Great Family Cruising

Advantages: Spacious rooms, great childrens facilities
Disadvantages: Very busy on top deck

...From beginning to end, our Mediterranean cruise on Ocean Village 2 was a great family experience. Booking is easy and can be done online, over the telephone or with your local travel agent. There is an online booking discount available of 5% however you are unable to book online if travelling with an infant, so will therefore need to call an Ocean Village representative, who, if you ask nicely will still honour the discount for you so you don't miss out. The flight to our cruise was from Manchester and was provided by Thomson Fly. Ocean Village charter this plane so all passengers have their own luggage allowance of 25kg and their own seat including infants. This meant we could easily take all our child's necessities in her own suitcase without having the worry of exceeding our baggage allowance. An in-flight meal was also provided...

rainy100 24.10.2007 (29.09.2007) · Read review
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Review of Ocean Village Cruise

A cruise on Windermere

Advantages: No driving, fresh air, wonderful scenery
Disadvantages: May be a bit wet and windy up top depending on the weather

...Each time we go to the Lake District we go on at least one cruise on Lake Windermere and our last visit was no exception ? we took my mother in law on the journey from Bowness to Ambleside and she loved it! The people who run the cruises are a company called Windermere Lake Cruises ? I bet it didn?t take too long to think of that name! The company runs cruises across the lake between Bowness, Ambleside (Waterhead) and Lakeside. Bowness is a pretty holiday town which is the ?heart? of the Lake District. It has all sorts of shops from the traditional Tesco, Boots, Co-op and clothes shops to shops selling souvenirs of every kind. There are also plenty of cafes and restaurants here making it an interesting place to spend a couple of hours. Ambleside is a beautiful town full of interesting shops selling everything from books to...

SusanLesley 06.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Windermere Lake Cruises, Windermere

  A Cruise to remember

Advantages: See all the ancient towns cities and temples
Disadvantages: The heat, but only if you let it grt to you

...During one of our holidays to Crocodile Island at Luxor in Egypt we signed up to go on a Nile Cruise with our tour operator, Thomsons. It was for four days and three nights and cost £330 all inclusive this included an outside cabin, (a window cabin), all meals some buffet some a la Carte, our own guide, (English speaking Egyptologist), all the trips and entrance charges to the temples and museums. We were so excited as we had not planned to do a cruise before we came to Egypt, but we were shown a short film and given all the details at our welcome rep meeting when we first arrived. They made the cruise sound so exotic and beautiful and yes they were right it was everything and more. We were advised on what we should wear and that we would need plenty of water as all the trips to the temples and museums would be at the hottest time...

yampy-uk 10.01.2006 · Read review
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Review of Nile cruises

Cruising On The Cheap

Advantages: Doesn't cost the earth, varied itinerary. Plenty to eat.
Disadvantages: Feels a bit like an up-market & mobile Butlins

...Like "JONYEE" who has also written about a similar cruise, I feel that at least one cruise is something you need to get out of your system. I would recommend an Airtours Cruise to anyone who isn't sure whether cruising is for them - that way they don't spend a king's ransom on something that turns out to be not to their taste. The Airtours Med cruises are centred around Palma in Mallorca. They can either be combined with a stay on the island, or taken alone. We opted for the former, since it cost hardly any more. The ship itself was a refurbished ex-Caribbean liner, hence the lower prices. The itinerary was demanding, with a full day somewhere different almost every day. However, in our case, the first leg involved 36 hours at sea to get to Ajaccio in Corsica. The journey was very boring, since I didn't want to sun-bathe, gamble...

BNibbles 18.12.2000 · Read review
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Review of Airtours cruise

Casual Caribbean Cruising

Advantages: Excellent food, huge cabins, fabulous entertainment
Disadvantages: Expensive shore excursions, annoying ships photographer

...We have just returned from a 2 week cruise of the Caribbean with Ocean Village. It was fabulous. Anyone younger than 50 who thinks cruises are all old age pensioners having a 6 course dinner at the captain's table can think again - the company's logo is "Cruises for People who Don't do Cruises" and this is certainly true. I've detailed below all the facilities etc that are on board the ship but outline briefly here our experience. We flew from Manchester with Thomas Cook and they were great. You check your bags in at the desk and you don't see them again until they arrive at your cabin later that evening. When you get off the plane in Barbados a coach arrives and takes you from the tarmac direct to Bridgetown Port meaning you don't have to queue up at customs in the airport. On arrival at Bridgetown Port one you have signed...

miggmoggspud 13.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of Ocean Village Cruise

Cruise Myths

Advantages: Hassel Free
Disadvantages: Diet

...are only for the elderly is gibberish. An unforgettable voyage of a life time, like I said cruising is for the very young to the very old and the ships facilities cater for every [possible event; they are outstanding. Cruising brings ships of every size and character, the world is your oyster. ships of every kind, from P&O; Princess; Thompson; Cunards; Royal Caribbean; Fred Olsen; NCL; Island cruises; Costa, At the top of the luxury list; The Silver Sea. Adult only ships like the Arcadia 1,996 passengers or for the young at heart Freedom of the Seas and not forgetting the very famous Disney cruise ship. http://www.seaview.co.uk/cruiselines/cunard/index.html Freedom of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) - This the largest cruise ship in the world with room for 4375 passengers with many facilities, a family favourite. Facilities...

halk 13.09.2007 (15.04.2008) · Read review
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Review of Member Advice on Cruises

CRUISING ...

Advantages: Entertaining & Fun (for all kids), Encourages Crawling & Cruising, Colourful, Versatile, 2 music modes, teaches dexterity, grows with child, multiple activities, ball holder
Disadvantages: Space requirements, volume, music is on the annoying side - only three songs, doesn't fold, potential safety hazard, heavy, batteries run out quickly

...Christopher has been rolling around, army crawling and attempting to get more and more mobile every day. His interest in his Entertainer has been dwindling, as he didn't want to be contained in it for more than a few minutes at a time. Christopher?s Granny saw the Fisher Price Crawl 'n Cruise Playground in Toys r Us and after seeing Christopher pull himself up on her sofa and bop around to some music whilst holding their remote control and changing channels, she thought it would make a good gift for him. ** ASSEMBLY ** This gym comes in no fewer than 16 parts, which must be connected, mostly with screws. My husband put it together in no time at all. No sighing, frustrated sounds or crumpled paper, either. Directions were clear and parts were easily identifiable. It took him almost 30 mins to do so using an electric screwdriver...

mysteryshopper2 06.09.2004 · Read review
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Review of Fisher-price Crawl'n Cruise Playground

Freebird - Catamaran Cruises in Tenerife

Advantages: See the whales and dolphins close up, have an amazing swim in the sea.
Disadvantages: The boat ride is rough, there is a high risk of sickness.

...Freebird One - A Luxury Adventure *** WHAT IS IT? ***** This summer (2007), my family and I holidayed on the island of Tenerife. We wanted to experience a bit more than the hotel facilities, so after attending the Rep's welcome meeting, I decided to book the Freebird One Experience. Freebird Sailing was founded in 1994, specialising in cruises aboard a luxury 30-seater catamaran. They proud themselves with the title of being "the largest catamaran service in the Canary Islands" and whilst in Tenerife I witnessed no other catamaran passing us on the sea. There is also a Freebird 2 and a 3. The Freebird Two is about 25 metres long and has a passenger capacity of 126. This catamaran has six large netting areas at the front. These nets have nothing underneath and resemble a trampoline, except underneath is the deep...

mrsmopples 18.10.2007 (21.10.2007) · Read review
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Review of Freebird One Catamaran Cruise

A Royal Cruise fit for a Pharaoh,

Advantages: Treated like Royalty from Beginning to end.
Disadvantages: Bar prices are steep.

...SS Misr. The SS Misr was built in Preston Lancashire in 1918 originally for the Egyptian Royal Navy and bought by King Farouk of Egypt as a private cruiser which traversed the Nile. It is recorded that he had held his birthday celebrations aboard this boat. Since the building of the Aswan Dam it used to sail right up the Nile but now is only able to sail as far as Aswan. Misr means the Kingdom of Egypt. It fell into disrepair and was brought by travel line and fully restored to its current state in elegant and period style and is used exclusively by Voyages Jules Verne for tours of the Nile. Being a steam ship it rekindles memories of Agatha Christie?s death on the Nile. It offers elegant and tasteful luxury service and there are over 60 members of staff to 46 passengers. There were only 42 passengers on our cruise...

garymarsh86 25.09.2009 (26.09.2009) · Read review
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Review of SS. Misr Cruise, Voyages Jules Verne

Fantastic experiences with Fantasea Cruises

Advantages: good experience, good staff, good value
Disadvantages: none

...* Wetsuits (winter months) * Buffet lunch * Morning & afternoon tea * Unlimited tea & coffee * Return coach transfers to Shute Harbour from mainland resorts I thought the prices were quite reasonable, as they included a lot of things in the price (also provided by the website): Adults $209.00 Children (5 - 15 years inclusive)^ ^Up to five (5) children may travel with each full paying adult (terms and conditions apply). $89.00 Family (2 adults, 2 children) $489.00 SCUBA Diving: Introductory Dive Package (cruise and 1 dive) prebooked $309.00 Certified Dive Package (cruise + 1 dive) prebooked $299.00 Introductory Dive booked on board: (cannot be prebooked) $105.00 Certified Dive booked on board (cannot be prebooked) $95.00 Second Dive (time and conditions permitting) $60.00 Own Gear Dive $60.00 Guided Snorkel...

fizz9999 25.05.2008 · Read review
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Review of Fantasea Cruises