HalifaxYorksCruiser

I think they are contacting passengers who had previously asked if they could fly home.

Announcement just made by Captain. 2 lifeboats can’t be repaired and therefore looking to fly home an appropriate number of guests and crew. Still intending to get to Southampton for Friday . Gibraltar cancelled. Letters to be delivered later today with a “gesture of goodwill” !

The difference was we had already docked on Saturday afternoon and could have left Saturday night. The weather to the South West was forecast to be fine. There did not seem to be much to be gained by staying on Sunday in view of the forecast.

Morning all. We are now berthed back at our original berth. Awaiting an update from the bridge. Weather today a lot cooler with light winds and partly cloudy. All I would add at this point is that on Saturday the weather forecast for Majorca on Sunday was for high winds and heavy rain and so I am not sure it was a great idea to stay in Palma.

Captain has announced we are to move berth at 6.30 a.m (tomorrow) back to our original berth as Port Authorities want this berth back ( during mid afternoon they wanted the ship to berth back at our original terminal but that would have meant us all being bussed back so I guess Captain told them in no uncertain terms what he thought of that idea). Palma Port not covered themselves in glory this weekend as yesterday they didn’t tell Captain that they wanted to prioritise a departing Ferry which resulted in us having to circle in the bay in a holding pattern for an hour. Captain wasn’t too happy about that. I get the feeling that there is no love lost between P&O and Palma Port.

We got on board at 6pm local time after 5 hours in the terminal. A shambolic embarkation - passengers had to take over from staff in making announcements as the poor girl ( staff) didn’t have a loud enough voice to make herself heard. We have been told that the ship will stay in port overnight. I suspect that will mean we will miss Gibraltar on Tuesday. Passengers in MDR apparently got a free glass of wine . Those of us dining elsewhere ( we dived into the Glasshouse ) got bugger all ( thanks P&O!).

Ship is alongside and they have called out disabled cabins. The staff need to be issued with a megaphone as trying to shout in a big terminal doesn’t work.

We were told Britannia was expected alongside at 3.30pm . Britannia still at anchor . Just been told now expecting that ship will be alongside at 4.45pm. I fear chaos in the restaurants when we get back aboard. It’s dry outside but still a bit breezy. Ferries have been going in and out and aircraft landing and departing ok - I wonder if there has been some damage that is causing the delay.

This is where we are waiting

We are on this cruise and have been in the terminal since 1pm local time. The storm hit town about 11am . We were walking and were about half way into town. Got soaked. The poncho sellers in town did a roaring trade. Saw a few trees uprooted and people lucky not to get killed in town as we saw large pieces of masonry fall from the roofs/verandas of the shops in the main Ramblas area.

We did the free one on Anthem in the port for Bilbao at the beginning of this month. Unfortunately it was a cloudy day and the port views were nothing special anyway. Worth doing in somewhere spectacular such as Sydney but otherwise monotonous worth paying. From an engineering perspective the North Star must add a lot of weight to the top of the ship and can’t do much for its centre of gravity.

Cheese plate was on the menu every night on our 28th May Anthem cruise. The portion size was bigger than our previous cruises.

A lovely review. We got on the day you got off. We also had a deck 13 balcony cabin which is really handy to nip up one flight to the pool deck. We ate all our evening meals in the MDR and like you had hot food served on hot plates. We ate breakfast in the Solarium restaurant which was surprisingly quiet and the choice was pretty good. Although the Solarium was a bit on the humid side it was where we spent our time whenever the wind on deck was too cold. Our favourite bar was Vintages. Like yourself we really enjoyed We Will Rock You- the singers and musicians were superb.

We do the same. On Anthem a week ago we were allocated a table for Six in Silk in a poor position . In my opinion the four small dining rooms on Quantum class ships have a lot of poorly situated tables. I asked for a table for 2 near a window. We were allocated a nice table near a window but told that we could not have the same table the next day. The following table we got a poor table in Grande . We were on fixed early dining. The concierge in Diamond Lounge spoke to the Head Waiter in Silk and got us a nice window table in Silk for the rest of our cruise.

We did the 7 nights Anthem cruise 28th May to 4th June and was pleased that all our food in MDR (silk) was served hot and on hot plates.

Yes the crab cake and fish dishes were good. As mentioned previously the strip steaks are best avoided as they are truly tasteless.

We got back last Sunday from our 7 night Anthem cruise. Pleased to report that every night the food in MDR was hot and served on hot plates. No problem in having two starters. The food isn’t a gastronomic masterpiece but perfectly acceptable ( although the steaks are best avoided). We didn’t particularly like the 4 small MDR dining rooms as they were cramped and dark but managed to get a nice window table for two ( courtesy of the Diamond Lounge Concierge). Table 337 in Silk was great and service was very good by our Waiters.

I am not in the least bit embarrassed to say I will be one of the passengers at Guest Services on Anthem in 3 weeks time removing auto gratuities. In my mind a gratuity is a reward for exceptional service provided personally to myself by a staff member. I will decide what I think is reasonable. I agree 18% in the U.K. is far from the norm. I honestly have never seen the difference between a hotel and a cruise ship when it comes to gratuities - we don’t have gratuities added to our hotel bills and therefore cannot see why a cruise ship is any different.

We are on Anthem in 3 weeks time. Always seem to have had small pieces of Brie in the past on other ships.

My wife is disappointed that the International Cheese selection is no longer available as she isn’t really a dessert lover and always had the cheese plate whilst I had my dessert. She will have to get her fix of Brie and other cheeses in the Diamond lounge.

We were on Rhapsody last August and after 2 nights of cold food complained to the Food & Beverage Manager. After that the waiting staff ensured that our food was piping hot for the rest of the cruise. Hoping that we don’t need to complain on Anthem at the end of this month.

We are on Anthem on the 28th May and if MDR food is as bad as in the above review we will certainly be complaining.

Oh dear - terrible review of the MDR new menus.

I have watched over the last couple of years most of Paul and Carole’s vlogs and the couple come across as very genuine and honest in their cruise experiences.