The big freeze is here so find some sun.

I'm sure we are all starting to get fed up of the cold and are dreaming of sunnier days well they may not be to far away if you contact me at Cruise.co.uk I will be able to find you the warmth that you are dreaming of. We have some fantastic January deals but be fast as they are selling very quickly as many people are really chasing the sun.

Queen Elizabeth hit's the sea.

Cunard's new Queen Elizabeth met the sea for the first time today following a special float out ceremony at shipbuilder Fincantieri's Monfalcone yard, near Trieste, Italy.

"Floating out" is the maritime term for the process by which a dry dock is slowly filled with water; this happens after the ship's exterior is complete. Once the ship is floating, it is moved to a wet dock, where interior work commences. It's a major milestone because it's generally the first time a vessel takes to the water and when it truly becomes a ship.

Hundreds of shipyard workers, members of the media and assorted dignitaries gathered under dark skies, braving a biting wind for the event, preceded by a traditional coin ceremony in which a set of coins is welded beneath the ship's mast to bring the vessel good luck.

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.