ESTA - the low down

If you are traveling to the USA, the days of filling out a green Visa Waiver form on a plane for entry into the US have ended.

You now need to fill in an online request to enter the States, at least three days before travelling, otherwise you may be turned away at US immigration.

The process is called the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation form or ESTA for short.  The only way to apply is online, but it is a painless process and you'll usually get a decision in minutes, although it can take up to a few days. Once done the ESTA lasts for 2 years or until your passport expires which ever comes first.

It is free, and you do not need to use those links on the internet which charges for the service. Below is a link to the US governments own free website to allow you to do the application yourself.

Free ESTA application link

Can I get more money off the cruise?

This is a question we as Travel Agents are asked on a regular basis, and to be honest there is only a certain amount of discount available.

However, there are a couple of ways you can maximise your return on future cruises.




You should be aware of the benefits of booking on board; you may get a reduced price, a lower deposit and/or additional on board credit. Once done you can transfer to your travel agent usually within a 7 day period, allowing you to keep the beneficial on board terms and then gain from the discounts on offer.


But what else can you do?

Well, with Carnival Corporation ( Cunard, P&O, Princess et al) and also Royal Caribbean Cruises, if you are a shareholder you can add further on board credit to you booking.

Now I am not offering any investment advice at all here, but each offer benefits if you hold a minimum of 100 shares, the benefits are in addition to any on top of any dividends paid.

In both cases the links below go to the current (12/09) benefits page on their websites:-

Carnival Corporation

Royal Caribbean

Don't forget share values and benefits can go up and down, and this is not advising you to make the investment.

Things to do part 2.......

The warmth of early summer, the sound of F1 cars it has to be a pipe dream!!! or is it Monte Carlo?

Sadly I did not make it when the F1 race was on, but it a really nice place and every other car is a Ferrari - there was a Lime Green one!

It is very expensive, I think the coffee was dearer than UK petrol prices but it is a really nice place to people (or car) watch depending on your preference.

The Palace was a good visit, very compact but interesting and if you are there at the right time you may see Prince whats he called.

But if you want to go and see the race, in the comfort of a quality ship and as part of a 7 day holiday then Silversea Cruises have a ship in port for the 2011 race. There was availability when I looked a couple of weeks ago, call me if you are interested in this great cruise holiday.

This picture is of the harbour, with a princess ship in port.

Do you have a godmother (s) like this?

It is a tradition that Cruise Ship godmothers are entrusted with the guidance of the ship to and around their destinations, by blessing the ship, for the safety of its crew and passengers throughout their journey. For the past 4,000 years, the tradition of christening or naming a ship has taken place. Royalty, well known celebrities and even a Disney character have been honoured as godmothers of ships.

P&O being tarditional have announced that the Azura's godmother will be Darcey Bussell, with the naming ceremony on 10th April in Southampton.

But Royal Caribbean have choosen 7! Godmothers for the Oasis of the Seas due to named at the end of November 2009, and there is a british beauty amoung them, Jane Seymour. WOW.............

Holiday money..... what do I do?..........

What worries me at times is finding the right currency when I go on holiday. What do you do when you go on a Caribbean cruise?



If you think about it the worry of currency is probably greater when you are on a Caribbean cruise, in a different place on a daily basis and each with their own currency. Of course an exception might be on the Oasis of the Seas which only stops once or twice on a weeks cruise!




Well, I am told that in the majority of places in Caribbean US $ are widely acceptable, just make sure you are not given local currency in your change.

I did find this on the Questions and Answers section of  http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-answers/question-19424/ website.

Things to do....... part 1

I could be pretentious and just write a long list and say, hey look where I’ve been, but that runs the risk of someone coming back and saying ‘ nah nah, I’ve been to more!’,  and to be honest I want this to be a 2 way thing, I have my tips and suggestions but I am sure that you out there have yours. I would of course love to any suggestions.

I was once asked to rank the places I have been into some sort of order, but how do you do that? Scenic beauty, atmosphere or the quality of the Red Wine? I have never been able to do that and to be honest I don’t think I can do that now.

So as starting point for my blog, I have come up a couple of tips, you can probably find them in various travel guides or on travel websites, but the advantage to me is I have done them, enjoyed them and think that others may do also.

So here goes......

New York

From the immortal words of the song, ‘New York, New York so good they named it twice’

I think everyone knows that city, from Friends to Taxi it has been part of our TV life for a very long time.

The things to do are endless and a short stay will only touch the edges. You can shop, sightsee, theatre go and countless other things, and you will certainly end up with sore feet and a stiff neck.

New York has a rich history, and I always like to try if we can find out something about the social history side of a city. So, take a taxi to the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge, find yourself a bottle of water and the walk back towards Manhattan on the walkway over the bridge.

Its not as high as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and certainly not as steep but the views of Manhattan are awesome. Added to which at points across the bridge there are plaques and displays showing the history of how the bridge was constructed.

Help I feel sick.................

This is a common chestnut, what to do if you suffer from seasickness.

Being ‘seasick’ is simply the ‘on water’ variation of suffering from motion sickness which you can experience in cars, on planes, coaches - in fact, you can experience the same nauseating feelings and suffer with similar symptoms when travelling on any form of transport.


In reality, what is actually happening begins with the effects that the motion of the ship on the sea is having on your inner ear and eyes which, as a result, starts to send confusing signals to your brain.

So how do you overcome it, you can buy both over the counter and prescriptive anti-motion sickness medication including tablets and injections; taking ginger in some form, such as in drinking ginger ale or eating ginger snap biscuits before you set sail have often been said to reduce the severity of the effects of seasickness and there are patches and wristbands which can be bought too.

Of course if its safe to do so, going onto deck taking deep slow breaths and focusing on the distant horizon rather than the motion of the cruise ship may help.

However, there isn’t one single solution that has been proven to absolutely ensure that you’ll not suffer from seasickness and it can very much vary between individuals. Some may suffer a little or not at all whilst another person close by might be severely affected.