Cruise Blog

Family holidays are becoming harder and harder to plan, not due to a lack of options, new places to visit or adequate entertainment for the whole family, but quite the opposite. You can lay on a beach for a week and let the kids run riot, head on a cruise, where entertainment is bountiful, or you visit one of the world's ever increasing choice of theme parks.

There is another choice of course, which keeps the whole family happy, and that's to do all three! Royal Caribbean have teamed up with Universal Orlando^® Resort and a selection of hotels, to offer an incredible package holiday.

The Cruise

You can begin your ultimate family trip with a week long cruise around the Caribbean, taking in the sights and sounds of the islands, the vibrant and friendly culture and, of course, the world renowned sandy white beaches and turquoise ocean. After a relaxing week in the sun onboard one of Royal Caribbean's amazing ships, you can then spend three, four or even five days in Orlando with a ticket to the various resorts and attractions that make up Universal Orlando^®. Alternatively, you can begin your holiday with a few days of excitement, rollercoasters and Harry Potter-themed experiences, then recover with a week sailing around the stunning Caribbean.

There is a choice of three of Royal Caribbean's fantastic, family-friendly, entertainment-filled ships: Freedom of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas and Jewel of the Seas. All three boast Royal Caribbean's rock climbing at sea, as well as a huge variety of dining venues, entertainment, lounges and activities. With the three ships varying in size from 2,300 passengers to 4,300 passengers, there is bound to be a ship that suits your need — whether you are looking for a more intimate experience or you are looking for the ultimate in choice and facilities.

There is a choice of three Caribbean cruises to enjoy as part of this incredible holiday. The most popular choice is a seven night cruise, that includes a selection of ports from Royal Caribbean's private beach at Labadee in Haiti, Royal Caribbean's private island — CocoCay in the Bahamas — Ocho Rios in Jamaica, George Town in Grand Cayman, Philipsburg in St. Maarten and Cozumel Mexico. You can also chose from a selection of five, four and even three night cruises to similar destinations, but if you are going to fly all that way, you might as well make the most of the Caribbean sunshine and sandy white beaches on offer.

Universal Orlando^®

Whether pre or post-cruise, Universal Orlando^® offers an amazing experience, from the world renowned Universal Studios^® to their latest creation, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. To make your trip as easy as possible there is a choice of in resort hotels, offering the ultimate access to the non-stop entertainment and magical feel, or a choice of off-site hotels, should you wish to take in the local scenery and culture, but remain within walking distance of the theme parks and attractions.

Here comes the important bit, the theme parks. All of the packages we offer include a four day base ticket, giving you park-to-park access to Universal Studios Florida^® and Universal's Islands of Adventure^® theme parks for any four days you choose. Plus, receive admission to the entertainment venues of Universal CityWalk^® for any four nights of your choice.

The on-site hotels include the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, a AAA Four Diamond Award® hotel, the Hard Rock Hotel^®, located in the middle of Universal Orlando^® and the Loews Royal Pacific Resort, which combines one of the world's most famous theme parks with a pacific resort. The bonus of the onsite hotels has to be the free Universal Express^SM ride access for both theme parks along with the Early Park Admission to Universal's Islands of Adventure.

Off-site you can chose from the Double Tree Hotel, a Hilton run property an the resort's entrance, the Four Points Hotel, a Sheraton run hotel on the world famous International Drive and the Hyatt Hotel, sat across the street from Universal Orlando^®

So, with all of the excitement to deal with, beaches to relax on, theme park rides, new cultures to experience, is there anything else you need on a family holiday? I for one would love to take this trip when I have kids, though the cruise will definitely come second, as I need it to recover from the first four days!

For more information on the Universal Orlando and Royal Caribbean cruise deals and for more information of the Universal Orlando and Royal Caribbean cruise package.

Wine and cruising sounds like the perfect combination if you ask me, and Celebrity Cruises have decided to combine the two, with a series of cruises from Southampton that takes in the famous wine producing regions of France, Spain and Portugal. All that's missing is some good cheese and a comfy chair...

...Fortunately a cruise that takes in the famous wine regions of Champagne, Bordeaux and La Mancha will be able to fill in that final criteria and more. I'm not 100% certain where the idea has come from, but this is a great concept and a well thought out — all the cruises depart during the harvest season.

So what are these cruises all about? Unfortunately they don't depart until September so I can't give you a personal review, but here's what I've pieced together from the lovely information packs Celebrity have sent over.

The Cruises

The cruise are all onboard the recently refurbished Celebrity Constellation, but we'll come to the ship later, and they capture the finest wine producing regions in Western Europe. Whether visiting the vineyards and regions close to the ports or taking the extensive shore excursions taking you into the heart of the regions, there will be something for everyone — there is even a three day land tour, form Paris to Bordeaux.

Each sailing offers at least three over night stays so you can visit the area in full and make the most of the local hospitality as well the local produce.

Le Harve

Le Havre is the cruising gateway to Paris and the Champagne region. Onboard these cruises Celebrity will be offering various excursions to Paris, from a simple bus tour to sightseeing trip with lunch at the Eiffel Tower, trips around Le Havre and even to abbey of Mont Saint Michel. But this isn't why you're taking this cruise. From Le Havre you can partake on one of the first two 'tasting' excursions. The first is a trip to Pay d'Auge, which takes you through the Normandy landscape, before arriving at a cheese factory, where cheese tasting will take place including the likes of Pont l'Evêque, Camembert and Livarot. Afterward you will drive to Le Breuil en Auge, to visit the home of Calvados, the regions famous Normandy Brandy.

The second tour is a mammoth three day, two night land tour form Le Harve passing by Paris, the Loire Valley, Cognac, then Bordeaux before re-joining the ship at Le Verdon. The trip involves city tours, a vine and wine museum, wine tasting, cognac tastings and more.

Le Verdon (Bordeaux)

Now this is where things start to excite me, with two days and one night in the port town of Le Verdon you can enjoy the delicacies and vine yards of Bordeaux, one of my favourite wine producing regions. Over the two days you can chose from a Saint Emillion wine tour, a Medoc wine tour, a Graves wine tour, a Margaux wine tour, a Saintes and Cognac tour, tasting and dinner at the Chateau Rousseau de Sipian and more — I think I'd need to do this cruise about three times just to get all this in!

Bordeaux, along with Champagne and Burgundy is among France's most famous and probably most revered wine regions, so to be able to visit the so many of my favourite wines would be heaven. St. Emillion is a given, but do you go for the Graves, Medoc or Cognac tour?

Bilbao

Arriving in Bilbao adds another new exciting dimension to the tour, as we move away from the renowned French cheeses, wines and brandys and onto Spain's wonderful Rioja, Tapas and the Guggenheim. Food, wine and culture, now that's easily two days worth of entertainment. There are tours of the city and the world famous museum, there is a Bilbao and Tapas tour (if you ask me, a must) and of course a visit to probably Spain's most famous wine region, Rioja.

Porto

Last, but by no means least on this short guide to what's on offer is Porto, famed for its port. Here you can tour the city and local attractions, enjoy a wine tasting at the Mateus Palace, enjoy the Douro Valley winery tour, or take in one of the Oporto tours and wine tastings. Well you can go to Porto and now enjoy a drop of port, that's like going to the Alps and not having a fondue!

The excursions are all being offered by Celebrity Cruises and £31.25, for a walking tour of Le Havre, to £125.50 for the St. Emillion tour, including a wine tasting session and lunch, all the way up to £692.50 for the three day wine tour from Paris to Bordeaux.

The Ship

The Celebrity Constellation will be your home on these wonder sailings, with the first sailing departing on 5th September 2012 and the final cruise of the season departing on 18th November 2012. As previously mentioned the Celebrity Constellation has undergone a huge refurbishment, as part of a project that has seen Celebrity Cruises spend $120 million Solitcizing their Millennium class ships.

Onboard the ship there will also be a variety or wine themed events, including some special events held at Cellar Masters, the ship's fantastic wine bar that boasts the high-tec Enomatic by-the-glass wine serving system — which keeps the wine in perfect condition from the first glass of the bottle, to the final drops.

If you find that you have taken to a new grape or vineyard while ashore, the ship will also be offering an expanded wine list selection from the ports of call. The wine tasting sessions start from as little £11, so you won't need to break the bank to carry on enjoying the regional specialties while sailing from one region to the next.

This Week in Cruise has temporary jumped ship from the news to our blog to take a look at cruising in 2011. From diet cruises to cruise ship rescues, here's the best of last year's cruise news.

The Boats Ships

The last few years have followed a similar pattern, with new super liners either being ordered, built or delivered to the world's cruise lines and 2011 was no different. Though a few *coughs* new ships have hit the ocean waves in the past couple of years, the big boys of cruising have been busy designing and ordering even more cruise liners — just in case we run out.

Royal Caribbean got the year underway back in February when they announced Project Sunshine, a new class of cruise ships that the cruise line are planning to build with Mayer Werft. The cruise line announced that these ships would be smaller than the Oasis Class ships, but would continue to offer Royal Caribbean's theme-park feel. The following month, Princess Cruises, Royal's biggest competitor, announced their own plans for two new ships — though this time these would be the largest in the fleet. The first of the new ships has already been named the Royal Princess, one of the cruise line's long serving names, and that the capacity would be 3,600 passengers at 141,000 tonnes of super liner.

As summer approached, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises' sister line, also announced that two new ships were to be ordered and that they would be the largest cruise ships ever made specifically to cater to the UK market. And yes, you guessed it... they will also be 141,000 tonnes and carrying 3,600 passengers. That's not like P&O and Princess to share hulls, oh wait a minute...

Not to miss out on all the fun Norwegian Cruise Lines announced plans for two new ships, and being all American like and a little bit Royal-Caribbean-style, with their bright lights and constant entertainment, they also gave their new ships an enticing codename: Project Breakaway. Shortly afterwards they saw sense and actually named the ships, the NCL Breakaway (there's a surprise) and the NCL Getaway.

All four cruise lines are following the same pattern with their first ship pencilled in for spring 2013, with the identikit second due in 2014. Costa Cruises have also announced a new ship for 2014, but you probably don't care.

Three Queens

Talking of boats ships, Cunard's three Queens have been in and out of the news in 2011. Their first foray into the 2011 press, was their meeting in New York, where the three Queens were in port together for the first time ever and had their pictures taken together. It's not often you get to see three large Queens in Manhattan.

Their second foray into the news was courtesy or a change of registration. For the first 171 years of Cunard's history all of their ships have were registered in Southampton, the cruise line's home port. In October 2011 the cruise line announced that the three ships would be reregistered and would bear the name Hamilton on their rear for the first time. The change now means Cunard are able to offer weddings at sea, and plan to start their first ever wedding season later this year — oo-er!

Booze Cruise

Back in March 2011, Royal Caribbean launched a set of new, controversial packages onboard three of their ships, the new all-inclusive booze deals. Passengers onboard Grandeur, Legend and Independence of the Seas were suddenly able to pre-pay for drinks packages that included alcohol, sparking discontent and expectations that passengers would suddenly all be legless. The reality of this, is that the drinks were suddenly more reasonably priced and people could drink in a relaxed leisurely kind of way — though I'm sure a few people have probably fallen off barstools since.

Continuing on a theme of enjoying a beverage onboard, Celebrity Cruises decided to cancel a couple of Holy Land cruises and replace them with a much more exciting topic, Wine Tastings cruises. Though the cruises to the wine hot spots of Europe, taking in Bordeaux and the likes doesn't depart until this year, the fantastic idea was born in 2011. The sampling sessions will include up to five wines from well-known châteaux, along with port and food-pairing dinners. How soon can I book?

Marathons, Rescues and Social Success

2011 also bought about some pretty random news stories, such as the aforementioned cruise ship rescues, Huritgruten trending on Twitter thanks to their YouTube clips of the world's longest documentary, and a chap who decided to run a marathon at sea — a mildly eccentric way of combatting the buffet restaurant.

Between October and December the Crystal Serenity, Norwegian Gem along with P&O Cruises' Ventura, have all been involved with rescues at sea, with the most recent rescue being of the high profile Atlantic rowers, Team Tom. The two Toms were rowing across the Atlantic as part of the Atlantic Challenge, before their boat capsized. With the Crystal Serenity being the nearest ship to receive the emergency alert from the Falmouth Coast Guard, the ship sailed 120 miles to collect the rowers, before taking them all the way to the St. Maarten in luxurious surroundings — it's probably not the worst thing they'll ever have to deal with.

One weekend in October saw both other ships involved in rescue missions. The most impressive of which being the Norwegian Gem's effort to rescue passengers of a yacht stranded without power amongst some large breaks, before taking them safely back to New York, the ships next port of call. "This rescue operation was conducted under extremely difficult circumstances," said Captain Svedung. "I am proud of our crew who braved their lives to rescue the five people in distress."

Finally P&O Cruises crew onboard Ventura had to react quickly to rescue a passenger who had managed to find their way into the ocean. The fast thinking crew members pulled said passenger back aboard before taking them to the medical centre, where they were said to be in a stable condition. Nothing was said to how the passenger had come to find themselves flailing around in the ocean, as opposed to relaxing onboard the ship.

So... what will 2012 bring — apart from new cruise ships, different destinations and celebrity chefs?