To see less ads Register or Login ----- Daily Fantasy Sports games 18+

Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

A forum for discussion on Travel, Holiday & Leisure subjects.
User avatar
The Catman
Grumpy Old Man
Posts: 4415
Joined: 27 Jun 2013, 13:30
FS Record: Winner 2013 TFC T20 wickets league; Winner 2012 F1 Fantasyracers.com. Winner Mirror FF Free League 2014/15. 6th TFC T20 runs 2016.

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by The Catman »

Late comment I know but thanks for the posts Vid. I love things like "St Petersburg - Venice of the north".

You never see Venice referred to as the Leningrad of the south do you?

User avatar
blahblah
FISO Viscount
Posts: 108509
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:46
Location: .. he thinks that he knows something which he doesn't, whereas I am quite concious of my ignorance.

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by blahblah »

I thought that was Bruges :?

User avatar
Spinynorman
FISO Jedi Fish
Posts: 33327
Joined: 23 Jul 2006, 08:12
Location: West Midlands.
FS Record: Under Ordinary

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Spinynorman »

Are cruises still a bit posh or is that different now? Asked a few questions about having to dress up to eat at a few travel agents and have had a variety of replies ranging from not having to dress up and eating at an alternative restaurant on formal nights to one that told us that is wasn't that formal and just a jacket and tie would do! :shock:

I'm presuming that there are less formal cruises around without having to go club 18-30. :mrgreen:

User avatar
The Catman
Grumpy Old Man
Posts: 4415
Joined: 27 Jun 2013, 13:30
FS Record: Winner 2013 TFC T20 wickets league; Winner 2012 F1 Fantasyracers.com. Winner Mirror FF Free League 2014/15. 6th TFC T20 runs 2016.

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by The Catman »

blahblah wrote:I thought that was Bruges :?
Anywhere with a couple of canals is the Venice of the north. Probably applies to the Fens as well...

User avatar
murf
FISO Viscount
Posts: 109450
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:28
Location: here
FS Record: Once led TFF. Very briefly.
Contact:

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by murf »

The Catman wrote:
blahblah wrote:I thought that was Bruges :?
Anywhere with a couple of canals is the Venice of the north. Probably applies to the Fens as well...
We don't have any canals.....

User avatar
stevejtr
Grumpy Old Cereal Killer
Posts: 4537
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:32
Location: Out and about
FS Record: I always liked the old Tele FA Cup competition...

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by stevejtr »

Spinynorman wrote:Are cruises still a bit posh or is that different now? Asked a few questions about having to dress up to eat at a few travel agents and have had a variety of replies ranging from not having to dress up and eating at an alternative restaurant on formal nights to one that told us that is wasn't that formal and just a jacket and tie would do! :shock:

I'm presuming that there are less formal cruises around without having to go club 18-30. :mrgreen:
Depends who you go with.

Fred Olsen have 3 'formal' nights a week (I'm told). Thomson have one (and that's easily avoided). Even at the formal night on Thomson a jacket a tie are ok - some still do the whole black tie thing but since i make anything i wear automatically look scruffy i tend to avoid them.

For some people it's the highlight of the cruise. The women get to wear half their luggage allowance.

User avatar
bluenosey
Dumblenose
Posts: 14751
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:26
FS Record: FISO Goals Champ 2018/19 & 2019/20

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by bluenosey »

The Catman wrote:
blahblah wrote:I thought that was Bruges :?
Anywhere with a couple of canals is the Venice of the north. Probably applies to the Fens as well...
Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice. Other than that, there's little to choose between the two cities.

User avatar
unc.si.
FISO Knight
Posts: 11778
Joined: 11 Oct 2010, 14:08
Location: Off to buy Loctite
FS Record: 'Loser' by Beck

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by unc.si. »

Well they do say that Venice is the Birmingham of the South.

User avatar
Vid
Head Moderator
Posts: 21729
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:33
FS Record: winning is a distant memory

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Vid »

stevejtr wrote:
Spinynorman wrote:Are cruises still a bit posh or is that different now? Asked a few questions about having to dress up to eat at a few travel agents and have had a variety of replies ranging from not having to dress up and eating at an alternative restaurant on formal nights to one that told us that is wasn't that formal and just a jacket and tie would do! :shock:

I'm presuming that there are less formal cruises around without having to go club 18-30. :mrgreen:
Depends who you go with.

Fred Olsen have 3 'formal' nights a week (I'm told). Thomson have one (and that's easily avoided). Even at the formal night on Thomson a jacket a tie are ok - some still do the whole black tie thing but since i make anything i wear automatically look scruffy i tend to avoid them.

For some people it's the highlight of the cruise. The women get to wear half their luggage allowance.
Of the 3 RC cruises I've been on, 7 nights had 1 formal (we didn't go due to wife being ill), 12 nights had 2, 16 nights had 3. Not my cup of tea at all but the missus wanted to wear her posh frocks (and yes, they did take up around half of her luggage by themselves!) and wearing a suit for a few hours wasn't that bad, kept the tie on for maybe an hour after dinner then it had to go.

No question its one of the high points for many and are the busiest nights on the boat with people wandering around all dressed up and having photos taken and probably where the ship's photographers make most money out of the customers.

A couple of nights were semi-formal (or whatever its called), the not so posh frocks for the ladies and smart trousers, polo shirt and shoes (rather than trainers) for me.

But some were still turning up to the dining rooms in jeans and t-shirt, admittedly looking a bit out of place, but at the end of the day you're paying some big money for your holiday and it's your choice which activities to join and which you don't.

User avatar
WHATEVER
Grumpy Old Man
Posts: 1894
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:43
FS Record: Under construction

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by WHATEVER »

7lb claimer wrote:Never seen anyone give Naples a good press. :cry:

I had a great time in Naples.

Well, we were docked in Naples anyway, but actually we couldn't get out of there fast enough to have a great time in Pompei!

User avatar
unc.si.
FISO Knight
Posts: 11778
Joined: 11 Oct 2010, 14:08
Location: Off to buy Loctite
FS Record: 'Loser' by Beck

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by unc.si. »

Vid wrote: Our plan is to cruise again in a couple of years time for her 50th, at present our thoughts are to repeat Northern Europe but this time look for two or three privately organized excursions to see a bit more of what the likes of Stockholm and Tallinn have to offer along with a couple of different ship organized St Petersburg excursions, possibly back to Peterhof again but to include the palace this time.

Northern Europe does sound quite appealing. Still don't think I'd do a cruise, but not a bad way to see the likes of Bergen, Oslo, Tallinn, Stockholm, Copenhagen, St Petersberg, Riga and Helsinki. Probably the only realistic way of seeing a lot of those places in the space of a few weeks without a lot of air miles.

Never been to that part of the world, although may be off to Oslo soon on business. Judging by the quotes from Lawyers that I've been getting out there I'm guessing it's not a cheap place to visit :D

User avatar
stevejtr
Grumpy Old Cereal Killer
Posts: 4537
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:32
Location: Out and about
FS Record: I always liked the old Tele FA Cup competition...

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by stevejtr »

WHATEVER wrote:
7lb claimer wrote:Never seen anyone give Naples a good press. :cry:

I had a great time in Naples.

Well, we were docked in Naples anyway, but actually we couldn't get out of there fast enough to have a great time in Pompei!
Did a day tour from Rome years ago - Pompeii (excellent) Sorrento (pretty, but boring) and Naples (grimy). The main memory of Naples is the coach driver performing an emergency stop to let an unfeasibly large breasted woman cross in front of him.

User avatar
unc.si.
FISO Knight
Posts: 11778
Joined: 11 Oct 2010, 14:08
Location: Off to buy Loctite
FS Record: 'Loser' by Beck

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by unc.si. »

Zimmerman wrote:Not a fan of package holidays.
But I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone I know complain about a cruise.

Thinking of doing Royal Caribbean to Norway and Iceland (in the summer).
Did you get to Iceland in the end?

User avatar
Zimmerman
FISO Jedi Knight
Posts: 30211
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:42
Location: having a picnic at the Bear Mountain

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Zimmerman »

I didn't... But I've just come in to this forum as I'm now starting to ponder options for next year.

Itching for a proper holiday after 3 years at home... 4 by next summer.

Going to look in to the cruise option... Just a case of whether I can afford a suitably big enough cabin (our little one doesn't travel well).

User avatar
stevejtr
Grumpy Old Cereal Killer
Posts: 4537
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:32
Location: Out and about
FS Record: I always liked the old Tele FA Cup competition...

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by stevejtr »

Thomson Ancient Affairs on Thomson

Just come back from this with MrsJtr. Just the two of us this time around as MiniJtr was on a school trip to China (why didn't they have trips like that when I was a kid?)

Day 1: Arrival in Limassol

flight was delayed 50 minutes due to French Air Traffic Control, but a decent enough start. Weather in Cyprus this time of year varies wildly - when we arrived it was rather chilly, but a week later on it was 30 degrees. Arrival is at Paphos, and the Thomson team are pretty efficient in getting you on the coaches and away to the boat. Transfer takes about 50 minutes.

Rather than wait for luggage to turn up, we decided to go straight to Reception. Now we had a suite, so the room safe came free but its here that you have to pay to get the safe activated. We booked the Scirocco restaurant for a couple of nights (an extra £20 per head) but thats obviously optional. The Compass Rose restaurant is very good and of course theres always the self service restaurant at the back on Deck 5, but we find the food in Scirocco and the service are excellent and well worth the extra. Generally the food quality on the whole ship is fantastic, regardless of where you eat.


Day 2 - Alanya

Lets get the worst destination out of the way. Alanya always disappoints me. There are only a small number of excursions, and I really do think Thomson need to think of alternative locations. We opted for a short walk around town to look at all the fakes, but alternatively you could visit the 13th c fort, or take a trip to Aspendos and Perge. Those that went oto the latter all seemed to think it was very good. If we do this again, we'll probably do that trip tbh. Weather was cold and wet! Remember, this is very early in the season and a lot of places had yet to open up. In a few weeks the weather will be much better.


Day 3 - Marmaris


We felt a bit stuck for choice regarding excursions. We'd done the Turtle Bay/Dalyan River one last year, so instead opted for the Jeep Safari. What a laugh! great driver, cameraman in tow leaping from Jeep to Jeep and some good fun. Only a half day excursion but bought the dvd/stills at the end too. One of the stops is a =t a honey tasting place which too was good fun. We ended up buying some honey and some apple tea.


Day 4 - Santorini

This was the only port to tender over - the rest we docked in harbour, and we were lucky. The weather was a shade choppy (force 7-8) and we heard that the previous day it wasn't possible to tender across because of the weather. You can visit the volcanic Island, but MrsJtr & I instead opted just to take the cable car up to Thira and have a walk around for a couple of hours. Very pretty, but not actually much to do there, though having a coffee overlooking the caldera was superb. It is possible to walk up the 580 steps to the top, rather than take the cable car, or alternatively go up by donkey. If you choose the walking option, bear in mind that donkey crap can be slippy...

Weather once we got out pf the caldera was still choppy. So much so that the Captains Dinner ended up being postponed from this evening for 24 hours until we were in calmer waters. We were on dck 7, but those on the lower decks complained of being kept awake by banging doors (on unused safes possibly) and of waves smacking against the portholes.


Day 5 - At Sea

Plenty to do on board all day, so whether thats soaking up some rays or partaking of towel folding/ice carving demos, Trivia quizzes and such like theres always something going on. At this point its worth mentioning the evening entertainment. On Thompson we've always found it to be excellent. Talking to others only confirmed this as everyone we spoke to though that the shows were superior to P&O, Cunard etc entertainment.

Now normally we avoid the formal evening, but for the first we decided to do the whole dressing up bit, so I wnr in a tux and MrsJtr in a posh frock. probably half the guests did go and the rest avoided it. It was quite fun tbh. wouldn't object to doing it again.


Day 6 - Ashdod

Last year we had one day in Ashdod and one in Haifa further north. This years other itinerary change was of have 2 full days in Ashdod. Now Israel is the highlight of the trip tbh, and there are plenty of excursions on offer. We elected for Bethlehem and Jerusalem (again, as we'd done it last year)

Before I go on about the excursion, its at this point that I must mention Israeli customs. Even if you elect top just stay on board, everyone had to pick their passport up and go in line past the customs officials. Its a ballache, but necessary of you do a trip to Isreal. tbf it was easier than last year; though that might just be me getting used to the idea.

Its an early start, and we were on board the coach at 7.30, having had breakfast at 6.30 (restaurants open early on these days so you can at least get a bite before the journey) and customs 30 minutes earlier for the 90 minute journey to Jerusalem.

This time we did Jerusalem in the morning and Bethlehem in the afternoon. Its a great trip - not cheap - but worth it just to see the places. The guides are good - though leaving the group is not really permitted. I wanted to go up to the Temple Mount (theres an entrance for non Muslims close to the Dung Gate) but was informed the guide would have to report me to the officials as a result. ffs... had we grabbed a taxi from Ashdod and gone independantly we could do it, so I really don't understand why it was such a big deal. I decided to avoid the arse ache of the security questioning and will go back some time to do the temple mount another time. Though I did try to go in via the cotton merchants market and found the way blocked by a couple of rather large security guards with automatics... The church of all nations before the old city was gok, if brief.

Lunch was in a hotel in Palestine having gone through the (ratehr depressing) wall, and was excellent.

This time in Bethlehem we queued to see the spot of Jesus' birth in the church of the nativity (as the queue was small). Ad there were Armenian and Greek orthodox services going on, entry to the grotto kept getting stopped and it still took 90 minutes, so if you decide to do iit, be prepared to wait. In silence too. Aftar a quick walk through manger Square we went back to the coach and to the boat.

As this time there were 2 days in Ashdod, Thomson offer an overnight experience where you can stop in a hotel in Jerusalem. This was fully booked in record time, so would suggest booking in advance if that takes your fancy.


Day 7 - Ashdod


As suckers for punishment, we elected to do the Masada/Dead Sea excursion on the second day, and we were glad we did. Its 2.5 hours drive to Masada, but so worth it. My only gripe is that its a relative whistle stop tour - 2 hours all in - but such an amazing place and well worth the 6am breakfast and long coach journey. Security on day 2 was more relaxed, and we breezed through. Though had to laugh when the security officer asked me if i was transporting weapons to Jerusalem... apparently levity is not appreciated as all the guards have their sense of humour removed at birth, so be warned.

We then went to a local hotel (Hotel Lot) for lunch, and an opportunity to float in the dead sea. Lunch was again excellent, and the glass of local red was superb. We elected not to do the floating thing. Now it wasn't at all like 'An Idiot Abroad'. The sea was clear, clean and most of the others in our party did float and loved it. We elected just to sunbathe on the shore for a couple of hours.


Then back to the coach.


Day 8 - Limassol

We docked at about 8am, and you have to vacate the cabin by 9 so we chose to walk to the marina. Its further than we thought! 6 people can share a limo for a couple of Euro each... Had a very nice smoothie and a stroll around in the sun.

suitcases have to be ready for
am that morning, and hand luggage can be left attended in the cinema. well worth doing.


Transfer to Paphos was at pm for a pm flight


In summary, it was a really good cruise. The rough weather could have caused some issues, but the crew did their utmost to make things as easy as possible. Part of the beauty of Thomson is that all service charges and tips are included in the price, so you know exactly where you stand. Drinks prices aren't totally over the top, but have gone up in the last couple of years. House wine
and £3.70 for a 500ml beer. Cocktails were £4.65 I think. The boats aren't the floating cities of the american cruise companies, so don't expect a huge shopping experience on board, but the staff are very friendly, always helpful and the entertainment very good.

Having done 'Ancient Affair' now for the last couple of years, we'll do a different itinerary next time. But I would recommend this if you love history - even if like me you're not religious. These are some of the paces that have shaped the history of the world over the last 2 millennia. For better or for worse, and seeing them is a fantastic experience.

User avatar
unc.si.
FISO Knight
Posts: 11778
Joined: 11 Oct 2010, 14:08
Location: Off to buy Loctite
FS Record: 'Loser' by Beck

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by unc.si. »

Nice write up. Stopped at a few of those places on ferries from Haifa to Athens about 25 years ago. Hopefully they've spruced Limassol up a bit since then...

Used to be far easier to get around in Israel. Mainly hitchhiked or jumped on early morning bakery delivery vans. Had a few trips to the air raid shelters with the gas masks on, but actually security was a lot looser than it is now in terms of visiting places. It was OK to wander round the tunnels behind the Western Wall and Temple Mount was easy to visit and get round as long as you weren't in shorts and T Shirts. There were some checkpoints around but most of the time it was pretty easy to get around outside of any religiously significant days.

Sadly i gather it's a lot harder these days to just wander as you please. Fascinating place though even if (like me) you're not at all religious. Was treated to the spectacle of a fight between some priests (or equivalent) in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem - whacking each other with broom's over some undetermined territorial dispute between the Greek Orthodox guys and some other religion :D

Long time ago now :cry: Still in touch with some of the guys there though

User avatar
Vid
Head Moderator
Posts: 21729
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:33
FS Record: winning is a distant memory

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Vid »

Returned home at the start of the week from a 13 night cruise on RC's Anthem of the Seas, Southampton - Canaries, some significant differences to our previous cruises. As mentioned previously this one was to celebrate MrsVid's 50th, her birthday falling during the 2nd week of the cruise, Southampton is much more convenient than fly+cruise and she wanted to experience the (hopefully) newer, bigger and better ship.

We'd booked many months in advance, after much deliberation selecting a stateroom on deck 6 near the lifts and stairs on the starboard side to enable quick access to the smoking area on deck 5, also a smaller room but bigger balcony than those nearby, we have enjoyed sitting outside with a drink (coffee in the morning, something stronger later in the day) watching the world go past on previous cruises. Although smoking is banned on balconies these days the emergence of vaping (not permitted either but impossible to prove that we did) was to enable us to sit and relax.

Well, that was the plan anyway. A month or so earlier an ex-workmate posted his view from a deck 6 cabin, mostly it was one of the lifeboats with a bit of sky above it, so we're straight onto the travel agents for them to question RC as to whether we were in for an obstructed view too and if so to change cabin even if it cost a bit more and was located somewhere a bit less convenient. The reply came back that our room did not have any obstruction, panic over!

I'm not quite sure which packages came as standard with the booking, which were part of any deals at the time from RC/travel agents, or if our Platinum status (RC's loyalty system, points accumulated by number of nights cruising and pushed up by a complaint or two on the earlier cruises) gave us extras/ discounts. However it came about we had a taxi booked for us that turned up half an hour early, we were ready, so off we went.

Check-in was done a few days earlier online, boarding was very smooth, within 15 minutes of being dropped off by the taxi we were on deck 14 getting our first drink! :-) We noted the smoking area was greatly reduced from that on previous cruises, maybe seating for just 30-40 people. We then heard the announcement that the staterooms were ready so finished our drinks and headed for the room, open the door and the first thing we see is ..... a bloody lifeboat :evil: so straight down to Guest Services to complain and hopefully get moved to a different room. Already a very long queue there so half an hour or so until we could speak to someone, along the lines of "we've had this problem before ..... we've informed head office previously .... booked to capacity but come back tomorrow to see if not all guests have boarded". Not happy at all but nothing more we could do there and then.

We then upgrade our drinks package from just beer and wine (up to $14/ glass) to include spirits (MrsVid does like her G&Ts and Brandy :-)) then get a drink and onto deck 5 for a smoke. On previous cruises the whole of the starboard side had been the smoking area, on the Anthem just a small covered area seating 30 or so, 5k cruisers, outside smoking capacity for under 100! Remembering that these are also the only areas that vapers should be using too. The only other place on the ship that permits smoking is half of the casino, a lot of seats at the slots machines, no doubt a good number succumbed to stuffing notes into them whilst they smoked.

They've changed the way that they provide dining choices on the Anthem, other classes of ship have a main dining room covering 2 or 3 decks depending on the size of the ship with 2 sittings (early/ late) which you'd choose when booking, so always the same time, same table, same waiting staff and everyone had the same menu to choose from, other options would be to use the large buffet dining room on one of the higher decks or the speciality dining (extra charge of course). On Anthem the main dining covers 2 decks but is 4 separate smaller restaurants with their own themes and menus, the "Classic" diners would still have a fixed early/ late sitting but would also have a fixed 4 day rotation, it wasn't until day 12 that we discovered that the waiting staff also rotated at the same time. "Dynamic" diners (which we were) could book restaurant and time to suit from these 4, another small complimentary restaurant on deck 14, 4 speciality (pay) restaurants or use the buffet option.

Dynamic dining simply doesn't work, especially given that they weren't allowed to turn anyone away that just rolled up without booking, or had been told that they couldn't book when they wanted so turned up anyway. So at times staff were very stretched and service suffered greatly as a result. For us only a couple of good dining experiences, several mediocre and more than half poor at best. We tried a couple of the speciality restaurants and they were no better than okay for service. Food quality was also very hit and miss throughout, not impressed at all. Usually you expect to put on a fair amount of weight during a cruise, I've actually lost around half a stone!

It was very noticeable from day one that a good number of waiters/ barmen/ etc. were anything but cheerful, some lightened up as the days passed, some didn't, but the same thing repeated time and time again from those willing to have a chat, understaffed, not a good ship to be on, very few volunteers for it, most placed there against their wishes, can't wait to move on to a different ship.

Back to our complaint, we returned on day 2, no rooms available to move to, email sent to head office, maybe a chance of a move next day if rooms were freed up by more entertainers getting off than getting on. Return on day 3, no, no chance, so we finally unpacked completely. Day 4, "any resolution from head office yet?" "no, I'll email them again". Day 5, an offer of @£600 in future cruise vouchers, rejected. Back and forth until day 11, refund of the difference between what we paid and what an obstructed view costs, yeah, should have had that as a matter of course on day one but we will be taking it further for compensation. Immediately we're also offered the future cruise vouchers, had enough of it all so accepted, but in hindsight we should have thought more and pushed for more, I think we'd have gotten something else on top. 11 days in to get to this resolution is terrible customer service, the refund should have been a given immediately, add the compensation a couple of days later and we could all have just gotten on with it with a lot less time wasted.

I'll add a bit more later on.

User avatar
Vid
Head Moderator
Posts: 21729
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:33
FS Record: winning is a distant memory

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Vid »

During the weeks and months building up to the cruise MrsVid had spent a lot of time on the Cruise Critic forum researching, questioning and chatting to people that either had been on the Anthem before or were on our cruise. The forum is (so I'm told) split so that every cruise company has a section with subforums covering each boat, each port of call and each individual cruise. On day 2 we had a "Meet and Greet" with other CC users, 30 or so of us, some we spent time with during the cruise and would speak on a daily basis, others we saw in passing and some I wouldn't have a clue if we'd seen them again or not. I'd recommend CC to anyone to aid their research and to also find a few contacts to meet with on the cruise itself.

We frequented the quizzes again, adding a woman travelling alone to our team on day 3, she spent a lot of time with us from then on. We won the different types of tat available to win, most of which will get stuffed in a cupboard never to see the light of day again :-) Her initial experience was a bad one, the buffet area can get absolutely packed, she'd gotten up to get something else to eat and returned to find her dishes cleared away and the table occupied by others. Some of the excursions she'd booked via her travel agent were also bad experiences, including one that started 4 hours before the boat docked :shock: and one that dropped everyone in the middle of a town at 9am on a Sunday morning :roll: We also introduced her to the joys of gambling :-) something that might not have lasted long if it wasn't for her second press on the slots winning her $84. She had several other good hits, the best being $180+ on the last night.

We, or more accurately, MrsVid stuck to roulette, ups and downs night to night, the initial $100 bought fluctuating between $100 up and $60 down until day 12 when we got a bit carried away (drunk :D ) and lost what we had plus $50 more. The last night was a great craic though, bought another $100, the final few hours spent with people we'd built up a rapport with during the cruise, all betting fairly small but it seemed that most had a piece of whichever number came up, all walking away with a profit of some sort in the early hours.

One big difference to previous cruises was with onboard internet, on others it has been pay by the minute to either use their rubbish machines or wander around the boat trying to connect to their hotspots just to get a very slow connection, on Anthem they have ship wide wi-fi, unlimited, pay by the day ($15), a speed test I did returned 7.5mbps which was plenty good enough for Skype sessions, youtube and regular browsing without having to move the laptop from our room, hopefully they'll roll this out to the rest of the fleet, well at least whichever one we use next.

We didn't participate in many of the onboard activities available, the open pool too small for 5k passengers on the hot days (many were) and the covered pools didn't appeal (too far from the smoking area). A lot of things required too much queueing on sea days and if you've gotten off for a wander whilst in port then you're not there to take advantage of shorter queues. We did do a "puzzle room" though, 4 or 5 others from the CC group and I think 5 from a different group, a series of connected puzzles to escape a room within an hour. It was, um, interesting, some people are very good at finding things but not very good an working out what to do with them once found, fortunately for them all I was there 8-) we got out with a whole 8 seconds to spare :lol: Not sure if its the sort of thing I'd care to do again, maybe with a smaller group that know each other and are able to work together much better, but then it probably wouldn't be that much of a worthwhile challenge either.

All in all it was a decent holiday but not great, the time spent with some of the people we met just about outweighing the negatives mentioned above. One thing for sure is that we won't be looking to cruise on the the bigger ships again and at the moment we're thinking of using our future credits for a repositioning cruise from the US via the Caribbean back to Southampton in 2017 if the timing and finances are right.

User avatar
Vid
Head Moderator
Posts: 21729
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:33
FS Record: winning is a distant memory

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Vid »

Another year, another cruise!

Returned yesterday from a 10 night cruise, Southampton - Canaries again, still with RC but on the Independence of the Seas that has had many good reviews and very popular with the Brits over the past few years, the big difference this time being it was a late deal taking our 3 and a half year old granddaughter (Jessica) with us (we're special guardians so she lives with us permanently). The original intention was to visit admin and his family again but we'd left it too late to book flights with costs rising almost daily whilst we were trying to work it out.

Check in again was done online so just a matter of turning up at the docks, turfing the luggage out of the car for the baggage attendants to chuck onto a trolley to be taken onto the ship, no hassle with weight limits or the number of pieces of luggage you'd get with a flight, nor the need to hire a big enough car to get where you're going at the other end. The luggage just appears outside your room later in the day. Boarding was again very straightforward and quick, the only extra requirement being that they needed to see the original court order giving us custody of Jessica, which of course we had with us.

Due to the late deal we had an inside cabin on deck 2 with absolutely no idea of the passage of time, well, that's our excuse for not getting up until 10-11am most days :D Not a great deal of room either, a foot at most each side of the double bed with Jessica's bed pulled down from the ceiling each evening. Supposedly not to be used by under 6s but she enjoyed climbing up and down the ladder without issues and telling everyone that she had a special bed regardless of whether they wanted to know or not.

Being in term time there were just over 30 kids in the 3-5 age group on board, we were told that there were 1100 on the previous cruise!!! A handful of older kids on board, presumably with parents happy to pay any fines levied by the schools. There's a free kids club, split into the age groups; under 3, 3-5, 6-preteen, teenage with the first 30 to turn up to any session being admitted, not a problem for us but clearly not something to rely on during school holidays. Jessica absolutely loved it and most mornings her first words would be 'can I go to kids club?'.

Generally most of the staff were friendly (especially to Jessica or 'Princess' as she was often called) and helpful, but there were a few uncommunicative/ unhelpful/ miserable sods amongst them.

We didn't get anything like the same level of communication pre-cruise via the Cruise Critic website as we did for the Anthem and 20-30 that did show at the 'Meet and Greet' made no effort whatsoever to meet or greet anyone else there.

Breakfast and lunch times at the buffet restaurant were frequently packed with numerous calls over the tannoy asking those that had finished their meals to make space for others. Main dining though was vastly superior to the Anthem and matched our experiences on previous cruises. Having opted on the first night to try a table of 12 which really didn't work, Jessica's presence clearly not appreciated by the 4 couples sat there, we went for a 6 seater for the other 9 nights, same table, same waiting staff who always made a fuss of Jessica, but with different couples most nights who were all asked before being seated if they minded dining with a child. As a side note, I understand that the Anthem has now abandoned 'Dynamic Dining'.

I've never been one for watching shows, MrsVid likes them though and of course they'd be an experience for Jessica. The Independence has an ice-rink so 2 of the shows were there, the first had Jessica spell-bound, the second not to the same extent, but she still enjoyed it. The main show was 'Grease', to say it was crap would do crap an injustice, mediocre/ completely wrong voices for many roles, no continuity - if you hadn't seen the film you'd be wondering how one scene led to the next they did as they left virtually all of the story out. Jessica got bored so we left before the end as did the couple sat next to us who also weren't impressed.

We utilised the pool area on the 5 days we had the time and considered it warm enough for Jessica (basically from when we arrived in the Canaries) and the change in her from distressed on day one to full of confidence and jumping into the deep pool (wearing a buoyancy jacket) and laughing whether I caught her or not was amazing, something only I saw close up, something to treasure.

I hadn't realised that there were so many Germans on the boat though, so many sun loungers with towels draped over them for hours on end but with nobody ever going near them, probably not needed due to so few actually using the pools for swimming.

We only managed a few quizzes this time, failing miserably but did 'win' prizes at two of them when Jessica returned the pens at the end :)

Time at the casino was significantly reduced but thanks to the kids club we did manage to lose around $150 in 10 days.

Plenty of friendly people about but no real connections made this time, loads of grumpy old sods about too though.

An excellent holiday for Jessica, good but probably not great for us, but it had its' memorable moments.

User avatar
Surprised
FISO Jedi Knight
Posts: 26528
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:32
Location: Home
FS Record: TFFOSM MotW in 2008 and MotM in 2003. 78th overall in TFFO for 2002/3 and 2003/4

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Surprised »

I enjoy reading these cruise updates

User avatar
Zimmerman
FISO Jedi Knight
Posts: 30211
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:42
Location: having a picnic at the Bear Mountain

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Zimmerman »

Out of interest Vid, how much did it cost (ball park)?

Was there a significant saving with it being a late deal?

I always fancy a cruise, but never got round to it.
Can't afford a bigger room, scared of the claustrophobic inner room.

User avatar
Vid
Head Moderator
Posts: 21729
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:33
FS Record: winning is a distant memory

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Vid »

Zimmerman wrote:Out of interest Vid, how much did it cost (ball park)?

Was there a significant saving with it being a late deal?

I always fancy a cruise, but never got round to it.
Can't afford a bigger room, scared of the claustrophobic inner room.
Sorry for not answering sooner, just rereading the thread and spotted your question.

Booked 12 weeks before sailing, 'guaranteed cabin' rather than one we had the choice of, £2500 as a round figure. Maybe £2-300 spent on the few outings we made. You'd also have to factor in travel/ parking costs.

User avatar
Vid
Head Moderator
Posts: 21729
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:33
FS Record: winning is a distant memory

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Vid »

Here we go again, flying over to the US on Wednesday for a cruise back to Southampton, 5 days in the Caribbean first though. Will attempt to post what I remember of it early in May.

User avatar
Zimmerman
FISO Jedi Knight
Posts: 30211
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:42
Location: having a picnic at the Bear Mountain

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Zimmerman »

I've never fancied that atlantic crossing a) will it be rough b) is it just endless sailing/days at sea (how many)?

User avatar
Beerfuelledman
FISO Knight
Posts: 13220
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:26
Location: In Norn Iron
FS Record: FISO 17/18 FPL Cash Draft League Winner

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Beerfuelledman »

Reading Vids 20/9 post what struck me was I always imagined a Cruise was a route into visiting many places; I never quite took it for time spent on the boat.

User avatar
stevejtr
Grumpy Old Cereal Killer
Posts: 4537
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:32
Location: Out and about
FS Record: I always liked the old Tele FA Cup competition...

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by stevejtr »

I've only ever done the 'different port each morning' types

pleasant enough though. next is booked for July

User avatar
Vid
Head Moderator
Posts: 21729
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:33
FS Record: winning is a distant memory

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Vid »

Just arrived at our Fort Lauderdale hotel. Fortunately booked a Heathrow hotel last night, up at 5.30am for our 9.45 flight which was delayed around an hour. Now 5.30pm here need food and beer!

User avatar
Zimmerman
FISO Jedi Knight
Posts: 30211
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:42
Location: having a picnic at the Bear Mountain

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Zimmerman »

Beerfuelledman wrote:Reading Vids 20/9 post what struck me was I always imagined a Cruise was a route into visiting many places; I never quite took it for time spent on the boat.
stevejtr wrote:I've only ever done the 'different port each morning' types

pleasant enough though. next is booked for July

Thats whats always appealed to me about a cruise (although never bitten the bullet and done it yet) is getting a little taster of many places.
Hence me not fancying spending days on end crossing the Atlantic.

I can perhaps see the merits in that too (if the boats are as vast and luxurious as they sound).

I suppose its only like going to a resort in say Jamaica where its all very beautiful and all inclusive (but you can't venture outside the resort if you get bored or fancy a change of scenery through risk of being mugged).

User avatar
murf
FISO Viscount
Posts: 109450
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:28
Location: here
FS Record: Once led TFF. Very briefly.
Contact:

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by murf »

Zimmerman wrote:I suppose its only like going to a resort in say Jamaica where its all very beautiful and all inclusive (but you can't venture outside the resort if you get bored or fancy a change of scenery through risk of being mugged).
That is pretty much my definition of 'holiday hell'! An all inclusive resort or top end cruise liner I could maybe do happily for 24 hours or so but would soon get itchy feet. The only aspect of cruises that appeals to me is the 'different port each morning' thing or maybe being able to access norwegian fjords to admire the work of Slartibartfast.

User avatar
Vid
Head Moderator
Posts: 21729
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:33
FS Record: winning is a distant memory

Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Vid »

Thought I'd posted this before, MrsVid's account of our cruise last year from Jessica's perspective

A review of IOS through the eyes of our 3½ year old granddaughter Jessica.

Very excited sleep countdown to our departure on 9th September, travelling with Nanna and Granfer. After quick hugs with mummy who we were leaving behind to “look after the cats”, we boarded and it only took 15 minutes before we were on and my fun started.

All of the crew and staff made me feel very special. Lots of the guests talked to me too. OK so there were a few who seemed to think I shouldn’t go on holiday on a cruise ship, but my Granfer said we were best off ignoring them.

Deck 11 ......the water facilities. It wasn’t warm enough for me to get stuck in until we arrived in the Canaries, but I still pestered on the cooler windy days through the BoB.
The H2O area was a bit of a waste of time and space and wasn’t really used much. Much better is the main pool and hot tub area, which was surrounded by sun loungers with all sorts of people laying on them changing colour. Some only had towels on them, but only shared one for the 3 of us.
By the towel stand, they let you use a buoyancy jacket, which comes in lots of children’s sizes, to keep us kids safe.
The self serve ice cream stand was used lots on this deck .....I could just about reach up to pull the leaver myself, when I hadn’t had enough to eat everywhere else on the ship.

Deck 3 .....My Time Dining, where we ate between 6 and 6.30 each night. I was treated like a princess every single night of the cruise, from the second I walked into the room. Our waiters had our table ready, with a booster seat ready. I could choose from the kids menu or the adults one, and if I didn’t like it, they would go and find me something else.

Deck 12.....Aquanauts. Brilliant place to visit and spend some cool time with lots of new friends that I made. I could go there anytime between 9-12, 2-5, 6.45-10, or for all of it. I could even go from 10pm to 1am, but I was too busy dancing. On port days I could have stayed to lunch too, but I didn’t need to. They do lots of activities and I made some things that Nanna had to pack to bring home for mummy.

Our stateroom....we had an inside one, which Nanna said we had to try and keep tidy cos there wasn’t a lot of room. When I woke up I didn’t know if it was night or day, so most of the time I just went back to sleep and had to be woken up. Missed lots of breakfasts, but Nanna had cereal ready for me anyway. I slept in a Pullman bed over the top of Granfer....he said I should have been at least 6 years old to be up there, but I thought it was cool climbing the ladder each night (and he said he didn’t want to sleep up there himself).

Entertainment:
The Ice Shows were amazing. 2 shows each lasting about an hour. Make sure you get your mummies or daddies to collect your tickets from Guest Relations and get there half an hour before the show starts, so you can get a front row seat.

Deck 5.... The Pyramid Lounge is a great place to let loose and have a run around, a dance and generally let off steam (as long as the sad folks that are on the cruise with you, don’t mind).

The Main Shows in the Theatre.....some were a bit late for me, but I tried hard to sit still. Lots of music and dancing, but very loud for my little ears.

Getting dressed up.....I had lots of pretty dresses to wear each evening and lots of people wanted to take my photo, though Granfer said that would cost him lots of money. Mummy packed me far too many clothes for 10 days, so I had to make sure I got changed at least 3 times a day.
If you want to ask my Nanna any more questions, then that’s OK. She might remember more than I did about all the fun things I did and places I visited.

View Latest: 1 Day View Your posts
Post Reply

Return to “Travel, Holidays & Leisure”