Cunard cruises have the finest fleet of British passenger
ships, the Queen Mary11 and Queen Victoria and passengers
keenly look forward to the launching of Queen Elizabeth in
2010. Cunard earned fame in 1839 when Queen Victoria
appointed them RMS, the Royal Mail Ship. Ever since
excellent modernisations together with a timeless
traditional way of life and attractive routes and
programmes, Cunard cruises have inspired a totally
inimitable onboard ambiance.

Cunard cruises operate transatlantic crossings to New York
and sail to the Caribbean, Northern Europe, the
Mediterranean, Canaries, Madeira and the Azores, America
and Canada, Scandinavia, the Baltic's and Iceland. They
also operate short voyages, world cruises and roundtrips
from Southampton. Numerous shore excursions are available.
There are often special offers available including
discounts and upgrades, so it pays to see what is on offer
before you proceed with your booking.

If you are on holidy alone, you will not find it hard to
meet new people on Cunard cruises. You will be invited to
a welcome cocktail party on the first night. You can also
partake in a variety of activities such as pub quizzes and
onboard classes. This will give you a chance to meet new
people. For the ladies travelling alone, Cunard are
thoughtful enough to provide you with gentlemen hosts to
partner you for a rumba or waltz.

These cruises provide you with the chance to meet
specifically invited personalities, entrepreneurs,
explorers, actors, authors, poets and politicians and
listen to them narrate their astonishing tales during
fascinating demonstrations, informal seminars and lectures.
You are also able to participate in the "Science at Sea"
program with seminars and talks that discuss current issues
and encourage spirited scientific discussions.

Workshops include drama classes run by graduates from the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. There are also some
excellent talks on astronomy by the Royal Astronomical
Society. They will provide you with teleschopes and
binoculars.

Daytime dress on Cunard cruises is casual, but it's all
change for the evenings when it ranges from elegant casual
to formal and glamorous. Dining arrangements for formal
events are often decided by your choice of stateroom grade.
The ships daily program is delivered to your stateroom each
day and you need never worry about getting lost as each
stateroom contains a ships plan and it is also pinned up at
various handy locations around the liner.

Cunard liners are a special place and the most romantic
setting to celebrate your special occasion, take a
honeymoon, get married or renew your vows and you will not
find a more comprehensive package elsewhere. Cunard provide
the best service to their customers to help make it a
holiday of a lifetime.

The ships are truly impressive with polished woods, curved
staircases, magnificent artwork, mosaic and plush fabrics
and its glamour throughout. For evening entertainment, you
can use the lounges and bars provided, as well as watch
stage shows or enjoy some dancing.

Cunard cruises are for those that want to experience
glamour and luxury like no other. The food is out of this
world and you are waited on hand and foot. There is a
gymnasium, promenade deck, spa, games deck, garden lounge,
whirlpools, pools and so much more. This is an experience
you will never forget.

Star ratings in hotels are hard to define exactly, as there
is no common standard internationally for measuring the
level of service that you get in a hotel. So each hotel
will vary in rating from country to country. However, there
is a simple set of standards to comply to the health and
saftey regulations, regarding security, electrical safety
and fire regulations.

The English Tourist board, AA and RAC and a few others will
rate accommodation in the UK, as Mobil Travel Guides do in
America. However in Europe there is no consistant
definition of a 3 star hotel. Voluntary organisations or
government organisations provide many ratings in Europe,
using quantitative measures to find out what price range
the hotel should charge. There is little rhyme or reason to
this and in certain cases a three star rated hotel can be
more expensive than one rated with four stars.

One thing that is reassuring though, is that inspectors
give no warning of an inspection, which means a hotel is
judged on its normal appearance rather than being dressed
up for an inspection. This is good as aesthetic
requirements are also taken into consideration, so the
higher the star rating, the better quality furnishings,
decoration, light and space can be expected in a bedroom
and the hotel's other equipment.

The least you can expect from any hotel room is a clean bed
with clean linen, bedside cabinet, suitable flooring and a
waste bin. Naturally a one star hotel rating suggests the
bare essentials and five stars means you can expect to be
pampered with luxury. Interestingly enough Singapore has a
self-proclaimed six star hotel called the Fullerton and
Dubai the Burj Al Arab calls itself a seven star hotel.

When you are staying in big cities it is well worth booking
at least a 2 or 3 star hotel, thats if you want a
television, private bathroom and a telephone, but expect
your room to be small. If the weather's hot and you want
air conditioning, then look for a bargain four-star hotel
in areas that are not renown for tourists.

If certain hotel services are important to you, then you
can't expect very much from a one or two star hotel. If you
stay at a 3 star hotel, its not unreasonable to assume they
will provide u with luggage storage facilities, money
exchange, room service and a reception open each hour of
the day. There will generally be a bar and restaurant and
maybe a swimming pool.

A 4 star hotel will provide a comfortable room, a range of
services and a swimming pool. You can also expect a wide
range of restaurants, gym and health clubs. Five star
hotels offer luxury, high-class service and will be
immaculately furnished and decorated.

It is wise to gather as much information about the hotel
before booking, regardless of its star rating, by asking
for brouchures and looking at websites. If you are not sure
about something, use the contact information they provide
and ask your questions. This is alot safer than being
disappointed when you arrive.

Princess Cruises offer their passengers the chance to
escape in a world of luxury to discover exciting cultures
and breathtaking sights on their top super liners. You can
relax or live the high life according to your mood.

The brand 'Princess Cruises' became famous when it starred
in the television series 'Love Boat'. It is now part of
Carnival PLC and one of the principal cruise lines in the
world. Princess Cruise's sail to more worldwide
destinations than any other major cruise lines including
Alaska, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Canada and New
England, the Caribbean, Europe, Hawaii, Tahiti and South
Pacific, the Mexican Riviera, Panama Canal and luxury world
cruises.

Princess cruises have one hundred and fifteen exclusive
itineraries taking in over three hundred and fifty
thrilling ports of call with the larger vessels carrying
more than three thousand guests.

The Princess ships offer an innovative program known as,
Personal Choice Cruising, which is an unstructured,
individually tailored style of cruising. Customers are
provided the opportunity to tailor their cruise, so you get
what you want, when you want it. The idea of passengers
being able to manage their own cruise began in the 1990's
when Princess introduced their innovative Sun class ships
with multiple dining locations, affordable private
balconies and flexible entertainment.

Pre-cruise preparations are taken care of by PRincess
Cruises with their own cruise personaliser. You just have
to give them your immigration information, then boarding
will be much faster and less trouble. You can also send in
pre-cruise information to say what you would like from the
cruise, including your favourite drink or any special
requirements. You are also able to reserve spa treatments
and shore excursions with in four months of your departure
date.

Daytime activities include lectures, digital photography
workshops, cooking demonstrations and ceramic painting
lessons. There are a few swimming pools, one of which has a
current that you can swim against. Other sporting
activities include golf, scuba and snorkelling lessons,
jogging, basketball, volleyball, ping-pong and shuffleboard.

If you want to take it easy you can visit the ships
extensive library, laze beside the pool or visit the
Sanctuary for a relaxing spa or massage and be waited on by
a Serenity Steward with light meals and signature drinks.

The Lotus Spa and Fitness programs offer all you need to
both pamper and keep fit and the salon services offer
hairdressing, manicure, pedicure and a barbers shop.

Other facilities include boutiques to buy duty free gifts,
room service, bars and lounges, speciality restaurants and
personal choice dining. There is a casino, art auctions,
book club and an amazing choice of nightly entertainment
with live theatre, shows, dancing under the stars, parties,
karaoke, comedy, TV and movies.

A complementary, "Passport to Value" allows substantial
savings on shopping, photo services, and art and spa
treatments. There are several special packages to celebrate
occasions and you can even fill your room with freshly cut
flowers.

Princess Cruises are great for all the family whatever
their age and youngsters age three to seventeen are catered
to with a wide range of stimulating onboard activities to
keep them happy throughout the day.

Its quite easy to find cheap hotels, once you know where to
start looking. If you are using the Internet, which is the
best option, then start by using a search engine

In order to find cheap hotels there is no advantage in
using the so-called hotel search engines over a universal
search engine like Google or the larger Mamma Metasearch. A
reson for this is a lot of website claim to be about travel
or hotel searches can be told apart from hotel related
portals or directories.

Cheap hotels are ever more prevalent as the cost of living
rises and we nose-dive deeper into recession. This means
hotel bookings are down and hoteliers are offering larger
discounts to you, the consumer. Probably the fastest way to
find cheap hotels on the Internet is to get your very own
automated searchbot. This works by comparing the results or
numerous search engines consecutively.

The most effective searchbot is Copernic, which is free to
download. Once you have downloaded this you can use it to
track hundreds of newsgroups and directories that might
offere cheap hotels. In this way you are unlikely to
encounter irrelevant listings.

A lot of online travel agents and hotel booking sites offer
really cheap holiday deals that have cut prices on hotels.
One way to find out what they have on offer is to sign up
to various newsgroups so that you recieve newsletters
including hotel deals. This way you will learn about big
savings, special offers and cheap hotels that you won't see
elsewhere. Sign up to as many websites as possible so that
you are offered a variety of cheap hotel deals for wherever
you are planning to travel.

Another way to find cheap hotels or rather a free hotel is
to enter competitions, as you never know when you will be
the lucky one. To find out what's available, just type
"free holiday competitions" in the search box on your
browser. There are thousands of them available and you may
even find this an enjoyable pastime and extremely
profitable.

If you can travel off-season to a popular destination, you
will find that hotels are usually much cheaper at these
times. It is often cheaper too, if you book a hotel from
midweek to midweek rather than at weekends. Scouting around
for last minute deals is always a good idea as well.

When you think you have found the very cheapest hotel,
check it out to ensure you know exactly what you are
getting for your money. Does the cost cover room only or
are meals all in? This can make all the difference to what
you holiday costs are in the end. Visit the website; take a
look at images of the rooms etc to see that you are really
getting good value for money.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is the newcomer to cruising.
Their liners are more up to date and advanced than any
others you will ever sail on. Norwegian cruises sail to all
five continents of the world taking in more than one
hundred and fifty ports of call. You can sail to Alaska,
Bahamas and Florida, Bermuda, Canada and New England,
Europe, Hawaii, Panama Canal, South America and Pacific
Coastal. There are also cruises around the Mexican Riviera
and weekend cruises.

This cruise line company doesn't believe in pomp and
ceremony, as Norwegians Freestyle cruising means you are
free to wear what you want, eat what you want and do what
you want at all times. Freestyle accommodation means that
your room is just the way you want it to be, with room
service, fully stocked mini-bar, customised fruit basket,
fresh baked cookies and even breakfast in bed or dinner
sitting out on your balcony.

The choice of accommodation is vast with large suites as
well as interconnecting staterooms and suites to suit even
the largest of families. NCL has lavish and comfortable
garden or courtyard villas with en-suites in all the three
bedrooms and a spacious five thousand square feet of
privacy. Whatever you choose you are guaranteed to have an
amazing view and usually a balcony.

Freestyle is a set up on Norwegian cruises, where you can
eat breakfast, lunch and dinner when ever you feel hungry.
If you want to lie in, take a dip or go to the gym before
breakfast, then you are free to do so. The same applies to
disembarkation, as at no time will you have to vacate you
quarters at the crack of dawn. Its all about you and what
you want to do on your holiday on the ship. if you want to
get off the ship you are allowed to disembark straight away.

ships have lots of restaurants and buffets. However, you
can have breakfast in bed or eat your dinner on your
balcony and be waited on by your personal waiter. Unlike
some other cruise lines, you will not have to eat with a
stranger, but if you would like a companion at your table,
this can be arranged.

The nightlife is tremendous with dance clubs, numerous
bars, casinos, and private karaoke and in the day you can
enjoy Freestyle family fun, golf, sports and fitness.
Norwegian Cruise also offers cruise rewards, bon voyage
gifts and there are always promotions and specials.

Norwegian cruises are very distinctive. Where else will you
find a Nintendo Wii on a two-story screen or a bowling
alley at sea? They know that it's the little things,
personal touches and freedom that make a holiday special.
They have left no stone unturned when it comes to providing
something for everyone on all their ships - Norwegian Dawn,
Epic, Gem, Jade, Jewel, Majesty, Pearl, Sky, Spirit, Star,
Sun and Pride of America.

Remember you need to book your shore excursions no later
than four days before you travel.