Midsomer Madness

I believe you can't remove tips if on freedom dining

Same old ports again I see...p&o could do so much better....

Thanks for posting though!

My husband is doing this excursion this year and for some reason the excursion is at 12 noon. If its the same later in the year you would not have time for it before heading to the airport.

However when we did this trip on previous cruises it was at 9.00 a.m so its possible you could fit it in, although unless we had a very late flight I don't think we would risk it.

i have read of many people on early saver and saver fares who tried to get their dinner sitting changed and were unsuccessful.

Our TA told us that even if bookings are linked things like dining, flights etc cannot be guaranteed and you take your chances.

We booked an early saver on Oriana last year when the early saver fares first came out, we asked for second sitting, table for 8 and that is what we got.

The fare when it went to saver from early saver never went as low as what we paid. So sometimes you can be lucky in that respect!

We tend to book select fares when we are cruising with family or friends to ensure we get the dining we want and are all sat together, and also on the same flights if doing a caribbean fly cruise.

If its just myself and my husband we book whatever deal we can get at the time, sometimes select, sometimes early saver. As yet we have never booked a late saver though.

We are calling at Tortola in March, I appreciate we will have to tender in. Where abouts are you dropped off with the tenders is it near to where the taxis etc used to be? I ask because we have a favourite bar which we go to and I'm hoping it won't be too much further to have to walk to!

Thanks

We have stayed in outside cabins and inside cabins on D deck, D168 being one, so very nearby, they all had just showers adm we had no problems with any of the cabins...we are back in one of those cabins in August. Sure you won't have any problems

You should also take into account flights on these cruises..if there are a few of you going and you book a saver fare you could end up on different flights..not important to some, but is to others..I think with that sort of saving we woild just eat in Sindhu and the glasshouse for 14 nights if we got a sitting we didn't like or couldn't change

Thomson flights will possibly be on the Dreamliner..not sure whether thomas cook are using their updated planes yet or not..Dreamliner has loads of leg room and we found it very comfortable last year...our flight from Gatwick in March is again on a dreamliner

Personaliser was down all day yesterday and part of Friday to, we logged on just before midnight on new years day as our flight seats were released at midnight...picked seats, went to add to basket and it kicked me out. Couldnt get back in on my iPad but managed to complete the booking on my iPhone, our friends were doing the same at the same time, one of the laptop had no problems but the one on the iPad encountered same problems as me. We eventually all got booked though..I tried to get in this morning and all seems ok now..good,luck it's a dreadful system!

We did JVD on our own in 2011.. We went as part of a catermeran trip...we had a fabulous time but were pushing it a bit on our return as captain changed back on board time to an hour earlier and we stopped to pick up a small dinghy which needed help...we made it back on board with 5 minutes to spare! I think you can get a ferry across as well but not sure where that leaves from.

It's because they are running the old and new systems side by side for now until the new system is fully implemented, I presume very shortly.

We were on this one and have done 7 precious cruises with Cunard across the fleet. I too thought there was a smell of cigarette smoke around the ship..never noticed it before.

I would say that our cabin steward Donna was fabulous, she had a great sense of humour and was very funny.

We thought service in the Britannia Restaurant was dreadful. Our wine waitress had a real attitude problem and was downright rude...our table waiters weren't up to much and we walked out of breakfast on Sunday after waiting 45 minutes for a bagel...for the first time ever we removed our auto tips and tipped according to service....they also kept running out of beer in certain bars!

We have always had brilliant service with Cunard some were left veryndisappointed this time, plus it was our friends first experience of Cunard..not sure they will be hurrying back!

We too have just got home..we put new and old labels on..our case was waiting for us when we first arrived at our cabin..our friends arrived 10 minutes matter and they had old labels!

Regarding the priority boarding we were ushered in front of the very small queue who were waiting...our friends who are first time cruisers checked in half an hour after us after arriving later, but the nice ladies in the terminal let them board as priority passenegrs with us..

Just got home from the 3 nighter on QM2... Boarding was delayed due to late arrival and then deep clean...no bar menus, or salt and pepper on tables for the first couple of days, toilet doors left open (they should think about this when the gents are opposite the ladies..we got an eyeful on more than one occasion! :eek:

Everything seemed to be getting back to normal yesterday.

Hope everyone joining for Christmas and New Year have a fabulous time...must say that after 8 cruises with Cunard, the service in the britannia restaurant was appalling...we walked out of breakfast yesterday after waiting 45 minutes for a bagel!

I'm on board & we've been under extra sanitation measures since around Day 3.

 

We've escaped and it hasn't spoilt our enjoyment of a great cruise.

That was someone who took it on board with them then...glad you have still had a great cruise,,hope the seas aren't too rough the last couple of days!

I appreciate that, but you usually hear of some passenger or other mentioning it on here, or other forums/facebook etc. Not heard anything but its that time of year. Azura has it apparently as well :(

Stranger things have happened. I know there was a dreadful outbreak on the Xmas cruise the year before last I think it was....lots of press about that!

I'm glad they are doing a deep clean, better to be safe than sorry...not sure why they have changed the terminal though apart from maybe the weather??

Its just i've heard no reports of it on the current cruise and you usually read at least 3 or 4 articles when NV is on a ship!

We saw similar on our recent Oriana cruise....the carers seems more intent at sailaway in drinking cocktails and dancing....

Just had a text to say embarkation on Friday for the 3 nighter is to be delayed by an hour on QM2 because they have to do a deep clean due to NV on board, so will probably get on later with our priority embarkation than we normally do without it!

We got the same text :( such a shame as its only a short cruise on Friday..no doubt they want to make sure its all gone by the time the xmas and new year passengers board when we disembark....me cynical? :rolleyes:

We,got an excellent early saver on Oriana, the late saver fare never went as low as what we paid apart from 2 days before sailing and then only by £20.. We also got the dinner sitting and table size we requested...

It's worth looking very closely at the details. Bottles sold on board tend to be 1litre whereas supermarket sales tend to be 70cl. Also on board sales are sometimes "Export Strength" 43% (or even 47%)alc as opposed to the more usual 40%alc.

 

Obviously these aren't hard and fast rules, just something to watch out for.

 

Regards, Colin.

It was slightly stronger on board and yes it was a litre, but it was also a litre in sainsburys although only 40%! I can remember getting two bottles on azura for £20 not so long ago!

I found the same recently on P&O. Bottle of Bombay Sapphire £19...its on offer at £18 in Sainsbury's at the moment. Obviously I waited till I got home and stocked up!

They have stopped the priority embarkation check in desks so now we will get tuts by people thinking we are pushing in!