About Me

Hi There!

 My name is Collette and as the blog suggests I am a big lover of cruising and have travel in my blood.

I have worked in the travel industry for 25 years, starting as a holiday rep in Turkey back in 1993. After 4 years I returned to the UK and started working for a large high street travel agency. I spent many years working in a store, the majority of that time as a manager. This was my introduction to cruising and I was hooked immediately, hence why I decided to specialise in cruises.

 

I have been incredibly lucky and visited many parts of the world. A few of my favourite destinations are Brazil for its sheer wow factor, China for the complete culture shock , Italy for its amazing scenery and vino, The Maldives for its beauty and total chill out vibe, Turkey for its lovely people and hot weather and Sri Lanka for its amazing sunsets and food to die for.

I am something of a workaholic (let’s face it I get to talk about cruises all day, so no hardship really), however when I do get free time I enjoy cooking at home, trying new recipes and I love eating out…breakfast, lunch or dinner…I’m not choosy! I support my local football team and go down to the games when I can.

I have a son, Jack who is 22. He is a very well travelled kid and has definitely caught the travel bug from his Mum.

One of the few other things that I am as passionate about as travel is looking after my customers. I understand that your holiday time is precious and therefore you need to make sure you are choosing the right destinations and ships and enjoying an amazing holiday. And I’m here to help you do just that with the knowledge and experience I have  gained throughout my career. My mission is to make your experience hassle free before, during and after your holiday, so your only memories will be fantastic ones!

Qualifications

As well as my own personal experience as a cruiser, it’s important to me to make sure I have as much in depth knowledge about as many cruise lines as possible.  Below are just some of the qualifications I have received after completing trainings and details of the cruise lines I have studied.

P&O –  Commodore (Highest level achievable)

Princess Cruises – Commodore

Cunard – Commodore

CLIA (Cruise Lines International association) – Ambassador

Royal Caribbean – Admiral (highest level achievable)

Celebrity – Admiral

Azamara – Admiral

NCL – University certificate : Freestyle Professional

Disney Cruise Lines : ‘Disney Star’ status

APT River Cruises

Other cruise lines -full training programmes completed.

Fred Olsen

Oceania

Viking Cruises

Riviera River Cruises

Carnival Cruises

Swan Hellenic

Hebridean Cruises

Voyages of Discovery

Seabourn

MSC

Regent Seven Seas

 

 

 

 

Places I’ve Been To

Europe:

Mainland Spain – Barcelona, Vigo, La Coruna, Valencia, Costa Del Sol, Costa Dorada, Costa Blanca

Balearic Islands – Majorca, Ibiza

Canary Islands – Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura

Italy – Sorrento, Capri, Venice, Genoa, Messina, Rome, Trieste

Croatia – Dubrovnik

Montenegro – Kotor, Budva, Becici

Greece – Crete, Kalymnos, Samos, Kos, Olympia, Santorini.

Turkey – Kusadasi, Izmir, Istanbul, Bodrum, Marmaris, Altinkum, Yalikavak, Ozdere, Belek

Portugal – Lisbon

Malta – Valletta

France – Le Havre, Biarritz, Paris, Cherbourg

Madeira – Funchal

The Netherlands – Amsterdam

Hungary – Budapest

Austria – Vienna

Belgium – Bruges

Guernsey – St Peter Port

USA:

New York

Los Angeles

San Francisco

Seattle

Las Vegas

Fort Lauderdale

Orlando

Naples

Rest of the World:

China – Beijing, Sanya Island

Brazil – Salvador, Rio de Janeiro

Africa – Kenya

Thailand – Bangkok, Cha-Am

Egypt – Cairo, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh

The Maldives

Dubai

Sri Lanka

Hong Kong

St Lucia

Antigua

Barbados

Jamaica

Cuba – Havana, Varadero

Mexico – Playa Del Carmen, Tulum, Puerto Vallarta

Dominican Republic

 

Ships I’ve Been On

MSC – Preziosa 

 

Riviera – Lord Byron 

 

P&O – Oriana

 

P&O – Ventura

 

 

P&O – Arcadia

 

 

Cunard – QM2

 

Cunard – Queen Elizabeth

Royal Caribbean – Harmony of the Seas

 

Royal Caribbean – Quantum of the Seas

Royal Caribbean – Splendour of the Seas

 

 

Royal Caribbean – Independence of the Seas

Royal Caribbean – Navigator of the Seas

 

 

Celebrity Cruises – Eclipse

Princess Cruises – Majestic Princess

Island – Star

 

Suncruises – Sunbird

 

Suncruises – Sundream

 

I will update my blog regularly and I hope you find it interesting. Please let me know if there’s anything in particular you’d like to see.

You can call me on 0800 408 6105 or e-mail me at [email protected].

Look forward to talking to you!