sleepingcat

There has been recent discussion of the two new and separate requirements on a different board with reference to UK cruisers, however as UK is now no longer in the EU, the requirements apply to us also.  Here is the link, and scroll down to post number 23 for a concise and comprehensive explanation of how cruises will and will not be impacted. 

I found this so useful that Ive downloaded most of it and printed it off.

On 8/17/2024 at 1:54 PM, alfie2000 said:

I am in the UK, retired, widowed so will be a solo traveller. I am thinking of booking a  10 day cruise of Australia and New Zealand going out of and returning to Sydney in January 2026. As it so far I want to combine this with something else to make it a 3 or 4 week trip. Has anyone got any suggestions? I am reasonably fit and mobile.

 

Hi Alfie2000, lucky you planning an Australia and NZ trip. It's sadly already 10 years since we did our trip, but I will describe briefly in case it helps with your planning. 

We flew Birmingham to Christchurch, with a stopover night in Bangkok. flew Emirates. 2 nights apartment in Christchurch then we picked up a camper van and toured the South Island for 3 weeks (didnt prebook anything except the camper and the apartment).  got a car for the Christchurch to Picton leg, then foot passengers on the inter island ferry (so  cheaper and no need to book). overnight in Wellington, then car hire for a week in North Island. dropped the car in Auckland where we had 3 nights in an apartment, then boarded P and O Arcadia for return cruise to the UK. P and O did the flight booking for us and rolled it into the cruise price. Itinerary included Sydney 2 overnights,  Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth. 

a couple of other suggestions in case relevant to you. maybe check world cruise segments in Australia and NZ by UK companies in case that fits for you. Some people have commented that doing NZ out of Sydney is not best idea as you have sea days getting to/from NZ. And honestly if you want to really see NZ you need to be on land not on a ship. 

if we go again, I would do stopover in Singapore for couple of days as its lovely to visit. 

Hope it's useful, whatever you do it will be good. 

2 hours ago, Jaynay said:

Take the shuttle from ship to town - 

 

Wait in the long line to the cable car 😆 (Euros - I think one-way is 12,5 Euros. I think the CC is accepted here, correct?

Walk to Monte Garden - Euros - how many? I think CC is accepted here, correct?

Take the bus/tuk-tuk back down to town - Euros - I think it's 2Euros. Exact cash only, or cash and can make change? Will they take CC or do I have to pre-purchase a bus ticket in town?

We were in Funchal this last January, but did not go up to Monte as there was a deluge of rain just as we got to the CC station. We ve done it a few times on earlier visits. 

Take the shuttle from ship to town - if your ship is by the cruise terminal the walk is easy and nice. cross the road opposite the terminal are some steps which lead direct to a pretty park, nice way to get into the Main Street. if ship is on outer quay its only a little bit further.

cable car wait.  yes, we though this so left the ship early, when we got to the CC there was no one waiting. was a few years ago and would have been January or February. 

return from Monte, I would just get returns on the cable car. the walk down is imho nothing special. whereas the walking out from Monte is lovely. If you like walking have a look at the websites/books which show levada walks (there is one which is walkable from the ship). 

It's easy to have a good time in Funchal, and the people are delightful. 

we are nationwide customers and have used their travel insurance probably for the last 15 years, including two large claims, one for Covid cancellation and one for a medical emergency, and which were excellently handled by UK insurance.

So I am dismayed to read that Aviva is so different. especially since after a couple of years of family crises we havent really been able to travel, I am just about to start looking at long cruises again. We are in our mid seventies so its all a bit discouraging.

thanks to everyone for the information provided so far. 

I havent done the tour you are considering. we often travel in France in our motorhome (RV) so we know the roads and the area fairly well. We've overnighted in La Rochelle.

La Rochelle is a beautiful historic port in its own right with lots to see and very nice French sea food on offer all over the place. So I would nt do the 3 hour coach ride. (scroll down this thread for previous detailed info on La Rochelle).

Also for the wine interest, the centre of Bordeaux isn't really where you want to be, the interesting thing would be the vineyard tours/villages. Which would take a lot more travel. Bon voyage!

Hi Darrel and family, the experience of boarding a ship is so pleasant in comparison to anything you may have experienced at an airport with family along. If you are parking at the port you will be directed to park and as soon as you park, the baggage porters will be ready at the rear of the your vehicle to take whichever bags you want them to move for you.  They are fine with suit carriers also we have found. Then as others have said above, you will next see your bags either in, or parked outside your cabin. 

and btw usually you can take as much luggage as you like, no worries about weight or size.

It's like being back in the past where customers were actually looked after. Have a lovely cruise. 

thanks Tring, and yes Ive see Izzywhizz s photos and really useful list of what to take and not to take.  not sure I can convince DH about this trip though!

I really want to see the northern lights and there is still s pace on Balmoral for the Christmas cruise (no dont all rush, I havent booked yet!).  We ve been on Balmoral several times but always to warm destinations.  DH is not at all convinced that this is a good idea.  And my worry is not about the cold outside (I know it will be), but will the ship, which is not exactly modern, be warm enough.  will our cabin be warm if its -15c outside? 

could others who have been on Balmoral in cold conditions please comment? thanks. or point me to previous topics, I did have a quick search but did not find anything that helped. 

On 7/10/2024 at 9:39 PM, Priya2 said:

We’ve booked a terrace cabin (on Borialis). I know some love these and some hate them.

We have been on Fred several times but not recently (2019 last time) on these newer ships with the terrace cabins. Looking at photos, it looks as though they would be rather dark inside? and how about not being able to sleep with window/door open? I will be really interested in your report back. have a good cruise. 

On 7/8/2024 at 6:16 PM, Lady Meer said:

After putting the credit lock on with Experian, did your credit card still work?

I was also caught in that Capita breach. and used Experian credit lock. Credit lock did affect insurance renewals.  I found subsequently that the automatic renewal of vehicle and house insurance policies did not go through automatically, as apparently an insurance renewal involves a credit check. in both cases the company phoned me and I used debit card to renew  via the phone call so not really a problem though it took me a bit of time to work out why the auto renewals had failed. 

sorry, didnt see your post earlier. Kent's cavern is not walkable from harbour in Torquay, you would need a bus or taxi. 

best fish and chips on the harbour, people keep telling me, is Rockfish. 

happy sailing!

spot on advice from @terrierjohn. we arrived back after a world cruise on Arcadia on 6 April.  Getting off was fairly speedy but the baggage retrieval was chaotic, at least 400 passengers were from Australia and NZ coming to Europe for the summer and had loads of stuff.  We had masses of luggage as we d done a motorhome tour of NZ before boarding in Auckland, and had sent a suitcase with all our evening finery unaccompanied to await us when we boarded. 

So we had prebooked a rental car to get all back to Derbyshire and it took an age to pick the car up because lots of the aforementioned Aus and NZ colleagues were also getting rental vehicles. 

Have a great time, I m really envious, we might even look to join you for the half of the world we havent done yet. best wishes

Some info here which I researched earlier this year, then our port call was changed to Vigo because of rough weather....

https://www.caminosantiagocompostela.com/ferrol-visitor-guide-start-camino-ingles/

I had a look on the relevant website and could not find the answer to your qu, but here is their contact info. Website is available in either French or English. 

We ve been to this museum, as my dad in a British Navy LST landed Canadians at Juno on 6 June, very moving and a beautiful museum. greatly recommend. 

https://www.junobeach.org/practical-information/

Centre Juno Beach
Voie des Français Libres, BP 104 
14470 Courseulles-sur-Mer, France

Tel: (33) (0)2.31.37.32.17
Fax: (33) (0)2.31.37.83.69
Email: contact@junobeach.org

GPS Coordinates:
49°20'11.52"N / 0°27'42.52"W

The hop on hop off buses in Cape Town are well organised and various routes intersect, allowing you to see pretty much everything, so that could take care of the day.

I would advise leave plenty of time to get to the airport and extra for check in etc, we found the airport crowded and slow to get through, only just made our flight. 

Hi Doc, I am so sorry you had this bad experience in Lisbon.  It's one of our favourite port calls (from/ to the UK its often on itineraries) and we ve always had a lovely time and felt pretty safe doing our own thing around the city or using local transport. (as no doubt you did until things went wrong)

Your warning is timely though, and a reminder that no matter how experienced any of us are as travellers, we can always get caught out, so thank you for sharing. 

Lanzarote is a volcanic island, so it's pretty much brown sandy soil and rocks everywhere, apart from where there is cultivation. so driving around to sightsee is not a great idea. that said there are (at least) three really good things to do, depending on your preferences.

the top attraction is the volcanic area, which has active hot outlets (ok not the right word!), and is a national park. we went on an arranged tour, but I think any taxi would take you up there for a pre agreed price. you'd want to be there quite a while. 

we were in Lanzarote on a port day this January. We went to two places, the Cesar Manrique cactus garden (amazing, pretty, interesting, nice cafe and views), a very short drive from the port. Followed by the Cesar Manrique foundation, interesting museum/cultural centre, lots of personal history about the artist and his work. This was about a four hour ship arranged tour, but I felt we were rushed in both places, so doing it yourselves would allow you to spend the time better. 

Apart from that the island has beaches, catamaran trips, the kind of thing you could do on any of the islands. Personally my least favourite of the Canaries, though most cruises have a port call there, so we ve been a few times. 

In case it's your first visit, be aware that the islands are very different from each other, despite being so close. La Palma and La Gomera are our favourites, green, lovely nature , lovely scenery. 

Agree totally and we would nt go on a  cruise ship that didn't have a prom deck.  Sailing from the UK we have plenty of choice as all the Fred Olsen ships, P and O ships and Saga ships have prom decks.  (there will be others, these are the ones I know about).  Fred has fairly recently acquired two ships from HAL and renamed them. 

its years since any of our family were there, but it look like the Hotel Lion d'Or is still the classic place to stay in Bayeux, right in the middle and with lots of charm, but nicely updated by the look of the photos on TripA. 

In Lisbon which we have visited several times on cruises, the cruise terminal is walking distance from the historic centre. You can travel around by tram also. The area around the Castle is walkable from the ship. 

Be sure to be on deck or your balcony for the sail in, it is in my opinion one of the best in the world, and some of the best sights are visible from the ship. 

Dont know Oporto, but I do know that the cruise terminal is not in Oporto, its at a distance. Scroll down this board to see previous discussions about both Lisbon and Porto. 

Re BHX, Looks like I was truly sleeping when I posted that completely incorrect information, apologies. thanks to others for the correction.

Have a look at the' Northern European ports' forum, loads of posts about tour companies and the ports. if necessary repost your question there you ll get lots of useful advice. 

scroll down on this spain board and you ll find plenty of other topics which cover these ports. Also repost on the board for the cruise line you are going with. (there is a way of searching within a forum but I dont know how to do it, please could someone post this again, thanks)

generally once in middle of city in spain its easy to make up your own day , the historic centres are compact. have a great time .

On 3/7/2024 at 10:29 PM, YYCJim said:

Unfortunately they will not give you the details when you book, your flight arrangements are only released 45 days before departure. The fact that we saved 2000 plus booking it through the cruise line is worth it

oh, it appears very different in the UK.  we ve only done this once, we flew to NZ from Birmingham a month before  boarding our half world cruise in Auckland. I agreed every single detail of the emirates flight, including all the timings and a one night stopover in Bangkok, with the TA before I booked.  then we paid a package price to P and O for the whole thing. I ve no idea whether it would have been cheaper or more expensive than booking the flights myself, but at that stage I wasn't confident to do the flights myself. Your saving looks great - and enjoy the trip. 

btw an aside, I notice cruisers from other side of Atlantic usually fly into Heathrow.  consider Birmingham as its just as well connected for the UK. I avoid Heathrow at all costs as it is so busy.

We ve stayed pre cruise at all the hotels mentioned above. Holiday Inn a great location, but we didn't park that time as on the train, so cannot advise about parking. 

did not rate Chilworth Manor, and the transfer to the ship is quite a distance.

Elizabeth House is much closer and you can walk out to find somewhere to eat. It was noisy though, its on a busy road.