hobbsie65

I also have just come back from Istanbul & still find it the friendly & exciting city it has always been in my many visits. With a homicide rate half of New York's maybe they should also stop sailing from there as well.

I would love to see piano bars on board - I love visiting these when I am in the States & it is one of the things I missed when I moved back.

Can I just ask - if you book onboard what offers do you get? Do you get the current offer + the perks from booking onboard? Do they tell you the price when you book onboard?

I am looking at a 7 night Athens - Istanbul next year although am a bit reluctant due to Istanbul being one of the main reasons we want to take this cruise after many happy visits so interested to see if they change this port again next year - it makes booking flights a problem if they cancel at the last minute due to disembarking there.

Hi all. We are flying from Manchester to Barbados to join Azura on 13th November. Has anyone purchased extra luggage, how dos you do it and what was the cost?

Any help you can give is appreciated!

 

Lorraine

I would call TC direct or ask on the P&O board - this thread is manly for scheduled flights & your flight is a charter flight so most posters would be unaware of TC flights as it would not be an airline you would use unless you are from the UK & on a P&O cruise. Have a great time :)

Here are some views from obstructed cabins on the Equinox. The cabins should be the same as the Solstice.

 

http://celebrityequinoxancientempiresandtran.blogspot.com/2009/11/equinox-cabin.html

 

I popped into a few extra cabins on the day between our back-to-back cruises to get pictures of some of the other types of obstructions but didn't always take the room number sign as the idea didn't occur to me to post the photos until later. I believe I have 6189, 6165, 6163, 6159 and 6155 (this one is of an angled balcony).

 

The best spot is to try and get a cabin between two boats. Then you can see straight down to the water. We were in an 07 first and then a 2C. The 07 was between life boats whereas the 2C was not. However, no matter what the obstruction they all weren't really that obstructed as you could see easily over the lifeboat.

 

Cheers!

Michelle

Thanks Michelle - I have 6155 on my next cruise so very happy with that.

OK - found the answer on a certain search engine. Their trip is 21st October to 2nd November

Fab - we are joining on the 2nd November:)

Just click this link to go to the official page for the required visa & additional info

Free Visa EVisitor 601

Visa is free for Australia for UK passports - just apply through the official website & takes about 24 hours if not quicker. Just did ours yesterday for our November trip.

Hi,

We are doing this cruise in November & I found this from another post.

1st formal night was the 1st sea day (on the way from Sydney to Tasmania), 2nd formal night was when cruising The Sounds in NZ (day 6) and the 3rd formal night was on the last sea day (day 10)

Yeah..... the seats are currently available for purchase on paid up tickets.... my OneWorld meagre status counts for nothing.... ho hum.... I'll be fine.... all part of the adventure....

That was the reason we booked Singapore as you can book the exit seats at the same time you book the flight - I would not fly economy without exit seats so that was a big + for me plus they are part of star alliance.

Just to warn you that I think this port is by tender & weather can play a factor as it might be cancelled. I have booked our one & only tour through the ship for this port so we can get one of the first tenders off or get our money back easily if we can not tender in. All our other trips have been booked independently. Enjoy :)

Book Singapore Airlines via Singapore - you can also book extra legroom seats in the upper deck at the time of booking very reasonably which should make a big difference to your flight. I am doing this in November & paid less than £850 return with exit seats & I have a gold card for star alliance so can use the lounges as well. Enjoy :)

Chris you made me laugh!

 

My son is a International soccer nut and actually asked me if he could wear his Real Madrid Jersey in Blue. You guys will have a lot to talk about next week but I am warning you the team he follows in the EPL is Chelsea!

 

Wonder if we will be able to get the Women's world cup on the ship?

Can I say what a very sensible son you have as well - I am a Chelsea season ticket holder so enjoy watching the champions all the time :)

I also think that travel insurance is advised as essential in the UK by all travel industries & agents. We can get 'free' public health care in Europe but I would want private everyday of the week after my experience of living in Greece for 15 years :) Most people buy travel insurance the same as house or life insurance & as you say, the price is very reasonable for something I consider a must for our peace of mind when travelling. We get a very good free travel policy through our bank for Europe travels, which again is very common, but for longer trips I always buy it. As I stated before, I worked in the travel industry in Greece for many years and saw the financial & emotional effects first hand of not having travel insurance.

I think that being European,travel insurance is an essential part of travel as the chances are you are travelling to a different country rather than state to state. I lived & worked in Greece & Cyprus for 15 years and saw first hand the trauma & distress the lack of travel insurance causes tourists including finding 20,000 euros required for an air ambulance.

My trip cover for Aus/NZ in November has cost me just £40 ($60) for both of us - a small price to pay seeing I just claimed back over £2,000 ($3,000) from a trip we had to cancel to Mexico with non-refundable tickets/hotels due to medical reasons.

Just purchased non refundable air fare... wondering if we should buy insurance in case something unforeseen happens?

 

Is this something folks do with non refundable tickets... generally purchase air tickets with a penalty but cost was prohibitive... non refundable $2172... with penalty over $5000...

 

Any thoughts on which insurance carrier would be good for insurance on such a ticket?

I always buy non refundable tickets as the cost difference is normally massive. I bought ours for our NZ/Aus cruise this November before Christmas as it was a good fare & I wanted specific seats to pre-book & bought our insurance as soon as the flights were booked.

Animals in the cabin, ie small dogs/cats in a bag.

 

IMHO they should go in the cargo hold just like larger dogs. . There are a number of airlines moving in this direction. Cannot be too soon for me.

 

Far too much pandering to people who do not understand the difference between a human being and a pet.

 

I think therapy pets are a bunch of nonsense, but in any event store them with the rest of the cargo and treat them for what they are-animals.

I've met many people who I would store in the hold as well Being an animal lover I would rather sit next to my dog on a flight rather than some overweight person who has only paid for 1 seat yet half of his body seems to take over my seat. I would do what they do in Asia & weigh you & your luggage before a flight

You guys have opened my eyes to this extra dinning 'experience' !! We are doing a NZ cruise in November & do not want to bring formal wear with us so I was going to book these on formal nights but you guys are right so I am glad I read this thread before paying on-line. We will wait until we get onboard to see if there are any deals but if not we are more than happy to eat in the buffet - it is included & saves me some money for tours

S&D Mom, where did you find it in your reservation??? I just finished looking all around they while they were happy to sell me lots of specialty dining, I could not find anything about Select Dining reservations.........

There is a link at the top which says 'Dining & Beverage' - just click on this & select 'see all dining' You will also see at the top - You can still make dining reservations for Night 3, Night 5, Night 7, Night 8, Night 10, Night 11, but availability is limited. Find the perfect restaurant here. Plan all cruise dining!

I did ours for our November NZ/Aus cruise last month although I would imagine it will get busy after final payment.

Many thanks for your help - I just found this on trip advisor so I presume this is different than the lockers.

If this doesn’t suit the Britomart Travel Centre in nearby Queen St has 24 hr storage at $10 per bag for small bags & $15 for a large one up to 80x40x90cms. This is on the train level & there is a lift & escalator.

Hi everyone,

We are taking a cruise from Sydney to Auckland in November & when we disembark we are going to Waiheke for a couple days. Please could any Auckland 'natives ' confirm if there is somewhere we can leave our bags for a couple days down-town to save us dragging them with us. I think there is short term at the I-Site locations but maybe there is something in the Britomart Travel Centre which is long term.

Many thanks

Paul

Great post. Everything you say appears to be true. The risk is they will attract people that cruise less and will alienate the more frequent regular cruisers. I used to book suites, then the prices went up. I moved to balconies, then the prices went up. I now book inside staterooms. I guess the next move is to another cruise line. It is worth noting that Queens Grill in Cunard is now cheaper than a Sky Suite on many ex UK Eclipse cruises!

What a beautiful part of the UK you live in

Hi,

We have booked this cabin as it is on the hump & larger but have read some comments that this is slightly different on the Solstice & the cabin is smaller than the same cabin on other 'S' class ships. Has anybody stayed in the cabin who could confirm - I can not find any reviews of this particular cabin.

Many thanks for your help

Lots of peeves here and I don't disagree with most of them.

 

Kids can potentially be very noisy, however, in the past 5 flights, I have not faced that problem.

 

To put things in a more positive light, I am just glad that I get to fly often on holidays (in Economy) and the experiences have been generally ok. Much happier to be going on a holiday!

 

Economy experience on SIA isn't too bad.

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Emirates has a great product in Economy too. Their IFE system is fantastic.

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Even Swiss International wasn't too bad.

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Great video - I am flying Singapore in November to Australia for our cruise & back from Auckland. I managed to get the extra legroom seats in the upstairs economy cabin which I think are really good so along with my star alliance gold card for the lounges I am looking forward to the flight.

I read someone's post about their pet peeve when flying and I thought it might be nice to hear other people's frustrations :eek:

 

Here are mine: 1 bathroom use, Why do so many people run to the bathrooms as soon as the plane has taken off and keep on going and going and going. Don't they know there are bathrooms at the airport that are much more comfortable and mostly cleaner as well. We always make sure to go just before boarding and seldom need to use that tiny, filthy bathroom on the plane.

2. Parents with young children who let them get out of control and bother other passengers by either screaming or pushing the seats in front of them, or worse...as on my last flight, parents who change their babies diapers in the cabin, instead of the bathroom. Disgusting.:(

3. People who feel that they need to drag all their luggage into the cabin, using all overhead space and holding up the boarding process and de-planing.:mad:

Agree with all your points 100% - children should have there own airline