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It is interesting to see what a dominance Airtours cruises seem to have on the UK cruise market. Many of the new post from UK 'just boarded' members, are about Airtours ships. Airtours are obviously doing something right?
P&O get the occasional mention and a few of us have given Fred.Olsen a higher profile. But it is Airtours are dominating the UK market.
It will be interesting to see if the American ships that are increasingly cruising in European waters have any effect on Airtours success?
Comments please...
Prices are reasonable and charter flights directly to the port of sailing are a real plus.
We like the class of passengers. Generally not sophisticated, but friendly and easy to get along with. Nobody is "in your face". On board activities have more passenger participation and are the better for this.
The British reserve takes a little while to break down, but when it does, you can meet and talk with lots of interesting people.
We dont seem to have to worry about hordes of uncontrollable kids. Those that we have run into are pretty good to get along with, and there are never enough to swarm other passengers.
The big minus with the Airtours fleet to us is hygiene. As North Americans we are used to almost pristine cleaniness in areas such as public washrooms. This type of cleanliness is lacking, particularly on Sundream. Unpleasant smells of sewer gas plague this ship in certain areas. We will not sail on her again.
Sunbird is tops, and I am sure that we shall be on board soon.
[ 06-18-2001: Message edited by: topgun ]
We looked at several brochures to find something that looked suitable and matched the pocket, Royal Carribean, Costa, Fred. Olsen, NCL and Airtours...
I struggled to get any information from the cruiselines with regard to a cruise 11 months away, however NCL were quite helpful. But Airtours I have to say were extremely helpful over the telephone as were Royal Carribean, however when it came down to it we booked Airtours and Sunbird, we knew what we were getting, the price was right, I was offered 20% discount and as mentioned earlier the flights were direct... With an Airtours Cruise all you have to worry about are the drinks on board and shore trips, even the luggage is taken care of. Although Airtours seems to have a slight stigma of being the cheaper alternative (several of my friend's opinions) I totally disagree with this. I would hold heartedly recommend an Airtours Cruise to anyone after having been on the Sunbird, although again I have heard less charming reports about the other Airtours Vessels.
Us Brits like to stick together! Airtours offer a good package, As I have read on many reviews many American Cruise Companies prefer you to remember traveling on the cruise line rather than an individual ship, however the Airtours Ships certainly have individual charm and character and carry a smaller number of passengers... Certainly one thing I look for...
If Airtours are reading this you might just get a free cruise!
[ 06-18-2001: Message edited by: Malcolm ]
This link takes you to profiles of some of the ships chartered by the above:
http://www.cruiseserver.net/travelpage/cruiselines/louis.asp
[ 06-19-2001: Message edited by: Malcolm ]
I only found one other site that was remotely helpful, but it was not a patch on this this site.
Any comments?
Paddy.
In the UK, a European cruise for a week, in a basic cabin, will cost Maybe £500 after the various discounts. A two week cruise will cost about £1000.
The brochure price will be £1000 and £2000 respectively. The cruise lines then give ever increasing discounts until they reach the above costs. The customer is happy because they think that they have saved up to 50% and the cruise line have got their target fare and a full ship!
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