Thejuggler

We did the train and Baltic coast trip. An amazing part of Germany, remember 30 years ago it was East Germany. Weather was glorious. The only downside it was a half day tour, but it is still long, about 5 hours. We had early dinner sitting and arrived back with less than half an hour to get ready for dinner. We would have done buffet, but it was a special occasion we had arranged.

Coliseum is a couple of hours, Vatican depends what you want to see. If its just the city from outside again a couple of hours. if you want to see a very small part of the museum, Sistine Chapel, St Peter's at least half a day.

P&Os drinks package is severely flawed as the value can't be demonstrated. They work on Celebrity etc as on board drinks are priced high to make packages look good value.

It is generally accepted that the Grand class ships are a very poor design from the passengers perspective They have a very low level of public space (no crows nest bar compounds this issue) and they are difficult to get around. Muster simply demonstrates this to be the case.

Three things you never buy new, cars, cameras and watches.

Yes. It happens all the time. One reason we used to use an agent was they often had access to cabins which hadn't been released on line.

We've been in a D deck cabin in a similar location. The worst noise will be when docking. Stern thrusters, ropes etc.

Its P&O, but you pay in dollars for your expensive drinks.

It comes dow to what P&O will sell you. I have played with their booking system and had interesting results. 2 adults and a 12 year old no cabins available, so I added another 12 year old and cabins were available. So an issue with 3 in a cabin? Change to 3 adults, no problem getting a cabin!

No need for any luggage. Medium rucksack each.

India is probably the one Visa system which has become worse by going online!

Its not the number of passengers it is how the ship is designed. The Celebrity Eclipse is larger than Ventura, but Ventura (and Grand class in general) have a poor layout giving pinch points, limited quieter public areas and the buffet is badly designed. No crows nest removes a very large public area for use on sea days. Not too bad with a covered pool, but not all Grand Class have that facility. QM2 is an ocean liner, not a cruise ship, and designed for lots of back to back sea day trips crossing the Atlantic.

Check the Celebrity website. They have info on their shore excursions and most do the same type of trips.

Small claims fee for your claim would be £410. Do you have house insurance with legal advice line?

All you can do is go through the company formal complaints procedure then move to legal solutions through small claims procedure. However you would have to prove they damaged the passport and it appears your only proof is 'it wasn't damaged until it was handed to a member of staff'.