lovetocruise1953

Having a meltdown trying to pack here lol

Going on a cruise to Norway on the 14th Feb, have been buying everything for artic weather, looking at the forecast now for our ports Alesund ,Narvik, Tromso, Alta, Bodo and Stavanger. The only place it looks artic weather is Alta the rest isn't even in minus figures, think I'm going to roast although we do have layers.

Must admit to being disappointed I was hoping for more like -10 just to experience it........

Oh well it is what it is.

Saga are hugely expensive..........

18 hours ago, tring said:

 

Fred sends proper luggage tags to your home address about three weeks prior to cruise.  They are really strong, not just paper and are colour coded as well as being marked with your cabin number and name.  The colour indicates your embarkation time and they are used to get the cases to your cabin, so they will want those on your cases. 

 

If you book late, or your cabin number changes, you can pick up labels from the port to write your cabin number and name on, but still really strong labels.

 

We usually put an extra sheet of paper inside each case to indicate more details in the event the case gets lost, though highly unlikely the official luggage label will get damaged.

 

All of that is visible with the holders. But perhaps I won't bother 

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

I just fold mine the way they say and put through suitcase handle and staple.  Simples.

Yes I always have done but have seen people with nice holders..........

I was going to get some see through plastic luggage tags, what shape are the Fred cabin  tags please? Some are longer than others.

13 minutes ago, erinsmom03 said:

Thank you for the advice. I’m actually looking at some hotels now. Seems there are a few more options for our family in London hotels than I found in Amsterdam.

If you can find hotels on a bus route or near a tube it will be cheaper than getting taxis, not sure where ABBA Voyage is but maybe work from that.

Not sure location is such an issue on a river cruise, unless it's under somewhere noisy.

How did it go with all the children, was it a problem?

There are lots of scam Airbnb in London apparently, be careful.

On 10/22/2023 at 11:33 PM, Johnny Red Tip said:

Re 'It's quite clear what you get '. except that it isn't. On the website and in any communication from them it mentions 'selected' drinks, Not 'house spirits only' and 'cocktail of the day only' or 'non branded Irish cream liquor.'. the word 'selected' implies that there is selection (to choose from) but there isn't. If this had been clear we would not have taken the package.

They seem to be what Fred has selected 🤣🤣 shame he hasn’t selected a dark rum, so no Dark and Stormy, I wonder what a Light and Stormy would be like…that is if they have selected ginger beer.

37 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

I like the idea of any time dining but the reality is very different in my recent experience.
 

Recent cruises this year on P&O and Princess with “freedom” didn’t mean eating when we wanted to. It meant waiting in a queue for a table be that virtual/ actual/ pager, some times for over an our or more. Formal nights are a disaster with some giving up and going to the buffet in their tux!

 

Celebrity did it well and freedom meant just that, turn up and get seated within a short space of time. 
 

While I find 8.30 a little late to eat I much prefer walking in to a guaranteed table with the same staff every night to getting annoyed waiting in a  queue.

Returned on Saturday from a 2 week cruise on P&O Iona, didn’t queue once or use the virtual queue, we just went to whichever MDR we fancied that night said we were happy to share and were seated immediately sometimes had to wait about 5 mins for table to fill 6 or 8 people. 
Celebrity in Feb/March was also no problem.

Maybe it's time for Fred to move with the times a bit, flex dining seems to work out ok on all the other cruise lines we have been with.

We have been allocated an 8.30 dining time, they said the early one is fully booked. 8.30 is later than we like to eat, is the 7.30 one more popular I though more people like to eat later than early, is there ever a chance to change to the early sitting?

On 9/22/2023 at 12:21 PM, sanger727 said:

The problem with making multiple trips is if you are by yourself. When the buffet is busy, If you leave a used plate on a table; it will be gone and the table will be taken by the time you get back. As long as you have someone else with you, you can take turns.  But I get what the OP is saying, I often have breakfast on my own because I'm an early riser.

Can you not take a book or something and leave it on your table or ask a neighbour to say the table is being used? 

What else are you planning? That’s a heck of a way for a short cruise.

I thought that it would be the case but am intrigued how it works, I guess when you get on they log your passport and then when you get off. As you don’t do any passport control in the ports. 
Plenty of time for more trips though lol…..

How does the 90 days Schengen rule work worth cruises? We will be going to Spain for 28 days on a land holiday so will our 14 day Spain and Portugal cruise make that 42 days? 
I tried to look but couldn’t find anything. 

18 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Actually you do not need to get off to zero count the ship.  An assigned meeting with a new seapass or to simply check you in and out along with possibly a covid test for B2B - January is forever so who knows.

Spent 2 years in OZ.  Would definitely go into town and take the light rail someplace.  The other interesting journey - beyond the standard touristy things - ride the hydrofoil to Blacktown and back or freey over to Manly.   Lots of things that you could not possibly do in 3 days right in the city.  Use your 3 days to get out of town - Blue Mtns for example  - and your B2B day more in the city.

Perhaps things have changed since you cruised from Sydney, earlier this month we all had to disembark (there were 1500 back to back passengers) and hand in our old sea pass, new ones were issued the day before with instructions not to open them until we got back on the following day. If required you could get your old sea pass returned to you on the last day of the cruise, some people like to keep them.

54 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We are doing an Edge B2B in January in Sydney, we have the same SS cabin so I hope this is the same procedure in Sydney. We are thinking about not getting off the ship as we will be spending 3 days in Sydney prior to our first cruise.

You will need to get off the passenger count needs to go down to zero but you can get back on as soon as it has. We had 3 days prior to our cruise but on change day we took some washing to be done and got the ferry to Manly, had a lovely day. We did NZ then back to Sydney and up to Port Douglas on Eclipse.

22 hours ago, ontheweb said:

But we do not know if they were on a private tour. Actually, probably not if they came back by way of a taxi.

They were on a private tour of their own in a taxi, just 2 of them to a beach ....We often wonder what happened.....Oh sh** look at the time!!! Where can we get a taxi?..... I told you to keep an eye on the time, Yes but you said you would as well...... oh my goodness look at the traffic......

And then to see the ship so close but unable to get on it must have been horrendous.

We were on a ship watching another one getting ready to depart, there was a lot of walking up and down and looking at watches then a person got off the ship handed 2 passports to a shore person and the ship departed, not 2 mins later a taxi pulled up and 2 people in just beach clothes ran up the pier but they were too late, the lady handed them their passports and escorted them off the pier. The ship was so close to the shore it seemed you could touch it but it didn't re dock. I hope they had some money and credit cards as the ships next dock was Nassau.

I forget which island we were on, the ship was an American one so they must hold their passports, a beach day they will never forget.......

A day room is a good idea, we have 3 nights pre cruise at the Pestana South Beach so maybe they do day rooms, I will enquire 

You will need an eTA and Arrivecan. Go to the .gov site only for the eTA

Hi our flight out of Miami to LHR from our NCL cruise is at 20.00

I know there are debark tours but what happens if you don't want to do a tour, do they make you leave the ship early in the day?

We are booked on the Feb NZ/OZ cruise for the UK we have All inc.

A family member has just booked from the USA they have booked the No Perk Package, she has told me there is a 'Water' package.....Can you get drinking water on the ship or do you need to buy a package?