Vampire Parrot

I don't know the price of a jug of Pimms, but throughout the fleet a single Pimms No.1 is currently £4.95

VP

[ If there was a "like" button on cruisecritic then navybankerteacher and Capt_BJ would be getting a whole load of them :cool: ]

There is a pretty good description of spring lines, bow lines and stern lines on http://maritime.about.com/od/Vessel_Operations/a/Dock-Line-Terms-And-Best-Practices-For-Securing-Your-Boat.htm

A cruise ship will obviously have multiple lines holding it in place, from what I've seen a typical configuration for a cruise ship of say 90000 tons in calm weather is four stern lines, two forward spring lines, two aft spring lines and four bow lines.

VP

Cruise ships can and do position themselves with high accuracy against a dock without use of the lines. The lines will be sent ashore before the ship touches the dock, but there won't be made tight until the ship is in the required position.

Sometimes the spring lines may be used to help move the ship slightly along the dock, for example if a bollard on the quay would interfere with a gangway.

It's fascinating to watch the lines go ashore.... and I'm amazed at just how far some of the sailors can throw the monkeys fist!

VP

If you ever get to Lisbon again then take a taxi (or walk) to Castelo de Sao Jorge. It's a wonderful, beautiful, large castle that overlooks the city and it's very easy to spend half a day (or longer!) there.... it's what makes Lisbon one of my favourite ports (apart from having to get up at 6am for the beautiful sail-in and missing dinner for the sail-out) :o

VP

p.s.nice review!

The aft suites are interesting - the cabin floor area isn't quite as large as the midships suites, but the balcony is better as it wraps around the port or starboard quarter. And trying to stay on the bed in very heavy seas is a lot of fun - the best thing to do is to hug your partner and enjoy the ride :rolleyes:

The aft cabins on A deck are only half-overlooked by the lido deck above, so if you want privacy and/or shade you've got it.

The main disadvantages to the aft cabins are that the theater & crow's nest are at the other end of the ship, and that if the sea is lumpy you'll feel it much more than if you had a midship cabin.

If you don't mind walking and don't mind a bouncy ride :cool: then you'll like the aft cabins. Sitting on the balcony on a warm evening with a glass of wine, watching the wake disappear before dinner is one of life's great pleasures....

NOT TRUE - your luggage labels will be included with your excursion booklet which comes about 5 weeks before you sail.

Glad to say you are correct and I was wrong:rolleyes: - the excursion booklet still includes the labels!

VP

It looks like P&O are no longer sending luggage labels out - I did not click the "go green" link and yet I've now got to print my own luggage labels. Another way in which P&O are cutting costs.....!

VP

I talked to one passenger who used Queasy Beads when the sea was rough. She told me that if she used them along with taking seasickness medications they worked really well.:rolleyes:

When we were in Europe in 2012, we took quite a few trains from ports.

European rail is extremely efficient. The most any trains was late in our experience, was by 2 minutes.

The most expensive trains in Europe are I believe those in the UK. As for punctuality - well, the Brighton to Victoria train is late (>5 minutes past it's scheduled arrival) only 44% of the time.

:rolleyes:

After one excursion on Antigua which included lots of rum punch on the 30-minute ride back to the ship..... the ship's company had to use wheelchairs to get about half a dozen people up the gangway, onto the ship and to their cabins as they were "tired and emotional" :D

You probably won't be allowed into the terminal until 10:30 or so to allow previous passengers to disembark and leave. Only after you have checked in will you pass through security, which usually takes no more than 5-10 minutes or so.

VP

The world is not flat???? :eek:

I've got a better idea to reduce cruise ship emissions.

Add long vertical poles, made out of wood (for ecological reasons).

Attach large sheets of material to them to catch the wind and so move the ship without using engines.:rolleyes:

oday I received a £100 parking charge from Parking Eye for entering the short stay car park without paying!

 

Have a look at http://www.pepipoo.com if you don't want to pay that outrageous parking charge!

VP

as long as your email accounts have passwords you're fine.

It depends how you log in to your email account. For example, if it's web-based and the site does not use https:// addresses (i.e. HTTP over SSL) then the password is sent in cleartext, and it's then very easy to capture the username and password.

VP

I have spent hundreds of days on Arcadia & other ships and never had a problem.

Take sensible precautions (e.g. thoroughly washing hands before meals, don't shake hands after washing your hands until you've finished eating, etc) and you are very unlikely to catch norovirus or similar. This isn't just a shipboard precaution, it's something that should be daily practice.

Flu and colds are mostly spread by touching a contaminated surface and then transferring the virus to yourself by touching your nose, mouth or eyes. So pressing elevator buttons with your elbow or knuckle is a good idea, and again washing your hands thoroughly before eating or drinking will help.

VP

The disadvantages are that they are a long way from the theater, and that in rough seas you'll certainly feel the ship movement a lot more. There have been occasions when trying not to fall off the bed has been an interesting challange...

VP

Locked bags which have zip fasteners are effectively unlocked at all times.

Scary....

The ship's water can taste slightly strange if you aren't used to it - what I do is decant it into a plastic bottle (or three) each day from the tap in the bathroom, and leave them in the cabin fridge with the lid off. After a few hours the taste disappears and the water is then nice and cool....

The ship's water is very pure and has to be passed by the chief engineer.

VP

I've done many 17 day (and longer) cruises from Southampton :) and if you enjoy sea days then a 17-day cruise to Venice (including, I would guess, Dubrovnik and Malta?) on her would be, to me, terrific.

She is not as large as Ventura/Ventura/Britannia but don't let that put you off. She has more deck space per passenger for sunbathing, watching the sea etc. than the larger ships, and a very nice wrap-around prom. deck that is excellent for a post-lunch stroll - or even a very late night stroll if you are so inclined!

This comment shouldn't affect your decision - but to me, Aurora is one of the best looking ships of her size in any fleet :D

I haven't read the entire thread, but just want to say that I'd be happier if there were no firearms on the vessel at all. I wouldn't want anyone on the ship to have the chance to find them and use them. Same for any sort of weapon at all.

If there are firearms on a passenger ship then they will be stored very securely, probably requiring the keys held by two senior officers (e.g. Captain & Chief Security Officer) to release them.

As for any kind of weapon being not on a ship - ever been in a commercial kitchen? Many chef's knives! The engineering officers and team have access to many items that can be used as weapons. The list goes on...

VP

Is a cabin "Big Enough" is always a personal matter. Some people 'need' a suite; others find an inside cabin large enough if they really only use it as a place to sleep.

Ocean-view cabins on deck 1 (G deck) are a decent size; it's only two decks up to deck 3 (Prom. deck) if you want to watch the world go by from an open deck as you enter or leave the many wonderful ports on a Baltic cruise.

Balcony cabins aren't cheap but my wife and I choose them as we spend a lot of time on the balcony. Indeed, on warm evenings in the Caribbean I've slept on the balcony :rolleyes: - but not on a Baltic cruise! If we couldn't get a balcony cabin then an ocean-view cabin on deck 1 would certainly be a good alternative.

VP

As of this moment, 100 Carnival shares (CCL.L) will cost £2959 plus stamp duty & dealing charge, so less than £3000 in total. So if you take just one 14-day cruise per year, you are getting a tax-free return of 5%. You can apply for shareholder's benefit for every Carnival company cruise you take, so if you are a frequent cruiser you can easily make 10% or 15% tax-free :)

There are many ways to buy shares in the UK; your bank will have a share dealing service but I prefer to use an on-line "execution-only" broker as it is significantly cheaper & very convenient.

We were on the Queen of the West, and discovered we were short a towel. Right across the hall from us was a large linen closet, so I went there to get another towel.

As i walked in, sitting on the floor was our room steward, with a girl on his lap! Having savoir faire, I just said, "Needed another towel" and left. The poor steward could not look us in the eye the rest of the cruise!

The steward was with his -ahem- friend in a place that was reasonably private and with clean towels? Good for him!:cool: