mintypixie

I would not say it was do-able especially if you are not used to driving a manual on rural English roads. If you are stopping in Southampton, it is much easier to get to.

Thanks, those are really helpful.

Hi, sorry to resurrect this thread.

We are flying into Orlando, renting a car and dropping it off at Port Canaveral. When we drop it off will the port shuttle take us to the RCCL cruise port, with all our luggage, or should I drop off my OH with the luggage then return the car? Also is it far from the car hire place to where you pick up the shuttle.

Like the OP I am British and not quite sure how things are done.

New to P&O. I am wondering about tea. I know there are tea making facilities in the cabins but where else on board can you get it? Also is it complimentary of is it charged? Finally on other cruise lines we have taken our own tea bag as they serve disgusting American brands, what do P&O serve? Thanks in advance.

Opps missed the bit where you said it was free ;p

Thanks I will take the receipt just to keep the in-laws calm.

It is a half day tour, we get back at 2pm and there is at least a couple of hours left. Is the shuttle run by P&O or the port? How much does it cost? Where abouts do you get it from? Sorry for all the questions, but I would like to do a bit of shopping and have heard there is very little in Zeebrugge itself.

Sorry to be a pain with more questions but you are all so helpful...

I read something about how tobacco might not being sold on EU cruises. We are doing a 3 nighter Southampton to Zeebrugge. Am I to take it that we would not be able to buy multi-packs of cigarettes on board and my hubby would have to bring enough with him?

Also excursions. In all my previous cruises we have always done our own thing in port and not booked an excursion. This time however we are traveling with my hubby's mother and aunt, neither of whom have cruised before, and they are worriers. I would have been happy getting a taxi into Bruges, but my MIL (bless her) was having panic attack thinking of all the things that could go wrong on the 20min journey from port to the city. Plus in the whole of Bruges there would not be a taxi to take us back to port. So I relented and booked on of the ships tours purely for the sake of my own sanity. I booked it online, however except for an email of the receipt, I have not been sent any documentation of this. Do I print off the receipt? Or will there be tickets sent out later? I am a bit confused as like I said I have never done a ships tour before.

We are doing a 3 nighter in May and I was wondering how long it takes to have luggage delivered to cabins, I have waited until 8pm before with other cruise lines? Also is it worth/possible taking them on as hand luggage as we will be going straight to our cabins anyway?

Thanks everyone. I have booked! It was not as convenient as OH would have liked, but I wanted cabins next to each other. Getting excited now, I love being at sea.

We have booked a 3 nighter on the Ventura to give my mother in law a taste of cruising. I was wondering if there would be a formal night or not. Also my hubby is a smoker where would be a good place to book a balcony cabin so he can quickly pop off to indulge (ideally avoiding bars as I want him back withing 3hrs) he does not mind going up or down a couple of flights of stairs.

Yeah, no problem, I would say the 2 oldest could do whatever they wished at ports. The 16 year old, well it depends on how mature you think they are. I travelled alone and with friends to various countries when I was 16 and 17, but my mother was very easy going.

To those who are saying no, if they are over 18 then they are adults. Think of it this way, how would you feel, as an adult, if someone dictated what tours you could go on?

That seems a rather silly reason to cancel, why not all change to My Time dining, either make reservations or all show up together at 5.30pm (or whenever is most convenient), MTD is usually quiet that early so they should seat you together no problem.

I don't think a tiny 35 year old second hand ship sailing in Europe (and no longer part of MSC fleet) has any relation to the beautiful Divina sailing from Miami and constantly being tailored for the US market and squarely aimed at RCI and NCL. But yes I would not have liked your experience either!

I am not sure if you are implying that ships sailing out of Miami or those tailored to the US market are automatically superior to ships sailing in Europe, or why you might think that?

My biggest issue was with the way MSC treated its passengers, being dumped in an airport for 9 hours is not fun! The age of the ship and local has no bearing on that, it was the company and their complete disregard for their customers. I am happy for you that you have found MSC and enjoyed your experience, I hope they treat you better than they did me and my fellow passengers. It was horrendous, and that has made me want to pay a bit extra to a company which I feel treats me with respect.

My first cruise was on the MSC Melody and I will never set foot on one of their ships again.

I appreciate that the Melody was a smaller and older vessel, however the company did not seem to care at all about its passengers.

Being new to the whole cruising thing we were a bit naive and when our travel agents told us that MSC were doing an offer which included flights we took it. We were meant to fly out to Genoa and back from Genoa. 2 weeks before we left they changed it (and there was not enough time to arrange our own flights) so we flew out to Nice (in the wrong country!) we had to wait for 2 1/2 hour for people to arrive off another flight, then nearly a 4 hour coach trip to the port. By the time we got to the ship it was 5pm, the buffet was closed and we had not eaten all day.

The food was terrible, really it was. For an Italian company I expected much better, often cold esp in the buffet. The seating area for the buffet gets really crowed and you are not allowed to take your plate to another area of the ship. Whilst it was old it really was not looked after, there was mould in our bath room and the panels in out cabin were coming away from the wall. Plus our bed had a scratchy old blanket instead of a duvet.

There was very little entertain on board ship, the TV's in public area were generally set to German or Italian channels, one time I changed the channel to BBC as no one was watching it, 5 mins later a woman came through turned it onto a German channel and then read her book, I tried to change it back and she started yelling at me.

The entertainment, with the exception of the Piano Bar, was awful, really cheesy Butlins style games which was very intrusive and took up most of the pool deck. The Piano Bar was great and the musicians top notch. The other shows were bland at best.

On the way back MSC decide we should fly from Milan so by 9am (after having us crammed in the disused theatre for an hour)they put us on a coach, we arrived at Milan around 12pm, however the flight MSC had booked for us was at 9pm!!! Seriously the dropped a coach full of people off and expected the to wait around for 9 hrs! it was disgusting the way we were treated, but by that point they had all the money they would get from us.

Forgive me fellow royalty, I nearly did the unthinkable and book a Carnival Cruise :eek: I was lured in by the promise of low prices and European itineraries. However after doing the maths and comparing the offers I realised I was a fool and RCCL are much better value. Can I ever redeem myself?

A copy of the spreadsheet comparing the cost is attached if you are at all interested. I want cruise 4: 14 night Italian Med on the Indy, whereas Hubby prefers cruise 3: 9 night Spain, France & Portugal on the Navi as it is cheaper.

P.s. Just want to say I don't have anything against Carnival :). I have never sailed with them so I can't make a comparison. They do seem good value and If they sailed from Southampton I would probably book with them, Its just in this instance RCCL offers and UK departure mean they are more suitable for us.

cruises.xls

I wouldn't say Carnival is a "party line" at all, it kind of gets that reputation from the snobby RCCL sailors who will only sail RCCL.

I didn't mean it in a derogatory way just that it Carnival is considered a more laid back line compared to P&O etc. To be honest it is what we want as we are both in our 30's.

Hi, As the Vista is going to be in Europe I am considering cruising on her. So far I have done 1 cruise on MSC's Melody (which despite being an absolute disaster gave me a love of cruising.) and 2 with RCCL (including a TA on the Allure which was in my top 3 most amazing holidays). My partner is slightly reticent as he wants to stay with Royal and get loyalty perks. Whereas I think loyalty for something like holidays comes at a high price. I would rather have 3 cruise all on different lines than 2 with the same cruise line and get a 2-4-1 drinks voucher.

So here are my questions?

How is Carnival different to other cruise lines? I know they have a reputation as a party cruise line, whereas MSC is more middle class oldie line and RCCL is more family oriented. What else sets them apart.

Drinks packages? My google research told me there is an alcohol package at $49 a day, which my hubby would love, and a bottomless soda package. I don't drink for medical reason but do enjoy virgin cocktails, and coffees is there a non alcohol package that includes this. Also is there a way around buying 2 alcohol packages for the cabin (i.e. providing a doctors note).

Promotions (in the UK)? I managed to get a great deal on my TA where a drinks package, OBC and gratuities were included. What sort of promotions should I look out for in the UK?

Thanks everyone, shore days seems like a good Idea to restrict calories. Plus I will be running around too busy to feel hungry.

I have found on cruises there is a bit of food overload, and generally eat less than at home, but then there are lovely yummy cocktails.

Has anyone been on a cruise whilst doing the 5:2 diet or similar?

For those who don't know the 5:2 diet is where you restrict yourself to 500 calories for 2 day and eat normally for 5 days each week.

I don't know how I will be able to be strict with my calorie consumption. especially as there are so many hidden calories in food, such as sauces or salad dressing. You think the salad is healthy but lo and behold you have just had your entire days allowance in 2 mouthfuls.

Not sure I I should keep with it or take a holiday from my diet too.

I booked my last cruise around this time of year when RC had an All-Inc promotion (basically you got select drinks package, gratuities paid and OBC) for UK customers. It was a really good deal and and we chose to pay the difference and upgrade our drinks which was definitely worth it.

The sea has been calling for a while and I have my eye on a TA on the Indy next year, so since July I have regularly checking RC and cant see the same deal, is there anyway to find out if RC will be doing the same promotion in the future?

On my first cruise I had an awful throat infection, I was being treated in the infirmary for the infection but the did have anything that would sooth my sore throat. The cruise was in the Med over Easter and despite all our ports of call the were no pharmacies open. Now I always take soothing throat sweets or cough medicine with me.

With the new bar pricing (cocktails starting at $12, as I understand), are a decent variety of drinks available?

That is a little worrying, although my other half mainly drinks shots not cocktails but still if they are going to put up the bar prices then they should really increase the upto limit.

We are doing the Allure TA, and when we booked we got the select drinks package added, we are thinking of upgrading to the premium package on board, just 1 quick question. Does it include spirits? I know it says cocktails but would cocktails include a vodka and coke? or just a shot of whisky?

Just to let people know I called rc. They emailed the ship who said it would be fine to down grade. I asked them to email this go me and shall be taking a copy just in case.

Really enjoying your review!