2010, A Year of Success

2/1/2011

Welcome to a very special blog post, looking back at all the wonderful events which took place during the course of 2010.

2010 was certainly a very successful and productive year for us at Dream Designs Colchester! At the start of the year we made some great progress with our P&O Cruises prototype concept design, Verona. Sadly the project has now been put on hold.

In April we were invited by Carol Marlow, Managing Director, P&O Cruises, to attend the Naming Ceremony of their newest 116,000 tonne ship, Azura. The new superliner arrived in Southampton just two days before she was officially named at the Naming Ceremony by the ballet star Darcey Bussell, on Saturday 10th April 2010

At the Naming Ceremony we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet with Carol Marlow, Managing Director, P&O Cruises, briefly in the afternoon before the naming.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester presents his drawing of Azura to Carol Marlow, Managing Director, P&O Cruises, at the Naming Ceremony of P&O Cruises’ newest ship

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester said "We were delighted that Carol took the time to meet us aboard Azura, before the Naming Ceremony later that evening."

He added "It was so wonderful to finally meet her in person after we had corresponded with her for quite some time."

You can read more about our time at the Naming Ceremony of Azura by visiting the links below.

http://dreamdesignscolchester.weebly.com/azura.html

http://www.cruiselinefans.com/p-o-azura/47262-azura-naming-ceremony-celebration-review.html

Less than two months later we had the opportunity to visit another ship. On Friday 4th June 2010 we were invited to join a group of travel agents aboard Costa Cruises’ newest ship Costa Deliziosa, during her maiden call to Harwich International Port.

Costa Deliziosa berthed at Harwich International Port during her maiden call at the Port on Friday 4th June 2010

Diane Cotterill & Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, take the opportunity to have a photograph taken alongside Costa Deliziosa at Harwich International Port

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester

We had a lovely day aboard Costa Cruises’ newest ship, the weather was also beautiful which made the day even more enjoyable.

We were kindly presented with a number of gifts from Costa Cruises, including two brass models of both Costa Deliziosa and her sister ship Costa Luminosa, which we visited in 2009. We were also presented with a number of exciting special design brochures, including their new Costa Pacifica.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester said "It was such a lovely bright summer day during our visit to Costa Deliziosa. We were so fortunate to have the chance to visit such a fantastic ship."

You can read more about our visit to Costa Deliziosa and see some great photos by visiting the following links below.

http://dreamdesignscolchester.weebly.com/costa-deliziosa.html

http://www.cruiselinefans.com/costa-deliziosa/47878-costa-deliziosa-travel-agent-visit.html

Later in June 2010, Patricia Dempsey, then quite a new follower of ours kindly agreed to take a drawing of ours aboard the newest Norwegian Cruise Line ship, the 153,000 tonne Norwegian Epic on our behalf and present it to Captain Trygve Vorren.

Norwegian Epic berthed at City Cruise Terminal, Southampton on Tuesday June 22nd 2010

Patricia would be cruising aboard the new ‘monster’ from Rotterdam to Southampton, arriving in Southampton on Tuesday 22nd June 2010.

Sadly we never got a reply back from either the Captain or Norwegian Cruise Line.

Black Watch berthed at Harwich International Port

In June 2010 we contacted Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and sent them one of our drawings, of their 46,000 tonne flagship Balmoral.

We asked if we could visit another of their ships Black Watch, which was due to call at Harwich International Port in August 2010 for the very first time. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines took our request very seriously and kindly arranged for us to visit the ship and meet the Captain to present him with our drawing.

We were invited to join a group of local VIPS from across Suffolk and Essex, including the major of Harwich Town and local authority representatives as well as regional tourism bodies, such as East of England Tourism and Visit Essex.

While we were aboard we were treated to Traditional Afternoon Tea in the Observatory Lounge on the Marquee Deck above the Navigation Bridge. We then had the opportunity to meet the Captain of Black Watch, Captain Torbjørn Lund, were we had the chance to present our drawing of the ship to him. It was a truly wonderful experience and a great day for everyone.

Captain of Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ Black Watch, Torbjørn Lund, admires Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester's drawing of the ship with Linda Houseley, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' Cruise Sales Manager, on the ship’s inaugural visit to Harwich International Port on 24th August 2010

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester said: "Black Watch was a wonderful vessel for us to be able to visit. She had a very intimate and friendly atmosphere which has been lost aboard some of the ‘monster‘ sized ships. It was an honour to be part of the visit and a great experience to have the opportunity to meet the Captain and present him with my drawing in person"

Celebrity Solstice at Sea

In September 2010 one of our drawings of the Celebrity Cruises’ breathtaking Celebrity Solstice was sent to The United States of America to be taken aboard the spectacular cruise ship by Charlene Gault on our behalf. Charlene spent a number of weeks aboard the Celebrity Solstice back to back, celebrating her 50th Wedding Anniversary.

During her time aboard the Celebrity Solstice, on Wednesday September 22nd 2010 Charlene had the opportunity to meet with Captain Dimitrios Kafetzis and present our drawing to him during the Captain’s Club Party in the Sky Lounge.

Charlene Gault presents our drawing of Celebrity Solstice to Captain Dimitrios Kafetzis on behalf of Dream Designs Colchester during her cruise aboard the ship in September 2010

Charlene said " Captain Dimitrios Kafetzis was very interested in your story and I’m sure will be awed by the drawing when he opens it."

At present we are still awaiting a reply from Captain Dimitrios Kafetzis or Celebrity Cruises.

You can read more about this by visiting the following links.

http://dreamdesignscolchester.weebly.com/celebrity-solstice.html

http://dreamdesignscolchester.weebly.com/2/post/2010/10/captain-of-celebrity-solstice-gets-drawing.html

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director

On Monday 25th October 2010, we were invited to tour the newest addition to the Cunard fleet, Queen Elizabeth. The new 92,000 tonne Cunarder was officially named by Her Majesty The Queen just two weeks previously to us visiting.

Whilst we were aboard we were escorted to the bridge and then had the opportunity to meet the Master of Queen Elizabeth, Captain Christopher Wells, to present him with our drawing of the Queen Elizabeth.

Captain Wells was very impressed and pleased with Harry’s drawing and told him he will be framing the drawing and putting it on display in the Teens Centre for the younger passengers to enjoy!

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, said "It was so wonderful to have the chance to meet the Captain of Cunard's new Queen Elizabeth and its an experiance I will always remember!"

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, presents his drawing of Queen Elizabeth to Captain Chris Wells on the bridge of the new Cunarder on Monday 25th October 2010 in Southampton

After meeting the Captain and presenting our drawing to him, a complete tour of the ship's passenger areas then followed, making stops at the Grand Lobby, Royal Court Theatre, Britannia Restaurant and various other passenger amenities.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, said "Queen Elizabeth is a remarkable vessel. She combines the elegance and luxury of the golden age of ocean liner travel with the modern technologies of today."

He added, "It was a great honour to visit the new liner so quickly after she first arrived in Southampton. I was quite overwhelmed with her grandeur and elegance. She is a truly fantastic piece of engineering and design"

After departing the Queen Elizabeth while we were in Ocean Terminal we met with Alastair Greener the Entertainment Director, who hosts the We Are Cunard blog. Alastair was delighted to meet us and paused for a while to speak with us and take the opportuniy to have a photo taken together with another of Harry’s drawings. He even posted a small article on the We Are Cunard blog.

http://wearecunard.com/2010/10/cunard%e2%80%99s-culinary-ambassador-on-gourmet-live/

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director with Alastair Greener, Entertainment Director, Cunard and We Are Cunard Blog Host

Earlier that morning before boarding Queen Elizabeth we also visited Carnival UK's Head Office to present a drawing to David Dingle Chief Executive Officer Carnival UK. Sadly Mr Dingle was away and was not able to meet us.

However we had the to chance meet with Mr Stephen Payne ( OBE RDI MNM FREng HonPhD(Science) BScEng(Hons) FRINA Ceng, Chief Naval Architect, Designer of Queen Mary 2)

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director with Stephen Payne ( OBE RDI MNM FREng HonPhD(Science) BScEng(Hons) FRINA Ceng Vice President Chief Naval Architect Queen Mary 2

On Wednesday 27th October 2010 the newest addition to the Thomson Cruises fleet visited Harwich International Port for the first time. While the Thomson Dream was berthed alongside she disembarked all her passengers before sailing for refurbishment work to take place.

Harwich Intentional Port kindly agreed to take our drawing aboard while the ship was along side and present it to the Captain on our behalf.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director Dream Designs Colchester & Diane Cotterill, take the opportunity to photograph Harry's drawing before the drawing is taken aboard Thomson Dream by Harwich International Port

We later received a photo from Harwich International Port which is directly below.

Captain of Thomson Dream admires entrepreneur and aspring naval architect, Harry Cotterill’s drawing of Thomson Dream during their visit to Harwich International Port on Wednesday 27th October 2010.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, said "We were very happy that Harwich International Port so kindly took our drawing aboard and it was great to see the photograph they took of our drawing with the Captain during the ship's visit to Harwich."

Commodore Giuseppe Romano

On Sunday 24th October 2010 our drawing was taken aboard the Ruby Princess on our behalf, by Sue Miller, for the USA who has been following our progress for over a year now. Sue was kind enough to take a drawing aboard with her and present it to the Commodore. Sue Miller was also joined aboard the Ruby Princess by another of our most loyal followers, Sheila Herrington.

During the 7 night Caribbean cruise Sue and Sheila were both lucky enough to have the opportunity to join a group of other passengers on the bridge of Ruby Princess where they were able to present our drawing to the Commodore of the Princess Cruises fleet, Commodore Giuseppe Romano

Sue Miller presents our drawing of Ruby Princess to Commodore Giuseppe Romano on the bridge during her cruise aboard the vessel in October 2010

We later received a lovely e-mail from Commodore Giuseppe Romano.

In the e-mail Commodore Giuseppe Romano said " Congratulations with the drawing of the Ruby Princess. Beautiful and very professionally done. We are all very impressed here on board the Ruby Princess."

He added, " I want to let you know that we are framing your drawing and posting it in a suitable location for all to see. We will be attaching your story as well."

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, said "It was so brilliant to hear that Commodore Giuseppe Romano and his crew were impressed with our drawing of Ruby Princess, which Sue Miller so kindly took aboard on our behalf back in October 2010."

You can read more about this on the following links.

http://dreamdesignscolchester.weebly.com/2/post/2010/11/princess-fleet-commodore-receives-drawing.html

http://dreamdesignscolchester.weebly.com/2/post/2010/11/thank-you-from-princess-cruises-commodore.html

http://dreamdesignscolchester.weebly.com/ruby-princess.html

In November a dream came true for Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, when he was lucky enough to voyage aboard Cunard’s magnificent Queen Mary 2. He was joined on board with his father during the 2 night voyage from Southampton to Cherbourg and back across the channel to Southampton.

Before leaving Southampton Cunard’s newest ship, Queen Elizabeth which we visited in October 2010 passed by Queen Mary 2 and they each saluted one another with the sound of the ships horns.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, said " Viewing the Queen Elizabeth aboard her fleet mate Queen Mary 2 was a unique opportunity, with the added excitement of both of the ship’s horns blasting as Queen Elizabeth passed. "

He added "Although our departure from the berth in Southampton was delayed this did not effect our arrival in Cherbourg the following morning, due to the short distance between both ports. "

Whilst the Queen Mary 2 was berthed in Cherbourg Harry received a phone call from the Commodore’s secretary. She asked about our drawing which Harry had spoken about to a member of the ship’s crew the pervious day at the Purser Office. Before receiving the phone call that afternoon we had just been to the Purser Office were we had left our drawing of Queen Mary 2 for Commodore Bernard Warner. The Commodore’s secretary agreed to meet Harry at the Purser Office to collect our drawing and meet him. However a few moments later Harry received another phone call inviting him to the bridge later that evening.

A number of other passengers were also invited to the bridge. Whilst we were on the bridge the Deputy Captain introduced himself to us, he had seen another of our drawing before aboard another Cunard ship and must had recognised us. Before departing the berth the Commodore’s secretary introduced everyone.

Commodore Bernard Warner took the time to speak to Harry and was very impressed with his drawing of Queen Mary 2. A number of the other passengers on the bridge were also interested in his drawing.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester presents his drawing of Queen Mary 2 to Commodore Bernard Warner on the bridge of the grand Cunarder during his 2 night voyage aboard in November 2010

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester said "It was a great opportunity to visit the bridge of the Queen Mary 2 and meet Commodore Bernard Warner. I was so pleased that he was delighted with my drawing which I presented to him."

He added, "It was an absolutely amazing experience to have the chance to voyage on Queen Mary 2. I am sure this will be the first of many more to come in the future!"

Nancy Speltz & Captain Roger Bilton

During November 2010 another of our drawings was taken aboard the Princess Cruises’ vessel, Grand Princess. Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director Dream Designs Colchester asked Nancy Speltz, a follower of his, who lives in California if she would be kind enough to present a drawing to the Captain of the Grand Princess

Nancy so kindly agreed to do so. She has been following our progress for quite some time now. Before presenting the drawing to Captain Roger Bilton, Nancy said " She looks marvelous and I will be so proud to hand her over to the captain. Thank you Harry"

Nancy Speltz presents our drawing of Grand Princess to Captain Roger Bilton on behalf of Dream Designs Colchester during her cruise aboard the ship in November 2010

Captain Roger Bilton said " I have to say that Grand Princess is depicted beautifully and certainly I can appreciate the time and effort that went into doing it. I also have to say that it is incredibly detailed. I, my Navigation officers and the Chief Engineer spent some time studying it and as yet we have still to find anything missing or added."

He added, " In truth we have yet to put it on display. We feel that it warrants somewhere special, but because of it’s size we are limited as to display availability and a decision has still to be reached. I do assure you though that we will find a suitable hanging for it."

Captain Roger Bilton also informed us that he had recently contacted Princess Cruises's Corporate Offices in Santa Clarita and that they have asked for the drawing to be sent there, as they are very interested and might possibly even display it on the Princess Cruises website.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director Dream Designs Colchester said " It was such a lovely surprise to receive the e-mail from Captain Roger Bilton. I was so pleased to hear that he was so impressed by the drawing which Nancy kindly took aboard on behalf of us."

Harry added "I must also add that we were delighted when Nancy agreed to take the drawing aboard on our behalf. She has delivered with great success and we are very grateful for her help! Thank you, Nancy!"

You can read more about this on the following links

http://dreamdesignscolchester.weebly.com/2/post/2010/11/another-grand-achievement.html

http://dreamdesignscolchester.weebly.com/grand-princess.html

Most recently another of our drawings was taken aboard the P&O Cruises' Aurora. Mr Ernest & Mrs Edna Taylor from Colchester in the United Kingdom, are currently onboard and are to deliver a drawing to Captain David Pembridge during their 23 night Christmas Caribbean Cruise.

Mr & Mrs Taylor are due home next weekend and we shall inform you upon their return and if we hear from the Captain.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director hands the drawing of Aurora to Edna Taylor, to later present to Captain David Pembridge during her Caribbean Christmas Cruise.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, said "It is so fantastic to have another drawing going aboard yet another cruise vessel. I am very thankful for Mr & Mrs Taylor for agreeing to take the drawing aboard on our behalf"

He added "We shall keep you updated on the progress of the drawing. Be sure to check back this month for the possibility of more updates."

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, concluded "2010 was a truly remarkable year, with many fantastic events and some really wonderful memories. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continuous support and wish you a very happy and successful 2011. THANK YOU!"

For more information please Contact Us on the following details

Harry Cotterill - President & Managing Director

harry_cotterill@hotmail.co.uk

07778940245

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2010, A Year of Success

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