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Archive for the ‘Cruises’ Category

In this day and age it is becoming more and more expensive to go on holiday, whether it’s here in the UK or abroad. Many families are being squeezed financially meaning they are struggling to afford the holiday costs which seem to be continuously rising. There are however quite a few affordable holidays out there you just have to know where to look, as well as do some research plus maybe open yourself up to taking a holiday you may not have thought of before.

All-inclusive holidays and cruise holidays are becoming more and more popular as people look for affordable options so they can take a break away with the family.

 It’s been noted in the news recently that all-inclusive holidays are becoming more popular thanks mainly to poor exchange rates. With all-inclusive holidays you pay the majority of the costs up front such as food and drink which means you won’t have to worry about paying for these whilst you’re away. Plus things like kids clubs are also normally included free of charge and even Wi-Fi in some hotels, just make sure you know exactly what you don’t have to pay for and what you do!

Cruise holidays too are also bucking the trend when it comes to holidays with bookings rising in this sector too, like all-inclusive holidays a lot of costs are paid up front, however with a cruise holiday you don’t have to worry about getting there and back. Some cruise lines also let you use a pre-paid card for food and drink which means you don’t have to worry about carrying money around with you. The final bonus of a cruise holiday is that you also get to see a lot more places whilst you’re away with all the different ports of call that can be fitted in. Plus cruising is no longer perceived as just for the rich as there are a lot of cruise deals available now which make them very affordable!

Everyone likes to go on holiday, although the type of holidays people like to take vary, you’ve got; beach holidays, action holidays, cruise holidays, city holidays and historical holidays and probably quite a few more different types of holidays! One thing most holiday-makers have in common though is at the moment getting the best value for money from their holidays, in a time where it is beginning to be quite expensive to take a break away.

I quite like championing cruise holiday to travellers who may not have considered that as a holiday option before, a lot of people don’t. Although cruises have started to become quite popular over the last couple of year and not just with older travellers, the younger generations and families are now looking to cruises for their holidays. This is because there is so much scope when taking a cruise holiday and they cover pretty much all bases when it comes to the type of holiday that you’re looking for. 

You can enjoy beach holidays with plenty of stops at exotic locations that offer white sandy beaches and turquoise waters, like the Caribbean, Florida or Mexico. If city breaks are more your thing and you want to explore Europe, then there are plenty of coastal cities which Mediterranean cruises stop off at which are steeped in history and culture. You can also look at going further afield and explore the Far East as well as Australia and New Zealand for a once in a lifetime holiday.

Even exotic destinations don’t have to break the bank, there are a lot of options available online that can help you get a great cruise deal, so you’re not having to spend a fortune. Many liners have great standard room, which may not be as big as their suites but they can fit the bill, especially if you want to get out and enjoy your ports of call or whatever the liner offers on board.

‘port of call’, however by applying for permission to accept lucrative ‘turnaround’ they will be able to accept vessels to begin and end their journeys there, which would make them a direct competitor for Southampton’s business.

This change of use could booster local economy, with more people visiting the city before and after their cruise holidays. It would also bring in income after investment in car parking, baggage and passenger handling. However if the application is approved it could have serious effects on Southampton Port which is known as the cruise capital of northern Europe and currently caters for 67 per cent of the cruise trade, which is quite a big share.

The news that Liverpool could become a ‘Turnaround’ port has already put Southampton’s planned £30m fifth terminal in jeopardy. Not only that the country’s third largest cruise port Harwich in Essex could also be at risk of losing passengers and businesses as well if the plans go ahead.

This isn’t the first time Liverpool has applied for a ‘turnaround’ permit, a few year ago they applied, however it was rejected by the Labour Government as giving an unfair advantage. Unlike other UK ports Liverpool’s cruise terminal was built using public funds and EU grants rather than private investment and development.

Consultation has been launched by the Department for Transport after an offer by Liverpool city council – the owner of the terminal – to repay £5.3m of the £20m grant over the next 15 years.
Royston Smith, Southampton’s Labour leader added: “it’s big business, and Liverpool want a slice of it and I don’t blame them. But you can’t use public money to take on a private company. It’s simply not right.”

Cruises are big business in the UK, at the moment its worth £2bn, if permission was granted for a ‘turnaround’ port in Liverpool an extra £2m per ship could be injected into the economy after things like hotel stays and car parking charges are taken into account.

It can be quite hard to choose the right cruise holiday for your family, especially if you have a couple of kids all different ages. Some cruise ships are designed for families with younger children in mind; however these may not offer much entertainment for older kids or teenagers, who can be quite hard to please. Add to the mix different destinations available and itineraries you could be heading to world war three. So be for you start looking for cruise deals this summer make sure you do your homework on what the ships offer for you and your family.

Many of the new cruise ships have been designed with families in mind, rather than the older ships which tend just to be adapted for the purpose, so on newer ships you’re more likely to find entertainment to suit all ages, even for us adults. The top ships such as Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas packs plenty in from babies and young children right through teenagers and young adults to the old timers. It’s not just entertainment on newer ships which has been designed with families in mind, but also the accommodation. Family rooms are the new rooms on board many new ships and they offer plenty of space, as well as privacy for when you need it.

Destinations are important too, really young children probably won’t get much out of long factual excursion’s, but probably would if you docked somewhere that has a beach, a break from the boat can be needed for both parents and children. Teenagers on the other hand can be very hard to please many people have found Caribbean cruise holidays for those traveling with ‘young adults’. The Caribbean is a great exotic destination and while in port you will find many activities for your teens and the whole family to enjoy, such as water sports or horseback riding, not to mention catching rays on the golden beaches.

A round the world cruise holiday is defiantly a once in a lifetime trip for many and probably one of the best ways to see ‘the world’. Visiting the far flung corners of the world in un-rivalled luxury, on board massive cruise ships, which have pretty much everything you may need for such a long voyage. With swimming pools, casinos and numerous gourmet restaurants to choose from as well as many more activities for day and night, I am sure you won’t be short of anything to do and that’s not even including all the wonderful places you will get to see.

There are a couple of cruise lines which offer fantastic round the world cruises; Classic cruise line Cunard, with their regal ships off a high standard of luxury travel which offers plenty of traditions from the cruising heyday. P&O Cruises also offer round the world trips, their cruise ships might not be as regal as Cunard’s but they do offer high standards for all customers as well as a wide range of entertainment to suit any age group. Fred. Olsen like P&O offer a modern way of cruising with state of the art ships offering a wide range of services.

With a round the world cruise holiday you will be following in the footsteps of great explorers who conquered the sea’s many hundreds of years ago, obviously in much, much better conditions than they did. You will wake up each morning to a new horizon with new places to explore all without any hassle or worry about how to get there. There are not many holidays you can take, that will take you to all for corners of the world with such ease, plus cruise holidays round the world can be real value for money, especially if you take in how much it would cost to travel by air or land.

So really there is no reason not to take a round the world cruise, just make sure you have someone to water you plants for the next few months!

Fuel regulations which will be coming into effect next month could have a damaging effect on cruises to Antarctica. From August the 1st cruise ships will be banned from using heavy oil in the region, which will mean that they will have to switch to using a more expensive form of fuel.

This will cause the cost of cruises to Antarctica to rise because many cruise lines will have to pass the cost onto passengers or stop sailing to the region altogether.

At the moment heavy fuel is commonly burned by the larger cruise ships, however the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is introducing a ban on using and carrying heavy fuel in a bid to reduce the environmental impact of a potential oil leak. As of next month a switch to the more environmentally-friendly marine gas oil, will be made by all cruise ships, to the new fuel which is less polluting but more expensive.

According to tour operators, the new regulations will cost them millions of pounds extra each year and its thought that some cruise companies including Crystal, Princess, Regent Seven Seas and Oceania, will no longer offer cruises to Antarctica after dropping it from their brochures.

Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of CruiseCritic.co.uk says: “Antarctica used to be a once-in-a-lifetime destination and it was very popular five years ago – there weren’t so many environmental regulations at that time. But, like the Galapagos Islands, it is such a fragile environment so these new regulations are good news for Antarctica. The bad news is that prices are going to go up for passengers.”

Speaking about the future of cruising, Ms Spencer Brown says the old style of cruising in large ships will be replaced with trips in smaller, more environmentally-friendly ships that are already using marine gas oil, offered by companies such as Lindblad Expeditions, Abercrombie & Kent and Polar Cruises.

She added: “The old style of taking people into Antarctica was on board huge cruise ships that were so big they couldn’t get in close to the ice. Passengers never got off the ship. The smaller ships can pull up anchor and let people on to the ice. Passengers learn about the environment from specialist guides and are offered experiences such as kayaking around ice floes on such trips. It is the end of cruising in the Antarctic as we know it now but it’s not the end of cruising in the Antarctic – it’s going to be more expensive but more authentic and rewarding.”

When you are looking to go on holiday with your husband/wife/partner, you will no doubt be looking to make it as romantic as possible, maybe looking for some time to relax or activities that you both can enjoy. If you take a cruise holiday you can have the chance to see the world while enjoying one another’s company hassle free.

Not all cruise ships are gigantic floating holiday complexes many cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Holland America and Fred Olsen also offer more intimate cruises, on board smaller ships, with a lot less passengers, meaning you receive much more of a personal service. With smaller cruise ships you also have an option of taking either ocean cruises or river cruises, larger cruise ship only offer ocean cruises, due to size. Ocean cruises can sometimes feel more faced paced because time is spent travelling across the ocean between destinations. However river cruises seem to be the polar opposite, much more relaxed as you take in the countryside surrounding you as you trundle from town to town.

At each port of call you can chooses to explore the surrounding area, either with a guided tour, which can be arranged by the cruise line or off by yourself, there is plenty to learn in historic places whose architecture symbolises feelings and aesthetics of a certain point in time. If you don’t feel like a day out you could always enjoy the on board amenities, provided. Spa treatments, leisure sports or even peaceful reading, whatever floats your boat; just the option to spend time alone is enough for some.

Pretty much most of your needs are provided for on board a cruise ship, so there really isn’t anything for you to worry about, whether it’s fine dining by candle light or cosy drinks for two. So you would think it’s going to be quite pricy to take a cruise holiday right? Wrong! In fact it’s quite easy to find cheap cruises especially on the net!

UK travel giant, Thomas Cook have seen a slump in their profits and share prices after families have shunned their usual foreign holiday this year. The summer is normally boom time for holiday companies with many families looking to get away, however this year and even the past couple of years the number of people taking foreign holidays, or any holiday at all has dropped.

Whether it’s all inclusive holidays, self-catering holidays, cruise holidays or even camping holidays, they have all taken a hit. This is mainly due to the high fuel prices bumping up costs and family incomes been squeezed that people are no longer able to afford to go away.

Other reasons for slow take up of holidays is also that people are waiting to the last minute to see if they can get a good deal, last year most of the major travel companies famously dropped their prices for last minute summer holidays so I would expect many families are hoping the same will happen again this year.  If not many families will look to stay at home with the family rather than go away.

If you still want to take that foreign holiday with the family then there are a couple of things you can do to make sure you get the most for your money, it is quite hard at the moment to get anything for the pound however if you look at staying all inclusive then you won’t have to exchange as much money. Sometimes you can find last minute rooms for all inclusive, especially if it’s a cancelation, if you book as a package holiday then your flight is also included and it’s not normally too expensive.

Other good holidays for your money also include; cruise holidays, on board the pound is good for food and drink, you only need a bit of spending money like some euros for the port stops, everything else is catered for on board. Like package holidays, you can find great cruise deals online with numerous operators offering different breaks, plus you get the freedom to visit many different fairly cheaply.

The main thing to remember when booking a last minute holiday is that you do research first, package deals offered by tour operators are covered and if you’re not sure what you have booked make sure the company you use is ABTA registered.

The latest addition to the Celebrity Solstice Class is the Celebrity Silhouette which weighs 122,400 tonnes and cost £500million to build. Its first voyage was not its easiest as you can see from the video below; the captain of the cruise ship had to navigate it from the landlocked port it was built in, in Papenburg Germany to the open sea via narrow canals which left little room for manoeuvre.

For spectators and those leaving along the rout the giant ship is not something frequently seen on these canals, the whole journey took twelve hours to complete. The Liner will be starting its cruise holidays in Rome where it will be based with cruises around the Holy Land on offer, then later in the year it will offer 12-night Caribbean cruises from Cape Liberty, New Jersey.

Moving such a vessel is quite a task, to negotiate the canals, power lines, and railway tracks had to be removed along the route. Timing was also key; the journey had to take place at high tide to avoid the hull from scraping the bottom of the canal. The ship will remain in port at Eemshaven whilst tests in the North Sea with the vessel are conducted, it will then head back to Germany where it will be formally named on July 21st in Hamburg.

There are many new cruise liners being launched this year, with the cruise industry picking up, it seems this form of travel which was considered only for the old and rich is becoming popular with other people now, however this could be down to the fact that there are plenty of cruise deals available even for summer 2011!

The summer holidays are just around the corner, but don’t worry if you haven’t got anything booked yet, there are still some great cruise deals available for this summer so you still can get your break away. Cruise holidays are no longer seen for the upper classes or the retired in fact they have become cool and affordable for many families.

If you looking for a week long summer holiday for the family the a cruise around the Mediterranean will be just up your street, you get to experience the great summer weather of the Med, which is what always attracts families during the summer months. You also get the same service as you would staying on dry land, with immaculate rooms, great dining options and of course pools to lounge around. Not only that you can also experience great tasters of the Med stopping off in many different ports. There are a great number of family orientated cruise line which offer trips to the Med; Carnival, Disney Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Princess Cruises Island Cruises and many, many more.

If the Med isn’t for you and you fancy experiencing something a bit different to what you have done in the past and are looking to explore new places then you could look at taking a Baltic cruise, the Baltic isn’t what many people think of for a summer holiday however, you do get exceptionally good weather in this region and a Baltic cruise is a great way to see the development of modern Europe. On a Baltic cruise holiday you get the same experiences as a Mediterranean holiday, just different ports to explore and a move away from the Med culture that is tailored to British travellers. The Baltic is a great destination for those eager to explore and learn and there are a number of cruise line who offer trips to this destination; Thomson Cruises, Cunard, P&O, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean to name but a few.