Mark-Sheffield

We stopped in a suite a few years ago and although we did not request specific bottles of alcohol for our cabin, we did ask the stewards in the concierge lounge for different brands during the cocktail time from 5.30 to 8pm and the following night it was there.

It's got to be port side.

Just seen this thread, I am pleased you have booked a cruise. A dear friend of mine lost her husband a few years ago and like you she was reluctant to go on her own. However, she did and at the last count she has completed 5 cruises as a single and loved every one. The last one was with Fred Olson and included the Caribbean and the Amazon. The advice already given is true in that you should attend the get together which are in the first few days. I am sure you will have a fantastic time.

For the Greek Islands tourism is the main income and the cancellation of stopping at Lesbos is significant for the local economy and i hope the European governments can resolve this desperate situation.

We have always paid the cost of pre-booking seats when we have gone with our family, just because we don't want to be split up on a long haul flight and not having the hassle of trying to get to the airport early to get seats together.

I agree with the poster about getting the local currency back in change when you have used US dollars. In a few shops i questioned why they do that, but was told it is there policy. Just seems a way of off loading their currency to tourists that you cannot spend anywhere else ?

I am teetotal and have been on the Azura twice, i have never seen anybody falling around drunk, apart from adult son a couple of times. The mocktails are lovely :-)

We have not been on a 28 day cruise, however, I can assure you that throughout each day there will be planned activities which will include celebrity guest speakers, shopping advice, port talks, ship tours, the list goes on

Our roll call is actually having a decorate your door contest...

I think that's a brilliant idea, i want to do the same, but my family think its crass.

The mother of a friend of mine works part time in the Terminals and she is definitely employed by the Port Authority, not the cruise lines. She has told stories of how rude some passengers can be!

Well i accept that some people are rude and that is unacceptable, but some staff are incompetent as well and need better training.

My daughter and her Grandmother stayed in a Aft cabin on Azura a few years ago and they thought the balcony was great, as it was larger than standard balcony cabins.

The only complaint my daughter had was the movement, which at times made the hangers rattle inthe wardrobe area and she had a sea sickness jab to help. However, my daughter did come back to the cabin drunk most nights so I don't know how she could tell the ship was moving !!!

Over the last few years we have done searches on-line for cruise cover and used various price comparsion sites, Money Saving Expert, Go Compare, etc and these allow you to populate the fields with pre-exsisting medical conditions, so you do not have to do this for every company.

For us with our conditions, we found Insure & Go as offering the best value.

We are so envious of your cruise, 14 days is just not enough :mad:

Wish we was joining you......

I think the points about sharing a table have been made in that its the whole point of sitting at a table and enjoying a conversation with people and discussing ports, the ship, gripes about service, etc. And as such in the same way we would always inform staff we wouldn't be there, likewise we would tell our table companions as well. The only exception to this would be if we had decided to book into a different dining venue that day. But we would either ring the MDR or pop in to let the restaurant manager know.

There are a number of companies that offer cruise excursions in the Med.

Viator & Cruising Excursions.com

It always makes me smile when we see decorated doors, I think they look lovely.

What's the departure times off P&O ships at Southampton ? We have only been on Caribbean cruises with P&O.

23 kg is just not enough for my wife !!!! And she sneaks items into my case :mad:

Friends of ours said you do disembark very early on RCI.

 

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Departing on RCI ships in Southampton starts at 6:15 and the latest is 9:15. Thats when we was on a few years ago.

Our new cases have TSA locks on, but as other posters have said, if you put a padlock on a case and whilst the case is in transit if security want to look inside, bolt cutters will have that off in seconds. Lock gone . Like wise if someone with a criminal intent is working as a luggage handler they will get into the case regardless of the measures you take. I recall a few years ago the Beckhams had there Louie Vuitton luggage gone through at a UK airport and it made front page news.

Cruise 2 for me :-)

Our balcony always ends up looking like a laundry at certain points through the cruise with various bits of clothing drying in the breeze !!!

Just wanted to let you know that I was not complaining about the fact the waiter asked me where I was - just thought he was curious.

The reason I usually choose traditional dining is that I usually travel solo - so it's nice to see the asme faces. On a cruise earlier this year I had great dinner companions.

The reason I made this post was I was curious as to what others do.

I forgot how passionate cruise critic people get about a topic LOL!

As the OP has said in her original post, she was curious what other cruisers do, which is fair point. But this comes down throughout the thread as a question of good manners, which is always good to see.

Well the quantity of food my family will consume in total over a cruise is considerable. So i hope there is no change in availability of food based on your boarding times ;-)

You can be creative with the laundry bags and squeeze items in for wash and fold.