Don't laugh... but I may have just booked my shortest cruise yet! I'm not just talking about the duration of the cruise but also the actual distance the ship will be sailing.
I've just booked myself and Gavin on an overnight cruise on board Marco Polo. It sets sail from Harwich (convenient for us as its only 20 miles down the road) and sails all the way toooo... London, Tilbury! We've got a little while to wait though, as it doesn't set sail until 18 August 2018.
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In September 2016, Cruise Cotterill sponsored a charity event which was took place in Plymouth in the United Kingdom, to raise money for the local Plymouth Sea Cadets.
The QE2 themed charity gala dinner event took place on 24 September 2016 at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel in Plymouth. In total 150 guests attended the charity event, including former Captains and crew of the famous ocean liner, sea cadets, as well as past passengers and local business owners. It's not long now until the British cruise operator, Cruise & Maritime Voyages gains another exciting new ship. Although not actually a new build cruise ship, I am particularly excited about the arrival of the ship as I am booked on the maiden voyage!
In June 2017 the 63,786 gross tonne Columbus is to start operating cruises from London, Tilbury. The ship was originally launched in 1989 and has been operated by a variety of cruise lines all over the world. Most recently the ship was known as Pacific Pearl and cruised with P&O Cruises Australia. The ship was extensively refurbished in 2015 and before being re-named and transferred to the Cruise & Maritime Voyages fleet, it will be upgraded further during another refurbishment. A number of passenger cabins will become single cabins, which reduced the ships capacity to around 1,400. Of the 775 cabins on board, 64 offer balconies. Sometime ago now, back in October 2016, I had the chance to visit P&O Cruises wonderful Aurora. Not only did I tour the ship but I also had the opportunity to meet with Captain Wesley Dunlop. I've been so busy since, that I have only just got round to doing this blog post... really bad of me I know!
Anyway, part way through touring the ship I was able to visit the navigation bridge, where I was met the Captain and presented him with my drawing of the ship, which I had produced just a week or two prior to the visit. Having been on one cruise already this year, I can't believe that it isn't long at all until my next! In March I will be stepping aboard Cruise & Maritime Voyages' Astoria for a three-night cruise. This will be my fourth cruise with the British-based cruise line, but at just 16,144 gross tonnes and carrying just 550-passengers, Astoria will be the smallest cruise ship which I have ever cruised on.
She will also be the oldest! Astoria was orginally launched in 1948, known then as Stockholm. The ship is famously known by many ship fans for sinking the ocean liner Andrea Doria. The two ships collided in the Atlantic Ocean in 1956. Now in her 69th year of service, Astoria is the oldest cruise ship curing the world's oceans. Oops! We may have just booked yet another cruise, BUT this time it is just an overnight cruise on board Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' Black Watch in January 2017. I won't be alone on board, as Gavin and Jordan our Cruise Ambassador from Cruise Capital are also booked on the overnight cruise. We will sets sail from London, Tilbury on 02 January 2017. Black Watch will cruise through the English Channel overnight before arriving in Southampton the following morning. So... why the heck have we booked a 1-night cruise!? Firstly its a cruise, so why not! But more importantly... Black Watch is to undergo an extensive refurbishment in November 2016 which will see plenty of improvements and changes on board and the addition of two new restaurants. So we will be able to see the refurbished ship just a few weeks after she re-enters service. Black Watch is also the only ship in the Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines fleet which both myself and Gavin have not yet cruised on, so we were pretty keen to get on board at some point anyway! Agreeably the overnight cruise won't give us enough time to experience the ship properly, but nevertheless we will be able to see what Black Watch has to offer and I've got my eye on a few slightly longer cruises later in 2017 too. I'm sure the three of us will have a wonderful but albeit short cruise on board Black Watch.
At the time of writing this blog I'm just about to set off on a cruise but once back I won't have long to wait... well kinda of. On 05 October, the same day I arrive back from my cruise, I'll be jumping ship (not literally) as I step aboard P&O Cruises' Aurora for a ship visit. Joining me on board will be Gavin, who is also on the cruise with me but we will also be joined by our Cruise Ambassador, Jordan Bailey from Cruise Capital too. In fact it's a bit of a team get together as Captain Wesley Dunlop who we are meeting on board acts as our Honourable President. Captain Dunlop joined P&O Cruises earlier this year, having previously been Captain for another cruise line. During our visit on board, not only will the three of us be meeting with Captain Dunlop to present my brand new drawing of Aurora, but we also hope to tour the ship as much as possible and explore the many amenities and even some of the cabins and suites on board if we get a chance. We are all looking forward to visiting Aurora. This will be my first time on board and it's the same for Gavin, whilst Jordan however has been lucky enough to cruise on the ship before. As ever we will of course take plenty of photos and upon our return back to the office we will publish a full review of the ship, complete with some of those many hundreds of photos! If there's anything you particular want to see on board or know please comment below and we will do our best to assist.
It's almost time for our next cruise... or depending when you're reading this we might already be on board enjoying our very first cruise with MSC Cruises. We're very excited to be cruising with MSC Cruises and can't wait to experience what the cruise line has to offer. Gavin and I booked the cruise over 15 months ago and we can't believe how quickly it has gone. We are very much look forward to boarding the beautiful MSC Splendida on 28 September in Southampton and spending 7 night on board as we cruise around Northern Europe. During our cruise on MSC Splendida we will be visiting Zeebrugge, Amsterdam (overnight), Hamburg and Le Harve. We will also have a full sea day to relax and enjoy the ship. We both certainly want to try out as much as possible on board, including the 4D Cinema and F1 Simulator! Whilst on board I also hope to present the Captain with my drawing of MSC Splendida which I recently finished. Gavin is also lucky enough to be celebrating his 25th Birthday on board on the last night of the cruise. I'm sure MSC Cruises will make sure we are well looked after. Be sure to keep a look out on our social media outlets for posts, photos and videos. Happy Cruising...
It’s always good to plan ahead… so I’ve just booked a cruise for next year. Actually it’s the third I have booked for next year but this one isn’t until October and is on a bigger ship than the other two!
Having experienced our first cruise with Royal Caribbean International this year on the amazing Harmony of the Seas, Gavin and I have been keen to book another ever since. I’ve always wanted to do a cruise on Independence of the Seas and next year I finally will be! I've been lucky enough to secure another ship visit. This time I will be visiting Transocean Tours' 20,606 gross tonne Astor. Joining me for the visit will be our Cruise Ambassador, Jordan Bailey. We will be visiting the ship on Monday, 15 August 2016 whilst she is berthed at the cruise terminal at Harwich International Port.
Some of you might also know Astor from her cruises with Cruise & Maritime Voyages, who are operating the ship during Winter 2016 and Spring 2017 on cruises from London, Tilbury and Australia. |
Harry CotterillHarry Cotterill set up his blog when he was just 16-years old, making him one of the youngest cruise bloggers in the world. In later years he became known across the world for his amazing talent of drawing cruise ships! Blog Archive
December 2023
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