sleepingcat

just to mention, if it is Southampton to Canaries that you w ant, there are a number of other companies which offer this route out of Southampton, and they may be easier to book than with P and O which appears from the comments above to make it difficult for you. Certainly we have been on cruises ex Southampton where we have met non British passengers, so it must be possible. Hope it works out for you.

We called at Mumbai on a world cruise in 2014. Some passengers on the ship did not have India visas and had to disembark in Sri Lanka and fly on to rejoin the ship in Dubai (visa is required even if you dont disembark). Getting the visas for India then was fairly hard going in our case involved 2 visits to the India High Commission visa office in Birmingham. Hope you've already started the process by now. Azamara and/or your TA should be able to give you all the visa info you need, but it will be up to you to make sure you have the correct ones. And btw, if not already done, check the expiry date on passports, some countries have concerns about that.

A site called Magic seaweed, actually meant for surfers, shows wave heights , swell, wind etc etc with good maps. I think you need to focus on the 'North Atlantic' section to get info for Norway. Hope its a good cruise.

Hello Cubix, good advice above. Look also at Fred Olsen maybe departing from Liverpool or Newcastle could work for you coming from Ireland. and have a look over on the P and O UK board as there is lots of discussion of Norway itineraries offered by P and O and discussion of the ports etc. I think Hurtigruten may have Newcastle departures as well, check it out. Be warned that the weather may be terrible, the saga northern lights cruise in February missed a lot of its scheduled ports because of weather (see reviews) but they did see the lights. Re the train suggestion above, Norwegian railways offers a day trip they call 'Norway in a nutshell' which uses the train then the Flam railway and a boat trip, then rejoins the main train line to Bergen.

hi Suzi, yes, it will be a great trip. Sydney is one of the best places in the world to have fun imho, so arrive a couple of days early for the cruise so you can explore, take one of the funky commuter ferries from circular quay to Manley rather than the much more expensive harbour cruise. In Auckland the ship docks just at the end of the Main Street, we could have walked to the ship from our hotel if we hadn't had luggage, just wander off and explore. going up the sky tower (or whatever its called) would be a top thing to do. For the South Island calls you probably want to book ships tours as the distances to the sights are a bit more complicated (we did the South Island in a camper van rather than a ship!). Agree with all the expert advice above. enjoy.

to me at my age (!) this sounds like a lot of hard work especially after a night flight. just a suggestion, you might consider transferring direct to Southampton and then spending your half day free visiting the new forest and maybe Beaulieu abbey which are very close by. (or Winchester, just as beautiful as Bath and with even more history). The Southampton Holiday Inn is right on the harbour and walking distance from the cruise terminals and walking distance to the city centre and the interesting places in Southampton. Enjoy whatever you do.

Hi from the UK. Because we are closer to Norway, many British cruisers do Norway itineraries every year so there is a lot of info about cruising in Norway and all the ports on the boards of cruise critic for British companies, suggest you look at the P and O ((Uk) section, there has been a lot of recent discussion of the ports and accessibility and much else about cruises to Norway. You could also join the roll call for your cruise and see if others with limited mobility are going and have ideas to share. Good luck with the trip.

hello cinatown, rest assured you will have a great time, and the best way to see Norway is from the water. since it is your first cruise, I will write the same as I wrote yesterday for someone else. We are also walkers, and what we love about cruising is that you can just get off the ship and make your own walking tour of wherever (and as I also wrote yesterday, in the unlikely event the place is a dump you just get back on the ship and enjoy it). Do your homework if you like, though we often dont, we just go to tourist info and get their map (which is usually better than the map the ship gives you). you probably already know that the only thing to do at Flam is the little railway which takes you up to the waterfalls, one of my best memories of a day out ever (and I was even on my own as in Norway for work!).

We were cruising earlier this year and used our uk included roaming provision to connect in to local in country network providers. when you get to a port (or sometimes while still at sea) your phone will let you know with a txt which network it has found (if any). If you've got roaming data in your phone contract then you ll have the internet as soon as you find a network. I use O2 which has not introduced roaming charges at all yet. I switched mobile data off while on the ship and did not use the maritime network. as far as free wifi is concerned, just follow the crew ashore, they always know where the free wifi outlets in or near the port are located. sometimes you have to get off into the cruise terminal before you get a decent signal, its not usually good enough from the ship deck.

hello gteach, I am sure you will love it. we took our first cruise (to the Caribbean) in 2012 and I loved it so much that I cried when the ship docked back in Southampton. Packing items apart from the usual: a torch useful for emergencies, and for visiting the bathroom at night; one of those pound shop circular washing driers with the pegs attached to hang up in the bathroom, and something to wash out a few clothes as you go along. I take seasick tablets and wear those wrist bands which appear to help. for Norway, yes, it does rain a lot so agree with advice above. Binoculars good as so much of time in Norway you are on the ship looking at the scenery as it goes by. in Bergen you could easily make your own day out, lovely to wander round, and the town mountain you can ride up and walk back down; I was there for work a while ago and so on my own and had a good day just wandering. For us one of the pleasures of cruising is that you don't need to plan so much, you can just get off the ship and see what there is (and in unlikely event the place is a dump you just get back on board and enjoy the ship). but prior homework on each port means you can have a target place to visit (museum, beach, cable car, whatever) and pay local rates to do it. We usually try and find the tourist info as their maps are usually more useful than the one provided by the ship (and they make nice souvenirs for after).

apologies I was being a bit dim this morning in my previous post. Of course there will be an impact in all the countries round the world that have close ties to the UK, that means many Caribbean islands where ships might call and of course Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Many of these countries will have proclamations and ceremonies in the coming week, possibly a public holiday on the day of the funeral. TV in the UK is covering reaction all around the world. The proclamation ceremonies are historic and moving , I ve just watched the one from my home town in Cornwall where the proclamation was spoken in the Cornish Language. If you get the chance to witness one, you will be fortunate.

one positive is that some transport strikes planned for this coming week (12th onwards) have been cancelled. I agree that London will now be busier, especially after yesterday's extended walkabout/meet and greet by the King's sons and their wives and the announcement that The late queen will lie in state at Westminster for several days, with public access to pay respects. Many cities will have condolence books, and services of remembrance. during this current weekend some businesses are choosing not to open and some sporting and cultural occasions have been cancelled today and next week. I think many Brits will travel to London for the funeral on Monday 19th. Monday is a public holiday and as said above most likely transport will be restricted. I think on the tuesday 20th it will be massively back to normal, as with a new government in post as well there is a lot of important work to be done.

Hey JSW, lots of good advice already there for you. But no one mentioned a cruise direct from the UK? if you want to avoid air fares, and all the horrible airport hassle like what many UK passengers experienced this last summer, then get on the ship in the UK (or take a train to the med ports and get on there). a two week cruise to the canaries over xmas will get you a week of fine weather and some interesting stops. (you can cruise to the Caribbean from the UK by ship but sadly it takes longer than you will have available as you work full time, that'll be for later.) I too recommend the P and O UK boards which are very active and full of good info and nice people. all the best

Hi, a bit of input from the UK, where we brits are lucky enough to be a lot closer to the Med. the great joy of most European cruise ports is that ships dock really close to the centre of the town/city, so just walking off the ship and wandering is a great thing to do. And Europe is mostly pretty safe. (watch your handbag in Barcelona, though). I was surprised that no one commented on thinking about where you will fly in to and how good the connection is to the port. Rome and Barca are the obvious ones. But if you want to relive your rail travel on Europe's now wonderful high speed network, fly into Paris and travel on from there . (my sister and her family have just been to Italy for 3 weeks by train from the UK, they totally loved it and avoided all the airport horror of this summer). and who would you like as fellow passengers? the lines you mention will be a nice mix of Europeans and Americans I think. for a completely different experience, sail from Southampton (fly in to LHR), maybe on a British ship and get that old fashioned cruise experience. it ll take longer, but you ll get some lovely ports including Lisbon which I think is the best sail in in the world, and a fabulous city with lots to see and do. (and a smaller ship can get in to dock at lesser visited ports, too) I think there should be plenty of port reviews to check. have a look at some of the less visited ports, eg Cartagena (wonderful roman remains), Almeria, Malta is gorgeous, La Palma de Mallorca, Amalfi. We didn't like Gibraltar, but going up the Rock is a must for naval and military history enthusiasts. as you can tell , we love travel and I could go on and on. whatever you do I am sure it will be a great trip.

hello cruiser 3775, I see you are in Australia: so might be interesting to check out European ( actually UK based) cruise lines and think about boarding in Australia. when we cruised back to UK from NZ a few years ago there were 400 plus Aussies on board coming over to Europe for the summer. that was on P and O Arcadia which I think is scheduled for world cruises in January 2023 and 2024. Boarding in Fremantle on that cruise would have been about 30 days to the UK. Fred Olsen is also offering world cruises at same time. Hope you find what you want.

thanks for posting. Just a suggestion, there is a section of CC where you can post your review of a Ship/cruise and I think more people will see it than here on the boards, as one can access the reviews without being a member. The Saga boards are mostly populated by a dedicated band of enthusiasts, some of whom we met on board (hi all!). whereas your review is ideal for saga newbies or people wondering whether to try. You ll see our review of S of A/Canaries from January there, which mainly agrees with all that you say. it was great and at the time a welcome relief from winter and post covid blues. (cannot understand why there are still no books in the 'library' though).

saga newbies with questions. Back in January2022 @norbert's niece posted a blog (title B2B2B...) with more photos than you could imagine of every aspect of their cabin and SoA. She even included a picture of the laundry bag and the price list as far as I can recall. So have a look through that and see if it helps with your queries. In my review of the 20 January departure, I listed all the stuff you get free in the cabin, as I had also had difficulties finding info.

giving them a treat in Torquay but not visible from my window boo hoo. The Hope's Nose headland is in the way! thanks for all the updates team Arcadia support.

Hi, SoD and SoA are almost identical. If you track down my review of SoA 20 January 22 departure to canaries, you ll see that I listed a lot of info about the cabin because I hadn't been able to find the sort of info you are asking about before we sailed. your specific questions: yes, you can put cases under the beds. the side of the wardrobe where the safe is has a combination of shelves and drawers. we found we had plenty of storage. also there are some open shelves in the 'corridor' by the bathroom where we kept stuff to grab as we went out (masks, at the time). And there are coat hooks opposite the bathroom door. we were new to Saga for that January cruise and we were impressed. I think we are converts (though I still hanker after another trip on Arcadia). Have a great cruise.

Hi everyone, when we got up this morning Arcadia was gone and is now alongside in Southampton, having arrived 07.40 today. Left Lyme Bay during last night. Not sure what's happening next as she's not listed under port of Southampton movements for any departure as far as I can see, but others may know more?

Test company used last weekend In case it helps anyone with this issue, last weekend we had a visit from members of our Rotary twinned club in France. Two of them needed test results to get back into France. We used this company who have facilities at several places (we went to Exeter airport, parking was free and it was quick and easy). Be sure to specify which test you want both when booking and when you turn up. LFT results within the hour, PCR next day text and email. Very knowledgeable people at their call centre also, know all the rules. But not cheap, from memory, LFT is £39.00 and PCR is £99.00. https://www.gpdq.co.uk/covid-19-booking/exeter-airport/

Good evening Arcadia fans, the ship dropped anchor in Lyme Bay at approx 9.10 this morning - and clearly on view from our house! (Teignmouth) welcome back, she was here through much of the covid lockdowns. I can even see our cabin. Will post when we spot any movement.

we ve done canaries cruises several times in January. I dont think you ll get any rough seas. the main risk might be wind/weather coming in from south east which means a thick yellow mist full of sand from the Sahara, which happened to us this January. wind direction also meant that Madeira call had to be dropped. It was still nice and warm, though, and much nicer than the UK at the time, so imho worth the risk.

we've been to all these ports except la spezia. so in order , yes la coruna pleasant walk to town and or beach. friend recommends the maritime museum. Cadiz even closer to historic centre and nice cafes. Palma de Mallorca , its a bit further to town but my husband walked it okay. have a lovely time. nb another bit of homework is to investigate roaming charges for yr phone - some providers now charging a lot for use outside uk.