Alan has left Cruise.co.uk (please now speak to Graeme as below)

Graeme at Cruise.co.uk is now looking after all of Alan's customers after Alan left to pursue a career in teaching.

Please call Graeme's direct line on 0800 408 6119 for any help or email graemep@cruise.co.uk

Graeme has 3 years of experience at Cruise.co.uk and is especially knowledgeable on the luxury cruise brands. Please visit his blog  http://graemes-getaways.blogspot.com/ to find out more about him and see comments from his many satisfied customers under the "Rate My Service" section.

Do I need visa?

Here at cruise.co.uk we are constantly asked what countries need a visa and which countries don’t.  We have cleverly partnered up with CIBT, The Global Visa and Passport Professionals, to answer all your visa and passport requirements.

CIBT has a network of 23 offices in 10 countries, so no matter where you are in world, you will be covered.

It is a very simple procedure to find out if you need a visa or not.  Log on to their website, then just follow the three simple steps to find out!!!

Step 1: I hold a passport from…. (Select the country of issue of your passport)

Crystal Cruises go Spanish!!

There are over 417 million Spanish speakers world wide and Crystal Cruises are focusing on them!!  Crystal Cruises, which is a Luxury cruise line, have released a 211-page world Atlas that outlines their entire 2011 cruise itinerary in SPANISH!!!  But, will this affect the language barriers that already exist on board cruise ships?  Will it open doors for English speaking passengers to learn Spanish prior to boarding so they can communicate with fellow Spanish speaking passengers?

There are many positive reasons for Crystal Cruises releasing their “Spanish Atlas,” but are there any negative ones?  Even though within Spanish speaking countries there are potential clients that could afford going on a cruise, there is a great majority that cannot afford to pay for a Luxury Cruise or any cruise in that case!!! 

Farrah Sienna Guzman, my gorgeous baby daughter.

Well, I have been away for a few weeks as we now have a new addition to our family, a beautiful baby girl!  Farrah Sienna Guzman was born at 19:17pm on the 15^th of February 2011, weighing 7lbs 9oz.  A few complications arose through out the birth, but we are now all safe at home. 



Minutes after birth!!



Dreaming of food!!!

 

Still dreaming of food!!!



A huge congratulations to my colleague James here at cruise.co.uk!!!

James, myself and the girls

Dialysis treatments while on a cruise.

Just recently I have had a few clients enquire regarding having dialysis treatments whilst taking a cruise.  After an exhausting search, questioning and calling different companies, I found out that you can still take a fantastic cruise and receive dialysis treatment!

In basic terms, there are two types of dialysis treatments; Hemodialysis and Peritoneal dialysis.  Hemodialysis requires the use of a machine to filter blood and then re-feed the blood back into the patient.  With Peritoneal dialysis, the patient requires a sterile, glucose solution to be fed straight into an abdominal cavity that goes around the abdominal organs.

At the moment, there are a few options if you require dialysis treatment and want to take a cruise, but it all depends on what type of dialysis you need.  If you require a machine based dialysis, essentially, there are two types of machines you can use. A small portable machine that does a partial cleansing or a large machine that does the full treatment.

Currently, if you require the small machine, the patient can rent these and take the small, rentable machine onboard most of the cruise lines as long as this has been mentioned to the travel agent and agreed by the cruise line.

Prepare your taste buds for REAL Mexican/Mayan food.

In my last blog, I talked about the first Mexican cruise line which should have onboard some traditional Mexican dishes.  On this blog, I will talk about traditional Yucatecan food which will be useful if you are taking a cruise that goes to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

Top of the list has to be cochinita pibil, my personal favourite and Yucatan’s number one dish.  Cochinita pibil is pork that has been marinated and slow cooked in achiote (annatto) together with a very bitter type of orange/grapefruit, all wrapped up and cooked in banana leaves.

First Mexican cruise line.

At last, Mexico will launch their own cruise line called Ocean Star Cruises with their main offices based in Mexico City and in Guadalajara.  For the time being, their ship, Ocean Star Pacific, will be sailing the Pacific with ports like Acapulco, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Cabo San Lucas, Huatulco and Puerto Chiapas. 

Ocean Star Cruises will include round trip coach transfers from the two main cities in Mexico, Guadalajara and Mexico City, which are both deep in the middle of the country. 

At the moment, it is said that, “The Mexican Riviera ports are losing Royal Caribbean’s year-round business, Princess has sharply reduced capacity and Carnival Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line are withdrawing ships.”  This will leave a huge gap in the market and hopefully, Ocean Star Cruises will fill this gap to the rim.