Silversea Silver Spririt Inaugural: 20-22 Dec 09

With frozen roads and frozen planes I wondered if I was ever going to arrive in Monte Carlo for the Silver Spirit inaugural trip on Sunday 20th December! I finally made it and jumped in a taxi from Nice airport, 100 EUROS later and a very pigeon French/English conversation I arrived at the port terminal to be greeted by a red carpet and attendants with white gloves who ushered me through check-in and took my suitcase all the way to my suite.

The Silver Spirit does not have cabins, only suites! And almost every one of them has an outside balcony. Every suite has a private butler service who will come and introduce himself when you arrive and tell you about the 24 hour room service and pillow menu.

As I was late arriving I quickly unpacked and got ready for dinner, I was due to meet the rest of the trade guests and Silversea team in the Observation Lounge for a drinks reception then onto the restaurant for dinner. I discovered that the restaurant is a formal affair with waiter service as you would expect on a Silversea ship and has a lovely a la carte menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 400 guests at a time. Unlike many ships this lovely restaurant is all on one level and features a'slow food' menu.

That evening we were treated by a caberet act from a singer called Lorraine Brown in the show lounge, the ships theatre, which is nicely decked out with 2-seater chairs and red decor. Lorraine was fabulous and her act included songs from the Supremes, Oleta Adams and the Beatles and ended with a sing-a-long 'You'll Never Walk Alone' which had all the Liverpool fans in the room (including me) doing our level best to recreate the fever of Anfield!

The following morning I attended a press briefing in the Panoramic Lounge which is a gorgeous room on deck 9 with a terrace overlooking the pool area. I found out that the ship has 6 dining options including two speciality restaurants for sushi and fine wine but with only 24 places available at each, early booking is recommended and customers should expect an intimate dining experience with excellent service. Silversea boast that the fine wine is some of the best in the world with very little mark-up which has been impressing guests, the cover charge for the sushi restaurant is $40 but to have a fine wine menu included there is an extra $200. However the standard wine menu is also impressive with 20 white and 20 red to choose from.

After the press briefing I took in a self-guided tour of the ship and visited the lovely internet cafe and library, pictured above, the poolside area with attractive deck furniture, the show lounge, the casino, the boutiques and the truly outstanding spa. Although rather high priced the spa offers treatments for men and women including wet-shaves (for the men), massage, hair & beauty treatments and even botox. There is also a steam room and a fitness centre.

The ship sailed to Barcelona early and the captain announced the seas were expected to get rough, the winds actually reached force 9 and I have to admit I hid in my cabin and ordered dinner service from my lovely butler and enjoyed the interactive TV menu with 56 blockbuster movies to choose from!

The following morning I caught the early transfer to the airport as I had heard about airport chaos in the UK causing many Easyjet flights to be cancelled, luckily my flight went ahead as scheduled unlike 178 others!

The Silver Spirit is certainly geared towards couples with no child facilities on board, the romantic two-seater theatre seats and truly luxurious cabins with possibly the comfiest mattress I've ever slept on. The dining arrangements are freestyle and passengers can dine in the main restaurant or the Italian 'La Terrezza' buffet between certain hours for breakfast, lunch and dinner and can sit with others or take a table for two. This offers the flexibility of sitting with whom you choose, whenever you like and with six dining options guests are not going to go hungry!

Happy Cruising and Merry Christmas!

Flo Powell
ACE Director
flo@psa-ace.org

NCLU’s Top 15 Students Birthday Bash in London.

I began my studies at the Norwegian Cruise Lines University (NCLU) on the 03rd Dec2008. Every couple of months a new course would be launched and all students received25,000 points for passing each course plus 5,000 point for each of the Electives(mini training courses with the fun factor). All course points allowed you to claim 5points under your ACE membership. The goal to reach was 250,000 points and other points could be gained from blogging and asking the dean questions along with games and competitions. A few months ago all students were contacted by the Dean to advise that the first top 15 students with the highest points would be invited to London to The Jamie Oliver inspired restaurant “fifteen” www.fifteen.net for the University’s 1st Birthday party. I am delighted to say I was one of the 15 and on the 01st December I, along with another Northern Ireland Travel Agent boarded our 6.30 am Ryanair flight to Stansted. Once here we took the Stansted express to Liverpool Street and then a tube to Old Street, the address of the restaurant. Dress code for the day was smart casual.

Upon arrival we meet Jill and James from the Marketing department at NCL. Steve Dunlop was there to take the photographs (www.stevedunlop.com) and before long we had a nice chilled glass of champagne in our hands. We were asked outside to partake in the photo ceremony and the 1st birthday cake made an appearance in these photos along with the other students and props! Natalie from ACE was in attendance too, as was Debbee Dale. Lunch was a grand affair with lots of menu choices and plenty of wine. I was sat next to Nick Wilkinson (Director of Sales for NCL) and NCL’s General Manager Stephen Park thanked everyone and gave a great speech.

The icing on the cake (so to speak!) was a complimentary 2 night cruise aboard the new Norwegian Epic for all students prior to the ACE Cruise Convention in June 2010 in Southampton. We were all delighted. Check out the epic website www.epic.ncl.com for more information on this fantastic new NCL project.

It was time to say our goodbyes, so we hot footed it back to Stansted and flew back to Belfast City. A great day was had by all and I would like to thank everyone at NCL for their generosity and company on the day. I can now claim that I am truly “freestyle certified” (…and I have the badge to prove it!!!)

Warm Regards

Brendan O’Connor
Cruise Specialist – Bryan Somers Travel, Northern Ireland.

The Oasis of the Seas Inaugural Sailing: 24-26th November 2009

I felt extremely fortunate to be invited on board the Oasis of the Seas for her inaugural sailing on 24th November. I was joined by Bill Gibbons, Director of the PSA, Penny Guy, PR Director, and Maggie Gibbons, PSA Membership Executive. We all flew to Miami with BA along with a whole host of industry partners, press and travel agents. Before leaving I realised that the ship, at double occupancy plus crew, will take about 4 times the population of the village I grew up in. It takes between 7,500-8,000 total!

It was all very organised when we landed, we sleepily boarded coaches for the hour long trip to Fort Lauderdale port. The Oasis of the Seas came into view and almost cast a shadow over Miami, there were audible gasps from the coach!

We walked swiftly through the enormous and modern purpose-built terminal and excitedly leaped up the escalator to board the ship. We dumped our things in our cabins then ran around like hyper children who've eaten too many smarties and tried to see everything!

My cabin was inside with a window overlooking the central park, which was a rather bizarre experience to wake up on a cruise ship to see trees and plants outside! The cabin was adequately sized with a nice window seat/sofa and an enormous bed which was very comfy. The width of the ship is really what shocked me, it is too enormous to really describe but I'll have a go.

We started from the top deck (number 17!) where the Windjammer restaurant is located for buffet breakfast and lunch plus an Asian restaurant and the Viking Crown lounge bar. We walked down to deck 16 to find the top level of the pool area, with an enormous amount of sun loungers, pools on each side and Jacuzzis. It took a good few minutes to walk to the other end, where we discovered a cocktail bar and three more Jacuzzis in a lovely, almost secluded area which looked gorgeous in the sunset light.

We also discovered the flowriders, where brave young men and woman were surfing happily away, occasionally showcasing a spectacular dismount! We also noted a very large basketball court, six table tennis tables, a very high zip line, and the 'wipeout cafe' (very aptly named as it caters for flowriders.)

The excitedness had not worn off but we now looked a little more slack-jawed as we wondered around open-mouthed at the wealth of activity available from the kids area near the pool to the teenagers area with playstations, a lounge and their own disco area.

We carried on and took a peek at the Royal Promenade on deck 5 which is essentially a busy shopping street including the entrance to the Opus dining room (over 3 floors, silver service for lunch and dinner), boutique and souvenir shops, an English pub, a nightclub, guest services and a champagne bar to name but a few.

We decided we needed a pit-stop and headed for the rather serene central park and found the bar that rises, called the 'rising tide bar' that travels vertically between the Royal Promenade and Central Park neighbourhoods. We discovered another lovely little bar and sipped kir royals whilst being serenaded by an impromptu bagpiper.

Dinner was a lovely experience, our waiter and waitress, both from the Philippines, were a delight and the food was amazing. I was impressed by the choice; healthy-options and lardy chef recommendations for all types of diet!

The next two days were taken up with going along to business sessions where we were given the opportunity to ask RCCL senior staff questions; everything from smoking on board to gratuities were discussed, then lots of eating, drinking, and finally some sunbathing when the captain announced he was 'going in search of sunshine' having been disappointed by the rain.

I have barely touched on all the areas of the ship and activities available; we visited the loft suits and other cabins (the Royal Loft Suite was particularly impressive with a piano, mini library and hot tub on the terrace), the enormous spa with every treatment imaginable available, the aqua theatre with synchronised swimming shows, huge rock-climbing walls, an indoor theatre seating 1,380 with top-notch entertainment such as the musical 'Hairspray', the impressive casino, 'Comedy Live', a karaoke bar, jazz bar, 1940's style cupcake shop, burger bar, seafood cafe, fantastic speciality restaurants and a hand-whittled wooden carousel. Of course.

You've got to see it to believe it! A huge THANK YOU to RCCL for the invitation, it was truly breathtaking.

For more photos please visit our facebook group, called the Association of Cruise Experts (ACE).

Flo Powell, Director, ACE

A First Time Cruise Experience: Hurricanes and Champagne

ON BOARD THE AURORA

DAY ONE

As the new Director of ACE I was delighted to be invited by P&O to join the Aurora’s Mediterranean cruise on 3rd November with my pal, Julie.

We departed from Hove to Southampton by train, watching the lashing rain with trepidation as we considered the journey ahead, in particular the Bay of Biscay which I was warned about. We arrived at the Mayflower terminal, handed our luggage to the helpful porter and were ushered through priority boarding; the whole process took about 10 minutes. We met Lorraine and Michelle from P&O at the ship’s reception which features a beautiful waterfall above the staircase. We were escorted to our cabin where bottles of champagne and chocolates awaited our arrival! The Aurora is very British in design and we found it homely and welcoming, Julie commented ’I feel right at home already!’ We met Suresh, our cabin steward who told us all about meal arrangements, the safety talk we had to attend and his hours so we could call on him for any whim. I was particularly impressed to discover the range of restaurants and options for different meals throughout the day and the 24 hour room service, all included in the price!

We unpacked and headed off to the lifejacket safety talk, then came back to the cabin, wrapped up in our fluffy bathrobes and slippers and sat on our balcony, sipping the wonderful champagne and waving goodbye to Southampton. The evening was kicked off with dinner with Philip Price, Head of Brand Marketing for P&O at Café Bordeaux, the on-board bistro style Marco Pierre White restaurant. The food was utterly exquisite.

Unfortunately the weather had started to turn and we became more than just aware we were on a large ship. We headed for bed and spent the night listening to the ship creak and the waves become larger outside.

DAY TWO

The announcement in our cabin in the morning announced hurricane force winds and to prepare ourselves for a full day of unpleasant weather. We took a peek outside and noted the enormous waves, lashing spray onto our balcony. We had lunch in the Medina restaurant, which was amusingly interrupted by diners squealing and pointing at the window as a 10 metre wave lurched threateningly towards our direction. It was all rather dramatic and I felt the need for a lie down! We received a lovely call that evening from David Shepherd, Head Purser, ensuring we were OK and inviting us to meet the Captain on Saturday evening for the Barcelona sail away. We managed to get up and have a small dinner and catch the evening comedy show before heading back to the preferred horizontal position at an unusual (for us) bedtime of 10pm. However the storm eased that night and we finally got the rest we needed.

DAY THREE

We ventured onto our balcony and were delighted by the sight of much smaller waves. We celebrated with spa treatments; a truly fantastic deal of £60 three treatments; I opted for the back massage, facial and mud foot soak, my spa room had windows out to the ocean. We also visited the steam room afterwards, by-passing the gym equipment for another day.

The evening was the first formal night, we headed to Andersons for a quick drink and sat with the ship’s singer, Lindsey and the excursions officer, Graham who advised us on the trips we had planned. We went to the Alexandria restaurant in our glad-rags, the food was sublime; three courses (including delights such as lobster), all included in the cruise package. Our waiters, Isaak and Savio were extremely lovely, full of smiles and easy to laugh with.

That night we met Philip Price again and a couple of other passengers in the sports bar and got chatting, after a few reasonably priced Bombay Saffire G&T's we headed to Masquerade, the ship’s nightclub and danced the night away, happily requesting tunes from the very accommodating DJ, Mark, and finally rolled into our cabin at 4am.

DAY FOUR

We woke late in the afternoon and were greeted by Savio at the lunchtime buffet restaurant, the Orangery. We treated ourselves to another steam room session then lounged once again on the sun deck until the sunset over the ocean - it was a sublime sight. That night we took it easy, knowing our first port of call, Barcelona, meant an early start for our first excursion.

DAY FIVE

Barcelooona! We woke at 7am and excitedly looked out at the twinking lights on the horizon, by the time we were dressed the ship was almost docked. We had time for breakfast then eagerly went off to meet our excursion group. The tour was led by a true Spanish tour guide who showed us three main sights; the Medieval walls, the Gaudi Cathedral and a village constructed for tourists designed to showcase all of Spain’s architecture in replica. The cathedral was truly bizarre and stunning, you have to see it to believe it; it looks both Gothic and Disney!

That evening we joined the captain for the sail away on the bridge which was a special treat and got to see the ‘behind the scenes’.

DAY SIX

Monaco was spectacular, again we had a fabulous local tour guide who took us on a three hour walking tour taking in the Royal Palace in time for the changing of the guards, the Grand Prix circuit and the Monte Carlo Casino.

DAY SEVEN

It unfortunately rained in Florence but that didn’t stop us enjoying another walking tour with another fabulous local tour guide. The city was spectacular and we took far too many photos of all the sights including the statues of David and Hercules, then went off shopping and found some fantastic clothes shops. We managed to get quite lost and nearly missed our return but luckily made it back to the ship in time for more dancing in the evening!

DAY EIGHT

La Spezia looked amazing from the ship, we decided not to venture onto the tender but lazed about on board all day, we went to the cinema instead and watched ‘The Soloist’ which was great. It was our last night aboard, we went to the Pennant Grill for dinner where I had the best BBQ spare ribs I’ve ever eaten then it was back to the nightclub for drinks until late with three of the crew we had managed to befriend.

DAY NINE

After saying farewell to the crew who had taken care of us we jumped in a car to Fiumicino airport, left our luggage there and got a train into central Rome. After making a few enquiries we managed to get a subway to the Colusseum; it was a beautiful sunny day and we took in the amazing sights then stopped at a traditional café for the best pizza in the world. We managed to get quite lost on the way back and nearly missed our flight but we made it, Easyjet was an fairly unpleasant experience after been treated like royalty on board the Aurora!

In summary, I wasn’t expecting the cruise to be quite as brilliant as it was, just beware the Bay of Biscay!

Flo Powell, Director of ACE

New Director for ACE - Flo Powell's first 2 weeks in post

I started as ACE's new Director on Monday 5th October 2009. On arrival at the lovely London offices behind Oxford Street I was given a whirlwind tour of the offices, the systems and the team by Debbee Dale who had been standing in as interim Director since June (and doing a superb job I might add).

My feet were barely behind the desk before I was flying to Barcelona for the ABTA Travel Convention on Tuesday! I felt extremely lucky and excited about the four days. Debbee and I chatted away for most of the journey, doing my handover and briefing whilst in the air. The flight was 80% occupied by other convention delegates, many of whom were catching up with each other much to the bemusement of the other passengers who probably all felt like a spare part at a wedding.

On arrival at Barcelona it was clear we'd left the wintry England weather behind, it was a lovely 25 degrees. The first night was taken up with bumping into old friends and colleagues at the hotel bar and meeting new ones at the icebreaker party including ACE's competition winners Gary Hudson, Martin Hay, Richard Rochester and Katherine Doyle.

The convention was a heady mix of interesting convention sessions, cocktail parties, dinners, drinks receptions, trade fairs, forums, ship visits and a lot of alcohol and networking! I collected a huge number of business cards as I met so many interesting people, all of whom seemed to be having a great time - I was delighted with the opportunity to visit three ships in Barcelona; the Thomson Destiny, Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas and MSC Fantasia.

The Cruise Forum on the Thursday was fantastic, we had over 150 delegates. The forum kicked off with a presentation from Debbee on ACE's achievements so far - over 3,000 travel agency members, 35 cruise line members and over 20,000 agents trained in 2008! I then gave a brief overview on my plans for ACE including revamping and rebranding ACE events, retaining and increasing membership and new training modules coming online for cruise line products and destinations. The forum included a great presentation from Carol Marlow from P&O, a Q&A with Michael East and Jane Archer and a panel discussion with cruise lines and agents talking about the sticky issues of gratuities on ships and discounting cruise holidays in the recession.

I learned a huge amount in Barcelona and came away extremely motivated and more excited than ever to get into the ACE job and start work! During my second week I met with some of ACE's cruise line members to discuss plans for the UK Cruise Convention in 2010, wrote an article for Cruise News and learned how to operate ACE's comprehensive online system so I could answer agent queries regarding training and logging in and send out the weekly e-newsletter, 'Watermark'.

On Thursday 15th I was invited to the Mail Newspapers' box at the Royal Albert Hall for the International Ballroom Dancing Championships; something I was not expecting to enjoy but was thoroughly riveted, especially by some of the outfits (or lack thereof!!)

It's my third week and I now have the website programmers and creative team on speed dial, I've briefed the ACE team with my plans, designed and sent out a membership survey for ACE members to let me know their feedback on our benefits, and emailed all cruise line members with a huge list of questions and requests!

I'm absolutely delighted to be working with such a fantastic team; Adele & Nat who work exclusively on ACE, as well as Bill, Kat and Hayley at the Passenger Shipping Association and Penny, the PR Director for both ACE and the PSA. The office is incredibly busy and I'm sure many of our members will be shocked to learn that ACE is run by just three people - we are a small organisation with a big ambition. It is my aim to improve our benefits to members and get even more travel agents trained in cruise lines, destinations, cruise products and services and business skills. I want to offer more benefits to our ACE Ambassadors who have managed to get 600 points through ACE training and cruise experience, host a fantastic UK Cruise Convention in Southampton in 2010, publish a programme of inspirational events including ship visits, EXPOs and fam trips for our members and make our online training resources even more interesting, exciting and accessible.

I will be going on my very first cruise on 3rd November, on the P&O Aurora ship to the Med so watch this space as I'll be twittering and blogging my experiences!

See you soon,

Flo Powell
Director - ACE

Fred. Olsen Cruises Travel Agent Educational.

Cruise BD0918, 4 Night Mini Cruise 01st – 05th August 2009

My trip began on the 31st July when I flew to Edinburgh with Flybe and stayed at the Premier Inn, South Queensferry. This hotel was the nearest I could get to the port of Rosyth where we would be embarking the M/S Boudicca the next day.

After a comfortable night’s sleep and a great breakfast, I was met by Amanda Anderson, Area Sales Executive – Scotland & Northern Ireland and was taken to the Port of Rosyth. I was one of the fortunate agents as I was viewing the ship prior to embarking as a passenger. I was not impressed with the Cruise Terminal, there was no restaurant or bar for passengers to purchase food & drink, instead there were hot and soft drinks machines. My first impression of the ship was good; I liked it, its size and how compact it appeared. Below are a few statistics about the ship:

• The M/S Boudicca has 437 cabins
• The ship holds up to 856 passengers,(maximum of 900)
• Total amount of crew is 360
• It has stabilisers and was last refitted in 2006.
• The Boudicca is a sister ship of the Black Watch.
• Her gross tonnage is 28,400 and is 205 m in length.
• Email/Internet access is available 24 hours a day.

After the ship tour and lunch it was time to meet the other 20 agents and Fred. Olsen Staff in the terminal to check-in for our cruise. We were issued with our cruise cards and met up with whom we were sharing with. I was allocated cabin number 4035 and while I found it very spacious although I thought the television and wallpaper dated the cabin and felt that this was the only part of the ship that let it down. The bed was comfy and we had a bath (not that it was used) and shower combo, which is always nice to have the option. A wee tip, not all cabins have this bath/shower combo so make sure you check this for your client.

Waiting for us was a folder introducing us to the Boudicca and our Daily Times advising us what was on and where, an introduction to Captain (Master) Bjarte Roksund and his Senior Management Team. It was 6pm and we were setting sail for Lerwick. After welcome drinks in the Lido Lounge we made our way to the Tintagel Restaurant; our dining room for this evening (and every evening) and the smiling waiters and waitresses were ready to look after us. They were all so friendly and courteous and extremely efficient throughout our stay. We had a different menu each night and the food was glorious and Amanda very generously treated us all to wine or whatever our poison was.

After dinner we congregated in the Neptune Bar for some after dinner drinks and chit-chat. After a comfortable night’s sleep, I awoke to the views over Lerwick in the Shetland Islands. Breakfast was taken in the Secret Garden Café and the crew were at the entrance with the compulsory hand lotion for all passengers to scrub up before touching any of the utensils at the buffet. (This lotion was given to you each time you dined and when you came back onboard the ship).

After breakfast we all attended the compulsory lifeboat drill and we were taught the SOLAS Regulations (Safety Of Life At Sea) and informed of our muster station in the event of an emergency.

We then went ashore, and as this was a Sunday I was surprised to find so many shops, bars and restaurants open. Lerwick is a very small town but quaint all the same. After torturing the locals in one of the pubs it was time to go back to the ship, I think they enjoyed the banter though?

We were setting sail now for Bergen. I had not been to Bergen before and was so looking forward to it. I was not disappointed, it was beautiful and Amanda had arranged an excursion for us (Introduction to Bergen) so we saw the town in great detail. The tourguide spoke fluent English, the whole area was pristine clean and the sun was shining - we were blessed with the weather. After the tour we had lunch onboard and lay by the pool for the rest of the day and entertained the other passengers – it was a great day and we did not set sail until 11pm.

Our final day was at sea and at this stage in my report I should point out that the amount of activities onboard all Fred. Olsen Ships, whether in port or at sea are extensive. Please contact me for a list of these. The Boudicca Show Company kept us entertained with the swinging 60’s and sensational 70’s plus Elvis “Love me tender” presentations, they were excellent.

After breakfast we had a business session with Amanda and the rest of the Fred. Olsen team. This lasted for only 2 hours and after this we all hit the shops and the bazaar for those last minute bargains and souvenirs and paid our extras’ bill. Although the weather was good it was breezy on deck and some dined inside and others at the poolside café. Tipping onboard Fred. Olsen Ships is a matter left to the individual at their discretion. It was so wonderful to finally see one of Fred. Olsen Ships, the group we had were fantastic for a large group and Amanda Anderson was an exceptional hostess.

For more information on Fred. Olsen Cruises please visit www.fredolsencruises.co.uk
I have almost 200 photographs and if you would like to view these, please contact me. Enjoy the read.

Warm Regards, Brendan.
Compiled by Brendan O’Connor, Bryan Somers Travel.

CELEBRITY EQUINOX LAUNCH VOYAGE TO NORWAY 31 JULY 2009 REVIEW

After all the excitment of the celebrations around the launch where the trade and selected consumers and prize winners had the chance to marvel at this second in the series of five Solstice class vessels, it was now time for the Equinox to WOW its first passengers.

I was lucky enough to be aboard for the naming, so it was great to be able to stay aboard and sit in the Cafe on deck 5 and watch the first passengers board. Many had clearly never sailed with Celebrity before having sailed with other cruise lines from Southampton so it was great to see the amazment on their faces as they boarded, promptly offered a glass of chilled Champagne and look into the stunning central atrium.

The vessel offers a premium cruise experience with varied amount of bars and restaurants and stunning public areas and an amazing top deck area complete with 14,000 SQ FT lawn set high on deck 15.

We sailed at 17.00 and excitement filled the ship as people found there way around and settled into the varied stateroom options aboard.

Cabins are large with good space for all those bits and bobs people take away with them, together with flat screen tv systems which offer every aspect of entertainment and information needed on the voyage and shipboard facilities.

Dining aboard is offered across many outlets with main dining an outstanding affair within the best restaurent I have ever seen afloat.

The speciality restaurants consist of French,Italian and Asian fusian together with the Blu restaurant offering for guest chosing to stay within the Aqua Spa cabins. This is complemented by a wonderful Ocean view cafe on deck 14 .

Entertainment is as always first class with three big production shows and headline singers to entertain an expectant crowd.A great touch is the live Celebrity band which plays with all the shows,a refreshing change to some of the other cruise lines taped music with their shows..

The whole onboard experiance is pulled together by the most respected and well know Brothers at sea the Weir Brothers. Nick Weir (Cruise Director) and Simon Weir, (Hotel Director). Their style and attention to detail is across the ship with the most amazing crew under their command providing outstanding service.

The fjords were just stunning as seen in the pictures below, which seemed to match our onboard experience. The chance to sit on the lawn on deck 15 as we moved up the fjords was quite surreal, but outstanding .

Both the trade and consumer have now a real alternative to more traditional cruise line offerings at Southampton next year aboard a truly stunning product.

Full details of all the Cruise options can be found on the dedicated website of www.celebritycruises.co.uk and the usual Advantage intranet.

Jason Peters
Advantage Cruise Consultant