john watson

Yes the end of season sailing home offers a bonus day in the Caribbean. You would be shocked that some people focus too much on price alone and end up with a day shorter cruise. The day lost is in the Caribbean but they check different travel agents and compare the tiny details different airports but overlook the fewer nights because they don't realise this is an issue. Regards John

Royal Caribbean aim their cruise experience at the younger audience. I found them a bit too much with commercial presentation and repeated announcements. They have a lot of add ons and no real discounts for children. I should look at the ship you are thinking of booking and go through the facilities. Regards John

Watch out for the difference in number of nights you are booking. Typically there is a fourteen night and a fifteen night option because flights go out on Friday and Saturday. Regards John

I think the sailing home is a better option as opposed so sailing out as you get jeg lag sorted then you can buy limitless weight of shopping to bring home on the ship. Regards John

I saw on TV goodtogoinsurance.com have no upper age limit and cover pre-existing medical conditions. I have no idea what they are like. Regards John

If you want to get the ball rolling, once on board do a towel sculpture yourself and leave it in pride of place somewhere in the cabin. Once the cabin steward had noticed how pathetic your effort is they may well go totally overboard with humiliating expert examples. Check on line for props needed like sunglasses, coat hangers etc. and leave these lying about on show. If the steward does model something be sure to tell them how impressed you are. Regards John

Travel insurance starts to provide cover the moment you book it. Generally it can only be taken up no earlier than twelve months before travel is completed. If you leave it until a few days before travel a lot of benefits wont apply. e.g. if a member of the travel group has a serious incident preventing travel before you get insurance, it will be regarded as a pre-existing medical condition or incident therefore not covered by the policy. People tend to think of it as health insurance but it often covers failure of the transport getting you to the ship. Theft of cases or reimbursement of expenses relating to cases going missing. If you book Annual Insurance as opposed to single trip insurance and have short breaks or other cruises or general holidays in UK or nominated geographical area you have cover for those trip too. Regards John

In general terms the two sub-groups could link their bookings so you are perceived as a single larger group. This may help in a number of ways on different issues, whether on dining not really sure. Regards John

I am thinking Sapphire will offer more options for entertainment etc. than Coral will due to larger size and number of venues. Regards John

I think your idea of booking 4 and a 3 place table seems logical do do asap. Once on board have a word with restaurant manager as they can probably move bookings about and get you adjacent tables then move them a bit. Regards John

There is a site www.icelolly.com/school-holiday-dates They have a general guide as to when they are but they vary a bit school to school not radically. There is a Government site for this but you need to put in a post code and schools in that area are listed. The ice lolly one should be a good guide and if you want to be super safe don't cruise the week before or after a quoted holiday period. Regards John

Most hotels ask for the check in date and number of nights. When you think about it the Monday you are only there about eight hours before it becomes Tuesday. This can lead to people booking the wrong dates when a different process is used by a hotel. I think in the case mentioned here the higher rate is appropriate for the dates you want to stay. The lower rate includes a Sunday night which is generally a cheaper night Regards John

On Azura you need to go inside at the forward doors to inside up a series of stairs and through white doors that look uninviting. Regards John

Yes one cabin of a much better type is a lot better than two insides. If you go down this route pick one near a public toilets facility in case someone hogs the shower. Third and fourth share pay less per passenger and sometimes it is flat rate even on higher grade cabins. Regards John

We did the trip into Edinburgh using a taxi from Inverkeithing and the train goes across the famous Forth Rail Bridge. The best time to go is when the Edinburgh Military Tattoo is on this is out of Glasgow or Edinburgh Firth of Forth usually the latter is overnight with tender service. Regards John

It is a fair while since my daughter attended. Generally speaking we found information in the cabin as they know children's ages. Then daily news letters from the club. I suspect with the app situation things have moved on. It is about "registering" establishing who may sign the children in/out and then just attending. The youth team probably want to go through the rules and the set up with parents. It is important for children to attend as soon as possible as friendship groups build on the early days of the cruise. If your child attends on the third day for example he/she my find everyone else has buddied up. I just turned up whenever and dropped child off then I looked in every half hour then every hour until we established she wanted to remain in club house for long period. It then becomes hard to get them to leave as they want to remain. Regards John

I noted that on my transatlantic the doctor climbed up the mast. I thought if you got up there and had a medical incident aloft you could still be treated. Regards John

Sapphire Princess is one of two Grand Class derivatives built in Japan to a widened design as opposed to their Italian built sisters. Caribbean Princess is 36 metres or 118 feet wide whereas Sapphire Princess is 37 metres or 121 feet 5 inches wide. The wider design had Alaska in mind with more than the extra width being used on the Promenade Deck to allow loungers in that area. I would suggest not choosing Caribbean Princess the name of which sounds like a warmer area of operation design. Regards John.

UK passport holders may travel to Antigua without a visa and stay for a period of up to six months .and you can travel to Barbados without a visa and also stay for a period of up to six months unless you are coming from India, Brazil or South Africa. P&O should have your UK passport details and be aware that visas are not needed therein. Where visas are required on the P&O website if you put passport details requiring a visa a next question pops up about your visa number. If you are not sure about visa requirements, phone P&O with an unusual passport they refer you to an agency that goes through all the details of things you need to comply with regulations in respect of visas. Regards John

My interpretation from what is said in the video is; formal, less formal and least formal are presentations of the food and the way the service is provided as in the highest deck level a quicker service for people who wish to get out of the MDR more speedily and do not perceive the meal as an occasion but want to get on to the theatre or other venue to start their evening. I do not think it is about how the passengers dress. Regards John

The lowest level will be most formal and as you go up to the next higher deck in the same MDR it will be less formal and even less the next deck up. I think this is more to do with presentation of the food. Regards John

I think it's good of people about the pool to wear something. Regards John

People say that the standards on Princess are declining. I should imagine this is the case for all cruise lines at the moment having emerged from a global health problem causing the industry to shut down for a year. Some lines have ceased to exist. Imagine if you had no income for a year? Had to sell one of your cars to keep going. Many people are still trying to get every possible benefit from their cruise. Regards John

I am wondering if the noise is being generated by the hydraulic pumps which evacuate the toilets, They make a lot of noise and neighbouring cabins along the corridor or above/below might have pumps straining to clear the pipes. Regards John

P&O generally have a daily solo coffee morning meeting. Other than that they tend to have large solo tables in the MDR. If they still do so that gives you at least a group of people you can touch base with daily. I noticed that some of our diners linked up for the theatre. The coffee morning crowd sometimes formed groups to go ashore of do something together in the day. Some of the diners found they had the same excursions and grouped together. Regards John