worldly wanderer

We are 4 family members who have booked 2 days private tour with Fer Tours to include an evening at one of Havana's famous clubs. If you are interested and want more information e-mail me at wendyathomas4@yahoo.co.uk.

 

My husband and I are travelling with my sister and adult nephew - no children.

 

Regards

 

Wendy

Oops - we sail on 10th.

anyone for independent excursions on cuba?

We are 4 family members who have booked 2 days private tour with Fer Tours to include an evening at one of Havana's famous clubs. If you are interested and want more information e-mail me at wendyathomas4@yahoo.co.uk.

My husband and I are travelling with my sister and adult nephew - no children.

Regards

Wendy

Sailing on her next week, so will let you know my opinion when we come back

I will appreciate your comments when you return. My family and I are booked on the Sirena sailing out of Miami on 10th Oct and I am concerned at the bad reports that I have read. Hope you have a better experience and enjoy your cruise.

Good idea, not sure how to do it though.

We are booked on Azamara Pursuit Wed Sept 4 - Sun Sep 15, 2019.

Is there anybody booked on this cruise who would be interested in sharing tours from Haifa and Ashdod? I have received 2 quotes from tour guides already

We are 2 adults, me and my husband.

Parking at the terminal worked really well - just don't depend on your satnav but follow the road signs. We pulled up right outside the Terminal, luggage taken off us and handed car keys to a lady who gave us a receipt and off we went.

 

Checking in was swift and uneventful with barely no queues. Straight onboard and to our Inside Deluxe Cabin on Deck 1. The cabin was quite spacious with a large sofa and armchair and a bottle of bubbly. Quick explore of the ship and bite to eat in the Lido Buffet, I had a salad with trout and 2 cakes and David had boiled egg, cheese, ham and cheese butty, chips and minute steak and 2 cakes.

 

A bit more of an explore and back to the cabin to find cases delivered and now unpacked.

 

Next is the safety drill before we depart for Madeira on Friday.

 

David's going to the gym to work off his lunch before dinner and I'm going to have a snooze. Looking forward to G&T time at about 6 followed by the first of many cocktails of the day and a quick dance in the ballroom before dinner at 8.30pm.

 

 

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hI, what company did you use for your car parking? Thanks

Enjoying your posts. Thanks for taking the time. Enjoy the rest of your time.

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Sounds like you are lumping all Americans as "ugly"' quite a sweeping statement don't you think?

I think Select is just becoming more and more popular. The fact that more space is being given over from the Traditional dining area seems to reflect this.

 

The more people who want Select the more buzzers are going to have to be used.

 

With Traditional dining obviously the dining passengers were divided into two (well apart from those wanting to dine in the buffet or having speciality dining).

 

To get the same number of people through on select requires turning the tables which is difficult if you are going to allow people to turn up when they feel like it. If most people's favourite time is around 7.30 pm (and I know ours is) then you have a logistical nightmare.

 

I suspect the removal of pre-paid gratuities, the increasing popularity of Select and a ship with maybe more people wanting to eat at around 7.30 pm may have caused a perfect storm.

 

Personally I love the idea of Select and accept that the trade off is that you may have to wait a while when you decide to meander down for dinner. If I am forced to have another pre-dinner drink then I just carry that into the restaurant with me when the buzzer goes and it becomes the drink I have while perusing the menu or eating my appetizer.

 

You can't get a quart into a pint pot and if more and more people choose Select then the consequences are inevitable.

Hi, it's news to me that you no longer have to prepay gratuities for select dining - when did this come about?

We have never been to Lisbon before and I was wondering what is their to do there?

 

What do you do when you go there??

 

Is there any private tours you would recommend??

 

Any tips/advise/ideas are very welcome. :)

I recommend a tour with Spain Day Tours. We went with them to visit Pena Palace which is amazing, also included Sintra, Casais and Belem. An excellent company. The guide Andre speaks excellent English and is very knowledgeable.

Thank you all who took the time to answer my ?? on what to wear onboard. I can see that there is/was a difference of opinion so I will go with the answer that I wanted to hear, mainly that my husband doesn't need a sport jacket because he doesn't own one and isn't about to buy one. We always lug a suit along for formal night on other lines, and it is a pain to carry after we finish the cruise and head off for a month of independant travel.

The cargo pants that I had referred to are brand new [Costco] and the same type have done all the other cruises.

thanks again everyone.

Brits only wear cargo trousers (pants) when going fishing, camping etc as they are considered casual.

I agree, the Amalfi coast is something very special. We used a fab company called Joebananalimos.com who were great - thoroughly recommend them.

Was interested in finding out how easy it would be to rent a car for the day in Santorini. I am interested in visiting Oia and the Santo Winery as well as wandering Fira. If anyone has any suggestions that would be great:) We figured renting a car would be the easiest way to see everything we want but if public transportation is easy enough we wouldn't mind that either. We will be there late august so we figured it would probably be very busy.

 

Thanks for any advice :D

We have just reserved a car from santoriniholidaycars.com They have very reasonable internet booking rates and will meet you at the port and you can deliver the car back to the port.

Hope this helps you.

Yep this appeared all over every advertising mag online as posted earlier, by myself, about 3 days ago on the management thread.

 

"

Found these so far -My comments in bold italics

 

"The on-board experience is one to look forward to with this luxury line and 2013 is set to be a fantastic year with recent changes to their all-inclusive package. Guests can now expect; standard spirits, international beers, a special selection of wines from around the world, teas and coffees and soft drinks throughout the cruise; gratuities included for waiters, bartenders and housekeepers; an on-board concierge service allowing help with personal guidance; an English butler service provided in suites, a self-service laundry; and a shuttle bus to and from ports where available."

 

Note standard spirits, mid range normally those in a classic package, many of those are now in a purchased package just as they always were!

 

"

 

Azamara Cruises - You'll love where we take you

 

Azamara Club Cruises, the difference between visiting a destination and truly experiencing it. See whats included and the true value of an all inclusive Azamara luxury cruise below.

 

• All Inclusive from Spring 2013 (ask for details)
  
• Service charges for housekeeping, dining and bar staff
  
• Bottled water, soft drinks, speciality coffees and teas
  
• Selected wines, beers and spirits
  
• English butler service for suite guests
  
• Shuttle service to and from ports, where available
  

Azamara goes all-inclusive for 2013

 

 

 

 

Azamara Club Cruises is going all-inclusive for 2013 after feedback from travel agents.

 

 

The upmarket cruise line, which is part of Royal Caribbean, will start its all-inclusive offering when Azamara Quest starts its European season on 27 March 2013 and Azamara Journey starts on 15 May 2013.

 

 

The cruise firm is developing a new training module on how to sell all-inclusive voyages plus agents will be given clear guidelines in a 'frequently asked questions' format to ensure they are best equipped to handle any booking queries.

 

 

The new tools will be available from Friday in order to support agents in advance of the peak 'wave' booking season.

 

Sonia Limbrick, business development manager, Azamara Club Cruises, said: "With the addition of select spirits, wines, beers, and a special evening event, the Azamara Club Cruises experience has received phenomenal feedback.

 

 

"In fact, agents in the UK wanted to be able to sell Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest's itineraries as an all-inclusive experience and challenged us to deliver the tools to help them do this."

 

 

Azamara Club Cruises promotes itself as a destination-immersive cruise line for up-market travellers with European-boutique hotel ambience and sailing to destinations worldwide larger ships cannot reach.

 

Tuesday, December 4, 2012"

 

There are loads, mostly official quotes, they often have a rider that says ask for details, but as no details have been available, I am not sure how the training for TAs can have had any purpose!

 

I am not that bothered but it has all gone a bit loopy with all those different packages that have the standard drinks in them.

 

With regard to what is included on an all inc 5 star hotel holiday, the 4 star and lower is usually local stuff but the 5 tend to include popular imported brands too;)

 

Yvonne:)"

__________________

I am not affected by this promotion as I booked without it, ages ago, but I do feel for those who did!

I spoke to Sonia yesterday at the Cruise Show and she assured me that ALL cruises from April/May onward will be all inclusive.

On Radiance class ships there is the SeaView Cafe. This restaurant is located on Deck 12 aft. There is no charge for food items, but there is a charge for soft drinks, beer, wine and alcoholic prepared beverages.

 

The menu which offers soups, salads, various sandwiches, fries, onion rings, salsa and chips, Nathan's hot dogs, fish & chips, chicken wings and a daily dessert is the same on Radiance, Serenade and Jewel. On Brilliance the menu is more Italian with many pasta dishes.

 

Hours during the day vary by port/sea day. The SeaView is opened daily from 9PM until 1AM for late night snacks. Dress is always casual.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experience/html.do;jsessionid=00000H-ZeXqBvO3jmd4OanQ7m56:12hbioan0?exCode=540

Have you or anyone else stayed in cabin 8012 or 8088 balcony cabins next to the elevator? I am wondering whether you have to give up your privacy in order to have a larger balcony. If you are on the balcony, can you be seen from the glass elevators? Any advice you can offer would be welcomed before we book. Thanks

Dear Dubrovnik (most helpful) Lady - would you happen to know the cost of a taxi from the airport to the Excelsior Hotel, I have been quoted 300 kuna from a private taxi company and think this is a little too high - have you any idea and what would you recommend? Thanks - I have really gained so much information about Dubrovnik from you and am really looking forward to my visit.

Thank you for the info Dalmation Lady - I will come fullly prepared with layers and rainwear.

Please Dalmation Lady can you tell me what weather I could expect the second week of March in Dubrovnik?

Please can you tell me what weather I could expect around the second week of March please Dalmation Lady?

We're considering using Nile Blue for an overnight. Which hotel did any of you stay at? They gave us two prices, one for a Five Star, and one for a Four Star hotel This is the only question they haven't answered yet. We're trying to decide between Nile Blue and Ramses. Thanks.

We have just returned from Egypt and Israel and used Nile Blue in both countries. We stayed at the Mena House Hotel which was excellent and if you are going to the Sound and Light show it is very conveniently placed. Nile Blue also arranged our private tour in Haifa and Ashdod which an excellent tour guide. We thoroughly recommend Nile Blue especially as they do not require payment until the end of the tour which is a plus.