12 July 2022

If you would like exclusive access to special offers, news, hints and travel advice please come along and join my Private Facebook Group. Here's a link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/itstimetotravel.bylouise Here you can ask questions or offer personal recommendations and advice. It's a super friendly community of like minded people and we'd love to have you join in. Speak to you soon, Louise x

12 July 2022

Planning a trip to the Maldives is a once in a lifetime experience for many people and you want it to be perfect, right?! I have therefore decided to put together this article to help you out with answers to frequently asked questions to help you to get the most out of your trip. I want to make sure your trip is everything you dreamed of and more. If you have any more questions or if you'd like to enquire about prices and availability please get in touch with me directly. Introduction to The Maldives The Maldives is an independent country made up of 1,192 coral islands within 26 Atolls. Islands on the outer ring of each atoll have a coral reef on one side of the island and a lagoon on the other side. The islands in the middle of the atoll tend to have a coral reef that covers the perimeter of the island. It has 31 protected areas of marine biodiversity and the designated UNESCO biosphere reserve in Baa Atoll famous for its manta rays. The Maldives is located in the Indian Ocean. The atolls stretch more than 510 miles from north to south and 80 miles from east to west. The most northerly atoll is 370 miles southwest of the Indian mainland. The Maldives is best known for its beautiful beaches, turquoise seas and stunning hotels. How to get to The Maldives? Most international flights will fly into Malé International Airport which is located on Hulhulé Island in the North Malé Atoll. Direct flights are available from London to Malé and the flight time is around 10 hours. There are no direct flights available from Manchester or other regional airports. In-direct options are also available with airlines such as Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines. Malé International Airport is the gateway airport to the Maldives. From there you will be transferred to your atolls by seaplane or speed boat. When is the best time to visit The Maldives? The Maldives’ position on the equator gives it an all-year-round warm temperature that sits consistently between 25-32C. You can visit The Maldives at any time but the best time to visit is between November and April, outside of the monsoon season. I recommend staying during March and April (excluding the Easter holidays when pricing is more expensive) when you will enjoy hot, dry weather and quieter resorts. The wet season – known as the “South West Monsoon” – runs from May to November, and this is considered the worst time to visit the Maldives. Where to stay? The Maldives offers over 140 Exclusive island hideaways with beach or over-water villas and award-winning spas are the perfect honeymoon escape, while a wide variety of water sports offer activities for the whole family to enjoy. Ultimately you need to choose a region and from there we will be able to narrow down a resort for you. The Atolls are separated into 4 different regions: 'Central Atolls' - Is one of the top 5 places in the world to watch dolphins and swim with whale sharks. Here you can also dine in the world's first, all-glass, undersea restaurant. 'Malé Atolls' - Accessed by speedboat and relatively short transfer times. A have for water-sports such as snorkelling and surfing. 'Northern Atolls' - Least developed region of The Maldives. Get up close and personal with whale sharks and manta rays and get to experience some truly unique dining experiences. 'Southern Atolls' - Explore relatively untouched dive sites, visit remote surf breaks or simply unwind on the pristine beaches of luxurious resorts. What is the Local Currency in The Maldives? The currency in the Maldives is the Rufiyaa - you can only get it in the Maldives, so don’t try to exchange sterling for rufiyaa in the UK before you fly. USA is also legal tender in The Maldives so I'd recommend exchanging some pounds into dollars before flying out. Learn More The find out more about visiting The Maldives and to begin planning your trip please feel free to get in touch. My mobile number is 07817 736579

27 June 2022

The best thing about being a Travel Counsellor is getting to talk to my clients about holidays all day long .. and the second best thing about being a Travel Counsellor is having the opportunity to learn about new holidays that I can talk to my clients about. So on 22nd June I attended the Travel Counsellors Cruise Roadshow for 2022. Due to the pandemic it has been a couple of years since we've been able to meet 'in real life' so it was lovely to get together again and put faces to names .. and get to talk about cruises for the day (like I need an excuse!). The Cruise Roadshow was held at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in the centre of Manchester from 10-4pm. It was the first time I had been there. It used to the Palace Hotel until 2017 when Principal Hotels took it over and then Intercontinental Hotels took it over in 2018 under their Kimpton brand. It actually only became the Kimpton Clocktower in October 2020 when it reopened after the covid pandemic. The hotel is fabulous and the ground floor reception, bar and restaurant areas are lovely with a real art-deco feel to them. I will definitely be returning for cocktails with my friends! For the conference Travel Counsellors had hired out the Directors Suite on the 2nd floor and lunch was served in the restaurant. I found the conference really useful and informative. Travel Counsellors have amazing, direct relationships with most of the cruise lines. This means that the cruise lines are happy to provide us with upto date information, news, special offers and training. On Wednesday the itinerary involved 6 x 30 minute presentations from the following cruise line representatives: Abercrombie & Kent - Luxury Expedition Hurtigruten - Expedition Oceania - Upper Premium Royal Caribbean - Large Capacity Ocean Cruises Silversea - Ultra Luxury Virgin Voyages - Adult Only I have been on lots of cruises myself and have plenty of experience when it comes to researching and booking cruises. I have already sailed with Royal Caribbean and Virgin Voyages but there's always something new to learn. It was really interesting to be introduced to cruise lines I hadn't really considered in the past - especially the expedition ones. Wow. There's just so much choice - it's no wonder people get overwhelmed. There really is a perfect cruise for everybody and since last week I am certainly going to expand my searches going forward. The luxury expedition market is growing year on year. With itineraries including the Polar Regions, Japan, Norway, The Seychelles, Greenland, Easter Island, French Polynesia and even World Cruises that last 279 nights .. there really is something for everyone. So whatever type of cruise or itinerary you're considering let me know and I'll be able to help you. Bookings you make with me are ATOL protected and come with our 100% Financial Protection Guarantee. Please keep popping back to my page as I will be posting content over the coming weeks with more information about the individual cruise lines, their ships, itineraries and my personal recommendations.

14 June 2022

As a huge cruise fan back in 2021 I was desperate to get back onboard a ship. Covid restrictions made it very complicated and stressful to travel abroad so some of the cruise ship companies created 'seacation' itineraries from the UK. This meant that once you were onboard you either stopped at solely UK ports or none at all. Myself and my husband decided to try out the brand new Scarlet Lady by Virgin Voyages. We spotted a fantastic offer which was for 4 nights onboard - with no stops sailing from Portsmouth. I surprised David with an upgrade to a 'Rockstar Suite' - I managed to keep it quiet until we were boarding! The Scarlet Lady was the very first cruise ship launched by the Virgin Brand and we were really excited to see what it had to offer. We sailed on the 9th August which was just the second sailing so everything was still very new. There were a few hiccups and the app was a bit of a headache but overall we had a great time. Boarding was straight forward considering everyone had to go through the covid testing centre and they started to let us onboard from 1pm. Our cabin was amazing and it was definitely a highlight of the trip. It was super spacious and had a huge marble bathroom with oversized walk in shower, robes and lovely toiletries. The suite also came complete with a fantastic mini bar and cocktail making equipment along with a record player and selection of vinyl records. We had Queen which was brilliant. I believe you can swap your records somewhere onboard but we didn't feel the need to. Our 'Rockstar Agent' was very helpful and she was easy to contact via the messaging function on the app. Every balcony cabin has a hammock which was fun .. and I think I'd definitely make better use of that in the Caribbean than in the English Channel. haha. All of the restaurants onboard are FREE to dine in - there is no 'premium dining' upgrades available which was great. We very much enjoyed trying out the various options including a Korean BBQ, Mexican, Italian and the quirky Razzle Dazzle. There is also the 'Galley' which is Virgin's take on the traditional buffet. We also enjoyed Tapas style food at The Dock and Pizzas at The Pizza Place .. oh and not forgetting the amazing ice cream too. There is no 'theatre' as such but they do have the 'Red Room' which is where we saw an acrobatics show and I believe it changed into a nightclub in the evening. There is also the Manor which is over 2 floors and is a lounge club and bar with a stage for a variety of shows. Pop up entertainment kind of just 'happened' around the ship and there was live bands in different bars. All of their group classes are included - we did an early morning guided meditation class followed by yoga on one morning which was really nice. As we had a Rockstar Cabin this also allowed us access to 'Richards Rooftop Bar' which is on the top deck of the ship right at the front. It has a private bar, lots of lounge-beds and a couple of hot tubs. I must admit I spent most of my time in the hot tubs chatting to other sailors and making new friends. There never seemed to be a lot going on up there but I guess this will be different in warmer climates. The hot tubs are open until midnight so on one evening myself and David grabbed some of our drinks from our mini-bar and headed up to Richards Rooftop. We sat in one of the hot tubs and listened some music that was being played on the pool deck below whilst watching the stars. It was lovely and quiet but also strange that there was nothing really else going on. We aren't party people so in the evening we did struggle a little bit for things to do but the restaurants and food made up for that. Virgin don't offer a drinks package but they do have a 'bar tab' facility which you can add funds into and they add more to it as a bonus. At the moment if you pay in $300 they add $50 but this might change. The only downside to this is, that at my time of sailing, they wouldn't refund back any unused credit so just be aware of this. Virgin Voyages have two more ships - The Valiant Lady launched in March 2022 and The Resilient Lady with itineraries available to book now for May 2023 onwards. Contact me for more details about special offers, itineraries and availability on these fantastic new ships.