DropThePuck

1 hour ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Yes but some people shower at night before dinner rather than in the morning. 

We shower in the morning and then in the evening, tidying up the room as we go. I suppose it is my military  upbringing that my father instilled on me. Having said that, he would put his shoes outside his cabin door expecting them to be polished.

17 hours ago, wowzz said:

In the past it would also have included change of towels,  cabin tidy up, curtains drawn, plus chocolates! 

Isn't that all mostly done in the morning? Apart from chocolates and curtains.

I have never had my bed turned down, so don't understand why this is a "thing". It doesn't take much to pull your own sheet down and get into bed. Unless I am misunderstanding what makes up turn down.

11 hours ago, tring said:

 

Have you checked the daily itinerary on your login for the cruise.  We fly out to Malta from Manchester on the 6th October and return from Tenerife 16 days later and are flight details are there.  We have an 11.30am return flight time from Tenerife, but not sure if a flight number is showing for the return yet.  We did not get any notification, just logged in and there it was.  You may need to go into the individual days where it lists your ports for that day and any other bookings you have made for that day.

There's nothing there. I have sent a message to the travel agent to ask the cost to change to Birmingham.

I know November is a long way away, but I do like to have everything set out properly. I may try to change flights to Birmingham, but cannot get hold of the cruise company. Probably due to loads of people concerned about flights. Why I didn't pick Birmingham initially,  have no idea. Less than an hour away for us, with Gatwick being at least 2 hours.

43 minutes ago, LinniB said:

We didn’t receive flight details until 8 days before last p and o cruise ! Let’s hope better luck this time !

That's terrible.  That makes it so hard to plan ahead.  I have been told it could be any one of the London airports.  I might ask to change to Birmingham, which is closer to us, but at least I know it is just the one airport.

We will be cruising on Azura from Tenerife on 11th November for my 60th.  We are really looking forward to it.  I haven't been to the Canaries/Madeira since I was 11, and really enjoyed it then.  I do remember it being a bit rocky in the Bay of Biscay, but starting in Tenerife we should avoid the choppy stuff.

The basket ride in Madeira was brilliant on the cobbles.  Will be interesting to see how it is on Tarmac.

I am a bit tense as we haven't received flight info yet, other than London.  I like to book parking, etc well in advance.  Does anyone have their flight info yet?  Hopefully, all the ongoing issues won't be so prevalent then.

4 hours ago, pennib said:

We are in the Canaries in November on Marella so we might see you! We are hoping it will be warm. We went on the same trip in March and it was freezing. If you go to La  Gomera, don’’t bother with  the cheese “factory”.we went in March and it was a rip off. 

Thanks for the tip. If you are on the Marella Explorer, that was originally the Celebrity Galaxy, which we sailed on in 1999. Lovely ship.

My memories of the Canaries as an 11 year old boy are Mount Teide in Tenerife and black sand in Las Palmas (Gran Canaria). I also remember the wicker ride in Madeira.

56 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

It is always difficult to determine the weather but it should be warm. You probably won't see a massive difference between P&O and Princess, there will likely be more Brits on Azura, plus other little nuances. Tips are included with the P&O price but of course you can still give to anyone who you feel deserve it. Azura is a lovely ship, enjoy your cruise and have a happy 60th birthday.

Thanks. Much appreciated. We always tip extra for those that have had a good impact on our cruise.

Our staycation on Princess was all Brits. It was only 4 days, but really nice. The cabins look remarkably similar.

We are really looking forward to it. I have only ever done 5 cruises, but now it seems they will be becoming part of my impending retirement years holiday routine. It is amazing to wake up in a different country.

As the title says, we will be having our first cruise on a P & O ship in November around the Canary Islands and Madeira. It will be first te back to the Canaries since 1973, when we sailed on the Union Castle Reina del Mar from Southampton. This time we start from Tenerife.

My wife and I did a staycation on Regal Princess last year, which was lovely, and prior to that on Celebrity Galaxy around the Southern Caribbean in 1999.

It is my 60th birthday in November this year. All I could think about was being on a cruise ship on my 60th. My choices were limited, as I didn't want to fly too far, be away for more than 10 days and didn't want to spend a fortune. So, this cruise fit the bill.

So, how will we find the Azura against Princess and the 1990's Galaxy that we sailed on. I'll leave the Reina del Mar out of the comparison 😀

I have booked outside balcony R201. Once again, choices were limited. Any thoughts on this location?  Flights have not been confirmed yet - I am doing these through P&O - any idea when they would be released?

As far as The Canaries are concerned, will it still be quite warm in mid November? I realise Madeira quite a way north, so will be cooler.

Many thanks for any thoughts, tips, etc

Just a quick question. I originally signed up for Cruise Critic in about 1999. This was when I lived in another country with a different email address. I have now signed up with a new email address. But, was wondering if that old information is still there? The email address does not exist anymore, so cannot do a "forgot password" reset, etc. I am just curious what I posted back when I was young and stupid. I am now older and wiser, but still stupid (in a fun way).

Just had our first cruise in 21 years. It was brilliant.

In reading the above posts, I was never able to book specialty dining on the app prior to the cruise. I was able to book main dining, but only in Allegro, which we preferred to Concerto, anyway. Once on board, the contents of the app change significantly, and we were able to book Sabatini's, which was amazing.

18 hours ago, debsjc said:

 

Thanks for the info, did they ever pop up to 'book' on the app, because there are currently none showing for our Sep 23 Cruise

They did, but closer to the time of sailing. However, I don't believe booking does anything, apart from guide the ship as to how many may be attending. They did not scan our Medallion when entering the theatre.

Just finished a four night cruise on Regal. Main theatre shows are at 8pm and 10pm. First night was a comedian  who we didn't see - apparently he was awful. Second night a Motown show by the ship's company and band - brilliant. Third night we had singer Andy Abraham, who was great. I don't think he is doing any other performances on Regal. Fourth night a stage musical/opera show by the ship's company. Fantastic, with beautiful staging. Don't let the opera part put you off - very well done.

We dined in Allegro on the cruise that ended 28th August. It seemed smaller than Concerto. We always asked to be sat with the same waiters. They had a small semi-enclosed side area, with a few tables, which we really liked. Massive credit to Oleksiy and Francis, our favourite waiters.

We had to vacate our cabin. It was all handled very professionally. The staff are an absolute credit to the company.

AJ was fantastic at the piano.

On 8/22/2021 at 7:47 AM, caribill said:

 

How long have you been trying to book the specialty dining?

 

This close to the cruise I would not expect to be able to do it.

Ever since we made the booking.  Can book regular dining, but specialty gives a system error message.

8 hours ago, RSS from SF said:

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Unfortunately NO for me; the stupid dining booking function has not worked for me for weeks.

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Not able to book specialty dining - sail on Tuesday.

Thank you for the information.  I haven't seen the insurance bit in the app.  We do have insurance with the endorsement letter from the company.

10 hours ago, memoak said:

You can get the travel summary on the web site but for  boarding passes it sends you to the app which will not operate for all.  Hopefully the travel summary will get people into the check in lines

4 hours ago, DropThePuck said:

Miraculously, the app seems to be working this morning, although I see no reference to my wife on it.  Presumably that is because she has to set up her own?

It is frustrating.  When I said it was working earlier - It sort of works.  With my email address, only I exist on this cruise, but when my wife puts the app on her phone using a different email address, we are both there.  I cannot access travel documents or do anything, really.  She can do more. Wife 1, Husband 0 😀

I tried to sort this out with Customer Service, but after an hour on hold, I gave up.  I hate being unorganised.

Miraculously, the app seems to be working this morning, although I see no reference to my wife on it.  Presumably that is because she has to set up her own?

First time on Princess.  Experiences, so far, haven't been great.  Took ages to get a confirmation of the booking.

We sail in 10 days and cannot get the app to recognise our booking number.  Have emailed support.  Why you can't do the same thing on the website as the app defeats me.  Not everyone has a smart phone - I know several people that don't.  In fact I know many that don't have a laptop/pc.

Concerned I may miss a vital step.