the-cruise-room

Ship Visit - Holland America Line Nieuw Statendam

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 19:11:09 GMT

LOVE YOUR FOOD? LOVE YOUR MUSIC? YOU'VE FOUND YOUR PERFECT CRUISE LINE! WELCOME TO HOLLAND AMERICA LINE!

This August our Charmione & Kate stepped onboard Holland America Line Nieuw Statendam in Liverpool, their first time on a Holland America Line ship! Robbie & Jonathan have long preached about the beautiful ships, the great food and the live music offering so this was an opportunity for the ladies to experience it for themselves!

Holland America Line still remains something of an unknown in the UK market and that remains curious to us! The ships are smaller to mid size, there's a lot of space per guest and they feel classy which hopefully you can see from the imagery. The food is beautiful whether you're having a thick slice of Dutch apple pie in the Grand Dutch Cafe, some beautiful breads in the Lido Market, Hot Dogs at Dive In or the beautiful Asian Fare at Tamarind!

Then there's the music... just follow the music walk on any given evening from the lively BB Kings Blues Club to requesting your favourite songs for the talented pianists and musicians in Billboard Online to rocking out at the Rolling Stone Rock Room! That's not all of course... how about the 2 deck World Stage where you'll enjoy talks, dance companies, vocalists and guest entertainers! You often find movies playing during the evening around the pool, there are Pickleball courts so you don't miss out at home, the casino and more!

If you want to see more of life onboard Holland America Line then we strongly recommend you go onto Channel 4's Player and watch "Supercruising: Life at Sea" which aired recently! This was an excellent 8 part series and focused on 2 different Holland America Cruise Line ships; 1 in the Caribbean and this same ship we've visited sailing out of Dover! What's more? Nieuw Statendam is back in Dover in 2026 with some impressive itineraries to enjoy! While Holland America Line are the world leader in Alaska there's so much more to this brand, so much more to experience!

If you feel you'd like to try something a little different, something premium, something that ticks your desire for comfortable smaller ships with great food, brilliant live music and all at strong pricing then we really do recommend HAL! Talk to us if you'd like to know more... Charmione, Kate and all the crew are happy to tell you all...

FAST FACTS

Ship: Nieuw Statendam

Cruise line: Holland America Line

Year Launched: 2018

Gross Tonnage: 99,902

Number of Decks: 13 Decks

Guests: 2692

Crew: 1,053

#HollandAmericaLine #HAL #NieuwStatendam #ShipVisit #Kate #Charmione

Ship Visit - Princess Cruises Emerald Princess

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 21:00:22 GMT

EMERALD PRINCESS DEFYING HER AGE AS OUR GUEST EXPERIENCE CREW STEP ONBOARD FOR THE DAY IN LIVERPOOL!

In July our Guest Experience crew Angela & Jen stepped onboard Princess Cruises Emerald Princess for a ship visit in Liverpool! Emerald Princess is now 18 years old having launched in April 2007! However the feeling from our crew is that a lot of the areas have now been refreshed and you wouldn't know her age.

Emerald Princess is one of the 7 grand class ships along with Caribbean, Grand, Sapphire, Diamond, Ruby and Crown. Now all ships do have an older feel, as expected for ships that have been built between 1998-2008, but they have all recently had refreshes. Everything onboard Emerald was clean and well kept and in fact our crew saw Princesses crew doing paint touch ups outdoors while we went round. Modern touches such as the interactive touch screen maps dotted around help too!

The ship carries just over 3000 guests with 1200 crew to take care of you. Emerald is just over 110,000 tonnes so a nice mid to large sized ship. There are 19 decks to explore with all you would expect to see from a Princess ship - bars, great dining venues, theatre, pools, casino and of course that stunning central atrium we know and love; a real feature of Princess ships!

So while not the newest, Emerald does have some fantastic itineraries as she roams the world... everything from Mexican Riviera to the Baja Peninsula to Panama Canal to Hawaii and even a little Alaska! Lots to love...

FAST FACTS

Ship: Emerald Princess

Cruise line: Princess Cruises

Year Launched: 2007

Gross Tonnage: 113,561

Number of Decks: 19

Guests: 3080

Crew: 1200

#EmeraldPrincess #PrincessCruises #OceanMedallion #ShipVisit

Insider Series - Regent Grandeur Ship Visit With The Cruise Room Guests

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 19:15:44 GMT

INTRODUCING THE STUNNING REGENT SEVEN SEAS GRANDEUR!

Feast your eyes on these images taken from our visit this Summer onboard Regent Seven Seas Cruises Grandeur, undoubtedly one of, if not the, most beautiful ship we’ve ever had the privilege to explore. We had the privilege to invite 9 of The Cruise Room guests to join us on the day, just another episode of our Insider Series which is designed to immerse our guests deeper into the world of cruising! While you have a look through some of these images here are some fast facts about Grandeur which launched in 2023 becoming the newest ship in the fleet…

Grandeur is the 6th ship in the Regent Fleet
Grandeur is 55,000 Tonnes
Onboard there are just 372 suites catering for just 744 guests - other cruise lines would have had many more guests in this space!
There are 15 different suite categories onboard for the 744 guests to enjoy! This includes the Regent Suite which has a bespoke master bed worth $200,000!!
There are 548 of the worlds finest crew to take care of those 744 guests
Onboard guests will enjoy 8 different speciality dining experiences, all are of course included! In these restaurants there were 130 exclusively created new dishes and there are 4 exclusive Gerard Bertrand wines available.
Guests onboard will see 1600 exquisite pieces of art and there is an immersive digital art tour.
Other quirks of Grandeur? There is 1 life size blossom tree sculpture (you’ll see this in the images) and even a specially commissioned Fabergé egg!! It is the only Faberge egg to reside permanently at sea!

It is no wonder that Regent Seven Seas define themselves as ‘The Worlds Most Luxurious Fleet’ and after experiencing this ship with 9 of our loyal guests as part of our ‘Insider Series’ it’s hard to disagree!!

If you want to learn more about Regent Seven Seas then please just 'step onboard'. Don't forget you can search for all Regent Seven Seas voyages using our Cruise Search or download a brochure in our Brochure Rack. If you see something that appeals and you want to receive the latest pricing and promotions then please submit an enquiry to us. We look forward to hearing from you!

#RegentSevenSeas #RegentGrandeur #InsiderSeries #LuxuryCruise #LuxuryCruising #Luxury #ShipVisit #Faberge #AstonMartin #SuiteClass #SuiteLife #SpecialityDining #CompassRose #TheWorldsMostLuxuriousFleet

Insider Series - AMA Waterways @ The Tasting Kitchen

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 18:26:28 GMT

WE HAD A BRILLIANT NIGHT WITH AMA WATERWAYS IN JULY TALKING ALL THINGS RIVER CRUISING...

In July we held the latest edition of our Insider - Series; this time we talked all things river cruise with Ama Waterways at Tasting Bar & Kitchen in Hoylake ! It was a full house with 23 of you attending this invitation only event!

It was a great night; we extended the Tasting Bar & Kitchen concept by focusing on 3 rivers for our food… The Magdalena in Columbia, The Mekong in Vietnam and the Danube in Europe and the food was delicious ! Several of you even booked to come back again for your own nights out which is a testament to the talents of Gill & her crew! (Thank you all!)

We enjoyed an informative and entertaining presentation from Joanne on all things River with AMA covering the European rivers including the incredible double width AMA Magna on the Danube with its 4 restaurants, pool, pickleball court, cinema room and more … yes all on a river cruise and perfect for those who love small ship cruising & trying river for the first time! We also touched on those specialist wine sailings, those brilliant golf sailings where you’ll play the worlds leading golf courses and more…

We of course talked about the Magdalena in Columbia with AMA the first and only river cruise line to cruise this incredibly biodiverse and musical region. They even had to dredge the river and build docking stations in parts to create this experience working hand in hand with the local communities!

Did you know AMA cruise the Chobe in Africa which you pair with a Safari & more, then there’s the historic and fascinating Mekong, the Nile and much more…! If you want to talk about AMA Waterways or even just river cruising in general then please just 'step onboard' - via phone, email, in person or by submitting an enquiry through this website.

#RiverCruise #AMAWaterways #AMA #River #RiverCruising #AMAMagna #InsiderSeries #EventSeries #TastingKitchen

Ship Visit - Crystal Serenity

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 19:33:36 GMT

CRYSTAL CRUISES ARE EVOLVING INTO A STYLISH FIVE SHIP

CRUISE LINE! TIME TO TAKE NOTICE...

CRYSTAL CRUISES ARE EVOLVING INTO A STYLISH FIVE SHIP CRUISE LINE! TIME TO TAKE NOTICE...

This time last week we were stepping onboard the stylish Crystal Cruises Serenity in Liverpool!

Some of you may not be entirely familiar however Crystal have in fact been a leading luxury cruise line for over 30 years now and have been reborn after some troubles in the pandemic!

How Many Ships Do Crystal Have?

Crystal currently have 2 ships - Crystal Serenity & Crystal Symphony! Now important to note that these are older ships and some of you may have cruised on these ships over the last 20+ years … however when you look at these images you’d never know… the ships were in fact both brought into dry dock at the same time in 2023 and completely reconstructed and refurbished!

It does feel to some degree that these beautiful ships which we personally really liked are evolving! While some venues feel like they belong on the worlds newest ships, other areas feel classic in style - a real juxtaposition!! For example in a lot of the suites you can choose between a classic style or have the same suite in their new more modern styles… in that sense something for everyone! It works for guests who’ve known and loved Crystal over the years as well as those who love all things new!

There are many plans though and you can expect these ships to keep evolving in front of our eyes in months and years to come!

There’s a lot to love about these ships today though and in a world where there’s a desire for everything to be brand spanking new, we liked the mix and the variety of styles and venues onboard!

How Many Ships Are Coming?

Crystal have released plans for 3 new ships with the first ship set to be released in Quarter 2 of 2028! These ships will be just over 60,000 Tonnes, will be all veranda suites and there’ll be nearly 1 crew member for every 1 of the 650 guests … more to be revealed! (Crystal operate a 1 crew member to every 1.1 guests ratio!)

Why Consider Crystal Cruises?

Well we’ve just given 1 reason… the sheer space per guest which Crystal say is the highest space to guest ratio at sea! For example even Explora Journeys have 922 guests in a ship of similar tonnage …

We were taken with the huge range of venues with, for example, not 1 but 2 show lounges along with a demonstration theatre too! Oh and the standard of the entertainment is extraordinary… yes they do have Gloria Gaynor doing a couple of performances onboard next month!!!

The food was absolutely beautiful - the meat so tender that no steak knives were needed! It just melted… we saw wonderful food across the ship! Crystal are the only cruise line to have a Nobu restaurant onboard and it is INCLUDED in your fare the first time you dine there with subsequent visits just $50… Nobu on land? Significantly more !! It tells you a lot about the quality of food onboard that Nobu has been proud to partner with Crystal for many years …

We also found the suites to be particularly big and not just at the top grades! Effectively Crystal turned multiple staterooms into 1 standard suite on their recent refurbishment so this brings a huge amount more space and double width balconies which we really liked!

We loved venues like Palm Court with its 270 degree views with floor to ceiling windows, the moody and atmospheric Avenue Saloon piano bar and in particular the solarium style space that houses Beefbar which takes inspiration from the global street food scene ! Light, bright and a real surprise when walking in…

So, if you’ve not heard of Crystal but you’re someone who prefers luxury / premium smaller ship cruising then please put Crystal on the list as one to watch!

If you have been with Crystal but not for some time then good news… Crystal you know and love is very much here and waiting for you to return …

#crystalcruises #Crystal #CruiseShip #Cruise #ShipVisit #Nobu #TimeToStepOnboard #PalmCourt #NotYourAverageAgency #Liverpool Global Ports Holding #luxurycruise #luxurycruising #luxurytravel #luxurylifestyle

In-Store Event - Celebrity Cruises In CLIA Cruise Week

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 19:04:24 GMT

CELEBRITY CRUISES STEP ONBOARD IN CLIA CRUISE WEEK!

CELEBRITY CRUISES STEP ONBOARD IN CLIA CRUISE WEEK!

CLIA Cruise Week took place from Monday 15th September to Sunday 21st September and what a week it was! The worlds leading cruise lines all got involved with special offers, new promotions, season launches and more across the week! We were lucky enough to have Danielle from Celebrity Cruises step onboard on Wednesday 17th. Danielle brought the crew right up to date with everything happening with Celebrity, she met some guests, shared some goodies and of course we had our CLIA Cruise Week cake in store so it was cake all round! A huge thank you to Danielle for coming to visit us in a very busy week for us both and to Celebrity Cruises for their continued support to The Cruise Room!

If you want to know more about all things Celebrity Cruises then please just reach out to any of the crew!

#CelebrityCruises #CLIACruiseWeek #InStoreVisit #AlwaysLearning

Ship Visit - Queen Mary 2

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 18:16:19 GMT

FIVE THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT CUNARD'S QUEEN MARY 2

AFTER OUR RECENT VISIT ONBOARD!

FIVE THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT CUNARD'S QUEEN MARY 2 AFTER OUR RECENT VISIT ONBOARD!

Last week our Jacquie & Kate had the fortune to be onboard Cunard Queen Mary 2 to experience this iconic ship for themselves !

Here are five things we love about QM2…

1, Queen Mary 2 is the world’s last remaining ocean liner and not just any ocean liner, but in fact QM2 was designed to be the largest, longest, and most expensive ocean liner ever built! This means some design and layout differences to cruise ships so it makes for a unique experience onboard!

2, Queen Mary 2 has some kennels onboard which means you can bring your furry friends - dogs, cats, even ferrets are allowed to travel with you! For our canine friends there’s even a lamppost & fire hydrant for them to… em… enjoy!?!

3, There is so much history onboard … Cunard has been home to the world’s most famous people from Royalty to Holywood stars, famous musicians to Walt Disney himself… even the muppets have been onboard and you’re walking in those footsteps!

4, As an Ocean Liner QM2 is built for transatlantic voyages and these brilliant voyages are often made into event voyages whether it’s the Olivier Awards Theatre At Sea, the Times Literary festival, a Big Band festival, Transatlantic Fashion week and more! Brilliant voyages made even better with themes that appeal to many… for us the Theatre At Sea festival is very much on our bucket lists…

5, The biggest ballrooms at sea can be found on Cunard ships and Queen Mary 2’s is the biggest of them all! You’ll find it in the wonderful Queens Room where you can enjoy everything from dance lessons in the morning to an afternoon tea dance in the afternoon to a big band in the evening… magic!

These are just some of the reasons why a voyage on Queen Mary 2 is just a little different! It’s possibly the only ship that we would say everyone should step onboard once…

#Cunard #QueenMary2 #ThingsWeLove #QM2 #Iconic #Transatlantic #EventVoyage #CUN4RD #ShipVisit #Cruise #Cruising #Voyage #NotYourAverageAgency #TimeToStepOnboard