*~ Cruising (travel by Waterways) megathread ~*

deisemum

hdowney wrote: »

Your going April 24th? Ship?

Yep, April 24th on MSC Orchestra from Venice.

hdowney

deisemum wrote:

Yep, April 24th on MSC Orchestra from Venice.

Ooh enjoy. MSC Armonia from Marseille here

Thoie

34 days to my next cruise

Southampton->Vigo->Lisbon->Cadiz->Gibraltar->Barcelona

Already have plans for Vigo, Lisbon and Gibraltar - think I'll take it easy in Cadiz.

hdowney

Thoie wrote:

34 days to my next cruise

I hate you, am envious of you and am happy for you in equal 3 way split measures

You going alone again on an RCI?

Thoie

hdowney wrote: »

I hate you, am envious of you and am happy for you in equal 3 way split measures

You going alone again on an RCI?

Yup - got a particularly cheap rate on this one earlier in the year and thought "feck it". I normally don't do 2 a year, but everything just fell into place cheaply on this one. Add to that I just hit diamond level at the end of the last one, I now get the 3 free drinks a night, which will probably be plenty for me.

spurious

Do RCI have some sailings without a single supplement, or do you pay it? Thought of cruising alone, but the potential price to do so always put me off.

Thoie

spurious wrote: »

Do RCI have some sailings without a single supplement, or do you pay it? Thought of cruising alone, but the potential price to do so always put me off.

They very rarely have trips with very low single supplement, but they don't last long, so if you see one, grab it. Most of the time they're on repositioning trips - don't think I've ever really seen a decent solo price for the Med. The Carribean sometimes has good solo rates, but they're usually fairly last minute (well, about 6 weeks out) and then flights are too dear. It really depends on how much time you can spend trawling various sites

adub

Hi all,
trying to find the best cruise for our honeymoon next may.

The choice is Royal Caribbean - Brilliance of the Seas - Mediterranean Greek Isles or Princess - Royal Princess - Mediterranean Medley. there's few pros/cons for each. Princess is more expensive but the ship seems to be the newest/best in their fleet. RC ship is smaller with fewer activities etc. RC also have discounts/sales throughout the year though. Also on RC groups on FB and in reviews on cruise critic i've seen that the food experience has gone down a lot in recent years.

If anyone could shed some light on which is better, that'd be amazing. I've looked on cruise critic but it's hard to know what someone means by 'usual cruise food' etc.

Thanks in advance

Thoie

adub wrote: »

Hi all,
trying to find the best cruise for our honeymoon next may.

The choice is Royal Caribbean - Brilliance of the Seas - Mediterranean Greek Isles or Princess - Royal Princess - Mediterranean Medley. there's few pros/cons for each. Princess is more expensive but the ship seems to be the newest/best in their fleet. RC ship is smaller with fewer activities etc. RC also have discounts/sales throughout the year though. Also on RC groups on FB and in reviews on cruise critic i've seen that the food experience has gone down a lot in recent years.

If anyone could shed some light on which is better, that'd be amazing. I've looked on cruise critic but it's hard to know what someone means by 'usual cruise food' etc.

Thanks in advance

I've never sailed Princess so can't help with the direct comparison. In terms of Royal's food and the "declining standards" - that's mainly coming from Americans. Given that half of them normally for quantity over quality, I don't know where they're getting this from, but it seems to be trotted out regularly.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the food on Royal OK, they no longer have midnight troughs buffets, but you will never go hungry and the food is generally around the same as what you'd get in a standard nice restaurant here. It's not L'Ecrivain (you have to pay extra for that), but there's plenty of choice, the menu changes nightly, and they'll always provide a few standard fallbacks (chicken breast, salmon, etc) in case nothing on the menu takes your fancy. If you want quantity, order two main courses or 7 starters - no-one will care.

The only thing I'm not mad gone on is their beef/steaks, and that's basically because they're not Irish. We're very spoiled with our beef products over here. One of the arguments for the "declining food standards" I've see is because snails aren't available every night, and sometimes they don't have lobster. Given that I think both those are overrated (I'd prefer some nice crab to lobster, and I like it when the replace the escargots with scallops), I'm happy enough.

adub

Hi all, I got quotes from an American TA (thanks to Thoie's recommendation) and Seascanner. The seascanner one is coming in a good bit cheaper, does anyone know why this would be? And they're also offering me a room that isn't available with RCCL direct anymore i.e. sold out -- would they have rooms held or something like that??

It's Harmony's first sailing next year that we're looking at, so I feel we need to lock it down soon before all the cheaper rooms sell out. Oh and they also have a new 'virtual balcony' room which shows what is outside at any given time in interior rooms - intriguing!

Thoie

adub wrote: »

Hi all, I got quotes from an American TA (thanks to Thoie's recommendation) and Seascanner. The seascanner one is coming in a good bit cheaper, does anyone know why this would be? And they're also offering me a room that isn't available with RCCL direct anymore i.e. sold out -- would they have rooms held or something like that??

It's Harmony's first sailing next year that we're looking at, so I feel we need to lock it down soon before all the cheaper rooms sell out. Oh and they also have a new 'virtual balcony' room which shows what is outside at any given time in interior rooms - intriguing!

My next cruise is with Seascanner, then next year's is with the US TA. I think different travel agents block book different things. I just go with whoever's cheapest of booking direct, Seascanner and the US TA. Seascanner prices will already include taxes etc, but won't include gratuities, but the US TA probably won't include those either.

As for the room availability, I'm never sure whether agents have block booked particular cabins, or if RCCL just hold back some cabins. Sometimes on the Royal site it doesn't show you a particular room as being available, but if you type the cabin number in directly it's suddenly OK. I've given up trying to fathom Royal's website.

maebee

camz09 wrote: »

Anybody saw the Norwegian Epic Cruise 7 days Mediterranean from Barcelona through loveitbookit? Booked it for November, first cruise ever! So excited!

When are you going camz? We're on this one next Wed - Nov 11th. Got a great deal with etravel. Flights, transfers, cruise + ultimate drinks package for €699. Happy Days

camz09

maebee wrote:

When are you going camz? We're on this one next Wed - Nov 11th. Got a great deal with etravel. Flights, transfers, cruise + ultimate drinks package for €699. Happy Days

We are sailing from Barcelona on the 15th November. Can't wait!

That's a brilliant deal! Is this type of deal on their website or you have to call them or something?

maebee

camz09 wrote: »

We are sailing from Barcelona on the 15th November. Can't wait!

That's a brilliant deal! Is this type of deal on their website or you have to call them or something?

I'm subscribed to their mailing list for special offers. They mailed me in late August about this one. We hadn't intended doing another cruise this year but I couldn't let this one go .

We start off in Rome on the 11th and pick you up in Barcelona on the 15th . I'll look out for you :):)

finbarrk

maebee wrote: »

When are you going camz? We're on this one next Wed - Nov 11th. Got a great deal with etravel. Flights, transfers, cruise + ultimate drinks package for €699. Happy Days

Some deal that! Enjoy.

Thoie

camz, maebee, how did your cruises go? I'm in withdrawal at the moment (nearly 5 months to go until next one!) so need to live vicariously through others' cruises!

How did you find the weather? South of Spain looked like the weather was nice, but didn't check further north.

maebee

Thoie wrote: »

camz, maebee, how did your cruises go? I'm in withdrawal at the moment (nearly 5 months to go until next one!) so need to live vicariously through others' cruises!

How did you find the weather? South of Spain looked like the weather was nice, but didn't check further north.

Hi Thoie,

We enjoyed it. Maybe not as much as our Alaska cruise in June - but that was exceptional. We had lovely weather all week, sunny every day - 22/23 degrees. Got on in Rome, headed straight to the Garden Cafe for lunch. Our fried chicken was delicious but the mash and veg were stone cold . We thought we were just unlucky that day but it was the same every day at lunch time. We met others who said the same thing. The evening meals were good. Our round of 2 glasses of Pinot Grigio was $18.90!!!. Everybody was on a drinks package - you would have to be. We were surprised that on sailing days, there was nothing going on, on deck. With Royal Caribbean, they always made a big thing out of sailing days, loads of entertainment on deck with BBQs etc. The shows were exceptionally good. "Pricilla" was a fantastic production. The staff were excellent but we 4 all agreed that Norwegian was a bit behind RC.

Would love to hear what Camz thought - s/he was getting on in Barcelona. Hi Camz :):)

Which cruise are you going on in April Thoie?

Thoie

maebee wrote: »

. Everybody was on a drinks package - you would have to be. We were surprised that on sailing days, there was nothing going on, on deck. With Royal Caribbean, they always made a big thing out of sailing days, loads of entertainment on deck with BBQs etc. The shows were exceptionally good. "Pricilla" was a fantastic production. The staff were excellent but we 4 all agreed that Norwegian was a bit behind RC.

Would love to hear what Camz thought - s/he was getting on in Barcelona. Hi Camz :):)

Which cruise are you going on in April Thoie?

I've never tried NCL, and keep hearing mixed things. I don't like the idea of their studio rooms for singles - they look like coffins to me, though a solo coordinator sounds like it would be handy.


April is another RCI eastbound transatlantic - fly over and sail home - no jet lag when you get home, and just an hour or so flight. I like the sea days - lounging around reading, chilling out.

PFL

Hi All,

Thinking strongly about doing a cruise in February 2016. Looking at Caribbean cruises for between seven and eleven nights flying from Dublin via London.

Any suggestions at alternatives or is celebrity one of the best to go with, it's a special birthday for my wife and want to go somewhere special while also getting value for hard earned money.

Would love to hear suggestions / tips on all the cruise liners, who's the best and who you'd recommend.

Thanks guys.

Thoie

PFL wrote: »

Hi All,

Thinking strongly about doing a cruise in February 2016. Looking at Caribbean cruises for between seven and eleven nights flying from Dublin via London.

Any suggestions at alternatives or is celebrity one of the best to go with, it's a special birthday for my wife and want to go somewhere special while also getting value for hard earned money.

Would love to hear suggestions / tips on all the cruise liners, who's the best and who you'd recommend.

Thanks guys.

I'm not sure there's a categorical "best" cruiseline - -it really depends on what you like. What's your normal holidaying style? Off track adventure? Standard package holiday? Climbing Everest?

What's your favourite part of being on holiday? Lounging by the beach/pool? Exploring? Eating out? Sing songs in the bar at 2am? Clubbing?


Consider your flight options carefully. The advantage of flying from London and getting a direct flight from there might be outweighed by longer immigration queues on arrival.

maebee

PFL wrote: »

Hi All,

Thinking strongly about doing a cruise in February 2016. Looking at Caribbean cruises for between seven and eleven nights flying from Dublin via London.

Any suggestions at alternatives or is celebrity one of the best to go with, it's a special birthday for my wife and want to go somewhere special while also getting value for hard earned money.

Would love to hear suggestions / tips on all the cruise liners, who's the best and who you'd recommend.

Thanks guys.

Hi PFL,

We've done 9/10 cruises. Mostly with royal Caribbean. One each with Norwegian, MSC and Holland America. Along the way we've spoken to fellow cruisers and Celebrity always comes up top. It seems to be a 5 star. We did an Alaska cruise in June with Holland America. Couldn't fault it. Celebrity ship was alongside us all the way up the Inside Passage. This might be an idea for you. We did the Caribbean a few years ago. Nice, but all the islands are the same. Nothing much to see, imo. Alaska has a lot more to offer, I think. Just something for you to think about.

camz09

Hi guys, still reeling from my first ever cruise. I honestly enjoyed it (as a first timer) Check in at Barcelona went smoothly. Room was comfortable, lots of storage (We had a mid- inside room)The food onboard was good/ adequate (..24hr soft serve!), but I wouldn't say it's the best. Mind you, I didn't go to any specialty restaurants. The buffet was a bit meh, honestly, I'd probably do it for breakfast or during any hours you feel peckish or hungry arriving from excursion and the complimentary restaurants aren't open yet. That said, I did enjoy going to Manhattan and Taste (they have similar menus but they change it up everyday) plus O'Sheehans, the food and the service was fantastic. Priscilla was brilliant! Loved it!!! I actually can't believe such quality entertainment can be had on a cruise, the Burn the Floor one was great too, you can see hardwork and passion from the performers.

My only gripe is on the cruise ports, like Livorno and Civitavecchia where you have to pay again to be transferred to the station or the centre (I understand they can be a bit far but still..the "freestyle" feeling is not there) Especially the latter where I heard it was made harder for passengers to DIY it compared to previous years. Nevertheless, we all got on our self-guided shore excursions (except in Naples) Not docking in Palma due to weather was a bit of a bummer, too.

Still, it made me want to cruise again! (Oh god the post-holiday feeling is really awful! Gotta go again!) Maybe on another cruiseline just to compare? Any suggestion on Greece/Croatia/Eastern Med cruises? 

maebee

Glad you enjoyed it Camz. Like you, we thought the shows were fantastic. "Pricilla" was an amazing production. So good that we went to it twice.

Haidee_Hammond

Hi,

I did a cruise in the Shannon a couple of years ago, and I want to repeat it and take my parents with me this time. They will visiting on August from Spain. Issue is, I am not sure if I should book now, and make sure dates are not a problem (as it will be August, and the first week also has a bank holiday) or to wait and make sure weather is reasonable (not much of a point being locked in a tiny boat for 4 days). I have seen post recommending the latter, because of the weather or ,allegedly, better prices on last minute bookings, but posts were pretty old (so I wonder if they are still relevant) and it was no reference to dates either. They will be here for a week so my flexibility with the dates is not much...

Thanks a million!

PaulieG

Hi, does anyone know if I can buy a roaming package of some sort for a smart phone while between countries on a ship? Is this a thing? Thanks.

spurious

They will have packages on board for the wifi but they will be crazy expensive.

We used to write emails etc. offline and then hit the nearest cafe/bar with free wifi once we got to a port.

Edward Hopper

My brother spent about 60 pounds for WiFi on board, on a Caribbean cruise last month and that was only for a few hours I think. Based on time not data used. As spurious has suggested, most bars/cafes/restaurants around the port have free wifi as a way of encouraging people into them. I suppose it depends on how many "at sea" days, if any, your cruise has as to whether it's worth buying on board wifi.

coylemj

+1 to the above. Internet access on a cruise ship is via satellite so is expensive and there's no way around that. Wi-Fi coverage is usually restricted to in or near the internet lounge where there will be pay as you go PCs. You typically can't get a wi-fi signal around the ship because so few people are prepared to pay for it that it's not worth them wiring the whole ship as happens in hotels. In my experience, buying wi-fi time on board is a mug's game because the time will disappear in no time and you can't always guarantee that the clock stops when you switch off wi-fi on your gadget. Better to buy a data package from your network supplier and use that sparingly when in coverage. For example I have an option with 3/O2 to get 50MB data roaming in the EU for just €2.50 per day. As suggested above, you can easily find free wi-fi spots on land in cafes and pubs so do your web browsing there because it will be dog slow and very expensive onboard.

Atlantic Dawn

I think it can be as high as €20/$20 per day on the ship, as it works over satellite you have no option but to go with that unless you go and buy a satellite phone. You should have mobile phone coverage when the ship is within about 20 miles of land.

whippet

royal Caribbean charged approx. $20 per day on a Med cruise I was on last year and it wasn't worth it at all. The speed was shockingly bad as it's a satellite connection and obviously heavily subscribed.

As for roaming packages .. 3g/4g signals were non-existent for the majority of the cruise unless right along side land.

I actually found it quite nice not having internet access for days .. one less distraction.

When you get to port, most ports have free Wifi and as always a McDonalds is never too far away.