Tayscot

5 hours ago, 2BACRUISER said:

And Ex2 up on pool deck its ridiculous couldn't speak to the person 9n the sunbed next to you. And on D2 in the atrium too loud.

On D2 we found that the lounges were loud both from the loud music and the passengers having to shout to be heard over it. During the concert in the Atrium by the classical/operatic singer there was a lot of anger at the noise coming from the bar, the bar staff and the customers at the bar. At first we agreed with the complainers but on further thought it was difficult to find anywhere on the ship to have a quiet drink and a chat with friends. For most of the evenings there was loud or loudish entertainment in all bar areas even bar 11 the quietest area had singers/saxophonist/guitarist at times meaning there was no quiet bar area. 

Just back from two weeks on D2 and had a great time. Over the years and many cruises we have relaxed our dress code a little from our P & O days of 2 Formal, 2 Semi Formal (Men required a jacket but no tie) and 3 Smart Casual to conform to the more relaxed dress styles/codes of the day. I still wear shirt/trousers/shoes and Mrs T a dress or trousers most nights but have always dressed up for the Dress to Impress night (our choice). I have not taken my kilt outfit for some years but take my dinner suit and Mrs T a long dress but after the last two weeks we give up and will not bother to haul formal wear with us again preferring to simply dress smartly as we do the rest of the cruise. Quite frankly the take up of wearing formal wear was very low and I cant see the point in dressing up when others are wearing sandals/flip flops, scabby shorts (certainly not dress shorts) and t shirts to the 'Formal' night. Many passengers had more tattoos covering their bodies than clothes perhaps to cover their "modesty". I'm not against tattoos as such but there were so many and so obvious we though we were on a tattoo themed cruise or at a tattooist's convention. The thing that bothered me most was my impression that many deliberately dressed down on the 'Formal' night just to annoy others. There was one man who dressed the rest of the week in reasonable shorts or chinos and mostly polo shirts and once a smart t shirt and always proper shoes but on the 'Formal' night wore flip flops, beach shorts and a vest top and was allowed into the main dining room. Why ???? It was obviously done to be provocative.

 As for the rest of the cruise, ship, cabin, staff and entertainment all good apart from the entertainment the second week being very similar theatre company apart. Won't stop us coming back!!!

On 9/24/2019 at 2:31 PM, Pensioncruiser said:

Lots to do in Livorno suggest you do the canal trip its easy to do on your own and you see another side of the city. Shuttle off boat is €5 return. Have a good one. Can confirm some of 2BA observations but don't think ship is in good condition and prefer Discovery, coffee port is on deck 6 not 7. We unfortunately have had some overzealous! types onboard which have made evenings interesting😳

Just back from back to back D2 cruises and did exactly as you reported in Livorno plus visited the 2 forts and had a good day. Agree about the overzealous types (both weeks). We were a bit disappointed re the dress code on the 'Formal Night' or whatever it is called now. 

Thanks.

Although we have cruised numerous times in the past we have always booked a specific cabin. For the first time, on our upcoming cruise, we have booked a cabin grade only on Discovery 2. As the cruise begins in only a few days time can anyone advise us as to when we will be advised of the actual cabin number?  Also, and perhaps a dafter question, do we get the same cabin for both weeks of a back to back cruise?

Thanks.

On 8/2/2019 at 4:53 PM, Jim The Scot said:

 

The kilt would be the heaviest but you get lightweight kilts 

I've seen men wear their kilt on the transatlantic flights to and from the Caribbean to save the luggage weight in their cases. Never tried it myself having always managed to fit full kilt outfit into cases but it reverses the supposed norm where a woman's luggage is normally more than the mans'. Plenty of moans from my wife about how much space the full kilt outfit, shoes, sporran etc etc takes up. I now compromise and take kilt jacket an tartan trews to keep the peace!!

Just back from our first Fred Olsen cruise having done 25 previous cruises 18 of them with P & O. I'll keep this brief. The Fred Olsen experience was much like it was when we started cruising c. 20 years ago with P & O, smallish ships, friendly staff and passengers, reasonably good entertainment including classical musicians and the nice country house hotel atmosphere that previous posters have commented on. P & O have moved far away from this over the years up to and including our last cruise with them a few years ago. We don't think we will go with P & O again but after our Balmoral cruise to the fjords last week we will surely use Fred again. Despite the changing (in our opinion) standards on P & O we made the best of it each time and apart from the aforementioned comments we have never criticised P & O before and certainly not aboard ship but what we did find latterly was that a fairly large proportion of P & O passengers moaned incessantly on board about everything, even the most trivial matters which was a bit soul destroying for the other passengers. Lastly we were never asked, even once, what we had paid for our cruise on the Fred cruise by fellow passengers. This subject came up all to often in conversations with P & O passengers, all in our experience, though!!

2 hours ago, JG6000 said:

What annoyed us was, OK, did not like the jingoistic so called 'entertainment' but what annoyed us more was that we could not get a seat for the show that was on afterwards, could have put up with the so called patriotic singing but the idea of timings for dinner sittings had gone out of the window. Would not stop us cruising with Fred's again as the ambiance on the ships is great. My one memory of British night was waiting for the lift, for the doors to open to reveal a load of guests in red waistcoats, thought I was in Butlins, OMG!

Yes but please, everyone to their own. On P & O the interminable quizzes were not to our liking nor were cookery demonstrations, bingo or karaoke. We liked the classical musicians, after dinner speakers and the shows some of which are no longer on the 'menu' so to speak but we don't complain. You go to what you enjoy and go to other areas of the ship when something that is not to your taste is on. I repeat there is nothing wrong with being patriotic and it is only in the eyes of the intolerant that call it xenophobic. There is entertainment all over the spectrum that some people like and some don't. The same goes for cruise ships. There is always somewhere else on the ship you can go. If I and many others can happily go elsewhere when bingo. karaoke etc. appears then why cant those who do not enjoy the 'British' night not do the same and remember from my original post I am not a fan of such evenings just a person who thinks that we should live and let live and allow those who do enjoy such evenings to do so. Why do so many people want to denigrate or 'do this country down' I'm sorry but I think it is pathetic!!! It is NOT jingoistic other than in the mind of the intolerant.

I wrote a reply to this topic which along with some others seems to have disappeared. I would therefore like to post again that I find it offensive that passengers who enjoy such evenings are labelled as xenophobic. This is outrageous. Everyone to there own. Some may find it offensive that passengers would dress up in Euro colours/dress simply to make a point. I don't and as I pointed out in the original post that somehow has been 'lost' I don't even like British style nights myself. It is not my kind of music or entertainment but I fully respect the rights of those who do enjoy such evenings. If you don't like such an evening simply don't go and leave it to those who do so, like I do. I get the feeling that the denigration of such 'entertainment' is typical of the trend to down cry everything about the UK. I hate this type of behavior; there is nothing wrong with being patriotic! Patriotism does not equal xenophobia. Lighten up those who do not like such evenings enjoy your cruise and leave those who enjoy such evenings to do so. I am going on my first Fred cruise this July only having seen such nights on P & O in the past. I will ignore the British night as I have in the past but would not presume to criticise those who do attend. Enjoy!!

On 6/12/2019 at 6:05 PM, kruzseeka said:

More recently we have found that you have to take the shuttle out of the port as it has been greatly extended and they don't allow you to walk to the fort at the port entrance.   But instead of dropping you off there they now take you off left to a car park/ bus station which is in the opposite direction to the train station.  Whether it's possible to walk from there or best to take a taxi, I'm not sure but it's definitely much further away than the port entrance.  Perhaps it would be an idea to check with Destination Services exactly where the drop off is in relation to the station.

 

I agree that it's important to factor in plenty of time for the return journey.  We once went just before 3pm to S. Pietro and when the train doors opened, I thought it would be impossible to get on but the pressure from behind propelled us forward.  It was a double decker train and I managed to squeeze up the stairs where it appeared there was a little more standing room.  But I lost my other half and wasn't even sure he had got on!  It was absolutely packed and we had to stand for most of the journey.  There were a lot of upper school age children on board most of whom travelled back to Civitavecchia.  We resolved to go to the Terminii to catch a train back in future to be sure we could get on - I think there are two or three stops before S. Pietro.  We might have been unlucky just pitching for a time when the school/college students were making their way home but perhaps something to bear in mind.  If travelling during school holidays presumably there wouldn't be so much pressure on the trains - or try an earlier or later service.  Our experience un-nerved us such that we've used the ship's transfer since then. The scheduled trains are certainly a lot cheaper though.

That's interesting. Thanks for the info. We are back in Civitavecchia again in September and haven't thought of what to do yet. Is the port shuttle run by the port authority or the ship and is it free? With a fairly busy two week cruise and only one sea day each week we are tempted to have a quiet day on the ship relaxing. Ports where it is easy to walk off the ship directly into town are much more our preference rather that the Civitavecchia/Livorno type where port shuttles are required!

We have been to Rome on a cruise 3 times. Once we took an organised ship tour to Viterbo and other local towns (avoiding Rome altogether) which was reasonable value but we have baulked at the cost of trips to Rome. On the other two occasions we took the train ourselves into Rome and encountered no problems at all. The ship docked 7.00 to 19.00 both times and bearing in mind the situation if you were to miss the boat, literally, by leaving it too late to return to the ship we took an early train in c 08.00 and returned on a train no later than 15.00 and were back on the ship with 2.5 hours to spare. On the first occasion we got off the train at the Vatican stop and had climbed to the top of the Cupola by around 09.30. A walk to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and the Forum left us tired enough to enjoy the early train back to Civitavecchia. The second time we toured the Forum to a larger extent, took in the Colosseum, had lunch and returned on the same early train. The cost was less than 10 euros each for the return rail fare which included metro travel in Rome. For those fit enough to get to the station ( it is a fair walk from the dock entrance) I would recommend such a trip BUT remember the early return times to be on the safe side. After 4 or 5 hours walking in a hot city you will welcome an early train back. Most cruise lines have transport from the ship (sometimes quite far out on the long quay at Civitavecchia) but often don't start early enough for the 08.00 train. Check this out with the cruise line. On both occasions we walked from the ship all the way to the train station and depending on the berth this can be a long trek of 45 mins or so.

We have booked a Norway cruise this July and have been allocated late sitting dinner. Looking at the cruise itinerary there seems to be 'cruise by' sightseeing late pm (16.00 to 20.00) and late night (20.00 onwards); sights that we would want to see and not be missing due to being in the restaurant at the time. There appears to be quite a number of late pm sights, theoretically before our dinner slot, so changing to early sitting, if it were available, would not likely make any difference. Can anyone advise if the cruise daily sheet/programme gives times of when we pass the interesting points and perhaps give any information about this aspect of the cruise. We could no doubt opt for the buffet on such nights but on past cruises have always stuck with the main dining option. We have been on cruise ships where we have not fancied the buffet in any way. This will be our first Fred Olsen cruise so once again can anyone pass on any information as to the pros and cons of the buffet dining.

Can anyone advise if the Sauna on Balmoral is free or part of a Spa Package? Is there one for each sex or can I enjoy a Sauna with my wife? Finally is there a Steam Room also?

Thanks for any help!

Thanks.

Can anyone help? Notice there is a steam room and sauna on Discovery 2. Are these free and can the good lady and I enjoy a sauna together or are they segregated. Thanks.

Having racked up 18 P & O cruises from 2000 to 2011 we decided to have a break from cruising. Recently we tried a Thomson Cruise which we enjoyed but it was very different from what we were used to with P & O. As we are looking to reconnect with P & O we wondered if there have been many changes over the past 7/8 years. What we enjoyed most about P & O was the formal nights giving us the chance to dress up (kilt outfit for me and nice long evening dress for Mrs T), the resident classical musician doing 5 or 6 recitals per 2 week cruise, the after dinner speakers, the day time special interest lectures during the day, the Syndicate Quiz in the evening and decent evening entertainment. Some of these had started to disappear from some cruises towards the end of the times we cruised with P & O so we would be obliged if anyone could update us on the current ways on P & O ships.

Thanks

Thank you for all of your info. We are planning our first Marella cruise ever next summer for our 20th anniversary having only previously cruised with Royal Caribbean in the Caribbean so not sure what to expect. Planning on the Adriatic Explorer.

 

Do you remember what the additional cost was for the premium upgrade package as although I mostly drink wine I do like a wee cocktail from time to time and my husband likes spirits.

 

Thanks in adavance.

Not sure but I think the upgrade was c. £50 per head.

Tayscot - Taylor is great and trained under Gareth CD currently on Celebration Martin Daniels is very very good - we've seen him a couple of times and would still go to see him again

Which band was it?

Bands onboard were Sound Nation, Music Wave and Acoustic Soul (who we particularly liked). There was also Keith Kerslake on the Piano. The final night's Band Jam with all the musicians playing together was really good fun!

We are about to (3 weeks from now) go on our first Marella Cruise having cruised a good few times on other lines. We have had a number of basic queries answered kindly by posters on this forum and wonder if we can indulge ourselves further with a few more specific questions. We are on the Dream for a week in mid March.

 

1) Can anyone give us an indication as to the costs per person for the various special/a la carte restaurants? I know it is a matter of opinion but do you think they are worth the extra cost?

 

2) We have the all inclusive drinks deal provided free at time of booking. We only drink wine so wondered what the standard of the 'package/wine per glass' wines are and if we use one of the speciality restaurants can you use the all inclusive deal to have the same wines in these places?

 

3) Also on the all inclusive drinks subject, is it made clear to you at the time of ordering that you are having something free within the deal or from the add on price items e.g. do you have to sign for chargeable items but not for free ones?

 

4) As aforementioned we only drink wine but love our barista style lattes and cappuccinos. I have seen from other posts that some bars serve filter style coffees and others more along the barista style. Can anyone advise where on the Dream it it best to go for our style of coffee and if these are indeed part of the package (we are not meaning coffees with alcohol as we don't drink spirits)?

 

5) Lastly with there only being one dressing up/formal type evening on the weeks cruise we would intend participating in the event by me wearing a dinner suit (Mrs T will obviously wear a formal type dress) but I cannot decide if it is worth taking all the extra weight etc. to take my full kilt outfit instead of the dinner suit. It would help me decide if I knew what percentage of the passengers fully dress up i.e. dinner suits/long dresses rather that lounge suits and tie and short dresses.

 

Once again thank you in anticipation of your helpful replies.

No replies and just back so if anyone is interested I will try to answer my own questions,

1) Costs seem to be in the region of £17/£20 p head however a 3 restaurant package is available at a fair discount. We found the company and ambiance of the Main Dining Room (Orion) and the food quality so good we did not use the speciality restaurants at all!

2) We did not upgrade to the higher AI deal and found the wines perfectly palatable. We did not try the rose and found the white better than the red but that is only a matter of taste. The house wine did change after a few days so the quality might vary but we found all that were presented to us ok. The prosecco as part of the package was also rather good.

3) It was clear which drinks were part of the deal and which had a supplement. If you paid a supplement you did in fact have to sign for it. We signed for nothing staying within the deal so had a zero bill (bar wise) at the end of the cruise.

4) All of the bars provided a decent Latte, Cappuchino etc. as part of the AI so much so that we did not feel the need to frequent the premium Coffee Port venue.

5) The one formal night was a mixture of Dinner Suits/Nice Dresses and Lounge Suits/ Still Nice Dresses and a few less formal but nothing ridiculously under dressed. We would recommend dressing up if the party wants to.

Finally we really really enjoyed Dream in all respects and will return. Our experience bore no relation to some of the doom mongers recent posts.

Just back from a week on Dream our first Thomsons/Marella cruise. Our experience bore no relation to the opinion of the original poster. We found the whole experience lovely far better than most of our 25 previous cruises (20 of which were P&O). The people we met were lovely and we noticed not a single bit of bad behavior or drunkenness. We found the food comparable or better than P&O, the entertainment better, the Cruise Director & his staff (all excellent) much better and last but not least the whole atmosphere and liveliness of the cruise immeasurably better. We have never enjoyed a cruise as much and will certainly be back with Marella!!

Just back from a week on Dream, our first Thomsons/Marella cruise after doing 20 P&O and a smattering of other lines. We found the entertainment on the ship excellent and had a better time than ever on P&O from a point of view of the liveliness of the Theatre Co., the Entertainment Staff and especially the passengers. P&O is like being in an old folks home by comparison. By 10.30/11.00pm we used to find P&O ships largely deserted with only a few diehards left in bars or the disco but the Dream was a revelation with the ship very lively into the the small hours. We cant speak highly enough of Tayler the Cruise Director and his staff. What energy! They were all brilliant and really worked hard to make everyone enjoy the cruise without being over pushy in any way. Well done! Apart from the excellent lively Theatre Co. the 'outside' entertainer Martin Daniels, who did 2 different shows, was also really good. I think you will really enjoy the cruise.

PS We are no youngsters just young pensioners and there were many older than us enjoying the lively atmosphere.

We are about to (3 weeks from now) go on our first Marella Cruise having cruised a good few times on other lines. We have had a number of basic queries answered kindly by posters on this forum and wonder if we can indulge ourselves further with a few more specific questions. We are on the Dream for a week in mid March.

1) Can anyone give us an indication as to the costs per person for the various special/a la carte restaurants? I know it is a matter of opinion but do you think they are worth the extra cost?

2) We have the all inclusive drinks deal provided free at time of booking. We only drink wine so wondered what the standard of the 'package/wine per glass' wines are and if we use one of the speciality restaurants can you use the all inclusive deal to have the same wines in these places?

3) Also on the all inclusive drinks subject, is it made clear to you at the time of ordering that you are having something free within the deal or from the add on price items e.g. do you have to sign for chargeable items but not for free ones?

4) As aforementioned we only drink wine but love our barista style lattes and cappuccinos. I have seen from other posts that some bars serve filter style coffees and others more along the barista style. Can anyone advise where on the Dream it it best to go for our style of coffee and if these are indeed part of the package (we are not meaning coffees with alcohol as we don't drink spirits)?

5) Lastly with there only being one dressing up/formal type evening on the weeks cruise we would intend participating in the event by me wearing a dinner suit (Mrs T will obviously wear a formal type dress) but I cannot decide if it is worth taking all the extra weight etc. to take my full kilt outfit instead of the dinner suit. It would help me decide if I knew what percentage of the passengers fully dress up i.e. dinner suits/long dresses rather that lounge suits and tie and short dresses.

Once again thank you in anticipation of your helpful replies.

2-3 hrs before the flight and you can use all onboard facilities, inc AI until you leave.

 

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Thanks.

Doing a Thomsons/Marella cruise for the first time having cruised before with other lines. Once on a Costa cruise we were disembarked c 9.00am and taken to Milan airport where we had a 7 hour wait before our flight arranged as part of the deal (the check in desk did not open until 3 hours prior to the flight so we were stuck with luggage and could not even nip into Milan for a few hours). We are on the Dream for a week early next year and our TUI flights are set to have us arrive at Tenerife after 3.00pm and leaving Tenerife airport after 5.00pm. Can anyone give us a timescale as to when we will arrive at the ship and clear all the book in formalities and more to the point at what time will we be asked to leave the ship for our transport to the airport which at 57 miles distance should not involve more than an hour or so on the road. When would a transfer likely leave for the airport for a 5.00pm flight?

PS We absolutely hate sitting around airports for hour after hour!

We are going on our first Thomsons Cruise (7 days) later this year on the Dream. We have cruised many times before 20+ on P & O alone together with Princess, Costa and once on Cunard. Can anyone give us a run down on what to expect from Thomsons Cruises and the main differences from the others.

Also a few queries (apologies if these have already been answered recently on other threads).

1) With only 1 formal night scheduled I would be a little reluctant to take my full kilt outfit if the formal night dress code is not well adhered to. Can anyone advise?

2) We have initially booked the basic price as we are normally perfectly happy with an inside cabin. Is it worthwhile, however, to upgrade to a higher deck, also inside, on this particular ship?

3) We have an AI drinks package. We don't drink spirits so are interested in the other drinks included in the package. What draft beers are fully included? Are any bottled beers in the package? How is the quality of the house wines and is Port included in the package?

4) We notice that a charge is made for the use of the room safe. we have never encountered such a charge before. How much is charged for this?

Thank you for any replies.