Set Sail For Alaska In 2012!

We know we are often ahead of trends (as well as creating them), but it seems our big Alaska feature in the Winter edition (see it online on this link on pages 19-30) has created real cruise demand in 2012.

So much so, in fact, that several cruise agents have dubbed this year 'The Year of Alaska,' highlighting all the great quality, style, wildlife opportunities and value of cruising in America's 49th state.

Chief among them are The Cruise Line Ltd, who have even published their own brochure with all the best cruises, land tours - including the amazing Rocky Mountaineer train - excursions, sights and extra options for sailing in this magnificent part of the world. Choose from the large-scale experience of Princess Cruises, Holland America and Celebrity or the small-scale, deluxe style of American Safari Cruises, Regent Seven Seas or Silversea.

We have been big fans of Alaska and the benefits of cruising here for many years and our editor also highlighted the region in a feature three years ago (see it on this link), but it remains true that a cruise is the ideal way to see what is genuinely the Big Country.

For more booking details, be sure to contact The Cruise Line Ltd on 0800 008 6677 or www.cruiseline.co.uk.

Behind the Scenes With Celebrity

 

Celebrity Cruises is now offering guests an inside look into the world of its cruise ship operations with the new “Celebrity Inside Access,” which takes guests on a rare journey behind the scenes of the Celebrity fleet, including to the bridge and other non-public areas.

The Inside Access programme invites guests to join two exclusive activities, the “See How It’s Done Tour” and the “Bridge Sail Away Experience.” Here's how they work:

• The See How It’s Done Tour guides a small group of guests through several otherwise non-public areas of the ship, including the bridge, mooring deck, crew gym, theatre, engine control room, prep rooms and the main dining room galley. At each area, guests have the opportunity to interact with expert members of the crew. Each tour is followed by a lunch hosted by an officer in the main dining room.
  
  
• The Bridge Sail Away Experience offers guests the opportunity to join the navigational team on the bridge as the ship sails from port. Beginning 30 minutes before and concluding 30 minutes after departing, guests are given a tour and an overview of the bridge conducted by a senior Celebrity officer. Guests also have the opportunity to meet and take photos with the ship’s captain.

The Inside Access programme is now offered on all ships and available for purchase onboard, with the See How It's Done Tour available at $150 per person and the Bridge Sail Away Experience at $75 per person.

For booking details, be sure to check out this link with the UK's luxury cruise specialists, The Cruise Line Ltd.

Get A Balcony Upgrade With Celebrity

The offers are coming in thick and fast this week - and some more pre-Christmas cheer! How about this one: join Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Eclipse on a 14-night Iceland and Fjords cruise from just £2,473 per person (based on two people sharing an oceanview stateroom) this summer.

This price includes a free upgrade from an oceanview to a balcony stateroom (if booked by January 31) and a 14-night cruise departing from Southampton and calling at Reykjavik (Iceland), Akureyri (Iceland), Klaksvik (Faroe Islands), Geiranger (Norway), Molde (Norway), Flam (Norway) and Bergen (Norway) before returning to Southampton; all meals and entertainment on board and all relevant cruise taxes/fees.

Plus, guests receive FREE car parking in Southampton port or a complimentary coach transfer to the port, if booked by January 31. Price is based on a July 7 departure.

For booking details, be sure to check out this link with the UK's leading cruise agent specialists, The Cruise Line Ltd.

A Canary Islands New Year or Norwegian Fjords Summer?

Bring in the New Year with Royal Caribbean on board their Independence of the Seas on a 12-night Spain & Canary Islands cruise, and pay just £949 per person (based on two people sharing an inside cabin).

This fab lead-in price includes the 12-night cruise, departing from Southampton and calling at Lisbon, Funchal (Madeira), Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), Tenerife and La Coruna before returning to Southampton; all meals and entertainment onboard, plus all relevant cruise taxes/fees. Price is based on the December 29 departure.

For more information or to book use this link for specialist cruise agents The Cruise Line Ltd.

Or how about planning a summer voyage? You can have fun in the Fjords with Celebrity Cruises aboard their Celebrity Eclipse on an eight-night Norwegian cruise from just £937 per person in May (based on two people sharing an inside stateroom).

This price includes an eight-night cruise departing Southampton and calling at Bergen, Flam, Geiranger (above) and Oslo before returning to Southampton; all meals and entertainment and all relevant cruise taxes/fees. Price is based on a May 4 departure.

For more information or to book use this link for agents The Cruise Line Ltd.

British Travel Awards? Baseless Travel Awards, More Like

The British Travel Awards were announced this week, with the usual cruise section being among the many categories to be honoured.

Great, I thought, another chance for the cruise industry to spread its message and for some worthy winners to be acknowledged. And, sure enough, there were FOUR wins for P&O Cruises, one for Cunard (as Cruise Line of the Year), and one each for Voyages of Discovery, Viking River Cruises and Thomson Cruises (the latter for Best Cruise Holiday Retailer; but, er, Thomson Cruises only sell Thomson Cruises).

Having started off fairly enthusiastic about the whole idea, I started to look a bit closer. And then the whole premise totally fell apart. The British Travel Awards? The Baseless Travel Awards would be a better title.

Irrespective of the fact that all the winners were mostly just the BIGGEST operator in their category (while Voyages of Discovery, as good as they are as a 'niche' Cruise Line, were actually one of the sponsors of the awards. Like, they weren't going to get an award?).

You can almost make out an argument for Cunard as Cruise Line of the Year; after all, they have all of three ships, so they just about constitute a fleet. They also sail to large parts of the world. Almost 50% of their passengers are British, so they just about qualify there, too. But when the likes of Disney, Seabourn, Oceania, Carnival, Costa and Celebrity have all debuted brand new ships (whole new designs for Disney and Oceania in particular), and Celebrity have been universally lauded for the continued development of their Solstice-class vessels, you have to think Cunard might struggle realistically to figure in the top three. Heck, I doubt if they would be in the top 10 for most cruise aficianados.

I could almost be happy with P&O as Mainstream Cruise Line of the Year, if the likes of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and NCL hadn't offered newer and more innovative ships and onboard features this year. Oh wait; Royal Caribbean did actually place second in this category. But then Thomson Cruises (another mass-market operator) came in third. Ahead of NCL and Celebrity; and Holland America, Costa, MSC Cruises, Princess, Oceania and Fred Olsen, too, all of whom would have a greater claim here.

P&O also claimed Best Family Line, which is a worthy award as they do provide great kids' facilities and activity programmes. But Disney are pretty darn spectacular, as are NCL, Carnival, Celebrity and Princess, but none of them even merited a mention (although Thomson - again - did get third place. Thomson - for a family cruise line? Give me a break. Oh, hang on - they were another one of the sponsors, too).

But it was P&O as 'Best Luxury Cruise Line' that really set me off. Luxury cruise line? What, better than Seabourn or Silversea; or Regent or Crystal? Better than Oceania or SeaDream, Azamara or Windstar? I would consider all of Celebrity, Holland America, Princess, NCL, Cunard AND Star Clippers in in any debate about 'luxury line.' Hell's teeth, P&O might struggle to make the top 20!

Does anyone at the British Travel Awards even know what 'luxury' actually means? But then when Titan Travel gets third place in the Best River Cruise Line, you know these awards truly are utterly pointless, an exercise only in acknowledging the big players (and, presumably, getting a lot of money out of them for attending and promotion).

Memo to British Travel Awards: Titan Travel, while they are an excellent tour operator, are not a 'line' of any kind. They have zero ships and only a small river-cruise portfolio (compared to any one of 20 genuine river-cruise lines). It really boggles the mind that anyone swallows this preposterous tosh.

And, if I can debunk the Cruise awards this easily, what credibility do ANY of the BTA's highly-touted honours have? They have 11 different sections and multiple winners in most of them.

So, if anyone actually points out these awards to you and says "They must be good, they are Best Small Niche Tour Operator Mainstream Cruise Line Provider Of The year," you can yawn and say, "Yes, and I'm up for a Nobel Peace prize, too."

Free Balcony Upgrades With Celebrity

Head to the geysers in Iceland, learn how to dance like a Russian or just soak up the sun in the Med, and do it all in the ultimate luxury of a private balcony with a new offer from Celebrity Cruises. Book a holiday on Celebrity Eclipse in 2012 by October 31 and receive a FREE upgrade to a veranda stateroom.

A typical 14-night Mediterranean cruise in September costs from just £1,699 per person and qualifies for the free upgrade offer (based on two people sharing). Departing from Southampton, the voyage calls as Malaga, Nice (Villefranche), Rome (Civitavecchia), Florence (Livorno), Genoa, Gibraltar and Lisbon before returning to Southampton and includes meals and entertainment onboard and all relevant cruise taxes/fees. The offer is available on 22 sailings on Celebrity Eclipse from May to October 2012.

In addition, Celebrity Cruises is also offering guests $100 onboard credit per stateroom on any cruise over six nights in 2012 (except Alaska and Galapagos).

For more information, visit www.celebritycruises.co.uk or the UK's leading cruise specialists of The Cruise Line Ltd.

Great Celebrity Winter Offer

Join Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Solstice for a 12-night Mediterranean & Greek Isles fly/cruise from £974 per person (based on two people sharing an inside stateroom). That’s just £81.17 per person per night.

This price includes return flights from Heathrow, transfers, a 12-night cruise departing from Barcelona and calling at Livorno (for Florence), Civitavecchia (for Rome), Naples/Capri, Chania (Crete), Ephesus (Kusadasi, Turkey), Piraeus (Athens, Greece) and Valletta (Malta) before returning to Barcelona; meals and entertainment onboard and all relevant cruise taxes/fees.

Price is based on a November 4 departure.

For more info, visit www.celebritycruises.co.uk or, for bookings, contact the cruise specialist agents of The Cruise Line Ltd.

Discover New Experiences With Celebrity Silhouette

Be among the inaugural cruise season crowd aboard Celebrity Cruises’ brand new ship Celebrity Silhouette on a 12-night Holy Land fly/cruise from just £1,072 per person (based on two people sharing an inside stateroom).

Silhouette offers a host of brand new onboard venues and experiences including the interactive “Lawn Club Grill,” where guests can select and grill their own meats alongside expert chefs; “The Alcoves” relaxing, private, Wi-Fi-equipped cabanas on the real grass lawn; and “The Hideaway” with private tree-houses available where guests can read, listen to music and surf the net.

The price includes return flights from London Heathrow, transfers and a 12-night cruise departing from Civitavecchia (Rome) en route to Palermo (Sicily), Haifa (Israel), Ashdod (for Jerusalem), Mykonos (Greece) and Naples/Capri (Italy) before returning to Civitavecchia; meals and entertainment onboard and all relevant cruise taxes/fees.

Price is based on an October 10 departure.



For more info, visit www.celebritycruises.co.uk. or, for bookings, consult the specialist cruise travel agents of The Cruise Line Ltd.

Greece & Turkey The Celebrity Way

How's this for the Deal of the Day? Join Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Constellation on a 12-night Greek Isles & Turkey fly/cruise from just £1,262 per person this autumn (based on two people sharing an inside stateroom).

The price includes return flights from London Heathrow, transfers and a 12-night Greek Isles & Turkey cruise departing from Istanbul and calling at Kusadasi (for Ephesus, Turkey), Bodrum (Turkey), Rhodes (Greece), Marmaris (Turkey), Santorini (Greece), Piraeus (for Athens), Mykonos (Greece) and Chania (Crete) before returning to Istanbul; meals and entertainment onboard and all relevant cruise taxes/fees. Price is based on October 13 departure.

For more info, visit www.celebritycruises.co.uk or the specialist cruise agents of The Cruise Line Ltd on 0800 008 6677.

Celebrity's Adriatic Bonus

Here's a great cruise deal to ponder this weekend: Join Celebrity Cruises’ excellent Solstice-class ship Celebrity Eclipse on a 16-night Western Mediterranean and Adriatic cruise this autumn from just £1,299 (or just £81.19/person per night, based on two sharing an inside cabin).

The price includes the full 16-night voyage sailing from Southampton and calling at Seville (for Cadiz), Cagliari (Sardinia), Palermo (Sicily), Venice, Dubrovnik (Croatia), Cartagena and La Coruna before returning to Southampton; all meals and entertainment onboard and all relevant cruise taxes/fees. Price is based on an October 14 departure.

For more info, visit www.celebritycruises.co.uk or conmtact the specialist cruise agents of The Cruise Line Ltd.

First Look At New Silhouette!

Celebrity Cruises’ new Celebrity Silhouette has emerged from Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg (Germany) for the first time.

Silhouette is the fourth in Celebrity Cruises’, five-ship Solstice Class fleet. She sets sail in July, offering a host of industry-first venues and experiences within The Lawn Club.

In addition to The Art Studio, the new venues include the interactive Lawn Club Grill, where guests can select and grill their own meats alongside Celebrity's expert chefs, or have them cooked to order; the relaxing, private, Wi-Fi-equipped cabanas called The Alcoves, and The Porch, a casual dining spot offering sandwiches, coffees and views of the sea and the ship’s lawn. Silhouette also will present another entirely new venue, The Hideaway, an intimate, quiet space reminiscent of a childhood tree house.

For more information about Celebrity Cruises visit www.celebritycruises.co.uk or The Cruise Line

Head For The Sunshine with Celebrity

Join Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Constellation for a sunshine-laden 12-night Greek Isles & Turkey fly/cruise from just £1,294 per person (based on two sharing an inside stateroom) this autumn.

The price includes return flights from London Heathrow, transfers and the 12-night Greek Isleas & Turkey cruise departing Istanbul and calling at Ephesus, Bodrum, Marmaris, Rhodes, Santorini, Athens, Mykonos and Chania (Crete), before returning to Istanbul; meals and entertainment onboard and all relevant cruise taxes/fees. Price based on September 19 departure.

For more info, visit www.celebritycruises.co.uk or contact the cruise-agent specialists of The Cruise Line Ltd on 0800 008 6677.

Celebrity's Interactive Art Programme

Celebrity Cruises is offering guests the opportunity to create original works of their own, within “The Art Studio” onboard Celebrity Silhouette through a new partnership with ArtCenter/South Florida.

Located within the distinctive Lawn Club area on the top deck of Celebrity's newest ship, The Art Studio will offer a wide variety of lectures, demonstrations and interactive classes, including jewellery creation, sketching and painting. When Celebrity Silhouette debuts in July, guests will have the opportunity to participate in interactive sessions with artists Leslie LaCombe and Armando Droulers.

LaCombe worked in the art departments of film and television for many years. She then studied silver jewellery design with accomplished artist Billy King in Mexico, and soon found her work on display at a prominent local gallery. She has travelled extensively in south-east Asia, India and Europe, with the various cultures inspiring many of her works. Today, LaCombe lives in Miami, teaches at ArtCenter/South Florida, and continues to produce handcrafted precious stone and metal jewellery in her studio located on Miami’s famed South Beach.

Armando Droulers is an art historian, artist and educator who studied at Bard College, Academia de Arte Federico Brandt, New World School of the Arts, and the University of South Florida. He lectures extensively on art and culture, and also organises art tours and cultural events across the globe. Droulers has lived in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and the U.S., and speaks fluent English, Spanish and French. On Silhouette, Droulers will teach drawing, watercolour and collage classes, offer presentations on the history and art of the destinations the ship visits, and will lead art and wine lectures in the ship’s CellarMasters wine bar, and sketching courses in various ports of call.

Celebrity Silhouette is one of FIVE Celebrity ships offering premium cruise options in Europe this year, from six departure ports. She sets sail in July, offering a host of industry-first venues and experiences within The Lawn Club. In addition to The Art Studio, the new venues include the interactive Lawn Club Grill, where guests can select and grill their own meats alongside Celebrity's expert chefs, or have them cooked to order; the relaxing, private, Wi-Fi-equipped cabanas, called The Alcoves, and The Porch, a breezy, casual dining spot offering sandwiches, coffees and views of the sea and the ship’s lawn. Silhouette also will present another entirely new venue, The Hideaway, an intimate, quiet space reminiscent of a childhood tree house.

For more info, visit www.celebritycruises.co.uk or try the specialist cruise agents of The Cruise Line Ltd.

Celebrity's First Asia Season Now On Sale

Celebrity Cruises has announced its first-ever season sailing in Asia in the winter of 2012/13, and the series of voyages on Celebrity Millennium is now on sale, visiting nine countries new to the brand, including Vietnam, Thailand and China.

Celebrity's inaugural Asian season will consist of a series of 14-night open-jaw cruises between Singapore and Hong Kong and includes overnight stays in Singapore, Bangkok (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Halong Bay (Vietnam) and Hong Kong. The season also will include two 14-night sailings round-trip from Singapore with overnight stays in Bali (Indonesia) in January 2013.

At either end of Millennium’s Asia season will be two trans-Pacific sailings. The westbound cruise will coincide with the total solar eclipse in November 2012. Guests will be able to view the eclipse while at sea when sailing from Fiji to New Zealand. In April 2013, the ship will reposition from Hong Kong to Shanghai on a cruise featuring overnight calls in Hong Kong and Beijing (Tianjin). Millennium will then continue eastbound across the North Pacific to Alaska and will call at various ports in China, Japan, and Russia.

Guests can also take advantage of one of Celebrity's signature cruise-tours, which combine a cruise with a five-night pre or post-cruise escorted land package out of Hong Kong. They will feature trips to Xian and Beijing to view the famed Terracotta Warriors and the Great Wall of China. All of these packages are escorted by a local tour director and include hotel accommodations, transportation, select activities, breakfasts and some additional meals.

While sailing, a variety of shore excursions are available. A number of overnight stays in port will offer the opportunity to enjoy two or three-day excursions, with examples including a two-night/three-day overland experience from Bangkok to Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat (Cambodia). The tour focuses on the temples of Angkor to see the best examples of stone carvings recovered from temples across Cambodia.

During cruises that include an overnight stay in port at Halong Bay (Hanoi), an overnight shore excursion offers a visit to the Old Quarter of the city; an opportunity to witness unique Vietnamese performing arts at the Hanoi Water Puppet Theatre; dinner at a traditional restaurant; and an overnight stay in a leading hotel.

For more info, see www.celebritycruises.co.uk or contact the cruise agent specialists of The Cruise Line Ltd on 0800 008 6677.

Celebrity Begins Construction of Reflection

Celebrity Cruises President & CEO Dan Hanrahan has activated the first cut of steel for the fifth in the five-ship Solstice Class, Celebrity Reflection, at shipbuilder Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany. The sleek, 3,030-guest ship will debut in the autumn of 2012.

This takes place whilst sister ship Celebrity Silhouette is in the final phases of construction. Silhouette sets sail in July of this year, featuring a host of industry-first venues and experiences within The Lawn Club, including the interactive Lawn Club Grill, where guests can select and grill their own meats side-by-side with Celebrity's expert chefs, or have them cooked to order; the relaxing, private, Wi-Fi equipped cabanas called The Alcoves; The Porch, a casual dining spot offering sandwiches, coffees and views of the sea and the ship’s lush lawn; and The Art Studio, where holiday-makers can bring out their inner artist. The ship also will present another entirely new venue, The Hideaway, an intimate, quiet space reminiscent of a childhood tree house.

Celebrity Reflection will also feature all of these new onboard venues, in addition to the line’s first AquaClass suites, expanding on Celebrity's in-demand, spa-inspired AquaClass accommodations. The new experiences will join the other venues and attributes already associated with the Solstice Class ships (detailed in depth here on Time Spent At Sea in Feb/March, and also in the forthcoming summer edition of World of Cruising).

For more info, visit www.celebritycruises.co.uk or for bookings, see the special cruise agents of The Cruise Line Ltd.

New Ex-UK Cruise from Celebrity

Celebrity Cruises has announced their bumper summer 2012 itineraries for UK-based Celebrity Eclipse. Be one of the first to sign up for the brand new 14-night Iceland & Fjords cruise from just £1,599 per person (based on two people sharing an inside stateroom).

The price includes a 14-night Iceland & Fjords voyage (cruise-only) departing from Southampton and calling at Reykjavik (Iceland), Akureyri (Iceland), Klaksvik (Faroe Islands) and then Geiranger (above), Alesund, Olden and Bergen (all Norway), before retuning to Southampton; meals and entertainment onboard and all relevant cruise taxes/fees. Price is based on July 7, 2012, departure.

For more information, visit www.celebritycruises.co.uk or contact the cruise agent specialist of The Cruise Line Ltd.

The Eclipse Experience

OK, this is WAY overdue, but here is a more detailed review (as opposed to a few hurried blog photos!) of our recent cruise on the new (in summer 2010) Celebrity Eclipse, summing up the main high points before our big World of Cruising feature in the summer edition.

To start with, this is the third (of five) Celebrity Cruises ships in the Solstice class, with the 122,000-ton vessels all garnering a huge amount of critical acclaim since their launch. This was our first full look at one of the ships on a regular cruise, hence it serves as a more accurate benchmark of their overall quality.

It is also highly pertinent to the European market, as Celebrity will have all three (to be joined by the new Celebrity Silhouette in July) in either the Baltic or Mediterrean this summer, offering an unprecedented range of cruises - and cruise quality. Eclipse is also based exclusively out of Southampton for the season, meaning she is a superb ex-UK cruise choice.

To begin with, our cruise sailed from the less than inspiring confines of the Port of Miami. This may be fine for the big, mass-market cruise lines, but Celebrity must be less than delighted that their passengers are herded around this huge, impersonal and less-than-user-friendly embarkation port like so many cattle. It is not a great starting point for an upmarket holiday and the lack of sign-posting as you drive in to the port (if you are not on an organised transfer from the airport) is quite astonishing. You can see where your ship IS, but getting to it is a whole 'nother story!

Anyway, that minor quibble aside, we were soon leaving the chaotic Florida port behind for 7 days visiting San Juan (Puerto Rico), Philipsburg (St Maarten) and St Kitts, with 3 full at-sea days to enjoy all the considerable facilities of the ship. As it turned out, it was a great balance, and we were very happy to just wander the three ports of call under our own steam (trying one ship excursion, on St Kitts) and soak up some much-needed winter sun.

Looking purely at the ship, this is a BIG proposition in almost every way. Far bigger (by at least 30%) than the other members of the fleet, we were slightly wary that Celebrity's usual style for fine food and service would be rather stretched with almost 3,000 passengers to cater for (and this was a nearly-full cruise).

But we needn't have worried. The ship may be big on the outside (and l-o-n-g on the inside - pick a cabin at either end and you are always seemingly a mile away from the nearest restaurant/lounge/show!), but it is beautifully designed to be small-scale inside, with a host of places offering a quiet corner or more personal experience.

True, the main dining room, the Moonlight Sonata, is a sizeable proposition, and dining upstairs with the Select Dining scheme (Celebrity's version of the dine-when-you-want policy) can be quite busy with people coming and going for much of the time. But otherwise everything is fairly modest in size terms and easy to get to grips with.

The selection of bars and lounges is superb and there is genuinely something for everyone, from the high-tech Molecular Bar with its bubbling cocktails to the elegance and sophistication of the Ensemble Lounge and Michael's Club. Dining is a similar proposition, with no less than five alternative choices to the main dining room for dinner (six if you count the AquaSpa suite category of the health-conscious Blu restaurant).

The choices during the day also extended to an extremely pleasant range, including the real 'discovery' of the AquaSpa Cafe (again with a range of very healthy options), the Mast Grill and extensive buffet-style Oceanview Grill, as well as the Moonlight Sonata itself. There is a $5/person charge to dine at The Bistro (for lunch and dinner) and the Cafe al Bacio and Gelateria also charges for its fare. But it is perfectly possible to dine at a range of venues without any additional levy.

However, if you did, you would be missing out on the real treats of the Tuscan Grille, Murano Restaurant and the oddly eclectic Qsine. The former two are real standout, stylish and high-quality supper-club style dining rooms (which must be pre-booked at a $30/head surcharge) while the latter is Celebrity's real novel touch, a wildly varied and fun restaurant that has iPads for menus and a tapas-style ethic that doesn't even begin to describe its culinary style.

In some ways it is a work in progress as the ship is still finding out what works in its quirky format and what doesn't, but for groups of four or more it is a highly enjoyable way to spend two hours over dinner and try a huge variety of food, from Chinese and Indian to Mexican and European, all opf varying proportions (from modest appetiser-size to gargantuan enough-for-six plates!). Each dish is served in a completely different way and it is meant to be as much a fun exercise as anything else and, if you're in the right mood, it is an absolute riot.

However, for all the elegance and style throughout the ship, the one surprise element that totally captivated us was the Corning Museum Hot Glass show up on the Lawn Club deck (where there is real grass!). Here, G Brian, Dan and Jamie put on some fabulous entertainment every day, several times a day, exhibiting a real art with hot glass blowing that fair took the breath away. The trio, all from the Corning Museum, were at once hugely engrossing, educational, fun and personable, making every show different and absolutely riveting watching.

When I first heard the concept announced a few years ago (it is only on the first 3 Solstice-class ships; Silhouette and Reflection will have a different restaurant/relaxation area on the Lawn Club deck) I was convinced it would be, at best, a gimmicky five-minute wonder, but I could not have been more wrong.

The fact they held regular (free) raffles to give away art pieces made just the day before and also held an end-of-cruise auction for three outstanding works just added to the experience; we were complete glass-blowing addicts by the second day! The trio kept up a highly enjoyable banter throughout each 2-hour show and they seldom seemed to repeat themselves, making every experience something new and truly worthwhile.

So, when we're now asked to sum up our Eclipse experience, we just say it is a really Hot proposition...!

Celebrity Solstice Heads Down Under

Another thing of beauty will share Sydney Harbour when premium cruise brand Celebrity Cruises sends its award-winning Celebrity Solstice to Australia and New Zealand for the first time in the winter of 2012-13.

Australians will enjoy the return of the Celebrity Cruises brand to the region this coming winter with the deployment of the 1,814-guest Celebrity Century while her subsequent replacement will be the 2,850-guest Solstice (above).

Upon arriving in Australia, Solstice will present a series of 12 and 13-night sailings between Sydney and Auckland. The season also will include a circumnavigation of Australia, consisting of two sailings between Sydney and Perth (Fremantle). Many of the itineraries include overnight stays in Sydney.

Celebrity will also continue to offer its popular Australia/New Zealand cruise-tour programme geared toward guests who wish to combine a land-based holiday with a cruise.

Premium concierge-style service is the hallmark of Celebrity’s four and five-night pre and post-cruise escorted packages, which include Port Douglas (Great Barrier Reef), Ayers Rock (Uluru) and Sydney. A six-night pre-cruise New Zealand package will visit Auckland, Rotorua, Queenstown and Sydney. Highlights include a full-day tour over the Great Barrier Reef and a gourmet barbecue dinner at Ayers Rock. All of Celebrity’s cruise-tours are escorted by local tour directors and include hotel accommodations, transportation, select activities, breakfast and some additional meals.

Full details will be available on March 23, when bookings for the new 2012-13 Australia/New Zealand itineraries will open for sale. Bookings for the 1,814-guest Celebrity Century’s 2011-12 Australia/New Zealand cruises are open now.

For more information, see http://www.celebritycruises.co.uk/ or contact the specialist cruise agents of The Cruise Line Ltd.

Blissful Caribbean Cruising

Here is the perfect reason to enjor a winter cruise, and sample some Caribbean sun and style. This is from our Celebrity Eclipse cruise this week, calling at the Dutch/French island of St Maarten/St Martin today.

This is the view from the Dutch town of Phillipsburg, looking over the beach to the cruise port. Wish you were here?!

Looking ahead - Chance to check on Celebrity Eclipse

We will be sailing on the Celebrity Eclipse (the third of Celebrity's eye-catching Solstice-class vessels in 2010) from Miami this weekend, which will be the ideal opportunity to report back on the latest updates on Celebrity's popular and award-winning ship.

More than any other recent class of cruise ship (with the possible exception of the luxury-orientated Odyssey-class of Seabourn and the brand new Marina of Oceania Cruises), this is one that has really captured the public imagination and provided almost faultless word-of-mouth feedback from the people who matter most - the passengers.

It will be my first chance to see the Solstice class on a regular cruise and see just how she performs under normal circumstances, instead of the usual media previews.

So expect 'live' reports from the Caribbean next week (Internet permitting!) and a host of photos from our itinerary, which includes San Juan (Puerto Rico), St Maarten and St Kitts.

Stay tuned, now...!