Ardennais

Good read Selbourne, very balanced and informative. We thought the food was a bit ‘off’ recently on Britannia, definitely not as good as before. However the main problem was the temperature - lukewarm more often than not. Thankfully, we didn’t experience such a long wait to be called to dine - 90 minutes is really unacceptable.

So very sorry to read of your terrible loss.

Selbourne - I hope you both have a lovely cruise.

I’m tempted to phone them just to experience this for myself!

Or even possibly on cruises where there is a significant percentage of first time cruisers?

I think we all prefer the new method, but I still find it a bit worrying on my recent cruises where there have been so many first time cruisers.

I suppose we’re all different and it’s good to know that some people actually like these cabins. We’re in the process of booking 4 cabins for a family cruise on Iona next year, and as there’s no dining preference or shuttles in the Fjords, I would probably chance a Saver fare. These cabins however are the stumbling block so we will go for Select just to avoid them - and tick no upgrade!

Human nature I suppose, and I was also doing it in the name of research!! Seriously, I wouldn’t be able to make it work for me, and what’s worse, it would cost even more than our normal balcony cabin. I like my privacy.

In all honesty, I would prefer no cruise at all than the cabins I photographed above. I could even see people sitting at their dressing table at night!

I think you’ve said it all really! There’s always something new to do there. This year, we visited the Cathedral for the first time, and enjoyed that. On our first visit years ago, with the children, we took a horse drawn carriage ride. There are plenty waiting for the tourists as you cross the road into town,

I actually miss those days! The girls were all home and we had great times. Yes, they had their moments, but so did I! Seeing the world through the eyes of children and young people is a real privilege. Very often, they’re better company than adults!

Haven’t been on Arvia, but I took these deck 8 photos on Iona. I wouldn’t want to stay in one of these!

I saw it in London, Sadler’s Wells, a fortnight ago and it was simply brilliant. The tap dancing is amazing. You will love it.

I can sense your excitement! Have a great cruise.

My grandmother was a demon fly swatter. She was a small woman but was very strong and would give them a real thwack ….. even if they were on my Grandad’s head! She would replace her swatter every Monday …. a rolled up News of the World.

Not a problem for us as we speak another language!

Yes, Rotterdam is very interesting and very different to Amsterdam - apart from the bikes! We had a great day there in February and walked about 7 miles in total! I couldn’t do that in warm/hot weather but it was a nice dry day. The cube houses are great fun - I paid a few euros to go into one of them. The Market Hall is also a great place for lunch. Lastly, we visited the Cathedral which was badly damaged in the war.

I prefer a bar of soap too and bring two - one for the shower and one on the sink for hand washing, never on the face.

All I know is that my TA puts a note on bookings to request a preference so it is possible to do it that way. As I said, I never book direct.

Yes you’re right.

I don’t think that you’re even guaranteed to have your first choice even with select. You state your preference and have priority when on select so that usually means that you’ll get what you’ve asked for unless it’s a very late booking.

As I said, we almost always book select. However, on the odd times we’ve gone for saver, my Cruise Consultant (TA) always asks us about our dining preference - although she knows us well by now - and puts a note on the booking. We were lucky to be assigned freedom once but had to accept club on another occasion. I never book directly online.

I don’t think you’ve got it right. With select fare, you can choose any club or freedom and have priority over saver fares. With saver fare, you can again choose but you won’t have priority. We nearly always book select and opt for freedom. However, in the past we have booked select and opted for club dining when there were 7 of us.

I honestly didn’t notice them! Are they also helping with clearing tables etc?