We were delighted that Hebrides Cruises owner, Rob Barlow, was awarded the 2024 Scottish National Investment Bank Award for Outstanding Business Leader, at the Prosper Award Ceremony on September 12th.
The Award Ceremony took place in the Drumossie Hotel, Inverness with impressionist and comedian Rory Bremner as host. Almost 300 finalists and local businesses gathered to celebrate the outstanding business achievements in the Highlands and Islands and congratulate the winners of ten awards being presented. With a record number of nominations, the judging panel had a difficult job .choosing winners from many inspirational examples of business excellence.
Rob was declared winner of the outstanding business leader award due to his passion in running a sustainable cruise business, helped by training and retaining the best qualified crews which in turn provides an exceptional experience for our guests and a significant contribution to the local economy.
We would like to congratulate all the winners and finalists who together painted a picture of encouraging and impressive business excellence in the Highlands and Islands
And thankyou to our amazing crews, shore team, lovely guests, excellent suppliers and everyone who plays a part in making Hebrides Cruises such a success.
We know nothing of Scotland. It’s time for us to see why people like this area of the world so much. We book a tour found on the internet. The dates are right. We travel to Oban and find the pre-trip information sent to us invaluable. We wait at the dock for the crew to meet us and take our soft-sided luggage to our cabin. The other guests are prompt and the crew is timely too. We marvel at the amazing cameras and the experiences of other passengers. Two have traveled with the ship multiple times. We are focused on where we are and the journey ahead of us. Our luggage is delivered to our ensuite cabin. There is plenty of space to store our gear and thoughtfully placed shelves for items, such as cameras and binoculars we might need without digging through our bags. The double bed has a portal window and well placed reading lamps. Our cabin and the public areas were impeccably cleaned each morning while we are off to shore with naturalist, Alexa. There is a library selection of literature and guide books to help identify what we saw on walks. I noticed a scrabble game, which we never found time to play. The chef, Mags, works in a tiny galley and turns out the most amazing meals. Giving people a choice between vegetarian and non vegetarian entrees, wine is included with the dinners. A breakfast buffet is laid out and there is always a hot breakfast available. There are 8 of us on this voyage. We all eat together and take excursions in the morning and afternoon. Craig is calm and also assists the chef and helps Chris, the Captain, anchor the boat when we stop for the night. Weather and sea conditions are the great unknown in the Hebrides. The deciding factor to where we will go. Chris lets us know the itinerary will be flexible. He picks amazing calm spots to anchor each night. He is very good at communicating why we are going or not going to an island and invites us up to see the bridge. We travel to amazing sites, such as the island Inch Kenneth and Ulva, and learn the history of eac
Greg and Bobbie Hobbs: 27 April 2019Idyllic Islands: Mull, Iona, Staffa & the Treshnish Isles