Your Last Cruise

[AndyMichelle]

11 hours ago, Otter18 said:

Our last cruise was the 2020 Arcadia world cruise that wasn't.

 

Quite eventful really, as we mostly didn't go where we should have. First leg went to plan with a trip through the Panama Canal to SF. Second leg we had 2 cancelled ports, Tonga and Samoa due to measles outbreak. Auckland to Sydney was fine.

 

Our 3,4,and 5th leg of the cruise saw us visit just one port from the original itinerary, Brisbane. Then we turned south and travelled around Australia making several ports of call, ending in Freemantle (should have been Hong Kong).

 

We then set sail for Dubai. Diverted on route to Durban. By the time we got to Durban, South Africa was in lockdown. That became a 'technical' stop for fuel and supplies. After 5 days waiting outside the port,  a doctor was lowered onto Arcadia, from a helicopter, dressed in a hazmat suit. He checked people in sick bay, some cabin isolated passengers, and three South African nationals crew, who wanted to leave the ship in Durban. We were given the 'all clear from Covid19' and were allowed to dock for fuel and supplies. A good job too, we were totally out of lettuce, and I'm sure the lobster was running low! We set sail for Cape Town but we were not allowed to stop (end of leg 4, should have been Dubai).

 

Then back to Southampton after another 'technical' stop in Tenerife. 33 consecutive sea days (not sure if that is a record). Arrived back on Sunday.

 

Well that was our last cruise. I wasn't going to write so much, but I couldn't stop myself.😀

 

Brian & Carol

No lettuce... Disgraceful😊

I'm glad you are still smiling and making us smile. 

Andy 

[AndyMichelle]

Really enjoying reading people's stories, good and bad.

Great post Eddie, thank you. 

Andy 

[brian1]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

No lettuce... Disgraceful😊

I'm glad you are still smiling and making us smile. 

Andy 

It went to a good cause,they used it to fatten up the escargot,yummy.

[Britboys]

My most recent cruise (refuse to say last 😄) was on Coral Princess in Alaska last July.  I must say that it is far and away the most fantastic holiday I have had to date.  It was a cruise we had planned to celebrate 25 years together before cancer came along and took Tony away from me.  Fast forward 8 years and a good friend and I did a 4-night pre-cruise tour in Alaska visiting Fairbanks and Denali Park, followed by a 7-night Inside Passage cruise calling at Glacier Bay, Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan.

The pre-cruise tour was fun with Gold-Panning, a Paddle-Steamer trip on the river, a trip on a Horse-drawn Wagon into the Tundra, an old-fashioned 'music-hall' style variety show and a fabulous day in the wide-open spaces of Denali National Park.

We then had a fantastic all-day train journey down to the coast, through marvellous ever-changing and dramatic scenery viewed from a comfortable 'glass dome' carriage or out on the open-air deck between carriages.  I thought being on a train for 9 hours would drag but it was the opposite.

I loved the ship, which is slightly larger than Arcadia, felt very spacious throughout and never felt crowded.  The food and entertainment were a bit better than P&O imho.  Due to all our P&O cruises, we were both Elite Level in their Loyalty Programme too.

The scenery throughout the cruise was fantastic.  The three actual port days came one after the other and to be honest I still can't quite believe how incredibly lucky I am to have been able to do such wonderful things.  In Juneau we took a helicopter and flew up to Herbert Glacier, where we were able to get out and walk around the glacier, tasting the melt-water running through tiny rivulets. On the flight back to Juneau we had a great view of the famous Mendenhall Glacier.  The next day from Skagway, we had an all-day tour by mini-bus and train up into the Yukon Territory.  The highlights were seeing a number of bears foraging beside the road and the train journey back to Skagway on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad.  In Ketchikan, we took a float-plane trip over the Misty Fjords National Park, including a landing on a remote fjord with a walk along the beach.  At the end of these three days, I felt genuinely humbled at what I had experienced.

We ended the trip with 3 nights in fabulous Vancouver before flying home.  Truly a trip of a lifetime.

If anyone wants to read the full review, you can find it here: https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=663407

 

Sorry to have made this post a bit less than brief - but brief wouldn't have done it justice!

Edited April 17, 2020 by Britboys
typo

[Eddie99]

Thanks everyone - really enjoying reading your posts of good cruises, poor cruises and, err, *interesting* cruises.

 

We were lucky in that our most recent cruise, and potentially our last cruise, was the 35 night Ventura to the Caribbean and central/south America, which left on 3 January this year.

 

So, we left when, as far as I recall, there was little news or concern over Coronavirus.  We had smooth seas on both transatlantic crossings and the usual lovely sunshine at our destinations, bar St Maarten.  It was wierd to be in such a holiday-focussed place in hammering tropical rain/liquid sunshine.

 

The highlights were new islands to us - Bonaire and Guadeloupe - and the American stops ... Panama City was a beautiful eye-opener, Cartagena, Colombia had no drug barons that we could see but was scorchingly hot and very beautiful in a Spanish balconied style.  My personal highlight was a ship’s excursion in Costa Rica, where we were on small tourist boats schlepping along small canals in the rainforest, spotting wildlife.  Only a mummy sloth, with a baby sleeping on her tummy! 🦥. How great was that?  One of my all time best cruise memories.  And, if course, sloths are great to photograph.  No blurs.

 

There was more about the virus on the TV news as we travelled back to Southampton but no indication of what was to come

 

I’m so glad we took the plunge and went for the five week trip.  It didn’t feel a day too long - just a time of warm relaxation.  Thinking about it, for this post, made me feel so warmly about it that I have transferred an earlier booking to the “same” cruise in 2022.  (No SA then, though). It cost very little extra to make the deposit, so the possibility is there.  I think I’m overall pessimistic that we will want or possibly even be able to take it up, but who knows?

[AndyMichelle]

12 minutes ago, Britboys said:

My most recent cruise (refuse to say last 😄) was on Coral Princess in Alaska last July.  I must say that it is far and away the most fantastic holiday I have had to date.  It was a cruise we had planned to celebrate 25 years together before cancer came along and took Tony away from me.  Fast forward 8 years and a good friend and I did a 4-night pre-cruise tour in Alaska visiting Fairbanks and Denali Park, followed by a 7-night Inside Passage cruise calling at Glacier Bay, Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan.

The pre-cruise tour was fun with Gold-Panning, a Paddle-Steamer trip on the river, a trip on a Horse-drawn Wagon into the Tundra, an old-fashioned 'music-hall' style variety show and a fabulous day in the wide-open spaces of Denali National Park.

We then had a fantastic all-day train journey down to the coast, through marvellous ever-changing and dramatic scenery viewed from a comfortable 'glass dome' carriage or out on the open-air deck between carriages.  I thought being on a train for 9 hours would drag but it was the opposite.

I loved the ship, which is slightly larger than Arcadia, felt very spacious throughout and never felt crowded.  The food and entertainment were a bit better than P&O imho.  Due to all our P&O cruises, we were both Elite Level in their Loyalty Programme too.

The scenery throughout the cruise was fantastic.  The three actual port days came one after the other and to be honest I still can't quite believe how incredibly lucky I am to have been able to do such wonderful things.  In Juneau we took a helicopter and flew up to Herbert Glacier, where we were able to get out and walk around the glacier, tasting the melt-water running through tiny rivulets. On the flight back to Juneau we had a great view of the famous Mendenhall Glacier.  The next day from Skagway, we had an all-day tour by mini-bus and train up into the Yukon Territory.  The highlights were seeing a number of bears foraging beside the road and the train journey back to Skagway on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad.  In Ketchikan, we took a float-plane trip over the Misty Fjords National Park, including a landing on a remote fjord with a walk along the beach.  At the end of these three days, I felt genuinely humbled at what I had experienced.

We ended the trip with 3 nights in fabulous Vancouver before flying home.  Truly a trip of a lifetime.

If anyone wants to read the full review, you can find it here: https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=663407

 

Sorry to have made this post a bit less than brief - but brief wouldn't have done it justice!

Sounds fantastic, that's now on my bucket list... 

Andy 

[Eddie99]

Thanks Britboys

We did a Princess (Golden, iirc) round trip to Alaska from San Francisco a few years ago

It was wonderful, though perhaps not as extraordinarily wonderful as yours sounds, with all your bells and whistles.

We flew in to Labor Day weekend in a 100F heatwave and had fine dry weather all the way as we went north and then made our way back

Highlights - Glacier Bay, and a ship’s excursion bear spotting.  We saw three, from an aerial  walkway, as close as watching from your upstairs window, swiping up and eating salmon, just like David Attenborough has shown us.  Fabulous! 
 

Thanks for your post and stirring my memories

Edited April 17, 2020 by Eddie99

[Clipper Chick]

My last cruise was the Arcadia World Cruise 2020.  I had a wonderful time P&O could not have treated us better.  The end of cruise variety show was brilliant and entertainment Manager Nick Cosslett sang Music of the Night, unforgettable. 

My cruise before that was Queen Mary 2 and I would never set foot on that ship again even if you paid me the deck I was on was filthy the crew were aloof and did not wish to be inconvenienced serving you.  The welcome on Arcadia was a million times better and they did not kick us off the ship in Australia but sailed us home safely.  Now what to do with my future cruise credit of 33 nights as I have already booked next year's world cruise.

 

I have an October sailing on Celebrity Reflection which I will cancel as Arcadia has proved to me that what I enjoyed about my holiday on Silhouette last year was not the Celebrity experience (Cold in comparison to Arcadia) but the group of cruise critic travellers I met who were extremely friendly and that cannot be replicated it is a once in a lifetime.  The celebrity ships may look all sparkles and contemporary but they have no soul.  I know where I preferred to spend 32 days at sea.

[brian1]

39 minutes ago, Britboys said:

My most recent cruise (refuse to say last 😄) was on Coral Princess in Alaska last July.  I must say that it is far and away the most fantastic holiday I have had to date.  It was a cruise we had planned to celebrate 25 years together before cancer came along and took Tony away from me.  Fast forward 8 years and a good friend and I did a 4-night pre-cruise tour in Alaska visiting Fairbanks and Denali Park, followed by a 7-night Inside Passage cruise calling at Glacier Bay, Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan.

The pre-cruise tour was fun with Gold-Panning, a Paddle-Steamer trip on the river, a trip on a Horse-drawn Wagon into the Tundra, an old-fashioned 'music-hall' style variety show and a fabulous day in the wide-open spaces of Denali National Park.

We then had a fantastic all-day train journey down to the coast, through marvellous ever-changing and dramatic scenery viewed from a comfortable 'glass dome' carriage or out on the open-air deck between carriages.  I thought being on a train for 9 hours would drag but it was the opposite.

I loved the ship, which is slightly larger than Arcadia, felt very spacious throughout and never felt crowded.  The food and entertainment were a bit better than P&O imho.  Due to all our P&O cruises, we were both Elite Level in their Loyalty Programme too.

The scenery throughout the cruise was fantastic.  The three actual port days came one after the other and to be honest I still can't quite believe how incredibly lucky I am to have been able to do such wonderful things.  In Juneau we took a helicopter and flew up to Herbert Glacier, where we were able to get out and walk around the glacier, tasting the melt-water running through tiny rivulets. On the flight back to Juneau we had a great view of the famous Mendenhall Glacier.  The next day from Skagway, we had an all-day tour by mini-bus and train up into the Yukon Territory.  The highlights were seeing a number of bears foraging beside the road and the train journey back to Skagway on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad.  In Ketchikan, we took a float-plane trip over the Misty Fjords National Park, including a landing on a remote fjord with a walk along the beach.  At the end of these three days, I felt genuinely humbled at what I had experienced.

We ended the trip with 3 nights in fabulous Vancouver before flying home.  Truly a trip of a lifetime.

If anyone wants to read the full review, you can find it here: https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=663407

 

Sorry to have made this post a bit less than brief - but brief wouldn't have done it justice!

We did the same itinerary more or less.The bonus was seeing the Northern lights landing in Fairbanks from Seattle at 1am. and the clouds lifting over McKinley when we got to the lodge.Agree, it's a once in a lifetime thing to do,cheers,Brian.

[Britboys]

3 minutes ago, brian1 said:

We did the same itinerary more or less.The bonus was seeing the Northern lights landing in Fairbanks from Seattle at 1am. and the clouds lifting over McKinley when we got to the lodge.Agree, it's a once in a lifetime thing to do,cheers,Brian.

Mt McKinley was shrouded in cloud whilst we were in Denali but fortunately we got a great view of it whilst on the train to Whittier.

[brian1]

1 minute ago, Britboys said:

Mt McKinley was shrouded in cloud whilst we were in Denali but fortunately we got a great view of it whilst on the train to Whittier.

We were both lucky.I think.It's shrouded in cloud most of the time.

[Britboys]

12 minutes ago, brian1 said:

We were both lucky.I think.It's shrouded in cloud most of the time.

Yes, I think the guide told us about a third of visitors get to see it out!

[moonstone01]

Our last cruise was to the fjords on the Ventura in September 2019.  One of the most stunning places we have ever seen and it answered all the questions we asked ourselves about going to Norway, admittedly it was a tad dearer than we were expecting but when you have the scenery they have to offer us then it was worth it.  The sea was a bit choppy,  more than we have ever been through, but it was kind of enjoyable( for me anyway ).

[brian1]

38 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Yes, I think the guide told us about a third of visitors get to see it out!

Said the Bishop to the actress.

[Vampiress88]

Mine was in May 2019 for hubby’s birthday. No interest in the ports. Would you believe we spent less than £10 in four ports! 
it was mostly about family time. Kids first abroad. The little things really. My children enjoyed saying bonjour and hola when getting off the boat. We liked eating at the restaurants and trying new food. 
 

was really just food and family time. Wasn’t our main holiday. We only booked it as it was a good deal. 
 

We should have been on our last sea day today. It’s a bit depressing. Also knowing our next holiday in May will also be cancelled. 
 

we still have fjords to look forward to in July 21 though

[swjumbo]

15 hours ago, Josy1953 said:

Our last cruise was our 3rd on Oceana and I have often said that she was my favourite ship but we had such a bad experience that I would not even go on her again if we were given a free cruise. 

 

We have a cruise booked on Azura in June and have said that it had we not paid for it before the Oceana cruise we would have cancelled and lost the deposit so we are hoping that it gets cancelled by P&O so that we can take a refund.  We also have one booked on Ventura 31st October which we will not pay the balance even if P&O are sailing by the time that the balance becomes due, we will simply lose the deposit which is not much because we booked at 5% deposit, we have no interest in taking an FCC because we think that P&O standards have fallen to a level that we find unacceptable.  We have already cancelled the P&O cruises that we had booked for next year.

Thank goodness it’s not just me. I was on the Oceana week long cruise in February where we only went into one scheduled port.

I wanted it to be good as I was on the Canberra in 1978 as a child and on Arcadia in 2001 with Capt Mike Carr who invited us to many a cocktail party.

The Oceana was a disgrace and I couldn’t wait to get off. 
I was due to cruise next week on Celebrity Apex and am now waiting for my money back which doesn’t seem to be materialising.

[billfish]

Our last cruise was on the Summit on Feb 1st. with a group ( The Miracle Waiters ) that we  have been cruising with every year since 2009.  We met on Cruise Critic back in 2007 to plan our cruise on the Miracle in 2009  

The Summit cruise had 60 members from our original group as well as many people that have joined along the way  We have become a a cruising family and very close friends  We had a wonderful time but I think that may be be our last cruise with them as we are over 70 and perhaps are cruised out   

 

If you want to see who the Waiters are look up " Miracle Waiters " on utube there a a few clips of our group

[bobupandown]

16 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

Our last one was last Nov/Dec. Aurora 13 night Madeira and the Canaries. The weather in Madeira was beautiful but the rest of the cruise was a bit hit and miss and very windy. I've not known it to be cold in the Canaries. It came as a bit of a shock. The ship was lovely as usual and we enjoyed every minute. We never let the weather spoil anything for us. The cruise back was quite eventful with trying to outrun the gales, but the Captain got close to the shelter of the south coast and it wasn't so bad. Next one Arcadia November 6th 2020 all being well.

Avril 

 

 

Hi Avil

I can't believe we was on the same trip. 

We generally go in November and normally go on the Arcadia, but thought we would have a change. I agree a very nice ship, and we really enjoyed the cruise.

Next Cruise in June, but I can't see that happening.                                                         

Then 6th November Arcadia, see you in the Crows Nest Avril. Hopefully.

 

Bob

[Presto2]

We sailed on Celebrity Edge last August for our 25th wedding anniversary. We had a superb aft cabin and we loved everything about the ship. It was incredible. Made lots of on line friends as the excitement built up to her being launched and it was so exciting to finally board the new ship in Civitavecchia. We sailed from Rome and did Italy and the Greek Islands. A beautiful cruise and many happy memories.

[besberry]

My last cruise on the Silver Galapagos in February.  The Galapagos was the top of my bucket list and it didn't let me down.

[Adawn47]

1 hour ago, bobupandown said:

Hi Avil

I can't believe we was on the same trip. 

We generally go in November and normally go on the Arcadia, but thought we would have a change. I agree a very nice ship, and we really enjoyed the cruise.

Next Cruise in June, but I can't see that happening.                                                         

Then 6th November Arcadia, see you in the Crows Nest Avril. Hopefully.

 

Bob

Black Russian in hand 🍷 Can't wait.

Avril 

[Britboys]

17 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Black Russian in hand 🍷 Can't wait.

Avril 

Blimey, that takes me back.  I used to drink Black Russians in the 70's/80's.  Bit sweet for me now though I think...

[Adawn47]

14 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Blimey, that takes me back.  I used to drink Black Russians in the 70's/80's.  Bit sweet for me now though I think 

It's been a long time since I've dunk one as well but I'm definitely trying another on Arcadia.  Makes me remember Scampi in a basket at the nightclub, Blackforest Gateau, cheese cubes on sticks, cheese fondue, mini skirts and platform shoes, and Frank with long hair 😆. Nostalgia. 

Avril 

[glittergal1]

Our last cruise was MSC Bellisima From Dubai around the UAE  February 2020 we returned just as Ports were closing to cruise ships so class ourselves very lucky. Upon embarkation things had already been put in place Corona Virus Related thermal scanning, medical declaration forms etc and on board extra Health & safety measures so it gave a taste of what would come , we never imagined it would be as bad as it is . Our Next cruise is supposed to be the End of May so no chance of that one on P&O Oceana ☹️

[ann141]

5 hours ago, Eddie99 said:

Thanks everyone - really enjoying reading your posts of good cruises, poor cruises and, err, *interesting* cruises.

 

We were lucky in that our most recent cruise, and potentially our last cruise, was the 35 night Ventura to the Caribbean and central/south America, which left on 3 January this year.

 

So, we left when, as far as I recall, there was little news or concern over Coronavirus.  We had smooth seas on both transatlantic crossings and the usual lovely sunshine at our destinations, bar St Maarten.  It was wierd to be in such a holiday-focussed place in hammering tropical rain/liquid sunshine.

 

The highlights were new islands to us - Bonaire and Guadeloupe - and the American stops ... Panama City was a beautiful eye-opener, Cartagena, Colombia had no drug barons that we could see but was scorchingly hot and very beautiful in a Spanish balconied style.  My personal highlight was a ship’s excursion in Costa Rica, where we were on small tourist boats schlepping along small canals in the rainforest, spotting wildlife.  Only a mummy sloth, with a baby sleeping on her tummy! 🦥. How great was that?  One of my all time best cruise memories.  And, if course, sloths are great to photograph.  No blurs.

 

There was more about the virus on the TV news as we travelled back to Southampton but no indication of what was to come

 

I’m so glad we took the plunge and went for the five week trip.  It didn’t feel a day too long - just a time of warm relaxation.  Thinking about it, for this post, made me feel so warmly about it that I have transferred an earlier booking to the “same” cruise in 2022.  (No SA then, though). It cost very little extra to make the deposit, so the possibility is there.  I think I’m overall pessimistic that we will want or possibly even be able to take it up, but who knows?

We are booked to cruise on Ventura jan 2021 for 35 nights.Hoping it will go ahead as the itinerary sounds great and I love to get away during the cold UK winters