ParisHilton

Is the prime reason to use an agent "cost". I assume agents normally just add cost to anything , however I guess in this instance they can bulk buy.

You should so start your own travel agency! I'll buy the Cruisebear domain for you 🙂

Thanks Megabear. Personally I love flying and the children haven't done it. So only one of us needs persuading. Some of those European ones could well be worth it , will look up the Oasis class. The virtual balconies look perfect for us, I've stepped back from an argument with the brother in law about why on earth I'd pay for a real balcony when I anticipate the room is used purely for sleeping. ps how come you know so so much about all this, are you in the trade? --edit-- WOW some of those vessels are amazing. I'm going to dine out watching youtube videos for 3 months.

Our Iona deal with the obc and free coach transfer does seem to have been an amazing deal. I really struggle to find ANYTHING comparable. Even a 'decent' holiday park is admittedly quite a bit cheaper, but meals aren't included. Not the scale of entertainment or range of bars. Nevermind the destinations. Royal Caribbean is looking quite a lot more for school hols, but still looking optimistically. Doesn't help that we'd rather not fly (surprisingly most of their best deals seem to be in the Carribean).

Is it generally book early (18 months?) in advance for best price, prices creep up, plateau, then last few weeks prices come down, but not to early bird prices?

There are signs no on the dispensers in the buffet requesting you not to fill bottles (I assume directly). My girls love their air-up bottles, personally I tihnk it's marketing gimmick, but if it works for you that'd be an affordable option to mask the taste? I still want to try and take a soda stream on board 🙂

Final sea day? Hope you are both feeling ok. I guess regulars are used to it, but it was nice to tick of the little things we wanted to do. Mostly stupid stuff like see the laundrette. Final dance in the studio. And less stupid stuff like go say thanks to customer services (they know me as Mr Paul there). Still need to come back to find out how quoits is played. Defintely looking at Anthem of the Seas for our next trip which can be done for not ludicrous money we think. Though we may find doing exactly the same again fits our budget better and would not be a problem at all. Might bring some wood to tart up the atrium though. Thank you for your view of the cruise. I've loved having a second week onboard for free 🙂

We bought 2L of pepsi max on board from most stops. Nearly always a shop near the port so could consider doing something similar.

@TigerB We wondered if they refuelled, or set sail from Southampton with enough. Thanks for claryifying. Do they top up on food and drink too do you know?

Quick warning, ship to Haugusand is quite a walk.. We paid about 100NOK I tihnk for five of us to jump on a hop-on/off bus to get us back to the ship as we were all pretty weary. Cash only and pocketed by the driver I think. It was a nice walk there over a lovely bridge (I do like a good bridge). I know they can't do it 'all' the time, but could some of your family come and act as lift 'supervisors'. I get that it shouldn't need to happen but someone to vocally request people make space for you and your wife? I suspect the worst that would happen would be a bit of tutting and the best be that newbie cruisers start to 'see' you and be more accommodating in future. I think with able bodied people, they just get into the habit of heading to the lift without thinking about it. Me and the youngest default head to the stairs, wife and other child the lift (other child is overcoming minor mobility issues). I consider myself 'fit' and I'm hoping to do a half marathon in a 6 weeks or so (ping me for a sponsorship link), and I cursed the thought of 12 flights up. Even down was tiresome, though not 'work'. Interestingly, we nearly always beat the lift .

It took us quite a long while to figure out what the star button was for. (It's an in family joke of 'starfish' and 'not starfish' so that was known as the starfish button and we were desperate to try it! horizon and the Quays are a bit busy to be comfortably navigated in a wheel chair. I can see why you were asking about how busy it was there. Out on deck seemed fine to me. Again I wasn't really thinking about it, but I can't imagine more than one or two, slightly compromising moments where you have to wait for someone to pass or vice versa. I'll be curious to know if both the gangways are wheelchair accessible. there always seemed to be a sign for the one at the front of the ship. I think that might connect to deck 3, where midships was higher (4). We initially assumed the front was exclusively for wheelchairs but soon discovered when getting back on that it was often quieter.

There's a small church to visit there too. I wouldn't bother going to the shops there mind (unless to stock up on crisps and pepsi max). The last port (Haugesund?) has far more shops.

One more of Iona's atrium for luck.

I was wondering, and I guess it's not cruise specific. But how do wheelchair users reach the top buttons in a lift?

Are balconies less good value when the weather outside is just 'ok'. Not once did I think of sitting on a balcony and reading. Or whatever you do on balconies. Would have been nice for a sunset photo, as it doesn't really work through a window. Maybe if I didn't have the kids with me, I would have, but I think I'd rather have been in a bar. And apparently I'm anti-social!

I only briefly saw the Spanish troupe, and that was from above . So didn't hear them at all. It would make sense for them to have performers in there that aren't audio 'heavy'. No idea what mind. Mimes? Magicians?

Interesting comment about the staffing levels. I remember seeing the odd uncleared table by the pools but not really noticing it as an issue. Tables in horizon and quays seemed to be cleared extremely quickly though. Staff of course push costs up, and this definitely seems to be at the budget end. Also, not quite sure where 1200+ staff fit on lifeboats. We counted 16 , and a speedboat type one. I think there's 300 'seats' on each lifeboat, which just about covers passengers. Did they manage to show the world cup final ok? They seemed to have some weird issue where we could stream the semi to phones but they wouldn't put it on the screens in Brodie's. Despite it being listed in that days' horizon.

So whilst Iona is back in Stavanger is here's a photo, from Stavanger:)

Sorry, that's not a cruise etiquette. That's just basic decency.

I hope I'm not guilty, but I saw hardly any wheelchairs on board last week. Wouldn't have helped you I suppose if people keep jumping in front. It's sad for society but perhaps we need a single lift reserved for wheelchairs \ scooters. Shouldn't be a big wait. I think lifts were busier on the first day and calmed down quite a bit as the week went on (or more that I plotted shorter routes that I could take the stairs for rather than trying to get to deck 18 from deck 4...) I thought the atrium was ok, I mean it wasn't 'wow' but I'm not sure how it ever could be. The scenery in Norway is always going to blow away anything they could put in there. Can what is essentially a staircase ever wow? It is noisy in there though pretty much most of the time. But not annoyingly so I'd say. Enjoy Stavanger! ps I'm getting two weeks for the price of one by reliving the experience from your posts.

I could be wrong there. I think it might be an msc with amazing stuff for children in November. Am definitely going to put in some legwork though. I do feel I should look for a European resort hotel to compare with. Crusing is certainly fun and the hassle free coach to and from a reasonable bonus. But for me , and my family, being at sea isn't a major plus. Different locations in one week I enjoyed but if I could hire a car and be near a city for a week that would be fine too .

I think outside school holidays (I saw November) there are some far more reasonable prices. I'm figuring it's worth considering paying for an extra passenger, a personal tutor, let the kids be schooled two hours a day, keep them on top of their education and the school\council of their back.. The fact their elders sister is currently tutoring to support herself through her PhD is just a lucky coincidence! It's good to see it's such a competitive market with prices reacting so swiftly. always leaves gaps to exploit if you can be patient. Thanks Mega Bear.

I was concerned mine would get bored, and I think we did hear 'I'm bored' very early on! But I think they enjoyed us being away from work and daily chores so never really got bored. Having their cousin there too helped for sure. Certainly wouldn't worry about them getting bored if we did the same cruise again. Other minor points for those following us... don't forget you have to cash in casino chips by midnight o last day . I'm not sure what I expected, but I'd have thought until 1 or beyond. Shouldn't really be a problem, but if you are drinking up unused on board credit, it might be an expensive problem. Every stop seems to be a fairly hefty tourist destination so tax free shopping is available, i'm not sure how that works, but worth googling before you set off , as far as I can tell, you get a voucher with your purchase for two of the major admin schemes and you can trade the voucher in. There's representatives from those companies on board. There's a lower limit on what you can purchase to qualify, and I think it's 'per shop' rather than the total. I'm sure it's all out there on the 'net so if you are planning to buy souvenirs etc, spend five mins before setting off to fill in the details. Also, and I can't stress this enough, dig out the video on youtube about the life boats, my tales of how many it holds seemed to go like chinese whispers around the ship. As did the 'theory' that holding in the lift button would cause it to bypass people hailing the lift. Not true, nor one of mine 🙂 Paul

My two turn 10 and 13 in a couple of months so next year would be perfect. I think I need to start putting in shine overtime!

Welcome. I've learnt so much off here myself. The family are more looking at anthem of the sea