Sailing over flying

Over the years more and more people are cruising and a preference to cruise from the UK is also becoming more and more popular.

With the sad events over the last week of the MH17  flight being shot down over the Ukraine and just yesterday another plane Air Algeria, vanishing from radar to crash near Mali, it does not bode well for the air industry.

I feel for Malaysian Airlines, especially as this is the 2nd major incident in less than 6 months that the airline have been involved after the disappearance of the flight MH370 in March.  I really do not know if Malaysian Airlines can recover from this double tragedy and it certainly makes you wonder if this could be the end of a great airline?

Statistics still show that flying is one of the safest forms of travel, but when a plane is involved in an incident that causes complete loss of life to all on board, it usually means hundreds of lives are lost. I am a firm believer that when your time is up it’s, it’s up and it will not matter how it will happens, it is just very sad when it does happen and makes you sit back and think a bit about life.

Like millions of others, I will still continue to fly, in most cases we do not have a choice, be it to visit loved ones, for business or if we want to continue to see this great planet we live on.  Yes, there are other forms of transport, such as travelling by road, rail or ferry, but if we want to go further afield we do in most cases need to fly.

Cruise liners only operate limited long haul travel from the UK, the likes of Cunard, P&O, Fred Olsen and some other cruise companies do offer a few round trip itineries to further afield destinations and also world cruises that last for approx 3-4 months http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-blogs/dawnonacruise/?p=103 but these are mostly in the winter months, with the exception of the odd one off here and there.

These world cruises can be broken down in segments but to break a world cruise down does mean you still need to fly.

I have many clients whom do not fly, simple as that, be it for a fear of flying or that they find flying difficult due to health circumstances, this then makes travelling very difficult for them as they wish to go to certain destinations but are not in a position to get there.

Most cruise liners do offer transatlantic crossings, especially when they have ended their winter or summer season and are then heading to the next port they will call home for a season. Apart from the QM2 from New York to Southampton return, there is no other regular transatlantic crossing available for those wanting to sail across the pond to enjoy the USA, Caribbean and beyond.

Usually, if you want to sail from the UK to the gateway of the Caribbean/South America – Florida, you can only do this during the latter part of October into November and then the ships return late April/early May.  Of course crossing the atlantic means at least 6 days at sea and then if you want to return this way after spending a period of time in this area you would have to make your way to New York or wait at least 6 months for the cruise ships to return to Europe.

Over the years I have been working in the cruise industry, I do tend to find that once guests have sailed from a UK port they really do not want to fly anymore where possible. Again there are many reasons for this, the most common of which is the convenience of sailing from the UK, no luggage restrictions, easy access and the thought of once your boarded your holiday starts.  It certainly beats the inconvenience of a restricted weight allowance with your luggage, having the correct size hand luggage, hanging around departure lounges, flight delays.. the list can be endless.

I have been to the UK ports of Southampton, Harwich and Dover where cruise ships regularly depart and with the exception of Southampton the UK hub port, the other two ports are so tranquil and easily accessible. It would be great to see more use of our ports such as Liverpool, Edinburgh and Newcastle be used by more than just the one cruise liner that currently operate certain itineraries from these ports and open up a gateway to more accessible destinations.

Fred Olsen are offering a sailing from Liverpool to the east coast of Canada next August, but it is the only option of cruise from and for this region.

With some of the big cruise liners such as Norwegian Cruises and MSC Cruises commissioning new ships over the next coming years, it would be great if they made a decision to have a permanent home for one or two of these ships from the UK.

Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess and Holland & America have only a handful of ships based in the UK and only in the summer months. It would again be great if they decided to keep a ship on throughout the year.

At the moment if you want to sail from the UK in the winter months, you are limited to a few P&O, Fred Olsen and Cruise and Maritime ships and itineraries. I know the Bay of Biscay isn’t always the greatest area of sea to cross in the winter but for the sake of 24 hours  I would definitely put up with the crossing for more ships and more options of itineraries in the winter months.

What’s your views on sailing over flying?

Do you agree that once you have sailed from the UK it makes it easier than having to fly?

It would be great to hear what you think and if you feel more cruise companies could benefit from the UK cruising market by having a few more ships based in the UK?

Dawn

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