So much is happening in our world at the moment, and little of it is nice, well other than showing our doctors and nurses how much we appreciate them, along with all the other public service people and everyone else that have done so much for us all in this Coronavirus epidemic.
Showing these people respect and how much we really do appreciate them is something that we have advocated for a long time, so it really is so good to do this at long last, for when I was a young boy, I remember the respect we all had for our doctors and nurses back then, as we did for everyone in our hospitals and nursing homes, plus the police, firemen, posties, bus drivers, milkmen. Binmen and women, delivery drivers, shop staff… it goes on and on, so isn’t it really heart-warming to know that although times may have changed, all in all, most people haven’t and beneath the surface they are really nice, genuine people, and we include you lot here, because of all the people we have ever known, you rate right there at the very top. So, tonight, just for all of you, Ulla and I will nip outside our front door so we can clap and cheer away just for you… Please don’t worry about us freezing to death outside in the wind and rain, for you are all so worth it… And just to prove it, we have now managed to get together with the wonderful crowd at Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, to come up with some really great ocean voyages at special prices… Yes, there’s something for all of us, so read on, and then let’s all go silly and have fun again… Hopefully, my next experience of a lockdown will be when the bar staff of the Black Watch accidentally lock me in the bar overnight, hic, hic! So, read on. starting with our new first Maritime Memories cruise, which will be on October 16th, 2020…Hooooooray!
Black Watch – Belgium, France & the Netherland cruise – W2029
Departs Liverpool 16th October 2020 – 9 nights
Liverpool, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Rouen, Honfleur, Liverpool
Lead interior fares from £1,139 pp / ocean-view fares from £1,399 pp
https://www.fredolsencruises.com/site-search-results?searchType=site-ocean&q=w2029
Black Watch – Islands of the Mediterranean – cruise W2109
Departs Liverpool 4th May 2021 – 18 nights
Liverpool, Cadiz, Mahon (Menorca), Ajaccio (Corsica), Cagliari (Sardinia), Valetta (Malta), Palma (Mallorca), Cartagena (Spain), Oporto (For Leixoes, Oporto), Liverpool
Lead interior fares from £2,949 pp / ocean-view fares from £3,049 pp
Plus free £100 per person free on board spend credit & free tips – book by 3rd June 2020
https://www.fredolsencruises.com/site-search-results?searchType=site-ocean&q=w2109
Black Watch – Amalfi Coast, Tuscany & the Italian Riviera – cruise W2121
Departs Liverpool 2nd September 2021 – 24 nights
Liverpool, Ceuta (Spanish Morocco, Spain), Milazzo (Sicily), Amalfi (Amalfi Coast Italy), Rome (from Civitavecchia, Italy), Sorrento (Amalfi Coast, Italy), Salerno (Campania, Italy), Olbia (Sardinia, Italy), Livorno (Tuscany, Italy), Portofino (Liguria, Italy), Genoa (Liguria, Italy), Toulon (France), Cartagena (Spain), Cadiz (Spain), Liverpool.
Lead interior fares from £3419 pp / ocean-view rooms from £3,999 pp
Plus £150 per person free on board spend credit, & free tips if booked by 3rd June 2020
https://www.fredolsencruises.com/site-search-results?searchType=site-ocean&q=w2121
Black Watch – Cultural Cities & Scenic Islands of the Americas – cruise W2204
Departs Callao (Peru) 22nd February 2022 – 30 nights (Fly from London Heathrow, return to Southampton)
Callao (Peru), daytime transit of the fascinating Panama Canal, Puerto Limon (Costa Rica), Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), Cozumel (Mexico), Havana (Cuba), Nassau (The Bahamas), Hamilton (Bermuda), Ponta Delgada (Azores), La Coruna (Spain), Southampton
Interior fares fly/cruise fares from £4,210pp / ocean-view fly/cruise fares from £4,509pp
Plus £200 per person free on board spend credit & free tips if booked by 3rd June 2020
https://www.fredolsencruises.com/site-search-results?searchType=site-ocean&q=w2204
Black Watch – Latin America with The Chilean Fjords Voyage – cruise W2201
Departs Southampton 4th January 2022 – 79 nights
Southampton, Lisbon, Funchal (Madeira), Mindelo (Cape Verde), Salvador (Brazil), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Ilhabela (Brazil), Montevideo (Uruguay), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Puerto Madryn (Argentina), Ushuaia (Argentina), Punta Arenas (Chile), Puerto Chacabuco (Chile), Robinson Crusoe Island (Chile), Valparaiso (Chile), Arica (Chile), Paracas (Peru), Callao (Peru), daytime transit of the fascinating Panama Canal, Puerto Limon (Costa Rica), Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), Cozumel (Mexico), Havana (Cuba), Nassau (The Bahamas), Hamilton (Bermuda), Ponda Delgada (Azores), La Coruna(Spain), Southampton
Interior fares from £8,299 pp / ocean-view rooms from £9,599 pp
Plus £300 – £600 per person free on board spend credit, (amount varies depending on room grade booked), plus free tips if booked by 3rd June 2020
https://www.fredolsencruises.com/site-search-results?searchType=site-ocean&q=w2201
We don’t know what will happen in the cruising world and we’re sure there will be a lot of changes, but for us, the Important thing is to be on a great ship owned and operated by great people, and that’s exactly what we have with the beautiful Black Watch and Fred Olsen Cruise Lines. How do I know the Black Watch is great, well I have had the pleasure of sailing on her before, and she is absolutely perfect for us, both in size, comfort and food, and thanks to Fred Olsen’s we can also have a lot of fun onboard as well, and by that, I don’t mean running around the ship at midnight stark naked! No, because we’re not like that are we! No, I mean fun with a touch of class, so at least when running, try to keep your socks on! But seriously, we will have fun and we can also be serious from time to time as well, but not for too long… We will have our own guest speakers including Captain Kemp, Captain David Bray, ex-ship architect, author and historian David Hutchings and… and… Cabin Boy Cox! So what else could you possibly want.
And now we interrupt this newsletter with a short commercial break
Oh dear what shall we do
Suffering with a lockdown blue
Is there any hope for us
Other than to sit and pull the flush
And then this thought came to me
I’d really love to go to sea
And what better way to shake off the blues
Than going on a special cruise
But I don’t fancy sailing on a block of flats
For that would surely send me completely bats
But surely there must be a way to please
And then I remembered Maritime Memories
So I don’t know about all of you
But I do know what I’m ‘gonna do
For what better way to lift my moral
Than going through the Panama Canal.
And all those wonderful ports of call
I know how much I’d love them all
Yes this must surely be the way to go
To bring back the smiles we used to know
So now I’m as happy as can be
Knowing my smiles will be back with me
No more gloomy gloom in my head
For I’ll be cruising around the Med
So dear friends one and all
Can you hear that ship’s whistle call
As it reaches out for you and me
To take us sailing across the sea.
© Des Cox 1642
And don’t be upset if you can’t afford to go all around South America on that fantastic cruise, because we will take you all for free on our own Maritime Memories boat! Yes, for you not so wealthy people and those that are just naturally tight, our very own five star rated boat… Great accommodation, wonderful food and the onboard entertainment is second to none, although the talks by the ex-Cabin Boy aren’t a lot of cop!
We really fancy that ‘Round South America voyage, but whatever happens, we’re not going to miss out on the Panama Canal, that’s for sure and there is the alternative of joining the ship in Peru and then sailing back via Panama from there, so we have two options… I sailed through it at least thirty times, and it still excites me.
The itineraries for the Med are also great so hopefully we have come up with something for all of us, and if not, and you continue to be difficult, then our 2023 schedule will be a special Maritime Memories around Hyde Park’s Serpentine! “Come in number 27, you’re time’s up!”
Thank you so much for all your greatly appreciated help and support and we really do hope that we can all be together again in the not too distant future… Fred Olsen Lines have been so good to us and really want us to be with them, which is so important, so ladies, and also some of the men, I’ve packed me sexy speedos and flippers, and am now ready so that we can all return to a more normal world, and all enjoy ourselves again as soon as possible.
If you have any questions just give Des or Ulla a call on 00 44 (0) 1273 585391/584470 and please don’t worry about whether or what would happen if the unlikely should cause a cruise to be cancelled, because you will not be let down and will be refunded or you can choose another cruise… But enough of this…it won’t happen.
Des and Ulla.
0800 0355 144 – Quote Maritime Memories group account code GRP0290 to book. (Open 9am – 5pm Mon to Fri).
Please ask about additional Oceans Members Loyalty Club Discounts
Please ask for late sitting dinner at 8.30pm each evening, to be part of the Maritime Memories group dining arrangements.
Please note that bookings for the Maritime Memories group cannot be made through a Travel Agent or on line, but only through Fred Olsen Lines direct, as above.