debs246

Thank you so much @NorbertsNiece for your informative blog and excellent photos. I feel much better prepared for boarding the SoA for the first time in November - so excited! Safe travels home. 😊

5 minutes ago, NorbertsNiece said:

Happy to answer questions, ask questions, take pics etc.

Linda

Thanks so much for posting all this great information! We are taking our first Saga cruise on SoA in November and your photos and info are really helpful and adding to the excitement! 😊

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Just set sail from the Mayflower terminal. Love Boat theme played, causing all the burglar alarms on every Tesla in the adjoing Tesla compound to go off.

Reminded me of the days when Concorde took off !

Reminds me of a time at a Airshow at Humberside Airport many years ago! 😄

3 hours ago, portiaqueen said:

I had brought our own test kits and self tested because I had a dry throat.  We expected to have to quarantine in our cabin but we were moved to deck 9 which we discovered is sealed off as an isolation deck. It was awful. Pack up your things and follow us. Through ‘staff only’ doors and into a lift marked ‘red zone - covid’. No information, no explanation, nothing

no concern was shown about our welfare at all, apart from brief calls from the medical centre who said they were required to note my symptoms daily

I did ask, on day 1, where we were supposed to sit all day and was told ‘on the bed’. The same bed I have to sleep in all night. I asked where, as we had no table, we were supposed to eat. Answer?  Sitting on the bed with the plate in your knee ( to be fair, by this time, she was beginning to sound embarrassed)

when I finally had a meltdown and my husband lost his temper with them we were moved to a different cabin with a small sofa and small table. Guest services staff do phone regularly to ask if there’s anything we need. Getting it is a whole other matter but there are people there who care. They just have no power to change things

Thanks so much for your full explanation. I totally understand that you did the right thing but by doing so you have not been treated fairly. So pleased that you were moved to a better cabin. 
Best wishes for your future travels. 🙂

2 hours ago, portiaqueen said:

We are currently quarantined on Sky Princess. It is not a pleasant experience. There is a complete deck turned over to a plague zone and we were escorted here via the back stairs from our mini suite to a basic balcony cabin. Everything is via room service where they put things on a table outside your cabin then knock & run. Food takes anything up to 1 1/2 hours to arrive and is warm at best. You make your own bed, eat your meals from a plate on your knee, Do your laundry in the sink and exercise by taking turns walking the 11 paces up and down the cabin

I have mild cold symptoms. My husband continues to test negative. For this we are imprisoned. Think hard before you venture onto a cruise ship right now

 

 

So sorry to hear this and hope you make a speedy recovery.

May I ask how you found out you were positive. You obviously boarded clear in Southampton ( I realise you can be carrying it but it doesn’t show) but are they doing random tests onboard or in ports? Or was it because you had cold symptoms you asked to be checked? I thought people who tested positive were disembarked at the port? 
Sorry to ask these questions when you are in such a bad situation but we are due to sail 30 April and I have read so many contradictory posts.

Hi Debs

I’m sure you will love the Emerald Princess. We have sailed on her three times and will be boarding once again 4 November in Barcelona through to LA. Our last trip on her was from Southampton to Sydney, 46 days and the only complaint was having to leave at the end! The crew are always really good with such a good atmosphere on the ship. 

Have a wonderful cruise.

Debs

P.S. Good Cruise Critic name 😄

Ok no probs. I noticed you got a reaction from  rtrmbl once you removed them from the spreadsheet. Nicely worded reply. 🙂

Just to let you know the only time I received a notification was the first one when you put @ in front.

D

We were just wandering around Valletta in Malta and stopped to take some photographs near the cannons. I sat on a bench and thought I had returned the camera to my bag. After a short rest off we wandered till we reached a lovely church, I went into my bag so I could take a photo of the outside and you’ve guessed it no camera! We madly retraced our steps back towards the cannons and there sitting on the bench was a lovely couple who had found it and waited for about twenty minutes to see if anyone would returned. We obviously thanked them and found out that they were actually on our ship so I said to my husband we must buy them a drink when we see them and again you’ve guessed it, we never saw them again.

It’s just so good to know there are kind, thoughtful people in the world still.

@S&DMOM

Thanks for keeping us updated. I’ve never been to Kotor, it sounds lovely so I will watch out for that on future itineraries.Noticed on the webcam you’re in Messina today - did you get to see the all singing all dancing clock tower? 😄

@Aus Traveller

Yes it was an amazing cruise with some wonderful people. We are still in touch with couples around the world that we met on this trip. I always think the Emerald has a friendly atmosphere so I shall be happy to be back onboard.

@strobellayjam Thanks for the info. We haven’t cruised with this Captain or C.D. before so I’ll be interested to see if they are still onboard in November.

@Aus Traveller That was the last trip we did on the Emerald as well! We didn’t have a problem with the door cards but a few weeks into the trip the air conditioning vent would start clicking at 03.00a.m. Thankfully they did manage to sort it out as it was like Chinese water torture!

Also looking forward to sailing along with you. We are on the Emerald 4 November Barcelona to LA so interested to hear your comments about the ship.

I know it’s not important (as I’ve been told before!) but can I ask who the current captain and cruise director are? I know it may change before we join.

Enjoy your vacation.

Debs

Debs-

Thanks; maybe we will run into you. There is basically no Roll Call. I have looked and there are a few single efforts. That is ok. Does anyone know anything about Tim Stringer?

How about CD?

Happy Sailing!

Sorry I’ve not heard of Tim Stringer.

We did receive an email stating the CD on the TA is Dan Falconer but whether this will change when we get across to you who knows. I’ve not sailed with him before either so if anyone could gives us some info on him I’d appreciate it.

We sail out on September 22 for the East Coast itinerary and have not received anything from Princess. Anybody know who the Captain is and have any comments? Thx

Hi Nini

We sail from Copenhagen on the 8 September on the Regal and have not received an email from Princess. However, we have received one for 22 September stating the Captain will be Tim Stringer. It appears to be very hit and miss as to what you receive!

See you onboard.

Debs :)

We use Stugeron,(active ingredient Cinnarizine) we have tried several others over the years but keep coming back to Stugeron. They do make you a little drowsy sometimes. They are around £3 for 15 x 15mg tabs.

I agree. I don’t suffer too much from sea sickness but I always take Stugeron with me just in case. They certainly helped me through Biscay on a very choppy journey! :)

We have a different story here in the U.K.

It has just taken us 18 days to have the shareholder credit applied to our account, after sending a reminder email and a follow up telephone call when it still didn’t appear. We didn’t have this problem last year.

Thanks for all the information. We have never done a B2B and I just wanted to check!

Cheers!:wine-glass:

Can anyone tell me if you buy a wine package on a B2B and have any bottles left over after the first part, can you carry any over or would you have to claim them and keep them in the cabin?

Thanks

Hi Susie

I may be wrong be I think Pam's link is to Cartagena in Colombia not the one in the Med. Didn't want you booking transport and then wondering where it was on the day!

Debs

Thanks for a good review and excellent photos. We are leaving in about five hours time to join the Reflection with the same itinerary. If I wasn't hyper before I certainly am now!

Thanks for sharing :D

Debbie

Thanks, did a search, but didn't see the post you mentioned, I'll keep looking! Yes bigger balcony, but not a suite. Thanks again!

This may be the one you are looking for:

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?p=48089575&highlight=ubd+four+caribe#post48089575

Post No 114.

Hope this helps.

Debbie

Hi Stephen

Thank you so much for taking us with you on this cruise! I have loved reading your blog and you have inspired me to make a much greater effort with my own diary when we are onboard the Emerald at the end of September. This will be the longest cruise that I have ever done and to detail it as you have will help to bring the memories flooding back at a later date.

Safe journey home.

Debbie :)

Hi Wynnum

I don't know if this helps but there is a web site called Seadogs Reunited which details the Arcadia's itineraries by old crew members.

http://www.seadogs-reunited.com/Arcdia_Itinerary.htm

Hope the link works - if not just copy and paste. Hopefully this is the right ship.

Good luck with the Elite status - we're still working on ours!

Debbie :)

Thank you both for all the information and I will have a drink to you both when we go next week. :)

Debs

debs246,

We have travelled quite a bit, all over the world, and done our own tours never having an issue.

If you research carefully and make sure you use companies/services that are recommended by others, their business is based on tourism and cruises are big bucks in so many of these places.

It's in their interest to make sure all goes well and the private tours are always the best way to go, unless there's flights involved, of course!;)

Even in the rustic areas of Indonesia we've done private tours and had a much much better value for our money, and a better experience than the ships tours...many times taking the private tours covers as much as 2-3 different ships tours...

Just my experience...;)

Hi J18

I must admit we are getting much more adventurous than we used to be and we don't have any ship's tours booked for our upcoming cruise. :)

Debs