Former BBC newsreader Michael Buerk watches the screen as Andy Harmer, director of CLIA UK and Ireland, announces Dave Monk has made the shortlist for best social media cruise contribution
An article by Metro UK deputy editor Dave Monk on the launch of Carnival Sunshine last year made the shortlist in the cruise industry’s journalism awards last night.
The report on his shipmonk.co.uk blog, titled ‘From beer to Serenity, fun-filled Carnival Sunshine has something for everyone’, reached the final four in the ‘best social media cruise contribution’ category, won by Tara Cain of Sticky Fingers blog for her Royal Caribbean Cruise Review.
There were more than 300 entries for the awards, organised by trade body CLIA UK and Ireland, including many by full-time trade and national press cruise writers. The event, at the May Fair hotel in central London, was hosted by former BBC newsreader Michael Buerk.
Monk, 53, has been with Metro – Britain’s third biggest national daily paper – since its launch in 1999. He also wrote a piece for metro.co.uk on Carnival Sunshine, accompanied by a video shot on board, called ‘A laugh on the ocean wave’, which has been viewed nearly 5,000 times. Carnival nominated him for the award.
Winners on the night included cruise experts Jane Archer and Gary Buchanan, as well as TV presenter John Craven for an article on MailOnline.
Andy Harmer, director of CLIA UK and Ireland, announced that 2013 had been another record year for the British cruise industry, with a 1.5 per cent rise in passengers to 1,726,000. It remains Europe’s No.1 market and is second only to North America.
Next year sees two new ships, P&O Cruises’ Britannia and Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas, go head-to-head in the so-called ‘battle of Southampton’.