don26

Those people who are saying NV is no big deal obviously haven't had it themselves. Anybody who has had NV like my wife & I certainly don't want it again I can assure you. We got it on the late unlamented Island Escape & it is not only the confinement to cabin for infected passenger & everybody else in that cabin, but it ruins the whole cruise. It has been said many times, but the only people to blame are the disgusting unhygienic passengers, not the Cruise Lines & certainly not the crew. The only answer is in our own hands - we must reprimand & humiliate people who don't observe proper hygienic procedures when leaving the washrooms. You know it makes sense.

My last 2 cruises have been on Royal Caribbeans Quantum of the Seas & Anthem of the Seas. Now THAT'S LIVING. Good food, entertainment, friendliness, service, amenities, loyalty bonus's and LUXURY. Have cruised with Thomsons 11 times, but.....

Needless to say RCI haven't responded but I have ascertained that it only works with devices with Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher, & even then might not work (or even be seen on Google Store) for unfortunates like me who can only afford the nasty, cheap, lesser-known but nearly as good as the more well-known brands on the market. Still, who cares, Royal IQ rarely works even for those using Apple products.

Have searched several times but still not showing in Google Play. Am beginning to suspect that it will only work with later versions of Android (mine are Android 2.3.6 and Android 4.2.2) & possibly Google Play detects that Royal IQ wont work on my devices so doesn't display it. Just theories but am taking this up with RCI for confirmation. Will report back for others benefit, but may take some time knowing RCIs response time!

I can't find it on Play Store on either my phone (Android 2.3.6) or Tablet (Android 4.2.2). Any ideas.

What is the itinerary now for the Black Sea Cruise, Don?

 

Would have loved to have done that one - we loved the Black Sea last year.

Day 1: Marmaris

Day 2: Ship At Sea

Day 3: Istanbul Turkey Turkish Lira/Euro/GBP

Day 4: Istanbul Turkey Turkish Lira/Euro/GBP

Day 5: Nessebar Bulgaria Lev/GBP

Day 6: Constanta Roumania Ron-Lei change GBP

Day 7: Ship At Sea

Day 8: Trabzon Turkey Turkish Lira/Euro/GBP

Day 9: Sochi Russia Rouble/Eoro/GBP

Day 10: Batumi Georgia Lari

Day 11: Sinop Turkey Turkish Lira/Euro/GBP

Day 12: Ship At Sea

Day 13: Mytilene Lesbos Euro

Day 14: Kusadasi Turkey Turkish Lira/Euro/GBP

Day 15: Marmaris

Disappointed that we're not going to Odessa, Sevastopol & Yalta in the Crimea, but hey, I can't find my steel helmet & kalashnikov - & it's much safer this way - I hope!

Thomson Celebration - 6th October - Best of the Black Sea (but not Sevastopol) - if I can manage to get my E-ticket printed satisfactorily.

Quantum of the Seas - 2nd November - Maiden Voyage - Transatlantic to New York from Southampton - if they can finish building it in time. (Shades of Titanic)

They only briefly looked at page 1 and were more interested in the home printed airline boarding pass

I agree davecttr, from my experience, the other pages are just waffle.

Thanks to all other contributors for your input.

I will see how my local Thomsons handle this. I can always sweet-talk my friends to use their pc/printer & then I will know whether it's Thomsons corrupt file or my printer/pc.

p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; }a:link { } Has anybody had any problems printing an E-ticket Thomsons send following an on-line booking?

I have successfully printed them previously, but I have tried to print the latest one 3 times, & each time, the printer has stopped halfway down page 2, & nothing I can do will move it on.

My printer has no problem printing any other multi-page documents & I am convinced that the file Thomsons has sent me is corrupt.

I am going into my local Thomsons shop on Thursday to ask them to print the E-ticket for me, but what's the betting they will want to charge me £10 or so. Any thoughts anybody?

I would like to be associated with the remarks of the previous speakers, (kalos & Deb.)

Our 4th on Spirit & yes there were slight differences. We had towel animals every night on Deck 1, Deb, (I must try & book earlier) & singing waiters too.

Tea/coffee making facilities in cabin was a big big plus. Unfortunately, the previous Chef, Charles has moved to Majesty, & whilst the food from the new guy Alan, was good, he doesn't do the Chilled soups that Charles did, which we find delicious - just like smoothies. Entertainment was good, although we had seen 3 of the shows previously, but they stood up to another look. Let's hope Spirit comes back to Newcastle soon.

HELP required by a fellow NY-er – well that's North Yorkshire in Lil Ole UK, but it's NY isn't it.

Have just discovered that Cape Liberty Cruise Port Terminal isn't adjacent to the Wellington Hotel, 871 7th Avenue, NY, in fact it's a million miles from there. Well, 13.4 miles according to Google Earth, but how can 2 decrepit limeys toting 2 x 20kg luggage cases get from the Terminal to our hotel. It's no easy stroll!

Guess cab is favourite, unless anyone can advise me different, but will I have to kill my wife & claim the insurance to pay the cab fare?

All suggestions gratefully received.

Many many thanks HeidiAmsterdam & Elizanessie for those reassuring words. Actually, a cunning plan is springing to mind whereby I could order the cuppas & pastries & tell her that I have had to pay an enormous service charge, but she's worth it. Yes, that should secure a brilliant 8 days at sea. I'm glad I thought of that. Shimmykassy will never know.

After 2 days in NY, NY, we are flying back to Schiphol, so we could come & stay with you Heidi! That's all sorted then. I'm going to have to get my head around all these Meet & Greets, and Cabin Crawls I read about. They mean nothing to me. Life was never like this on Thomson ships!. C'est la vie.

Thanks for that crookedhalo. We're in a Balcony on the inaugural crossing from Southampton, UK to NY, USA, so I guess that means no tea/coffee facilities, so I will have to go in my jimjams (if I can find 'em) to get our early morning cuppas. Woe is me. And woe for anybody peeking.:D

 

When I booked dinners for our Quantum trip in January I did book 3 dinners for Grande. .

What's this about booking dinners 6 months in advance? I'm an RCI virgin & usually just wander in to my cruise ship dinner when I feel like it. If one has to book 6 months or more ahead I think I'll go back to Thomson!:eek::eek::eek:

I'm an RCI virgin so it's a double first going on the TA on Quantum on 2nd November. Forgive me if this a stupid question to all you RCI veterans. We have been used to slumming it on Thomson ships (a British cruise line - well German if you must - for the benefit of our American cousins).

Is it usual for RCI to provide Tea/Coffee making facilities in the cabins,(sorry Staterooms) or do we have to rely on room service to bring us our wake-up cuppa in the morning, & if the latter what sort of charge is made for this privilege.

Although I have done 9 cruises (3 NCL, 6 Thomsons), I have not cruised with FO previously, so I am not aware of their “little foibles”. Neither have I experienced “fixed dining” before having previously been able to dine in MDR at whatever time & whichever table I wished.

I am interested in the “In Search of the Northern Lights” cruise on Boudicca on February 6th, but as this would be a late booking, I expect FO would not allow me to choose which sitting I would like, but allocate whatever sitting they thought fit. Neither my CW or myself would be able to dine at the later sitting for health reasons, & I would object strongly to being asked to pay £60 odd to switch to the earlier sitting if that were necessary.

I appreciate that there are other self-service dining alternatives, but I would not like to miss out on the MDR experience. How stringently do FO police the dining arrangements of their guests? Is it possible to switch sittings with other passengers if they are agreeable? Before anybody points out the obvious, I know that I don’t have to go with FO if I am not happy with things, but this particular cruise appeals to me.

Any suggestions. Incidentally CW is Current Wife. I like to keep her on her toes!

What you always wondered about.

A long time ago, when four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.

Then Mrs Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.

Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.

Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drank all the cider and hidden the liquor. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.

The angel said very cheerfully, 'Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to put it?'

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

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Yep , it was a great cruise apart from missing the Azores, but if it was worse than the Perfect Storm we encountered anyway, I'm glad we swerved round Azores. As others have said, we did Casablanca & Lanzarote instead, where I encountered Charlie the Camel from close range - like sitting alongside him,whilst Mrs Don sat t'other side. Charlie knew every bump up that volcano - he didn't miss one. This week we are going to Gran Canaria, La Pama, Funchal, At sea (aren't I always),Fuertaventura, La Gomera, Tenerife & back to sunny North Yorkshire via Newcastle. Haven't met any CCers yet but still looking in Horizons. See y'all :):):cool:

I can't stop thinking of all the Fillipino friends we have made on Dream, Celebration, Island Escape & especially Spirit Ihaven't been on Majesty, but obviously i must include them also) .) & how they must be affected by the terrible news coming from the Phillipines. I sincerely hope that Thomsons & all ships which have Fillipino crew members are doing the right thing & treating them with compassion in what must be an horrific time for them.

Just right Tizzy-Jo. I will pass on all our love when I join the Thomson Spirit in Tenerife on the 22nd.

All our thoughts & prayers go out to all Filipino crew members on all ships & hope that their families back home are safe. Will be on Spirit in 2 weeks time so will talk to all I see especially Ramon, Glenn & Rambo. I nominate Tizzy-Jo as our spokesperson as it was her brilliant idea

maybe they are going to put the new ‘fairground attraction’ show (currently on celebration) on the dream for winter.....it involves a complicated set construction featuring dodgems (eat your heart out royal caribbbean:p ) and giant cup cake costumes

That was awful Geo! Sooo cheesy - the singing was OK but the storyline - I was surprised at Thomson with that production!

It was so cheesy on Spirit. The plot & acting was atrocious - but the scenery & props were very good - and it passed an hour away. Les Mis was excellent & Cool Britannia too. Probably see 'em all again on Spirit in a couple of weeks time.:)

As I have previously said - the answer is in our hands - it's up to us - join the crusade!

we know about the risk of norovirus....we are cruisers...but many people are not aware of the threat

 

so there you have it! the casual attitude people in this country have towards this illness, somehow they feel its the right thing to struggle into work, go shopping or eating in restaurants despite still being infectious

 

whats needed is more awareness, many people are a bit complacent about norovirus (its a mild illness, its unlikely to kill you, its only the winter vomiting bug)

 

quarantine sounds like such an old fashioned word from the era of typhoid but more quarantine is what is needed, people who have been infected should be made to stay home, people should be taught proper hygiene and infection control, as they try to do in the third world

 

A lot of sense here geo - but it would seem that many CRUISERS still don't understand what needs to be done to safeguard themselves & others. There's not a lot the ships can do to educate them, apart from a big publicity campaign which they seem reluctant to do, presumably because it would draw more attention to a problem that they would rather be kept quiet.