Ocean Village helps passenger become an Officer and a Gentlemen

Hi,

Clandestine planning and coordination across departments, brands and seas was called for recently when first time cruiser Michael Watson sought Ocean Village’s help as he prepared to ask the biggest question of his life.
Michael, who lives in York, had considered many different ways to propose to his girlfriend Sharon Fox but it was catching the end of the film “An Officer and a Gentleman” one night that sparked his imagination.

Michael contacted Ocean Village to ask if the team could help him dress up as an officer and propose during the couple’s cruise over a meal in the Bistro? The answer could only be yes, and we set about coordinating the enterprise. A suitable uniform was tracked down and sent across to the Ocean Village ship, a table was booked in the Bistro, music was organised and photographers arranged. The plan was in place!

Once the couple arrived on board, preparations were finalised while keeping everything under wraps from Sharon.

As Saturday 12 December dawned, the couple went swimming with dolphins ashore and the plan swung into action on board. By evening, the music was set, photographers were placed on a table close by “celebrating a birthday” and the officer’s uniform was hidden away in the back.
Michael and Sharon took their places in the Bistro and began their meal. Between courses, Michael excused himself for a few moments. In the Gent’s bathroom, a couple of helpers aided Michael’s transformation into a vision of an Officer and a Gentleman that would do Richard Gere proud. As Michael emerged, “Love Lifts Us Up where We Belong” came over the music system, and the whole restaurant seemed to hold its breath as he approached their table and gently touched Sharon on the shoulder. Sharon’s surprise and delight as she turned to see Michael resplendent in his uniform lit up the room. Michael got down on one knee and with the ring on a silver salver, asked if she would marry him. Without hesitation, Sharon said yes, to fulsome applause from all the Bistro diners and restaurant staff. The photographers whipped out their cameras to capture the moment.
Everyone at Ocean Village wishes the Michael and Sharon all the very best for their future together.

Alyn Baker,
Hotel Director, Ocean Village

Diamond Anniversary with Ocean Village

After 59 happy years of marriage, Joseph and Brenda Jones wanted to celebrate their Diamond Anniversary in a very special way.

The couple from Runcorn cruised with Ocean Village in 2008 to see if they would like it. They enjoyed it so much they came back a year later and we had the pleasure of making it an anniversary to remember.

A celebration meal in James Martin’s Bistro was organised to celebrate 60 glorious years of marriage, and to top it off a personalised card from HRH The Queen was delivered while they had Champagne breakfast on the Bridge with our some of our senior offices which included Captain Angelo Vago and Hotel Director Alyn Baker.

The couple met in 1948 when Joseph had left the army as one of Joseph’s friends was married to Brenda’s sister. They met at a leaving party for that friend and immediately started courting.

After 12 months of courting, Joseph popped the question in the unlikely place of a “Top Deck Bus” on the way back from a shopping trip to Warrington. Brenda said yes straight away but Joseph had the daunting task of seeking permission from Brenda’s father who luckily also said yes.

The wedding took place on the 10th December 1949 at St. Michaels Church in Runcorn and was a white wedding in a funny sort of way. Brenda wore blue, but outside it had been snowing so everywhere else was covered white! From there, they celebrated the marriage with a honeymoon in Blackpool.

Joseph says the secret of the lasting marriage is there are no secrets, a bit of give and take is needed and they are best friends. They have both lived in Runcorn all their lives and are both active especially when they both go sequence dancing which keeps them fit.

One of the reasons they chose Ocean Village is the informality of the cruise, the fact it is so easy going and you are not tied to times for the meals - “It’s fantastic” they both said.Alyn Baker,

Hotel Director, Ocean Village

Children in Need

Hello from Ocean Village,

Even though Ocean Village has just finished a busy Atlantic crossing to the Caribbean and commenced our first Caribbean ‘Beaches & Boardwalks’ cruise, we managed to put time aside to plan and organise a charity event for BBC’s Children in Need Appeal.
The event was carried over 2 days and featured some great events including:
· Art ware auction of our passengers children pictures,
· Sale of Ocean Village flip flops
· Guess the name of the Teddy
· A sponsored spin-a-long on a bike
· Slippery pole competition
· A main auction which included a sail away on the bridge with bubbly and an engine control
room visit along with dine with an officer
· Raffle
The Ship’s Company supported the event by dressing up as Little Brittan Characters and we even had Paddington bear helping us out as Pudsey was busy in the UK.

We managed to raise a fantastic total of £3604.80, which shows a great demonstration of team work and commitment from all departments to ensure that the whole event was successful.
The above picture shows two couples with Captain Hutley on the sail away, which raised a total of £750 alone.

Alyn Baker,

Hotel Director, Ocean Village

Ocean Village Two Farewell Comments

After an emotional farewell cruise for Ocean Village Two, I spoke to some of the key figures who made the cruise - and ship -go off with a bang:

"Ocean Village Two has been like a family and the experiences we have all gained will stay with us forever. Wherever we go in the future, we will have memories from Ocean Village Two that we can share. The ship's crew have every reason to be very proud of the great holidays they have created for our passengers."
Captain Angelo Vago, master of Ocean Village Two

"Its been a real privilege to be the Hotel Director on the final voyage of Ocean Village Two. The moral and determination of everyone on board to see Ocean Village Two go out with a bang has made me really proud of the ship and its crew."
Djalit Sharma - Hotel Director, Ocean Village Two

From left to right - Colin Pomeroy (Food and Beverage Director), Tim Newman (Entertainment and Retail Director), Tracy Clegg (Entertainment and Retail Director), Daljit Sharma (Hotel Director), Angelo Vago (Captain), Jim Lakin (Chief Engineer), Caroline Cromarty (Personnel Development Manager).

"I've had a great time working onboard Ocean Village Two and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone on Ocean Village next year. I've especially enjoyed working with my team of Chefs and in particular Yuri who's develop so well as a chef over the years."
James Martin - Celebrity TV chef
Paul

Ocean Village Two Farewell Cruise - Part 9, The Finale from the Farewell Concert

Hi again,

Paul Wright here with my final personal blog from Ocean Village Two's farewell cruise.

As we rehearsed the final night show it dawned on all of us in the theatre that this really was the final event we would work on together on Ocean Village Two. There was a really strange feeling between the team as we built the stage set, especially as it's a replica of the ship.

The show started at 10.30pm and the theatre was full to the gunnels. First on were our resident singers Katy Reilly, Chlor Du Pre and Simon Ledger we then introduced Will Martin who sang Nights In White Satin. Like a true tenor, he finished the song in Italian, to great cheers from the audience. Jaki Graham then came on stage and the dancefloor sprang to life when she sang "Ain't Nobody (does it better than you)".The Double Impact boys then took over with a disco medley which kept the audience on its feet and then Steve Larkins came on to close the show with his Freddie Mercury tribute act. He dedicated "We Are The Champions" to all the crew and passengers and as he came to the end of the song a procession of crew from all departments made their way to the stage to join in with the final chorus. This was a really emotional scene as the crew and audience hit the last notes together. There were people in the audience in tears as the confetti exploded to signal the end of what had been a truly fitting way to send Ocean Village Two off to its new home.
It's been great being on board for Ocean Village Two's farewell cruise and I hope you've enjoyed reading my blogs as much as I've enjoyed writing them.

Please check back regularly as we will be adding some more quotes, events and images from what truly was an incredible farewell cruise.

All the best,
Paul

Ocean Village Two Farewell Cruise - Part 8, Will Martin joins Ocean Village Two

Hi everyone,

Will Martin rose to fame when his debut album ‘A New World’ achieved double platinum status in his native New Zealand, and upon release in the UK it debuted at Number 1, making him the youngest tenor in musical history to reach the top of the classical charts. But before that he had been regularly seen on board Ocean Village where he performed as lead vocalist, and at one point there had been a scramble of record companies pursuing Will around the Caribbean to sign him up. So naturally we are delighted to welcome Will back on board for Ocean Village Two’s farewell cruise.
He gave an ‘Up Close and Personal’ informal chat to passengers along with a live performance singing hits from his Number 1 album as well as some of his favourite songs by Elton John, Billy Joel and Crowded House.
Will performed as the opening vocalist in the Village Square during Ocean Village Two’s inaugural events and naming ceremony back in April 2007, and he will be taking to the ship’s stage one last time as part of the final night show. So having been the first, Will will also be the last vocalist to sing on board Ocean Village Two. Which feels sort of appropriate…

Paul Wright

Ocean Village Two Farewell Cruise - Part 7

Hi again from Ocean Village Two’s farewell cruise.

‘Roll up! Roll up!’ was the cry as the Captain and Ocean Village staff were joined by passengers on a packed top deck for a fun-filled village fete.
The staff hosted different themed activities including ‘Bat The Rat’, ‘Ball in the Hole’ and ‘Hook a Duck’ where the passengers competed against each other to win some great prizes, with the top prize up for grabs being an Action Ashore tour of their choice in either Langkawi or Singapore.

Tracy Clegg, our Entertainment and Retail Director, even took to the stocks where passengers threw wet sponges for the chance to score a point on their scorecard!
The Ocean Village spirit lives on!

Paul

Ocean Village Two Farewell Cruise - Part 6, James Martin takes to the stage

Thursday 5th November saw Sweet Baby James take to the Marquee stage on board Ocean Village Two to show budding chefs some tricks of the trade.
It was just like an on board version of his BBC hit show ‘Saturday Kitchen’. Gastro-maestro James was assisted by Kenny, who has worked in James’ on board Bistro as Head Chef, to demonstrate how to cook the perfect steak commenting “the steak should be soft enough to eat with a spoon”.
At the end of his hour-long demonstration James showed the crowd how to spin sugar before taking the time to meet the passengers, and sign copies of his book and souvenir plates from the Bistro as well as pose for memento photographs for over an hour, something which was hugely appreciated by the passengers.
Top celebrity TV chef James will be back on stage over the next couple of days in an ‘Up Close and Personal’ chat show to talk about his appearance on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ as well as his prime-time BBC show ’Saturday Kitchen’.

Paul

Ocean Village Two Farewell Cruise - Part 5

On Wednesday 4th November Ocean Village Two received a special visit from a professional belly dancer to add a splash of local custom to the ship’s two-day call in Dubai.

The top decks were full to see the Russian national (who now lives in Dubai) perform 2 half hour shows. She wooed the passengers with some mind-boggling moves and dance combinations and was on stage for the final 30 minutes of our call in Dubai, before we set sail for Cochin, India.

Paul

Ocean Village Two Farewell Cruise - Part 4

Hi,

Paul Wright here with the latest instalment of hot happenings from Ocean Village Two’s farewell cruise.

On Tuesday 3rd November, while in the port of Dubai, the talented ‘freedom2move’ team performed the final show of our Deck Spectacular ‘Planet’. With Dubai’s glittering skyline in the background the visual, aerial and musical extravaganza was performed on and around the custom-built four-point structure that stands 40ft above the top deck.

For those of you that don’t know, Planet is a thrilling, space-age re working by Micha Bergese Productions on Holst’s ‘Planets Suite’ – the most-performed composition of any English composer. It features heart-stopping acrobatic feats, a powerful modern re-interpretation of this musical classic and eye-popping costumes in an all-singing, all-dancing sensory experience.
Around 800 people joined us on the top decks in ideal weather conditions to watch the farewell show perfectly delivered by the international cast of singers, dancers and aerialists. Micha Bergese Productions also sent out a representative out from the UK to see the final show and to thank the cast for all their hard work.

Until the next update,

Paul

Ocean Village Two meets HMS Cornwall

The sight of HMS Cornwall and the accompanying chopper on 30th October 2009 was a real sight to see for everyone on Ocean Village Two as we sailed through the Gulf of Aden. While the helicopter buzzed overhead, a member of the flight crew took this dramatic photo of the two ships.
High quality copies of the photo are being sold on board Ocean Village Two with all profits being donated this year's Poppy Appeal.

A big thank you to the Ministry of Defence for permission to use this shot.

Ocean Village Two Farewell Cruise - Part 3 - A Special Visit

Hi from onboard Ocean Village Two

Since you last heard from me, Ocean Village Two has had a surprise visit. During the evening of Wednesday 29th, October Captain Vago received the news that Ocean Village Two would receive a visit from a very special guest... The UK Naval ship HMS Cornwall would be coming alongside at 6.00am on Thursday 30th October to say hello.

By 5.45am Deck 12 was full of passengers and in the distance under the rising sun we could see HMS Cornwall heading towards us. Tracey Clegg, our onboard Entertainment and Retail Director, explained that HMS Cornwall (with over 250 crew members) is currently the flagship coordinating the multi-national task force off the coast of Somalia.


As the ship approached, Tracey announced a helicopter would also be making an appearance to wish everyone well. Then from nowhere, the Lynx helicopter appeared by the side of the ship. The sound was incredible and we could see the pilot and crew waving down at everyone onboard. The helicopter circled us about 4 times and stayed for about an hour so the passengers could take their memento photos.


This unexpected visit has made this final cruise of Ocean Village Two feel even more special than ever.

Paul

Ocean Village Two Farewell Cruise - Part 2

Hi,

Paul Wright here with my second blog from onboard Ocean Village Two’s farewell cruise.

After leaving the Egyptian sun spot of Sharm El Sheikh we set sail for the Oman capital of Muscat with 5 days at sea, so we had to make sure there was plenty to keep the passengers entertained and with Ocean Village there’s just as much going on when the sun goes down as there is during the day!

The evenings of Friday 23rd and Wednesday 28th were all about Cher and Robbie Williams respectively... Jayne Louise performed as Cher and was great on stage singing all the classic songs from the rock Diva – her costumes were just like you see in the videos. Jayne was on stage for nearly an hour and had the dance floor in front of the stage full of people by the end of her show.

Five nights later saw Tony Lewis perform as Robbie Williams. Tony was in the final of the BBC show ‘The One and Only’ and had the audience on Ocean Village Two up on their feet shouting for more as he sang Rock DJ. He really does look just like him and he is just as naughty as the pop star himself. It really finished off what’s been a great day onboard after a day in the sun at sea.

It was nice at the end of his show to see him thanking all the staff as this was his last ever show on Ocean Village Two. So far we have seen tributes to Dusty Springfield, The Bee Gees, Lionel Richie and we’ve still got Elton John, Freddie Mercury and the real James Martin to come...

Paul

Ocean Village Two Farewell Cruise - Part 1

Hi, my name is Paul Wright, Entertainment Manager for Ocean Village and over the next 2 weeks I’ll be blogging key events from on board Ocean Village Two’s farewell cruise from Crete-Singapore.

Ocean Village Two set off from Crete on Thursday 22nd October packed full of eager passengers as we made our way to Cairo, where most passengers took the opportunity to get off the ship and explore bustling Cairo and of course, the world-famous pyramids.

From Cairo, we made our way to Sharm El Sheikh, via the famous Suez Canal. This impressive 119 mile canal divides Europe and Asia and as you can see from the photos below it was like a mill pond. We took our position at the front of a convoy of 28 ships to pass through the Suez Canal. Everything was silent as we listened to the broadcast onboard telling us the history of this stretch of water. We were given the lead position as the fastest ship in the convoy and the top deck was full of passengers for hours as we led the other ships through the canal.

The first picture shows the ship waiting for us to start our passage through the canal with the other ships joining the convoy.

Paul

Ocean Village sets new record for Carnival UK

Casual cruise line scores top marks for passenger satisfaction for 23 consecutive weeks!

Ocean Village is celebrating after a record-breaking run of holiday feedback scores that sets a new record for brands within Carnival UK. 'The cruise for people who don't do cruises' was given a glowing report card, achieving 90%+ scores from passengers for 'overall cruise enjoyment' for 23 consecutive weeks, the longest series ever recorded above the 90% company target.

Ocean Village's informal dining continued to prove a big hit with passengers with a 90% average score whilst 'The Bistro', the on-board restaurant of TV celebrity chef James Martin, was also top of the menu over the last 23 weeks, achieving a score of 93.9%. Offering fantastic value for money, Ocean Village's free of charge daily kids entertainment club scored a whopping 92.8%, with the highest score going to the on-board team with the dedicated crew collectively scoring 96.3% for friendliness and attitude.

Click here for the full article.

BRAND NEW Ocean Village Caribbean cruise TV ad

With the summer over and all the kids back at school your last holiday is probably just a distant memory. Well never fear - Ocean Village's winter sun cruises to the Caribbean start as early as November and our Caribbean TV ads are back on screen from Monday 14th September.

Don't forget this is Ocean Village's final Caribbean season so if you haven't experienced the cruise for people who don't do cruises or are thinking about getting back on board, time to enjoy the UK's best-loved informal cruise ship in the gorgeous tropical sun is beginning to run out!

This really is the cruise for people who don’t do cruises, and what's more, our winter 2-week Caribbean cruises are now from only £649* per person per week. And don't forget, you're saving 5% on when you book online so prices start from just £617pp per week for 2 weeks in the Caribbean sun.
For more details, see our Mediterranean and Caribbean cruise holidays, or check out our Caribbean cruise deals.
*£649 price is per person per week when booking a 14 night Caribbean cruise (selected dates only, subject to availability).

Big Night Out

Every week on board Ocean Village and Ocean Village Two you can now pull on your glad rags and add a dash of glamour and fun to your holiday at our special 'Big Night Out' event.



As part of the celebrations you can be nominated to become the ship’s ‘Godmother’ for the week and join the Captain for a special 'ship naming' ceremony in the Village Square to smash the customary bottle of fizz!



Tuck into a celebration dinner menu, take part in the Oscars-themed events as well as enjoying special promotions in our shops and spa. Still want more? Join the Ocean Village staff in the Players Bar or Bayside, where the celebration party continues with a boogie and a countdown to midnight. At the 'Big Night Out' you can get involved as much or as little as you like.

Keep an eye out for further details when you’re on board.

Hit The Deck

At Ocean Village we're always looking for ways to improve and enhance things for our passengers, which is why we’ve recently introduced a few changes to how the open areas in the middle of decks 12 and 14 work.

If you like to take things easy then the front area is just the place to swim in the adults-only Crystal pool or relax on the sun loungers, with minimal noise coming from the stage area. We've also placed extra tables and chairs outside both the Sunweaver bar and the La Luna restaurant so you can sit and chat or soak up the sun over a drink. Like things a bit more lively? The rear area by the Riviera pool is where you can watch – or get involved with – our entertainment events, enjoy our live music or just hang out around the family pool.

Looking for a late cruise deal? Then check out our great selection of Mediterranean and Caribbean cruise deals.

A transatlantic crossing to remember

After another successful season in Caribbean, Ocean Village commenced its transatlantic repositioning cruise on 21/04/2009 from Barbados. the first three days saw us calling at St.Lucia, Dominica and St.Maarten where we said a wonderful farewell to the beautiful Caribbean with a sail away party on top deck.

The team prepare for the British Sail Away :: Captain Ian Hutley opens the Village Fete

The theme was ‘British Sail Away’, where most of the passengers and crew enthusiastically participated in cheering and enjoying the event. As well as the local people and ports, we said our mutual goodbyes to the passengers of a Royal Caribbean Cruise liner which was docked alongside us.

After Captain Ian Hutley completed the safety checks, we were ready to set off on the six day voyage across the Atlantic to the scenic Island of Madeira. By the time we arrived in Madeira Ocean Village had covered a distance of 2632 nautical miles!

The first three sea-days brought the good weather averaging about 24C with a fresh breeze from the North East. During the day passengers were involved with the many activities provided by the Entertainment crew such as Salsa, Juggling and Trapeze work shops. We even managed to catch some live action from the English premier league football in the Oval Bar, which was not expected while crossing the Atlantic! And the fun didn't stop there. The Evenings were packed with some great tribute shows including George Michael and Elton John, hilarious antics of comedienne Mia Carla, and a chat with Will Martin ‘the youngest UK top ten classical singer’ in our ‘Up Close and Personal’ talk show. The host Paul Maffey got the nitty gritty from Will, asking all those burning questions that were on everyone’s mind and later Will Martin performed to a full house in the Marquee show lounge.

On 28th April, the fourth day at sea, Ocean Village celebrated its sixth birthday. To make this day even more memorable, the ships company held a ‘Village Fete’ with a mix of fun and games for the passengers. The event was inaugurated by the Captain cutting the ribbon to signify the start of a fun-filled day between crew and passengers with every department of the ship's company putting on a different challenge for the passengers to test their skills. In total we hosted 18 stalls for them to score as many points as possible towards the ultimate first prize of a VIP seat with the Captain to one of our 'Big Birthday Bash'. The games ranged from the Bar team’s ‘Show your Flair’ challenge to ‘Hoops in the Pool’ by Events, ‘Snake in a Bottle’ from Accommodation, and many more from other departments. We didn't realise how much passengers wanted to get their own back on the ship officers until we saw how busy the 'Throw a wet sponge at an Officer’ stall was! Officers of the ship were summoned to the stocks like villians taking their puishment, yet the true villians were soon to be known when buckets of ice water found their way over the unsuspecting heads of those in the stocks. I would say this game was a definite highlight of the crossing for many!

Captain Hutley soaks the Hotel Director!

The Hotel Director seeks his revenge...

And even more revenge...!

The whole day saw a real Carnival type atmosphere was an incredible testament to the spirit and liveliness that is Ocean Village, and for which we have become so renowned for. Ocean Village’s birthday was concluded with the 'Big Birthday Bash' party in the Marquee show lounge with all the performers putting on a show of such variety that it had the Marquee filled to the max all night. Even 1 Bar Team member made an appearance onstage to dazzle the passengers with his hidden vocal talents.

So another successful voyage blessed with good weather so far. We have yet another 1000 miles or so to sail before we reach our final port of call in Palma, Majorca and many spectacular places and entertainment still to experience on this trip. One thing we can be sure of if anything is that we will have many more good times to report!

Thanks for reading our post. What kind of events would you like to see on board?

Ghandi Raj & Kalpesh Nikam

Ocean Village Olympics

Hi, Caroline here. I work on Ocean Village Two as the Personnel and Development Manager supporting the Officers and Crew onboard.

Over the last few weeks we’ve been busy enjoying the last leg of our Caribbean itinerary before setting sail to the Mediterranean for the summer. For some of the team, it's the first time that they have been to the Caribbean so we thought it would be a great excuse to celebrate a great maiden season!

To end on a high, the accommodation team organised an Ocean Village-style Olympics competition. They organised themselves into four groups, each with their own team Captain, and the games commenced! The teams set about competing in a series of events in either the crew gym or ashore in St Vincent on 12th March, with challenges ranging from a tug of war, to relay races on the treadmills, to time trials on the stationary spinning bikes. And never to let a social event pass without a party, two of the accommodation team donned their DJ caps and put on a real show in a local nightclub at the port.

Our Olympic athletes in St Vincent

And, it didn’t end there... A few days later, the entire hotel team (who report to the Hotel Director) had a beach party in Isla Margarita, making the most of the stunning surroundings.

Thanks to Vincy Gomes and Marivic Quilicol who stepped up and devised a whole series of team games and challenges. As you can see, we all had a blast!

Caroline.

Ocean Village on Twitter

Hi there.

If you are interested in keeping up to date with Ocean Village, why not check out our Twitter page?

Click here to see Ocean Village on Twitter >

What is Twitter?
- Twitter is a social networking and 'micro-blogging' tool that helps you keep up with the your friends' status updates (or 'Tweets') within your network. You can simply choose who to 'follow', who you would like to follow you, and apply privacy settings accordingly.

Why would you want to use Twitter?
- It's an easy and quick way of finding out the lates 'news' your contacts want you to know.

Why should you follow Ocean Village?
- We're using Twitter as a fast way of letting our contacts know about the very latest deals, availability, news and info at Ocean Village.

So don't miss out...!

Click here to see Ocean Village on Twitter > or look for Ocean_Village and follow us!

Ocean Village Take Two!

Hi, I'm Wilson and this is my blog about a recent rare double sighting we had in the Caribbean recently...

Although the Ocean Village ships are always in largely the same part of the world (either Med or Caribbean depending on the season), their paths don’t tend to cross. In other words, whilst I am on Ocean Village in Central Caribbean, my equivalent aboard Ocean Village Two, Aby, will be in the Southern Caribbean. So it was unusual for both of us to be on the same pier of the same island at the same time recently, and it did allow for an outbreak of healthy rivalry between the two crews!

Ocean Village and Ocean Village Two side by side in Grenada

The two ships sailed into Grenada on Monday 12th January, giving both sets of passengers a rare sight and a double dose of Ocean Village in one hit. I’m sure this was pretty cool for them as many will have been on their first cruise and probably wondering what the other ship looked like. So although they couldn’t go onboard the other ship, they got to see them together on the dockside and could get a peek at the other from the top decks (and hopefully thought they might like to try the other one next time!?)

An officer reunion!

L to R Michel Benner, Food & Beverage Director, Tracey Clegg Entertainment & Retail Director, and Sharma Daljit Hotel Director from Ocean Village Two, alongside Michael Lobban, Hotel Director, Mark Hudson Entertainment & Retail Director, and John Brodie Food & Beverage Director from Ocean Village.

Meanwhile, once our work was done some of the crew faced each other in a ‘friendly’ 20/20 cricket match on dry land. With a lot of pride at stake, competition was fierce in a tense but highly enjoyable game for the players and supporters from both ships. And the result...
Ocean Village Two’s ‘Accom Knights XI’ beat a mixed OV team (OV2 won, appropriately enough, by just two wickets)!

Ocean Village Two's Knights XI in grey and Ocean Village's mixed team in red coutesy of the photo studio

And then all that was left to do was a ‘honking’ competition in a big Sailaway ceremony as both ships prepared to head out to their next port of call. And I am delighted to say that this time it was Ocean Village's turn to take the winner’s title with a deafening salute as we were leaving the pier! Not that we're at all competitive of course...

The next and final time the ships will meet will be in Grenada again on the 9 March. Are you going to be there to join us and cheer on your ship’s team?

A Merry Onboard Christmas!

Christmas away from family and friends can be tough, and we often miss out on parties and get-togethers back home, but luckily we’re all a pretty sociable bunch onboard too! It’s one of those times that we’re all in the same boat (no pun intended) so we all pull together and help keep each other’s spirits up.

Now we’re fully underway into the Caribbean season, we decided it was time to organise our Christmas party for the Accommodation team, and as we now have an overnight stop in St Vincent, we thought we’d celebrate on dry land for a change. The staff all clubbed together to raise money for a ‘do’ (partly helped along with a welcome donation from the Accom management team), and the Accom Committee decided to hold it at the terminal building at the port.

And after we'd tucked into a festive buffet and drinks, we shared Secret Santa presents, played a few silly party games and sang Christmas carols, we finished it all off in a real party-mood with some music and dancing.

Our carol concert!

All in all, 102 accommodation and laundry staff came, as well as some extra special invites for those members of the crew who work ‘behind the scenes’ e.g. plumbers and carpenters. It was such a fun night and we all had a brilliant time. It really was a great way to end the year, and made sure we were well and truly in the festive mood!

Festive fun with the Accomodation Team

Hope you had a great Christmas and hope to see you on board in 2009!

Mari