SamRothstein1972

While fairly expensive I thought the P&O Rome by Train excursion was pretty good.

It's not just them buying you a ticket and putting you on a local train. The train is a charter just for cruises which runs direct from Civitavecchia to St Peters station in Rome so as it's not stopping it gets there really quickly with a guaranteed big leather comfy seat (it's an old train so it's not the tiny plastic ones you get today). The train also isn't held to a timetable so they can wait if you're late.

I've done the coach many times and it makes for a far less tiring day with more time in Rome so well worth the money.

The only disadvantage is that if you want to do the forum or Colosseum you're at the wrong end of town (you'd be better at Termini) but if you're fit it's just a big hike and can be done.

As others have said, trains in Italy can be a bit of a lottery, I've had 2 cruises where people got stuck and ended up paying large taxi fares back to the ship.

Overall it does seem to be a rather a lot of minor cutbacks, which do add up.

 

As I understand it Silver Service went years ago and plates are ready to serve in the MDR.

 

I suspect it won't be long before they remove the biscuits and pillow chocolates. They'll also start charging for galley and backstage tours and then have a "Chef's Table" at £75 a head to bring it in line with the rest of the US Carnival brands.

 

How long before the kettles are removed and the free bottle of water is stopped?

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I have booked a surprise cruise for my husbands 60th birthday,this will be our first cruise so sorry in advance for all the questions.I really wanted to keep it a surprise until we landed in Palma but I’ve read that you are given luggage labels at your departure airport,is this right? I’ve decided to go on the ship excursions this time,has anyone been on the Florence/Pisa excursion is it worth doing or should I just pick one of them? Can you have beer in the MDR or do they only serve wine?Can you order 2 drinks at a time from the bar to save having to queue ( I’m not an alchy honestly):) thanks so much for your help .

If you've never done either and have any interest in art or history I'd just concentrate on Florence.

If you don't want a big day out (places like Florence and Rome can be exhausting) then you might also want to consider Lucca as an option.

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Hello!

I’m planning my precruise stay for this summer. I fly in solo 10 days before the cruise into London and am considering The Cotswolds, Oxford, and York in addition to London, though haven’t locked anything in yet. I won’t have a car so I’m dependent on public transport. I’m getting a bit frustrated trying to figure out the logistics and came across some short coach 2 and 3 night summer breaks. I’m looking for possible recommendations in either:

1) using rail and good accommodations close to public transport for the Cotswolds, Oxford and York

2) short breaks (2 or 3 nights) using reputable coach companies out of London that may go to these areas

3) London hotel areas that are close to public transport that are relatively safe for solo female travelers

 

I stayed close to the old American embassy last time I was in London and never left the city so I’m interested in getting a bit more of England this time before my British Isles cruise.

Thanks :)

Denise

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Hello!

I’m planning my precruise stay for this summer. I fly in solo 10 days before the cruise into London and am considering The Cotswolds, Oxford, and York in addition to London, though haven’t locked anything in yet. I won’t have a car so I’m dependent on public transport. I’m getting a bit frustrated trying to figure out the logistics and came across some short coach 2 and 3 night summer breaks. I’m looking for possible recommendations in either:

1) using rail and good accommodations close to public transport for the Cotswolds, Oxford and York

2) short breaks (2 or 3 nights) using reputable coach companies out of London that may go to these areas

3) London hotel areas that are close to public transport that are relatively safe for solo female travelers

 

I stayed close to the old American embassy last time I was in London and never left the city so I’m interested in getting a bit more of England this time before my British Isles cruise.

Thanks :)

Denise

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As someone else has said the adult only pool is in the spa and free for all adults to use. Give reception your key card they will give you a key to a locker in the gents changing room. Plenty of clean towels in there also showers and steam room. Sorted.

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I swim almost daily onboad and usually alone, I'm swimming lengths for up to an hour so have my head down and therefore my things could be easily stolen and I've never had any issue with my items being touched apart from when they've blown away and someone has kindly recovered them for me.

As long as you have nothing with you to identify your cabin the keycard isn't of much use. Theoretically someone could steal it and try every cabin door to see if it works (unlikely) or attempt to run up a bar bill on it (again unlikely given that ships security could easily go through camera footage and work out who it was and then track them back to their cabin).

If you are still concerned, or just have other stuff with you, then go to the gym and ask for a locker which will either be a code pad or a key with a wristband you can swim with, I do this to store my kit if i'm going to gym/swim/sauna but if I'm just swimming I don't bother and really don't think you need to worry about it. BTW - there is an advantage in taking your stuff up and getting a locker in that the showers are generally much bigger and more powerful in the spa/gym so I find them much easier and quicker to shower in than the cabin one.

If you want an example of a "rolling" loyalty programme in action have a look at the P&O Baltic and Lingurian tiers. Seems to work fine even though I won't get out of Caribbean until I retire.

No. It's one of the times "keep calm and carry on" does actually apply. Stiff upper lip and all that.

Do you require, or already have, a visa?

I'd suggest you're more likely to have success through an HDMI input but even then it often involves a bit of hacking of both the remote and/or re-routing of various 'hotel' boxes physically attached to the TV. I've nearly always got it to work but it's a different configuration every time. Hotels and cruise ships don't really want you watching your own entertainment unfortunately but that does seem to be starting to change so hopefully in a few years you'll have an easily accessible input that just works.

Weather is obviously dependent upon time of year, when are you traveling?

P&O?

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Isn't it Boyzlife rather than Boyzone? Which I think is one ex member of Boyzone and one ex member of Westlife.

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