Alcairns

Thanks for taking the time to produce this great and informative “live from” greatly appreciated.

It would seem to suggest the more north you get the colder it gets.

To clarify both comments - The record 100 degree temperatures lasted 2 days. There has been a heat wave in the U.K. for the last two weeks with temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees. The heatwave continues now for the drought!

It’s very difficult to win anything serious on the Deal or No Deal Cards. In March we found our card contained only half the numbers that were on the board the rest were duplicates. This makes it very hard to match the numbers. I checked with several other card holders and they had a similar spread of numbers. It’s fun to watch though - apart from the annoying Fortuna Luck!

Only on US cruises only. CDC guidance only applies to cruises from and to US Ports. CDC guidance does not apply to the vast majority of cruises where local rules will apply. They will not be allowed to follow the money on those cruises where testing will be around for a while.

On our round Britain cruise in 2015 the casino was either closed or had some pretty late hours particularly when sailing up the west coast when it is difficult to leave U.K. waters in the Irish Sea.

This is why the original U.K. protocol of testing at the terminal immediately before boarding made more sense. This has since changed to the 3 day rule and outbreaks have risen.

Princess do not help. I have just had an email re our October cruise from Southampton referring the latest health protocols. It makes specific reference to my cruise and testing at the terminal. There is a link to further info however this link takes me to Sailing out of Europe rather than the U.K. As a previous poster has mentioned the U.K. faqs no longer make reference to testing at the terminal. So confusing!

If cruise lines are going to continue with the pre cruise testing they need to return to pre boarding testing at the terminal. It is futile to test 2-3 days before the cruise when passengers can easily be exposed after taking the test particularly when passing through busy airports. There is still a chance of exposure at the terminal but the risk of outbreaks would be lessened.

Princess have a pre boarding test site at the terminal but it costs $60 per person - billed to the stateroom.

In addition Princess are looking for people to take part in a new U.K. daytime TV programme to be filmed on the Regal between August and October. They are providing the accommodation and expenses. This is not the U.K. version of the Real Love Boat.

The personaliser is online not on the medallionnet app.

I am sorry to disagree but their are no priority lines at Southampton. We have been on two cruises as full suite Elite passengers in the last six months and boarding has been a free for all first come first served basis. Once clear of check in and you have your medallions you may get some priority treatment at security.

You can do it on the medallion app

You can pay $20 (I am reliably informed) a day to enter Princess Prizes otherwise it is included in the Premier Package.

Thanks 😁

Having an excellent suite steward helps! 😁😁

I note from the Medallion app that entry to Sky Prizes can be bought separate to the Premiere package. Does anyone know how much this costs?

No - you will usually get the glass of bubbly when you meet your cabin steward. In April he just brought us the bottle and glasses and left the whole bottle!

In April we self disembarked Sky at 8 am (carried our own baggage off)and we were in our car within ten minutes of leaving stateroom. We parked with CPS which is very close to the ship.

In 2016 we did a shore excursion that involved flying round to Silverking Lodge in Ketchikan for an all you can eat king crab claw meal. It was delicious and when they said all you can eat they meant it. You could also get there by boat or coach.

Can someone please advise what the production shows and entertainment is like?

That would mean loading two separate loads of fuel. Can’t see that happening.

That is exactly why us used the word “portray”! Whether is is totally different experience to what is portrayed is another matter. In my opinion the programme is not a good advertisement for Virgin Cruises. #thecruise

There is a documentary series on Channel 5 in the U.K. entitled The Cruise. It has been filmed over three months on the Scarlet Lady. In my opinion it does not portray Virgin as a cruise line I would like to sail on. Everything was drinking partying (including a pub crawl that ended in a pyjama party) it all seemed to much in your face. It also gave the impression that if you were not a “Rock Star” (read suite guest) you were not treated that specially. I fly Virgin all the time and this did not seem like the Virgin I am accustom too. PS you are not a passenger on Virgin you are a Sailor.