Bestbubba

We're on the Equinox TA in April and I'm enjoying following along. Thank you for doing a "live from" 😊

Equinox was our first Celebrity cruise many years ago, after that we were hooked!! 

11 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

We used it at the end of a couple of world cruise segments for a couple of years.

 

Book the bags in online with all the required details [the company will know which cruise terminal the ship will be using from your details], disembark, collect luggage from the luggage hall, walk through to the exit and there will be a person with a sign by the side of their large van with signage, waiting to take the bags off you.

 

The bag/s will be delivered a day or two later to the address given.

 

It really is that simple.

Sounds fab, just what we're looking for, thank you so much for your prompt response. 

Sue 

On 8/4/2024 at 7:50 AM, Victoria2 said:

We used

The Baggage Handling Company

to send bags home [S'ton to UK address] a couple of times.

 

Couldn't fault the service at all.

Can you explain how it works please?

We use Airpotr when we're flying, it's brilliant. Picks up our luggage from home and checks it in, leaving us footloose and (hands) free till we pick it up on the carousel at our destination. We'd really appreciate not having to think about luggage on our return to Southampton. 

TIA

Sue 

On 6/13/2024 at 7:56 AM, chemmo said:

I understand your disappointment….

 

One of the real disappointment of travel is when those ‘bucket list’ sights, much anticipated, don’t come to fruition. Just heard on the news that the Acropolis is closed today because of a heatwave. 
 

On a positive note if you miss a bucket list sight doesn’t that give you the ‘right’ to return!

Exactly this! In Rio we took a tour to see the famous Christ the Redeemer statue. The fog was so thick we said we could be looking at Nelson's Column. We literally couldn't see our hands in front of our faces. 

7 hours ago, alc13 said:

And they also stop at T4.  Transit time or from Southampton is about 2 hours.

And the cost is approximately £30pp.

We have just returned from a Princess cruise, disembarking in Southampton. We booked a National Express coach to London, they had other coaches going to Heathrow. For approx £25 total for the 2 of us. A cab to the coach station was less than £10. It was a comfortable, stress free journey. Sorry I don't know how to add a link but Google is your friend! 

We got off as you got on! We had the most amazing time.

We haven't cruised Princess for a number of years, this cruise reminded us how much we always enjoyed them.

Unfortunately we missed 2 ports, selfishly it didn't impact us, we'd visited them before, but fellow cruisers were very disappointed. Portland was subbed for one of them and we had the best time. We spent the day in Weymouth where they were enjoying what we Brits call a Charity Fun Day. Stalls selling all sorts, street entertainers, delicious food stalls, it was great, an added bonus? The sun shone all day!

We agree with you, the crew were outstanding. Enjoy every moment, we certainly did. 

2 minutes ago, nini said:

 

How do you know if you will get good seats if Princess handles it? we are all for booking through Princess, but we also want great seats.

I totally get what you're saying. I'm a planner and like to be in control and this really worried me too! In the event our seats were perfect, quite high up and very central. Be prepared to become great friends with whoever is seated next to you, the seats are quite small! 

6 hours ago, nini said:

 

Thank you so much for sharing this! I have quite a bit of Scottish heritage and my grandfather played the bagpipe.

Did you do the Princess excursion from Greenock? It looks like we leave that port at 2:00 am; indicating that would be where we go to Edinburgh for the Tattoo. I know it is a bit more expensive through Princess, but I really don't mind. You still booked your own Tattoo tickets, correct?

Where did you sit; do you have any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

Hi there, yes we booked the Princess excursion, tickets and transfer. It was from Greenock and we wanted the security of knowing we'd not have to worry about getting back to the ship. I'd really recommend doing it this way, for peace of mind. 

45 minutes ago, nini said:

Thank you to @Pirateskigirl for this lovely report. We loved our British Isles cruise in May 2022. We enjoyed mostly great weather.

I am so glad that we were able to see the Book of Kells and the Long Room before their renovation.

 

I encourage all of you thinking about this itinerary to go for it. We may repeat it in August 2025 so we can see The Military Tattoo/ Highland Games in Edinburgh (it is only in August).

If you can cruise at a time that allows you to see the Military Tattoo please do so. We saw it whilst sailing on a Princess cruise and honestly it was an absolute highlight. We booked the Princess excursion although you can book  tickets yourself online, we did it for ease. The cruise line must have sent at least 15 coaches. Before the Tattoo started they lit up the castle with a welcome to all the Princess cruisers! It was an unforgettable evening. 

We have an aft balcony, no shade, deck 15, today it's too hot on the balcony.... Didn't expect this in May in Scotland, global warming or just lucky? 

Also a heads up, when we got off the ship this morning, in the terminal there was a sign advertising return coach to Glasgow £10pp, a bargain! Not sure how much the train is but it's definitely going to be much cheaper than Princess. 

3 minutes ago, Cloudyrain said:

Totally agree: I'm a Brit and prone to be nesh, but was still in a bikini in the garden last week when it hit the dazzling heights of 18c 😂

Another Brit  and same here, slapping on the factor 50! Not the bikini though, that ship's sailed!!!! 

Thank you everyone for your helpful and thoughtful replies.

We're really looking forward to our first Cunard cruise. 

First time sailing Cunard but we've been cruising since the 80s. 

On past cruises we've been able to pre book  speciality dining, cabin gifts, wine etc but I can't find anywhere online to do this for our QM2 cruise in November. Am I too early? Am I not looking in the right place? 

Any help would be much appreciated. 

Many thanks. 

1 minute ago, david63 said:

I have found that on Princess the sommelier in the restaurant is only too willing to allow you to have a taste of any wine before you order it.

Thank you, that's good to know. 

18 minutes ago, david63 said:

If you don't like it then why order it in the first place? That is just plain wasteful.

How will the poster know if she likes it or not if she doesn't taste it🙄? 

10 hours ago, Doug R. said:

Or Crocs with socks.

My teenage grandchildren tell me crocs with socks are the fashion! 

18 minutes ago, 20165 said:

Thank you and thats the one we are looking at.  Can you tell me how it worked?  Special bag, credit on your onboard account, etc?  Im trying to spend a little time in guest services as possible and it seems the more stuff i prebook, the more time i get to spend with them straightening things out.  We have had bad luck prepurchasing things on other cruise lines so just wondering how MSC does with prepurchases. thx

We're just back from the Divina. 

We'd prepaid for laundry. You just fill out the regular form, add your 20/40 pieces and we just wrote on the form PAID with a copy of the confirmation MSC had sent. We bought the package before the increase. As others have said, the new prepaid price is higher than the offer on the ship. If it were me I'd wait till I was onboard. 

Our last MSC cruise was pre covid, on the Musica from Rio to Venice. A really great cruise. Every evening in the dining room, a different risotto was offered as one of the starters. They were delicious. I've seen lots of menus posted lately and no risotto on any of them. We're sailing on Divina in May, the TA to Barcelona and my dear husband was looking forward to enjoying them once again. Is he going to be disappointed? Its certainly not that big a deal but seemed strange on an Italian cruise line. Can anyone confirm one way or the other? 

Many thanks and warmest wishes for a happy new year. 

We've just booked an MSC cruise for next May. Yesterday we received an email from them with links to specific Covid cover "add on" insurance. We are in our 70s and the quote was £53. Although we have an annual policy that does say it covers Covid-19,  we thought for £53 it was worth it. Belt and braces perhaps,  but we wont have to worry about the wording of our policy perhaps not ticking all MSC boxes.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. I will certainly take note of all your advice and suggestions. Again, many thanks. 

Sue 

30 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

That would certainly be a lovely way to travel home.  😁   Divina is a great ship, too.  I love the Fantasia-class ships. 

It does look lovely 😊

40 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Hi Sue.  Thank you for your kind words.  Which TA are you considering.  We have one on Europa ending at Genoa, too.   Hoping Ryanair will be flying to Dublin then. 
 

Bea

Hi Bea 

I'd love to try Europa, looks amazing. We're on Divina, looking on it as a nice way to come home after visiting our children in the USA. 

Sue 

3 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

We thought we’d never fly Ryanair til we had no choice last year when our Aer Lingus flights, booked through MSC, were swapped out.   Well, we were very pleasantly surprised by our experience and would have no hesitation flying with them again. 

Hello Beamafar! I remember what a great help you were when we booked our first MSC cruise pre covid, I was hoping you'd see my post😊

Many thanks for your prompt and positive reply. 

Sue 

We're thinking of booking a T/A  next spring that ends in Genoa. The only airline seems to be Ryanair. Any thoughts or experiences flying with them from Genoa would be gratefully received. Thank you.