Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014

With Christmas now over and New Year almost upon us – I thought it was a good time to have a review of 2013 and look forward to what 2014 has in store for the world of cruising.

On a personal note my 2013 has had many highs with new experiences and some lows which I thought I would share with you before moving on to look at cruises. This year saw me take a once in a lifetime trip to Australia (through my previous job) and saw me go to Cairns for 5 days before flying to Melbourne and setting off to travel along the Great Ocean way. Whilst in Cairns I had the opportunity to take my first ever hot air balloon ride and flew over the Atherton Tablelands, we had a half day trip to Green Island in the Great Barrier reef and got to snorkel with the fish and turtles (just like in Finding Nemo). In Melbourne I experienced a helicopter ride for the first time and flew over the 12 apostles.  I also got to see many Kangaroos and Koalas in their natural habitat and have some wonderful memories forever.

I also moved in with my partner and we love living in our rented flat which is very central to Chichester. I also changed jobs and now work from home for a fabulous cruise company.

Not only did I go to Australia this year I also went on a cruise on P&O’s Oceana (see my previous blogs here   ) and also got to experience Cunard for the first time on the Queen Mary 2 (again see my previous blog here )

My lows include unfortunately having my car written off (not my fault),  my aunt discovering she has breast cancer and my brother in laws aunt finding she also has cancer.

So in the wonderful world of cruising saw 3 stunning ships set sail: Royal Princess, Norwegian Breakaway and the MSC Preziosa.  We had the fabulous news that P&O are building a new ship to be named Britannia and will setting sail in 2015 and will commence taking bookings in February, Anthem of the Seas will be coming over during the summer months also to be based out of Southampton in 2015  and their itineraries are also being released in February. Costa Concordia was up righted. Stricter smoking bans became announced to be put in place for 2014 across many cruise lines. P&O/Cunard scrap the controversial Vantage and Getaway fares.

Lows for the cruise industry include the Carnival Triumph catching fire and power failure and being dubbed as the ‘poop cruise’, engine problems on the Celebrity Millennium, a fire on Grandeur of the seas happened and Venice announce starting in 2014 there will be a restriction on cruise lines entering the port/grand canal.

So what does 2014 hold? 4 new stunning ships are setting sail: NCL Getaway (keep your eyes open for future blog on this one) Regal Princess, Quantum of the Seas and Costa Diadema.

If i have missed anything from this list then please let me know. What has been your highlights for 2013 personal or cruise related.

I would like to wish you all a Happy New year and remember there is no point in making resolutions you are going to break the next day. Looking forward to helping you with all your Cruise enquiries/bookings next year. Please do not hesitate to contact me on 0800 408 6086.