4 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

Yes, my OBC was paid in cash (US$), in my case it was only $400 though.

Thanks, good to know 👍.

8 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

 

I dont see why not, I bought a load on my cruise 3 weeks ago as it's a fantastic exchage rate, we just took it out as cash on the last day.
I

Thanks ziggy.  As UK cruisers would be buying US$ OBC, would any unused credit also be given as a US $ cash refund?

54 minutes ago, Ausbrit said:

If a company goes under, no one gets anything.

 

 

Insolvency protection required for UK CAA.    From MSC UK :-

https://www.msccruises.co.uk/pre-contractual-information

MSC has taken out an appropriate insolvency protection in compliance with the bonding requirements of the Civil Aviation Authority that passengers may contact directly. In case that services are denied because of organizer’s insolvency, the competent authority can be contacted.

41 minutes ago, niko40 said:

https://www.msccruises.co.uk/news

Thanks Niko, that link led to more links.  I used this one https://www.msccruises.co.uk/news/itinerary-change-covid-19

It looks like info for cruises that MSC cancel, I didn't find any info for UK guests who decide to cancel.  I'll wait for the travel agent or government intervention 🙂.

1 hour ago, niko40 said:

This is their latest update

 

This is MSC Uk

 

For the cruises we are forced to cancel we will offer guests a voucher equal to the value of the cancelled cruise, to be used for any future sailing departing before the end of 2021, plus on-board credit of €100 per cabin for cancelled cruises up to 6 nights, and €200 for cruises of 7 nights or longer

Can you provide a link to this on the UK site Niko?  I can only find your info on the .com site. 

So far I've only been able to find this on MSC UK.  Thanks.

3 hours ago, Pduaime said:

We are taking a 7 hour Veragua Rainforest & Tortuguero Canals tour in Puerto Limon in February.  I thought at one time I had read to wear long pants, I assume to protect against bug bites, but now I see the tour description just says comfortable clothes and shoes.   I expect it to be hot and humid, so I'd rather wear shorts.  I'll have insect repellent.   Does anyone have personal experience with this type of tour?  Were the bugs awful?  

We did the Tortugero Canals excursion (nearly twenty years ago).  I think we wore shorts and T-shirts.  It was a really nice trip, and no bugs or bites, even without repellent.

3 hours ago, pete14 said:

I have a vague memory of being told that the £100 cancellation fee can be waived once on a booking but any more than once, the fee was payable. The replacement cruise must be of equal or greater price

Good memory 🙂.  Currently on P&O website:-

Q. Can I transfer my booking?

I've read that with Select fares the fees may be waived, if transferring to a more expensive cruise.

LIke Hols4 we got a taxi from the cruise port to Piazze de Ferrari as a starting point, beautiful architecture and fountain.  We then walked to San Lorenzo cathedral and the nearby Christopher Columbus house and after a wander we made our way back to the ship via the seafront.  It was a longish walk back, but very pleasant and doable if you're average fitness.  There's also a metro, but we didn't use it.

April 2018 we stayed for two days pre-cruise and loved it.  This time we visited one of the palaces in the city centre, Palazzo Reale.  I hope this doesn't sound morbid, but one of the lasting memories for us was the Staglieno Cemetary (local bus ride from outside the train station about 10 mins. walk from the port.  An amazing place with very elaborate monuments on almost every grave, we spent most of a morning there and still didn't see all of it.

Bocadasse is a local bus ride away, but I haven't been before.  Portofino is also a taxi tour away.  It's definately worth doing a bit of research on Genoa, some lovely places to see.  Have a great time.

This happened to us after an overnight in Venice on Oceana.  On departure morning there was heavy rain in Venice and our luggage must have been outside at Marco Polo airport by then.  There was no permanent damage other than a paperback book, but since then we try to remember to protect the case with something waterproof.

Passion fruit sorbet.....nom nom nom nom nom.  I've enjoyed a few of those starters and mains.  I prefer food that I wouldn't usually cook at home when I'm on a cruise.  On our last cruise with NCL they were trying out new menus with nearly all the special (ie more expensive) items removed.  I hope it was temporary, I really missed the old menus. 

I found that most lines I've cruised with aren't so different from P&O in the main restaurant.  What would your perfect four course gala dinner be Vampiress?

23 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Is that booked from the ship or when you get off?

We were in Athens with NCL a few years ago.  The HOHO buses were just outside the cruise terminal, no need to pre-book. 

A few yards away on the main road was the X80 bus stop.  This bus runs during cruise season, since it was a repeat visit to Athens we used it that day and would use it again.  Syntagma Square was the end of the line, so no worries about missing our stop.  I've pasted some info from a current Google page:

Getting from the Piraeus Cruise Ship Terminal to Central Athens

Cruise ships dock at the far southern end of Piraeus port, a 20-minute walk around the harbor from the metro station. If your cruise line does not offer shuttle bus service to central Athens, take a taxi, pre-booked car service, or the Χ80 Piraeus-Akropolis-Syntagma Express bus that connects Piraeus cruise terminals with Athens city center. Bus stops are located at the cruise terminal gates directly outside of gates E12 and E11; from there, the express bus route stops at the Piraeus Archaeological Museum, the Acropolis, and Syntagma Square.

• The X80 takes 30 minutes to get from the cruise terminals to central Athens.
• For this bus, you need a €4.50 24-hour transit ticket.
• During cruise season, buses run every 35 minutes from 7am to 9:30pm.
• Tickets can be purchased on board the bus (exact fare only) or at any public transport ticket kiosk.

Hi, I haven't used the shuttle, but I was looking for the same information and came across this youtube video from April/May 2019.  At about 2 minutes in the shuttle journey is covered.  Not sure of the exact location or if things have changed since then, but it seems to be 5 minutes from the city centre (one of the river cruise docks?).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvoxdzmSB6w

I haven't cruised in these cabins, but a google search brings up this review for A47 -

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=518882

Large Inside Stateroom with Shower

Cabin OA A47

fabulous - no complaints!

Sorry to hear you're not getting answers from MSC.  I'll soon be taking my second cruise with MSC for a family gathering, and again the admin problems have started.  I hope my family choose another line if we cruise together again, it was an unpleasant start to our last cruise. 

The information below from a google search is from the MSC Canada website.  I suspect that this might apply to other countries as I had also heard of the one time rule.  I hope you find the answer to your questions soon.

Conversion will be executed by MSC Cruises based on objective criteria and may only be done once per guest.
If a guest has loyalty cards with multiple companies, he/she will have to choose which one card to use to take part in the promotion.

Please allow 7-10 business days for your status match requested to be completed.

If your current loyalty membership is not listed below or you are having difficulties submitting a Status Match form, kindly email us at reservations@msccruises.ca.

Thanks for your review, we're doing this on Dawn October 2020, with Split in place of Dubrovnik.  We still have very fond memories of our back to back Eastern Med and Greek Isles cruise on NCL Jade in 2016, just magical.  We were back in Venice and Dubrovnik again this year and were really taken back by the increase in tourist numbers since then. 

The Alaskan trip sound wonderful, another bucket list one for us - insurance permitting.

We sometimes ask for 'PG Tips', happily provided by the waiters and usually available.  The tea count is probably a bit higher than the amount of tea bags used, I usually bring my own tea bags and also my family.

33 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

Help

 

What are you doing it on. On my Samsung tablet  I don't  get the search area on the right I  just get

 

 

Sorry, not a tablet.  I was using a Windows 10 laptop.  Hopefully someone will have a tablet solution.

If you are on the P&O forum, go the the search area.  The selection will default to 'everywhere', change this to 'this forum'.  Hope this helps, it's the system I use.

In the past, Insureandgo have allowed us to pay for an annual policy but defer the start date.  It meant we had no cover until the start date kicked in, but we were happy with that risk.  With pre-existing conditions it worked well for us, medical cover abroad was our priority.

On ‎5‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 9:18 AM, funinhounslow said:

 

It will also be a shame to miss out on the boat trip, but as I am on a cruise I can live with it

 

We did a nutshell excursion with Princess cruises.  Bus Flam to Voss. train Voss to Myrdal, train Myrdal to Flam.  We both loved the bus drive into the Naeroy valley, it was our favourite part of the trip, (although some tours did the excursion in reverse).  Lunch at the Voss hotel was excellent too.  We did the boat excursion last year, but our favourite is still the drive into the valley.  Hope you have a lovely time!

This link has information on Ijmuiden https://www.whatsinport.com/Amsterdam.htm .  According to this, we'll avoid hours in the lock system, and I'm hoping this means we'll be more likely to dock in Amsterdam for our Christmas cruise. I've read on previous threads that high winds often prevent docking in Amsterdam. 

It would have been nice to pop back to the ship during our overnight stay, but maybe we'll have more time in port?  I'm hoping we can work around this without too much disruption. 

Tallin. An easy walk from the ship, and a wonderful place for a self guided walking tour. I have to second Rhodes, Funchal and Venice. Now my brain hurts, they're all wonderful :).

We're using this tour in June https://www.geirangerfjord.no/bus-tour-to-mt-dalsnibba . We're also on the Jade in Gerainger 11am - 5pm. Our tour leaves at 12:00 (meeting time 11:50), other days may be different. We are not the only ship in port, so I don't know if we'll use the SeaWalk or tender, just something else to bear in mind if you book a tour.

What GREAT INFORMATION. Thank you!! (y)(y)

There's just too much to see in one day in Boston. I hope I'm not too ambitious with my plans. Good luck with yours:).