lleynman

You must use a very unusual insurance company! Try another one maybe? Mine (Insure &Go) just says ‘Europe’. How long is your cruise? Is it long enough to get as far as Spain?

Look at https://www.lovemoney.com/news/50671/european-travel-insurance-cover-spain-malta-turkey-cyprus-post-office

Quote from that - "Insure and Go says that policyholders who declare a medical condition are placed into two categories to establish how much they pay. Travellers to Spain, Cyprus, Turkey, and Malta are placed in Category A which is more expensive, the rest of Europe is put into category B."

Northern Spain is easily within short cruising distance from the UK. and who knows where you might go on a "mystery" cruise !

Having been hammered by an additional premium of over £2000 just because I had had a dubious diagnosis of angina just prior to leaving on the Balmoral cruise to New Orleans last year, I am rather wary of insurance companies small print.

NO. Spain is not in the same insurance group as most of Europe.

Anyone been on a Mystery Cruise ?

How did you arrange insurance when the insurance company want to know which countries you are visiting and of course you don't know when booking ?

I might be interested. I assume that we book directly to the tour operator?

It seems to me that there is a fixed itinerary unless booked as a group. Is that what you plan ? In that case how do we ensure that is what we are booking ?

BTW - the entrance fee for the Aquarium is 10 dollars adult or 5 dollars for senior citizens. The website doesn't say if that is included.

There are two launderettes on Balmoral. The larger one on deck 3 and a smaller one on deck 9. You have to get a token to operate the washing machines but then the dryers and the irons are free.

I tend to use the upper one as it is more convenient to our cabin and its easy to pop out onto the outer aft deck with a book whilst waiting for the washing to finish.

However some people do wait for their washing and sometimes the conversations can be quite interesting. It can get very hot in there though !

I have been a loyal fan of Fred Olsen for many years. Earlier this year I booked my 14th cruise with Fred for next February, a 46 night trip.

Imagine my annoyance when this week I see an advert offering free transport to the port, 200 euros per cabin shore spend plus £50 off a shore excursion for bookings this month. None of which is retrospective for earlier bookings.

And of course they have been sitting on a large deposit instead of it being in my bank account.

Yes I know that there is often incentives when a cruise is not full but not this far in advance.

Annoyed ? yes I am and my loyalty to Fred Olsen has just evaporated. I will think very carefully before booking with them again after this sort of treatment for loyal customers who book early.

I was on the previous cruise and though there was an outbreak it had been contained by the time we reached Southampton.

However a potential point to spread an infection is the library. What do people do when confined to their cabins ? - they read books - which are then returned to the library.

There is a container for the returned books so that they can then be disinfected before being put back on the shelves, but several times I saw people opening the container and sifting through the unsanitised books !

I avoid the library because of this - Kindles are wonderful.

The Gold benefits are still there if you book on a Freedom Fare.

 

There is no longer a Gold check in desk but once you check in, if you are Gold and on a Freedom Fare, you should be given a Gold Priority embarkation card, if on Anchor Fare you wait your turn along with everyone else.

 

All passengers on Freedom Fare get free shuttle tickets, even first timers, again if Gold but on Anchor you have to pay.

 

I am Gold and do a mixture of Freedom and Anchor fares, when on an Anchor Fare, I accept that I have paid much less than others on a Freedom Fare and fully understand that I have to pay for some extras, its still a much cheaper deal.

That seems a reasonable and fair explanation. I had not appreciated the differences applied re the fares as this was the first time I have booked an "anchor fare". (a fairly late decision to book another cruise this year). Strangely though this does not appear to apply to the welcome gift as this still appeared in our cabin on the second day. Quite appreciated - but I do wish they wouldn't include such peculiar flavour of crisps :)

Crowne Plaza is only 100 metres away from the Cruise Terminal.

Boudica 28 night cruise from Liverpool - October/November 20014.

No priority registration or boarding, no complimentary shuttle bus passes. These are advertised as benefits of Oceans Gold membership.

Are they being quietly phased out ?

The Balmoral was lengthened by inserting a large section in the middle of the ship.

Cabins in that section do not have such good sound insulation between the cabins as the old part of the ship.

I have been able to overhear a telephone conversation through the wall on one occasion. This was in a B class cabin on the main deck.

However that is the only problem . Super ship - well worth trying out. Just dont go for a midships cabin if you worry about noisy neighbours. ( of course there will be engine noise if you are well aft on a lower deck )

We are joining the Balmoral at Singapore for the return trip to the UK ( March 2015). We would like to put our luggage on the ship before it leaves Southampton in January so that we can take more than the flight allowance.

Has anybody had experience of this ?

Fred's office say all luggage labels will be sent to us before the ship leaves and we can simply send the baggage to the ship then. Anybody done this ?

Are the tickets and label for the later world sectors really sent out before the voyage commences ?