JeanieC,Aston

Hi

I was on Marella Voyager last month And after pulling away from the quay in Gibraltar the ship was plunged into total darkness,engines stopped and we were drifting 150m from the quay.

Emergency lighting came on and with the drummer from the band making the beat the whole of the Squid & Anchor pub went into a good old sing song.

This was 21:00,,,Captain dropped anchor and x3 tugs came out pretty swiftly to stop any drift towards the quay,,,,,it was a fuel to generator problem,,,we sat there until repaired until 01:30.

Then the Harbour Master wouldn’t let us sail until the repair was inspected and a certificate issued by a Marine Surveyor,,we moved to an anchorage in the bay and waited for surveyor to travel overnight,,,,he arrived at 13:00 next day inspected,signed the certificate and we sailed at 14:00 straight to an unplanned overnight in Malaga missing Cadiz.

Fun at the time but not so funny if we would have been miles out at sea.or even in the Bay of Gibraltar with the huge number of ships at anchor.

I have done x3 NYE cruises on Ventura ( the 5 day one),,,for NYE dinner they gave everyone a set time in one of the restaurants so everyone dined together,,,on one of them we where allocated Sindhu as an overflow restaurant.

This enabled the entrance of a piper and the Haggis Address.

A superb night was had by all.

It was 2019 so May have changed now

11 hours ago, sandancer said:

That may be a challenge as we have a wheelchair to deal with as well. Need to make sure the taxi drops us as close to the coach area as possible. 

Hi 
Cant remember re Intercruises but on Eavesway if you are immobile with a wheelchair you will be sat in the special seats downstairs on the coach behind the driver,,,no need to struggle up the stairs to the main seating part.

Thats if you are on one of the coaches with upstairs seating,,,,I expect you may have to pre book these seats.

Others may know.

An Eavesway coach……..

6 minutes ago, the penguins said:

 

This was discussed at an open

meeting in the theatre on Silhouette where the passenger load on three successive cruises was 2000/800/2800.

The Hotel Director explained as follows:

1) All ships are fully staffed - they have to be as contracts are for many months and there is no way a ship can increase/decrease staff to match changing loads. Crew visas and health certificates mean they must remain on the ship.

2) staff are all paid a basic wage and have accepted, that in these very unusual circumstances, tips will be lower than pre pandemic. Most of the staff have been out of    work for 2 years.

3) most staff had to have a minimum  of 6 weeks quarantine from the time they left home until the time they could work on a ship - the basic wage was paid for all that period.

4) When passenger levels were very low Waiters/Assistant waiters/ Cabin Stewards were all given whole days off. This is something that had never happened before and was greatly appreciated by the staff,

5) tips were distributed using normal system. 

Hi

Well that goes some way to answer my question,,,the crew get a basic wage whatever tips are or aren’t given,,,tips look like what I imagine they should be,a bonus on top of the basic pay.

Im happy seeing it that way.

25 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

They are, and I always find something I like. If not, there is always chips and mayo! 

Hi

That saying is similar to the ‘the food no good but you won’t go hungry’..

Not good enough,if I’m paying a few £000 for a cruise I want better than chips and mayo.

18 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Perhaps you should just give up or use the buffet. I get the impression these menus are fleet wide and probably here for the foreseeable.

Hi

I don’t know about the foreseeable,but that menu and others seem to have been with us for years.

On every P&O cruise I have the Asparagus and poached egg,,,,,Bouillabaisse,,,and Atlantic haddock every time I see that menu and very nice it’s been too.Those who cruise P&O know those menus off by heart yet still complain and book P&O.

If I disliked every menu all the time like some do I wouldn’t cruise with that line.

8 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Clearly they would not get as much.  Maybe even not enough, but I honestly don't know the base pay.   

Hi don’t think many people do….that’s why I asked the question.

Many are saying that crew get less money when tips are reduced or not paid,,,,but the question is ‘do they’ get less than basic salary.,I would be happy if tips are in addition to basic pay if performance warranted it.

What happened post COVID when ships where running at 50% capacity with some X ships only having ~400 passengers,,,did the crews have to live on 50% pay?

3 hours ago, the penguins said:

One question

Why, as you are set against X’s, and most other cruise lines, pricing system, don’t you book with cruise lines where tipping is not required?

Or, if you do carry on booking with X, just be up front and admit that your decision not to tip directly reduces the take home pay of every crew member who is included in the “auto grats” system.

 

Hi

Just curious,,,,if nobody on the ship paid tips would the crew get nothing.

Surely they are on a contracted guaranteed’minimum wage’.

Hi

Been through the Suez Canal a few times,,most is boring but there is a few gems to look out for.

Watch out for ships sailing across the desert when you go through the Balah By-Pass.

The Defence Memorial…

The Peace Bridge…

23 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Do they not have Old Speckled Hen ale on board?.

 

Hi.

Yes they do,,,,,thank god they also have John Smiths and Guinness😏

Hi Markeb.

I don’t really drink wine,,,most of the time it’s Irish whiskey and Guinness and bitter.

But I do enjoy being educated about wine reading your knowledgable observations.

I did enjoy a glass of Villa Maria on my recent cruise…..which my local Asda sells here in the UK,,what do you think?

17 hours ago, scmomofboys said:

Enjoying your trip report very much! Did Celebrity have a shuttle into Porto from the port area (free or purchase)?  Thanks!

Hi.

They are carrying out lots of building work in Porto including new roads.

The drop off point for the shuttle is now on the opposite bank of the river by the port lodges.

Its a fair walk across the bridge into Porto itself.

Hi

Screenshot from ‘Windy’ app.

It happened to P&O Britannia during a storm in Palma Majorca in August.

The winds blew the ship across the harbour where it collided with a tanker.

This video shows the mooring lines snapping.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjKl7eK16CCAxUMWsAKHY-hBa0QtwJ6BAgHEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D4pdNcNjxtM4&usg=AOvVaw1_evyu85n1tIQrVN0b81kq&opi=89978449

Hi

That little waterfall in the river is a Wier here in the UK.

Old wives tale says Port & Brandy for upset stomachs.

7 hours ago, zitsky said:

Do you consider Jameson smooth?  It tastes like turpentine to me.  Macallan got me through graduate school.

Hi

I like the basic Jameson’s as a chaser with a Guinness,,,for sipping a Teeling or a Redbreast is good.

The lack of a better Irish on Celebrity I would go for the MacAllan but too many Scotch whisky’s are to Smokey for me.

On 10/24/2023 at 9:52 AM, FredaFlinstone said:

Hi, i know, not even got on the cruise yet!! 

But wondering what time we would normally be allowed to disembark Arcadia if we take our own bags off.

Just trying to work out times for trains back up to Liverpool.

Thanks all

Hi

Did the train once takes the same time as Eavesway coaches from Liverpool and often the coach is cheaper.

There are trains every hour,two at the same time sometimes.

On with one change at Wolverhampton,,,the other with two changes at Wolverhampton and Crew,,,,,,the one with two changes often arrives in Liverpool a couple of minutes earlier than the one with one change,,,both just over 5 hours.

The first one to suit self disembark is at 08:15.

6 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 It is showing as $53.99 + 20% gratuity for my May cruise.  
 

 I did this on a previous cruise and reaffirmed my dislike of the taste of scotch.  One and done for me. 
 

Hi

Try the Irish whiskey.much smoother.

I bought a bottle of Teelings whiskey in Gibraltar last week….lovely.

You usually won’t see a plumber fixing the toilet in your cabin there is nothing in there for him to fix.

All the workings for the toilet are behind a panel in the corridor,,,most times he may have to take out the panels for several cabins until he finds the one who has been flushing the wet wipes down the pan.

When he came the second time and the toilet flushed,,,he probably fixed it first time without the occupants noticing.

Usually thought reception will phone you to confirm it’s now working.

10 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

That's what I like. 

 

Feedback you can trust.. Not all positive. 

ICF

Why do you come up with these comments re reviews you can ‘trust’ or as in the past where you say reviews that tell the ‘truth’,that implies that reviews you don’t agree with aren’t trustworthy or the reviewer is telling lies.

Celebrity Silhouette arrived in Southampton 12 hours late yesterday,,,too late to start her TA.

She is still in Southampton now boarding passengers for the TA.

15 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

"becoming" - curry has been around in the UK since 1598, so it has been around far longer than other non-British dishes that are considered 'British' such as fish and chips.

 

And if someone is putting left-over meat of vegetables in curry then that's certainly something to avoid.

Hi

’Left over’ as in ‘not used’ not left overs from a plate.

Have you never heard the story told by Liverpool seamen on Cunard voyages to USA or Canada.

The purser had so much money to feed the crew on the crossing but instead of 7 days he would only buy food for 6 days and pocket the rest in cahoots with the galley staff.

On day 7 with no food left they would lift the duckboards and brush up all the meat and put it in a mixer to make pasties.

The first thing the crew did in Liverpool would be to throw all the mixers into Canada Dock,,,there must be hundreds down there.

I know some of those old timers they would never eat pasties calling them ‘lucky bags’.

Remember that when you next choose a pasty in the buffet.😏😂

If you ever go on a RB cruise there is a Fish & Chip shack on the quay in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull.

Fish straight from the boat,into the batter to the fryer to the plate,,,beautiful.

ps,,is Curry becoming the British National dish?

Every cruise ship buffet I go in seems to be taken over by Curry.

Once left over Chicken,Beef,Lamb from the night before dinner was next days lunch casserole or stew,,,now it seems to go into Curries

The green beans go into the Veggie Curry.😏

On 10/14/2023 at 9:20 AM, carlanthony24 said:

At 4:45am cabin started to shake has the side thrusters came on for departure. This does not bother us, it’s always nice seeing us arrive and depart. Myself and my sister went out onto the balcony and watched our departure. We were out in open ocean around 5:05am after the ferry had gone past us. 

 

Around midday we tend to go to Java the coffee place onboard. One couple went and sat down and the guy decided to head up to the bar area after only a few minutes and have a go at one of the waiters saying he had been waiting ages. Uncalled for when they work so hard and can only do so much at a time. Couple people moaning at reception both cabin issues but one guy was moaning about no water and his cabin steward had only reported the issue half an hour before. Impatient springs to mind.

 

Midday announcement the sea depth was 2000 metres temperature of 29 degrees. We are due to pick up our pilot up at 7am and docked by 8am with the all onboard time of 16:30PM. Atrium entrainment was bar staff juggling bottles and making drinks for people to judge them on. A lot of people stopped to watch.

 

At an average speed of 8 knots Azura headed east before doing a 180 towards Catania later that evening. A lot of jellyfish were seen throughout the day.

 

Formal night well attended. 

 

Freedom dining we always go for roughly 19:30. Given a pager and we thought we would go and attend the captains speech but within 5 minutes it went off. We prefer to have our own table we have already found waiters we can have a laugh with so have requested the same ones each night.

 

Starters included gravel axe salmon and tomato soup. Mains include grilled Chicken Breast, Lamp and Beef Wellington.

 

Today we are in Catania arrival 8am all onboard is 16:30 no shuttle bus is needed and is around a 15 minute walk into the centre. 

 

Azura is currently taking on fuel and we will be docking in Palermo tomorrow.

 

We are eating at the beach house today table booked for 19:30PM. 
 

We have also seen the cruise we would like to do in 2025 which will bring us back onboard Azura for the repositioning to Tenerife the first week sailing around Rome and France before heading to Spain, Tangier. Holding off booking and will wait for a good deal. 

Green beans r us…..🤣