Go Karting Of A Different Variety

Cunard were the sponsors of recent Thomson RSM & Deputy Managers Meeting at the Hinckley Island Hotel, Leicester. Around 50 Thomson staff attended the event along with myself, Emily Williams, Katie Jefferis, Helen Green & Stuart Redhead from Complete Cruise Solution.




We all took part in a team building challenge which was a go kart challenge, our very own Stuart was part of the winning team!



The day was rounded off with a 3 course meal & wine in the hotel.

A great time was had by all!


By Luke Smith

Ocean Village Cruise Experience

Anna Baxter and myself escorted 19 travel agents onboard Ocean Village for a 7 Night Eastern Med Cruise.

The agents received tailored training sessions on the Ocean Village product along with the other CCS brands. They were able to experience the whole Ocean Village informal atmosphere they did an action ashore trip in Limassol, dined in James Martin's endorsed restaurant The Bistro, experienced al fresco dining in La Luna and watched a spectacular open air deck aerial show, featuring acrobatic performances high above the pool deck, plus much much more.

As well as all this 7 lucky agents also got the chance to have an escorted ship visit on
Emerald Princess while both ships were in the port of Mykonos







By Alyshia Bartlett

2008 The Year of Ventura

Wednesday 9th April

Travel agents from Thomas Cook were invited on board Ventura for an overnight event Throughout their time on board agents had a busy schedule which involved a Complete Cruise Solution presentation, Ventura Experience, lunch and gala dinner.

To further enhance agents experience on board we gave 10 lucky winners the chance to take part in a 2 hour Cirque Ventura workshop.
These lucky winners also were given a fantastic surprise on the day, dining with Celebrity Chef Marco Pierre White in his signature restaurant on board, The White Room. Agents commented that this was the best experience they had ever received!

Thursday 10th April

Today we ran the Cirque workshop for the second time, however today myself and Sian had a go at developing our non existent circus skills. After signing up for the workshop and seeing the height of the flying trapeze we wondered what we had let ourselves in for!

Well what an experience, after the 2 hour workshop we had mastered the art of stilt walking and balancing on the tight-wire as well as facing our fear of swinging high above the ground on the flying trapeze.



This is really going to be a popular activity amongst passengers of all ages… despite the fact that it left every muscle in our bodies aching for at least two days, even those muscles we never knew existed.

Sunday 13th April

Rhiannon Kilbride from Stewart Travel was on board Ventura, read her blog below:

You’ve always thought that cruises are for the older generation? Think again. On Sunday the 13th of April I was introduced to the new P&O Ventura “The Superliner designed for Britain” a statement I have to agree with.

On arrival at the dock I could not believe the capacity of the massive vessel. She was brilliant white and my eyes were drawn to the never ending rows of balconies. We were dropped off at the P&O departures terminal where we were greeted by a member of staff and directed to check in. The Check in process went smoothly and it was not long before we embarked the ship.

On embarkation I was overwhelmed by the Grand Atrium of the ship, everything was new and gleaming. It featured two glass elevators with two impressive staircases which met at the bottom and led to a seating area.

Afternoon tea was served in The Waterside restaurant on deck 15. Ventura’s main informal food court serving sandwiches, fries, salad, quiche, steak pie and an array cute miniature cakes. This made a perfect lunch setting with views over the sea.

In the evening we had a black tie dinner where we ate in the Cinnamon Restaurant this is one of Ventura’s main dinning rooms. The dinner consisted of five courses each being to the highest taste and standard. For my main I had a Sirloin Steak with vegetables this was excellent and had been cooked to perfection following my instructions.

The girls from Stewart Travel enjoying their night in the Tamarind Club: From left: Mandy, Fiona, Susan, Jacqueline, Debbie, Bernedette, Claire

I really enjoyed the Havana bar, which is inspired by Latin America. We saw a Kylie, Robbie Williams and Elton John tributes, which were all excellent. A disco followed this where the DJ played a mixture of party tunes. After this we enjoyed a midnight buffet in the Beach House restaurant.

An experience I will never forget and would definitely go a cruise holiday.

Wednesday 16th April

After 4 nights of hosting our top travel agent partners onboard Ventura I was very lucky to attend the naming ceremony.

We spent the morning in the office trying to catch up on emails and ensuring everything was ok. Then at 13:00 we went back onboard which has been our home for the past 10 days.

Once onboard we were given a quick briefing and assigned our duties for the rest of the afternoon. The anticipation and excitement onboard was very apparent as people started to embarked the latest edition to the P&O Cruises fleet.

Standing in the Atrium I realised what a special event this was as camera crews went past and I even spotted a few celebrities.

At 17:00 I went back to my cabin to get ready for the evening. I used all the lovely Temple Spa products and even had a chance to have a quick cup of tea.

Once ready I headed to the Luguna Pool for my cocktail party where Champagne and Martinis were being served. The anticipation grew as the crowd gathered and listed to the band.

At 20:00 it was time for the ceremony to begin Nigel Esdale Managing Director of P&O Cruises took to the stage to welcome everyone. We then watched the giant plasma screen as the mission to ensure the bottle smashed began. We watched as lots of different secret agents including Roger Moore aka James Bond did not accept the mission. Suddenly Miranda Raison who plays Jo in Spooks jumped on the stage to ensure the mission was completed.


Dame Helen Mirren then took to the stage with Captain Clark and Nigel Esdale to name the ship. When she announced 'I name this ship Ventura' we saw two Royal Marines abseil down the bow of the ship where they smashed two bottles of champagne. This was followed by a fantastic fire works display.

Everyone then made there way to dinner where we enjoyed a lovely 5 course meal including a choice of lobster of lamb. After dinner everyone made there way to one of the 8 bars across the ship where they either watched a show or mingled with some of the celebrities on board.

This was a night I wont forget!

2008 The Year of Ventura!
The Most Spectacular & Memorable Inaugural Events In The History Of Cruising!

Fantastic First Ship Visit of 2008

We kicked off our 2008 ship visit programme today on board the stunning Queen Victoria right here in Southampton.

Escorted by our very own Tracy, Lucy & Gill, all the agents had a great morning followed by lunch in the impressive Britannia Restaurant.

How to get ready in 3 minutes by Liz Cardy....

How to get ready in 3 minutes by Liz Cardy (Events Executive - Complete Cruise Solution)

1. Get a shorter easier to manage haircut – One that requires almost no attention
2. Loosen all tight clothing at 3pm (including pop-socks and shoes)
3. Paint nails, shave legs day before
4. Grab a friend to sort zips and find accessories
5. Keep secret supply of lippy in handbag to apply in lift en route to event
6. If no time for blusher – slap checks until red


Follow these tips and you can get ready in 3 minutes – Anyone can do it!

St Andrews Travel Sport Their New Uniforms On Board Britain's Newest Superliner Ventura

Just to say a big thank you to everyone at P & O and the CCS team for our invitation
to Ventura last weekend.


The whole group were very impressed with the ship and had a great time.

Wendy Kay, Manger, St Andrews Travel

Ventura Arrives In Her Home Port

As I am pregnant I now don't spend my Sunday mornings with a very sore head so I decided to get up yesterday and watch Ventura sail into Southampton. Within half an hour of waking up everywhere was covered in snow! I arrived at the beach only couldn't even see the sea as everything was covered in snow and it was still snowing heavy! I waited in the cold for a bit until I realised that the ship had probably passed me without me noticing so I gave up and went and had a nice warm breakfast and yes I had missed the ship!!!

Here is a picture of the view of Ventura - shame she is white!

By Emily Williams

Peterborough Say Farwell to the Thomas Cook Cruise Team

It was the end of an era for Cruise Thomas Cook Peterborough as they handed the cruise baton over to their call centre in Accrington. A sailaway party was held to thank the Peterborough team for all there support of Complete Cruise Solution over the years and to wish them luck as they sailed into the sunset and to new ventures within Thomas Cook. Many of the team, who have always been very passionate about the product have gone on to become cruise homeworkers, while many will remain in other areas of the business such as flights.

The team at Cruise Thomas Cook, Peterborough were always extremely supportive of Coplete Cruise Solution and it was our chance to return the support and thanks by attending the party. A presentation was given to the 30 staff in the style of "our best bits" followed by a short speech by Jenny Ellis Head of Cruise and Sally Thomas Cruise Sales Manager. It was then time to cut the cake as sponsored by Complete Cruise Solution.

Ruby Princess Float Out

Earlier this month, Princess Cruises' new superliner Ruby Princess reached a significant milestone in her construction when she was floated out at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy.

Ruby Princess was floated to a nearby outfitting dock where the final construction & interior finishing will now take place.

Launching in November, at 113,000 tonnes, Ruby Princess will be a sister ship to Emerald Princess & Crown Princess. Ruby Princess will spend her inaugural season in Western Caribbean.

Family Fun Day at Bluewater!

Noddy made a guest appearance on Friday afternoon at Thomas Cook's Family Day in Bluewater Shopping Centre, Kent.

A great afternoon was had by all!

Don't forget, Noddy will be on board P&O Cruises new superliner Ventura launching in April.

Picture: Noddy & Natalie Ford, Regional Sales Executive Complete Cruise Solution

Sydney Welcomes Queen Victoria & Says Goodbye to QE2

After setting off from New York on 13th February in different directions, Queen Victoria on her maiden World Voyage & QE2 on her farewell World Voyage, the two Queens met again in Sydney at the weekend.

Queen Victoria arrived in Sydney on Saturday and after the spending the night in port was joined by QE2 yesterday morning.


Last night flanked by hundreds of smaller ships & boats the two Queens left their berths for an historic Royal Rendezvous for the first & last time in Australian Waters. Queen Victoria & QE2 greeted each other near to Fort Denison with a 'Whistle Salute' which can be heard over 16km away.





Click here for information on this historic meeting!

CTTG Concoct Cocktails With Complete Cruise Solution Cocktail

CTTG are the latest Multiple agent to join in as Complete Cruise Solution give you extra this leap year!

Photo: Carina Collis, Jo Wilson, Emma Clayton, Julie Gibson & Stephanie Evans

Boat Racing on the River Cambridge with Premier Travel & Star Radio

After Hundreds of Entries Over 5 Weeks, it all came down to One Boat Race on One Saturday Morning on a slightly chilly River Cambridge....


In association with Ocean Village & Complete Cruise Solution, Premier Travel & Star Radio ran a promotion across 11 branches. All the contestants had to do was pop into any of the 11 branches to apply to be in with the chance of getting a place at the Grand Final- A boat race on the River Cambridge

At 11am sharp, a boat went out on the river & 11 toy boats were lined up and let go. All boats had a number and inside the boat, written on the hull was a contestants name. There was almost an upset when a large boat came in the opposite direction, we thought for a moment that our toys boats would capsize, but no, they all remained up right and after just a couple of minute we had a clear winner cross the finish line!!

The Grand Final was broadcast live on Star Radio & Paul Waters Head of Sales for Premier announced the winning boat and then finally the winning contestant live on air!

Ocean Village goody bags courtesy of Complete Cruise Solution were given to our runners up & one lucky person was the winner of an Ocean Village Caribbean Cruise!

By Moira Townsend

Because It Is A Leap Year Complete Cruise Solution Are Going To Give You EXTRA

Complete Cruise Solution is offering agents working for multiples the chance to win a £500 branch night out as part of its latest incentive.

Complete Cruise Solution is giving agents who work for Thomas Cook, CTTG and Thomson the opportunity to win by collecting "ingredients" of a cocktail by making one booking per brand.

The incentive is running between February 14-29 and a prize draw will be held on March 4.

As part of the incentive Complete Cruise Solution are giving you the ingredients to make a Complete Cruise Solution cocktail. The Cruise Thomas Cook Call Centre were one of the first to give making the cocktails a go along with Moira Townsend from Complete Cruise Solution.

Picture: Dawn Stanford Sherwood, Jemma Konc, Moira Townsend & Jemma Webb

How to make a Complete Cruise Solution Cocktail....

Amaretto 1/2 oz.
Irish Cream (Bailey's) 1/2 oz.
Kahlua 1/2 oz.
Rum, light 1/2 oz.
Vodka 1/2 oz.
Cream Fill with
Glass to use: Collins glass
---------------------------------
Mixing instructions:
Pour all ingredients into glass over ice.

The Cruise Report 2008

The Cruise Report is a chance for David Dingle to speak to key stakeholders ie Press and Travel Agents about the trends and changes in the UK cruise market. Areas that the report cover, include strong growth, how the cruise market may look in 2020, innovative on board activities and the joy of texting, to name a few. The fun bit is the networking after David's speech, were we enjoyed substantial canapés and 'cruise' cocktails....

To get a copy of this years 'The Cruise Report 2008' please contact your Complete Cruise Solution Account Manager.

By Beth Pearce

Photo: Mark Pilkington Complete Cruise Solution & Andrew Gardener CRUISE.co.uk

1st4cruising & Complete Cruise Solution Pancake Day

On Tuesday Helen Green and I went to 1st4cruising to make and serve pancakes to the staff. They had been sent an order form around telling them Helen Pierre White and Georgina Rhodes would be serving them.

The most popular pancake was the traditional lemon and sugar although a few did consume the 'Complete Pancake ' which consisted of cream,chocalate sauce,bananas and sugar!!

We were ably assisted by Katie and Sarah from 1st4cruising who donned aprons and a homemade hat and cooked the pancakes in the microwave.

Picture: Helen Green Complete Cruise Solution, Sarah Weetman 1st4Cruising, Kate Gowridge 1st4Cruising & Georgina Morgan Complete Cruise Solution

Half way through the day the firealarm went off and we were summoned outside -we thought it was the pancakes but it turned out there were electricians in the building who had set it off deliberately. It all ended well as the electricians came up for pancakes.

By Georgina Morgan

LADY LIBERTY STANDS TALL OVER CUNARD ROYAL RENDEZVOUS

New York – 13 January, 2008 – New York's iconic Statue of Liberty stood tall as a fitting backdrop for a Royal Rendezvous of Cunard Line's three luxury liners -Queen Mary 2, QE2 and the new Queen Victoria, which made her maiden call to New York today. Thousands of maritime buffs lined the shores to see the regal fleet gather for the first and only time in New York.


During a celebration that began with a whistle salute by each liner, the nautical royalty made a majestic procession through New York harbor illuminated by a fireworks-filled sky as they departed on their respective voyages. It is the first time that three Cunard Queens have been in service simultaneously in the company's 168-year history. Queen Victoria was launched on December 10, 2007, by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall in Southampton. Following her celebratory maiden call to New York, she embarks on her Maiden World Cruise, a 105-day journey stopping in 37 ports in 23 countries, while Cunard's grand dame QE2 departs on her 26th and final World Cruise.

Check out the latest & coolest place for Christmas parties!

The latest and coolest place for Christmas parties is onboard a P&O Cruises ship! Over the weekend Aurora was the venue for not one but two travel agent Christmas parties. 1st4cruising and cruise.co.uk both decided to take their staff onboard Aurora for a 2-night party cruise.


The ship set sail for Bruges at 17:00 on Friday evening, 1st4cruising had sailaway drinks in the Crows Nest, where we decided to Award the person that was most passionate and enthusiastic about our individual brands - P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Cunard and Ocean Village. These winners were awarded with a nice bottle of Champagne.
Both parties were on 1st sitting at 18:30, so after a few cheeky glasses of champagne we made our way to dinner and enjoyed a fantastic 6-course meal. After dinner people either headed straight to Champions for a few drinks and Karaoke or off to the Curzon Theatre to watch Aladdin.

The night was still young and with the majority of both parties heading to Masquerades, to dance the night away and most of the early hours as the last to bed was at 5:30!

Those that decided to brave the freezing cold weather and head off to Bruges came back bearing chocolates and beer, for those that didn't caught up on sleep and some even got pampered in the Spa!

At 17:15 Cruise.co.uk held their Awards for their staff and Cunard even won a prize for 'Overall Favourite Cruise Line to do business with'. With another 6 course meal and a few Vodka and Red Bulls everyone was up for another late night. with everyone heading either straight to a bar or to watch Frank Carson in the Curzon Theatre.

Looking around the ship on Sunday morning during disembarkation everyone looked very tired and I am sure they all had a Christmas party they wont forget!

Midlands Madness on Ocean Village Two Fam Trip

Georgina Morgan & Alyshia Bartlett escorted a Fam Trip on board the newest addition to the Ocean Village fleet. Read on to find out what they got up to....

4.45am a taxi picked Alyshia and myself up to meet 20 excited travel agents at Gatwick Airport, we were escorting a 7 night Ocean Village Two Caribbean cruise.

After an 8 hour flight we went to the muster drill, looking around at the faces of the agents and ourselves we were all very tired and I really didn’t expect to see any of them up on deck for sailaway drinks a few hours later. However I forgot what a shower and clean clothes could do for you! A nice glass of champagne to start our cruise and I could tell this was going to be fun. It was however an early night for all of us despite Sarah telling me ‘sleep was for geeks’. Then went to bed about 15 minutes after saying this to the group!

Our first day was at sea and Alyshia and I had our presentation to do! We started the presentation, by making everyone do a run-around task. We then started our training presentation talking about all Complete Cruise Solution brands. It was then time to set the team tasks, the group was divided into four and each group were set tasks to find out about either Families, Action Ashore, The Spa or ‘Cruise Virgins’ and present their findings back to the group at the end of the week. After our presentation we took the agents to a talk from the Action Ashore team, re everything they could do in the week. This was very informative and everyone booked shore excursions.

We next met for dinner – half of us dined in the Bistro and half of us dined in La Luna. I was with the Bistro crowd and we spent a very enjoyable two hours in James Martin’s restaurant. Having had an early night the night before we then made up for it most of the group didn’t see their beds till the early hours.

The following day we were at Isle of Margarita we had an early start as we took the group on the ‘Chiva Bus’. It started off very sedately; the tour guide gave us island history as we made our way to a beach. At the beach we all enjoyed some Rum Punch and Alyshia and Sarah got taken out by some big waves (this it turned out was to be a recurring theme).

After the beach the bus came alive with the sound of Latin American music and before you knew it everyone in the bus was in the aisles dancing like they were Ricky Martin! The guide gave us beer cans filled with sand so we could ‘shake’ as we moved. It is amazing how much fun a beer can filled with sand and some lively music can be! No one outside the bus was safe as we rattled our cans at everyone that we passed.

Grenada was for most people the favourite day for most. It started with most us hurtling through the rain forest on a circle of rubber (river tubing). I then went meandering around town with Sharon and Kelly whom needed a body guard (I think they were just trying to make me feel ‘important’!) The rest got a river taxi to a beach. As I didn’t go there I do not speak as an eye witness but the stories that have come from there are numerous. It turns out a lot of the group decided to get on a banana boat. It then appears that most of them fell off. Alyshia and Sarah apparently lost their dignity as they tried to get back on the rubber banana!! They were laughing hysterically. Carly was quite the hero of the hour volunteering to help people get back on. She also told the locals that she played for England which is not strictly true!!

St Lucia was the next stop and this was the day that I got to fly through the rain forest on a zip wire. Jen was the most nervous and yet she was the one that on the final zip wire was able to video it whilst holding on with one hand! It was exhilarating to say the least!

We had got week spa passes which most of us took full advantage of!! For me my favourite room on the ship was the relaxation room in the spa where I could go and lie down and watch the views from top deck whilst popping into the herbal sauna every now and again. Every time you went down there you found at least one member of the group. Several of the group had facials and haircuts and reported favourably back.

We all went to watch the Planet show up on deck which is one of the most incredible things I have ever seen – it was magical – we watched as acrobats flew threw the air and performed under the white arc. Set against the midnight blue of the sky and the tranquil sea it was one of the highlights of my trip.

St Vincent found some of us on a catamaran sailing thorough the Grenadines. We snorkelled and swam and just relaxed before sailing back to join the rest of the group. As presentations were the next day everybody was getting into their groups and rehearsing. The evening found us competing in the movie quiz in Connections before watching the Simply Red tribute in the Marquee.

We arrived at Martinque and it was presentation time! I was really impressed with how much everyone knew and they made their presentations really good fun and I was really quite sad that it was coming to an end. One of the best bits was saved for last as we all went up to the ship bridge to meet the captain and his officers. The captain did an informal question and answer session, where he was if he was in charge of the whole ship and even got a marriage proposal!

The last night saw us eating in La Luna and the Bistro again –I dined in La Luna. As it was Laura and Jens birthdays we had birthday cake , gave prizes to the winning presentation team which were the ‘Family’ team and watched a talented group of musicians playing in the square before going up to the disco to dance the night away!

On the final day we topped up our already considerable tans and got ready for the flight.


The following morning arriving at Gatwick was a sombre affair – we were all half asleep! We all had a great time but could not wait to get home to bed!

Queen Victoria Is Named In A Spectacular Ceremony In Southampton

It truly was a stunning & spectacular event!

After a very busy 3 days on board the Complete Cruise Solution team were incredibly fortunate to attend the spectacular naming ceremony of the brand new Queen Victoria in Southampton on Monday afternoon. Queen Victoria was named by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall and was witnessed by over 2,000 guests in a specially built auditorium next to the City Cruise Terminal where the ship had been berthed since her arrival in Southampton on Friday 7th December.

Famous names such as the London Philaharmonic Orchestra, the Band and Trumpeters of the Royal Marines, Sir Derek Jacobi, Katherine Jenkins, Winchester Cathedral choresters, the Bishop of WInchester & the three tenors - Alfie Boe, Jon Cristoc and Gardern Thor Cortez kept us all enthralled throughout the ceremony.

Alongside these famous names was a very special appearance by one of the local Southampton Beaver Groups who did a fantastic job of handing out Union Jack flags to the crowd & presenting flowers to her HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. Well Done Guys from all at Complete Cruise Solution, we thought you did you a great job!