Washington DC, a Tailormade opportunity?

Well as you can probably guess I have been away for the past 10 days or so,  not on a cruise but doing a City Break to Washington DC. What an amazing city!

There is absolutely loads to do here and my feet are still aching; sightseeing, Museums, Arlington Cemetery and even the Zoo and it has the advantage of all the attractions being free!

We even went to Capitol Hill, you had to go through security to get in but again guided tour all free, you would not get any of that at home would you?

I even got to stand on the spot at the Lincoln Memorial were Dr Martin Luther King made the famous 'I have a dream' speech.

The City itself is quite large, but the Metro is easy to use and priced relatively low, we did use a Taxi a couple of times and found these were more expensive than we expected. So the answer is to walk or take the Metro.

I found this place an amazing place to visit and was wondering if it could be added to the start or end of a cruise from the US? Well, New York is only 2 hours by train from Union Station, or Baltimore is not far up the road.

So we could book you on Cunard's QM2 from New York and add in a couples of days in Washington then time in New York; or go on Royal Caribbeans Enchantment of the Seas from Baltimore to Bermuda and spend some time in Washington.

To be honest the options with this are endless, which is why they are called Tailor-made cruise holidays, so just give me a call so I can tell you more about my break but then arrange a trip for you.

100 years on...... will wecontinue to remember?

It is now 100 years since the loss of the Titanic, and over the last few weeks there have been a number of 'events' to commemorate the loss, various TV programs and a re-release of the film in 3D

But what else has there been?

At the moment, Fred Olsen's Balmoral is doing a special voyage to be at the point where Titanic sank at the same hour.

But what about Titanic's birthplace? Over my lifetime Belfast has been synonymous with 'Troubles' and as such not a place that would come up high on the list for a tourist attraction, well just opened to coincide with this anniversary is Titanic Belfast.

Something like this to me is a better way to commemorate the anniversary, it will benefit the community and future generations far more then a TV drama!

But why is it, with the exception of perhaps Pearl Harbor, that the Titanic is remembered so much?

The Mighty Mississippi

Just been watching the TV and saw ITV advertising Sir Trevor McDonald's new program about the mighty Mississippi and it reminded me of something I read last week.

The Mississippi is one of the great rivers of the world, and with the growth in River cruising in Europe and the Far East is the US the next growth area?

The American Queen steamboat had a successful cruise last week on the Mississippi River as it ran through its first set of builder’s trials. For the first time in almost five years, the paddle wheel achieved 17 revolutions per minute with plenty of steam in reserve.

“The new propulsion and control system operated perfectly during last night’s trial,” according to the Great American Steamboat Company’s EVP of Vessel Operations Greg Brown. “There was a significant reduction in vibration and noise thanks to the newly added technology.”

The American Queen cruised the Mississippi River along the French Quarter for three hours before conducting berthing trials in front of the famed Café Du Monde on the Riverwalk.

On April 13 the American Queen embarks on her first voyage and on the 19th will depart New Orleans, travelling up the Mississippi River to her home port of Memphis at Beale Street Landing, where christening festivities led by Godmother Priscilla Presley will take place April 27, 2012. After the christening, the American Queen will depart for her inaugural voyage up the Mississippi River to the Ohio River with stops in Henderson, Ky., Louisville, Ky., and Madison, Ind., before arriving in the disembarkation city of Cincinnati. In Louisville she will take part in the time-honoured tradition of the Kentucky Derby Festival’s Great Steamboat Race with the Belle of Louisville and Belle of Cincinnati.

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