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.