Aussieflyer

I have been reading with interest this discussion thread. We have cruised SS a few times and have always enjoyed the experience - we have had few complaints about the service, food or amenities. It seems most businesses (and cruise lines) have made cutbacks over the past few years. My question is - when does this become a deal breaker for you? Is there a 'line in the sand' that once crossed means that SS is off the table and you will look for alternative ship experiences?

I have found on quite a few occasions though that when I select Choose My Own Cabin, there is a message back for numerous decks, ship locations, categories that no cabins are available and Princess will allocate one later. As I like to choose my cabin location I have never accepted this and either hunt for a different deck/location/category or decide not to do that cruise at all. There is also an issue with booking solo fares with some (especially shorter cruises) not allowing solo bookings (supposedly they allocate a certain number for solos only). It is very annoying to go through the whole online booking process and then get an error message at the end. This was confirmed by the Princess planner who rang me about some other bookings.

Booking through 'chat' sounds a bit suspect - of course could be legit. OP suggest you post on the UK board here on CC if you haven't already as people there may have a better idea of what you can do.

and threatened to sue Princess. Litigation seems to be a very popular pastime with some people.

We were there on a grey overcast day and the place was incredibly sad. To see the grave mounds for the clans including the Mackenzies was very sobering and emotional. It is a place I will remember for ever.

And on my father's side Clans Mackenzie and Ross (from Tain north of Inverness). Have done quite a bit of family tracing - even back to one who was apparently a Jacobite in Aberdeen.

don't give up your day job 🤣

That is so disappointing and really poor from SS - a) to not deliver your meal and b) not to put towels in you bathroom.

Interestingly on another board I belong to where there are quite a few medicos, in a discussion on salt they notes that quite a few have low iodine as we don't use salt as much and also Himalayan salt like this (and also the kind I use) isn't iodised.

My mother's side of the family came from Somerset - South Petherton to be exact. We have never managed to get there though. Some came to Victoria with some settling in the western district and other in Gippsland. There is a Vagg Lane in South Petherton but I think the cottage has gone (as there used to be one). Vaggs Road in Yinnar Victoria is where my grandparents lived.

Oh dear Mareblu what a drama but glad that it came good in the end. Certainly an excursion to be remembered (though maybe for the wrong reasons). Glad that the injured passenger is back on board - he will be sore and sorry for a while but was very lucky he didn't hurt himself more seriously, I can imagine all the official vehicles attending. We once had a car accident in Devon when a motorbike rider ran into us at speed on a narrow road (Phil had seen him coming down the hill and had pulled off as far as possible and stopped). We ended up blocking the whole road and had police (including the senior officer of the area who was referred to as Ma'am), ambulance, air ambulance, fire brigade. Luckily we only had bruising and the bike rider did come off ok - how he wasn't killed I have no idea as the speed broke the bike into pieces.

Interested in whether you think the follow up and attention your letter created was in part due to the large number of cruises/cruise days you have with SS (ie would a lesser mortal not receive the same treatment?)

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your cherry blossom cruise. We have never cruised Japan but have visited many times and have always found it a very easy place to navigate. We use a rail pass and I have all the details sorted/printed before we leave home and just go in to JR on the first morning and have all the seat reservations done. We also stay close to the stations in most places so it is easy to get around. Cruising may be an issue with ports that are in the more industrial areas - though a shuttle into the centre of the main towns should help. There are some great websites with tourist information which I always check out before we leave so I know what to see and how to get around. Japan is not a particularly cheap place to visit but we love it - and the exchange rate is pretty good at the moment - would love to go back but we have a bit on our plate at the moment. We are all different - when travelling with DH I wouldn't dare to suggest anything without a balcony. 😁

Great news - hope it sticks and they never go back to the cardboard/plastic ones.

Lots of things going on in the Aussieflyer household - spending 'quality time' in ER with DH over Easter and last weekend but at least now has a referral to a proper cardiologist (sorry Canberra Hospital just doesn't cut it). DD has had surgery to remove a cyst on top of head (second time), had to change flights to SYD as DH won't be well enough for James Taylor (so I will need to to instead) and I have been trawling cruises for DS and I - booked Singapore - Sydney for late next year and a short one in March. Hoping DH is well enough for Norway in early October. I am exhausted with all the work (and that doesn't include my paid work at DOHA)! So bad it was takeaway for dinner tonight.🤣