Dining on-board Costa Classica is set within 2 restaurants; there are also 7 bars, a two story Theatre and the obligatory Casino and Disco. The ship also has 4 Jacuzzis and a couple of pools. The Caracalla Spa is the name of the Wellness Centre which includes a gym, treatment rooms, sauna and Turkish bath. Costa Classica also has an outdoor jogging track.

The younger Costa Classica passengers can enjoy the usual Costa Cruises Squok Club which includes PlayStation Entertainment. This ship is no Royal Caribbean ship, it is old and so is OK for kids but not necessarily geared up for them.

For dining the options on-board Costa Atlantica are plentiful; there are 4 restaurants, including two the Club Atlantica and the Wellness Restaurant which are by reservation only and have an additional charge. Lunch and dinner at the Wellness Restaurant are included in the price for Guests in the Wellness Cabins and Suites.

Evenings can be spent exploring the 12 bars, including a Cognac & Cigar Bar and a Wine Bar or by going to the three story Theatre; then there is the Casino and/or Disco.

Day time activity can include using one of the 4 Jacuzzi’s or 4 pools, one has a retractable roof for anytime swimming while one is for children. The Toboga Ischia Spa is the name of the on-board Wellness Centre, it has a gym, treatment rooms, sauna, Turkish bath and UVA-ray solarium.

Other activities on Costa Allegra include a multipurpose sports pitch and an outdoor jogging track while kids can explore the Virtual world and Squok Club with its PlayStation Entertainment.

Costa Allegra is a 28,430 ton ship and has some 399 cabins including 13 suites of which 10 have a private balcony. The cabins can accommodate between 820 and 1,072 passengers.

When it comes to dining, there are 3 main restaurants one of these, the Club Amalfi Restaurant has a supplemental charge and is by reservation only; four smaller dining venues where added in a refit which took place in 2006.

Other amenities on-board Costa Allegra are the 6 bars, 2 Jacuzzis, 2 pools including one for children as well as the Caracalla Spa which is a Wellness Centre with a gym, treatment rooms & sauna. Other features include an Outdoor jogging track, a show lounge come small Theatre as well as the usual Casino. For the more lively there is also a Disco.

The Costa Allegra is an old ship and so probably not overly suited for children however she does have the Squok Club with PlayStation Entertainment to help keep the young minds active.

Technically this post would break their new rules on having the P&O Cruises brand names within the URL (what you see in the address bar) but as I no longer sell cheap cruises I guess it does not matter that much?

The likely outcome of all this is P&O Cruises ranking higher than any other website for terms associated with P&O Cruises.

There are many Search Engine Marketing companies out there that do spend a lot of time on sites that offer reviews and or forums; most of these companies will make up good reviews to help their clients. For obvious reasons I will not mention any.

That said I wonder if after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has investigated TripAdvisor whether they will look at sites such as Cruise.co.uk? I am not saying they make up reviews at all; I am just thinking along the lines that TripAdvisor is a review site and reviews help ranking. Cruise.co.uk offers a massive reviews section and as such could be falling fowl to unscrupulous search engine marketing companies.

Saying that the only benefiter of the reviews on cruise.co.uk is cruise.co.uk themselves.

One other change is that I shall be adding content to the internal pages from another site using an RSS feed; hopefully this will be in place by the end of the month and the site will have a fully functioning Cruises from Southampton section.

Did you know that P&O Cruises have cut their commission rates to 5% for every travel agent?

This means that there will little or no difference in price between all the travel agents and P&O Cruises themselves.

Do you know how much you will be charged should you change any details about your cruise once booked?

P&O Cruises like almost every other cruise line charges a fee for alterations; but did you know travel agents will now add there own expenses to these fees. In a recent survey on Cruisegle it was found that this ranged from £10 to £100. Don’t forget, this is on top of the charges that P&O Cruises would set.

Do you know how much you will be charged should you cancel your cruise once booked?

P&O Cruises like almost every other cruise line charges a fee for cancellations; these are clearly set out in the small print and rise the closer you get to travelling. If you cancel more than 91 days out, you loose your deposit; up to 57 days out it is 50% of the fare. There is a rising scale up to and including 100% of the fare. This is standard practise so do not be worried as travel insurance should cover cancellation fees if part of the terms. BUT travel agents will add their own fees to these charges and these may not be covered by an insurance policy. Should you cancel, the travel agent will charge anywhere from £80 up to a massive £300 as stated in the terms of Planet Cruise.

How many travel companies have gone bust recently?

Lets assume you have shopped around and saved £10 on the cost of your cruise; well done! How much has the travel agent discounted? Are they making any money? The more they discount the more chance they have of going belly up such as the likes of Gills Cruises in 2011 and previously Cruise Control. In the last two years I can count at least 12 companies who have gone under partly due to excessive discounting. Do you want to be abroad with that eternal nagging in the back of your brain “I wonder if I still have a flight home?”

If you are looking to book a cruise with P&O Cruises in 2012 or 2013 I would recommend booking directly with them; no extra fees to pay on top of their stated charges and a feeling of security that the cruise line is less likely to fall foul of the current economic climate than a travel agent.

To return to the Home Page of Cruisegle Click Here

Looking at the site, not all cruise lines are set up yet; importantly the bigger brands like P&O Cruises and Royal Caribbean are not on-board so to speak! This may be something that is being worked on between We Cruise; P&P Associates and the cruise lines.

Whatever happens I wish the new company; We Cruises well and hope they employ some of the old Gills Cruises staff.

Gills Cruises have been around for years however rather like Cruise Control they have always tried to undercut other companies and as such are struggling. There may be other reasons; I am only assuming in this post and apologise to Gills Cruises if I am wrong. Don’t forget Cruise Control went bust while the largest cruise agency.

When I was thinking of selling cruises myself I could not match Gills Cruises prices and they were one of the reasons why I decided not to carry on with my foray into creating a travel agency. With luck Gills Cruises will pull through and their clients will be unaffected by this shocking news; I wish them well.