Cruise & Maritime Ms Magellan Ship Visit
Liverpool Port is really easy to find and parking is easy too and only a short walk across the road to the cruise terminal. The famous Liver Buildings look down over the terminal and would be a welcoming familiar sight on return to port at the end of your cruise.
Boarding the ship and going through security at cruise terminals is a straightforward and simple experience - so much so that you might be so busy looking at the ship you are excited to board that you might not even notice it happening (a world of difference from airport security!).
On board the ship we were welcomed into the Captain’s Bar for tea and coffee before beginning a tour of the ship, where we started off on deck 11 where the suites are located. The suites are all finished to a high standard and have a contemporary design. The rooms were being set up ready for embarkation with tasty looking welcome canapés. Each suite has its own lounge area with TV, balcony, TV’s at the end of the bed, tea and coffee making facilities and walk in wardrobe. Lovely spacious accommodation.
Next we explored the facilities on board the ship, which included a state of the art gym, spa (very reasonable prices in Thai styled surroundings), small casino, pub, lounge bars, a very popular card and bridge room, internet area with desktop computers and a full sized auditorium for the nightly shows. The various swimming pools, plunge pools ad jacuzzis looked like they would be lovely on the spacious deck area once the ship gets closer to the Med (but not so much today on a cool grey day in Liverpool!)
We also had a tour of the standard cabins, inside and outside facing, including some fully accessible larger cabins to accommodate wheelchairs. All simple but comfortable and able to be configured for double, twin or single passengers. Solo passengers only pay 25% single supplement for a twin room. Also there’s a singles programme of events on board for solo passengers who want to meet like-minded travellers and make new friends.
The catering on board was what impressed me the most. The lunch was being laid out for passengers boarding the ship, with a delicious salad bar where everything looked crisp, tasty and fresh. The ship is full-board, but who wouldn’t want to take advantage of the £17 a day all-inclusive drinks package! That’s amazing value for money, and even if you didn’t want to upgrade to that drinks on board are less than land prices, which is very unusual for a cruise ship. Prices for cocktails start at only £3.50 – happy days!
The 2 main restaurants serve a stunning 5-course menu every evening. I know the food is stunning as we were served the 5-course meal for lunch in the Kensington Restaurant that the passengers were going to be having that evening. The menu was mouthwatering and hard to know what to choose, but after the appetizer and the starter I opted for the Pan-Fried Duck Breast and the Raspberry Crème Brulée, which left me wanting a little nap in one of the suites afterwards, but sadly after lunch we had to disembark to make way for the paying passengers!
I would not hesitate to recommend this ship to my customers who are new to cruise who would like to give it a try for an extremely good value first time. It’s small/medium sized ship and would appeal to those who want to relax and take things easy, but there is a programme of activities for those who want to get involved in ship life too.
Children are not generally allowed on board apart from special multi-generational sailings where the programme of activities is changed to incorporate children, but there are no specific areas for children on the ship (kids’ clubs etc.) The staff on board are very friendly and helpful and serve with style and a smile. The beauty of this particular cruise also lies in the fact that it sails from Liverpool (and other UK regional ports), so there’s no airport stress, and you can pretty much park up and get on, and no suitcase weight limits either. It would also be great for groups travelling together who want to spend a few days enjoying each other’s company whilst seeing a bit of the world at the same time (special discounts are available for groups).
So do get in touch with me if you’d like more information about Cruise & Maritime Voyages. More photos of the ship on my Facebook page - www.facebook.com/catherinemackeyTC