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The ESTA is valid for 2 years or until passport runs if before.

We put Retired

We were staying with friends, so put their address. I believe you can put the name of the ship, but not 100% sure.

JessM66 ~ We did this cruise in January and booked all our trips at our local TUI travel agent.

Having previously visited many of the destinations for land based holidays we booked a variety of half and full day tours. They varied between 4 and a half hours and 8 hours.

We paid around £400  in total for both of us for 8 different  tours. We found that the same trips booked on the ship were £5 -10 more expensive.

 Has anyone used the Hop on Hop off bus from the cruise terminal. 

 Having never visited Iceland before we thought it might be a good way of seeing the city. Any advice on other cruise stops in Iceland would be gratefully accepted.

 We met a lady in the lift earlier one afternoon who had been on the taxi trip with her sister in Langkawi and thought the trip was 100 ringgits and was told that it was $100 US. She was going to get the money while her sister  stayed with the taxi.  an expensive mistake or was the taxi driver taking advantage !

 We had an outside cabin on deck 2 close to the exits for getting on and off which was very handy.  It was two floors up to the waiter service restaurant which we used in the mornings to avoid the rush upstairs.  We were always allocated seating on our own  for breakfast. We decided at the outset to spend the extra money on the aircraft seating rather than a balcony.

 We flew into Langkawi so had two days there at the beginning of the cruise. We have had two fantastic beach holidays there so new the island quite well. 

 One thing I had to get used to was the early starts for the tours, which were between 7.45 and 8.30, I don’t normally rise until  8.15 at the earliest at home.

Don’t want to recommend any tour in particular as we all like different things.

 Can’t help with your question on the airport, but most airports are similar some bigger and some smaller.  Have a great time. 

 Wev’e been back two weeks now, and managed to get over the jetlag. The premium upgrade was definitely worth it, no other way to fly. 

 We flew from Birmingham and arrived at the ship about 10 am the following day. 

We pre-booked trips in our local TUI shop as they were very reasonably priced. Some were already sold out on the ship. We did generally tours around the islands or cities as we have already had land-based holidays in Malaysia Thailand and Singapore previously.  It proved to be a good move as some of the independent tours were quite expensive. 

 You need local currency apart from Vietnam and Cambodia where US dollars are king.

 The ship was wonderful, and the seas so calm.  Food and entertainment was up to the usual standard. 

The Thailand port is quite isolated and there is nothing to do under your own steam.Unless you’ve been to these places before I think it pays to be on an organised tour,  it’s not a cheap cruise and it’s the last place to do pennypinching if you are not experienced. 

 It’s a wonderful holiday with different experiences pity it has to end with a 12 3/4 hour flight back home. 

 If you haven’t left yet have a fantastic holiday. 

Thanks for the reply dave, we have only been on Discovery once and that was on Deck 6 inside which was very nice.

Will still have great cruise visiting places where we have previously done land based holidays.

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Have booked cabin 2584 on Asia cruise in January. There seemed to be limited choice for outside on Deck 2 when we booked in May - all cabins in middle of ship already allocated.

I’m now thinking maybe it is a porthole cabin.Difficult to get any accurate information anywhere.

Have been happy enough with porthole cabin on Celebration, just wondered if anybody else has had this cabin and could comment on it.

Still time to change if need be.

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Have looked at this itinerary myself.

If you check the terms and conditions guide in the back of the latest brochure there are some guidelines laid out under Visas.

Having previously travelled to Malaysia,Thailand and Singapore have never needed a Visa. Vietnam looks visa clear now for up to 15 days. Looks like we’ll need something in Cambodia.

It’s not yet clear whether the ship will organise it for you or you have to do it as an individual.

Can’t advise as to where ships dock as have always done land-based holidays in these areas.

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Technical problems are not deemed as being extraordinary circumstances Under the EU court ruling. I had similar problem flying from Tenerife two years ago, TUI tried to fob me off several times, eventually I went to Small Claims Court and they paid up within a month.

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Thanks for your help. Caribbean rain can be torrential but in very short spells as we have experienced previously. Have not tried a banana, normally take bread roll.

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Thanks for your reply, I thought it would be something like that , 10 minutes away by taxi. Looking at the departure times seems that Aruba might be the best for a beach day as we don’t sail until 22:00 hours. Also looking at a local post they have had an awful lot of rain recently so fingers crossed when we arrive there.

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Visiting Bonaire on the Celebration in just over a week, wonder how far it is to Coco Beach, from the port.

Although we have visited the island a couple of times before we’ve never been to this beach, looking for a chillout day.

Any advice appreciated thank you.

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Number 14 with Thomson/TUI/Marella.

Probably like many others I bought what I wanted exactly at the time without any further additions needed,. I prefer to be left alone after that but I know that’s the way of the world

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Only booked my Marella cruise for March 7th 2018 three weeks ago.

Already had four emails and one phone call to either upgrade or book trips or look at special offers.

Pity they are not so pally when things go wrong.

If this continues looks like it’s back to Plain and Ordinary.

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How will they be able to monitor who brought what bottle on, and where?

Never done it before and looks I will not start doing it now - not worth the hassle.

Good for the liver though!

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Thank you all for your answers at least I know how to go about it now.

I see bottles of spirits £16 in Tesco’s now on special offer. We are on Aurora in three weeks time so may just buy on board for spirits and maybe bring a few bottles of wine on.

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Having never taken alcohol on board before, is the best way just carrying it on in hand luggage if it’s only a couple of bottles of wine or spirits or does it have to be scanned through with the suitcases.

We have only bought bottles of spirits on the ship to take home, but I believe you can buy on board for consumption in the confines of your cabin.

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Just got the new Marella brochure today. Having done a similar number of cruises on Thomson and P&O the new itineraries in this brochure are going to blow P&O out of the water.

Not everybody has the means or desire to do a world cruise or section of one.

The latest Marella ships are equal to any of the P&O fleet we have been on although we have not tried Britannia yet.

The all inclusive and tips included make for strong consideration.

All food for thought. Someone posted on here recently about “same old itineraries” on P&O.

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Hope this does not migrate to the UK. There are some 'sad' people about.

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Sorry £150 was for 2 of us. Now £50 OBC each

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Booked 14 day cruise on the Aurora today.

First time I have booked for military benefits, guess what the credits have changed from August 1st. Had I booked yesterday I would've had £150 spends today it is £100.

The amounts depend on the type of cabin as well as the length of cruise. But hey it's all extra lolly to spend.

At least I am now aware of the credits, as I knew nothing of them until reading the forums on Cruise critic.

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We had an inside on deck 6 (6537) just a few cabins along from the Atrium. Thought we might get noise from Atrium but it was very quiet. We always sleep using earplugs so do not hear aircon. Excellent location for lifts and restaurants and coffee shop.

Worth paying premium for selected cabin if you are worried about where you might end up. Personally we have only paid for TA cabins and taken pot luck other times.

Discovery is a big step up from other Thomson ships you will be pleasantly surprised.

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We took our case which was damaged on the ship back to the shop we bought it from and they just gave us a replacement. It's worth a try. Admittedly it was the first cruise we had used it on and we had the receipt.

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As a previous cruiser you should be aware of the pitfalls of location. Have you chosen your cabin yet? Is it handy for the facilities you need with a one year old for moving around the ship.

It would be headlines on Sky News if TUI gave you a free upgrade.

It will be a new experience for you with the little one and you will learn from it. Enjoy.

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