boxman52

Living nearby Conwy is both a nicer castle and town than Caernafon

I know this is almost an impossible question to answer because who knows the weather We are on the Encore Trans Atlantic Southampton to Miami We are thinking of the Vibe but we know the weather is going to be iffy for at least 6 of the 12 days. Does anyone have experience of if the bar in the Vibe is still open and covered enough even if the weather is bad to make the pass worthwhile for those first 6 days?

It's interesting to see how Virgin Voyages as a new cruise line handled the status question. They matched status but also have an accelerated reward scheme of the their own. After sailing twice in 23 we now have an extremely generous set of benefits. Of course this was a key factor in us sailing again at least once next year. It's also a brilliant experience! I suspect soon once they have built up their own loyalty scheme the status matching might be dropped as more people benefit from the VV scheme. Amazara could have done something similar and restructured their loyalty scheme as part of a relaunch under new ownership. On the bigger picture all travel companies are IT businesses with a bolt on service offer - airline, cruise, hotel etc. If the IT isn't working simply the business isn't I enjoy Azamara but I do think their offer is dated & stale and they can't grow the business without evolving their offer to new customers. The ships are great but getting too old and I fear in a crowded market they lack a compelling competitive offer for growth. They need to define what they need and want to be.

Istanbul is one of the finest cities in the world to visit Turkey as a whole has some superb places Food is brilliant (and bar scene), people are very friendly and transport easy and modern. There are an endless number of very reasonable priced tours you can book on a number of well known sites and reviews can be checked. Istanbul has some of the world's most iconic sites. Thought for balance this would be useful to post

We've been recently on multiple Azamara,Virgin and Viking cruises. Two of these are on Gary's top list and Azamara is in the bottom category. I think I'm in a good position to compare Firstly VV is a totally different product. It's a worthy top of the list for sure. Viking is more comparable with Azamara and I do think it's a few rungs higher. However because I look for deals Azamara offers better value for money. I'd say the gap between the three doesn't justify his placing. However I do think Azamara could learn from both to modernise their offer. As an example of Azamara speciality dining was half as good as VV included it would be a major step up for them.

Playing virtual Cruise CEO game for a bit! It would be interesting to see what they go for. Can't see a new version of what they currently have paying To make it pay it might well be larger and have more upcharge venues It could have children facilities to attract more families None of that would be popular The alternative is to charge more and go towards Viking. My experience is that if I wanted Viking I'll go on them as they do it very well. Or Azamara position the ship at Seven Seas market - is that viable? I'd like a more modern version of what they have now of course with a better entertainment venues and a more modern approach to the specialist restaurants that are now dated

Interesting to compare my Azamara experience (pre booking) with the two I've got planned with Virgin and NCL. We had to cancel with Virgin one of our party. Called them answered immediately processed the change and refunded instantly. I understand onboard it relies on the app and it's performance isn't great, but we'll see. NCL absolutely perfect so far. App works well pre cruise and when I wanted something different used the online chat. Answered with no wait, answered query and sent confirmation instantly. Azamara has to get to these levels to be recommended to friends.

We have B2B out of Barcelona on the Vaillant Lady. Does anyone know if we can bring the bottles of wine on for the second week when we fist board, so 4 bottles in total? Having been to Barcelona many times we were planning on staying onboard on the turnaround day.

Ha ha. Now I know you are just a troll The idea that you have seen many times something I've never ever seen and I travel for a living, so I eat in many restaurants, is farcical Fair play you are funny

Can't believe I'm replying to this but here goes. Every single professional kitchen will know what the correct template is to serve food. Regardless of the food type. It is absolutely nothing at all to do with customer preference. People who work in kitchens will know if food goes out below a certain temperature it will not be well received This is why kitchens have a "pass" and that is where you will find the head chef or section head monitoring the food before it goes out. They also work on the timings so the food isn't left standing as it goes guess what cold I can only think you have some sort of financial interest in Royal or the cruise industry in general so illogical is your thinking

You are talking about preferences. Food temperature can be measured with a simple thermometer. Every chef and kitchen will know the correct temperature to serve food. It's really really simple. On to preferences if food is too hot for a customers preference then they wait a very short period of time and it cools down If it's too cold then unless they have a mini microwave next to them what can they do? This is why you never get good sent back for being too hot but you do for too cold I'm genuinely at a loss as to the logic behind your post.

It's not comfortable for lots of British people to complain, not all but lots of people like my wife would rather suffer and say nothing than make a complaint. I'm not sure it's up to guests to be Royals quality control system. They should be able to serve food hot it's kind of the ABC of running a kitchen As for the vloggers I can well understand that. Although these days people don't care, they have their music playing loud at the pool, videos for the kids blurring out at dinner or facetime calls at breakfast. It seems more and more people are have little regard or courtesy. Sorry for the off topic rant!

It's not subjective if food is hot or cold. It's either one or the other. If it's too hot for your taste wait a minute and it will cool down. But really no-one ever says please send my dish back it's too hot! As for Ben & David they don't give negative reviews and I'd say they are honest Also if a sauce has separated it's not subjective nor is a bland dish. Being realistic this new menu has been introduced so they can cut down staffing levels in the food & beverage department. Staff morale, being overworked and other cuts will be behind the poor food If people want to pay more for less, or defend private company profiteering it's up to them. Others can give poor reviews and make other choices for vacations. I hope Royal pays attention and understands that a brand takes a long time to build but is quickly ruined

Egypt is a world-class destination although not without its challenges A Nile cruise is fine but you really need a land tour to fully appreciate it Cairo with a private guide is incredible but I'd wait until the new Egyptian museum was open. Luxor area staying by the Nile is excellent. You can take a boat downstream from there Other areas are The White Desert although this needs very careful planning with locals to the area but it's one of the most spectacular places on Earth. And Sanai has Sharm where there are some great hotels and sea life as well the mountain

I like Azamara but I do understand why others would be very disappointed The shoreside service is not great The entertainment for some lacks imagination and very much goes through a tired slightly hackneyed program The restaurants while I really like them, when was the menu last changed? It's a bit dated on the food offer The premium package included wines aren't great The cabins aren't luxury, I mean the shower curtain alone would have some people I know horrified The pool area, I really like, but I can see why others would say it's basic The gym is not luxury Now I'm painting the extreme and I think it's a great value product with a huge number of pluses. But if people don't do their research, like the two vloggers who kept referring to "I wouldn't expect this on a luxury cruise line", I do understand the disappointment