socim

Looking forward to the trip also.

 

We mention the dietary requirements when booking and are told the ship will be notified. The restaurant staff do already know when we board. As is usual we book special meals the night before with the manager. This doesn't affect the main comments. On a ship with 3,500 passengers how many would you expect to find these issues relevant? More than a few is my belief. Other cruise lines do better.

We decided to take a short cruise on Britannia to try out P&O for the first time. My partner has to eat a special diet which includes gluten free menus. Most chefs these days are aware of diets that include gluten free and low sugar needs and are skilled in their preparation. It is common to find areas set aside in the self service restaurants for example which have ready prepared snacks for such needs in addition to the kitchens being able to provide for special order main course meals. Whilst the chefs on Britannia can manage the latter they seem totally unable to do this in the pastry department. With the exception of gluten free bread at the dinner table, such attempts that they have made for us on this trip have been totally unedible and should never have left the kitchen. There is no provision for someone wanting a low sugar or gluten free snack on any of the serveries apart from the provision of gluten free corn flakes and gluten free toast at breakfast. This is the worst provision of any of the cruise ships we have so far experienced and should be a cause for concern.

We go to the gym every day. We use the scales to weigh ourselves because the food too tempting 😇

 

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FWIW The Hilton does a nice cruise package for those driving a distance to Soton. You get B&B for the night before departure, secure parking for the cruise duration and a taxi to the ship for embarkation and from the ship back to the hotel on your return. BTW Taxis from the ship to the airport all charge a standard GBP 25.00 I believe ( at least they did last May when we last used them)

 

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Details of the live stream and HD photos of Port, Starboard and Stern of each ship during the 3 ships event on 25th May are here: http://www.cunard.co.uk/cruise-types/anniversary-cruises-2015/liverpool/

The unions have postponed their strike called for 24 hours from 5pm on Monday 25th May so it looks like everything is back to normal. Road traffic chaos will no doubt be mega but Mersey Rail have detailed plans in place to handle the crowds anticipated at the main station. Should be a fantastic day. 🎉🎉🎉🎉

For those with Freesat BBC One North West is on channel 955

We enjoyed reading your exploits on Queen Victoria especially as we were to join for the trip home at Fort Lauderdale. Than you so much. Here's to the next time. In our case that's Friday when we rejoin QV for the Liverpool Salute. ::)

OH and I sailed on Queen Victoria last year having booked a specific CA cabin with balcony about 2 weeks before departure. We were upgraded to deck 6 (6090) which is on the corner of the shoulder and has a larger than normal balcony. Deck 5 CA cabins are level with the top of the lifeboats and so restrict your downward view but your straight out view is clear. See attached photo taken from deck 6.

Don't do the cruise! Stay healthy at home.

If you look at the login page you will see that some web sites are free. Eg: nytimes.com

If you have an Android device with the gmail app pre setup you will find that from time to time you get mail without logging in. If you write mail in the app and send you will find that it does go from the outbox at some time. Very odd, but useful.

We are so glad to be off this ship. There appears to be a rampant gastro intestinal infection or AGE - acute gastroenteritis (as the Captain described it) - throughout the ship. When we boarded in Fort Lauderdale they were serving all passengers in the Lido for 48 hours. After the stop in Nicaragua they reintroduced the process and clamped down more on the use of the alcohol based hand wash. The MDR also changed procedures but they missed out sanitising the menus when passing them out at mealtimes. After a medivac in Vallarta they tried a "Deep Clean" at San Diego but needed to medivac someone again at Victoria so probably tne reason they were trying again in Vancouver. This is not good for the older passengers. We washed our hands frequently, avoided touching things, crossed our fingers and got off more or less in one piece. HAL? Never again 😬

Thank you all. We followed the advice and a simple email to the Mariners Society has produced a result. We are now both 1 star mariners.

We have booked our first cruise on HAL having previously cruised on Princess and Cunard. I have read a post elsewhere on the forum that seems to indicate that these cruises give you Mariner status but HAL does not currently recognise us as such. Is this info correct and if so how do we get it sorted?

Many thanks. That was very informative. Best wishes, Stuart

Hi,

 

Can anyone give me a link to info that describes the differences between these Stateroom classifications on MS Zuiderdam? Or can anyone give a simple breakdown of the key differences?

 

I've tried to find the answer in the forums etc. but failed.

 

Thanks,

 

Stuart