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.

You have seen it here before it appears on our website.

Celebrity Cruises - Inside Access. Would you do it?

Every now and then when on board a ship, a tour or excursion catches your attention and this was one of them; the opportunity to get inside access to a Solstice Class ship, a behind the scenes tour.

Me on the Helipad

So should you do it?


Well, I have seen comment in a number of places in the past about tours like this, in the main they are negative because of the cost,  $150 per person. I have to admit this seems high, but price alone is never the ultimate decider, it has to depend on what you get back from the experience.

So there are limited numbers on the tour, when I did it there were just 10 of us, and lasted for over 4 hours. And we got:-

• Bridge Visit
• Helli deck tour
• Mooring line deck visit
• Back stage at the Theatre 
• Crew Gym and quarters tour
• Engine control room visit
• Galley and food storage area visit
• Lunch in Tuscan Grill

There is loads of security to get into the sensitive areas, with us being scanned with a hand held scanner when going into both the Bridge and Engine Control Room as well as having to show our passports before we started!

For me its what you learn from chatting with the Officers and crew members during the day; like learning about the Azipods and the way they aid manoeuvrability of the ship: how 'Green' the ship is with regard to treatment of waste water; how they use their own de-salination plant to satisfy the fresh water needs of the ship and how they plan routes to keep everybody safe.

During the whole trip we did not use a lift once, and followed all the 'hidden' to passenger corridors and stairwells - we really do see only a small part of the ship normally!

So just a few photos of some of those bits we don't normally see:-

Port side control panel

 Port side view from the Bridge Wing

 The Bridge

 A volunteer to run out the lines! (Under strict supervision!)

I95

 The Engine Control Room

This is how your dinner should look

So  would I recommend this, irrespective of the cost thought this was an excellent trip and would happily recommend it. In addition, if I saw this type of experience on another ship I would not hesitate to do again!

A Miser-ables Cruise?

If you have read my blog before you know that although I love cruising with Cunard, the entertainment has not in my opinion been up to the standards that I would have expected. So here is a nice story about Cunard's entertainment.

In the last few days with it being Mothers day, my Wife and I have made the journey back to Lancashire to visit family and friends and while there we spent some time talking about things we like to do!

The subject eventually ended up on music, and specifically a group called Beyond the Barricade.

 

We  were introduced to them a couple of years ago, and went to see them at the local Theatre here in Redditch and had an awesome time,  I thought the show and songs were excellent and have been looking to go again.

Well, it transpires that they were the headline act on Cunard Queen Elizabeth for New years Eve in Madeira, their first appearance as an act on a cruise ship.

And since this, they are currently on Fred Olsen Black Watch and have dates lined up later this year to appear on Cunard again.

If I was on any ship while they were on board I would definitely not miss  that show, and if I knew far enough in advance when they were on a ship I would if I could make a booking just to see them........ next week I will have to head to the local Box Office to book my tickets for November.

Now, if this is the way that Cunard are going to go and take note of some of their past passengers comments then that is a great thing and will be a massive improvement to the quality of entertainment on board the 3 Queens!.