T&C Fulham

Can any UK Cruise Critic participant point me to a URL for UK citizens that evaluates discounts and airmiles?

I regret my decision to stay with my old Midland Bank Mastercard for decades when I hear friends talking about the Club Class flights they have been given free of charge by using airmiles acquired with their purchases. A rough and ready calculation suggests I may have spent around 1.5 million UKP on my Mastercard and received less than three thousand pounds of rewards.

OK this is my mistake and water under the bridge - but maybe I can get a bit more by changing tactics in my sunset years?

Yes. I use a TA but primarly because he comes up with more innovative ideas than I can. For me Seabourn does not provide enough variety so we vary our holidays and have just come back from a week in Cefalu, Sicily. The cruise we have booked for Christmas is on the Crystal Esprit and is something we would never have thought about despite prolific reading of Cruise Critic, the internet generally and the UK press. How can I remain loyal to my TA and save even more money?

Tony - London

Thanks for the link.

Tony

Thanks.

So we did the right thing in not risking that vessel for the Sri Lanka to Zanzibar trip. Good.

With reference to Japan it seems that chasing the cherry blossom can result in being there with some pretty indifferent weather. We love the blossom as well but we do have it in London and our understanding is that it is just one of the many attractions of Japan.

I'd rather go when the weather is more summery and reliable. Does anyone have any views as to when this would be?

Tony

Three posters challenging my short list of inland attractions.

Yes I know I have not included everywhere worth seeing. Before this highjacks the thread can I admit my omissions and hope we can go back to discussing Japan.

Tony

Interesting reading Master Echo.

For me there were two reasons.

Firstly we looked at using that SilverSea vessel to do the trip from Columbia to Zanzibar across Christmas 2017/18. Two things put us off. One was that people warned us about the craft in bad weather and told us of stories of the Dining Room needing ropes to get people to the tables. The other was the price. For us it was quite a bit above what we normally pay on a SilverSeas or Seabourn cruise in a Veranda Cabin.

Your posts make it clear it is not the most stable boat and you mention things like the steepness of the staircases and the comfort of the cabins. It seems our concerns were not unfounded. I think we did the right thing in booking something else. The thought of your boat having a permanent list to one side does not sound particularly attractive.

The second reason I have been following your posts is because we have still not been to Japan and we have many chums who tell us we must. Only last week we spoke to a couple who had taken their teenage son to Japan for an eleven day holiday over Easter.

That couple must have moved on about five times over the period. I am afraid we are past that now. We have done more than our fair share of long haul exploration. We don't want to stop but we do so much prefer unpacking once and letting the world go past our window.

I have read your postings several times to try to be sure that you can actually explore Japan properly by cruise boat. I worry when I read about three hour coach rides. I think I spotted one of those in your writings. For example as a Brit I would work hard to deter a foreigner trying to get a flavour of our country by cruising round Dover, Lowestoff, Grimsby, Newcastle when the interesting bits like Oxford, Cambridge, The Cotswolds and The Pennines are 'three hour coach rides'.

You end by saying "Ibooked this cruise with the aim of seeing more of Japan and the Philippines, as well as both the lives of the Japanese and the Filipinos. I feel that this was fully achieved."

Do you still feel that or, given your money back and a fresh start would you actually have done it a different way - or simply on a different vessel?

Tony

Make sure you have some small change to give to people who go out of their way to help you. You won't get this from an ATM so at some stage you'll need to ask someone to split some higher denomination notes.

Yes, you need cash unless you feel comfortable asking to pay for a couple of beers with a credit card - or a cup of coffee. And the courier who stands at the bottom of the step as you disembark from the sightseeing bus.

If you are negotiating with a taxi driver for a trip to and from a beach 'cash' always puts you in a better situation.

Tony

It is a great day.

Quite unique.

Ignore anyone who downgrades it. They must have lost the art of having fun.

Tony

A dress code on an airplane, albeit first class?

Happy memories. As a 78 year old man I remember when gentlemen always wore ties on air flights.

I still wear a jacket and cravat/ascot on the off chance the checking desk is looking for an upgrade. Having said that I'd wear them anyway. I like the pockets of a jacket as I have yet to aspire to the manbag..

Tony

London U

Time to close this thread as it’s descending into farce.

Totally agree.

It has ceased to be advice to new Seabourn passengers.

We love Seabourn. It has an element of style that is fast eroding in the 2018's.

They do their best.

Let's shut this thread down until someone genuine asks whether he needs to pack his tux. That is all they need/want to know.

Tony

London UK

wripro,

14,021 posts now. You must be in line for a prize.

Clearly I irritate you. I meant nothing of what you suggest above. You have an uncanny knack of finding things in my posts to take issue with. I said nothing about three classes. It is all in your mind.

Let's do what one does in a cocktail party (do they still have those in CA USA?) and move on and chat to someone else.

Tony

London UK

I didn't say YOU were angry.

What I was talking about was in relation to all these angry posters banging on about "I am not going to be told what to wear" "I know my mind".

The trouble with this sort of thread is that one message follows another but may not refer to the previous post at all.

When I say 'stop being angry' I am not referring to lynn in nc. Is that clear now?

Tony

the benefit of a dress code which maintains the atmosphere that we like on our luxury cruise ships--a bit of luxury and gentility.

And that was precisely what I was suggesting in my post. Stop being so angry and start having some fun. But not at the expense of others, please.

Will I be able to call back to the USA from the cruise once we are at sea? Do I need any special package?

Where are you going? Local sim cards are usually inexpensive.

I did a river cruise from Mandalay to Rangoon and had constant internet access for about a tenner. I only used data but could have phoned home if I wanted.

Tony

I am sad when this thread gets angry. "I wear what I want" "I am not going to be dictated to as to what to wear" and so on.

For anyone withing striking distance of the Victoria and Albert Museum I'd urge a visit to the current exhibition on Ocean Liners. There they remind you of the glamour and the fun and don't forget in the early days most of the journeys were a way of getting from A to B and less a recreation which is what we are talking about.

Fun is becoming more and more thin on the ground in this era of terror and security risk. . Glamour an almost rare commodity.

Let's not knock the likes of Seabourn for their attempts to bring both commodities back - and at a price affordable to far more people than in the Golden Age of Ocean Liners. There are far too many places of entertainment where such attempts are pushed aside by the bean counters and the quest for profits.

Tony

London UK

not to obey the dress code.

Why do Seabourn have one then?

Tony

OK. You win.

You are Not Jaded and live in Paradise.

I've better things to do than argue. I'm off until you get bored putting the world right.

Tony

I continue to think some of the posts here must be tongue in cheek.

And how soon they can develop into a slanging match.

Just curious...are you the kind of self-loathing American who sports a phony English accent?

Can we keep the conversation constructive and not destructive, please.

I find it hard to imagine that the stuffy clubs of yesteryear still exist.

I can assure you the clubs do still exist and membership is much coveted. Notice I leave out the word stuffy as whereas you may mean it as an insult there are people who regard it as complimentary.

I'm off to play tennis at a Club you might call 'stuffy' but which I love. I will respond to the rest of your post and some of the ones before it when I have a bit more time.

Tony

I only asked because i have been to many of the finest restaurants around the world and very few still enforce a no jeans policy.

Because they are motivated by profit and good taste (in clothes) comes lower down the priority list.

No London Club, possibly one of the few remaining protectors of good manners, would tolerated jeans in a dining room.

"Manners maketh Man"

Tony

I hope that’s not the impression you were trying to give.

As long as you are happy that suits me.

Tony

I’m not sure I’m understanding you properly.

Thanks but I am understanding you perfectly.

I will not rise to the bait of your following sentences. It might amuse you but it gets this thread nowhere. I have fallen for the trap too often.

Have a pleasant weekend.

Tony

We were on that Hong Kong to Singapore cruise as well. I’m finishing off my photo file which will go on the internet shortly. I’ll add a URL here so you might see yourselves. I’m grey haired mid seventies and wore a cravat most of the time. My wife has red hair and wore that top with two huge eyes that seemed to amuse a few folk on NYE.

We tended to have as many meals outdoors on the Patio or at Windows as we could. For us Londoners it is such a novelty to eat in the fresh air. We used the Main Dining Room on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve – and found it fine. We tried the special Beef restaurant but, although the food/service was faultless we found the air con too aggressive. Because of that air con experience we cancelled our reservation in the Italian restaurant.

We met Mr Hot Tub on the first evening whilst we were chatting to two much calmer Ozzies at the Sunset Bar. He tried to take the Mickey out of my cravat (you must be a barrister!) and after I asked him if he knew Les Patterson he did not seem to want to chat to us again. Yes, we saw the goings on in the hot tubs which seemed to escalate as he bonded with that taller, thinner Brit with the tattoos. Mr Hot Tub originated from Coventry it seems! Coventry's loss is .......

The smokers’ corner on the Pool Deck seemed to get taken over by a fairly noisy bunch but neither of us were aware of the youngsters being rude that an earlier poster has mentioned.

This was our first Azamara experience. We are late starters to cruising and most of our experience comes from Seabourn and Silver Seas. We felt there was nothing wrong with Amazara comparing it with those two lines. If anything let it down it was a small proportion of the passengers – most of the ones we chatted to were delightful. However, if cruise companies want to achieve 100% capacity they could easily find themselves going downmarket to fill the gaps.

That was clearly evident on our Seabourn Alaska cruise this summer. On that trip there were several passengers so gross that they had to push themselves around on wheeled zimmer frames so they did not miss out on the ‘all you can eat and drink’ that had sold them the cheapo cruise.

I don’t know the solution. There is a ‘dress code’ thread on the CC Seabourn forum and it is clear that people are nervous about needing to look smart. On Seabourn and Silver Seas people do change for dinner. Amazara’s promotion goes quite strongly on the ‘casual dress code’. I can’t remember ever seeing Mr Hot Tub at dinner time but I did see a lot of people who felt that changing for dinner was more effort than it was worth. What you wear is not the be all and end all – but is not making an effort what we are talking about?

We took an assortment of trips and most were well worthwhile. We did not do the freebie Amazara evening and heard mixed reports (many saying the food and drink was pretty grim). The White Night and NYE were fun but were, in our opinion anyway, let down by music that seemed to ignore the whole pre-bopping era.

My wife went to the painting class and said the teacher was good. We also enjoyed Emma’s talks on art as it related to the area. The shows entertained us and we particularly enjoyed the lady magician and the comedy musician. The big problem is the shallow/flat seating in the Cabaret room. From many seats it was impossible to see much of the stage – unlike the theatres in both Seabourn and Silver Seas where there is much more ‘rake’.

Can’t think of anything else at the moment – but I may come back after a few more posts.

Tony and Christine

I was interested to read in a Saturday magazine in the UK of a hideaway hotel near New York where they ban Hawaiian shirts around the pool and at dinner.

Not yet in the Seabourn dress code manual - but is it merely a matter of time.....?

On our Amazara Christmas cruise it looked, at times, as if they were compulsory.

I can't wait to hear from our pal with his 13,000 plus posts how he reacts to this!

Tony

If the transaction is different than what I had agreed to, I will advise my CC company that there is a dispute. If the vendor does not resolve the problem then the CC company will investigate.

Usually the vendor wants to stay on the right side of the CC company and will resolve the problem, as they don't want their payment reversed.

I agreed to pay for my trips in GBP. I agreed to a cruise where the OB account operates in dollars.

A trip is cancelled so my OB account is refunded - in dollars because they can't refund it in GBP.

Can you honestly expect a Credit Card company to get involved - even less likely when two credit card companies (in my case) were involved? Which one takes up the argument?

It will never happen.

Tony

The problem on these boards is that many want others to adhere to their interpretation of what is correct

I love your complaint. One has to smile!

Have a good week.

Tony