ABZCRUISE

Presume this is still a supervised test?

On 8/1/2021 at 5:00 PM, Cruiseforever11 said:

They changed our table for us and I'm sure with a young one they would understand, however the 1st sitting is very busy so it would also be if they can get you a table but I would definitely ask.

Many thanks for posting this -

We are looking at a last minute cruise from Greenock later this month and would appreciate if you could advise on the following if possible -

Portland - Assume this is a cruise past and not a stop?

Spa - Is this still mainly closed or has it re-opened?

Ports - Can you still get off & do your own thing or must you book an excursion?

Thanks.

We booked both in 2019 to the Baltics.

yes you have the window washing equipment, but it doesn’t really obstruct anything, given the huge balcony you have.

Here are some snaps, including the balcony opened between both.

8 hours ago, upwarduk said:

 Positive news:

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22705-royal-caribbean-brands-expand-cruise-with-confidence-policy-to-sept-1.html

 

Our cruise is booked for 1st August. There will now be no need to argue with TA, when I next ring, as I now will be able to claim the ‘Cruise with Confidence.’

I rang last week when I realised that Silhouette won’t be coming to Southampton on 17th April. I was told that it was too soon to cancel. I replied that I was not paying for a cruise (on 3rd May) on a ship that might not come to Southampton. I also told her that Gov.UK guidelines say that passengers over 70 should not cruise and Celebrity also want a Drs note before you board. 

Her answer to all was, ‘Things will change before August 1st.

Well, thank goodness they have, but not in the way the TA hoped. 

I assume she didn’t want me to cancel, thinking about her commission.

BUT, does this mean that she will keep our FCC, or can I demand that it is sent to me?

Why would she keep FCC?

Surely you are not going to pay the final balance?

We are in the same position and will not be paying the final balance - as i understood, we would lose our 2 x£300 deposits (2 cabins).

It seems that if you pay and then C cancels you only get 100% FCC - not much good when the same cruise next year is +40%.

I have also read that your FCC does not cover the deposit required on your future booking

So you have to pay your deposit, pay 30% more for a similar cruise and use your FCC?

Exactly why i am not paying my final balance - same cruise in 2021, same ports, ship, cabins etc    30% more than this year

Looks like many people will have FCC and still have to pay 30%+ again

21 hours ago, TriciaCC said:

Saw this yesterday as well.  We were in a dilemma as to whether we cancelled our cruise for 9th May before our final payment which was due at the end of February.  After much deliberation we cancelled, just before Celebrity's offer to be able to rebook at a future date.  We  had booked this cruise on board Equinox in October at a good price with perks etc and with a low deposit, so it was a hard decision to make.  But we did receive an email a couple of days ago offering FCC for the amount of our deposit.  We thought that was pretty fair.  We are of course disappointed about cancelling and missing our first cruise to the Fjords, but fingers crossed for another opportunity in the future. 

 

Interesting - thanks for this.

we are in a similar position, with final payment of £10k on 2 cabins for July due in 5 weeks - we will wait as long as possible to see if anything changes, but will then probably cancel and up till now i was resigned to losing the £600 NRD's - this gives me some hope.

So although we will wait until the last minute, I think we have decided to forfeit our deposits and cancel without paying the balance...

It is a gamble as a lot could change by July, but -

A FFC for £10k if we pay & then cancel.....what if Celebrity go bust - I paid & cancelled so FFC is contract between me & celebrity, so I doubt would be covered by any insurance or credit cards.

Just checked the same cruise for July 2021. - same perks, cabins the lot...... + 30% on what I paid & would get for FFC 

Thanks

That was my understanding.

Having read the terms thoroughly again, I think we would lose the NRD's.

We would only get them as part of FCC if we paid in full & then cancelled.

We are due to pay final balance next month on 2 cabins - am i correct in assuming if we cancel, we will receive a FCC for our NRD's and new FCC for the FCC we were already using towards this booking?

My concern is that the fcc is in the names of the people travelling only, not those who are paying ......

If I paid for my elderly parents to travel with us and cancelled, we all receive fcc - if something then happens to one or both parents so that they can no longer travel  - then I lose those fcc.

Surely it should be allocated to the person paying the bill?

Hope Celebrity review their policy soon.

We are not due to sail until July to the Baltic - 2 Aqua cabins and currently we will wait and see what happens- if things are still getting worse, then we will not be paying the final balance and will resign to losing the NRD's and probably 2x future cruise credits we were using.

Hopefully they will change final payments from 90 days to 60 days, but TA says no sign yet.

Well, very impressed with P&O.

After completing a survey, we were contacted about our experience and delay in getting back home.

P&O refunded our additional nights accommodation and meal which we had to book due to the late arrival time.

Couldn't ask for more than this.

3 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

We disembarked Britannia last Saturday and the delayed arrival was not down to mechanical issues but weather/wind related.

Yes so we heard, but we were also informed that there was no bad weather?

can you confirm?

The majority of passengers disembarking were 5.30pm slot, so given how it was going 6pm i guess at the earliest.

what did the embarking passengers text message put the reason for delay?

41 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

I am surprised those disembarking late did not get any compensation for missed travel.  But I suppose it's your choice to take a hotel instead of driving.

Exactly....it is our choice and I fully understand that, but to err on the side of safety, it has cost us money that we will not recover through insurance (we count that as protection against the worst case only... helicopter airlift to hospital for example - something else  someone had on this cruise).

its just annoying and does spoil our P&O experience, especially given how swift RCL & Celebrity are from Southampton.

Came off Britannia today at 3pm as self disembark.

At least you are getting some compensation, we are travelling to Aberdeen and have had to book a Premier Inn with dinner & breakfast to avoid driving until 3 am.

About £150 out of pocket, with nothing from P&O.

Annoying, as we were also late with embarkation last week by 2 hours, probably due to same faults.

great cruise though, just spoiled by the above.

Hi,

Anyone on the above cruise looking to share a taxi trip on July 25th in Gibraltar?

We have been to Gib before and fancied an extended taxi trip from the port to take in a couple of extra stops -

St Michaels cave, Barbary apes, Seige tunnel, 100T gun, Europa point, catalan bay, Moorish castle & round trip.

3 hrs in total.

The taxi is a Mercedes Vito & carries 8 passengers (as do all Gib taxis) - there are 3 of us (my wife, me and our 16 year old son) so we would be looking for a further 4 or 5 passengers.

£50/each if we can get 8 people.

Being booked through Gibraltar rock tours taxis - web page - http://www.gibraltar-rock-tours.com

Be good if this could be organised to save the hassle of waiting at the dock to fill a taxi and obviously get the extended tour.

David & Rachel