Delbankin

I was looking to see what our next Cunard cruise might be and specifically looking at Queen Anne. I noticed in the venue descriptions that there was a note “additional charge” listed against some of the venues so I looked at the other ships we have sailed on previously and noticed the same comment against venues such as The Commodore Lounge etc. I haven’t noticed that before. Is there in fact an “additional charge” for these venues now or does anyone know what this refers to in the description?.

Can anyone advise please what the situation is with some of the premium drinks on the package. Are all brands available in all bars or do they restrict some of the premium brands to certain bars?.

Also, what is the situation with wine at dinner on the AI package?. We normally have order a bottle between two to have throughout our meal - is that permitted or is it a case of ordering by the glass and then having to seek out someone for another glass during the meal?.

If it is by the glass, what would the certainty be of being brought a premium wine or would they simply bring a glass of red or white, which could be anything really?.

Del

Hi,

We are struggling to find out when we can take our pre-departure COVID Lateral Flow test. The Tui/Marella general information suggests the day before but I have seen some posts on Marella related forums where there is a suggestion it must be after 9pm the day before departure.

Our anxiety is that we fly at 6am the following morning which means airport check in around 4am. If we can only take the test after 9pm that doesn’t seem to leave time for the test to be reviewed and a result uploaded for us to use as evidence of negative test, assuming this would be done by a person rather than some automated process based on result submitted.

Does anyone have information on the timing of tests in advance of arrival at the airport for the departing flight?. For our previous cruise with another cruise line it had to be within 24 hours of cruise departure (not flight) so if we could apply that principle for Marella then we could test anytime after 4am the day before.

Any reply with reference to Tui or Marella booking conditions would be appreciated because we can’t find anything that suggests it has to be after 9pm the day before.

Del

Thanks everyone for replies. I can see it has generated some other exchanges as well which is always good. We did contact Axa via M&S after I posted the message (but without much hope really) and they have very quickly provided a copy letter which is general in content but does have virtually the same wording as the Barclays policy (thanks Rebel Rouser) so I think we will take our chances that cruise cover is included. If all else fails, we can always take out a policy online when we are in the cruise terminal!.

Ours is via M&S underwritten by Axa however I’m not sure what relevance P&O insurance posts would have to Tui because as I say Azamara didn’t even look at ours so companies probably have different approaches hence my query. I do appreciate people taking time to reply and hopefully others can give examples of their direct experience. We are reluctant to take out additional insurance however if it is essential to get on board with Tui then we will have to. Some might say it is something the cruise companies and insurers have come together on to make more money out of customers.

We are insured through bank insurance underwritten by one of the major insurance companies and despite phoning and being told cruises are covered, and being sent copies of policies and underwriters cover statement there is no mention of cruises being covered in their literature.

How closely do Tui scrutinise documents prior to boarding?.  We are reluctant to take out cruise specific insurance but will have to if this is insisted upon. We cruised recently with Azamara and they didn’t look at our insurance information.

Does anyone have experience of insurance being checked before boarding or anyone being refused boarding because their insurance didn’t specifically mention cruising?.

Del

Thanks so much to everybody for replies. My wife will be happy. As I said we have cruises with many other lines and have never had a problem with hair styling items. Looking forward to our first Azamara cruise.

Del

Thanks Leo_on_Geo but this is what I see on their booking conditions:

You must not pack in any luggage or bring on board any item specified as dangerous or illegal. Weapons, illegal drugs, and other items that could interfere with the safe operation of the ship or the safe and secure environment of our guests and crew are prohibited. The following are examples of items that guests are not allowed to bring on board, but is not intended to be an exhaustive list:

• Firearms, explosives & ammunition, including realistic replicas

• Sharp objects, including knives and scissors (personal grooming items such as safety razors and scissors with blades less than 4 inches are allowed)

• Illegal drugs & intoxicating substances

• Candles, diffusers & incense

• Coffee makers, kettles, clothes irons, heated hair curlers & hot plates

We are due on our first Azamara cruise in June and were reviewing the booking conditions when we saw a list of prohibited items. The list included what we would refer to in the UK as hair straighteners. We have been on multiple cruises with the majority of cruise lines and have never had an issue with this. Does anyone know if Azamara enforce this e.g. if the items are discovered in luggage or in the cabin, are they removed. Apologies if this has been asked elsewhere but we did look on the forum and couldn’t find anything.

We have been on each ship 2 or 3 times and are going back on QV later this year and I have been looking at recent reviews.

One person suggested they had never been on a ship that moved as much as QV and it made me remember our last trip on QV and the fact that I did think there was quite a bit of movement compared to what we had experienced previously.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on the quality of ride on each of these two ships?. Is one better than the other and has there been any change perhaps as a result of any of the remodelling since each was launched?.

D.

I know there are several threads about this but I wondered if there is any restrictions when buying say in the Canaries. We are on a pre-Christmas cruise and enjoy some of the Spanish red wines. Can we bring them back onto the ship and enjoy them in our stateroom without restriction or charge.

D.

We have cruised with all three and have just left Discovery 2 this morning after 1 week on board so are fairly well placed to comment.

We cruised on a similar class ship with RCI and would observe that the ship has been pretty much "Britishised" so much so that it felt a bit like little Britain at sea. If this is what floats your boat so to speak then you will love it.

Princess caters for a slightly more sophisticated clientele I would say and is slightly more formal. RCI caters for a more international clientele and is probably otherwise similar in class and lack of formality.

The food in the main restaurant in the evenings catered for British tastes and consistently met with expectations, including the Italian upper floor area. We didn't eat in any of the restaurants with a supplement so can't comment.

The staff are probably their greatest asset and did their work with a happy, can do attitude, and mostly in an efficient manner - bar service aside sometimes.

The ship is well kept and the entertainment team do a good job. We have never seen an on board show team worked so hard with shows every night and some performers doing extra sessions in some of the lounges.

We enjoyed our cruise - our first with Thomson after a gap of about 12 years (last on Emerald - now defunct) but would probably not rush back unless the price (and itinerary) was exceptional.

I think it has the British market "sussed" and the all inclusive drinks package was a benefit - no need or value to upgrade to premium in our opinion.

Our main gripe was the selfish reserving of sun beds by passengers and the fact that a group of older teenagers seemed to take over the indoor hot tubs and nightclub area - on other ships we have cruised on they would be excluded from those areas.

The latter is not a reflection of the ship unless you think they should reinforce adult only in certain areas but wouldn't likely be a problem out with school holidays.

I'm sure you chose the cruise with some knowledge of what was coming so I would say go on board with the aim of enjoying yourselves and I'm sure you will.

Del

Thanks Campolady that covers most of the questions I had and thanks also to pensioncruiser (I did read your review). Hopefully we will enjoy our cruise. The only thing of concern from reading other reviews seems to be the lack of seating around the ship in the evening due to the number of people in the venues.

Del.

We are shortly to depart on what will be our first Thomson cruise for around 15 years and wondered what the evening entertainment is like.

On other cruises we have taken there is normally a choice of two headliner shows which are scheduled one before and one after dinner. What is the format on these Thomson ships - is it the same and is the show in a theatre or showroom?

Also what is the other choice of evening entertainment - is there a show band playing a variety of dance music or are there comedy shows or is something provided by the entertainment team?.

I think there is an area with back screens with music playing but not sure if this is entertainment or background?

I also assume there is a late night dance venue.

I can see where the various venues might be on the deck plans but just hoping someone can give me an idea of how they operate throughout the cruise.

Hope to hear from someone who has recent Disco 1 and 2 experience.

Del.

If it is 1000% better it must have been absolutely dire before!

We were on QM2 for the first time in July and thought it was the worst ever experienced on a Cunard ship (or any other for that matter).

Seating was an absolute premium with very long walks with food and the need to leave someone at the table to guarantee having somewhere to sit after returning from a second visit.

Very narrow passageways and areas frequently closing down in advance of when expected.

We often chose to have the lighter offerings from Cafe Carinthia because at least there was space to sit.

Del

Unless you want to feel the occasion is more special because you are drinking champagne I would suggest their English Chapel Down sparkling wine.

It was recommended to us by one of the bar waiters on QM2 and we thoroughly enjoyed it and suggest you wouldn't notice the difference. Slightly different from Veuve Clicquot which we really like but very similar to other champagnes and definitely cheaper.

As mentioned, bringing your own and paying corkage would be even more cost effective but perhaps if it is a special occasion cost doesn't matter.

Del

Host Hattie,

Hope you are enjoying your cruise. I was interested in your comment about the wine package, presumably bought in the UK, and the holding back of putting through your account to avoid Spanish tax. We have frequently bought wine packages and I can't recall ever paying tax on board if the package was bought outwith taxable waters. Is this something new?.

Del.

I know that Cunard have relaxed their dress code and wondered if smart Chinos with smart jacket, shirt and tie are acceptable on informal nights?.

I can't imagine they would stand out as being unsuitable and don't think they would be classed as jeans.

Anyone got any experience of this at all?

Unlike some cruise lines Cunard don't restrict you to having one bottle of each.

I used to check out the wine list after boarding and then find the more expensive bottles within the package and try them first in the hope of getting some better value but from memory on our last cruise the bottle prices within the package were all quite similar which isn't how it used to be. We just found the ones we liked and stuck to them.

If you are considering a package I would recommend purchasing in advance over the telephone from Cunard UK if you are prepared to hang on the line for about 15-20 minutes as I did after three attempts to get through. You will likely save at least the price of a bottle based on higher exchange rate being offered by Cunard This is on top of the already guaranteed saving from buying a package compared to buying at bottle prices. I think this also saves on any service charge if bought on board.

Del

OK thanks everyone. I think I'll post it here in segments and then join together for the review section. Don't suppose I'll be stating anything new but by writing a review it kind of helps extend the holiday by recalling our experiences. I'll get onto it over the next few days.

D.

Hoping to post a review from our recent Epic cruise and wondered if people prefer to read reviews here or in the review section.

I notice reviews posted in this forum broken down into segments appear to be well received.

Any preferences?

Del.

Hi Dramamamahil,

The football match will be 2 days before you are due in Marseille so I imagine things will be much quieter and much safer then. I would keep my options open if I were you and not immediately imagine there will be any problems as those generally happen on days before matches and on the day itself. As I said, most fans from all other countries are generally mixing well together to create a carnival atmosphere and not behaving badly.

Del.

There is a Euro semi-final in Marseille on 7th July and the tournament ends with the final in Paris on 10th July.

We have just returned from Epic cruise that docked in Marseille on the day of the violence. The threat was well documented in UK press in advance so we chose to stay on board which was a pity as it was the only port we hadn't visited before but we took the view as regular cruisers that we would probably re-visit in future when better placed to enjoy what the city and region had to offer.

We spoke to people who had gone ashore oblivious to the likely troubles and had gone early but did experience the beginnings of crowds and police massing as they were ready to head back to the ship.

It seems to depend which countries will be playing as to whether or not there will be a threat of further violence. Anything involving Russia or England could have the potential for trouble whereas fans of other countries seem quite content to mix with each other and have a good time without drinking themselves into oblivion or looking for trouble.

I will post a review of our cruise shortly.

Del.

Hi Smithgirl1277,

What date in June?. We are due there on 11 June and have just noticed that England play Russia in the European football championships that day so there could be potential disruption in the city due to a large influx of football fans. Just wondering what effect this will have on us being able to enjoy what the city has to offer as this will be the only port on the cruise we haven't visited before.

Can't believe they are doing this to QV! We have been on QE and QV several times and are constantly reminded every time we sail on QE that QV is our favourite.

Taking away the Chart Room is bad news. It is our favourite bar on the ship and every time we pass the space on QE we lament the replacement of such a classy venue by a restaurant for Club rooms which we have never seen anyone enter or leave!.

Presume it is a true story so will have to consider what we do for our next cruise given the news.

Del.