howmuch!

and depending on the Itinerary, sometimes a back2back cruise can be no more expensive than cruise and stay, especially if the hotel is also All inclusive

Sambuca wasn't available on Discovery in June, but listed now - happy days

Had an email reply from excursions today - Winter 2018/19 excursions will be on sale from 5th Sept (even though last time I looked, some were available). Don't hold your breath!

Hi Shot2bits. We have done 3 or 4 Cruise and Stays. In the Canaries (winter) we stayed once at Be Live Family Los Gigantes, and once at RUI Buena Vista in Playa Paraiso - both excellent with large apartmant type rooms, but in areas away from Las America. In Corfu we stayed at at the Louis Corcyra Beach - great service. In Fuengrilola we stayed at the Florida Spa (H/B +Happy hr).

All were excellent but in different ways. We have done stay then cruise and vice versa and enjoyed both, but we are retired, so we can relax when we get home!

We went to Zeebrugge last autumn on the Celebration. Their was a free shuttle from ship to just outside the dock gates, where there is a tram/train that goes along the Belguim coast. You can buy a day ticket for a few euros and visit coastal resorts, or pay a small charge to get to the station in Blankenberge for the short train journey to Brugge.

I thought the Majesty was OK as never had a problem getting seats in show or bars. I'm not keen on the Celebration as we found this much more difficult to get seats inside or sunbeds on deck, but I'm sure others will disagree.

Yeah, noticed the Petra one had gone up. Some excursions for places like Pisa, were there a while ago, but aren't now. I emailed TUi and they say 90 days before departure date. Think they are watching the £ exchange rate drop before they declare prices

Portimao - Last November, we docked at the terminal, which for walking purposes, is virtually equi-distant from Portimao(to the right) and Prai de Rocha (to the left) from port gates

Tried to book a couple of excursions on our November cruise, but most aren't available to book yet - is this normal for Thomson/Marella?

Particularly wanted to book Petra in case it sells out.

Campolady, enjoy your birthday cruise, sounds a bit of a bargain. Strangely, some cruise only prices are weird eg, We are booked on Mesmerising Med 1 flying from Birmingham Nov 8th. Currently its £1079 for a 6/7/8 inside cabin. Cruise only price - £1226!

This is the first time we have claimed for missed ports. I didn't realise we had the cover until I was checking the policy terms, for medical problems we needed to add. You pay the premium for cover, so if a claimable reason arises, claim.

Some may frown based on the fact that other ports were substituted, but at the end of the day, it wasn't the cruise we booked, enjoyable as it was.

The call to LV went along these lines -

Me - Been on a cruise to Norway, where 3 ports were cancelled due to weather, including the North Cape. Are we covered by the 'missed port' part of our policy, even though other ports were substituted.

Them - I will just check. Yes you are, can you tell me the ports and dates

Me - I read out the letter we received, where the capt explained which ports we would miss, and why. Then gave the dates of those ports

Them - Please keep the paperwork you have for next 30 days incase it is required. What are your bank details

Payment arrived 3 days later

I assume they contacted Marella regarding the itinerary change, as I have not ben asked for paperwork to date

Update for the benefit of all cruisers - LV have compensated myself and my wife for the 3 missed ports - regardless of the ports that were added.

One 5 minute phone call, and £900 compensation already received into bank account.

Having never claimed on travel insurance for donkeys years, we have had reason to claim 3 times in the last 6 years, all via LV. First when my mother died a few days before a departure, second was £1800 medical bill on board the Dream, and now this. All dealt with efficiently, with no ducking and diving to avoid paying - can't recommend LV enough.

I never pay, and check-in online soon after its available. Only thing I've noticed is they seem to fill the remaining seats from the back (in my experience), perhaps hoping that even within the 7 days, some will pay to select seats if wanting to be away from the rear toilets

Somehow I posted this twice - please remove duplicate

Just back from Norway cruise and 3 ports of call were cancelled due to weather, including North Cape. My LV policy says it will pay for missed ports due to bad weather - but what if others ports were substituted by Marella? Anyone know if the insurance will still compensate? We really wanted to see the North Cape

Just back from Norway cruise and 3 ports of call were cancelled due to weather, including North Cape. My LV policy says it will pay for missed ports due to bad weather - but what if others ports were substituted by Marella? Anyone know if the insurance will still compensate? We really wanted to see the North Cape

We stayed at the Premier Inn near St James Park (used to be a Coop). Great hotel, walking distance from station, and central for shopping and eating out.

We arrived by coach at Newcastle at 2.15pm 2 weeks ago, and boarding was' organised' by being given a number and waiting to join the check-in queue. As has been said before, getting on a bus after check-in, to drive 100yds, then walk to ship is somewhat weird. Took nearly 2 hoursof waiting from arrival before we boarded. Ship sailed late,mainly due to provisions being loaded and luggage arrived at cabin after evening meal - enough said.

Arrived back to Newcastle today from Norway on Discovery. The ship and staff are great, shows are excellent and varied. On our 13 day cruise there were 2 comedians, and a guest speaker. The entertainment was - a solo sax player who was excellent, as was the guy who played guitar and sang reasonably uptodate pop. The 2 groups were loud and not my cup of tea, but seemed to be well supported by others..Our cruise was disrupted by bad weather so we missed 3 scheduled ports including the North Cape, but had rescheduled ports substituted which were OK, and one day at sea was replaced by an extra port.

Had an inside cabin midships on deck 2 which was fine.

Evening dining in Gallery 47, is a 2 hour job, and breakfast also slowish, but food OK We dined 50/50 in the Gallery 47 and the 'Islands' self service. If you have a large appetite, Islands is the place to dine, and choice was wide and varied.

Cheers Campolady - I have booked 2053

Thanks for that - so not the best place to avoid possible cabin noise

Just done the Timeless Europe itinerary which covered Lisbon, Portimao and Gibraltar.

Portimao is easily walkable from the ship - 10 mins and in the other direction you can walk to Priar de Rocha

Lisbon can't be covered easily in a day, as too much to see and hilly, so choose the highlights you are interested in. You can get a day ticket from any Metro station ticket machine that costs approx 6.5 Euros, which covers all tram, bus and metro journeys, but its more time consuming to cover sites, compared to the hoho bus. We rode tram 28 (see tripadvisor), but queued for 1 hour before we could get on, and the journey was approx 50 mins. Belem Tower is out on a limb.

Gibratar - as other have said

Anyone who has been on Deck 6 of the discovery recently, near the Coffee Port? Can you tell me if the blank space shown on the deck plan between the inner cabins is a walkway or something else. Are deck 6 inner cabins noisy, if so why?

Campolady - thanks for the prompt reply and recommendation - does that back onto the medical centre?

My first post - please be gentle!

I have booked this ship for June 2018 Norwegian Fyords. Could anyone recommend inside cabins on deck 2 or 3 midships that aren't noisy at all?

Does anyone know if the inside cabins on deck 6 are OK for noise. There is a blank space on the deck plan of deck 6, running the length of the ship behind the inside cabins - any idea whats in there that could be a problem for noise.

Regarding deck 6, does noise from the Atrium percolate up to deck 6?

Thankyou