So 2014 has now well and truly finished and we are now starting into 2015, new years resolutions have probably been broken or in my case not even started – mine is the dreaded diet one again and hopefully this year will see a slimmer me. So for this blog I thought I would take the opportunity to look back at 2014 and have to say for me it certainly was a year that had many highlights.
In January me and my family were lucky to be able to go and experience the brand new NCL Getaway when she was in Southampton for 2 days. None of us had cruised with NCL so it was a really good eyeopener for us as to what NCL are all about – the only downside was that we only had one night so didn’t quite get all the way round
In April saw me and three of my colleagues embark on a river cruise with Shearings – this was my first river cruise so was excited to see how life on a river cruise compares to an ocean cruise. This had a special theme of the Battlefields of World War 1 and 2, and saw us visit Ypres and see the cemeteries of those who had fallen as well as see the ceremony they hold every night at 8pm in memory of those who fought for our country.
In May I was able to visit the Emerald Princess whilst she was in Southampton as I have never had the opportunity to sail on one yet – the fettucine alfredo which I had for lunch is still one of my favourite dishes. May also saw me, my partner and my sister and her husband sail on the Independence of the Seas around the Norwegian Fjords on our own holiday, we were particularly fortunate with the weather and also lucky we were able to go on the Flam Railway. This cruise was our opportunity to say farewell to a ship which holds great memories (my sister had her honeymoon on board which we all joined them for)
In June not long back from Independence I was lucky to be selected to fly out to Copenhagen and join the Regent Seven Seas Voyager for the weekend. This was a fabulous experience to see a 6 star cruise line and to experience the All Inclusive Regent life the only shame was we had to disembark in Helsinki and let our colleagues take over the journey. We got to experience the Regent way of life and drank many Kir Royales (all free on Regent) and we had a delicious meal in Prime seven. I also got to visit Riga for the first time and took a walking tour shore excursion.
In October I was off on my own travels again and was lucky to have two of my own trips this month, the first one was a two nights mini cruise on Oriana which I went with my mum and brought lots of chocolates whilst in Bruges, and the second time was sailing on P&O Azura with my partner and also my mother and father. We sailed round the Iberia coast again and whilst on board it was my partners birthday which we celebrated in Sindhu.
In November I was one of the 20 staff chosen to experience MSC and the mediterreanean way of life, and saw me fly to Venice for 4 nights on board the very glamourous and sparkly MSC Preziosa. This was a real eyeopener for me as I didn’t have a high opinion of MSC but have to say I was really impressed, the ship was clean, cabin very spacious, lots to do on board and not all in multiple languages. The highlight for me though was the tour of the galley.
Lastly in December our Christmas Conference was held on the Queen Mary 2 where we had 3 nights on this beautiful ship. Working from home often means you only see your colleagues once a year but speak to them over the internet on a daily basis so was great to see old friends and make new ones.
On a sad note though last year we were advised my brother in laws aunt, a close friend of the family had bile duct cancer which unfortunately saw her lose her battle in September this year. It has also come to light when my grandfather fell over in his home in November, and tried to pull himself off but in the process pulled the sink of the wall and has flooded his home, that he has dementia and so is temporarily in a home whilst we sort out the repairs on our home. He can’t remember recent events but luckily he can still remember who we are when we visit – not sure how I will cope when that happens but hopefully that’s a long off.
So what does 2015 have in store – P&O are launching the Britannia in March so I am keeping my fingers very crossed I can get an invite to launch, I am already booked to sail on Anthem of the Seas in October again for my partners birthday and very much looking forward to that trip. But otherwise its a case of watch this space, my case and passport are always at hand for anything that crops up.