European Cruise Advisor

The Cunard Line recently announced with great gusto, the 2011 World Voyages. As of January 2011, Cunard which is one of the youngest cruise fleet on the oceans, will be seeing set sail two of its majestic ocean cruise liners departing on global voyages that combined will be calling at 57 ports over 34 countries. The new Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 will both be on their maiden voyages, travelling a global east-west route. With each liner offering unique itineraries including: overnight stops in Hong Kong, Dubai, Sydney for the Queen Mary 2, and the same including cape town for the Queen Elizabeth as well as outstanding trademarked White Star service with fine dining.

Queen Mary 2

The Queen Mary 2 will start off on her fourth world voyage from New York in the USA, this being her second east-west voyage around the world. Calling at the ports of Fort Lauderdale before heading on to the Caribbean and South America as well as Barbados Uruguay and Brazil the ship will overnight stop in Cape Town before moving onto Australasia and Indonesia, taking in China and Japan on the way. From here its on via Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand and after that Dubai. From here on in the European cruise leg of the voyage starts including the Suez Canal and one in the Mediterranean, will be stopping off in Monaco, Italy, Spain and finally the UK which is the last destination of the 103 day journey.

Queen Elizabeth world Maiden Voyage.

The Queen Elizabeth 2 will be making a complete circumnavigation of the world departing from her home port of Southampton on the south coast of England. Initially crossing the Atlantic ocean bound for New Your, the Queen Elizabeth will include destinations in the order: Panama Canal – Los Angeles, sailing westward on the Pacific to Sydney for an overnight stay, South Pacific to New Zealand then onto the heart of Asia to visit Hong Kong, Singapore, Bali, Thailand and Vietnam. Then onto Malaysia and India next onto Dubai and then Oman followed by the Suez canal to access to the European countries of Egypt, Greece, Italy, the Mediterranean past Gibraltar onto Portugal and finally back to Southampton completing a 103 day cruise.

Also note that Cunard are able to offer passengers the chance to experience a combination of the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2. By starting the Voyage aboard the Queen Elizabeth from New York and changing ships to the Queen Mary 2 once they reach Sydney Australia.

For more information on Cunard line Cruises visit the Cunard website.

Going Ashore

Unless you are cruising the Atlantic or perhaps on a cruise without a destination, then your ship will of course spend time in port.

So that each cruise line can have differing and attractive itineraries to attract and encourage new passengers to travel with them, they will attempt to include a vast variety of activities ranging from surfing to day visit to the culture capital cities of the world.

Once you have arrived aboard your ship, unpacked and gotten the lay of the ship worked out, you will no doubt find that the cruise liner, as a means of transport is about as carefree and relaxing as you would have imagined. You will be travelling between destinations in luxury and even though life about a modern cruise liner is the epitome of relaxation, visiting the ports and places that the ship will be calling at is an intriguing opportunity to investigate and explore new surroundings and cultures.

Spending Time in Port

If as a cruise passenger, you are interested in spending as much time in port as you can, then making sure you select the right itinerary for you is important. This clearly involves looking at the schedules of the cruises and identifying which ports the ships will visit as well as how long the stay will be. This is especially important if you have something specific you want to see on your European cruise, for example in Rome or Venice.

With a ship arriving in port at roughly 8am in the morning, passengers will be able to leave the ship within half an hour, once the finalities of docking have been seen to, this will include something sometimes called ‘clearing’. This is the process whereby before passengers are allowed ashore, the local officials will come aboard to inspect the ships paperwork and perhaps examine some passenger’s passports to ensure everything is in order. Depending on circumstances this may be quite quick are take longer if for example passengers who have specific immigration requirements do not present themselves promptly.

Sometime cruise liners will not actually dock at certain port, perhaps the waters are too shallow or the dock too small, in this case a boat called a Tender will take passengers ashore, generally those with pre-booked shore excursions with the cruise line will get priority and everyone else will be on a first come first served basis usually using a ticketing system.

One thing to bear in mind is the most cruises will require its passengers back aboard at least half an hour before departing, so for a typical 8am until 4pm day this will give you seven hours or so to fit everything in. This is where planning comes in handy.
Some places a quite small, however places such as Venice in Italy are too large to explore in one day, so making sure you know what you want to see in advance is an advantage (this includes using a few maps to figure out how you will get to each place). Alternatively this is where a pre-planned cruise line arranged excursion has the advantages, its all done for you so you don’t need to worry about missing out.

Some ports of call will be overnight stays, in this case the ship will not arrive and leave in one day bit will dock overnight. This means that you will get the excellent opportunity to dine ashore, rather than aboard ship if you so prefer. Also it means that you can explore further inland, for example if you were docking a Spanish port such as Barcelona or Valencia.

With so many different shore excursions on offer from the cruise lines, especially for European cruise operators, shore excursions are something that should be part of any cruise vacation.

Just yesterday the brand new Yacht from Seabourn, elegantly name “Seabourn Odyssey” was launched. Described by Seabourn as their first ultra-luxury vessel to be debuted in six years, a successful launch from its port in Venice was enjoyed by many.
The vessel being capable of providing accommodation for up to 450 passengers and being 32, 000 tonnes has 225 luxurious suites, with nine out of ten suites having their own verandas; the Seabourn Odyssey has one of the highest spaces to guest ratios in the cruise industry for a ship of its class.

The Odyssey has four top notch restaurants on board as well a fantastic selection of amenities that guests may enjoy. With the Seabourn Odyssey being the first of three new ships to be built, the Seabourn Sojourn is due to be launched in June 2010 and a third, as yet unnamed vessel in 2011. With the advent of this new ship, Seabourn have increased their capacity by 216% which is great news for the line.

On the day of the launch Pamela Conover, President and CEO of The Yachts of Seabourn had this to say. “It is with great pleasure that I welcome Seabourn Odyssey to our distinguished fleet of yachts,” she added that “The launch of Odyssey allows us to serve more travellers but still offer the intimate and exclusive experience which has made us a leader in the luxury cruising market.”

Some of the amenities and onboard facilities are some of the best the industry has to offer, for example the Odyssey has the largest spa on any luxury cruise liner coming in at an astounding 1000 square meters. On offer in the spa to passengers are a Hydro pools, two herbal steam rooms as well as spa villa complete with whirlpools. Each villa has a private baloney where you can sunbath a double daybed and a full living room accommodation. With top of the line service, all guests can expect quality personal service from the staff.

With four restaurants to dine in, passengers of the Odyssey are in for a culinary experience to remember with fine-dining on the menu, specially arranged by Charlie Palmer as well as more casual open air Patio grills. If you prefer to dine from your suite then this is also available, where you will get the choice to choose your courses as suits you.

The Odyssey in fact comprises of eleven decks with two outdoor swimming pools, six outdoor whirlpools and a unique marina where you can experience water sports. Also you will find a nine-hole mini golf course for your use. In the evenings there is facility to allow uninterrupted stargazing. If you need to stay on the net, Seabourn provide access to branded net books and iPods that you may loan.

With the Odyssey initially voyaging the Mediterranean through the Summer 2009 and early autumn it will then sail on to the Caribbean when it will leave on Seabourn’s first world cruise, comprising of a 108 day voyage departing January 5th 2010 when it will be visiting twenty six countries and forty two ports on six continents.