Choosing Cruising Blog

Here are the charges on a selection of the most popular cruise lines for the cost (including the appropriate tip) for a bottle of Becks 330ml beer.

Fred Olsen £2.20 , P&O £2.35 , Princess £2.51, Ocean Village £2.65 , Holland America £3.05, Costa £3.05, Cunard £3.41, Celebrity £3.59, NCL £3.61, Royal Carribean £3.95.

Interestingly the British Lines such as Fred Olsen and P&O were the cheapest and American lines such as Royal Caribbean and NCL the most expensive.

Costa cruises have named their newest ships Costa Favolosa and Costa Fascinosa.

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Far more holidaymakers are now recognising the benefits of cruising in the Med during winter.  Costa Cruise Line, MCS and Royal Caribbean are now making strong winter promotions taking advantage of fewer crowds, comfortable temperatures, superb value, and unique holidays celebrations in culturally diverse settings.  (more…)

Costa has launched a training initiative in the UK. The training programme for travel agents took 12 months to design and went live last week.

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Have you ever thought why cruise lines bring out new ships? Customer feedback has lead to a definite demand for more relaxation and facilities. Here is a round up of all the new ships launched in 2009: (more…)

Here is an overview of the smoking policies onboard the major cruise lines.

Carnival Cruise Lines
In previous years Carnival ran a no smoking ships, however today all of the ships have zones where smokers are free to light up such as in the casinos, most of the bars and lounges, the discos and in designated areas on the open decks including the outside dining area of the Lido cafe. Smoking is also permitted in the cabins and on balconies. Dedicated cigar bars are provided on some of the larger ships in the fleet. (more…)

Did you ever think you might bump into the World’s best footballer on a cruise? Well, if you book yourself onto Costa Serena on 28th June 2009 you will experience the “Pele Cruise – Sabor Brazil” – a cruise dedicated to football star Pele and the culture of his home country of Brazil. (more…)

Source Kay McLellan http://www.ttglive.com

Are you a travel agent who fancies naming a new Ship? Well Costa Cruises has launched a competition for travel agents worldwide to win the chance to name its two new flagships. (more…)

The Cruise show is at London’s ExCeL on Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd March 2009, (organised by the Daily Telegraph).

It will feature contests, cruise experts discussing and answering questions on a host of cruise topics. Most major cruise lines – and many smaller, more adventure-oriented companies – will be on hand to answer questions, offer trinkets, and provide brochures and other info.

The world’s largest ship order book (including 3 new ships set to join the fleet in the next 12 months), new customer incentives, a guarantee of reliability based on 60 years’ experience, exclusive product innovations and original itineraries are the factors in Costa Cruises’ continuing growth and success: in 2008 roughly 1 out of every 5 European cruisers chose a Costa ship. The new 2010 brochure features exclusive destinations such as Dubai, the Far East and the Indian Ocean, as well as new itineraries like summer cruises to Greenland plus special eco-tourism and food & wine excursions.

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