daddyfixit

4 weeks ago;   at the airport railway station (part of airport complex)

We waited 10 mins for the test, 45 mins for results/passport sticker;  You have to go upstairs to access the walkway to the airport check in, there were only a couple of luggage trolleys  --all in use.

The travellators were all turned off ( to save its carbon footprint) so Unlucky for me I had to walk the full distance on crutches, dragging a suitcase & a back pack---probably took me half an hour & i was knackered ! thanks ever so much for that.

      Only when we reached departure entrance did a lady see me and ask if i needed help--i did!   She got on the radio and i was plonked in a wheelchair & she took us via priority and then told us it was gate 12 we needed and it was the furthest away from departure lounge...bummer. 

    We reached gate 12 after about 10 minutes travelling through airport in a wheelchair, using ramps and lifts to go up levels.

However when we landed in Barbados it was so different; taken off plane by lift and taken to minibus to the ship.  going home as soon as we arrived at airport a lady seen me on crutches and we were all taken through priority boarding to get on plane before everybody else.

Yes, i would do it again but book a wheelchair in advance at Manchester in case they turn the travellators off again.

I tried but their site was down; So I done the usual comparison sites and prices are mad !!  I have 2 existing conditions so I tried my own bank (Nationwide) who I have never even thought of actually--their quote was 1/3rd of the comparison sites and I will be paying it on Saturday as they are giving up on taking on any new travel insurance apparently.

We are due to fly out in November 2021 (both jabs & if allowed by Boris)...on a Saturday.

Going on Azura for the 1st time, also with P&O for the 1st time--but friends done this cruise 2 years ago assure me the ships the same as Crown princess and balconies are ideal size for watching the world go by.  I am looking forward to it after a somewhat troublesome couple of years and cant wait to actually land in Barbados with the 1975 Typically tropical tune playing in my head!

5ALD-rI8Q08[1]

I hope they get it ready/sorted & covid is brought under control soon, we are due on board in July also for 2 weeks (never cruised with P&O before).  Friends & our daughter were on her last year in the Carribean and said the ship is identical to Crown/Emerald princess so we are looking forward & counting the days ....

We are new to MSC and in 2019 we are meant to be going on Seaside in the Caribbean; looking at the drinks package prices from 3 weeks ago when I paid deposit, to what I am being told on CC/facebook /MSC in the UK & my travel agent this afternoon...………they are all telling me different prices !    I am still not 100% certain I will do this cruise as at present MSC seem to be dis-organised and not at al good at answering questions ?  I have asked what "extras" need paying before we board, all I was told is sort the drinks out 21 days before you board.       not the most helpful or useful advice really.

i don't suppose that anybody knows what films are going to be shown on the ship in August at all ? looking forwards to movies under the stars but now the family are asking me what will be shown ?? thanks in advance.

we done 14 nights on her last year, doing another 14 nights in a fortnight,... no complaints I can recall ?

zastava/fiat/yugo....serviced all 3 of them back in the day. we are also in Kotor in August, looking forward to it as we have never been.

been on both, crown again this year; loved it & counting down the days until August !

We sailed last August from Southampton to the Med, we had no complaints at all....so we have booked again this year from Barcelona to Athens, any changes they have made can only be good ones ?

our 14 day cruise has shown up as 2 x 7-day cruises also, last year there were 2 x formal nights per week (sailed from Southampton). so I am assuming there will be 2x formal nights per week....take 2 x different ties/shirts and swap over !!

I done the med in august from Southampton; 3 days at sea before we got to Barcelona, only time that the ship seemed full was when trying to leave the theatre after the shows. ship/crew/food/drink were excellent)......already looking at the Athens to Barcelona cruise but prices are stupidly high at the moment---its actually cheaper for us to go on a Caribbean cruise instead !!

I am looking at 3rd august...msc seaside ?????? yes or no ...................

we were on it in the Med in july/august; I could not fault the ship/staff/food....we have done Europe on emerald as well. I would also love to do the greek islands in 2018, but the powers that be say we are paying off the credit cards first !!

when we boarded in Southampton, we used horizon court....then walked up for an ice cream !! very wide range /menu in horizon court makes it very popular. the cheese burgers were really nice and I think I seen off 1 slice of pizza as well (not all on the same day by the way).

just spent 2 weeks in deck 11 balcony, almost the last one at the aft of the ship. slight movement when in English channel sailing towards bay of biscay.....I do mean slight as I get seasick, but I was fine. lots of room for us and only 2 decks down from rear pool/lido buffet entrance, plus short walk to rear lifts to go to Botticelli dining room. I would book it again anyway.

we are also on board on 29th, having been on emerald 2 years ago (identical ship) we are expecting it to be great !!!!

I have only been on 1 princess ship before and found the ship/standards/staff/food & the cruise to be excellent.

we travel with 2 other families who have done many cruises with other cruise lines, but they still recommend princess over the other major lines for service and food quality.

11 days and counting :D

Carnival knew were the ship was going to sail before it was launched, so how come their finance people didn't work out the vat ?? stupid, childish and un-forgiveable school boy error at its finest !!! then putting letters in cabins to brush it under the carpet, and charging directly to our credit cards......

carnival "fun" ships..............:confused:

we did have a force 8 gales going from corfu to sicily.....we were in a cove balcony on deck 2;

we could hear waves hitting the ship but hardly any movement at all....and as I suffer from motion sickness in cars or trains, I wasn't at all bothered.

going out onto the balcony to film it while looking towards front of ship resulted in a sea-salt spray shower............take note.

latest was 09.30............you get off following a rota system;

tags for your cases are left in cabin 2 days before, they have a number assigned to your room ranging from 1----36.

we had 34---had to be off the ship before 09.30.

we were walking from the lido buffet to collect our hand-held luggage from cabin and were stopped by a "white suit" who wanted to know why we were not going downstairs !!! I explained about the hand luggage but thought he was a little over the top with his attitude.

latest was 09.30............you get off following a rota system;

tags for your cases are left in cabin 2 days before, they have a number assigned to your room ranging from 1----36.

we had 34---had to be off the ship before 09.30.

we were walking from the lido buffet to collect our hand-held luggage from cabin and were stopped by a "white suit" who wanted to know why we were not going downstairs !!! I explained about the hand luggage but thought he was a little over the top with his attitude.

I also paid in advance for an alcohol package and 3 x soft drink packages using my credit card;

every single soft drink had 15c applied to it, so after a few days my kids were REFUSED drinks by waiters after they had queued up !! this proved really embarrassing to my 16 year old daughter that she point-blank refused to ask for drinks after she has been made to look stupid in front of new friends she had made on board.

I went to the customer services desk, it was a constant stream of people shouting about the vat and actually cancelling drinks packages (all in full view of waiting customers I may add). When I got to speak to the adviser I pointed out that it was a pre-paid purchase, and as such was a contract----a contract is a mutual agreement that (by law) has a cooling off period, so we should have been given advance prior warning of a change to the contract and at that time could have cancelled !!! being told about the change while you are on board is NOT a fair warning and as such I wonder if it is even legal ??

I had to transfer money into my kids on-board accounts so that they could get drinks on board !!! my 13 year old son even carried money in his pocket as he was worried that he would be embarrassed like his sister was----IS THIS THE FUN THAT CARNIVAL HAD PROMISED MY KIDS ???

I am taking it up with visa as I paid weeks ago and I hope that VISA AGREE WITH THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND WITHDRAW THE FEES TO CARNIVAL. Its our first ever cruise with carnival and has left me with a poor opinion of there operating procedures and even their legal morals. We cruised with Princess last year, (owned by carnival corporation as well) paid up front in advance for drinks packages but we didn't suffer the same shameful episodes that HUNDREDS of people have just had on this cruise.

SO HAS CARNIVAL VISTA UN-EARTHED A HIDDEN, MAGICAL TAX CHARGE THAT DIDNT EXIST LAST YEAR .....THE SAME PORTS AS WE VISITED LAST YEAR ON EMERALD PRINCESS AS WELL ????

any pictures and feedback for the cabins near the lifeboats please ??? 2330-----2338 if possible. thanks

I'll give a full report when we get back. :)

lparente; what was the cabin like , was lifeboat overhead ??

i was wondering if there is a usb port, so kids can watch films off a memory stick ??