Hebridean International Cruises welcomes back Mike Deegan as Managing Director

April 2008

Joining next month, Hebridean International Cruises is delighted to announce the appointment of Mike Deegan as Managing Director, returning to a post he vacated two and a half years ago. Born in Manchester, Mike has been involved with the shipping industry, both afloat and ashore, for over 25 years.

He spent the early part of his career as a Purser on cargo ships before specialising in passenger shipping as a Senior Purser. After spending two years working for the Omani Royal Court in the Middle East, Mike initially joined Hebridean as Chief Purser of (the then newly launched) Hebridean Spirit and then moved ashore as Operations Director in 2002.  Mike was promoted to Managing Director in 2004.

Speaking on his appointment Mike said, "I am delighted to be returning to Hebridean.  At a time when the industry generally seems to be introducing bigger and bigger ships, we are proud to continue to operate the finest small cruise ships afloat where attention to detail is paramount, where unobtrusive service is the norm and where we can offer the finest privately escorted tours to some amazing and rarely visited places".

Speaking of their loyal repeat guests, Mike added "I look forward very much to renewing my acquaintance with regular guests of Hebridean and to leading the best team I have ever been privileged to work with, both afloat and ashore.”

Hebridean International Cruises has been setting the benchmark for luxury cruising since 1989.  Featuring some of the finest journeys around the Mediterranean, Caribbean, South Africa, Indian Ocean and Western Island of Scotland on one of two small, five star luxury cruise ships – Hebridean Spirit and Hebridean Princess – guests enjoy the highest standards of luxury cruise ship accommodation on an all-inclusive basis, together with a level of service from an almost forgotten era.

The Inflite Terminal
Stansted

Hebridean is delighted to announce that for the first time and from 21st April this year, guests joining Hebridean Spirit  and our private flight will depart from the relaxing, luxurious and intimate surroundings of the new private Inflite Terminal at Stansted.

No other cruise line is able to offer this service, which affords our guests a seamless check-in without queues and crowds.

The Inflite terminal is quite separate from the main terminal at Stansted, and unless you are arriving by air, there is no need to enter the main area at all in order to board your private Hebridean flight. Transfers will be arranged from your arrival point at Stansted, whether this be by train, by air or the Radisson SAS Hotel.

Guests need only arrive two hours before their flight, and on arrival, your luggage will be taken from you, scanned and loaded onto the plane. You will be able to retain your hand luggage, as usual.

The Inflite terminal has an elegant and contemporary design, which makes no compromise to your comfort, having upholstered easy chairs and spacious surroundings in which to relax. Inflite staff will be on hand to serve complimentary refreshments, and a Hebridean representative will be present prior to your flight, which he will accompany.

When it’s time to board our private flight, the aircraft is only a few steps away.

We look forward to welcoming guests old and new to the superb facilities at Inflite.

A Ship too Classy for Cruising

Daily Telegraph - August 2007

With fireplaces, bagpipes and armchairs, the Hebridean Spirit is like a country hotel - with a new view each day, says Fiona Duncan.

Readers of my Hotel Guru column may have divined that the hotels I appreciate the most are timeless and gentle, still in their prime in terms of service, food and facilities, but mellowed by years of hospitality.

Such places are becoming as rare as a scandal-free episode of The Archers, but they do still exist. I'm in one now. After checking in at reception, I'm ushered to my room, glimpsing on the way an inviting drawing room with a baronial stone fireplace at one end. In my commodious room, there is a wealth of polished wood, two prettily upholstered armchairs, a ticking clock, thick-pile carpet and gracious, floor-length curtains held by tassled tie-backs.

In the Panorama Lounge, furnishings are comforting and conservative, rather like the superb food

There's a large television, a DVD player and, neatly stowed behind a cupboard door, a cleverly designed drop-down ironing board-cum-trouser press, with iron. In the marble-trimmed bathroom, I find a deep bath, warm fluffy towels on the heated rail and piping hot, high-pressure water gushing from sensible taps.

I put away my clothes, books and toiletries with care, everything neatly arranged, partly because it's the sort of room that deserves to stay as smart as I found it, and partly because I am going to be living in it much longer than the average two-night stay in a country hotel. Straight away it becomes my home-from-home, with its own lilting name, Isle of Kerrera.

All the rooms in this hotel - 48 in total - are named after Scottish isles, glens or clans. Twelve of them have balconies but I don't mind in the least that mine doesn't. It still provides a wonderful view from its picture window.

And there lies the magic, the element that sets this hotel far, far apart: it moves, and the scenery - in my case not British but Mediterranean - changes every day.

During my stay my window frames a stream of memorable sights: Stromboli shooting fireworks from its crater into the night sky; Taormina perched dizzily on its ledge to the east, Mount Etna to the west; the exuberant façade of the Duomo in Siracusa, a moving fusion of styles dating back 2,500 years; the enchanting island of Panarea; and Valetta's great natural harbour. Here, as we glide past the forts of St Elmo and Ricasoli, we gather on deck to hear the events of the relief of Malta in 1942 and the great siege of 1565 vividly described by guest speaker Graham Archer, formerly the island's High Commissioner.

Yes, Hebridean Spirit is a ship, but it's as intimate a ship as you will find and one that thinks of itself as a country house hotel, a Scottish one. "Private escorted tours" is the nearest Hebridean comes to admitting it offers cruises (on the Hebridean Princess in Scottish and Norwegian waters, too). It's even a member of Pride of Britain, a consortium of traditional hotels that includes such stalwarts as the Goring in London and the Devonshire Arms in Yorkshire. It was the Hebridean Princess that the Queen chartered for her 80th birthday.

As far as cruising is concerned, Hebridean is royalty; so regal that cruise line is a term it prefers not to entertain. Fair enough, especially as these small and very elegant vessels can sail where other, larger cruise ships have no hope of venturing.

Of course there are differences, apart from the motion and the view, between a stay on the Spirit and a land-based hotel. For a start, in a hotel, however classy, you are not provided with a list of all the guests' names and their places of residence. Socialising among the post-retirement (but game) guests remains optional, but friendships are made and lasting romances have even been recorded. Most people circulate and chat in the welcoming Skye Lounge before dinner in the Argyll Room where there are tables for two as well as larger ones hosted by the captain and officers, at which guests travelling on their own are placed.

No one is neglected on trips ashore, either, especially by Marjorie, the excellent and warm-hearted tour manager, who becomes the friend and companion of many, as does the resident pianist (and bagpipe player) who also lends a hand.

Having unpacked, I wander to the Skye Lounge, filled with comfortable armchairs, for afternoon tea to the strains of the grand piano. While pastimes on board Hebridean Spirit are gentle - Scrabble or jigsaw puzzles in the library, turns around the promenade deck, hair and beauty appointments in the tranquil health spa, an evening film - there's no shortage of fun.

Guests might find themselves Scottish dancing in the moonlight, teaming up for a quiz night (protest cards provided) and (don't ask) frog racing. At gala nights the haggis is piped in to the dining room and properly addressed. As for excursions ashore, there are often surprises in store, such as specially arranged visits to private palazzi.

My final day on board brings just such an unscheduled surprise. "We've added an excursion… who would like to go up Mount Etna?" asks Marjorie. A few hours later, a couple of dozen of us are in bouncing four-wheel-drive vehicles (stiff upper lips all round) on the vertiginous final 40-minute ascent through an ethereal black and white landscape of lava and snow, to the summit of Europe's highest volcano. Cracked open and spewing steam, its sides tinted pale green by sulphur, the volcano's cone resembles, we all agree, nothing so much as a delicious Sicilian pistachio and almond pastry, oozing frothy cream.

As with most hotels offering five-star service and deeply relaxing comforts, a stay on the Hebridean Spirit is far from inexpensive. The price, though, includes everything: private charter flight to the start of the cruise and back to Stansted, and food, drink, entertainment and excursions.

Hebridean operates a strict no tipping policy resulting in a crew who are friendly and helpful but never obsequious, and the staff to guest ratio is almost one to one. Officers are mostly British, with a strong dash of Scots, while the waiters and chambermaids are from Eastern Europe (no change from a British hotel there).

As for the food, it would put many a luxury hotel to shame. Like the ship's conservative interior decoration, the menu sticks to old favourites and traditional dishes, with such stalwarts as eggs Benedict, black pudding and bacon, cock-a-leekie soup, Scottish salmon and baked Alaska all making appearances.

It's true that a holiday with Hebridean is expensive; exclusive even, but that's what transforms a cruise ship into a country house hotel, and one where 70 per cent of the passengers are return visitors. We have been very well looked after, made friends and learned a great deal on a trip that has taken us from Carthage to Sicily. And yet, despite all those exotic sights from my window, it feels as if I never left my own shores.

Essentials

The next Carthage to Sicily cruise aboard the Hebridean Spirit is scheduled for June 2008; specific dates and prices are not yet available. For further information, contact Hebridean International Cruises (01756 704704; www.hebridean.co.uk). A seven-night cruise on the Hebridean Spirit costs from £2,975 per person.

Scottish cruise for Queen's 80th birthday

By Graham Tibbetts and Nicole Martin

Reproduced by kind permission of the Daily Telegraph

The Queen is to celebrate her 80th birthday next year by chartering a ship for a cruise around the Western Isles of Scotland.

She will be accompanied by Prince Philip and other members of her family on board the Hebridean Princess for the week-long trip, her first set cruise since the decommissioning of the Royal Yacht Britannia in 1997.

The voyage will take place in August, four months after her birthday on April 21, and is expected to end with her disembarking at Aberdeen to spend time at Balmoral.

A royal source said last night: "As it is a landmark personal anniversary, the Queen decided to take a cruise as a special holiday.

"When Britannia was up and running it went there every summer round the Western Isles; it's a route the Queen is very familiar with and has a great affinity with. Members of the family will join the cruise as and when they can."

The Queen inspected the vessel, which has 30 bedrooms, a library and clay pigeon shooting facilities, while it was docked at the Pool of London yesterday.

A spokesman for the ship declined to say how much it cost to charter the vessel, which is manned by a crew of 38. However, a tour of the Western Isles would normally cost upwards of £1,500 per person, with the price rising to at least £125,000 to hire the ship.

The source said the costs would be "borne by the Queen from her own private funds".

Buckingham Palace refused to give details of where the Hebridean Princess would sail in the Western Isles "for security reasons".

However, the Queen's itinerary is likely to include the Isle of Lewis and the Isle of Harris.

According to the ship's website, most scheduled one-week cruises start from Oban and visit islands and remote coastal villages that are normally reached only by private yachts. "The common denominator is spectacular scenery, abundant wildlife and remote, peaceful locations," it said.

According to the 2006 Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships, the Hebridean Princess has "a warm, totally cosseted, traditional country house ambiance and stately home service".

Catering for a maximum 49 guests, it has none of the trappings found aboard larger ships such as glitzy dining rooms and bingo.

A palace spokesman said: "We are simply confirming that the Queen will be taking a special holiday to celebrate her birthday but the details are a private matter."

Guest Speakers added at lunch event

In the same way that we are always researching new destinations, so we are also on the look out for new, interesting guest speakers to add that extra special something to each cruise. In October we held an introductory luncheon event for fifty guest speakers at The Chamber of Shipping’s Carthusian Suite.

The high calibre of our guest speakers is well known, with famous names from the worlds of sport and television alongside academics, scholars, writers and scientists.  With a gathering of such interesting, erudite and amusing individuals, the luncheon was lively, entertaining and memorable.

A number of current favourite speakers mixed with new faces passing on their own personal thoughts and experiences of cruising and speaking onboard Hebridean Spirit and Hebridean Princess. This was a chance for people to get to know what makes Hebridean so special, to learn about the ships and to understand the expectations of our guests.

Guest speakers play such an important part on each cruise itinerary, so they are selected not only for their knowledge of the specific destinations but also for their capacity to bring history and culture alive and to entertain with anecdotes from their particular fields of expertise.

Whilst no dates have been set as yet we were very pleased to welcome former Downing Street Press Secretary; Sir Bernard Ingham, Controller of Radio Three and director of the Proms Mr Nicholas Kenyon CBE, the voice of British motor racing Mr Murray Walker OBE and art historian and NADFAS lecturer Mrs Fenella Billington among many more. We very much look forward to welcoming them all on board.