Epic blog 5........An Epic, 'Towering Inferno'

LATEST NEWS

NCL has been confirmed that there was a fire on board on Monday night, which started on deck 4 and was contained by firefighters before any major damage was caused to the ship.

NCL are undertaking an investigation and it has been confirmed that this will not affect the scheduled delivery date!

With the past problems with the engine and now this fire, I hope its all sorted by the time I cruise on her at the end of October!

Joanna Lumley's Nile

The big thing for me when I go away on holiday, is to see something different or unusual. The other week, my wife said to me 'I like the idea of going to the Holy Land for a holiday', and at the same time said 'You going to watch this on telly'.

I am not the sort of chap who would miss the opportunity of watching Joanna Lumley for an hour, so happily sat down to watch her start her journey down the Nile.

Having watched the first programme, I was enthralled both at her actual presentation but also at the history that you can see from the river. I had never wanted to go to the area, but now felt like I needed to follow in her footsteps! (Stop dreaming Stuart)

Well, I have found that there are a couple of options here.

If you want to float down the Nile there are a number of operators who have boats specifically doing 4 or 5 star cruises down the Nile. A typical boat is shown across.

Duration of the cruise will vary, and you may have to add a land stay to your cruise holiday to see all the sights in Cairo.

The alternative, is look at a cruise to the Holy Land on any one of a number of ships in 2011, including Pacific Princess, Queen Victoria or Adonia, there are others but space (and time) does not allow me to add them all.

This way you could get to see all religious places to see in and around Jerusalem, but also add the Pyramids a bit of leisurely sea days and some of the other classic ports in the area.

I have my idea for a 2011 cruise now, hopefully aboard the Pacific Princess, but what about you?

Give me a call and I will look at your options, including a Nile Cruise a Holy Land Cruise or any other cruise you fancy.

Which is the best for computer access, Celebrity Eclipse or P And O Azura?

Having great problems at the moment with my home computer, after 7 years of valient service it has eventual rached the point where it is going to the nearest scrapyard. Unlike the QE2, I don't think anyone will want to save her!

With these problems it made me think back to the time I was on the Ventura and what facilities were available, esepcially as I am starting to think  but that made me think about what to do when on ship.

I found an article recently about Celebrity Cruises' tie in with Apple Computers, and although I did not go on the launch it was interesting to see this tie up working with the Waiters for Qzine, using iPads for the Menu. Apple also have 26 workstations on board in the iLounge.

Compare this to P and O Azura, both ships having being launched in Southampton in the last few weeks.

Although there is a CYB@Centre on Ventura, based on customer feedback there is no facility on Azura, so if you want to stay connected then you will have take your laptop and use one of the Wi Fi hotspots on ship.

However, in both cases the costs of internet use on ship is usually high, and if you have to take your own laptop, why not wait till you get into port and find one of the many free hotspots found in most ports, thats what I'm going to do on my next cruise. 

P&O Azura, a review

So as you will know by now P&O Azura was named over the weekend and headed off on her Maiden sailing to the Mediterranean.

I though I would look would look at the ship in line with some of the questions I get asked by many of my customers.

Q1: Can I have a cup of tea in my cabin?

This is a regular question, and with P&O there is the facility to have your morning cuppa. Incidently you can on Fred Olsen as well! However, out of the 2 kettles below, which is from the Azura and which is Ventura?

Answer at the end.

Q2: Is my balcony overlooked?

There is a choice of balcony cabins on both ships, a Balcony Stateroom and a Superior Deluxe Balcony Stateroom.

I have been in both now and the pictures are below, there is far much more room in the Superior Deluxe cabin and it also has the benefit of a Bath with shower.

But are the balconies overlooked?

As you can see from the picture below, if you are not aware and come out of your cabin in the wrong attire, the whole of the ship could have a surprise!

So which cabin category has the overlooked balcony?

Answers

Well surprisingly, the stainless steel kettle is from the Ventura. I expected that on the 'Azura' with its more sophisticed theme the fittings would have been better than the Ventura, but clearly not. For me, though the kettle is there to boil the water for the necessary cuppa when I wake up, so plastic or stainless does not really matter.

The Deluxe cabins are the ones which are overlooked, and the lady on a Caribbean cruise recently clearly did not realise that when she went out onto her balcony, or did she!!! (Sorry no photos)

The bigger cabin size of the Superior Deluxe cabin is great, but I do like a bit of privacy, so I would personally save the additional cost for spending on trips and go for the normal Balcony cabin.

P&O Azura

So, as you probably know Azura was officially named yesterday by Darcey Bussell in a stunning ceremony and will sail on its maiden voyage tomorrow from Southampton to the Mediterranean.

On Friday I had the opportunity to visit Azura in Southampton for an overnight stay, together with others from the office, about 700 other travel agents from around the UK. In addition some members of P&O Portunus Club had the opportunity to visit the ship for the day.

A I woke from my doze, sat on the coach coming into Southampton glinting in the sun was the ship, or was it Ventura...... no we were not in the Caribbean, it was too cold - it was Azura!

The actual ship is the same, but Azura has been themed differently, further information and photos will follow.