Airtours

MS Seawing

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Operator: Airtours Cruise Line
Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1971 / 2000
Length / Tonnage: 536 / 16,710
Number of Cabins / Passengers: 399 / 798
Officers / Crew: British / International
Operating Area: Aegean Sea, Mediterranean, Canary Islands
Telephone / Fax: Tel 110 4165 / Fax 110 4165

Today, My Travel plc (formerly Airtours plc) is a major player for air-inclusive holidays and other leisure travel services in the UK, Northern Europe, Germany and North America. In the year of writing (02), My Travel's fleet of four ships takes more than 84,000 people on cruises to 43 ports around the world.

The Airtours story began in 1972, when entrepreneur, David Crossland purchased Pendle Travel Services, a travel agency business comprising of just two stores in Lancashire. A second travel agency business was acquired shortly after from Albert and Ivy Roberts who had registered it using their initials, A.I.R. Tours. The Airtours name was born.

The business expanded and in 1980 they developed their first package holidays. These offered value for money, encouraging people to holiday abroad - often for the first time. However, the story really begins when Airtours floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1987 with a market capitalisation of £28m. In March 1991 Airtours' own airline began commercial flying.

By 1992 Airtours had created a chain of 712 'Going Places' Travel Agent shops, which quickly gained a presence in most of the UK's main shopping centres.

In April 1994 the cruises division of Airtours was founded to provide British holidaymakers with air and sea vacation packages at affordable rates. The cruise liner, MS Seawing was acquired, shortly to be followed by MS Carousel, for a sell-out programme of fly-cruises, which started operating from summer 1995. The Going Places Travel Agencies played a key role in promoting the cruises.

In 1996, Airtours announced an agreement with Carnival Corporation where Carnival would acquire 29 per cent of Airtour shares. The Group also acquired a third cruise ship, MS Sundream. In 1997, Airtours acquired a stake in Costa Crociere, the world's fourth largest cruise business specialising in Mediterranean cruising. In 1999, they acquired their fourth ship named MS Sunbird.

In February 2002 the new name of 'My Travel plc' was adopted by all the former Airtours brands, with a change of livery.

You cannot compare chalk and cheese, but the critics often try. My Travel is a budget cruise line, not a premium one. In fact in their brochure, My Travel describes themselves "as the number one in affordable cruising". If you pay $1,000 for a MY Travel cruise, it is unfair to draw direct comparisons with the standards on a cruise line charging $2,000!

The My Travel brochure is very family friendly, with some good child discounts and deals for singles. There are lots of 'cruise and stay' options to bolt on to the many cruise itineraries. My Travel gives you a number of options when choosing your holiday, but they all come at an extra cost. The Ship: If you want to reserve a specific cabin number on the ship, rather than just a grade, you will be charged £50 for the privilege. The Flight: If you want the extra leg room offered by an emergency exit, you will be charged up to £40 ($60).

My Travel offer an 'all inclusive' alcoholic drinks package for around £160 ($233) per week. However, this applies to selected brands only. You will obviously need to be pretty serious about your drinking to get your monies worth. There is also a kid's Ice cream and soft drink package at a cost of about £50 ($73) per week.

My Travel will also add the insurance premium to your holiday and charge you for it, unless you tell them otherwise. You may well be able to buy cheaper insurance elsewhere? My travel has a no tipping policy, although many passengers still give a little extra to those staff who provide exceptional service.

My Travel's operation is a little reminiscent of Carnival Cruise Line, in the early years. Three of My Travel's fleet of four ships are over 30 years old. They are all small by modern standards with a high passenger density. In other words they pack the passengers in - that's how they keep the fares low. Don't expect an intimate atmosphere, because you will experience a party one.

The cabins of the MY Travel fleet in general are a little small, and the choice of public rooms can be limited on some of the ships. This can make them feel crowded at peak times. It is probably fair to say that the food, service and entertainment reflect the low fare that is paid. However, despite these negative observations, My Travel has many very satisfied customers.

The MS Seawing entered service in 1971 as the Norwegian Cruise Lines Line's 'Southward'. The other three ships in the Airtour fleet were purchased from the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. Seawing was Airtours first ship and they began operating her in March 1995, under the name of Sun Cruises. Seawing is a modest 16,710 gross tons and has a maximum passenger capacity of 904, divided between the 392 cabins. This makes her the smallest of My Travel's four ships. There are seven passenger decks, but no single cabins, wheelchair accessible cabins or balcony cabins. There are four elevators.

Seawing is a very attractive and distinctive ship, with almost a yacht like profile. She has inboard lifeboats and distinctive twin swept-back funnels, which enhance her profile. Just about everyone agrees that Seawing is a very friendly ship.

Seawing probably has as many public rooms as you could reasonably expect, for a small ship, although some of them are rather small. Unfortunately they are spread over four decks. Maybe this was an attempt to keep passengers fit? The good news is they are all approximately amidships, including the dining room, which is the most stable location. There is the Clipper Entertainment Lounge, the EL Dorado Restaurant, the Riviera bar/ café, the Piano bar, Beauty Salon, Card Room, Photo Gallery, Gym, Children's Club, Medical Room, Casino and the Crows Nest Disco.

The largest room on board is the main show lounge, the Clipper Lounge, located on the Mayflower Deck. Large windows provide good views of the passing scenery. However, this space has been described as 'cavernous' by a critic. Aft, on the same deck is the Library, Card Room, Children's Club, Beauty Salon and Card Room. One deck up, on the strangely named the Beach Deck, is the Crow's Nest Nightclub which is very comfortable. It has a circular dance floor. It offers more charming sea views.

If everyone onboard, decided to occupy the public rooms at once, they would become very crowded indeed. Likewise, the available deck space for sunbathing is somewhat limited, so congestion during fine weather is guaranteed. There is a pool tucked behind the twin funnels, on the uppermost deck, but it is rather small. The area around the pool has been described as being "as slippery as an ice rink" by passengers, so beware!

The Entertainment offered is perhaps one of the most subjective aspects of the MY Travel operation. Some passengers regard it as excellent, while others regard it as amateurish and 'holiday camp' style. However, a satisfaction chart in MY Tavel's own brochure reveals that passengers rate the evening entertainment on Seawing lower, than passengers do on the other ships in the fleet.

The Seawing pre-dates freestyle dining. There is one main restaurant called the 'El Darado'. It is attractively decorated and seats nearly 400 passengers at each of its two sitting. Seating is allocated by the cruise line, so you have little real choice. The food may not be the finest afloat, but the passengers often consider it to be very good. It is certainly plentiful, with six meals per day being offered. However, the dining experience can be a little rushed. There are breakfast and lunch buffets served on deck and the midnight buffet is served indoors. Healthy and vegetarian options are available, as well as kids meals.

Twenty-four hour cabin service is available at an extra charge. However, I can't imagine anyone choosing to eat in a cramped cabin, rather than the dining room, unless they were ill?

The cabins are divided into five grades: Inside, Standard outside, Superior outside, Promenade and Deluxe. Apart from the Deluxe grade, most of the cabins are of a similar size, which is small by today's standards. There are no balcony cabins. Doubles often have two rather small single beds arranged in an L-shape. Passenger's often report that the insulation between them is poor and the closet and storage space is limited. The bathrooms are small, and the water tends to change temperature mid-shower! However, the cabins are adequate. If space is really important to you book the deluxe variety, which could be classified as mini-suites if you had a very vivid imagination, but be quick there are only ten of them!

The My Travel brochure offers some tempting half price cabin upgrades, but it is important to remember that most of the cabins are the same size, just the deck location varies. The price rockets for the deluxe cabins. If you want to book a specific cabin number in advance, not just the grade, My Travel makes a £50 charge!

The voltage is 110v so the Brits may need adaptors to power their shavers etc. They have not managed to squeeze TV's into the cabins! However, the brochure informs us that some cabins do have piped music. However, I hardly feel that this is something to boast about.

Like most old ships, the air conditioning can be both noisy and ineffective at time. The disabled access on this ship is poor.

My Travel mainly aim their product at the British market, which is a small but growing one. However, other nationalities are often represented onboard. Their cruises are extremely popular with first-time cruisers. They appeal to a wide age range of budget conscious travellers, including families. They don't have too much local competition, because the other UK cruise lines charge higher fares and seem to particularly attract the 'grey pound'.

The Seawing cruises the Mediterranean in spring and summer and the Far East in winter.

From May to October 2002 Seawing offers 7 night round cruises from Limassol (Cyprus) to the Mediterranean/Aegean.

From October 2002 to April 2003, Seawing offers some exciting 14, 16 and 30 night Far Easter cruises. Ports of call include: Beirut, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, India, and Malaysia. 7 night round trips from Phuket are also offered.

From April 2003 to October 2003, Seawing returns to the Mediterranean/Aegean, offering 7 night round cruises from Limassol.

A wide variety of cruise and stay options are available as add-ones to many of Seawing's cruises.

'My Travel' is a relative newcomer to the world of cruising. They do not have the biggest or newest ships and they do not offer the highest quality food, service or entertainment. It is very easy to criticise them. However, they do not charge the highest fares either - in fact in they offer some of the cheapest deals available in the United Kingdom.

Thousands of first time UK cruisers choose to cut their maritime teeth with My Travel. They usually return home completely satisfied with the experience, invariably feeling that they have had very good value for money. Travelpage has dozens of 'readers review' from satisfied customers to prove it! They often rave about the food, service and entertainment. In fact many of them return home to immediately book another cruise with My Travel.

It is at this point we meet the great divide. The 'experts' tend to regard My Travel's standards as pretty low, in comparison to the major American cruise lines. However, the people that really matter, the passengers, usually regard them as very good, if not excellent! Of course the critics would respond by saying that as many of My Travel's passengers are virgin cruisers, so they do not know any better! In support of this hypothesis, it does appear that seasoned cruise passengers are rarely as impressed with the product as the first-timers are.

So is a 'My Travel' cruise for you? If you are an experience cruiser or expect the highest standards of pampering and luxury, you should definitely choose another cruise line. They will only be too happy to charge you accordingly. If you are British, a first-timer and/or your main criterion is value for money, you are unlikely to be disappointed with My Travel and Seawing.

(Note: Seawing is currently being operated by Royal Olympic Cruises, on behalf of My Travel).