Thejuggler

BBC reporting a passenger on British cruise ship Marco Polo has been killed by a freak wave hitting the ship and taking out a window.

One has grabbed our eye. We will wait until mid 2015 and chance on picking up a bargain.

In our experience Select restaurants don't get fully booked. As soon as you embark you will be able to check when formal nights are and book the restaurant at the same time.

On our 7 night Fjord trip the first formal was the second evening after the day at sea, black and white evening was the evening you leave your last port of call, prior to the return sea day.

Alesund can be done independently. The ship docks in the town so plenty to see. We did a full day tour which despite the horrendous rain was amazing, but the town also looked really nice. We just didn't have time to see much of it.

Gerainger and Olden both have independent tour operators willing to take money off you.

The only port where there was very little was Flaam as most passengers go on the train.

The reason you won't find the route on Flybe is because it is now operated by Eastern Airways.

Better to use Skyscanner than individual airline websites as operators do change.

Duck tails are added to reduce fuel consumption rather than improve stability.

In Gerainger there is a bus tour company as you get off the ship. They use open sided minibuses and go on a round trip of 75-90 minutes visiting two vantage points high above the Fjord. Headphones are provided to listen to a commentary.

As good weather cannot be guaranteed this is a good choice as there is no commitment to do the tour if it is raining. Cost last year was about £20 per person.

There are other trips available which can be booked at the large tourist centre.

If you want a table for two in freedom go as soon as the restaurant opens, or after 8.30pm. Any other time you may have a lengthy wait.

I do agree with your comment. However the only thing I would add is the Mr Edgington in his Q&A on this forum said their new price structure was so good they did not expect to have to offer late availability discount....and thats exactly what they are doing.

He has a background in marketing which is all about telling porkies to secure sales. No better than Ms Marlow and her price promise lies.

Early or late May could be the difference between February and early May in the UK. My parents went in early May and there was still lots of snow, to the extent trips were curtailed.

We have had sunshine for a whole week, through to last year where it rained so much in Alesund and Gerainger even the locals were saying they had never seen the waterfalls as dramatic in mid August, but by Olden and Stavanger we were in shorts!

Never been in Oceana, but the Fjords is an excellent choice of destination, a cruise is the cheapest way to see Norway and it is well worth going for longer than a week.

Seems to be a bargain time to cruise.

Azura is doing 12 nights to the Canaries and it covers Easter holidays for some schools. At £700 its a good price.

To prevent getting ripped off with the Euro exchange rates use local currency in Sweden/Norway/Denmark.

Plenty of cashpoints, or credit card for more expensive purchases and if you do spend a larger amount don't forget your taxback forms to claim back the VAT.

Our Eclipse cabin was similar size to Ventura Superior deluxe. The pullman berth on Eclipse is over a seating area, not over the other beds.

And don't restrict GTY to just couples.

Go back to three years ago.

You pay the price you are happy paying. No stupid marketing gimmicks and price promises which are nothing of the sort.

8-12 weeks from sailing offer a GTY fare. It seems to work with Celebrity.

If we had done just the flamm railway we would probably have been disappointed, you do spend a lot of time in tunnels. when done as part of the Norway in a Nutshell tour with bus trip to voss, local train and Flamm railway it is an excellent and good value day out.

Companies plan trips about 2 years in advance and about 12 months in advance all port authorities should have confirmed berths are available. What can change, particularly in the fjords, is local regulations and I know some ports are reducing the number of visits, Gerainger being one of them.

There were three ships in port when we visited earlier this year, but the others were small compared to Eclipse, Saga Ruby and Discovery.

I would be asking questions of P&O as to how this has happened.

Olden is the starting point for trips to the glaciers. Either p&O, or lots of private options.

The village centre is small, there's a land train service which goes round the lake and opportunities for walks. Rib rides on the fjord, helicopter rides for those with cash to burn, but not much else.

It is very good and much more convenient than tenders.

The port guide is very handy, but I notice no mention of the Seawalk in Gerainger. I wonder if P&O will ever use it?

But, unlike P & O and Cunard, as far as I am aware other Cruise Lines have not had a disastrous Fare Policy with a Price Promise that was anything but, and an MD leaving the Company.

 

Therefore one would have thought that both P & O, and Cunard, would have ensured that their new Fare Policy would be designed, and implemented, to ensure that Customers would not be unnecessarily antagonised.

 

It has taken long for that thought to be proven wrong.

Exactly the point, don't shout a message to all if you know it is weapon grade bull.

We found 3 formals over 14 nights an ideal number.

I'd even reduce it to one on 7 night trips and go big on the Captains night. Make it so special that not doing it would make you feel as though you had missed out.

As we experienced on Grand Princess with double freedom capacity two main issues which are cause for complaints are removed. You never have to wait for a table and if P&O can be bothered to rearrnge the rooms more tables for 2-4 can be provided.

We had a table for four every night for a week and never had to queue.

On Eclipse one particular waiting team were brilliant with our daughter and there was never a problem getting a seat in their section when we asked. Celebrity do enable you to book a time with freedom too which is handy if you are in a large group and want to book the same time every night.

During our trip in August we purchased some items in Iceland and were given tax refund forms. Unlike Norway no one comes on board to refund and there was nowhere handy to get an instant refund as we weren't going near a tax refund office.

As advised by the shops we filled in the forms and posted them in the box in the port shop and forgot about it.

Today, 4 months after posting we have had the refund, £25 for the Christmas drinks!

So if you do go none EU and spend money don't forget the tax forms, they do pay out eventually.