ann141

We are visiting Fusini( for Venice) on a cruise in October and wondered if there is anywhere you can walk to from the port.We have visited Venice previously and have seen the main sights and done a tour to Murano and Burano so would like a relaxing day if possible without having to take the ferry into Venice

Thank you. I agree with you that I think the Balcony cabins on Fred are overpriced compared with companies like Saga. We have chosen a Terrace cabin(We have had one before) because I like to open the door to have some fresh air.I wouldn't want a Balcony with Fred because smoking is allowed on the Balconies which is a real put off.I prefer the 2 Saga ships I have been on to Bolette and Borealis but it is the itinerary that has swayed us in this case helped by the fact that we have been able to get a very good deal

Thank You

I phoned Fred again this morning and although Terrace cabins aren't included in the offer, I was able to book a terrace cabin at a very much reduced price which I was happy to take. It doesn't concern me that others who may have booked an inside cabin will have paid thousands less than me. I have paid a price that I think is reasonable for an itinerary that I really want to do

We have booked this morning. It's because we have ended up paying a lot more than others on previous cruises that we wanted to wait until the cabins were what we consider a more reasonable price. Hopefully Fred will notice that people are holding back on booking so give more of an incentive to book early.I also hope that upgrades will be offered first to those who have paid more.

We got the email too. Good offer but it only applies to Saver fare and certain cabin grades. It doesn't include Terrace or Balcony cabins

Yes, I think we will plan on booking a morning excursion in New Orleans. We haven't really started looking at excursions yet but are disappointed that some have already sold out so it is on our to do list! Let us know if you change to Feb 2024 and may see you onboard Ann

Thank you.We has been thinking of booking an inside cabin on the Fred Balkans cruise but, like you, we tend to book for the itinerary so went on a 10 night cruise with NCL round Ireland in May. The itinerary was great but after having an inside cabin on that cruise we decided we wouldn't want an inside cabin on a very long cruise. Fred and NCL are very different and Fred has far more places to find a quiet spot but with covid still about and the recent norovirus on Balmoral it has really made us decide not to book an inside. Saying that we had an inside cabin for 26 nights on Aurora doing a similar itinerary to the cruise you have booked and it was fine.I hope you enjoy the cruise. We have a 35 night cruise on Ventura booked for next February to explore the Caribbean and USA but as I would rather not fly our choices are limited. Ann

Thank you. We are both members of U3A and another organisation so we do get the 5%discount which helps.Im not sure why the terrace cabins for the particular cruise we want are priced so highly as I think there are 7 left.As much as we like the itinerary we can't bring ourselves to pay such a high price when there is a Saga cruise which we are also considering with not quite as good itinerary but which is cheaper than Fred and comes with a balcony, free drinks,tips, excursions etc on a newer ship! Will continue to watch and wait and decide whether itinerary takes preference over ship and we are prepared to have an outside cabin. Normally itinerary would win and we would be happy with an inside or outside cabin on a shorter cruise but not so sure about 26 nights

I presume you are more likely to get phoned with the offer of a paid for upgrade if you have booked freedom rather than a saver fare but do they phone people on saver fares as well? Considering booking an outside cabin on a cruise and the price difference between freedom and saver fare is £300 but really want the chance to pay for an upgrade to a terrace cabin

I think he is ok as I have seen him post elsewhere, just not on C C

I've had a few health problems over the past year, but nothing that has stopped me cruising!. My mum passed away last October but she was 92 and managed to stay living independently until the end which was a blessing.We are looking forward to our next cruise with Princess to Iceland and Greenland in August. We also are watching the price of the 26 night cruise with Fred to the Adriatic in September so may book that. Take care

Hope all goes well on 19 th

In st Martaan you can walk to the local beach though a lot of people take a local boat across

My husband and I have no problems with mobility but appreciate the fact that some excursions are included.There are always other excursions to choose from or usually the option of exploring independently. Perhaps we have been lucky in that most of the included tours that we have chosen have included stops. However we always prefer to explore independently in cities as I hate being stuck in queues of traffic.One bad experience of an excursion doesn't mean they are all going to be similar - otherwise I would have given up after the included tour in Barcelona!

Some included excursions are better than others.The excursion from Sete in France was good and we had half an hour free time at Marseillan as well as a short stop in Sete. Others like Barcelona did just mean sitting on a coach On the Northern lights included excursion the tour to the North Cape was particularly good and we had quite a lot of free time so they do vary

I agree with many of the others who have posted that P and O and Princess are fairly similar. We prefer the food on Princess and particularly like Alfredo's an Italian restaurant which is free and the fact that Mr Whippy ice cream is free! As we are Elite on Princess( mainly due to our cruises on P and O we really appreciate the extras like a free mini bar, free laundry etc. We usually book the standard package as hubby doesn't drink and only like the occasional one. The excursions on Princess tend to be dearer than P and O as is the shuttle bus. Overall we prefer Princess but still like P and O and would always choose which itinerary we preferred

We are going on a 16 night cruise this August on Island Princess to Iceland and Greenland

I wonder if free drinks and or obc will be offered. There is a cruise I am watching but will only book if they do an offer like previously where a terrace cabin was offered at the price of a superior outside. Fingers crossed

Have you considered Princess cruises. We are sailing on Island Princess (a similar size to Arcadia) this August to Iceland and Greenland at about half the price for a balcony cabin that you have quoted

There was line dancing on Bolette in January 2023

We have done 2 cruises on Britannia round the Caribbean and loved them both .We find the cruise very relaxing as islands are fairly close to each other and you can usually just wander off by yourself at each port.You may need a taxi to go to a nice beach but there are lots of minibus taxis waiting to take you to the beach or for a tour of the island. We love the wildlife and the scenery and the weather is usually great- warm but not too humid.

We are on the 35 night cruise in February 2024 and it is still showing Key West as a port of call. I can now understand why P and O won't want to cancel it at the moment but could they perhaps have talks with the port authorities in Key West and at least have an idea of a possible substitute port. It seems unfair to keep advertising Key West as a port of call when it's highly likely that it will be cancelled at the last minute

Yes. We had 3 formal nights on our 14 night cruise

We also have travel insurance with HSBC and have downloaded a letter from the HSBC website ( once we have logged in)The letter includes names and says the policy covers covid and cruises.Enjoy your cruise