Shallwe123

Hello everyone,

Booked February 2018. Depart Montego Bay 18th December, back to back Cuban Fusion with Exotic Explorer. Balance due Tuesday 25 September.

Only found out about the 9 daylight hours cut short in Havana last Friday via Social Media.

Most of the day Monday 24th on the phone being passed from pillar to post in an effort to find out if our cruise was affected.

Payments Department, Judy , assured me and assured again, that our cruise date was not affected.

On the above assurances from the Payment Dept, I paid the balance Monday evening. A few hours later we received an e mail advising me that Discovery 2 will now dock at 2pm instead of 7am and she will depart at midday the next day instead of 2pm.

The only communication received from Marella /Tui since booking were e mails reminding us to pay the balance.

Our findings since Monday regarding Marellas Cuban Fusion, is that this very same thing happened to their customers last season, problems with the Port of Havana.

They will not answer my questions when asked as to just when they knew about these time changes and will not answer as to why we received no communication from them before our balance was due to be paid.

All we get is waffle, waffle about their A-Z’s but with due respect we are seasoned travellers around the world and are quite accepting of “circumstances that may happen” it’s a fact of life when traveling. However, we feel we have been duped into paying before they told us.

If you rent a car, you are going to have to rent an EZ pass for automatic toll payments. GW Bridge is $15, which is the most expensive toll you will encounter. Depending on where you go, there will likely be other tolls that pop up.

 

Boston - USS Constitution is the big draw. Boston driving can be awful. If you plan to be in Boston, staying outside the city and taking public transit in is recommended. When you firm up your plans, post back with exact date for suggestions.

 

Driving across the GWB - where exactly would you be going that Saturday? I can post detailed directions for taking the GWB and the cars only parkways through NYC and Westchester County to avoid I95 through the South Bronx. There is a $5.50 bridge toll for this route, but it is a scenic cars only ride up the Hudson for a bit and much less congested because many folks take other routes to avoid the toll.

Hi again 138east,

Thank you so much for your replies.

On Saturday 2nd September we will drive to Fall River, probably stop 2 or 3 nights. We want to visit Battleship Cove etc.

From Tuesday as per MKing suggests visit Boston.

Where would you suggest we book a hotel in order that we can use public transport ? MKing suggests 45 minutes out !?

Just been and bought a Michelin detailed road map, so if you could also give us best directions from Newark airport please.

Are all toll plazas Easy Pass only ??

Thanks again for you patience and knoweledge.

Hi everyone,

Wishing for Plan A (cruise) again now 😏!

Well, we've spent hours and hours looking at maps, attractrations, hotels up and over towards Boston, Salem, Gloucester. Fabulous places to visit, think we need 6 months holiday.

Found Battleship Cove - wow, would love to see all the ships. ( we're into anything Naval, Nautical, ww2 stuff, history, (Loved the Naval Yard in Buffalo)

Just realised The Hudson River crossing !! GWB. :o

Spent a week in NYC a couple of years ago and we watched the traffic on this bridge ... it looked very scary to us and on a Saturday morning and and a holiday weekend too.

Thoughts, and advise welcome please.

Or head south! Cape May is beautiful, ferry over to Delaware, Baltimore, DC...

Thanks mjkacmom,

Googled Mystic Seaport late last night and immediately fell in love with the place 😀 Weekend is here now, and we'll be doing our research. Feel more excited by this road trip than the cruise ! 😜

Thanks again.

Hi 138east,

 

Thank you, and did see Summit - but fly back on Saturday 9 September. :-(

 

Will have a look at all places you recommend. Cheers.

Thanks also for heads up on the Labor Day weekend too. :D

When exactly are you flying back to the U.K.? Did you consider Celebrity Summit from Cape Liberty sailing 9/3 for 7 days to Bermuda?

 

How about a road trip to the Boston area? Sep 2-4 is Labor Day weekend, so you might want to make some hotel reservations.

Some New England suggestions:

Mystic Seaport

Newport Rhode Island mansions

Cape Cod (ferry to Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket)

Boston

Salem

Lexington/Concord

Cape Ann (Gloucester/Rockport)

Hi 138east,

Thank you, and did see Summit - but fly back on Saturday 9 September. :-(

Will have a look at all places you recommend. Cheers.

Dear Mking, Noxe, Mskau, Markeb,

Thank you all for your replies, they have all been very useful and much appreciated.

Flying in to IND from U.K. via EWR for a 2 week course. The third week, from 2 September we have free and will be flying back to EWR on the 2nd September.

Saw the NCL Gem cruise advertised and thought what a great idea for our third week. But, after thinking hard about the timings and with the 12 -2pm check in, departure at 4pm - I think we are cutting it too fine. If as you all say, the internal flight is on time, then that's great, but what if it isn't, - potentially not being able to board and the ship sailing away without us.

So, we have decided to hire a car at EWR for a week and do a road trip. Last September / October attended same course, same flight route and all flights bang on time - no problems at all.

Drove from EWR to Niagara Falls and Buffalo last year and we loved it. Everyone was so kind and helpful to us . Great drive up through Finger lakes and back via Watkin Glenn.

Any ideas, suggestions for a week driving / hotel holiday?

Thank you all so much for your input.

Hello everyone,

Would like any help, advise and thoughts before maybe booking an NCL cruise please.

We will be landing at EWR at 9.30am on Saturday 2nd September from Indianapolis airport. The NCL cruise departs on this date too.

Is there enough time for two adults to get over to the cruise terminal in Manhatten. I am told that check in and boarding will be from 12 - 2pm.

We've already booked our flights and are unable to travel in to EWR the day before ! How reliable are United flights on this route and on a Saturday morning. (Wouldn't want to miss the boat !)

Thanks in anticipation

:-)

Oh dear, I feel so sad for you and that your cruise has had such severe changes.

We have just come back from the Fjords on Britannia B613 and had such a fantastic time, even the weather was fantastic all week.

Loved Bergen, Flam, Olden and Stavanger.

As you rightly say, a Fjords cruise is a Fjord cruise !

Hello everyone.

 

For they who are going to visit Olden this summer ( or 2017 ) you can pay with Euro,US Dollar or Pund.

 

But for a reminding,your exchange wil be in Norwegian Kroner :)

 

Welcome to Olden and i hope you will enjoy your stay.

Thank you for posting. We can hardly wait to get to Olden.

We have just returned from Britannia's recent trip to Norway and had the same problem re the Flaam railway. P & O charge an extortionate price for the train and I tried to book independently, but there were no tickets available, except for the 08.30 train. As the ship wasn't docking until around 07.30 any delay would have meant us missing the train, so we booked the excursion.

 

On arrival the train station is less than a 100 yards from the ship and we spoke to several people who went to the ticket office and booked tickets throughout the day independently.

 

Similarly, at Stavanger we booked the fjord trip to Pulpit Rock, only to find the boat and ticket office was right by the ship.

 

Both were spectacular trips and well worth doing.

Thank you so much Meresyke.. We're getting a tad giddy with excitement :-)

Thanks for the good review .We too have booked for next week .Even trying to book the Flam railway on their own website it is fully booked for Britannia ,s next arrival .

Roll on Norway :-)

Having just returned from the Britannias trip to Norway that docked yesterday, and been on the Norway in A Nutshell tour here are a few thoughts of mine.

 

Britannia is a large ship, unless you have prebooked Flåm railway tickets online if you don't book an excursion you may find yourself disappointed I spoke with a few people that tried to buy tickets on the day but all were already taken by P&O.

 

We did it in the reverse order to the Juggler, starting with the train up to snowy Myrdal, through to snowfields to Voss.

 

The lunch buffet was pretty good, a large cold selection, three hot dishes, a selection of breads and rye bread crackers, and fruits and jelly for desserts.

 

After lunch we visited a beautiful waterfall, with a souvenir stand at the bottom, don't use the toilets there they charge 10 kroner, wait until the next stop where they are free.

 

It was a good trip and worth the money.

Thank you Hatters Cruiser for your review of Britannia's Nutshell excursion. We have booked this trip with P&O.

Can't hardly wait to get onboard and explore. We are sooooo looking forward to going to Norway.

Hello everyone,

 

Can anyone give any information / details about doing Norway in a Nutshell with Britannia's excursion team.

 

It seems a bit expensive to us ! Does anyone know if this trip can be done independently ?

 

Cheers

Thank you so much for your input, it's much appreciated.

Hello everyone,

Can anyone give any information / details about doing Norway in a Nutshell with Britannia's excursion team.

It seems a bit expensive to us ! Does anyone know if this trip can be done independently ?

Cheers

Thank you for posting the video.

Feel rather dejected regarding this ship now. This will be our first ever cruise with P & O and would like to think it wouldn't be our last !

Hate the look of all those sun beds pushed together.

My question to all that have cruised aboard Britannia - is there really enough deck space ?

Always ever hopeful and a cruise / holiday is what you make it. :)

We have just got back from the Caribbean/transatlantic on this ship, and our stateroom was on F deck - the deck is all cabins. No problems whatsoever. Good views from balcony. It is above the main line of lifeboats on the deck below. Easy access to dining areas as someone already said, just go to forward or aft staircase whichever is nearest your cabin. Either way it is only a minute or two to get to the other end of the ship despite its size. F deck is deck 9 so if going to meals on deck 5 or 6 it is an easy walk down the three or four levels - but easier to get the lift up to deck 16 for the pools and the Horizon buffet. Lovely ship, plenty of entertainment, and of course sociable though it depends who you get to meet as to whether you enjoy chatting to others at meals or in other parts of the ship. There are some stairs available in the central stairwell but only around the atrium area levels.

 

Enjoy your voyage - most people are very happy with this ship!:)

Oh WOW, mcloaked, thank you for posting - this is just the information we wanted to hear, thank you. We are really looking forward to this cruise and exploring Britannia.

We have chosen second seating and table of 6, as on our previous cruises we have met such lovely people and many are still friends now. We are sure we will meet lots of lovely people aboard this ship too. This will be our first time with PandO.

PJ's - thank you so much for replying ... Oh, we are getting sooooo excited.

Can you tell us please, what's actually on that deck - there doesn't appear that many cabins?

Hi fellow cruisers,

Just booked on the above cruise. Not been on a ship as big as this one but really looking forward to it.

We have booked deck F, cabin 204. Any comments / advise / etc on this cabin or deck.

Cheers and thanks

Hi Bazzaw,

Ha ha -your post has just made us smile !

Aboard QE September 2013 and again on QE September 2014, as you describe, a lovely selection of bowls at the entrance /exit of the Britannia Restaurant, containing pieces of ginger along with mints and chocolates. My husband loves to take a piece of ginger on our way out.

Aboard QV for our New Year 2014 cruise to Amsterdam, my husband was very sad to find no such bowls with ginger, etc.

On the second night he asked - why is there no ginger on offer on this cruise. The Maitre D replied ... Well Sir, we are waiting for you all to settle in and ginger should be available tomorrow night.... :confused:

How fabulous to watch our beloved Queen Elizabeth transit The Panama. Thank you to the authorities down there for the web cams and allowing us all to enjoy this marvellous sight. How we wish we could be onboard ...

Have a great cruise everyone.

Jealous, jealous, jealous and yes I am jealous; have a great voyage :D

So are we....

Have a fabulous cruise everyone....

Keep posting :)

Queen Elizabeth 2013

Queen Elizabeth 2014

Queen Victoria 2014

We were on this cruise too and loved it! I thought Cunard did a terrific joyb with New Year. It was great to see all the fireworks from the deck in Amsterdam at midnight and then go to the lobby and have another party an hour later on British time. The champagne was flowing and the live music was great. I heard the party in the disco went on until it was light outside.

The staff were terrific throughout the cruise.

We did think the food in the main dining room wasn't so great. Same with the Lido. We had dinner at 'Bamboo" the first night and the food was spotty. The last night we had dinner at 'Coriander' and the curries were really good but the apetizers weren't.

Another highlight of the cruise was going on an excursion to Ypres to see the British WW1 memorial sites. I had never been there before and it was very moving. Ypres is a beautiful medieval town and we plan to go back there.

Hi Juicyjuju,

oh, we did have a terrifically, brilliant good time on NYE. Enjoyment and merriment was had by all. Yes, dancing in the disco until my feet at 3am would take no more.!

We thought same as you about the MDR food on this cruise, especially desserts -they were just not up to normal standards and Petit Four's were horrible - looked to me like left over square sponge bits from a previous cruise ! They didn't look very appetising at all.

Didn't we all have a good, good time. :)

On QV NY cruise last week, Lobster Thermidor was offered and Baked Alaska. Both were delicious :)

Fg hb - thanks for posting.