Page & Moy Cruises

Latvia - a very unique destination

2009-08-18T01:36:00.000-07:00

Hello again and sorry for not updating the blog earlier, we have had camera issues and during this cruise we have had too much rain. After a beautiful call into Copenhagen we have spent the day in Helsinki and two (very wet days) in St Petersburg. The photographs above are of a very unique destination - Riga in Latvia and our guests enjoyed the sunshine and beauty of this Latvian Capital. Yesterday we were in Stockholm and we are now at sea heading towards Warnemunde the port call for Berlin. The weather promises to be good so do come back in a few days time when we will share a comprehensive selection of images from Berlin, Rostock and the beautiful seaside port of Warnemunde

Railways, Sea Planes, Pirates & sunshine!!!

2009-08-07T00:58:00.000-07:00

This cruise is nearing an end and I thought that I would upload as many images as possible to celebrate this sensational cruise. Norway has been majestic, the weather, our guests and the amazing scenery once again. Last night we had our famous Pirates Evening on board, our guests enjoyed the show, I thought you might like to see what happens behind the scenes too.

Norway in August - Sensational

2009-08-05T02:30:00.000-07:00

Well, our Spitzbergen cruise is over and we are back again in the Southern Norwegian Fjords. The weather is sensational, the scenery speaks for itself and as you can see after three months even members of the cruise team are still smiling. We have already called at Stavanger, Olden - where you can see some beautiful images taken at the famous Brikstal Glacier and today we are in Molde and Andalsnes. We head to Bergen tomorrow before sailing back across the North Sea to Harwich. Check out the blog in a few days time for more sensational Norwegian images.

Spitzbergen, Magdalenafjord and those lovely Huskies

2009-07-27T07:23:00.000-07:00

Well we have quite an eventful few days, we enjoyed the Midnight sun on the 22nd July from the North cape and then headed even further north for the remote and barren island of Spitzbergen. Many of our guests enjoyed visiting the Huskie dogs and meandered around the small township of Longyearbyen. Later on we sailed for the Magdalena fjord - a beautiful natural spectacle. Yesterday we visited the beautiful Arctic town of Tromso where our guests enjoyed a selection of excursions in some very un arctic like temperatures - it was very hot!. We are now heading south towards Andalsnes and Molde and then onto the beautiful hanseatic city of Bergen. Check out the blog in a few days time to see how our cruise to Spitzbergen, Fjords and the Arctic circle ends.

SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM A GUEST ONBOARD

HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY CARL & CAROLINE - HAVE WONDERFUL DAY - LOVE TO OSCAR,

MUM & DOM - you can see who the message is from at the top!

We are now on top of the world

2009-07-22T01:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at 7.10pm we crossed into the Arctic circle on our way to Honningsvag for the North Cape Experience. A number of our guests braved the fresh arctic chill and witnessed the moment we passed the marker globe which is situated on a small island. Each guest received a commenorative certificate to welcome them to this very special club. So, this evening we will be at the North Cape and then we head for Spitzbergen on our quest to find Polar bears. Come back soon to see more of our Arctic antics

We are at sea, time to see what the Page & Moy team and crew are up to

2009-07-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

Well, we are at sea heading towards Spitzbergen. We left Harwich yesterday and we will arrive into Floro a beautiful Norwegian township tomorrow morning. Our guests have settled in and I thought that you might like to see what happens behind the scenes. The sun may be shining but business continues with rehearsals, preparation in the office for our first port of call and of course an extensive daytime activity programme of talks, port talks, quizzes, games and events. This evening our Captain welcomes all of our guests aboard at his cocktail party and Gala Dinner. Then our show team present the first of their spectacular shows Magnificent Musicals. If you are viewing this blog right now, you may be interested to know that since we started over 3000 people have also popped by to say hello - thanks. Check out the blog in a few days time when we will share some of our Norwegian and Spitzbergen memories with you - lets hope we see some whales and a polar bear or two?

Tall Ships, Sensational Sunshine & Palaces

2009-07-12T00:35:00.000-07:00

We are in the middle of our popular St Petersburg & The Baltic itinerary and have just spent two glorious days in St Petersburg. We have been very lucky as the Tall Ships race started yesterday and many of our guests witnessed this spectacular. One of the highlights of St Petersburg are the amazing palaces and above you can see some images taken yesterday at Peterhof and Pushkin. We are in Tallinn today and I will share some of the highlights of Tallinn with you in the next posting

Mister Jose - our Bar Manager who deserves an Oscar!

2009-07-08T05:22:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of unique characters and personalities on board and we are very fortunate to have the best Bar Manager in the world - Mister Jose. Regular cruisers with Page & Moy will know how infectious his personality is. We are at sea today heading towards Helsinki and over 6o of our guests are seen above enjoying Mister Jose's unique Cocktail Demonstration. The event takes place before lunch to allow attendees to spend their afternoon relaxing. Check out the blog in a few days when we reach St Petersburg again.

Welcome to the West End - boy did we make a noise

2009-07-07T00:19:00.000-07:00

We have just completed our Historic Britain & Ireland cruise visiting Scotland, Ireland and Cornwall. We ended this ten day voyage in the heart of London. At 0430 on the 3rd July we entered the Thames and commenced our seven hour transit along the river passing through Tower Bridge at 1045 and mooring alongside HMS Belfast directly opposite the Tower of London. We spent two sensational days in our capital city and as you can see from the images above - we arrived in style throwing an impromptu 'welcome to the west end' deck party!

Knowledgable Port Lecturers on every Page & Moy Cruise

2009-06-29T01:11:00.001-07:00

Page and Moy are different to many other cruise lines, we offer small, friendly and traditional cruising - I like to call it 'cruising the way it is meant to be'. On every Page & Moy cruise we always have a knowledgeable Port Lecturer, John Tabbut McCarthy and Richard Jarmain have presented on board our ship for many years and have a wealth of knowledge, historical facts and handy hints about every destination we visit. John is currently travelling with us on this Historic Britain and Ireland Cruise and later on we will share our sail into London with you. We are in Belfast today and Dublin tomorrow, come back tomorrow to see how we got on in Ireland.

Party under the stars and awake to beautiful Bergen

2009-06-24T06:47:00.001-07:00

As you can see from above, the southern tip of Norway has been very kind to us. We held our popular deck party last night with over 200 guests enjoying live music from our band Ocean Vibe, Mister Jose's special glogg and the most amazing scenery and sunset. Our deck party has a 'hoe down' theme and you can see members of our production team getting into the hoe down mood. We awoke this morning to a glorious June day in Bergen, as I write this blog there are only 31 people left on board - everyone else is enjoying their final call. Check out the blog in a few days time when we commence our Historic Britain & Ireland cruise!

We have special guests served by our special people

2009-06-23T09:42:00.001-07:00

Page and Moy and Travelsphere are very lucky to have a great team of crew members to work alongside. If you are a one of our regular guests, I am sure you will agree, if you have never sailed with us - come along and see for yourself. Whilst we have been sailing through the Fjords I have been busy taking photographs of some of our crew members - as this blog evolves, there will be many more. Check out the blog in a few days where I will share some dramatic photographs of Bergen from the air!

The North Cape - Barren and cold but spectacular!

2009-06-20T01:55:00.000-07:00

Last night over 400 guests visited the North Cape - the northernmost point of continental Europe. The landscape was awesome, barren and majestic. The excursion takes our guests from Honningsvag for a drive along the rugged coastline, we made a photo stop to see the horn and continued on to a small Sami camp. After leaving the Sami camp we headed to the North Cape Centre where our guests enjoyed a spectacular film show depicted the North Cape through the four seasons, some indulged in a glass of Champagne at the grotto and at midnight we rushed out to the Globe viewpoint to gaze across the Arctic Ocean and attempt to see the Midnight Sun. Ok, last night we were unlucky - but, in true Page & Moy and Travelsphere style we still had great fun with our very own Viking aka our Cruise Director Barry Summers posing for photographs with many of our guests.

A wonderful day in the Fjords and we have crossed into the Arctic Circle

2009-06-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, we have had a busy day cruising in the spectacular Norwegian Fjords, at approximately 7.30pm last night we passed the Mountain with a hole, earlier we had held our crossing the line ceremony asking permission from King Troll to cross into the Arctic circle - we actually crossed the line at 0045 in spectacular sunshine. The evening was Captain's welcome aboard cocktail party with our guests and staff donning their finery and enjoying a lovely Gala evening in the land midnight sun. Hello to all of our regular cruise guests - it is evident from our counting statistics that many of you are tracking our progress in this our final year on board the Ocean Majesty.

Same sensational country, different faces - we are off to the Midnight Sun!

2009-06-17T01:10:00.000-07:00

We have just sailed from Harwich heading for The Land of the Midnight Sun. Yesterday, we called into Olden and had a pleasant afternoon once again visiting the Briksdal & Kjenndalen Glaciers as well as a scenic panoramic tour of Nordfjord. The weather is sensational and today we are sailing through the inside passage heading North and we expect to cross over into the Arctic Circle shortly after midnight tonight when we enjoy real Land of the Midnight Sun. Above you can see some photographs from the last two days, check the blog out in a few days time when we will show you our very special North Cape Experience.

Norway the land of trolls and clean air

2009-06-10T23:55:00.000-07:00

We are sailing in the Norwegian Fjords, the weather is fine and the scenery is spectacular. On Tuesday we called into Olden located at the southern top of Nordfjord. From here our guests enjoyed two wonderful excursions to the Brikstal Glacier and also a Nordfjord Panoramic tour. Yesterday we headed to another beautiful Fjord and in the morning we were in Molde we then sailed to Andalsnes where guests enjoyed a ride on the famous Rauma Railway and witnessed the majesty of the Troll wall and Troll road. Today is Thursday and we are heading for Bergen where we will stay until midnight tonight. Check the blog out in a few days to see photographs from tonight's deck party, Bergen and our call into Rosendal.

We are on our way to the Fjords, we have to seek permission to enter

2009-06-08T06:40:00.000-07:00

Here on the Ocean Majesty the first sight of some sunshine and we find an excuse to have some fun in the sun. On every cruise we always 'ask permission to enter' whichever destination we are heading to. Today, we asked the King Troll aka our popular Cruise Director Barry Summers to enter the Norwegian Fjords. Permission is only granted after a number of victims have knelt before King Troll and confessed their sins. It is all harmless fun, our guests - as you can see, thoroughly enjoyed the ceremony and permission has been granted. Check our blog in a few days time when we will share some of the magical moments Norway has to offer.

A very British Affair

2009-06-06T04:55:00.000-07:00

We know that back home this is the time of year when villages across the UK stage their very own Village Fete, well here on the Ocean Majesty is no exception and on every cruise we stage our own version of this traditional British affair. Our very own Mayor of Majesty declared the fete open at 3.30pm and introduced our very own Morris Dancing Troupe. Hundreds of our guests came along to the fete and participated in the various side shows including guess the weight of the cake, how many sweets are in the jar, panning for gold and they also placed their bets at our tic tac stall for the Ocean Majesty Duck race in our very own village pond. The bravest guests even had their fortune told by Miss Pandora Prediction our very own fortune teller. All monies raised at our Village fete are donated to the RNLI and other maritime related charities.

St Petersburg, Tallinn & Riga - a must see for anyone

2009-06-04T01:04:00.000-07:00

This is our first voyage in 2009 to St Petersburg & The Baltic. It is always the most popular cruise we feature and if you look at some of the images above you will see why. Our two days in St Petersburg were spectacular, our berth was at English Embankment - the most central berth in this imperial city and it is certainly the best cruise ship berth. Because of our size, we are one of the few cruise ships who can sail this far down the Neva River. Virtually all of our guests enjoyed at least one excursion here and in most cases our guests enjoyed a city tour, a visit to the famous Hermitage, a visit to the ballet and at least one of the famous palaces. The weather was very kind to us and after two action packed days we sailed for the Medieval city of Tallinn in Estonia. After leaving Tallinn we arrived into the Latvian captial Riga. Enjoy some of the highlights above.

Check out our blog tomorrow when we will share our Village Fete memories with you.

Food glorious food - it's all about the food

2009-06-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

As many of our bloggers will be aware, cruising is all about the food! - well, we sailed from Stockholm in Sweden at 6.00pm this evening and our guests have enjoyed a wonderful dining experience, a great evening of entertainment from the comedy sensation Mr Les Bryan and, as I write this blog our guests are enjoying our famous Buffet Magnifique - a spectacular creative culinary display from our very talented team of chefs and waiters. I am now sat at my desk watching our guests file back into the restaurant to consume the wonderful buffet!

Watch this space so much more to come

2009-06-02T04:37:00.000-07:00

So, now that we are back online and can take full advantage of the information highway, we want to share as many of our experiences with you as possible, after all we would love to welcome you aboard one of our cruises in the future. Our next posting will feature details of our three exciting calls into Tallinn, Riga and St Petersburg. Check out our blog later on in the week where we will introduce you to some of our crew, give you a taster of our famous midnight buffet Manifique and also introduce you to our very own Captain Blackbeard - possibly the most charismatic, charming pirate king on the high seas. We will be holding our Village Fete in a few days time and will share some more photographs with you from this unique fundraising event. Don't miss our posting early next week when we will show you some of the highlights of our call into Warnemude the port call for the exciting city of Berlin. Above, you see our small and friendly ship in Riga Latvia. All of the Cruise Team are escorting excursions today, however you can see a few of the team above and you will learn more about them later on in the blog. Not the best shot, but I thought it would be nice to see the view from the porthole in my office and finally, two crew members who are always happy to help Mister Lawrence and Miss Elena our reception team.

Happy reading - CruiseBlogger Craig

We have had some technical issues but we are now back on line!

2009-06-02T03:22:00.000-07:00

We have had a virus with our computers and, as a consequence we have been unable to update the blog. Sincere apologies, but, we are now up and running again and will update the blog every few days to allow. Since our last post we have sailed have sailed from Barcelona to North Africa, we spent a glorious five days in the Canary Islands and cruised back via the Bay of Biscay to our home port of Harwich. We are currently half way through our current cruise St Petersburg & The Baltic and have already called into Copenhagen, Helsinki, we have enjoyed two glorious days in imperial St Petersburg, Tallinn and today we are in Riga. Enjoy some of the highlights of the past few weeks above.

Godfather Country

2009-05-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of our call into Scilly was our excursion to Taormina and Greek Theatre. This charming mediaeval town is perched on a terrace overlooking the sea with Mount Etna as its backdrop. Over 150 of our guests enjoyed their four and a half hour excursion and witnessed some spectacular views towards Mount Etna. As I type this blog, we have just left Messina, the sun is glorious and the seas are calm. We are all looking forward to our arrival into Naples tomorrow.

The RNLI

2009-05-07T00:12:00.000-07:00

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the British Isles, as well as inshore. It was founded on 4 March 1824 as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, adopting the present name in 1854. The RNLI operates over 230 lifeboat stations around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. Since 1980, lifeboat rescues have doubled; the RNLI rescues an average of 22 people each day. The charity also employs lifeguards on beaches in southwest England, south Wales and Norfolk. In 2008, this service was expanded to cover over 100 beaches. The RNLI is funded entirely by voluntary donations and legacies (together with tax reclaims), and has an annual budget of £130 million.

Village Fete

2009-05-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

The decks are decked out in bunting, the morris dancing troupe are ringing their bells next to the coconut shy and the pool has been transformed into a village pond, complete with ducks. It can only mean one thing – the Village Fete is in full swing. This is without doubt one of the most popular events of every Page and Moy cruise, with traditional games like hoopla and ‘guess the weight of the cake’, a fortune teller and an abundance of cucumber sandwiches and Pimms Lemonade. The highlight of it all is the famous Ocean Majesty Duck Race, where guests place their bets on one of mother duck Delilah’s adorable themed ducklings and watch in anticipation as they make their way to the other side of the pond (encouraged by a few paddle-wielding crew members). Our excuse for all this silliness? It’s all to raise money for our favourite charity while at sea – the RNLI. More about them tomorrow…

Sailing in the Mediterranean

2009-05-05T05:54:00.000-07:00

Ocean Majesty set sail from Barcelona at midnight last night and after a refreshing (if at times slightly rocky) night at sea our guests are ready to take advantage of the many activities, lectures and demonstrations on offer today, or perhaps just to relax with a few drinks out on deck and enjoy the beautiful Mediterranean sunshine. A few things you might not know about the Med: The word Mediterranean means ‘in the middle of the land’. It covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km², but its connection to the Atlantic (the Strait of Gibraltar) is only 14 km wide. The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 metres and the deepest recorded point is 5,267 meters in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea.

Barcelona

2009-05-04T13:51:00.001-07:00

We’re in Barcelona on day two of the ‘Mediterranean and North Africa’ cruise and behind the scenes staff and crew are working around the clock to put together the finishing touches at the beginning of Page and Moy’s final season on board Ocean Majesty. Meanwhile, for our guests it’s time to relax and enjoy the sunshine and the spectacular sights and sounds of this beautiful Spanish city. For many this includes an organised shore excursion with an expert local guide who can really help you ‘get under the skin’ of a destination like Barcelona, and ensure that you don’t just visit the city – you really get to know it. Whether your particular penchant is for scenic splendour, cultural marvels or historical treasures, our shore excursions make your cruise so much more rewarding.

Welcome Aboard!

2009-05-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of the 2009 summer season for Page and Moy on board Ocean Majesty. After a winter of preparation and planning at head office, and a morning of frantic activity on board, it is finally time to welcome our first guests of the summer in sunny Barcelona. Along with the anticipation and excitement that the start of a new season brings, there is a tinge of sadness this year, as this will be Page and Moy's final season chartering Ocean Majesty. With this in mind we have started this blog to record our summer, with reports about people and events on board, insider gossip and insights into some of the forty-four ports we will visit over the next five months. The blog will be updated daily, satellite signal permitting, so check back regularly to keep up with all the news on board Ocean Majesty.