IE 2013 useful info "3" plus some nonsense.

[Cappers]

Disaster may have struck:( My 93 yr old mother in law fell in the night and is currently at A&E awaiting more xrays to see if her hip is broken. The care home she lives in were trying to ring us from about 3.30am but we just didn't hear the phone ringing! She is in the advanced stages of alzheimers and doesn't know any of us at all and is also stone deaf so communication is impossible. My Adypoos and his brother are at the hospital with her and I'm at home packing. It's not looking good! Adypoos won't want to go tomorrow until he knows the score. He's the one that makes all the decisions and has all the powers of attorney etc...ohhh deary my.

[Rebel Rouser]

Cappers, I'm in exactly the same position and I mean exactly (my father), pity there wasn't a PM facility on here hope everything ok.

[Cappers]

Flipping Fraggles (elderly relatives) are a nightmare aren't they RR!! I hope your Dad is ok and you get away! My M-I-L has almost definitely broken her hip and is now on a ward sedated and will have an operation tomorrow. Adypoos is home and says we are going on holiday! He has filled in various forms at the hospital and his brother will just have to step up and deal with things for a week. We have fones,,and what's the worst that can happen?? I think however that his father who is 85 and another bucket of trouble will not be pleased at our departure and we will probably get a good telling off!

[Rebel Rouser]

Hopefully will see you tomorrow then Cappers or day at sea :)

[ekco]

Oh dear! Hope everything turned out ok and you got away. Just back last night, had a lovely time. The old girl has had a spruce up and, ta dah, there was a hairdryer in our cabin on deck 9. AND! my hair straighteners worked. Perfect. Re-decorated cabins still pretty small compared to other ships but the bathroom was a great improvement with a large shower head and good pressure. All round the ship things have been re-done and the Lookout bar looks a lot better with the area around the large windows re-done. The food was good and we ate in the Beachcomber mostly as we don't like being trapped in the seats on the long tables in the Island.

 

Oops, on a short day in Nice we were told that a couple decided to go diy to Monaco and were still there at 3 o'clock when the captain phoned up to ask where they were, then left without them. I wish that they could find a small space for a library other than the open one right next to the Bounty Lounge, it's impossible to have a quiet read there day or night as music, bingo and demonstrations are blasting out. The AI was good quality, much better than FO last year. The wine was pretty good, I only had the odd beer and white rum and coke otherwise but it was very nice. We were in Palma until 4pm yesterday and went off the ship early and back on with no problems but after going off again we came back to find the new arrivals in a very long line waiting to have their hand luggage scanned. Doesn't apply to us so we went around the side only to be dragged back by some officious Thomson jobsworth who made us get at the end and wait 20 minutes just to walk straight through the scanner as we had no hand luggage. Not just us, there were others that were definitely not happy with him. Never seen him before. Thomson are you reading this, take note, terrible customer service. The ship definitely didn't feel as overcrowded as last time and we managed to get seats in the shows and bars and it was much better in the Beachcomber than before. Why I don't know but I'm not complaining as it makes for a much better holiday. As usual, the staff were very nice and definitely the best on any ship we've been on.:):)

[Stevio]

Welcome back Ekco, I think the April 22nd cruisers all got away OK as it has gone very quiet on here... Glad you had a good time & good to hear your positive review of the upkeep of the ship... Read the first official CC member review of this year & he gave the old girl a bit of a slating. He reckoned the only new thing was the bedding changed on his last night. :eek:

Hair dryer in the cabin?? Were you in a "premier" grade cabin by any chance? No one else believes me but when we were on her in a premier cabin on deck 8 in 2011 there was a monstrous great hairdryer with its lead bolted to the dressing table. Mrs Stevio however was not that impressed as the wire filter at the back of it resembled a hedgehog with other peoples hair & fluff hanging from it. which resulted in a flurry of cleaning, even though she has her own travel one :eek::eek:

Anyhow thanks again for the I.E. update, I now look forward to our June cruise even more. :)

[ekco]

Hi Stevio. No, we were in a tiny standard cabin and there was a new black hairdryer in there. It popped the second time I plugged it in but realised later that there is a red button on the back of the plug that has to be pushed back in. We haven't been on the IE for 2 years but noticed plenty of improvements. The shower was re-tiled, the cabin walls have been decorated and the carpet in the corridor was different. They have put new green non-slip floor covering on the upper outside decks, maybe that was there last year. The one thing I would like to change though is that deck 8 is still a smoking deck on both sides. It would be nice, as a non-smoker, to go out there and sit in a quiet spot for a while without having to go up to deck 10.

 

I've just had a quick look at the reviews and cannot comment on the state of other cabins, we were in 9042. I do agree that a smart casual dress code should be reinstated as a small minority of men, given the opportunity, will go about dressed in vest and underpants if they could get away with it and some got very close to that. Vests, shorts and flip flops in the evening is a bit too underdressed. The buffet had plenty of choice but it's always going to be a bit like a canteen at a buffet. On FO last year they served mixed veg with every single meal for a week and very little choice on mains or dessert, very disappointing, I do like a bit of sponge pud and custard, lol. Considering the gannets onboard the catering staff kept up with supplying food pretty well, they put out sandwiches, cream tea and cakes and biscuits mid-afternoon just in case anyone was starving to death. It was nice to have that though if we missed lunch while onshore. I always think it's a good idea to expect nothing then anything better is a nice suprise. An added bonus was the calm seas in the Med. Somebody complained about the contents of the shows but apart from a tribute to the musicals where the show team sang a song "T**s and A** in front of a lot of children we weren't offended. The stage is much better now it has been made wider but there's not much that can be done about the shallow slope in the theatre.

 

Just my opinion.:):)

 

Jan

[Stevio]

Hairdryers in all the cabins!! Hurrah, they've only got to stick in a mini kettle and the IE will be a "Platinum" ship... I hadn't seen the review about dress code. We ourselves are confirmed buffet eaters & do not wish to dress up on our hols (bit of a job fitting all those ball gowns into a Thomson sized fly cruise case) but agree that there should be some standards (vests, & shorts?.. I wear more than that going to bed). However I have noticed the vest & short brigade in evidence on other cruises. I saw such attire for the evening meal on the Dream last year, then again there were so many down with the Noro that there were very few left to see what you were wearing. As for the food, in the past I rated the I.E. to serve the best buffet fare out there. Could not work out how the Dream could have half a ship's length of buffet serving area with virtually no choice, when the IE had a fraction of that serving area with triple the choice & everything repeated for two lines?

I know what you mean about the smokers on deck 8, but we found them to be a friendly bunch. When we had a cabin on 8 if we put the light on of an evening without drawing the curtains they would always wave.

Anyway, this June it will be back to a teeny inside cabin, with tours already booked for every port, & long sleeved shirts & chinos at the ready to hit the buffet.

Edited April 25, 2014 by Stevio

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Sounds like our one and only :rolleyes: trip on Ocean Village 2 :eek: One night a man was wearing shorts and a vest, complete with tattooed arms and his wife was dressed up to the nines! Quite put me off my dinner. BTW the food was great on there, but not the ship. I wouldn't want to go on Cunard, but Oceaan Village was too informal for us. DH likes to wear his DJ at least once and always wears long trousers for dinner whether for hotel or cruise. So I guess the IE is not for us :rolleyes:

[ekco]

To be fair it was only a small minority in their scruffs, lol. Don't quote me on hairdryers in all cabins as we didn't check and I don't want anyone to shoot the messenger, me!

 

Oh dear! Did you see this?

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2613100/Six-figure-payout-200-Tui-Island-Escape-cruise-passengers-dream-holidays-turned-nightmare.html

 

Jan

Edited April 25, 2014 by ekco

[Oh-But-Is-It]

Last September on the IE (with adult family) we (the ladies) were wearing our gorgeous things :cool: the chaps had on there long trousers and shirts and we were asked if we would share a table ...... no problem.

 

We were sat with a old fellow and his two sons who looked like they had all just put down tools in a mechanics workshop !!!! Shortly afterwards the wife of one of these sons appeared and while sitting herself down proclaimed with very colourful language how hungry she was ............ :eek:

 

It all adds to the fun :D.

 

At the end of the day ..... either you got it, or you havn't .......... and some guys just havn't, regardless where ever you are :rolleyes:

[Stevio]

To be fair it was only a small minority in their scruffs, lol. Don't quote me on hairdryers in all cabins as we didn't check and I don't want anyone to shoot the messenger, me!

 

Oh dear! Did you see this?

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2613100/Six-figure-payout-200-Tui-Island-Escape-cruise-passengers-dream-holidays-turned-nightmare.html

 

Jan

 

If I don't get a hairdryer in my inside cabin I shall insist on seeing the captain & point to a printout of ecko's assurances :D... Only joshing, be better if there isn't one really, it would be one less thing for Mrs Stevio to clean (she cannot stand hairs where they shouldn't be)

Fortunately, the vest & short brigade are very much in the minority, and funnily enough the average punter on the I.E. does seem to make more of an effort in dressing for meals than I have seen on the odd NCL cruise.

Yes the Wife pointed out that Daily Mail story but I didn't want to mention it in case it frightened newbies who have just booked. :eek: I remember seeing those old Christmas 2009 pictures & horror stories after I had booked for the first time & they were certainly a bit worrying... Then again if lots of people hear its a leaky old Noro infected rust bucket, maybe with less demand the prices will be lower next year? :rolleyes:

[Rebel Rouser]

Greetings from motril. . I can certainly say thats crossed off the list on not returning.:D

[ekco]

Greetings from motril. . I can certainly say thats crossed off the list on not returning.:D

 

Where exactly is that? Hope you are having as good a time as we did last week.:):)

 

Jan

[ekco]

Yes the Wife pointed out that Daily Mail story but I didn't want to mention it in case it frightened newbies who have just booked. :eek: I remember seeing those old Christmas 2009 pictures & horror stories after I had booked for the first time & they were certainly a bit worrying... Then again if lots of people hear its a leaky old Noro infected rust bucket, maybe with less demand the prices will be lower next year? :rolleyes:

 

All the more room for the rest of us. I wish I'd never mentioned the hairdryers now, lol, I'm going to get lynched if everyone doesn't get a lovely, new, black plastic one with a reset button on the plug.:D:D

 

Jan

[ekco]

At the end of the day ..... either you got it, or you havn't .......... and some guys just havn't, regardless where ever you are :rolleyes:

 

It gives us something to talk about though, trying not to stare while we're at it.:D:D

[Stevio]

Just had one of my ideas.... Most of the cruise lines have at least one formal night each week, But do any of them have a total dress down informal night? I think Thomson's are missing a trick here, they could roll out across the fleet in addition to the formal, a "string vest evening". Where gents, in the main restaurant can wear their vests, shorts & flip-flop's and the ladies similar or perhaps shell suits etc'... Of course those not wishing to attend could dine in the buffet... It would mean that one evening a week the buffet would be full of ball gowns, tiaras & cummerbunds, but the cruise would attract a wider cross section of British society... Come on Thomson's, we know you are listening. :eek:

[ekco]

Just had one of my ideas.... Most of the cruise lines have at least one formal night each week, But do any of them have a total dress down informal night? I think Thomson's are missing a trick here, they could roll out across the fleet in addition to the formal, a "string vest evening". Where gents, in the main restaurant can wear their vests, shorts & flip-flop's and the ladies similar or perhaps shell suits etc'... Of course those not wishing to attend could dine in the buffet... It would mean that one evening a week the buffet would be full of ball gowns, tiaras & cummerbunds, but the cruise would attract a wider cross section of British society... Come on Thomson's, we know you are listening. :eek:

 

I think they already did that last week, lol.;) Wow! it's gone quick since the gang went on the IE. We were just leaving Barcelona this time last week. While I'm at it can I thank the digusting pig who I had to sit next to on the plane on the way home and who blew his nose continuously into his, er yes, handkerchief the whole way back. I was trapped in the middle seat and, gues what?, I now have a stinking cold.:mad: Keep your germs to yourself in future.

 

Jan

[Stevio]

I think they already did that last week, lol.;) Wow! it's gone quick since the gang went on the IE. We were just leaving Barcelona this time last week. While I'm at it can I thank the digusting pig who I had to sit next to on the plane on the way home and who blew his nose continuously into his, er yes, handkerchief the whole way back. I was trapped in the middle seat and, gues what?, I now have a stinking cold.:mad: Keep your germs to yourself in future.

 

Jan

 

Sorry to hear about your cold but it could have been worse, years ago Mrs Stevio caught a bad one on the plane on the way out. These days she gets a bottle of "first defence" for use on the planes out & back that seems to work OK.

Double Wow ! You're right, I was just trying to think of a witty reply to RR's post from Motril for him to read at the next port, & if they only went for a week they will be coming home today. :eek:

[MallorcaChap]

Ekco - there are only hairdryers in the posh cabins up top :)

Where us plebs reside on deck 6 and below, you have to ask for one from reception.

Rebel is certainly correct about Motril (we were there together) - it should never have been added to the itinerary.

Apart from that, we have had a great week with great company and are looking forward to the next one (only 11 weeks i think) :o

[jenny wren]

Just a quickie to say we met up with Mr n mrs RR, Mr n mrs mallorca chap and Mr n mrs campers last week and now looking forward yo our second week....have had fab weather and hope it continues!!!!

[Rebel Rouser]

Hi all yes home now, had a brilliant week even the weather was kind to us :D what can I say about the company I keep ;) Motril if you want to see how the people in Spain really live this is the place for you no touristy bits at all.

 

Mchap it's 76 days 14 hours and 5 mins until the next cruise to be precise :p

 

 

Ps Cappers hope all is well, Dad is ok.

Edited April 29, 2014 by Rebel Rouser

[ekco]

Welcome home all.:):)

 

Jan

[Stevio]

Yes welcome home all of you. Was it only Jenny Wren with two weeks?... Have now printed off my E Tickets with 33 days to go, but alas can only fit in one week with my work leave.

[ekco]

Yes welcome home all of you. Was it only Jenny Wren with two weeks?... Have now printed off my E Tickets with 33 days to go, but alas can only fit in one week with my work leave.

 

A bit of a tip. I accidentally threw my e-tickets and boarding cards in the bin on the last night while we were packing. We went for dinner and by the time we came back the steward had been in and taken the rubbish away. I wish they would keep away while we are packing but next time we will put the do not disturb sign on the door. The tip is to save your e-tickets onto your phone or tablet in a pdf format then reception can print them off for you. This was easy but before they did this they gave us the runaround as you can't access the internet onboard on the day of departure and we were told us to go off ship to find wifi and send them as an attachment on an email. Needless to say that when we got back they said they didn't get the email, then the man on reception took the tablet and printed them for us straight away. I was not best pleased as I knew what to do but getting them to do it is the difficult bit, no Thomson staff to be seen of course. Don't forget to take the usb lead.

 

Jan