I will admit I wasn’t too familiar with Cruise & Maritime Cruises. They seem to have been just below my radar when it comes to Cruise companies. What with the vigorous marketing from the ‘Big Boys’ Royal Caribbean, P&O NCL for instance. In fact the first time they really caught my attention was the tragic incident last year when a passenger lost his life on board the Marco Polo in severe weather conditions as she was entering Liverpool docks:-
“James Swinstead, 85, of Colchester, Essex, was killed when a huge wave crashed into British cruise ship Marco Polo during severe storms on Friday.
The 22,000 gross tonnage vessel was heading for its home port of Tilbury in Essex at the end of a 42-night voyage when Mr Swinstead died.
Water crashed through a window, injuring a number of the 735 passengers, who were mainly British.
A passenger in her 70s was airlifted off the ship, while 14 people were treated for minor injuries.”Cruise & Maritime Voyages are specialists in no-fly cruising holidays from the UK and offer a traditional british cruising experience with good old fashioned customer service. I would say a Country House style.A breath of fresh air to me, given all the razzamatazz of robotic waiters, dodgems, ripcord flight simulators and surfing!With four Ocean ships to their fleet: Marco Polo with 800 passengers, The Astor with 600 passengers, The Azores with 550 passengers and their latest addition to the fleet the Magellan, 46,052 tonnage and the capacity for 1250 passengers. Cruise & Maritime offer a home from home atmosphere on these elegant, smaller sized ships which are accessible to more ports of call than their larger rivals. Yet still provide some great on board facilities, like the big show entertainment, cabarets and classical music, a host of daytime activities, Full board cuisine with afternoon teas (I love that!) and of course the late night snacks for when we get the munchies after alcohol overload! You can even help yourselves to unlimited tea and coffee from 6 in the morning until 10 at night! Its the little touches that make cruising with this independent cruise company a ‘home from home’.They also operate 3 River Cruise ships, Bellefleur, Belvedere Bellejour In association with Transocean Kreuzfahrten, offering river cruises along the Seine, Moselle, Danube, Rhine, Saone – from just £399.00 per person! Amazing!Also, did you know that Cruise & Maritime offer departures from Tilbury in the South East, Bristol Avonmouth in the South West, Hull, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Leigh and Rosyth in Scotland! Fantastic news for those of us whose only option is Southampton or a Fly Cruise.It gets better…….For 2015 Cruise & Maritime have got some truly fantastic prices on offer. BUY ONE GET ONE FREE! and prices from as little as £399.00!Ok so it sounds all good, but where exactly can you cruise to?Mini Cruises to Amsterdam, Ghent, Antwerp.British IslesCanaries & Madeira Portugal & SpainThe Amazon, West Indies & The Azores (BOGOF)Canada & GreenlandNorway for the Northern Lights (BOGOF) & FjordsBaltic Cities & St PetersburgIcelandScandinaviaRiver CruisesAustralia including Grand VoyagesSouth AfricaI think that Cruise & Maritime are overlooked and overshadowed by the larger cruise companies, and are in fact a Jewel in the UK crown.They offer a great on board experience, on stylish elegant ships, with some amazing itineraries and extremely competitive prices.If you would like to see for yourselves, why not book an evening or overnight on board a ship near you? From just £49.00 per person you can have a four course lunch and a fabulous show, or dinner and a show, with the option to stay overnight with a lovely breakfast in the morning! Try before you buy kind of thing!Check out the latest offers on our website and find out more about this fantastic Cruise Company.http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-and-maritime-voyages/I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to the Magellan Launch Party at Tilbury on 13th March and I’m really looking forward to experiencing the whole ambiance on board. I’ll let you know how I get on.#cruisewall#cruiseandmaritime#magellan#marcopolo
