Cruise Holidays Irish Cruise Blog

It's here! The Cruise Holidays & Tour America Red Cow Annual Holiday Sale Day.

Tour America & Cruise Holidays, Ireland's leading tour operator to the USA and Cruise Holidays, are this week launching our Annual Sale Day at The Red Cow Moran Hotel to take place on Sunday 7th October.

 

This is the 12th year Tour America & Cruise Holidays have run this holiday show, and we have organised for suppliers from all over the USA to join us on the day. From cruise companies such as Norwegian Cruise Line with a host of special offers and top tips for our cruise clients. Some of the key tourist boards from the USA will also be there including Florida Beaches, Las Vegas, Massachusetts, California, Deep South and much more.

There will be at least 30 exhibitors, with lots of gifts for you and your family; there will be a children's area, and all the Tour America experts there to bring you all the exclusive offers of the day. In addition, we will have key guest speakers to keep you up to date with all that is travel, and to provide you with additional information on all the destinations available to book in the USA wih tips, advice and special offers on the day.

And if you're a technology savvy person, you'll be able to connect with us on the day through Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Foresquare. We'll be taking pictures and videos so you can tag yourself, we'll be tweeting event information (Q times, deals on the day etc.) and much more. And we'll have a competition on the day to give one lucky person a €100 One4All gift voucher just for checking in on their mobile phone either through Facebook or Foresquare. If you have been before, you will know how busy it is, so arrive early. If you have not been before, now is your chance to take advantage of the best holiday prices for the USA and cruising. Doors open at 10am (admission is free) and the fun continues till 6pm.

Cunard’s World Cruises for 2014

Cunard has unveiled details for some of its major voyages for 2014, including the tenth anniversary season for the Queen Mary 2.

The famous vessel will start her 2014 schedule with a 119-night voyage around Africa and the east, ending with calls at various ports around Australia. This will mark a return to Australia for the ocean liner after its inaugural circumnavigation of the country earlier this year.

The Queen Elizabeth will be embarking on a 118-night Round World trip taking in 40 different ports of call across 23 countries - including the ship's first ever stop off in Japan. Maiden calls will also be made at Shanghai, Pusan in South Korea and Aqaba, which is close to Petra in Jordan.

Finally, the Queen Victoria will undertake a 116-nightvoyage around South America, travelling from Brazil to Chile before heading to New Zealand and returning to the UK. Eight maiden calls will be made for the vessel, including Rio, Buenos Aires, Easter Island and Moorea in French Polynesia.

Peter Shanks, president of Cunard, said that these world voyages continue to grow in demand with passengers.

"For 2014, we have Queen Victoria undertaking her first ever South American voyage around Cape Horn, while Queen Mary 2, celebrates her 10th anniversary with a full circumnavigation of Australia, building on the huge popularity of this circle sector with our guests this year," he said.

Are you tempted by these? Have you travelled with Cunard before?

Queen Mary 2 to show Madame Butterfly

Cruise holiday passengers aboard Cunard Line's flagship vessel the Queen Mary 2 will be treated to an operatic extravaganza this summer with plans taking place to screen Madame Bufferfly 3D onboard.

The screenings are being organised in association with the London Royal Opera House and RealD – the most widely used digital 3D projection technology in the world.

Recorded during live performances last year, the film will be screened from July 6th and with the Cunard vessel currently the only cruise ship planning to present the film.

The screening is the latest joint venture between Cunard and RealD. Last year, Carmen in 3D was screened to guests aboard the cruise vessels, with Madame Butterfly 3D expected to draw similar crowds to the Queen Mary 2's 450-seat theatre, Illuminations.

"There are few British institutions more respected and admired in the world than the Royal Opera and Cunard," says Joseph Peixoto, president of worldwide cinema at RealD.

"To bring this world-class production to Queen Mary 2 ensures it will be seen on cruises throughout the world."

Cunard Host First Transatlantic Wedding

A couple of cruise holiday enthusiasts took the plunge on a recent trip aboard the Cunard liner the Queen Mary 2 - after tying the knot in the mid-Atlantic.

The happy new couple, Barry Maloney and Denise Holding, became the first pairing to marry aboard a Cunard cruise during a transatlantic voyage from Southampton to New York.

Captain Kevin Oprey oversaw the ceremony, with the newlyweds invited up to the bridge after the main event where they were allowed to sound the ship's whistle.

According to the Seatrade Insider, the pair, who own a riding centre in the UK, had been together for nearly 30 years prior to the forming their new union on the recent cruise.

However it was the chance to wed aboard their favourite ship that ultimately proved too good an opportunity to miss.

Do you think getting married at sea is a good idea? Would you do it?

Cunard Cruises Queen Mary 2 Refit

Entertainment Director of Queen Mary 2, Paul O' Loughlin, takes viewers through key areas in the first stages of the Hamburg refit 28 - 30 November 2011.

 

Cunard Wedding Packages

For the first time in Cunard Cruises' 171 years guests can now get married at sea.

The Cunard's Wedding package will include:

~ Elegant Wedding Ceremony Venue
~ Romantic Ceremony at Sea conducted by the Captain
~ Two fresh floral arrangements for the ceremonial room
~ Bridal Posy (a choice of roses, lilies or an exotic arrangement)
~ Bridegrooms Boutonniere (a choice of rose, lily or exotic arrangement)
~ One tier 8" Wedding Cake (a choice of vanilla or chocolate sponge)
~ Traditional wedding music
~ Commemorative Wedding Certificate
~ Commemorative Printed Wedding Menu
~ Bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne
~ Bride & Groom's Champagne Breakfast in Bed
~ Wedding Invitations and Thank You Cards for your voyage guests
~ Services of Your On Board Wedding Coordinator
~ White Star Bellmen to escort Bride to ceremonial room
~ Pressing Service for Bridal outfits
~ Priority Check-In and Luggage Delivery
~ Priority Embarkation and Disembarkation for the bridal couple

Price and Booking:

Wedding Package: $2,500
License Fees: $575
Additional Marriage Certificates: $50 (Pre-Voyage Certificate)/ $65 (Post-voyage Certificate)

Have you ever thought about getting married at sea? Would you choose Cunard Cruises?

Cunard to offer weddings at sea

For the first time in its 171-year history, Cunard Line will be offering passengers an opportunity to get married at sea.

The cruise line says its new shipboard "Weddings" program will begin next spring on all three of its ships – Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth.

In order to allow the weddings, Cunard is re-flagging the entire fleet, moving registration from Southampton to Bermuda because English law does not permit weddings at sea, but Bermuda has no such restriction.

Hamilton will replace Southampton on the hull of the Queen Elizabeth by the end of the month and on the other ships in November. The Red Ensign flag will continue to fly on the ships since Bermuda is a British territory.

Cunard president Peter Shanks said there's pent-up demand from passengers for weddings at sea, with couples particularly looking to tie the knot in the middle of the Atlantic on sailings of the flagship Queen Mary 2.

Shipboard weddings have become "increasingly popular and lucrative" for cruise lines, he said.

The Cunard program will go on sale in December. A variety of wedding packages will be available, including the option of having the ship's captain perform the ceremony.

Sister lines Princess and P&O Cruises have tapped into the weddings at sea market for years, as have other lines including Celebrity.

 

Carmen & Shakespeare at Sea

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Cunard have revealed some fantastic new additions to entertainment and enrichment aboard Queen Mary 2 for the transatlantic season.

Passengers will be dazzled by 3D films, interactive song writing workshops, and RADA 'street theatre' performance workshops.

In June, the opera Carmen - produced by RealD and London’s Royal Opera House – will be featured in 3D, and shown in the Illuminations theatre.

Other 3D blockbusters will be shown including Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

Also new this year, Chris Difford -- double Ivor Novello award-winner and former member of the 70's band 'Squeeze', will conduct songwriting workshops with four other professional song-writers as part of the Professional Insights series.

With Difford’s songwriting programme, guests will have the opportunity to collaborate in small groups with musicians from Queen Mary 2’s performance company. The best songwriters then be able to record their songs in a studio on board to take home.

Difford and the songwriters also will be performing well-known Squeeze favourites during the voyage.

This year, RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) will go beyond the Royal Court Theatre to feature several new interactive offerings including dramatic 'street theatre' style performances throughout the ship. Guests can expect to enjoy classics such as Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing.

In the theatre itself, a different Canterbury Tale will be performed each month, resulting in the complete works over the course of two years. At the end of each performance, the audience will be encouraged to choose their favourite tale; the actors will then ask for short stories to be called The Cunard Tales to be written by members of the audience; these will then be workshopped and performed by the actors and participants in Workshop 3.

Cunard’s first female Captain talks about life at sea

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Inger Olsen, who is Cunard's first female captain, wasn't dreaming of a life at sea when she signed on to a cargo ship at age 16.

"I was looking for a job after school and on weekends," Olsen recalled from her home in Svendborg, Denmark. "I didn't have any idea what I wanted to do."

She applied to become a cadet and joined the Cunard Line in 1997.

"I thought I'd do it for a few years and then go ashore and have a family," said Olsen, 43. "But one year led to another."

In December 2010, Captain Inger Olsen took the helm of the 90,000-ton luxury liner Queen Victoria to become one of only a few women cruise ship captains in the world.

"I think if you look at cruise lines there's only two or three," she said.

Her ship, which carries 2,000 passengers, is the youngest of Cunard's three Queens, joining the fleet alongside the Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2 in 2007.

The 1,000 crew under Olsen's command keep the crystal chandeliers glittering, the mahogany polished and the ballroom dance floor shipshape.

"Each ship has its own feel," Olsen said. "Once you get used to a particular ship, get the training in it, that ship seems like the best one for you."

Olsen said fulfilling the hopes of her passengers is her greatest reward.

"When people say this is fantastic, the greatest time of life, then you know that we have delivered what we promised."

Olsen said her voyage through the ranks has been mostly smooth sailing in fair weather.

"People have welcomed me all the way through," she said. "It's only been extremely positive."

On leave until she sails from Southampton, England in May, Olsen is enjoying the pleasures of dry land.

"When I'm home I have my house, my garden, my family," she said. "I go to concerts, spend time with friends. Just enjoy, really. "

She thinks a seafaring life may not suit every woman.

"You're away for three or four months," she explained. "Most women who have kids don't want to be away for that long."

But for Olsen there's bounty in the sea lane less traveled.

"At least I can say that I've done it. I did it all the way," Olsen said. "But it wasn't really a dream, I think. It was more just circumstances, really."

Get creative with Cunard

Posted by Susan O’Driscoll

Cunard Cruises are aiming to inspire guests with a collection of onboard themes designed to tap into the artist in all of us.

Have a read of these and see if any of them would tickle your fancy.

A Creative Writing Competition Cruise

In conjunction with The Sunday Times, guests on board Queen Victoria from 5-19 June 2011 will be invited to write a piece of prose, poetry or something about their experience on board a trip, no more than 1000 words. The title for the piece will be announced on board.

A winner and three runners up will be picked by the panel and a special presentation will be made by the Captain. The winning story will be published on the Cunard website and a feature about the competition will be included in the quarterly Cunarder Magazine.

A panel of writers and reviewers from the Sunday Times will also be available during the course of the voyage to offer writing tips, support advice on your writing including structure, plot, “writers block”, character development and any other areas guests would like to discuss relevant to the competition.

Juilliard Jazz Transatlantic Crossings

Heralded quintets in the Chart Room, legendary jazz guitarists in the Royal Court Theatre and enthralling Q&A sessions with musical trailblazers. The incredible shows by members of New York’s acclaimed Juilliard School hit all the right notes during our flagship’s 2010 transatlantic season. It seemed only right, then, to request an encore.

Once again Juilliard performers will be on board Queen Mary 2 to show off their extraordinary talents, this year on an even greater number of departures including four westbound Transatlantic Crossings.

As well as breathtaking collaborations and individual performances, the brilliant Juilliard Quintet shall take centre stage on the 26 April -2 May and 10-17 November Transatlantic Crossings.

 

National Symphony Orchestra Cruises

The National Symphony Orchestra will be performing on board Queen Mary 2 and inviting guests to join the choir once again during 2011.

Guests on Eastbound Transatlantic Crossing 7-14 October 2011 will be invited to experience what it's like to sing with a National Symphony Orchestra on the stage of the Royal Court Theatre on board Queen Mary 2. Guests will have the opportunity to attend rehearsals with the Conductor, Anthony Inglis, and prepare for Cunard's Last Night of the Proms to be staged at the end of the crossing.