On Board With Alison

When deciding where to catch a bit of autumn sunshine, John and I looked at the Canary Islands or Madeira. Not being able to decide/agree we are heading off this morning to Southampton to sail on Balmoral for 13 nights covering four of the Canary Islands plus Madeira and Portugal. A…

There seem to be two words I use on a daily basis at work that cause a lot of discussion and strong opinions. These words are "tipping" and "gratuities". There seem to be several dictionary definitions of these words but they are generally listed as; "a gift or reward, usually…

This has been an exhausting week. It's back to university week which, after three car loads down to Southampton to my daughter's new house for final year at uni, has left me with many questions; How can one 20 year old have so many possessions? Why does one 20 year…

John (my husband) and I spent last weekend on P&O's Ventura. We sailed from Southampton on Friday and came back on Sunday morning. We spent a lovely,  if rather rainy, day in Bruges on Saturday. We also ate far too much (and far too often- the dangers of a 24 hour buffet),…

  Everyone has a favourite biscuit. I like chocolate digestives. John, my husband likes ginger ones and Rachel, my daughter, likes bourbons. Of course, we also like fresh chocolate chip cookies and soft crumbly shortbread and............ This started me thinking about cruise lines and how diverse they are, but how…

Dear William and Kate I hope that Prince George is thriving and that he is letting you get a bit of sleep now and then. The sign above is a very familiar one, seen in the back of many cars on our roads. I am sure that with the hectic…

Dear William and Kate Firstly, very many congratulations on the birth of your son, His Royal Highness Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge. Without meaning to sound disrespectful, I would like to suggest a small improvement to the flow of these names. George, we can understand. A traditional British monarch's…

One of the great traditions on British cruise lines is the Sailaway Party. This is usually held on the top deck upon leaving your last port of call, where Union Jack flags are handed out and proudly waved in time to the sound of Rule Britannia and other good old sing-a-longs.…

I've been asked many weird and wonderful questions over the many years I have sold cruises but this one was a new one today. It started with the usual I don't want to be below the water line in the dungeons and then turned on a more serious note to the above.…