Welcoming Back An Old Friend

Tomorrow, I am lucky to have been invited to celebrate the launch of Cruise and Maritime’s latest addition Columbus in Tilbury.

I will be driving there as about an hour from home and parking is very easy at the port. We will board in time for lunch and then watch the naming ceremony followed by a gala dinner and fireworks over the water before spending a night on board.

I was on Magellan for her launch and the fireworks display was amazing so I am looking forward to that. Hopefully the weather will stay dry for us.

The ship is not new but new to Cruise and Maritime. She was originally launched in 1988 and sold the next year to Princess Cruises and became Star Princess. In 1997, she was renamed Arcadia by P&O and stayed with them until 2003 when she became the new brand Ocean Village. We had our first family cruise with our children on Ocean Village in the Caribbean for 2 weeks in early 2004 so have a lot of happy memories from that trip. Despite being a very popular brand and adding another ship to the fleet, Ocean Village ceased operating in 2010 and she then was again renamed now as Pacific Pearl based in Australia before being sold to Cruise and Maritime.

Having also sailed on Marco Polo, I have seen the traditional style of CMV and the friendliness of the staff, the quality of the food and the amazing value of the cruises makes them a very popular brand. They often have two for one offers and also have some amazing longer itineraries such as this one to Cuba…

29/10/17 London Tilbury (United Kingdom) – 2000
30/10/17 Amsterdam (Netherlands) 1400 2100
31/10/17 At Sea – –
01/11/17 At Sea – –
02/11/17 At Sea – –
03/11/17 At Sea – –
04/11/17 Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores (Portugal) 0800 2000
05/11/17 At Sea – –
06/11/17 At Sea – –
07/11/17 At Sea – –
08/11/17 At Sea – –
09/11/17 At Sea – –
10/11/17 At Sea – –
11/11/17 Philipsburg, St Maarten (Leeward Islands) 0800 1800
12/11/17 Road Town, Tortola (British Virgin Islands) 0800 1700
13/11/17 La Romana (Dominican Republic) 1200 2000
14/11/17 At Sea – –
15/11/17 Ocho Rios (Jamaica) 0700 1800
16/11/17 At Sea – –
17/11/17 Havana (Cuba) 1200
18/11/17 Havana (Cuba) – 2100
19/11/17 At Sea – –
20/11/17 Progreso (Mexico) 0700 1800
21/11/17 Cozumel (Mexico) 1200 1900
22/11/17 Land by launch or tenderBelize City (Belize) 0900 1900
23/11/17 Land by launch or tenderRoatan Island (Honduras) 0700 1700
24/11/17 At Sea – –
25/11/17 Puerto Limon (Costa Rica) 0900 1700
26/11/17 Cristobal (Panama) 0730 1400
27/11/17 Cartagena (Columbia) 0900 2000
28/11/17 At Sea – –
29/11/17 Oranjestad, Aruba (Dutch Antilies) 0800 2359
30/11/17 Willemstad, Curacao (Dutch Antilies) 0700 1800
01/12/17 At Sea – –
02/12/17 Bridgetown, Barbados (Windward Islands) 0800 1700
03/12/17 At Sea – –
04/12/17 At Sea – –
05/12/17 At Sea – –
06/12/17 At Sea – –
07/12/17 At Sea – –
08/12/17 Horta, Faial, Azores (Portugal) 1200 2000
09/12/17 At Sea – –
10/12/17 At Sea – –
11/12/17 Lisbon (Portugal) 0700 1300
12/12/17 At Sea – –
13/12/17 At Sea – –
14/12/17 London Tilbury (United Kingdom) 0900 –

Fancy this? Call me 0330 303 8292 or email [email protected]