Earlier this week on Monday 26th March 2012, the newly refurbished Saga Sapphire arrived in Southampton after departing the shipyard in Italy where the ship's transformation took place.

The vessel is the newest addition to the Saga fleet and joins Saga Ruby and Saga  Pearl II.

We are very proud to have a connection with Saga and include them in our new 'Our Friendships' concept. 

Our connection with Saga originated in 2008. In August 2009 we had the pleasure of our drawing of Saga Ruby being presented to the Master of the vessel, Captain Philip Rentell, by Mr Robert Taylor on behalf of Dream Designs Colchester, during his cruise aboard.

In February 2012, we took the opportunity to assign a drawing of Saga Sapphire. We also decided to take the opportunity to contact Saga to further continue our connection and friendship.

We received a great response from Saga and the staff which we corresponded with were extremely helpful and friendly. They were very pleased to see our drawing and have kindly offered us the chance to visit Saga Sapphire in the coming months and we will be working with them closely to arrange the visit.

Grant Laversuch, Operations Director, Saga Shipping, said:

" Many thanks for the email and copies of your drawing. Both you and Stephen Card have very nice drawings of what Saga Sapphire should look like !! "

He added:

" You are very welcome to visit the ship later in the year once it is in service and I can make these arrangements. However having just completely refurbished the ship to the designers requirements, we won’t be in a position to purchase your drawing."

Unfortunately, since our drawing of Saga Sapphire was assigned in February 2012, a number of changes have since been made to the vessel, including the removable of Lifeboats 1&2 as well as the addition of a new funnel design. We did however manage to include the new balconies in our drawing!

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, said:

" It was a great pleasured to receive such a welcoming and friendly response from Saga. Although it was disappointing that Saga were not in a position to purchase a drawing, we feel very honoured that Saga have offered us the opportunity to visit their new vessel in the not too distant future. "

He added:

" The addition of Saga Sapphire has been a wonderful opportunity to continue our friendship and connection with Saga. I am more than certain, that before we visit Saga Sapphire, I personally will assign a new drawing of the vessel, this time including the new features of the ship. Hopefully we will be lucky enough to present the drawing to the Captain during our visit aboard. "

ENDS

For more information please Contact Us on the following details below

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester

Mobile: 07778940245
E-mail: harry_cotterill@hotmail.co.uk          

Here at Dream Designs Colchester we are delighted to have this opportunity to announce to you another exciting forthcoming event in our illustrious history of outstanding achievements and accomplishments.

Earlier this month we decided to contacted Phoenix Reisen to discuss with them the possibility of being given the honour of visiting their vessel, Albatros whilst the vessel is berthed alongside the cruise terminal at Harwich International Port in May 2012.

Phoenix Reisen were kind enough to accept our request and have granted our executive team, including Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester and his parents Diane & Brian Cotterill permission to visit the vessel.

Shortly we will be especially assigning a drawing of Albatros which we will officially present to the Captain and/ or Cruise Director aboard the vessel during our visit to the ship on May 10th 2012 at Harwich International Port.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, said:

" We are extremely grateful that Phoenix Reisen have been kind enough to agree for us to visit their beautiful vessel, Albatros at Harwich International Port. We look forward to boarding the ship and officially presenting our especially assigned drawing to the Captain or the Cruise Director whilst on board. "

He added:

" Our visit to Albatros is just one of a number of visits which we have planned during 2012 and further highlights our continued commitment to increase the awareness of Dream Designs Colchester and form friendships with more of the world's cruise lines." 

ENDS

For more information please Contact Us on the following details below

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester

Mobile: 07778940245
E-mail: harry_cotterill@hotmail.co.uk         

Dream Designs Colchester are very proud and honoured to have this opportunity to announce to you our very latest and ambitious plans to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the world’s most famous ocean liner, Titanic.

Titanic began as just a vision back in 1907, when White Star Line envisioned a ship of immense size and luxury, to rival their competitors’ ships, the Cunard Line’s Mauritania and Lusitania.

Titanic was one of three vessel, the other two begin Olympic and Britannic. Construction of Olympic, the first of these new giant ships, began on December 16th 1908. The first section of Titanic’s hull was laid on March 31st 1909, whilst construction of Britannic would not start until November 30th 2011. Britannic would later become a Hospital ship, never carrying civilian passengers and instead served during the First World War.

In 1912 Titanic was the largest ship the world had ever seen. She weighed in a 46,328 tonne, had an overall length of 269 meters and a beam of 28 meters. Her 9 decks could accommodate 2435 passenger, served by 892 crew.

After leaving the shipyard in Belfast in Ireland where she was built, Titanic arrive at Southampton, before departing on her maiden voyage on April 10th 1912. 4 days into her voyage to New York on April 14th 1912, the vessel which was claimed to be ‘practically unsinkable’ hit an Iceberg, rupturing her iron hull. During the course of the next few hours the vessel would sink to the bottom of the North Atlantic, claiming the lives on 1,517 people.

Titanic has actually been a vital part of Dream Designs Colchester. Titanic was the ship that kicked started our very own President & Managing Director, Harry Cotterill’s passion and enthusiasm for ships, after he became fascinated in the ship when he was just 7 years old. In fact, quite bizarrely there was actually a passenger aboard Titanic with the name Henry “Harry” Cotterill who was a Second Class passenger aboard the ship.

More information about this can be found on the following link below:

http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/harry-cotterill.html 

Which such a connection with the famous ocean liner, we have taken the decision to especially assign a brand new and improved drawing of Titanic, which work will start on shortly, ready for the 100th Anniversary next month.

You will be able to follow the progress of the drawing on Facebook and Twitter! Photographs of the drawing will be uploaded to the Dream Designs Colchester website upon completion.

To further commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Titanic, we have planned a 'Titanic 100th Anniversary Drawing Sale' Special Offer, where we are delighted to offer you the chance to SAVE UP TO 15% when you Place An Order for your very own drawing of Titanic. More information will be published on April 1st 2012.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, said:

" Titanic has always fascinated me and without the ship, it is unlikely I would have ever developed my passion and love for ships, not to mention my ability to draw them. I remember watching the 1997 Titanic film many times and be amazed at how such a ship could be both engineered and built."

He added:

" From a very early age I knew I wanted to design or be part of a ship that would amaze the world. Although I no longer with to become a Naval Architect and have developed more of an interest in Business Management and the Cruise Industry in general, I still spend a considerable amount of time studying various ship plans and arrangements. "

He concluded:

" With such a connection with the famous ocean liner, it is of course very important that we commemorate this occasion accordingly, by assigning a brand new drawing of Titanic! "

ENDS

For more information please Contact Us on the following details below

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester

Mobile: 07778940245
E-mail: harry_cotterill@hotmail.co.uk        

Dream Designs Colchester are delighted to be able to take this opportunity to announce to you some truly wonderful news!

On April 13th 2012, Dream Designs Colchester are set to visit the 59,000 tonne MSC Lirica whilst the ship is berthed alongside the cruise terminal at Harwich International Port. 

Whilst on board we will have the chance to meet with the Captain of the vessel and officially present our especially assigned drawing of MSC Lirica which will be assigned in the next few weeks.

In August 2011, Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester attended the ROL Cruise Show, where he was lucky enough to meet with numerous cruise line representatives, including Lianne Matkin, Sales Department Executive, East Coast, MSC Cruises, where he took the opportunity to show our previously assigned drawing of MSC Opera.

After meeting Lianne Matkin, Sales Department Executive, East Coast, MSC Cruises, we discussed the possibility of visiting MSC Opera in Southampton during 2012 to officially present our drawing to the Captain.

We later noticed that MSC Lirica was due to visit Harwich International Port in 2012 and whilst at the ROL Cruise Show in January 2012, Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester met with Lianne Matkin, Sales Department Executive, East Coast, MSC Cruises again and mentioned that we had noticed MSC Lirica was visiting Harwich International Port and asked about the possibility of visiting the vessel and presenting a brand new especially assigned drawing to the Captain.

After corresponding with MSC Cruises recently they have kindly agreed to welcome us aboard MSC Lirica whilst the vessel is berthed alongside the cruise terminal at Harwich International Port.

Dream Designs Colchester has had a close connection with Harwich International Port for a number of years now . Our executive staff have visited numerous ships there during recent years and have form a close relationship with many of the staff at the cruise terminal in the past, who have on numerous occasions presented our especially assigned drawings aboard many vessels on behalf of Dream Designs Colchester when it has not been possible for us to arrange a visit aboard the particular vessel. 

MSC Lirica is just one of a number of ships we hope to visit throughout 2012. In the coming months we will be working closely with many of our cruise line connections and will be releasing more information about the planned visits and official drawing presentations accordingly.

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester, said:

" We are very pleased that MSC Cruises have agreed to welcome us aboard MSC Lirica during her visit to Harwich International Port in April 2012. We are very much looking forward to visiting the ship and having the opportunity to officially present our especially assigned drawing to the Captain." 

He added:

" I personally will be especially assigning the drawing of MSC Lirica in the next few weeks, ready to officially present to the Captain of the vessel during our visit aboard. "

ENDS

For more information please Contact Us on the following details below

Harry Cotterill, President & Managing Director, Dream Designs Colchester

Mobile: 07778940245
E-mail: harry_cotterill@hotmail.co.uk