Launch 2013 Is Almost Here!

It's that time of the year again where 2013 cruises go on Sale. Anybody familiar with the cruise industry will know that now is the time to start thinking about your 2013 cruise! Although it can be argued that sometimes it is cheaper to book late, early is usually better. Read on and follow a few simple rules to get the most out of your 2013 cruise holiday. Although, Fred Olsen cruises and NCL are already on sale, not all cruises are available to book yet. Royal Caribbean go on sale from the 19th March, and the rest, namely P and O, Princess and Cunard go on sale in April. We should have a heads up as to what the prices will be this Month for 2013, and it is highly recommend to get in really early. A few advantages of booking early are not missing out on free child places, getting on popular maiden voyages or popular itineraries.

Pre-registration, what is it? If there is a certain Itinerary that you really want to get on, and we are expecting it to be very busy (usually maiden voyages or free kids cruises), by pre registering we are essentially taking a pre-booking off you before the cruise goes on sale. To explain in a bit more detail, before the cruise goes on sale we will agree a price with you, ask you to choose maybe four cabin numbers ( just in case your first choice is already gone) and take your card details down to take the deposit once booked. The morning the cruise goes on sale, we will be here, usually at 8am and book the cruise as soon as it goes on sale. If for any reason we cannot get the cabin you were after or the cruise price has gone up, we will call you to ask if you would like a higher grade, etc. If not we will just take the deposit for the cruise and treat it as any other booking.

You may have seen that above I mentioned that the cruise may go up. The more a cruise sells, the higher the price increases. Supply and demand. If there is a sailing that everyone wants to do. You probably have to be flexible in terms of price. Both the QE2 final voyage and the Queen Elizabeth maiden voyage sold out top to bottom in under an hour. The short P&O cruises on the 175th Anniversary for this year, sold out in a few days. So for cases like this it is usually wise to give us a top limit on what you a willing to pay. You may think that this sounds like a bad idea, but in some specialised cases like the above, it is probably worth it. As by the time we have got hold of you, the cruise may have gone up even more or worst case sold out.

When to book early? With more and more late deals out there is it always wise to book early? The rules to decide this are simple. If you are in a big family group, with multiple 2, 3 and 4 berth cabins book early. If you are a smaller family in 3 or 4 berth cabins, still book early. Any peak date, School holidays, Christmas, Easter etc. book early. Any specific date or itinerary you are tied too, book early to avoid disappointment. Any unique itinerary, say to the Northern Lights in Feb, or to the Far East book early. Any specialised itinerary like, Maiden voyages or cruises with free kids places, always book early. If you are just looking for a med cruise, don’t mind who you travel with, do not have a specific date in mind, then it may be worth thinking about booking late. 

Obviously any of the above rules are not always 100% accurate, there are always exceptions to the rule, but unless you are an expert at being in the right place at the right time, exceptions are very hard to predict. Ultimatly it is of course down to you as to when book your cruise, the above is just some gereral knowledge from my 5 years of experience. As normal any questions let me know!

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Ferdinand cleared on tickets tweets

A watchdog has cleared a series of tweets by footballer Rio Ferdinand following a complaint that they misled his followers about a competition for game tickets.

The tweets, posted on January 25 and 26 from the England and Manchester United player's official Twitter account, included: "I'm giving 2 tickets away for our home match against Stoke (31st Jan KO 8pm)...I will tweet tomorrow morning with details of how to enter...," and "If you have downloaded the Rio Ferdinand App on iphone/ipad/Android or do so by Monday 5pm u may be randomly picked out to win the tickets! GO."

A later tweet explained: "We only see registrations. Will be random pick & a unique message sent to winning device explaining how to collect tickets - no big brother!"

One person complained the promotion was misleading because it did not make the terms and conditions clear and did not explain how the winner would be randomly selected.

New Era Global Sports Management, which represents Ferdinand, said the application download was free and Ferdinand did not receive any fees for his role in the giveaway.

New Era said the tweets clearly explained how to enter the competition and who would be included in the draw, adding that it had gone to "a great deal of effort" to ensure that it did not mislead in any way.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the tweets made it clear that Ferdinand was offering a prize draw, the prize on offer and when he would provide the information on how to enter, and later set out the conditions of entry, the deadline and that the winner would be randomly selected.

The ASA ruled: "We noted that the winner was randomly selected from the list of registered 'addresses' of those who had downloaded the app before the deadline and understood that those registered 'addresses' did not contain any identifying information or contact details.

"We were therefore satisfied that that selection process had been properly administered and that the winner had been randomly selected."

It added: "Because we considered that all the significant terms and conditions of the prize draw had been set out in Rio Ferdinand's tweets, and because we were satisfied that the prize draw had been properly administered, we concluded that the prize promotion was not misleading."

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Karolin Margret Natasa: Indonesian lawmakers scandal. A set of photographs showing a woman looks like Karolin Margret Natasa, PDI-P lawmaker at the House Commission IX (overseeing manpower, transmigration, and health affairs) naked and having se* with a man, who is also accused as PDI-P lawmaker, is widely circulating over the net. 

Some blogs even mentioned the man is Aria Bima, PDI-P lawmaker at the House Commission VI (SOE’ soverseeing trade and industry affairs).

PDI-P secretary general Tjahjo Kumolo was reluctant to respond the se* scandal rumor. Tjahjo believes that the se* scandal is just a rumor. “I think it (the se* scandal) is just a rumor, can’t prove who (they are),” said Tjahjo today (Apr 24).

Aria Bima ensured that he’s not involved in any se* scandal. “I ensure you that I’m not linked (to the se* scandal),” said Aria this afternoon.

M Prakosa, the head of the House Honorary Body (BK), meanwhile, confirmed that his side has heard about the rumor. “But, BK has not yet received the photos nor the video (of the scandal),” said Prakosa, who is also lawmaker from PDI-P.

The pictures of PDI-P lawmakers were first published by kilikitik.net on Monday (Apr 23). The blog has been blocked and can’t be accessed right now. The photos, however, have been widely circulated over the net, including in Kaskus.us, the most popular online forum in Indonesia.

If the se* scandal is confirmed, actually this is not the first scandal implicating lawmakers. In December 2006, se* scandal between Golkar lawmaker Yahya Zaini and Dangdut singer Maria Eva rocked public. Sex*scandal PDI-P lawmaker Max Moein and his assistant Desi Vidyawati was also revealed in 2008. While rumor about se* scandal also hit PKS lawmakers. A se* video tape with 45-second duration shown a man with mustache like Anis Matta and a woman, both were seen naked, was widely circulating over the net in early March 2011. Anis and his party said that the video was a kind of defamation for him and his party. Other PKS lawmaker Arifinto was caught of watching a por* video in the middle of the House plenary session in April 2011. Arifinto, however, argued that he didn’t intentionally open and watch the video.

source

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Parents help children on Facebook'

Parents are helping their children break strict Facebook rules banning youngsters under 13 setting up profiles, the Government has said.

Children's Minister Tim Loughton accused mothers and fathers of "aiding and abetting" pre-teens to open accounts on the social networking site.

The revelation came as Labour MP Ann Coffey urged the Government and mobile phone companies to do more to combat "sexting", where teenagers send sexual pictures of themselves to each other using camera phones.

Tory minister Mr Loughton, who has three teenage children, said parents had a responsibility to monitor youngsters online, adding: "Having a Facebook page, you should be at least 13 to do that. That is not legally enforceable.

"We know, and I know from personal experience, the temptations for younger children to set up a Facebook site and get involved with those social media.

"And I also know that in too many cases they do that aided and abetted by parents. So it's not just a question of giving information to parents, it's making sure parents are acting responsibly on behalf of their children too."

Earlier in the Westminster Hall debate, Stockport MP Ms Coffey said youngsters who sent explicit images to their boyfriends and girlfriends risked having those pictures shown around playgrounds by boastful teens.

She said: "Once taken and sent, the sender loses control of these images and they could end up anywhere from being passed all around school to being viewed and passed on by paedophiles."

She also claimed pornographic pictures willingly uploaded to the internet could be shared with the world without the subject's consent, a practice known as "doxing".

Ms Coffey, who said a key problem was youngsters seeing the texts as harmless fun, added: "Sexting becomes a tool of coercion, threat and power as young people are encouraged to take pictures or videos or themselves, initially often for a financial reward or because they are groomed into thinking the person is their boyfriend."

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