Another port of call - Santorini

So having made Santorini, some 30 years after I originally should have gone, I thought I'd write a port review.

Santorini Panorama - 12th September 2011

You can just see the donkeys in the bottom left corner starting their perilous journey back down to sea level!

Why read my review of the Queen Victoria cruise, with some more photo's of Santorini

Now the touristy bits...

SANTORINI, also called Thera or Thira, lies to the south of the central Cyclades group of Greek islands. It is considered the hottest holiday spot in the Cyclades in more ways than one. Born in a massive volcanic eruption, fumes still rise offshore.

Santorini satisfies the up-market end of the Greek island holidays market with many luxury hotels, and cruise ships bring holiday visitors ready to gasp at the romantic sunset skies, and turn on to the island's hot nightclubs.

Spectacular is a word that applies more to Santorini than most. Visitors sailing into the flooded caldera are greeted by dizzying cliffs with dazzling white villages plastered like dollops of cream on the sky-hugging rim. An island of extraordinary contrasts, Santorini can be both breathtakingly beautiful and deeply unattractive. The sheer cliffs of red and black can feel intimidating and the black volcanic sands hold the heat. White cube houses and blue dome churches tumble attractively down the cliffsides but streets are full of expensive cafes, trendy shops and near nightmare swarms of tourists.

There are a couple of ways to get to the village, either walk or take the donkey - not my idea of a good time; use the chair lift, queues permitting or take a cruise line excursion which take you to a low lying port and so missing out on the queues or hike!

As you can see from my photo, it is a tender from the ship to the land and these are run by the locals, so no need to lower the lifeboats. Later on that day an MSC ship also came into the bay, a very busy time!

Its a lovely place, and certainly lived up to my expectations but it does get very busy and smelly with all the donkeys going up or down the paths!

Fly Cruise from Barcelona

So as most of you know finding a 7 night cruise from Southampton is difficult, over the season there are few of them and in the main they will be to Norway, France or around the UK. So if you are looking for a bit of that Med sun then why not think about a fly cruise from Barcelona.

Why Barcelona you ask, well there is a choice of cruise lines doing 7 to 12 night cruises which can be boarded in Barcelona and it is easy to get to either go cruise only and findg your own flights with on of many low-cost carriers or as a cruise line package if their flight package is available.

So what are the choices, and this list is not exhaustive, Royal Caribbean have both Liberty and Brilliance of the Seas sailing from Barcelona, Celebrity Cruise Lines have Solstice, NCL have the Epic - see my review on this ship, MSC have Splendida and Fantasia.

The choice is massive, in terms of level of service, length of cruise, itinerary and cost.

So what would I do you ask, well having just got back from a few days in this beautiful Catalonian city, I would book my own flights and pick one of the cruises on a cruise only basis, but go a couple of days early to do a bit of sightseeing.

There is so much to see from La Rambla to Camp Nou to the Olympic site and of course the Gaudi architecture ending with Sagrada Familia.

So go on give it a go!

MSC Opera, my day out in Southampton

So yesterday I went with some colleagues to Southampton to visit MSC Opera.

Now over the last few months MSC has had some bad press with this ship breaking down in the Baltic, and some of the reviews on our website have not been too complementary. So I went with an open mind  looking forward to making my own opinion of what was on offer.


OK, the ship does not offend at all, very clean and pleasant to look at - the theme is a little pink and purple - there are plenty of public bars and spaces all gave a homely vibe.

It may not be the biggest of ships and only have a smaller number of balcony cruise cabins, but the promenade deck is open and wide and there is loads of space on the pool deck, not cluttered by dividers or tables and chairs.

The food has taken a bashing, I found it OK, the soup was cold, but it should have been and the main course was warm and appetising. The waiter was courteous, although he did clear the table before everyone had finished, but is this such a massive issue?

The prices are really competitive and the fact that children travel for free, just paying the port taxes really does makes this MSC cruise excellent value for money.

So what do I think, excellent value for money and I know that the reviews and comments are a personal reflection but they don't match what I experienced on Monday.

Vado a vedere MSC Poesia

Solo una breve nota.

MSC Poesia a Honningsvag

Martedì scorso me ne vado con Hannah, Julia e Sian per vedere MSC Poesia a Southampton. Non sono mai stato su una nave MSC così Ii vedo l'ora.

Torna qui nel corso della settimana per vedere i miei pensieri.

Continuate a leggere la traduzione!

Just a quick note.


On Tuesday I am off with Hannah, Jular and Sian to see MSC Poesia in Southampton. I've never been on an MSC ship so Ii looking forward to it.

Come back here later in the week to see my thoughts.

Are we just Train Spotters in disguise?

Bet you think I've gone mad, well it has been sunny for the last few weeks!

So what do I mean?

Earlier this week I heard, "I'm off to see 6 ships this summer, that crosses them off my list!" Well, as we move into the summer season more cruise ships are now departing from the UK and it gives us travel agents the opportunity to do ship visits to gain experience.

So read on......


You have to be honest, there are many varieties in cruising, ships, facilities and service levels and we are expected to have an encyclopedic knowledge of all the different cruise lines.

There is only a finite way to gain this knowledge, face to face training, having worked on the cruise lines, read the reviews on a Cruise Forum, cruised as a holiday, been to launch or had a familiarisation trip or finally undertaken a ship visit!

We have not all had the opportunity to work on ships, and those that have usually did with only 1 cruise line, and not everybody is able to take their hard earned time off cruising for a holiday. So, we are now heading into the season when we can get in those day visits to Southampton or Dover to visit various ships, subject to availability!.

Poesia in Honningsvag

All of us here sell a variety of cruises on different cruise lines so for me being able to visit an MSC ship, the Poesia later this month and also Celebrity Eclipse in July, will allow me to give my customers that first hand knowledge you gain from actually 'touching metal'.

PS.

The train photo is from Mr Google, none of mine from the 70's have survived!!