Dreamgirl1957

Can't decide between two cruises next summer, one on Ventura and one on Azura.

Recently saw a post on another site saying on Ventura the Oasis pool is adults only and FOC to use.

I'm sure I've read somewhere that on Azura this isn't the case and that you need to pay for the spa in order to use it , is this correct ?

Thanks in advance

We had a week on the Majesty last summer, we ate in the Bistro twice as it was so good .

We had more or less the same both times, Mushroom soup in a home made bread bowl , fab! Can't remember what we had for next course but then for main course had steak . They had t bone steak on the menu or surf and turf, first time my husband had the t bone and I asked for just the steak from the surf and turf, it wasn't called fillet, may have been entrecôte but can't remember but it was a fillet and was fantastic , the second visit my husband had the same as me !

First visit we couldn't manage a sweet but second visit we had the crepes with hot cherrys, very nice too.

Every other night we went to Four Seasons and it was very good especially formal night, we went in there for breakfasts too as was much nicer than the self service, you still choose your own hot breakfast but waiters bring teas,coffees toast etc and was lovely.

We really liked the ship, everything excellent. We were all inclusive and was fine, house wines very good and during every meal we were topped up several times and never even had to ask. In the Bistro they were more than happy to serve us the house wine and just like in the MDR kept us well supplied.

Hope you enjoy it all as much as we did!

Have some photos of the bistro meals but not sure how to add them on here unless someone can explain.

Hi, will be able to answer some .

We loved the Majesty .

Food was very good, the self service restaurants On Majesty are both on the top deck near the pools and not so good if weather cold although in one you can take food down to the lovely bar below so not an issue ,we only used buffet midday anyway.

In the evening and for breakfast we used the Four Seasons MDR , food was fab! Service excellent and if you are all inc they keep the wine flowing all through your meal! Breakfast very good there too with a mix of waiter service and self service for hot English etc .

You def need a "plus" cabin as they are bigger than a standard which are a bit snug.

Yes there is a casino ,not sure about under 13's in there though. Also not sure about kids clubs ,sure there were some but didn't really notice.

Shows are very good, crew are fantastic and don't miss the crew show that's on once a week it's great.

You can't get bottled water to take ashore on your all inc but it's not expensive about one euro then buy more when ashore, they sell water as you get off the ship as you que up.

Yes you can take your own hair dryer, no tea making in cabins on majesty, lots take thermal mugs or flasks to fill and take back to cabins :-)

If there's anything else just ask.

Vicki :-)

With some generous OBC deals at the moment, do we lose any that is not spent at the end, or can it be carried over to another crise?

You could spend it in the shops on board couldn't you if any left? Perfume, aftershave , a watch ....etc.

Arcadia has a covered pool so that will be handy if weather not too warm as always feels tropical when pools are covered and heated, lovely and relaxing.

Also there's the spa to use with the thermal pool and heated beds :-)

Hi Steve ,

Me and my husband are in our fifties but feel like we are in our thirties and would like to think we look like we're in our forties! ;-)

We are booked on Arcadia for next New Year.

I asked quite a few previous Arcadia passengers about the average passenger age before we booked and got lots of different opinions.

Some said mostly older, some said forties and over, some said all ages .

Since we booked I've talked to lots of people on another site who love Arcadia and are mostly quite young so I think that although there will be a good percentage of over sixties there will be plenty of under fifties too and a fair amount of under thirties too as they now do weddings at sea etc....

Have heard it's a lovely ship , relaxed but also quite the party ship if that's what you like :-)

Hello ! .....sorry Geo, I'm here , a bit late though ! Sorry I've been a bit hit and miss recently !

I'm afraid I tend to look on fb and join in on there and have mostly forgotten about good faithful old CC .

I will start to look on here again much more, all the posts on this thread show what a lovely bunch of people hang out here ;-)

Hi Vicki,

We too are having a cruise on P&O next year on Azura in the Caribbean Thomson do need a bigger newer ship .:)

Hope you have a fab time, we are looking at booking Caribbean for the following year :-)

Hopefully on Azura , hope that's still in Caribbean when Brittania arrives ......

Mojito or Cosmopolitan , both fab :-)

Just got a 2 grades free cabin upgrade for my upcoming Oceana cruise, plus the £150 extra on board credit for owning 100 Carnival shares. Best investment i have ever made with return equivalent to over 20% PA interest tax paid :)

I was looking at those shares the other day Dave , may buy 100, seems a good deal to get the extra OBC every time :-)

Geo has already said it Vicki - it is on the P&O v's Thomson thread ;) - doh; this thread!!!!

Haha Jules I must have been half asleep !

Can't wait to see what Geo has to say as we are jumping ship next year to try P&O .

 

We love the Thomson crews and brilliant atmosphere so hope we aren't disappointed .....

Was having a blond/ senior moment! Didn't look past page 1 !

Just read it all, thanks Geo, really interesting.

Let's hope we enjoy our new year cruise next year on Arcadia ,long way off yet but I'll let everyone know what we think :-)

Can't wait to see what Geo has to say as we are jumping ship next year to try P&O .

We love the Thomson crews and brilliant atmosphere so hope we aren't disappointed .....

I booked a select the other day and didn't even notice a "no upgrade" box :confused:

Think when you book online it's easy to miss, if you don't do anything then it's automatically set to "auto upgrade" I'm sure (but check.)

You can ring up and ask them to take it off if you don't want the risk of ending up right at the bow etc.....then from what's been said as you booked a select fare there's still a good chance they will ring and offer you an upgrade and you can check if you like the new cabin before losing your original one which is what can happen when they auto upgrade you and then give away the cabin you originally chose before you get chance to say your not happy.

That's why we didn't want an auto upgrade as we really want to stay fairly near mid ship .

Hopefully we will still get offered an upgrade but have the choice of refusing it if we don't like the new position. We may not as well but at least then we will be happy midship.

I would happily cruise with Thomsons if they would do allow me to get a good nights sleep. The problem is the single cabins are in noisy, vibration prone locations (possibly not Majesty) and they won't sell a double for single occupation at anything less than 100% supplement.

 

Thomson ships do have more atmosphere than P&O and the entertainment is good. You can get a free booze deal too. Plus no gods waiting room.

 

I may well try Majesty for summer 2015 as I want to cruise the greek isles again.

We were on Majesty this year Dave , we did Aegean and loved it. Fab crew, lovely ship and food was good too :-)

I have 4 cruises booked as 'Select' fares, actually Vantage but P&O did say they would be treated as selects?. I tick the no upgrade as there are 'better' cabins which are actually worse such as noisy balconies next to the exhausts etc. What they should do is offer me upgrades anyway, to a specified cabin. In other words for select fares offer the opportunity to change your mind about upgrades.

Thanks Dave , you seem to be liking P&O , no more thomsons then?

Hi dream girl, yes we do exactly the same as you. We have had phone calls offering upgrades both paid for and free. What they do not do or should not do is upgrade you automatically.

 

Sue

Thanks, I'll keep my fingers crossed we get one, I'd be well chuffed !

You are doing the right thing, you will certainly have less movement where you are.

 

Have a great cruise.

Thanks DaiB :-)

I was upgraded after asking for "no upgrade" on the Azura 2 years ago; we had booked a midships B deck balcony and didn't fancy the C deck ones as they are partially overlooked, but that was what we got, a midship C deck balcony.It was ok though, because if you sat near the back you couldn't be overlooked and the much bigger balcony was a bonus when we invited friends for a drink!

Did you tick " no upgrade " and get moved without them asking you then Clodia ? I'd have been furious .

I do think Azura / Ventura C deck balcony's are very nice though and I'd have been happy with that but not happy if I'd been moved without them asking when you had taken the trouble to opt out of an auto upgrade .

We have found that after a few afternoon cocktails, a pre dinner drink in Manhattan, A few glasses of wine with dinner, A cold beer at the show and a few budweisers in the casino, we reeeeally dont care too much where our cabin is situated:):):):D:D

Is that all .....haha not sure I'd manage all that but I'll try :-)

Hi, we've been on the spirit which is the same , cabins are really roomy with lots of storage.

The celebration is platinum so cabins have all been re furbed and look very good.

Some twins are in an L shape so can't be made into a king size beds so if that matters you can check which and choose a cabin to suit you ,Thomson charge £42 for this.

I do know the Celebration has a huge following and is very popular . I've heard the food is very good and the whole ship looks great after the recent work.

I'm sure someone who's sailed on her will add a comment soon to give you more info.

Thanks everyone that's great

Dai, I'm worried as we still want to be fairly central as my husband gets quite seasick and it's a new year cruise to canaries so we may be in for rough seas.

If it were mid summer ( although I know a chance of rough seas) we would have risked being put in any position in the hope of a better cabin but he's already getting a bit worried after reading about the bad seas at the moment bless him.

A suite must have been fantastic! Think we are still a long way off something that good but we're hoping for an un obstructed window lol :-) thanks

We have booked a select fare and one of the things that offers are top priority for an upgrade ( can't remember exactly how it's worded )

However ... we booked a OV outside cabin and chose one right in the middle as we are worried about choppy seas so ticked " no upgrade" as don't want to be moved just anywhere and end up right at the front in a clear view outside etc if they did upgrade us.

Not meaning I want best of both worlds but just wondered if anyone who has ever said no to an auto upgrade has still been rung and offered an upgrade to a specific cabin number so they can decide or do they never offer as you've said no upgrade ( which I suppose would make sense )

Thanks in advance :-)

thanks NSWP :-)

We actually thought our food on majesty last year was as good or better than on brilliance of the seas the year before .

There are issues with the self service at the back of the ship but a lovely indoor seating area below the one at the front.

We would not hesitate to book her again , just liked everything :-)