wowzz Posted August 18, 2021 #126 Share Posted August 18, 2021 29 minutes ago, brian1 said: You're allowed to transit Italy in 36 hrs before quarantining.A day tour should be ok.Don't know about multiple Italian ports though,cheers,Brian. That's interesting - thanks Brian. Not sure how three successive port visits would be viewed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian1 Posted August 18, 2021 #127 Share Posted August 18, 2021 4 minutes ago, wowzz said: That's interesting - thanks Brian. Not sure how three successive port visits would be viewed! 4 minutes ago, wowzz said: That I don't know as I said,hopefully going out to sea and back again it resets the process,lol.We're driving to Como in Sept and have 36 hrs to get to our village to isolate.765 miles with 1 stopover doable.Cheers,Brian. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camberley Posted August 18, 2021 #128 Share Posted August 18, 2021 1 hour ago, zap99 said: Some of the fellow guests can a bit moanny though. Perhaps they should realise they are on holiday. Yes - some people are never happy unless they have something to moan about. Or are seeing what they can get out of it……Ie) the more vocal, attention-seeking ones who, by their presence, suggest they normally get their way in life. But thankfully these are the minority - and you can normally spot them a mile off harrumphing and showing themselves up, while spouse lurks embarrassed. Although to be fair this is sometimes good entertainment in itself 🤣 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam49 Posted August 18, 2021 #129 Share Posted August 18, 2021 22 minutes ago, Camberley said: Yes - some people are never happy unless they have something to moan about. Or are seeing what they can get out of it……Ie) the more vocal, attention-seeking ones who, by their presence, suggest they normally get their way in life. But thankfully these are the minority - and you can normally spot them a mile off harrumphing and showing themselves up, while spouse lurks embarrassed. Although to be fair this is sometimes good entertainment in itself 🤣 And some people, often Brits put up with poor service/poor facilities because they ‘don’t want to make a fuss’ or are embarrassed if other people look at them. Probably good attitude to make the best of things in the war, but not so good when you are not getting what you paid for. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camberley Posted August 18, 2021 #130 Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) 30 minutes ago, sam49 said: And some people, often Brits put up with poor service/poor facilities because they ‘don’t want to make a fuss’ or are embarrassed if other people look at them. Probably good attitude to make the best of things in the war, but not so good when you are not getting what you paid for. 🤣 Well yes and more fool them if they do/say nothing to the powers that be when they feel something is off (slightly off or a major off - but of course slightly to some can be major to another and vice-versa). But arguably there’s a way to do things that do not need to be so dramatically attention-seeking either onboard or offshore in a restaurant, hotel etc,,, for that matter. And I am only referring to those pompous folk who can’t stop themselves from making a scene. And thankfully most people are capable of mentioning and following-up something in a way without feeling the need to resort to asserting their self-importance or even verbal sparring. Which is thankfully a small number of people on board. Edited August 18, 2021 by Camberley 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalos Posted August 18, 2021 #131 Share Posted August 18, 2021 It is such a shame when someone dislikes their cruise and their expectations are not met . No one should have to wait 1.5 hours to be seated on any cruise-line and lets hope they get back to something like but using a rushed out "App" that clearly has problems does not help the situation . When you have only cruised with an American style cruise company who do things different and the same goes for a UK style cruise you are going to compare but would you really expect them to be the same ? As for the smile they would be hard to see at the moment as all the staff are wearing a mask. When we don't like something we tend to look for other faults that really are not there. That's not to say they could have been better to what we expected . I personally don't expect a beaming smile when they come to my table .Polite swift service and maybe a "is your meal OK sir "during my meal is fine by me . It's worth remembering what we were doing a few months back ,certainly not cruising ,most likely moaning and rightly so about where our money was from our cancelled cruises and that would be all cruise lines ! We are still in a pandemic and most cruise-lines are still just starting up really so lets remember that ,Nothing going to be perfect and if we don't like something sad as it maybe ,lets just move on to a more happier suitable cruise that does suit us . 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiebarnzy Posted August 19, 2021 #132 Share Posted August 19, 2021 Good morning Does anyone know if the thermal suites are open now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam49 Posted August 19, 2021 #133 Share Posted August 19, 2021 Just now, jamiebarnzy said: Good morning Does anyone know if the thermal suites are open now? No unfortunately not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandancer Posted August 19, 2021 #134 Share Posted August 19, 2021 Can you help me with info on The Retreat. Is this area open to all guests or suite guests only.? Can you book pre-cruise and what is the cost? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam49 Posted August 19, 2021 #135 Share Posted August 19, 2021 I have just got off Britannia and the retreat was closed for the whole cruise. Not sure if it is due to open at any time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandancer Posted August 19, 2021 #136 Share Posted August 19, 2021 Thanks Sam. As it is 7 nights it would have been nice to spend some time there. I I could ring them up and ask. There again do I really want to spend my whole day off work being told that they think a 45 minute wait is unacceptable so go away. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare debsjc Posted August 19, 2021 Author #137 Share Posted August 19, 2021 26 minutes ago, sandancer said: Thanks Sam. As it is 7 nights it would have been nice to spend some time there. I I could ring them up and ask. There again do I really want to spend my whole day off work being told that they think a 45 minute wait is unacceptable so go away. The retreat was definitely open on our Aug 8 cruise, we spent 2 days in there! The thermal suite was closed. Definitely recommend the retreat, it's £25 a day, you book at the spa reception, and they give you a card to access it. I think a 4 day pass was £80 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare silkworms Posted August 19, 2021 #138 Share Posted August 19, 2021 Hi Debsjc We are on Med 9 Oct cruise, I am a bit confused as to dining arrangements, relating to the app. Were you ALL on freedom dining? Is Club dining (6.30/8.30} no longer on Britannia? We have booked freedom dining but would now prefer the 8.30 sitting and am happy to change it via phone but am concerned that freedom seemed the only option. Would appreciate your thoughts. Terri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandancer Posted August 19, 2021 #139 Share Posted August 19, 2021 1 hour ago, debsjc said: The retreat was definitely open on our Aug 8 cruise, we spent 2 days in there! The thermal suite was closed. Definitely recommend the retreat, it's £25 a day, you book at the spa reception, and they give you a card to access it. I think a 4 day pass was £80 Fingers crossed. Def want to try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare debsjc Posted August 19, 2021 Author #140 Share Posted August 19, 2021 58 minutes ago, silkworms said: Hi Debsjc We are on Med 9 Oct cruise, I am a bit confused as to dining arrangements, relating to the app. Were you ALL on freedom dining? Is Club dining (6.30/8.30} no longer on Britannia? We have booked freedom dining but would now prefer the 8.30 sitting and am happy to change it via phone but am concerned that freedom seemed the only option. Would appreciate your thoughts. Terri I believe everyone was on freedom dining. When we embarked it was possible to dinner every day on the app, but only for upto 6pm ,,,,, after that it's just 'virtual waitlist' or turn up and get a pager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EM35 Posted August 19, 2021 #141 Share Posted August 19, 2021 6 hours ago, jamiebarnzy said: Good morning Does anyone know if the thermal suites are open now? Hi Jamie, I was on Britannia from the 12th-15th August and the Thermal suites were open for the first time during this cruise. You had to book a two hour slot and there was a maximum of 10 people per 2 hour slot. It was £25 per person per session. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamrag Posted August 19, 2021 #142 Share Posted August 19, 2021 5 hours ago, sam49 said: I have just got off Britannia and the retreat was closed for the whole cruise. Not sure if it is due to open at any time. It was definitely open on our 3 night 12 August Britannia cruise, although we didn't use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L751 Posted August 19, 2021 #143 Share Posted August 19, 2021 5 hours ago, debsjc said: I believe everyone was on freedom dining. When we embarked it was possible to dinner every day on the app, but only for upto 6pm ,,,,, after that it's just 'virtual waitlist' or turn up and get a pager We are on the Med 9th Oct I think it is just freedom for the staycations we have booked first sitting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare silkworms Posted August 19, 2021 #144 Share Posted August 19, 2021 43 minutes ago, L751 said: We are on the Med 9th Oct I think it is just freedom for the staycations we have booked first sitting Yes, you are correct, I had originally booked freedom but have now changed it to second sitting, it must have just been the staycations which were all freedom. Did not want to be hanging around for an hour or so as described by app users so am quite happy with 8.30 club dining. Looking forward to it now, why don’t you join the roll call which I started a while ago. Terri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BestGuessed Posted August 19, 2021 #145 Share Posted August 19, 2021 45 minutes ago, L751 said: We are on the Med 9th Oct I think it is just freedom for the staycations we have booked first sitting I agree that the freedom dining is probably only for the staycation cruises. We are booked on the 25th September cruise which is the first leaving British waters and our booking confirmation shows we are booked at the second sitting in the main dining room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJL1973 Posted August 19, 2021 #146 Share Posted August 19, 2021 My thoughts on my first cruise on the Brittania (or any ship on any line) on 15/08: 1a. Embarkation was thankfully largely hassle-free and faster than I expected or feared. I got to the terminal by public transport / foot by 12:10 (I had a boarding time of 12:30) and was onboard by 13:20. Didn't take long to have the covid test & was told that test result would come through after 30 minutes, which was the case. But this was more like 20 minutes waiting time as the health check questionaire was done straight after the covid testimg. Boarding / check in was fine. Then security and on to the ship. 1b. It helped that I had done a lot of prepation & printing of forms beforehand which greatly helped things - I later learned 20 passengers were turned away from the terminal due to incomplete documentation / misunderstood rules & protocols, including one woman from Edinburgh who thought 2 proofs of identity was all that was needed in lieu of a passport. She was travelling with a freind who ended up boarding the ship without her. 2. Couldn't really fault the service. Had no issues with the waiters or any of the crew members. There were a couple of busy periods where I struggled to get noticed, but it was never a long wait before I had service., 3. Food in the MDR was excellent (well apart from the odd cheese platter selection). The buffet selection felt rather limited (though that could just due to covid issues), but was otherwise fine. Pizzas in the poolside grill / pizzeria was good, the hot dog & fries less so. 4. Loved the Crows Nest, both in the daytime & at night. Best part of the ship IMO. 5. Entertainment was excellent. The music was good & couldn't really fault it as long as you had realistic expectations of what was being played. Though I never expected to hear sea-shanties on a cruise ship. 6. Met some lovely passengers at mealtimes & randomly elsewhere. Overall the atmosphere felt very friendly and safe. 7. Disembarkation was super quick and ahead of schedule - 20 minutes from the lido to out of the terminal. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandancer Posted August 22, 2021 #147 Share Posted August 22, 2021 QUOTE It helped that I had done a lot of prepation & printing of forms beforehand which greatly helped things - I later learned 20 passengers were turned away from the terminal due to incomplete documentation / misunderstood rules & protocols, Thanks for all the useful info. We are having a little road trip/staycation on the way down to Southampton and will not have access to a printer. The health questionnaire will arrive 3 days before the cruise and we will have left home by then. I note that you mention printing documents. Did this include the questionnaire or would we be able to show it on the phone? I’ve already printed everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisenewbie1976 Posted August 22, 2021 #148 Share Posted August 22, 2021 3 minutes ago, sandancer said: QUOTE It helped that I had done a lot of prepation & printing of forms beforehand which greatly helped things - I later learned 20 passengers were turned away from the terminal due to incomplete documentation / misunderstood rules & protocols, Thanks for all the useful info. We are having a little road trip/staycation on the way down to Southampton and will not have access to a printer. The health questionnaire will arrive 3 days before the cruise and we will have left home by then. I note that you mention printing documents. Did this include the questionnaire or would we be able to show it on the phone? I’ve already printed everything else. You can show it on your phone 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zap99 Posted August 22, 2021 #149 Share Posted August 22, 2021 14 minutes ago, sandancer said: QUOTE It helped that I had done a lot of prepation & printing of forms beforehand which greatly helped things - I later learned 20 passengers were turned away from the terminal due to incomplete documentation / misunderstood rules & protocols, Thanks for all the useful info. We are having a little road trip/staycation on the way down to Southampton and will not have access to a printer. The health questionnaire will arrive 3 days before the cruise and we will have left home by then. I note that you mention printing documents. Did this include the questionnaire or would we be able to show it on the phone? I’ve already printed everything else. They will look at your phone, or the printed form and ask you the same questions again before you check in. If they don't like the photos you uploaded, they will take them again. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJL1973 Posted August 22, 2021 #150 Share Posted August 22, 2021 (edited) I don't have a printer either, but I live just a few minutes away from the nearest library and printed all my stuff there. At 15p a sheet, it wasn't that expensive, and I'll print less next time, knowing what I do now. Also, I've heard phone reception in the terminal isn't the best in the world, so I printed everything to be on the safe side. Edited August 22, 2021 by PJL1973 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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