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 7th 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.

Being a fan of shopping in New York, Simone Clark, Iglu's Managing Director, decided to try a Transatlantic cruise home as opposed to flying on her recent trip.

I enjoyed my first Transatlantic crossing onboard Queen Mary 2 at the beginning of July, though I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Would I get bored? What was there to do? Would it be claustrophobic? On previous cruises, I've always enjoyed port days over the sea days so this was a real test.

No Airport

I stayed in an extremely hot and humid New York City for five days of shopping, exploring and sight seeing (I also got to see the Independence Day fireworks). So it was a superb feeling to not have to waste a day transferring to the airport, then lugging cases around before flying overnight and coming back tired and jet lagged. Instead, I took a taxi from the hotel direct to Manhattan Pier in 55th street and was in my cabin within the hour sipping on champagne! (Note: Usually the ship sails from Brooklyn but we sailed from Manhattan as a Princess ship was in port).

Spectacular Sail Away

Queen Mary 2 felt like an oasis right next to the hubbub of the city. We sailed away in the sunshine at 5 o'clock after a relaxed lunch. I'll never forget it — the most spectacular sailaway ever. Passed the towering skyscrapers of midtown and lower Manhattan, then Brooklyn and New Jersey on the other shores and then right passed the Statue of Liberty before squeezing under the low Verrazano bridge out to sea. Then out on the open seas with no land to be seen until Southampton in a week's time.

What to do

There's so much to do on a Transatlantic cruise - depending on what you like.

For me it was a big learning exercise and I attended all the lectures in the Illuminations Theatre, approx two to three a day. I became an expert in espionage and counter-surveillance, cracking the Enigma Code, Beatrix Potter and the Solar System. I also found time to attend talks from the celebrity speaker and broadcaster Nicholas Owen — and attend two Planetarium shows. In my spare time I enjoyed two RADA productions of Hamlet and the Canterbury Tales and then exercised in the gym and on the Promenade deck (3 laps = 1 mile). We had some glorious sunshine on a couple of days, so we relaxed on deck and on our balcony and also had a very enjoyable afternoon tea one day.

There are also daily bridge classes and tournaments, dance classes, RADA workshops, computer classes, various gym classes and spa treatments for you to enjoy. I just didn't have the time to fit it all in!

Evenings are also packed with 3D films in the cinema, jazz bands, theatre productions and of course traditional ballroom dancing in the Queen's room. Wow! I came back relaxed and couldn't believe how quickly the time passed, if only I had the time I would always travel transatlantic this way, slower definitely is better in this case.