ann141

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

As a matter of interest, what is included in Fred's price that is not in the Saga price ?

Given that the Saga  price includes a balcony,  premium drinks, tips, speciality dining, excursions and entertainment,  I'm struggling  to  think about what else Fred could offer.

We recently went on a short cruise with Fred which had a free drinks offer and sometimes they offer OBC. Fred wouldn't be our first choice because we prefer newer ships but we tend to choose based on the itinerary and Fred has some places that we haven't previously visited.We have Saga cruises booked for October and February but would consider Fred if the prices drop

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

The ship has been pulled out of service due to insufficient demand - and yet so many posters on here are adamant that P&O are ignoring those who dislike large ships. Yet Fred cannot fill a small ship .

I think it is the price and lack of balconies. There are a couple of Fred cruises we are interested in but the price is more than we want to pay. Recently Fred has been significantly reducing the price before sailings which means that people are put off booking early. Fred's price for a balcony is similar to sagas( also small ships) but with a lot more included in the price.I think if Fred brings back the 3 for 2 offer or includes drinks and tips, more people may book

33 minutes ago, lincslady said:

That dress  is certainly very similar!

 

I was being serious about climbing Welsh mountains - surely some of you have done this - maybe not for a few years?  I would like to hear about it, even if perhaps no one else would.

My hubby was in the climbing club at Cardiff University so climbed a lot of Welsh mountains whilst there. He then met me ( I enjoy walking but nothing too strenuous) and the only thing he has climbed since is the climbing wall on Indepence of the seas!

7 hours ago, Josy1953 said:

I was the older sister so didn't  get hand me downs but I remember one occasion when my mum thought that we would look nice if she bought 3 identical dresses for us, all 3 of us hated those dresses and still say that it was a kind of child abuse to dress us alike.

I was a twin and if we were dressed alike it meant it wasn't a hand me down! I used to love  visiting our older cousins and getting a bag of their clothes as they seemed so grown up and fashionable. I can remember envying their school uniform which was grey, maroon and blue. Our was all grey and very boring

20 hours ago, AnnieC said:

Hate to say this, but think I was born in the same year as you and cannot do anything useful either. Neither could my mother (born in 1923), or my brothers (born in 1950 and 1954). 

 

In addition, so allergic are we to ironing that my rescue dog, which I have owned for 18 months, nearly had a nervous breakdown when I reluctantly dragged out the ironing board last Tuesday. He'd clearly never seen one before...

I have to admit too to being useless when it comes to sewing/mending etc (and rarely iron - if it needs ironing I don't buy it!)We were given the opportunity to study German rather than Needlework at the age of 12 and I jumped at the chance to give it up. My late mother in law was a domestic science teacher and probably despaired of my lack of practical abilities 

17 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Recommend The Swan at Lavenham, Suffolk. Great evening service even in covid.  Also Stratton House, Bude and Carlyon Bay Hotel, St Austell.

 

I tend to use boutique type hotels when travelling alone and have found it quite common practice.  Street Barton House in Strete was the one who left the local sweets. 

 

Next week I'm staying in The Jockey Club rooms for two nights.  Obviously slightly different as it's a club, but turndown is always offered if required.  Mind you I'm slumming it in a Premier Inn near Audley End for the following two nights.

 

Prior to lockdown quite a few of the central London hotels we use offered it too. We are booked in The Reubens at ThecPalace in September and they send a requirements list on booking.  We have requested turndown.  

 

I must confess to actively seeking hotels who offer these services - I also love shoeshine as well!

The hotels you describe sound wonderful though we actually prefer staying at a Premier Inn ( usually clean and a reasonable size room)to staying at an average hotel where rooms may differ. Isn't slumming it and Audley End an oxymoron!!

3 hours ago, paulatsea said:

Are they required to be tested ? Do you know ?

 

I think I’ll ask saga - if the expectation is that they are tested I would ask for another car if they said they had not been tested - and see what happens.

They are required to test. Apparently some people are asking their driver if he has tested and if not having a test available to give him before getting in the car

4 hours ago, Billish said:

Out of interest, what do you find to do in Gib ? 

Been three times,  and next time we will stay on board, unless you have any recommendations. 

On our recent cruise we went on a Dolphin cruise which was wonderful as we saw lots of dolphins swimming right by the boat.Also for something different to do we once took a bus to the other side of the rock and had a short walk by the sea.

1 hour ago, Ilovemygarden said:

Wowzz has been noticeably absent for a few weeks now.   Any theories? Hope he is ok. 

I have seen him post on another site so perhaps he is on holiday, planned or enforced?!

6 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

It's the long ones going in September 2022.

Thank you. Already going on holiday in September but hope I get any future discount emails!

1 hour ago, Yorkypete said:

I wonder why Iona cannot go to Gerainger. I know Moley said it is due to the berthing not being possible but is this correct? Other vessels are managing it yet P&O will not give a reason. As they are now offering (in an e-mail today) 25% off certain cruises on Aurora and Arcadia plus extra OBC. Could it be they are in financial trouble? Come on P&O, try not to be a Boris and  not tell us or lie to us.

Is that cruises in 2022 or 2023 on Aurora and Arcadia? Just wondering as I may be interested 

4 hours ago, LandC said:

Is that the Bolette cruise sailing from Southampton? It’s an interesting itinerary.  The prices seem rather high at the moment (especially for suites!).  However if I have read it correctly there is an OBS offer of £250 pp.
 

We now decide on a cost pppn that we are happy to pay for our chosen cabin grade, and take it from there.  Hope that helps!

 

Yes it is the Balkans on bolette. Even with the £250obc and a further 5% discount it is expensive but if they throw in the drinks package within the next 30 days we may book it 

On 7/23/2022 at 11:46 AM, LandC said:

We received a mail shot from Fred today, offering us an extra 5% off, in addition to our Oceans discount, if we book another cruise.  Apparently this is being offered because we sailed with Fred earlier this month, and is only available for 30 days.

 

We won’t be taking up the offer.

We received the same letter offering 5%because we had cruised earlier this year.We want to book the Balkan cruise next September but not sure whether to book it now or wait until nearer the time when the price drops but running the risk of it selling out

7 hours ago, rojojacko said:

Thanks very much for the review. We have today booked a Northern Lights cruise on S of A for next February and weren’t sure what to expect. We are seasoned cruisers but this will be our first with Saga. 
 

Rob

Is it the new cruise sailing on 28 February? If so ,we have booked it too. We sail on our first Saga cruise in October which I am looking forward to.Thank you for your review Best guessed  Interesting to read

23 hours ago, doog442 said:

 

Excellent, we're on the Enchanted this Friday, can't wait.  

We are on enchanted Princess this Friday as well 🙂

45 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I suppose the key question is, did they know they were positive at the time ?

I think one problem at the moment is that often people would sooner not test to see if they have covid as it might spoil their plans etc if they only mild symptoms particularly as you have to pay for tests.Sometimes people genuinely think that because it's usually just like a cold it doesn't matter if others catch it.Unfortunately it seems to be another product of the ,Me, culture  

9 hours ago, nini said:

If the ship leaves on Tuesday, you can test from Saturday to departure day. The Princess website gives an example. 3 days ahead would be Saturday, not Friday.

My understanding and from what others have said after phoning Princess is that the Friday counts as one of the 3 days so anytime Wednesday or Thursday would be ok. We sail from Southampton on a Friday soon and have booked our tests for Wednesday. It is probably best to phone Princess to get a definite answer

On 6/10/2022 at 1:58 AM, Italy52 said:

Thanks everyone for letting me know about the upgrade, I appreciate it.  After spending over an hour in waiting time with my TA trying to get a hold of Princess, they quoted me a number that did not agree with their website information.  Just too tired to debate the issue. Maybe another time.

If you want to upgrade from an inside cabin to a balcony the price for the new cabin is based on a the price of a balcony at the time you booked which may be different to the current price of a balcony cabin

3 minutes ago, ccpm said:

Great option that bus is great. I try to do the seal trip every year even as a local now. I have been too breathless so far this year but may try next week now I am better.

It was lovely to see a few seals but we had been warned we may not see many and we only saw 4 or 5 whereas I understand that sometimes there are hundreds!

1 minute ago, ccpm said:

Sheringham is lovely and I am glad you are enjoying your holiday. When visiting Holt be prepared for the great difficulty in parking some days its just about OK but mostly it is rammed. I live right in the centre of old Holt and another tip is nowhere in Holt is pedestrianised but people wander about all over the roads without looking it can be very bad for your nerves when driving. Having said that it is a beautiful small town and well worth visiting.

Thank you. We will be coming on the bus to Holt.Yesterday we went on a boat trip from Blakeney to see the seals and today we plan to visit Sheringham Park. It really is a lovely part of the world.

4 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Glad we're not the only ones still garaging our cars - seems almost freaky now. Cars are rarely garaged, but given the size of modern cars that's hardly surprising.  Today's Polo is about the size of yesterday's Golf. 

 

Trouble is, no cars on the drive suggests nobody's at home to burglars!

We too put our car in the garage each night and my husband will only buy a car if it's going to fit.The trouble with that is that everytime we want to go out my husband has to open the garage and remove his 2 bikes before he can drive out and then has to return his bikes to the garage before setting off. It's not surprising that we travel most places by foot, bus or train!

3 hours ago, ccpm said:

Lovely day here in Holt and I can breathe again so looking up all round. 

 

We are on holiday in Sheringham at the moment and hope to visit Holt during our stay. Lovely part of the UK which we haven't previously explored

The cruise on 15 th July has been chartered by imagine cruising so it's only available to purchase through them . I presume the bargain price showing on Princess must have been a temporary error

5 hours ago, joeecco said:

Hi all

 

can anyone advise if you are allowed to downgrade your cabin to lower the cost of the cruise? 
 

if so, do they do this based on the current live prices or based on what the new cabin price would have been when you booked originally? 
 

is there a way to do this online? 
thank you 

I think you would need to phone Princess to ask this and like upgrades it would probably depend on the price of the new cabin at the time of booking the present cruise.

We did this cruise in 2019.I think to get a feel of Belfast you need to get a HOHO bus from the centre as it takes you to various areas including the troubles

.Dublin I think you can get a feel of the place by walking around the centre.