but once the seats are gone they are gone! The hard thing once that happens is getting other flights depending on destination of coarse but they will probably be a lot more expensive or indirect my advice is to book both early or book the cruise early with the flights and transfers.

Climate change...we all need to do more!

This week is the UN conference on climate change is in Copenhagen where they are looking to discuss the change we have had in our weather and the planet getting warmer due to pollution. I think this is a big problem and could have major consequences for the world and maybe cruise lines could do more to help the environment.

The first decade of this century has been the warmest on record and the polar ice caps are melting at a rapid rate and I think that everybody needs to pitch in where they can. Travel is one of the world’s biggest polluters we have lots of planes in the sky and ships in the water and I think that the people who control these companies need to make an effort to make travel more green.

Crime wave hits cruising.

Several Europeans were among a group of 18 tourists held up by two men wielding shotguns during a guided tour of an eco-park close to Nassau last weekend. Their local guide was tied up and a woman hit in the face with the butt of a gun as the robbers took money, cameras, mobile phones and passports from the passengers.

Last month, in another daylight incident, 11 cruise passengers were robbed at gunpoint as they stood at the top of the Queen's Staircase, the city's landmark attraction.

Carnival's new dream!

Carnival Corporation has ordered a new ship for its Carnival Cruise Lines brand which will be the third in its Dream class of vessels.

The 130,000-ton ship will be built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and will enter service in spring 2012.

The unnamed ship will have capacity for 3,690 passengers and feature many of the same facilities as Carnival Dream, which made its debut in September.

Hot off the press...QE2 up for sale?

I have just been reading that the QE2 which was sold to a Dubai based property company part of the state run Dubai World for $100 million maybe put back up for sale to help pay off some of the debts that are currently crippling the country's economy.

Over the course of the year, little of the planned work has been carried out on QE2 to convert the vessel to a luxury hotel. The ship has been re-flagged and has spent some time in dry dock for work on the hull but there is no evidence that
refurbishment has started on the interiors, which, according to announcements made a year ago, were due to be converted into luxury suites and fine dining outlets.

Running on water...Gyms at sea.

I am a person that likes to think I keep myself relatively fit and like to go the gym a couple of times a week and one of the things I find excellent on the ships are the gym facilities they offer on board the cruise liners. I find with any holiday you always tend to let go where you eat and drink yourself silly and on cruise I think that is even worse but in a good way as the food is amazing and there is lots of it to eat and if you’re like me you always tend to eat the things that are not the healthiest!