Booking your Cruise Holiday with Confidence

Cruise agents tend to offer much better fares than going direct to the cruise line It’s very easy to assume that a cruise agent is legit when they have a smart website and plenty of good deals on offer. But, hiding behind that telephone number or website could be a large reputable travel agent or just a one-man operation from a living room somewhere. So, how can you tell the difference and find a good, reputable cruise travel agent and avoid a cruise booking disaster?

One of the easiest ways to protect yourself is to book with your credit card. Both the initial deposit and the final payment are protected under insurance with most major credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Luckily, the law in the Credit law UK states (Fair Credit Billing Act) that you are entitled to protection (via a chargeback of disputed fees to your account) if a merchant fails to provide the product or service that you have paid for.

Its very important to remember this protection does not apply to debit cards. It’s imperative that you check with your own credit card company on their policy before you book.

Check up on an agency before booking your cruise holiday. Ask if the agency belongs to ABTA and ATOL and ask for their licence numbers – you can look them up on the corresponding websites for verification.

Once you have made your booking it’s wise to check the booking has actually been made with the cruise line. Ask your travel agent for your cruise operator reference number so that you may call the cruise line direct – your booking should be accessible immediately with the cruise line under that reference number. Not only will you then know that your information and money ha arrived in the correct place, but you'll also be able to book your shore excursions in advance.

Another good idea is to purchase cruise travel insurance. Check the policy details as not all policy terms and conditions are the same. Some cruise lines offer their own insurance but these do not tend to cover you if the cruise line goes out of business.

Trust your instincts, if something doesn’t feel right or if the deal seems a little too ‘amazing’ then you’re probably right.

Ideal Recommends... Top Cruise offers this week

Azura Maiden Voyage, P&O Cruises Brand New Ship in the P&O Cruises Fleet. £100 Free Spending MoneyPrices from £1399pp p&0 cruise offer»

Unbelievable Deal!!! Ocean Village15 Nights, 25th Nov 2009. In the Caribbean -Amazing Fares from just £1049 ocean cillage cruise offer »

New Reduced Fares - Med to Manhatten. NCL Gem on 29th Nov 2009, 15 Nights Fly Cruise - an amazing £899pp ncl cruise offer»

Exciting New Itinerary, Royal Caribbean, Brilliance of the Seas, 8 - 14 Nights, Jan - April. Cruise Dubai from £844 royal caribbean cruise offer »

Up to $400 Free Spend Queen Victoria. September - November 2010. Ports include Istanbul, Egypt & Dubrovnik. Limited Availability queen victoria offer »

For more information www.idealcruising.co.uk

Dates for your diary - Celebrity Chef Cruises

The trend of getting celebrity chefs to create signature menus on board cruise ships continues. P&O Cruises have no less than 3 celebrity chefs on their payroll, Gary Rhodes, Marco Pierre White and Atul Kochhar. There are many rumours that the aforementioned chefs have put their names to signature restaurants but never make an appearance on board. I can confirm now that this is completely untrue, having met both James Martin onboard Ocean Village and Marco Pierre White onboard P&O Ventura. I can also now provide a list of dates that you may catch these chaps in action next year. The three Michelin starred chefs Gary Rhodes, Marco Pierre White and Atul Kochhar are lined up to visit their restaurants on the following departures next year. They will lead cooking demonstrations, sign copies of their books as well as spending time with their chefs in the kitchens and amongst guest in their restaurants.

Gary Rhodes will be on board during the following itineraries:
*Arcadia 15-night cruise departing 19 June 2010, J008. Ports of call include Zeebrugge, Amsterdam, Oslo, Stavanger, Flaam, cruise in Sognefjord, Olden, cruise in Nordfjord, Trondheim, Akureyri and Reykjavik.
*Arcadia 13-night cruise departing 2 November 2010, J019. Ports of call include Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Alicante and Gibraltar.
*Oriana 12-night cruise departing 11 July 2010, X011. Ports of call include Copenhagen, Nynashamn, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn and Zeebrugge.
*Oriana 7-night cruise departing 27 August 2010, X015. Ports of call include Corunna, Bilbao, Le Verdon, Brest and St. Peter Port.

Marco Pierre White will be on board during the following itineraries:

*Aurora 12-night cruise departing 19 April 2010, R002X. Ports of call include Madeira, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Cadiz, Lisbon and Vigo.

*Oceana 14-night cruise departing 15 May 2010, E011. Ports of call include Gibraltar, Cartagena, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Cadiz.

*Ventura 7-night cruise departing 5 June 2010, N014. Ports of call include Corunna, Bilbao, La Pallice, Brest and St. Peter Port.

*Ventura 14-night cruise departing 3 July 2010, N017. Ports of call include Barcelona, Cannes, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Palma, Valencia and Gibraltar.

*Oceana 14-night cruise departing 2 October 2010, E021. Ports of call include Gibraltar, Cartagena, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Cadiz.

*Ventura 14-night cruise departing 22 October 2010, N027. Ports of call include Tenerife, Tortola, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Barbados.

Atul Kochhar will be on board during the following itineraries:

*Azura 16-night cruise departing 12 April 2010, A004. Ports of call include Malaga, Katakolon, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Venice, Korcula and Gibraltar.

*Azura 16-night cruise departing 23 July 2010, A010. Ports of call include Malaga, Katakolon, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Venice, Korcula and Gibraltar.

*Azura 12-night cruise departing 8 August 2010, A011. Ports of call include Madeira, La Palma, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lisbon and Vigo.

*Azura 7-night cruise departing 21 September 2010, A014. Ports of call include Dublin, Cobh, Bilbao and Brest.

Be sure to book up early as these sailings will sell out fast! For more information view our P&O Cruises section of the website and search your chosen itinerary from there.

Amazingly low fares – Balconies from only £399

Every week Ideal Cruising work alongside the UK’s favourite cruise lines, selecting from over 1000 itineraries to create the most exclusive promotions for our members. This week we have teamed up with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises to bring you the very best value offers available.
These brilliant offers won't last long! Call today! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
£595 -- 07 Nov 09 for 7 nights -- Splendour of the Seas Fly UK/Venice - Dubrovnik - Kusadasi - Santorini - Corfu - Venice/Fly UK
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-26474.html

£779 -- 09 Nov 09 for 10 nights -- Vision of the Seas Fly UK/Athens - Rhodes - Crete - Katakolon (For Olympia) - Valletta, Malta - Tunis - Malaga - Lisbon/Fly UK Pay for an Inside and receive an Oceanview^
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-29138.html

£855 -- 20 Nov 09 for 10 nights -- Celebrity Solstice Fly UK/Rome - Rome (Civitavecchia) - Sicily - Athens - Mykonos - Kusadasi - Rhodes - Santorini - Naples Rome/Fly UK 5* cruising from only £86pppn
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-26332.html

£999 -- 28 Nov 09 for 14 nights -- Explorer of the Seas Fly UK/New York - (Overnight Hotel) - Cape Liberty, New York - San Juan - St. Thomas - St. Maarten - Dominica - Barbados - Antigua - Cape Liberty, New York/Fly UK (overnight flight)
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-31328.html

£899 -- 31 Jan 10 for 8 nights – Brilliance of the Seas Fly UK/Dubai (overnight on ship) - Dubai - Muscat, Oman - Fujairah - Abu Dhabi - Bahrain - Dubai (overnight on ship) Dubai/Fly UK Exotic Dubai itinerary – New low fare
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-31716.html

£849 -- 06 Feb 10 for 9 nights -- Freedom of the Seas Fly UK/Orlando - Overnight hotel stay - Port Canaveral, Florida - Labadee - Ocho Rios - Georgetown - Cozumel - Port Canaveral, Florida - Fly Orlando/UK (overnight flight) Great low fare – from only £85pppn http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-28122.html

£1349 (Balcony) -- 04 Mar 10 for 12 nights -- Celebrity Millennium Fly UK/San Juan (overnight hotel stay) - San Juan - Tortola - St. Maarten - St. Lucia - Barbados - Grenada - Curacao - Aruba - San Juan/Fly UK (overnight flight) Fantastic Balcony Price http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-30479.html

£899 -- 21 Mar 10 for 8 nights -- Brilliance of the Seas Fly UK/Dubai (overnight on ship) - Dubai - Muscat, Oman - Fujairah - Abu Dhabi - Bahrain - Dubai (overnight on ship) Dubai/Fly UK Exotic Dubai itinerary – New low fare
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-31723.html

£849 -- 25 Apr 10 for 10 nights -- Independence of the Seas Southampton - Madeira - Tenerife - Gran Canaria, Canary Islands - Lanzarote, Canary Islands - Vigo - Southampton $100 FREE on board* spend PLUS FREE car parking
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-33856.html

£399 (Balcony) -- 26 Apr 10 for 3 nights -- Celebrity Eclipse Southampton - Paris (Le Havre) (Overnight) – Southampton. Fantastic Balcony Price
http://ww.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-38222.html

£1,149 -- 15 May 10 for 14 nights -- Independence of the SeasSouthampton - Gibraltar - Toulon - Florence/Pisa -Rome (Civitavecchia) - Sardinia - Cadiz - Lisbon - Vigo - Southampton ($) $100 FREE on board spend* PLUS FREE car parking
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-33851.html

£899 -- 20 May 2010 for 9 nights -- Rhapsody of the Seas Fly UK/Seattle - Transfer to overnight hotel - Seattle - Juneau - Skagway, Alaska - Tracy Arm (cruising) - Victoria - Seattle/Fly UK (overnight flight)
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-34760.html

£1299 (Balcony) -- 21 May 10 for 11 nights – Brand New Celebrity Eclipse Southampton - Madeira - Tenerife - Gran Canaria - Lanzarote - Lisbon - Vigo - SouthamptonPay for an Inside and receive a Balcony^ PLUS FREE car parking
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-33831.html

£899 -- 27 May 2010 for 9 nights -- Rhapsody of the Seas Fly UK/Seattle - Transfer to overnight hotel - Seattle - Juneau - Skagway, Alaska - Tracy Arm (cruising) - Victoria - Seattle/Fly UK (overnight flight) Amazing Alaskan Itinerary http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-34761.html

£929 -- 31 May 10 for 12 nights -- Jewel of the Seas Harwich - Copenhagen - Stockholm - Helsinki - St. Petersburg (overnight) - Tallinn - Gothenburg – Harwich
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-33864.html

£1,065 -- 03 Jun 10 for 12 nights -- Celebrity Century Fly UK/Barcelona - Nice (Villefranche) - Florence/Pisa (Livorno) - Rome (Civitavecchia) - Sicily - Mykonos - Ephesus - Athens - Naples - Barcelona/Fly UK. BRAND NEW Pricing
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-38377.html

£1,399 -- 31 Jul 10 for 14 nights -- Independence of the Seas Southampton - Gibraltar - Ajaccio, Corsica - Cannes - Barcelona - Ibiza - Malaga - Lisbon - Vigo – Southampton
http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/cruise-itinerary-details-33849.html
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For further information on any of these offers please visit our website at http://www.idealcruising.co.uk/ or call us free on 0800 458 8213~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~