backbiter

Thanks for the clarification. We sail on Thursday from Singapore.

Can anyone confirm if the wine bottle allowance on embarkation is two per person or two per stateroom? The advice in this thread is conflicting. Thanks in advance.

Not a Jimmy Buffet fan, but on a Splendor cruise in February I had a similar experience with several of my favourite artists. It made a very welcome change to the over-played hit songs you normally hear time and again.

We were told that a drone had been spotted around Malta airport. We circled for a while but apparently fuel was running low so we diverted to Catania. We were there for about an hour while they refuelled and waited for a new landing slot in Malta. The whole incident delayed our arrival by 2 to 3 hours.

My wife and I were also on this cruise. Really enjoyed the whole experience. The itinerary was great, with most ports new to us - had only been to Cagliari and Palma before. We liked the Azura a lot - more our type of ship than Iona, which we were on in December '21 - and we took advantage of the onboard offer to book again for October 2025. All the staff were a pleasure to deal with. The excursions we did, in Sardinia, Majorca, Lanzarote and Tenerife, were all very well organised and pretty good value compared to our experiences with other cruise lines. Happy overall with the food and drink on board. A few beers were out of stock, but not a bad selection. Buffet food was pretty good, if unexceptional, although the cakes were not great - far too dry. The Epicurean was excellent and The Beach House was also good, but the choices in the main restaurants were largely unimaginative and 'samey'. This might not have been an issue on, say, a 7-night cruise, but after 15 nights we were both crying out for some variety, which has been a feature of other cruise lines we've travelled with. The entertainment was good. Plenty to do all day and all evening, and a very nice friendly atmosphere all over the ship. Enjoyed the shows - some talented performers on board, notably Rachael Hawnt, who did an amazing - and funny - Cher tribute act. We were impressed with the efficiency of the airport transfers on arrival and departure, and had no problems with our TUI and Jet2 flights (The diversion to Sicily on the way to Malta was a pain but nothing to do with P&O).

Thanks for your review. Sounds a terrific itinerary. I'd say you missed out by not exploring Lisbon. It has to be one of the nicest European capitals (and there is some serious competition).

Sorry to hear how crowded Porto was. My only visit there was in October 2015, when it wasn't at all crowded at all. I loved everything about Porto (and Lisbon), and find Portuguese food delicious. Enjoying your detailed trip report. We almost booked this cruise!

The last two European cruises I did on the Pride (Sept 22, July 23) had no draft beer at all. They had a wide variety of canned beers.

That's exactly what we got when the Carnival Pride broke down in the Baltic last month. Except we got 25% not 20%. It was applied to an existing future booking within 3 days of us filling in the form. We also got one twelfth of our cruise fare refunded, as well as taxes for the port we had to miss, plus 100 dollars OBC and free WiFi for the remainder of the cruise. About 70% of passengers had to be flown back to catch their flights home (I'd guess around 90% of the passengers were from the US) leaving around 700 of us onboard. We arrived back in Dover 3 days late, and had a very pleasant bonus stay onboard. I couldn't fault Carnival for the way they looked after us, and I feel the compensation we received was very generous.

We stayed on at Kiel and loved it, too. We weren't B2Bers but our car was in Dover, and were in no rush to get back.The ship was quiet, but didn't feel totally empty other than on Serenity, as the weather wasn't the best. Obviously it was quiet, but not eerily so, with some 700 passengers and 1000 crew. All activities and shows continued, although the shops and casino were shut until we set sail. The atmosphere was great, with a real sense of community as well as people just making the most of an unusual situation. The stewards and waiters had more time to chat with fewer people to serve and cabins to service.

We used it for an existing booking. Carnival applied it within 3 days.

Just read another of Pentlands posts, which went into more detail about his/ her unhappy time on The Pride. I totally sympathise with anyone who had to wait for literally hours at Guest Services and then had to suffer miserable delays at Hamburg airport - not to mention the lack of transfers from the London airport they landed at to Dover. I would have been seriously stressed out and angry. But to say that the only thing worse than what happened would have been a Titanic-style sinking is to lose all perspective. Nobody was hurt.The ship had power at all times, there was running water, aircon, fully-functioning toilets, a fully-functioning kitchen, a $100 credit per room for drinks etc., a refund of one-twelfth of the cruise cost and a 25% FCC, which we received within a couple of days of returning. Yes, mistakes were made getting people home, but this was not a disaster. Pentlands also mentioned being unaware of how to claim the 25% FCC. The link was somewhat buried in the email sent to passengers on July 20th, so here it is: https://www.carnival.com/request-forms/reimbursement-form.aspx

Yes, that hassle at Heathrow was a fitting ending, but - as with the Pride's problems - things could have been worse! Definitely a trip to remember. And fair play to Carnival, they have already applied the 25% FCC to our next cruise, on the Legend to Iceland next July. And they have already credited my card with the one-day refund for the 'curtailment' of our Baltic cruise - even though for us it meant an extra 3 days on the ship.

Yes, no problems on the Pride last week.

We met another B2Ber who had a similar experience. Like you he filled in the form saying he'd be remaining on board, and was shocked to receive a letter giving him details of his charter flight. He went straight to guest services (and had to face the huge queues there) to get himself removed from the flight so that his seat could be switched to someone who needed it. Something clearly went wrong processing some people's responses on the initial form for such mistakes to be made (alternatively, people filling in the forms might have accidentally ticked the wrong box in the stress of the moment. Those opting to stay on the ship were given no indication of how long repairs might take, but had only 2 or 3 hours to weigh everything up and return the form).

Yes, many thanks for your posts. As a fellow passenger on this very memorable cruise, I've really enjoyed reading this thread Agree with all your comments about the ship, the staff and the ports. As on every one of our 20 previous Carnival cruises, we have had exceptionally good and friendly service, from the cabin stewards to the bar staff to the waiters and servers and the entertainment crew. All have been a delight to deal with and a credit to the company. We've had a wonderful time, and the extra 3 days aboard have been a bonus ( we get off at Dover tomorrow). PS The Red Frog band (can't remember their name either!) are from Argentina. All very good musicians who seem to have grown in confidence during the cruise. The other performers around the ship have all been great, too. Off for a farewell cocktail with the crew in the Taj Mahal at 4, to which all the guests are invited. A very nice parting gesture, after a thankyou message earlier from the CEO which was broadcast over the PA system.

They let us go ashore at around 11pm. Went for a wander looking for a bar, but didn't like the look of any on the waterfront (seedy-looking places sandwiched between a few sex clubs). Found a few more but every one was closed so we came back to the ship. Not what we were expecting from our Friday night out on the town in Kiel.

My wife and I are not b2b-ers but opted to stay on till we get back to Dover. Like Joanne, we are not thrilled at being unable to disembark while the repairs are underway (we had visions of day trips to Hamburg and Lübeck or the nice-looking seaside towns nearby), but we are certainly not stressed. I don't feel Carnival could have done any more for the guests in very difficult circumstances. If we'd had flights to worry about we'd have been panicking, and I'm sure the crew will have had to deal with some unpleasant and irate guests. The queues at guest services have been enormous, and they appear to have dispensed with any special Platinum/ Diamond queue. As has been said, they have been forced to devote every minute to dealing with those leaving the ship, and those opting to remain on board and the b2b-ers are the least of their concerns at present. I have no doubt that will change. We've already had our free WiFi, a refund of about $26pp (maybe for port taxes for the cancelled stop in Gothenburg) as well as $50 OBC pp which everyone had. Still to come is a prorata refund for the curtailed part of the cruise ( not sure if this will be 1/12 or more of the cruise fare), and a 25% FCC valid till next July. They might throw in the odd free drink for those (like us) who did not buy a drinks package. Possibly to compensate for there being no Platinum-Diamond drinks reception this cruise (I gather the captain, crew and cruise director had other things to deal with). I have no idea when we'll be back in Dover. Sunday at any time would be great, Monday or Tuesday would be fine, but there has been no indication of how long the repairs will take once the parts arrive.

^^I agree. The whole atmosphere that elegant night used to generate is no more.

They charge $8 per bag, I believe.

Ours, too. Can't praise her enough.

Hobgoblin is good stuff, whether on draft or in bottles. Wychwood Brewery have a great range of very drinkable beers. https://hobgoblinbeer.co.uk/?cbgAge=1961121&cbgC=true

We did stay there the night before our cruise. Very nice, historic pub/ hotel - supposedly Sydney's oldest. Very good choice of beers. Close enough for us to walk to the Terminal, too. A very nice part of the city.

We were on the Splendor last month. The Red Frog summer ale was the only craft beer on board. Having enjoyed the beers on the Vista and other Carnival ships, the lack of decent beer was a let-down. I made do with Great Northern and New, but they were pretty dull. The summer ale was not bad but too hoppy for my taste. I particularly missed the Red Frog Caribbean Wheat, as wheat beer is my beer of choice. Last year on the Pride on a cruise to Norway they had that on draft, and had cans of Blue Moon and Paulaner as well. A few months later on the same ship in the Mediterranean, they had run out of just about everything.

Did that cruise last June. It was excellent. Fantastic itinerary, terrific service, great food and entertainment. Seems like an absolute bargain, so go for it!