Qualifications
I have completed a lot of Cruise training and my Qualification Certificates are below:
Hello Everyone. My name is Ava.
Since I was little I always knew that I wanted to Travel and work within the Travel Industry. Between the ages of 18-22 I lived in Ibiza, Tenerife and in the USA. When I returned from the USA after my second year I knew I wanted to be a Travel Agent so I waited for a position to become available and in March 2011 a role came up at First Choice which then became Thomson and I worked my way up to Senior Travel Advisor.
In 2013 I decided to take a 2-year break and I moved to China to teach English to Children aged between 3 and 15 which a great experience. The culture is completely different to ours and it was interesting to fully immerse myself in their culture ad it was very rewarding being an English teacher. I then came back to the UK in 2015 and I continued working at Thomson until January 2017. Where I decided to take on a new challenge and move on over to Cruise.co.uk. I have now been at Cruise.co.uk for over a year and I have gotten to experience so many amazing things and I couldn’t be happier.
Since October 2017 I had been living in a village called Relleu which is located in the mountains of Southern Spain.
It was a great 18 months but now I have moved back to Sunny Kent in England. Life is good in the Uk and I am not missing Spain too much. I have also just completed my BA Degree in Business and Spanish which means I am not a graduate, but don’t worry, this does not mean that I am leaving Cruise.co.uk.
I have completed a lot of Cruise training and my Qualification Certificates are below:
Legend of the Seas – I went on the Legend of the Seas. I sailed from Hong Kong to Australia and I was on-board for 18 Nights. Whilst onboard I wanted to take advantage of all the facilities that were available to me. I climbed the climbing wall, played shuffleboard, swam in the saltwater pool and even played Bingo. Legend of the Seas is now Marella Discovery 2, so it has had a complete make-over. I wrote a short blog about my trip and the changing of companies, you can read more here.
Independence of the Seas – Back in December 2017, I won a place on the inaugural sailing of Independence after her refurbishment and I was on board from the 13th-15th May. Check out my blog here to hear all about my time onboard.
Spectrum of the Seas – I was able to spend the day onboard in Dubai and what can I say…she is an amazing ship.
Brilliance of the Seas – In July this year I spent the day onboard in Dover.
Celebrity Eclipse – I went on the 2 Night Short Cruise from Southampton to Le Havre, France in May 2017 and it was a great weekend, I only wish it was for longer!! The ship itself was great and there was such a great atmosphere onboard and the staff were brilliant. There are so many choices on-board for food and drink but our favourite bar was the Martini Bar on Deck 4. I have also just attended the Seminar At Sea, it was great to be back onboard. We had an overnight in Madeira and we disembarked in Tenerife. I have written a blog for both of my trips.
Celebrity Edge – I got to visit Celebrity Edge during CLIA Conference in May and what a beautiful ship she is.
Celebrity Reflection – In July this year I spent the day onboard in Dover.
MSC Meraviglia – On the 2nd June 2017, I got to attend the launch of MSC’s brand new ship, MSC Meraviglia. As soon as we pulled up into Le Havre, France we all got very excited….we hadn’t even stepped onboard and it looked incredible. Once we were onboard…we were even more impressed. As soon as we boarded on Deck, I saw the Crystal Staircase and the fantastic promenade, it was the best thing I’d seen on a Cruise Ship. Everything about this ship was amazing and you can read all about it on my blog here.
MSC Seaside – I sailed onboard MSC Seaside for a week on the 6th October 2018 and I loved every moment of it, check out my facebook and my blog as I have written about each day and also shared lots of videos about my time onboard and in the ports of call.
MSC Bellissima – I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch of MSC Bellissima in March this year. She really is a beautiful ship.
Norwegian Jade – On the 22nd May 2017 I got to spend the day on NCL Jade in Southampton. The ship had recently had a refurbishment and the ship looks great. The bars look really stylish and the food was really nice. For more information about NCL click here to read my blog.
Balmoral – I attended a Ship Visit in Dover in May 2017 in which I got to spend some time on Fred Olsen’s Balmoral and I’ve got to say I was pleasantly surprised. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it definitely exceeded my expectations. The decor is very eclectic and I’m not sure of some of the colour schemes but the staff were really friendly and the food on board was great. I got to see the different grades of staterooms and wow some of them were huge. Click here to read more about my day on-board.
Black watch – Black Watch is the second Fred Olsen Ship that I got to see in 2017 at Dover port. I have to say that I love the cabins on board, they are very spacious. Also, the food I had on-board was great. It was another great day onboard Fred Olsen. My Blog is coming soon.
Boudicca – I was onboard Boudicca for the day on 21st May 2018.
Saga Sapphire – I spent the day onboard in July 2017. I was really impressed with Saga Sapphire, the atmosphere on board was great and whilst on board, we had a 3-course meal in the main restaurant and the food was really nice. Check out my blog here.
Marina – Marina by Oceania Cruises is beautiful. Every part of the ship is stunning and spending a day onboard was great fun. The food we had on-board was extremely delicious. I tried Caviar for the first time and whilst it was interesting it was really nice. You can read more about it on my blog.
Royal Princess – I was lucky enough to be 1 of just 300 agents to attend the Royal Princess Mega FAM from 10th-13th May. The main thing that I took away from Princess is how amazing their staff are. They really made it a fantastic experience. You can read all about my time onboard on my blog here.
Sea Princess – In July this year I spent the day onboard in Dover.
Columbus – I attended a ship visit onboard Columbus on the 16th May 2018 and I was really impressed.
Marco Polo – We had our Christmas Cruise onboard Marco Polo in December. You can read all about my time on board here in my blog.
The A – My full blog for my amazing Danube Cruise will be coming soon.
River Duchess – The River Duchess was the first vessel I was able to see in Regensburg as we had to walk through to board ‘The A’. Myself and my friend Emily were able to have a guided tour by the guest services manager. It was great to see the differences between the Uniworld and U River Cruise product as they are under the same company, yet they are completely different concepts. Uniworld River Cruises are like Boutique hotels on the river, The River Duchess was definitely very classy and had a great atmosphere on board.
SS Maria Theresa – WOW the SS Maria Theresa was like nothing I have seen before. She was an incredibly classic vessel. The whole vessel was absolutely stunning. It had a very traditional vibe and was so different from the decor to the facilities onboard. As you can see in one of the photos below, there is even a cinema room onboard and a lovely swimming pool.
Seabourn Quest – In August 2018 I spent the day onboard Seabourn Quest and I was not disappointed. You can read all about my experience here.
Crystal Serenity – June 2019
Amadeus Queen – I joined Amadeus Queen for a 2 Night River Cruise from Amsterdam to Rotterdam in early April. You can read all about my time here on my blog.
Viking Jarl – I had the opportunity to visit the Viking Jarl in Budapest as my friend Eamon who used to work for Cruise.co.uk is now Program Director On Board. Eamon gave me a full tour of the vessel and advised that the majority of the Viking River Ships were identical so you know that you’ll get the same great service and facilities on every vessel. I even got to have a nice cold beer whilst sitting up on deck in the lovely Budapest sun. The staff around the vessel were very friendly and all of the guests that I came across said that they were having a great cruise.
Scenic Jade – We were only able to have a short tour onboard the Scenic Jade, but from what I saw she looked lovely. There was definitely an elegant feel as soon as you step on board, the staff were very friendly and the communal areas were very inviting.
I have been to many countries, which are outlined below. I want to travel to at least 30 countries by my 30th birthday which is in just over a year.
Europe
Asia
North America
Oceania/Australasia
Africa