ACE Team on #Allure - tweeting

Monday 22nd November 2011

ACE team members Adele and Natalie are in Miami, leaving the rest of ACE behind in freezing Blighty. First tweets:

'Morning! In Miami - fabulous beach, wonderful art deco architecture, great restaurants and superb people watching!'

'Bubba Gump Shrimp company for lunch then off to board Allure of the Seas in an hour. So exciting!.'

'OMG! It's more incredible than I imagined! Biggest ship in the world, WOW indeed!'

Tuesday 23rd November 2011 - Natalie's Birthday

'I've got a fabulous outside stateroom with a balcony. It was so beautiful lying in bed watching the sunrise over the ocean this morning.'

'It's only 10.15 and I've already watched a beautiful sunrise over the sea, had brekkie at Johnny Rockets and Zip-lined. Now waiting to watch the Dreamworks parade. What a great way to spend my birthday!'

'Move-it, move-it Madagascar parade on the Royal Parade - INCREDIBLE! Allure of the Seas really knows how to put on a show!'

'Central Park on the Allure - can't believe this is really on a ship! Just amazing!'

'The Dreamworks parade was so amazing, we had a boogie with the penguins and then headed up to the rock climbing wall - made it to the top - WOO HOO! Now chilling out in the gorgeous Florida sun out on deck'.

'I've found possibly the most relaxing place on the ship - chilling out in the whirlpool overhanging the ocean, admiring the beautiful Miami coastline.'

'All that relaxing has made me hungry - off to Sorrentos for a slice of pizza and a coke - there are hundreds of flavours to choose from!'

'As the sun sets on my birthday I'm enjoying a birthday cupcake and cup of tea on my balcony - how very British!'

Wednesday 24th November - do you think they like the ship?!

'Great UK & Ireland Sales meeting, Royal Caribbean have launched their turn-of-the-year 2011 campaign. "What you see is what you get" - no inflated prices, no early booking discounts, no confusion! Just an amazing, stunning, incredible product.'

'Lunch in the windjammer cafe was around the work in your lunch time! Amazing choice, delicious dishes and wonderful service!'.

'Ice games skating show last night was unbelievable! Costumes were fantastic and the skating was breaktaking!'.

Thursday 25th November - enjoying themselves much?

'Just waiting for breakfast on the balcony in the sunshine! Going to see some other staterooms this morning, can't wait to see the Royal Loft Suite!'.

There will be more before they leave - to keep up follow us on www.twitter.com/ACEtweeting.

For more information on the Allure visit http://www.allureoftheseas.com/.

Brendan’s Alaskan Experience

I was so very fortunate to “live” in Alaska for 4.5 months and have firsthand knowledge of this breathtaking cruise region.

Alaska is an ideal area for exploring by ship - forested islands, waterfalls and glaciers mainly situated on the narrow coastal strip between mountains and sea.

The Alaskan cruise season is typically from mid May to September with July and August the most popular months. Temperatures in May, June and September range from 10C to 18C while in August it can reach the low 20Cs but it can change on a daily basis. It can also rain at any time and quite often does but May and June are the driest months.
I worked for Royal Caribbean International as a Guest Services Purser for 3 years and our voyages were seven day cruises to the Inside Passage that started and finished in Vancouver and where passengers got to explore the twisting and sheltered waterways between the coast and the offshore islands. I visited ports as far north as Skagway and Haines (twin ports) and southern ports such as Juneau and Ketchikan. Sitka has been added to most cruise itineraries now but I have not been there.

As a purser we had to sell the shore excursions when the team were taking the excursions. Passengers were often disappointed when the excursion they wanted to go on was full when they could have pre-booked this prior to travel. It is widely known that Alaskan excursions sell out faster than any other region and I always advise clients of this at booking stage, they will thank-you for letting them know.

I did a lot of excursions from whale watching in Juneau to flying in a helicopter onto glaciers but my favourite excursion was to sail up Misty Fjords and experience its “noisy” silence!

My favourite Glacier is Glacier Bay, and I also experienced Hubbard Glacier. Most cruise lines have a lecturer making announcements as you sail in and out of port giving passengers the detailed history of each port and glacier. Holland America Line has a high percentage of the permits to visit Glacier Bay than any other cruise line.

An outside stateroom with a Balcony is a must for an Alaskan Cruise because those passengers that don’t have one will be sandwiched between other passengers on the open decks trying to take photos! Your clients will thank-you (again) for this advice.

When I go back to Alaska I want to go with Crystal Cruises!

Brendan O'Connor
Travelmax