Emmandjay

We were on this cruise, trying out Princess for the first time - very impressed!

Our luggage was delivered to our mini suite door with no searching for it.  We also had a problem with the television in the room, but our steward got it sorted on the next day.

Looking forward to reading your review day by day - hope you had as good a time as we did.

Yes you can book on board - just go to the reception desk of whichever restaurant you want to book.  Don't leave it too late as they do get popular.  From memory the Dining Club was about £35pp or £45pp for the pairing night.

Agree with the above.  Also, on our recent cruise on Explorer, the more expensive evening was their pairing menu - more courses and a different wine with each.  Would certainly recommend this.

Some antibacterial wipes - clean all the surfaces and touch points when you first get into the cabin as its better to be safe than sorry.

A packet of your favourite biscuits to enjoy with your tea/coffee on the balcony.

Enjoy your cruise.

Another area not yet mentioned is Scandinavia and the Baltics.  It's a shame cruises can't go to St Petersburg any more, but Helsinki, Stockholm, Tallin, Copenhagen and Norway's fjords are all interesting to visit and all are places where the ship docks close by.

Recently back from a week on Explorer.  We ate in the Dining Club twice - it was really good and well worth the extra money.  Beautifully presented food,  a more imaginative menu and really attentive service.  The tasting menu with wine pairings was on the 'dress to impress' night, which happened to be the sea day.  

Would definitely recommend.

Came back yesterday.  Great cruise and superb weather apart from some very heavy rain at Corfu yesterday morning.  We arrived at Corfu late morning and there were long queues at passport control (spilling out of the building).  At Bristol yesterday passport control almost empty but a long long wait for the baggage.

If the ship was at capacity it didn't cause any problems - never any queues get off or back on the ship.  Sometimes finding a lounger in a sunny spot the afternoon wasn't easy, but everyone seemed happy.

Staff were all unfailingly cheerful whatever time of day.

We're with you Dinglebert as we havn't flown since Covid.  I seem to be taking so much paper printouts, my hand luggage is getting full!  We fly to Corfu on Friday  so we have to do our Chronomics tests on Thursday - more paper!

Have a good cruise.

Thanks for the advice.  Yes it's all coming back to me now.  Must buy some small containers!

Probably having a senior moment here but it's been about five years since our last (and only) Marella cruise.  We tend to cruise mainly from Southampton.  What happens about cases on the last night - do we have to put them outside the cabin ?  If so, what about the stuff we need for the morning which can't go in the plane hand luggage because of the liquids.  Any help from you seasoned Marella cruisers would be appreciated.

With printing out so many documents and getting tested (Corfu) this cruise is becoming quite stressful!

Also on this sailing. As Chart Room Princess says, no proof of negative test is required, as per our latest email.  We shall test ourselves at home on Friday and Saturday just to make sure.  

Thank you Kynance for your excellent reply.  We have our first Cunard cruise in a few weeks and the question of Gala nights dress has been occupying my thoughts more and more.  I have several dressy tops which can be paired with black trousers. You have set my mind at rest that these will be acceptable on Gala evenings and I can now concentrate on the rest of the packing!

Had our email yesterday changing Venice to Ravenna. Still doing Venice tours (2hrs away) or offering a free Venice on your Own trip and £50pp on board spend. Happy with this.

My email says our Adriatic Explorer cruise in October has swapped Venice for Ravenna.

Don't mind as we've already been to Venice,  and the extra OBC will be nice.

Another vote for SPB tours.  They were so efficient right from the first booking.  We were in a small group of 12 so it was easy to get in and out of the sights without having to wait for a coach full at each venue.  The guide was so knowledgeable and friendly.  The tour was for two full days but it was really worth it.  The ride on the underground was amazing!

We understand your concerns.  We are on the 30th January cruise, on which the final balance is due at the end of this month.  There has been much to and fro - should we go or not?  We are both fully jabbed and boostered but, in our 70s can we go through all the tests and paperwork required both before and during the cruise.  The reason for booking this cruise was to be able to go ashore and enjoy the Canaries winter sunshine, so it would be disappointing to spend 14 days on the boat.  There is,of course, no definitive answer.  Good luck with your decision.

Thanks for your comments. Very helpful.  I contacted our insurers and they confirmed our cover would suit Cunard's requirements.  They will send a letter giving all the details which we can show at the port.  This has set our minds at rest, and hopefully has saved us the cost of the Holiday Extras policy.

We've booked our first Cunard cruise (usually Celebrity or P&O) for next year.  They stress the need for travel insurance to cover all Covid related issues and say that proof of all this insurance will need to be shown at the port.  They are recommending a policy  with Holiday Extras.  As we already have annual travel insurance  with another provider we are reluctant to take out further cover.  I would be interested to hear from others as to what insurance you have in place and whether you are taking out extra cover now that we are cruising abroad again.

Individual bottles, but large size.  Body lotion is by the basin, others are in a rack in the shower.  One square of hand soap is also supplied.

Yes, the footstools are back on the  balcony.  The Bigelow soap, shampoo, conditioner and body lotion are in the bathroom.  There are bathrobes, slippers and lip balm, too.

I spoke to someone who said he had spent the morning in there, so I think so.

Just off Silhouette in Aqua Class.  We had two bottles of water each day plus afternoon canapés.  There was no offer of iced tea as far as I know.  Blu was as good as ever, and with only half capacity on the ship there were no queues for anything.  We had a great time.

Agree wholeheartedly with the above sentiments.  We will also be on board for the next cruise and looking forward to everything after the deprivations of the last eighteen months.  Doubly exciting as we only booked last Friday!

We received an email mail from Tui to say that we could move this year's cruise to next year free of charge, so we followed the link to make the change on line.  Everything went OK - all our details transferred and the same flight seats as this year.  The problem was the cabin selected changed from a Junior Suite to an inside and we could find no way to amend this.  Before I spend ages on the phone next week, has anyone else done this change without this problem?

Would be grateful for any ideas from you.  Thanks.

We were offered the chance to pay £75 to move the deposit to another cruise, but we had already decided to take the hit and forfeit the deposit.  Until the uncertainty over cruising goes away, we didn't want to have anything else booked.

Thanks again.