Sharing Experiences – Here’s to 2018!

I do hope you all had a lovely Christmas and now eagerly looking forward to New Years Eve – and a few drinks maybe!

We have had a funny old year haven’t we? One thing for sure though is your holidays are still memorable, for me that is the icing on the cake!  I asked a couple of lovely clients what was the best holiday they had this year and why, thank you to them for taking the time to tell me – perhaps you will get some inspiration from these.

Mr and Mrs L had a great time to the Fjords with Celebrity – and I quote “We really enjoyed our Norway cruise on board ‘Celebrity Eclipse. Although we departed Southampton on 29th April 2017 heading for Northern waters, the weather proved to be very mild and even quite warm, which was a pleasant surprise! Norway is extremely beautiful at any time of the year, and Spring was no exception. We had a great time looking around Bergen – a lovely city, especially the historical part. Following this we visited Flam, and of course went on the famous rail journey to Myrdal. It was spectacular especially when we reached the snow line and Spring turned to Winter! From there we went to Geiranger and Alesund, both beautiful in their on way. Very enjoyable and interesting, and both highly recommended to visit for great scenery and typical Norwegian views. Our cruise ended in Stavanger, another interesting city, and one you can just walk off the ship and wander around without booking a shore excursion, which is really convenient. A lovely cruise to a wonderful country, and ‘Celebrity Eclipse’ did not disappoint. Food was good and facilities excellent too, although on sea days we would have liked to have seen more activities geared up to ‘mature’ adults.”

Mr B who is due to be married next month, went on a fantastic holiday to Alaska, where he proposed. Again, I quote –  “I have been lucky enough to go on 5 cruises this year, all very nice, but the one which stands out is Alaska. Beautiful scenery, quirky Americans towns, wildlife in their own habitat, including Orcas, glaciers, mountains etc. I waited for 10 years to do this. Fantastic. All this and getting engaged to a wonderful lady in Lake Louise.”

 

Mr C had a couple of holidays to choose from! –  “Lucky people that we are we have taken two Princess Cruises , two P & O  cruises , an APT river cruise, a week in Ponta Del Garda and will be cruising with P & O over Christmas . They have all been memorable and it is hard to say that we enjoyed any one more than another. But you have asked and the one chosen.  Oriana 11th August to 25th August , everything went well , the people we met , the food and the ports of call, Belfast , Stornoway , Reykjavik , Isafjordur . Akureyri ,Klaksvik ,Kirkwall and Dublin. Sea days were good shore days were excellent , beers were perfect , nothing more to say.”

 

Mr & Mrs W have again been on a few cruises – this was their favourite.  “As relatively new cruisers we are trying various ships mainly booked through Lesley to see if we have a favourite. This year we have tried MSC and NCL. Both enjoyable in different ways. In January this year we boarded MSC Fantasia in Dubai. The ships was busy, festive and very cosmopolitan. The swarovski staircases a sight to behold with tasteful decorations as some passengers were still celebrating the festive season.  We thoroughly enjoyed the whole atmosphere,  dining rooms and of course a wonderful itinerary around Tehran United Arab Emirates. Highly recommended.”

 

Lastly Mr & Mrs D who certainly love their cruises. “For some time we have been tempted to try a river cruise and when the opportunity arose to cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam with Avalon at a reasonable cost, we decided to finally try it out. Totally different to Ocean cruising, but we have quickly become addicts to this new genre of holiday! The most important difference is the way all passengers really have no alternative but to get to know each other – compared to Ocean cruising there are so few people on board, it would be churlish not to chat to others and to socialise with the other passengers all the time. The whole package seems far more relaxed and personalised than an Ocean cruise, all go onto the same walking excursions, but having said that, there is no pressure to participate, and if you want to just sit and finish your book while watching life go by, its really up to you. Being wine snobs, we were a little pensive about the wine served with meals and were pleasantly surprised that the quality of the wines offered was comparable to the excellent choice of food on board. The proof of the pudding, so they say……- we are now looking for other river cruises rather than ocean!”

Fantastic stories, and each one different. So what are you waiting for? Put your feet up, make a cuppa and give me a call!

Happy new year to you all!

Till next time x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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