Getting married on one of Cunard's Queens

A little while ago I wrote about the growing popularity of getting married on board ship. It seems even the great liners can't resist the pull of a wedding. From 2012 Cunard will be offering on board weddings. Couples will be able to choose between the three Queens - Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary 2 or Queen Victoria.
In order to do this Cunard has to change the registration of their liners from Southampton England to Hamilton in Bermuda which means they will no longer fly the British Red Ensign flag - a change that will disappoint those who love the Britishness of Cunard. (I am sure the red pillar post box on board will remain however!)

Getting married on board ship will appeal to many - and some will choose to also honeymoon on board - maybe encouraging the rest of the wedding party to disembark in port after a few days so they can enjoy the romance of a cruise!

Safety concerns and the Costa Concordia

The tragedy of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy in the last week will have many thinking about the safety aspects of cruise liners. The chances that you will be caught in a shipwreck are very small but the fact that is has happened is enough.

This accident looks like it may have been the result of human error or faulty navigation equipment
The cruise industry is very safety conscious.
Douglas Ward author of the  Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Ships writes in the latest newsletter: "In light of the Costa Concordia tragedy, it is timely that new IMO (International Maritime Organisation) regulations due to come into effect soon require that all newly built cruise ships have the capability to "return to port" in the event of a major casualty or fire. In other words, all new cruise ships will, in effect, become their own (large) lifeboats. The rules were made because of the sheer size of new ships introduced in the past few years."
You can read more about the safety program here. 
The other matter that clearly needs to be addressed is that of life boat drill. Many cruise lines - including Cunard, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian - hold life boat drill before the ship leaves port - and the fact that on board the Costa Concordia the drill had not yet taken place is part of the tragedy.  I have not witnessed anyone not paying attention at life boat drill but I understand that some passengers on some ships don't take it seriously. It is to be hoped that they do from now on.

Airy fairy air fare

What is it that makes every day in travel exciting? Yes - even I find it exciting...
Learning, and doing stuff - sorry, talking like a kid - Learning, and assisting our clients; that's what.
So today, I rose to that challenge when shown an air fare booking by a client who had used points to gain a credit from a retail chain travel agent. The itinerary, to the Americas, was Economy class travel for 2 persons and a credit had been applied for the points used - and the balance paid by credit card.

How I wish I could now write " And we saved them $xxx...!!!"
But unfortunately, the tickets had already been issued.
Our calculation, even with no applied credit, and despite the fact that we charged the applicable  merchant fee, would have saved our client $476 on exactly the same flights.

Frankly, I was surprised. Yes we are cruise specialists, but we are above all a full-service travel agency.
If you have one (of that endangered species) it pays to get them to check those "deals".