lake5298

Has anyone been on a Caribbean fly-cruise since the new rule about slogan T-shirts came in?

I've no intention of wearing "stag do" type T-shirts, which I understand the rule is aimed at, but I'm unsure how far it goes.

I've got T-shirts with pictures on, T-shirts with pictures and names of ports of call on. Are people still wearing this kind of thing?

Just not sure what to pack - am I going to be stuck with completely plain T-shirts?

AFAIK - Hellesylt is a short stop for passengers on certain shore excursions only.

P&O are getting more and more cavalier with their attitude to their regular customers. Perhaps they assume that we will not move to another line and give up our Peninsular Club Benefits.

Of course, MSC with their "Status Match" programme will match loyalty levels from other cruise lines. I realise that MSC are not to everyone's taste - but for those of us who like a less formal and more European atmosphere, the option is there.

I'm cruising out of Malta next May. My TA has been able to get P&O to change the date of my outbound flight so that we fly to Malta 3 days before the cruise. Total cost - just an extra £20 per person.

Obviously I need to book and pay separately for the hotel and taxi transfers - but I have found a seafront hotel in Sliema with good reviews at £90 per room per night.

You have to leave the cabin but you stay on board - buses leave for the airport all day depending on your flight time.

Hand luggage can be left at the theatre for safe keeping.

Get off and back on the ship exactly the same as you can do at all the other ports.

Yes, some people may think the all inclusive price is unrealistically expensive but I disagree. I generally get up around 8am and my head is a bit whoosey on account of the alcohol still in the system. However you can take stuff you have stashed overnight into breakfast for a top up and have it with your meal. There's generally a quiz mid morning and if you want a good seat I get there early and get a few bevvies in for the quiz and when bingo follows you don't mind if you do not win. I think I have won in the past but was busy getting the waiter's attention and missed the boat. Lunchtime is soon after that and normally as you know, they store up your unused wine and save the rest for dinner. There's normally an afternoon trivia, so I just repeat the morning system. Then on to the evening meal, I like second sitting as some cruises you get an officer on the table who buys the wine, a godsend in my opinion. Then it's off to the theatre where it's best to get an end seat so the waiters can get at you. I go to second performance, then onto the karaoke place where I like to sing a bit and get a few rounds in with the current crowd. After that it's on to the casino, which is a bit of a waste of money but normally the waiters are good at bringing the drinks round to the players. Normally this closes at around 12.30 so I like to get an early night so I can be up early for breakfast. In my opinion All Inclusive will be excellent value for money.

 

Regards John

John Watson - you are a LEGEND !!!!!

1. I notice that these are sold as either 2 x 7 night cruises or 1 x 14 night cruise - does this mean that the menu and entertainment is on a 7 night rotation i.e. we can pretty much expect the same stuff week 2 that we got on week 1?

Food is repeated. While most entertainment also repeated, the "fly-in" entertainers will probably be different.

2. In the Main Dining Room do they have everyday items that can be fall-backs for picky eaters (my wife :-) )?

Yes. Chicken, burger etc.

3. How large is the theatre, on celebrity we never had any issue getting a seat arriving 10 mins before curtain up? I've heard of lots of issues on P & O's Brittania which I thought was of a similar design to the Royal Princess.

You will probably need to be 20 minutes ahead, especially for the earlier show.

4. Celebrity have recently ditched Formal Night in favour of Evening Chic, we like this as it saves having to carry clothes that are we use for a few hours a year. How foes Formal Night work on Princess is most if the ship off limits like Cunard?

Princess are far less restrictive than Cunard and P&O. I've not seen an issue in any bar or dining room when dressing smart but not formal.

5. Is there a site that has up to date drinks menu with prices, weighing up whether to get a drinks package?

The drinks package is quite pricey. Break-even point is approx 8 drinks a day for beer, less for wine and cocktails..

8. We book balcony cabins - any really duff cabins to avoid, not bothered about a slight obstruction but wouldn't want to book a balcony to have a very obscured view. On Celebrity's Solstice class eve the obstructed cabins have a reasonable sea view.

There is a reasonable view outwards (but not downwards) from the obstructed cabins, the survival craft are just below. There may be a privacy issue when crew are maintaining the survival craft.

Your flight arrangements leaving Alaska are needed by US immigration. This is why they show on the 2nd leg of the BTB.

CBP want to know when and how you are leaving the US.

At least this is the situation for us who are from the UK. Perhaps it also applies if you are from the "lower 48"...

All the P&O ships have their own plus and minus points. Oceana has some great public areas and lots of pools for her size. We are booked to go on her next year - it will be nice to be on her again. The aft pool and bar are particular favourites of ours.

Princess have been using this system for the last couple of years - it's not perfect as quite often the person who is meant to be scanning cards isn't at the entrance to the muster station, and you then need to track them down to have the card scanned,

I had assumed that P&O already did it too - but I've not been on P&O since 2015 so didn't know they were still using the older procedure.

It's certainly a step in the right direction...

I bought several Godard giclee limited editions and one Godard original from Princess Fine Arts. Always a pleasant experience.

More recently I bought a Godard giclee from Park West. While the price was good ( I think they looked up the wrong price ) the service was poor. Staff were either inattentive or pushy and the delivery was very slow - almost 5 months!

Once, we only got our assigned cabin at the port - but it was an upgrade. We've been lucky enough to get inside to outside twice, inside to balcony four times, and once even inside to mini-suite!!

Sometimes there is a big saving to be had by booking a Guarantee cabin - but you have to accept that it's their choice of cabin, not yours.

We certainly chose our balcony - and have declined "upgrades if offered" - for a forthcoming cruise to Venice. I want to be certain of being on the Starboard to get the early morning views of St Mark's Square.

It's always fun watching people "try it on" at the bars. In Club 6, the bar staff had one of the scanners that are used when boarding the ship - a scan of the card brought up a photo of the passenger.

Amusing to hear the excuses "My mother must have taken my card" or similar coming from 19/20 year-old's who were refused alcohol.

I have an outlet question! From reading here it seems like there is a shortage of outlets? We are in a full suite on the Coral. My husband has a CPAP machine. Are there outlets near the side of the bed? I also usually keep my phone plugged in at night beside the bed.

I also travel with a CPAP machine. I also carry a 5 metre extension cord in case there is no convenient outlet. I've found that there is an outlet beside the bed in balcony cabins - but only on the dressing table side - so there can still be need for an extension. I've never been able to afford a suite so I can't tell you where the outlets are.

Even if I knew of a convenient outlet I would still carry my extension cord with me, in case of travel disruption necessitating a hotel stay, and because it always lives in my CPAP bag so it's there whenever I travel - so I can't forget it.

By virtue of it being a 2 pin US style cord it's certainly not surge protected. There are three outlets on the end of the cord - the CPAP goes into one, a USB charger into another, so my iPhone & iPad sit by the bedside - handy if I wake up in the night.

Porto Soller is absolutely beautiful.

Last May when we cruised on Thomson Majesty we sailed round trip from Palma and arranged our own flights, so we had a couple of days pre-cruise and a week after, when we hired a car and stayed in three different places - Cala Ratjada was lovely, but the real highlight was a (relatively inexpensive) hotel on the front in Porto Soller - just across from the tram stop.

We're hoping to do this again - the only real difficulty is in finding "cruise only" prices when they want to sell you a fly-cruise.

Timanfaya National Park - the "Fire Mountain" is my number 1 memory of Lanzarote. The volcanic scenery as you approach is out of this world, before you even get to experience riding around the caldera, handling hot gravel from just inches below the surface and seeing water turn to jets of steam.

I've also enjoyed "Jameos Del Agua" as well as the "Cesar Manrique Fundacion". The "Mirador Del Rio" is nice - for an hour or so.

It's a case of prioritising, as there are so many fascinating attractions. In fact, we are going there for a week in May (staying on land for a change) to see it all.

The US dollar has been accepted at every place in the Caribbean that I have been to - and usually the change has been given in US$ as well.

...It has been suggested that Princess make an Elite Plus status for those with over a certain number of cruise...

Princess already recognise the "Most Travelled Passengers" with either a Captain's Lunch or a special Cocktail Party. This isn't really a Captain's Circle tier as such, as it is dependent on how well travelled your fellow passengers are whether you meet the "cut" for these events.

From 25 cruises onwards there is a bit of OBC - starting at $25 and increasing gradually to $100, that gives us a free excursion or something else, and is nice to receive.

I'd certainly be very happy with a few more "Elite Plus" benefits. Increased internet minutes, Sabatini breakfast, priority table reservations etc would all be nice...

Princess have a shuttle coach in Dublin - you can buy tickets on board the ship. It drops you near the amusingly titled "Knobs and Knockers" shop. The HO-HO buses run from this street for a narrated tour of the city.

Montserrat is in a beautiful location, so you can look forward to a very scenic coach journey. There can be long queues to see the "Black Madonna". There are also furnicular railways going from the main monastery - the one that climbs further up from the monastery leads to a little secluded plateau with amazing views of the monastery and the surrounding area.

A big question is your brother's ability to climb and descend stairs - boarding trains and coaches is an issue for this.

Also it is worth checking for tender ports as this might also be a problem.

...I'm trying to scout cruises that are likely to experience a price drop due to being undersold after final payment.

Another reason for NCL to only list 15 of each cabin type...

Liverpool - the cruise ship terminal is right in the centre of the city. Can easily explore on foot or by short taxi runs.

Cobh (Cork is the main city) - the ship is right by the small town which is easy to walk round.

Dublin - take the shuttle from the port into the city, there is a hop-on hop-off bus once you are in the city.

Invergordon (Inverness is the main city) - the ship is right by the small town which is easy to walk round.

A couple of observations - and FWIW we were on board for at least some of the filming. We saw the wrecked boat from our balcony - and Captain Bob was completely right in not launching the FRC to investigate a derelict - there was an immense swell - but he kept position for several hours and we only left the scene after the Coastguard released us from the duty.

The idea that anyone would be on tenterhooks to see if they the most traveled passengers is just plain silly.

As well as plain silly, it's inaccurate. The three Most Travelled Passengers are informed, by letter, a day or two before the event. 2nd & 3rd are requested to make themselves known on arrival, to be shown to their reserved tables. The 1st MTP is escorted from their cabin - usually by the Captain's Circle hostess or one of the Entertainment staff - to the party.

We were about 80 days short of being 3rd MTP - but have been 3rd & 2nd previously. It truly depends on the other passengers - one cruise after being 3rd MTP we didn't even get into the top 20 for the Captain's Lunch!

My understanding is that guest relations and shore excursion depts. are similarly graded and all under the control of the guest services manager, and in episode 1 Timothy was now said to be a senior customer services manager, so I guess he got a promotion.

The two services are indeed part of the same department, so moving from one to the other is not unknown. Congratulations to Timothy - he has the extrovert personality to cheer up unhappy passengers and the caring nature to do a good job.

Sounds fine to me.

P&O are fairly traditional by comparison to the US lines - even Princess (which used to be owned by P&O) are less insistent on dress codes. If P&O seem to enforce one aspect more than the others, it is the Jacket. Certain bars will refuse service if no jacket is worn.

I came foul of this rule once - I had a few drinks in one bar with my dinner jacket draped over the back of my chair. After returning to my cabin, I went back to the same bar - service was declined. (I was still wearing dress trousers, dress shirt, bow tie, but no jacket hanging over the back of my chair - I'd hung it in the cabin to save it from getting creased... )

I was quite amused to see that a 3-stripe Officer was served in the same bar while not wearing a jacket on the next formal night.