Malleykatt

Our Gibraltar stop last August was an overnight due to storm and fog. We found the Gibraltar pass good value and can use across the rock.

Well ok it's a new ship so there's going to be things to iron out, however even a few basics have been overlooked. We book a balcony for a reason as a space to relax in away from the crowds. On a sea day of drinks and just decline the chairs and watch the horizon or view. Those chairs on board need to be up at the lido around tables. How can you chill out in those? I know first world problem but that's all part of my holiday.

 All cruise lines are trying to outdo each other, bigger ships, more revenue. Money talks but in the end feet walk and we all make choices. Once Sun Princess has done a couple of more cruises I hope the problems are solved but we would not book an inaugural cruise.

For our Baltic cruise in July all the excursion prices went up a couple of weeks ago. Looking now a couple I wanted to look at have dropped to original price. Booked them today.

Same message in the UK. It's 9.30pm here.

Whilst on-board Sky last summer I ordered a latte via the app. Never again! When it arrived in the cabin 90 minutes later it was awful. I put through a crew chat and guest services were straight on the phone apologising. 

Ok I could have cancelled the order but wanted to see just how long it would take. From then we picked up from IC as we passed.

25 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Enjoy. It's too bad St. Petersburg is no longer an option, but there are still great ports to visit.

I know. My parents visited a few years ago. Strange story..... My Dad kept saying he felt they were being followed, every time he turned around this one guy was smiling at him. Dad decided to speak to him which consisted of hello and ah you speak English. Well the Russian wanted to swap his Ushanka (fur hat) for my Dads NY baseball hat. They've got some great photos of them swapping hats somewhere at home.

We are also sailing to the Baltic ports in July. Just thank you all for the snippets of help posted here. I've now got Rick Steves book ( even though our guide in Florence last year moaned about him). Off to plan my days out.

Thanks.

We sailed on Sky out of Southampton to the Med in July 2023. Was a little nervous about how busy the ship would be and crowded. Happy to say we loved it. We pre booked our dining and never had a wait for a table. Our mini suite was kept spotless and I do mean spotless.....best steward we've had on any cruise. In fact due back on board in July to sail to the Baltic. Looking around I would never sail a Mickey Mouse cruise or some RCI  as I'm not on board for a theme park. Itinerary is always my first pick then fit by ship. We all have a choice and we all want different things for our money.

For Orkney try.

    www.otga.co.uk

Look through all the guides and you can contact them for more details. We used Davey Malcolm.

For Liverpool it's a great place to wander the docks and Museums lots to see, or book a Beatles black cab  tour. Don't book a coach tour if offered you'll be disappointed.

 Belfast we grabbed a cab and spent about 4 hours at the Titanic museum, well worth a visit..

We had the same thing on our Med cruise on Sky.  

I posted of sunbed hogs......and just to let you know that went for 8 pages with 10.5k views so prepare yourself.

Seriously though I don't go on holidays to have to get up early for a sunbed. Our last few land based holidays we had swim up rooms so never had to stray far.

On 9/15/2023 at 7:59 PM, DE Solo said:

Thus far, no credit other than for the port fees for the missed port (Halifax). We were scheduled for Halifax on Thursday, a sea day on Friday, and Brooklyn to disembark on Saturday morning. Don't know if some other compensation will appear later.

If you do get more compensation other than port fees I would be very surprised. This summer in the Med we experienced so many changes of weather. High winds meant our tender stop in Sardinia at Alghero was pulled from the schedule whilst we were en route. Apologies from the Captain but he doesn't control the weather it happens. Instead we headed for Gibraltar early which gave us the evening and following day to explore the rock. Port fees were added back to account and no extra port fees added for the extra time the ship was in port in Gibraltar.

2 hours ago, Purdey16 said:

I’m currently on sky princess going to the med and no sun bed hogs this morning but it is only second day and at 10 o’clock this morning you could still get prime beds around the pool and the aft pool over looking the wake .

This is the itinerary we did for our cruise 29th July sailing. We loved Seville and are looking at a few days there in October. We had a bit of rain in Barcelona and again in Florence, high winds in Marseille, missed Alghero due to high swells and had fog on and off for 2 days between Gibraltar and Southampton. The weather was all over the place but a really good holiday. Enjoy.

Wow never had to wait that long. We cruised on Sky and arrived home 12th August email arrived late in the day on 14th and then rang to query the account. Refunded charges of £150+ were transferred to our account within 72 hours.

Hi.

We visited the WW2 tunnels at the beginning of August they had reopened about 6 days before our visit. They have had a lot of work completed in them but I'm guessing that what is now open to the public is a lot less than previously. There was no guided tour you are just asked to wear a hard hat. It was actually underwhelming....sorry.... Having read all about it we were expecting a bit more than we actually saw.

We walked from the ship to the tunnels ,that was a workout and a half. I'm asthmatic so we had a couple of rest stops as well walked the steps. Then walked back down to the cable car, back up by cable and walked the apes area to skywalk. Back down by cable car and through town for an ice cream stop before heading back to ship.

Look into a Gibraltar one day pass. You can use on some bus routes and entry into lots of places. It was a shorter line for the cable car as well.

We were in Barcelona at the beginning of August. We docked about 7 and we got off at 9.15 for our ticket time to Park Guell at 10.15.

Right outside was a very very long queue for the shuttle buses both local and ship paid. To the left was a line of about 15 taxis so we were away from the ship very quickly.

6 minutes ago, MrSchwump said:

I really wonder if this whole chair hog thing is a real or imaginary problem. 

Are people really not able to find a chair at all, or can they just not find one exactly where they want? 
I’ve seen a couple of instances where chairs sit unoccupied by humans but do have books, bags, etc scattered about. But in a dozen or more cruises, those are very rare. 
I really think this is just something people like to kvetch about. 

Yes it's real. OP back again.  We went for an early breakfast on our sea day and all beds had gone around the pool at 8am. Ok grabbed towels....adult only all gone by 9 no sunbeds right up to Vista. It's definitely a Brit thing we had clips on media over here of holiday makers grabbing beds at hotels in Europe. Grabbing and using against grabbing and turning up later are two different things. Looking for other options for our next cruise.

This is from our Sky Princess cruise.

Hi. We disembarked this morning and had a great holiday on Sky Princess. Enjoy your trip and I will be following your story. 

34 minutes ago, doghog said:

All great entertainment 😂 as I always sit on the deck above the pool deck. Birds eye view. 🤣 About 10 years ago I was called a chair hog here on CC because I said I sit in the same lounger for hours on the deck above the pool enjoying the view and my BP. 

If you are using it for hours it's not what I see as a problem it's those that " reserve " a bed and turn up later that are annoying.

Was funny seeing people wrapped up in blankets and towel this morning as the fog horn was blasting through the fog! Just for a sunbed! 

4 hours ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

The drink going AWOL wasn’t good but this seems a nice gesture and I’m impressed they called you. I’m pleased because my experience with Princess guest relations hasn’t been good at all. Sounds like they are far better dealing with complaints onboard than pre cruise. Good to know!

 

reassuring to see they restaurant has been well staffed too. Hope the food has been of good quality too.

The food has been good but I never find food hot as in temperature. Had the steak and the land and sea( steak and lobster) steak cooked to my request but lobster disappointing. I love fish and that has been lovely...salmon, cod ,tuna.

Buffet had plenty of choice but keeping food hot means we only went a couple of times.

19 hours ago, voljeep said:

Empty tables usually are not the issue - crew is - waitstaff and kitchen staff.

Each restaurant has been well staffed and meals are prompt. There has not been anyone waiting at around 7pm. 

Bar areas are busy and are low on staff. Ordering on the app on the whole is a success but one order went awol and turned up 1.5 hours later one drink was a coffee and was stone cold and undrinkable. Commented on crew chat via app and was phoned immediately to sort it out. Offered to arrange full breakfasts to our room as a priority to apologise. 

We are on board now. Estrella has reserve dining port side deck 6.

We've split between Soleil on 5 and Cielo on 6 mostly at 7.10. Maybe a 5 minute delay over the 2 weeks that's all. You could easily walk up I've yet to see either restaurant full at that time even on formal nights. 

Just to add. Visited today and the WW2 tunnels are now open again.

On 8/7/2023 at 3:12 PM, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

 Me too 😊

 

thanks for letting me know. I don’t mind asking at all but it’s good to know I won’t need to. Can you remember what brand of tea they provided please?

 

In the cabin we have Tetley. It is a decent cup but we prefer Yorkshire tea at home.

Hi. OP back and I see it's a topic of interest.

Well quick update a few people on board have read this as I overheard someone agreeing with removing towels if beds are not used. We did bag a sunbed today as we missed a port stop due to high seas. The pools were all over the deck and so sunbeds were not allowed out. 

Had a nice sea day overall.