Ardennais

I think a big factor is that so many of us here have been cruising for years and we now like the new arrangements because nothing interrupts our first afternoon onboard. We also know our way around a cruise ship. But yes, I definitely think that the old drill was useful, how useful I hope we never find out! Not necessarily wearing the lifejacket, just the memory of making your way to the muster station and actually reinforcing the idea that we are on a vessel, and that we have to be vigilant. Even better, on Marco Polo, we had to form a giant ‘crocodile’ and walk out on deck. You only have to read these boards to see that some cruisers can’t wait for their first few drinks after embarkation and I doubt very much whether everyone watches the safety video. We’ve also read reports of high numbers of first time cruisers. We were hopelessly disorientated for a good day and a half on our first cruise!

We had to have regular fire drills in school and it meant that the staff and pupils knew what to do, where to go, how to get there in an emergency. In 34 years of teaching, I experienced 3 fires and 1 bomb scare (yes, in the depths of the Welsh countryside!) and it was always good to know the ropes. I don’t think watching a video would be the same somehow.

I agree and I’ve been saying this for some time,

I understood straight away that you meant landmass and not population.

I have mild claustrophobia, and for my first 10 years of cruising never used a lift. I have managed lifts onboard for the past 5 years, but only when accompanied by my husband. The only other lifts I use are in hospitals, and only when visiting someone on the top floor! We had an outside cabin once on Marco Polo with two portholes and it was ok.

Of course they wouldn’t book an inside, hence my reply to ‘not sure why someone should think it [an inside cabin] would affect your mental health’. The comment implied that the poster couldn’t understand why booking an inside could affect a person’s mental health. Some people also feel low if they don’t get enough natural light too so there could be all kinds of reasons. The thought of sleeping in a windowless box would certainly affect me!

Because some people are claustrophobic.

Glad that you enjoyed it, as we did!

It wouldn’t bother me now as we’ve been to Amsterdam many many times, but I would have been jolly annoyed years ago when the girls were teenagers. One of the reasons for choosing the itinerary was our desire to visit Anne Frank house which we managed to do without too much waiting. I wouldn’t have been happy to switch to Rotterdam after booking and then having to pay for a full price transfer for 5 of us.

Another vote of thanks here Selbourne for a super read throughout. So glad that you’ve had a good time - the food sounds so much better than we found it back in April. Shame about the noise, very unfortunate. I don’t think we’d go for Britannia again though. She seemed very underwhelming after our Iona cruise a few weeks previously. I think I’d go for the other extreme and choose Aurora which has always been a favourite of mine. So from now on, I guess it will be Iona or one of the older ladies!

We did the Second World War trip, and it was most enjoyable. We went around the island and stopped by some fortifications, and also had refreshments at the Pearl of Guernsey. Then to the underground hospital which was closed! The guide had to fetch the owner, and in about 10 minutes this elderly gentleman shuffled along and opened it. It’s a very interesting place. Lastly we went to the museum and there was a lady signing books there - she was a child during the war. This was on Azura in 2017 and I know that we got an early tender. Some other folk told us later on that they had waited a good while for a tender in order to do their own thing. That’s something to bear in mind if you intend do DIY.

Possibly, but we always stay the night before, and I’m never in a rush to embark. Around 2 o’clock would be my ideal boarding time, so as to have a nice and relaxing morning.

That’s very helpful indeed.

We have stayed there several times and more than once we have remained in the bar and had our coffees there until well after lunch time.

Difficult to answer. I’ve been on Ventura in August when it’s full of children and young families. I’ve also been on Ventura in January, long cruise, with fewer than a dozen children but thousands of retirees!

We also saw him on Britannia in April and agree that he was very good indeed.

£100 isn’t a small admin fee, unless it’s a percentage of the astronomically high premium!

It’s 48 hrs onboard and there’s a cancellation fee.

Good news! One thing, isn’t there a cooling off period when you take out insurance? £100 cancellation fee seems steep and more than covers the 24 hr insurance period. I might be completely wrong though!

I’ve just had a look and Pass Plus Cymru (for youngsters between 17-25 who have passed their test in the past 12 months) only costs £20. There must be something similar in England and it appears that it helps reduce insurance costs. Only takes 6 hrs.

Gosh, that’s very steep! You could get a 2 hr lesson for that price around here, and most lessons are 2 hrs because of the distance to the nearest test centre where the lessons take place. That insurance quote is OTT. We also paid the insurance for the girls through Uni and even though it was in their own name, I can’t remember it being more than £500 each. My youngest is 24 and her fully comp insurance is now around £300 with Aviva Zero. It’s no wonder that some youngsters chance it without any insurance if they’re quoted those astronomical sums!

My 3 had about 10 lessons each and I took them out a lot in the car during the week. They all passed first time within about 12 weeks of their 17th. To be honest, a lot of the rural youngsters have been driving on farms for quite a while before their 17th and only need a handful of lessons. Public transport is very patchy, but a lot of us live miles from the nearest bus stop so makes no difference! One thing though, I really wish mine had taken up the offer to do Pass Plus. The local driving instructor used to take pairs of youngsters who had recently passed for a full day to Telford so that they could experience the motorway and traffic! I thought that was a good idea but mine didn’t get round to it at the time. It would have been for me too!

Very common around here as they can’t wait to drive. They book their theory for the week after their 17th and then book a test straight away. Of course the pandemic affected the waiting lists, but it’s back to normal now. The school car park is full of cars belonging to the upper sixth!

I use a TA too, so I take it that I would have to monitor the prices and then ask the TA to contact Princess?

Does it happen automatically or do you have to ask for it?