lovelyjubbly

First time on Azamara Onward. Travelling from Heathrow with BA on Wednesday and just wondered if the luggage is bonded or do we collect at Athens and take ourselves? TIA 

22 hours ago, DaveA said:

We’ll be on Onward in two weeks time. I have ordered video-supervised lateral flow tests from DocHQ dot co dot uk. They seem to have good reviews and we have a video appointment at 8am before we leave for Heathrow. Costs GBP 21 each with an easily locatable discount code. I’ll report back when we get onboard.

Would definitely be interested in the outcome of this. Feeling the stress already 😔

Can I ask Kool Kruiser what pre cruise tests did you do? Am a little confused as to what’s required. I’m UK based and flying into Athens from Heathrow in July to sail onboard Onward. Would be grateful for any info 😊

New to Azamara and sailing onboard Onward in July.

Can anyone tell me what’s needed regarding pre cruise testing. Is it self administered LFT via Randox or the like OR a clinic administered test?

Many thanks 😊 

Hi, I’m onboard on the 4th September 😊 can you tell me what time is the late dinner sitting as have had various times, thank you 

On 8/5/2021 at 9:32 PM, Teampayne2 said:

We’re a family of 4 recently back from our 31/07 cruise on the Virtuosa , we’ve previously sailed on Royal and Carnival but never MSC, so I thought I’d share my thoughts…

 

Embarkation

We had our 13.40 boarding time changed the day before to 12.00 which was a nice surprise, after reading on here about it being busy we decided to arrive early and prepared to queue at 11.00 which I’m glad we did as it was already quite busy, we were onboard by 13.00 which given how busy it was we didn’t feel was too bad.

 

food

We always eat in the buffet for breakfast and lunch and the dining room for dinner, the buffet was nice with a good variety of dishes at both breakfast and lunch, although very busy with a few guests unfortunately leaving their manners at the door on entry, we found it at its busiest at about 9 to 9.30 so avoided this time after the first morning. I’d heard mixed reviews about the food but we had no complaints at all, the quality and variety was good.

The dining room was lovely and fairly quiet, we had some of the best service we have ever had  on a cruise from Vishal and Raymond, they were spot on and got everything just right and really couldn’t do enough for us.

 

The Ship

Virtuosa is a beautiful ship which we found to be spotlessly clean, we spent most of our time in the day at the main pool on deck 15 which could be busy at times, we were told the ship was sailing with 2500 guests onboard but it did seem like more, with some areas quite crowded at times. We enjoyed the shows in an evening which were very good, we found it a little difficult to get served on a few occasions at the bars and several times we’d be told they were closing, only to move to another bar to find the same thing.

My girls enjoyed the climbing and the water park. I do think the system for accessing these should be a little more publicised as it was only from talking to another guest that we found out the process. You have to go to the water park with all parties wanting to use it, sign a waiver and then receive a ticket to come back as certain time for your turn, you also receive a band to wear to show you’ve signed the waiver and can use the climbing and water park.

 

I also feel I have to comment about some of the behavior of other guests, particularly towards the staff, it was evident that there were not enough staff to cope with the amount of guests which yes is frustrating however all the staff we encountered were so hardworking and pleasant and really did not deserve the verbal abuse and rudeness they received. We saw this first hand on more than one occasion and found it upsetting and completely uncalled for.

 

Final thoughts 

We enjoyed our cruise especially after not being able to cruise for so long, will definitely cruise with MSC again and are to book a Med cruise for next year.

 

 

 

Can I ask were there any formal or themed nights? I’m assuming at least one formal but a heads up on anything else would be good 😊 

I’ve visited both Messina and Taormina via cruise ships. Both are lovely to visit but please be aware that they ‘close down’ during the afternoons until @ 4pm so plan your visit accordingly.

Thank you both for your help. Did anyone have trouble registering with Travelmar? Won’t let me fill out Zip code part or put in an acceptable password :rolleyes:

Euro Cruiser

Am a little concerned about not booking a return ferry as I’m assuming there’s only 1 ferry leaving at any given time.

Can anyone tell me the name of the cruise port at Salerno used by P&O. We are docking there in July onboard the Arcadia and would like to use the ferries to travel to Amalfi and are a bit confused as to which one to book tickets from.

Many thanks.

Thanks Astro Flyer,

We did the Chefs table a few years back and really enjoyed it so was looking to do something a little different. Will check any recent patters to see if/when it's offered as well as checking with reception. Thanks for information :D

Sally

If you sail on the Royal or Regal you could sample the Solaia if it's still included in their Super Tuscan wine tasting.

 

It was $40 in October 2013 with small tastes of hot food but seem to recall reading it's now a meal for $50. In a couple of months we're sailing the Royal & will have firsthand knowledge about the current ST wine tasting.

 

Super Tuscan Wines at Sea – More than 20 choices of these headline-making wines from Tuscany are available in Sabatini’s. Ranging from recognizable Super Tuscans such as Masseto, Solaia or Tignanello to some lesser known vintages such as Castello del Terricio 'Cappuanino' or Il Bruciato Bolgheri, these wines will be featured by the bottle and in a new Sabatini’s Super Tuscan Wine Tasting event, where guests can enjoy the rare opportunity to sample the wines accompanied by delicious small plates from the Italian restaurant. Participation will include five wines at a cost of $40 per person.

 

http://www.princess.com/news/backgrounders_and_fact_sheets/factsheet/Regal-Princess-Offers-Dining-Options-for-Every-Craving.html

Astra Flyer,

Can this be pre-booked or is it a case of waiting to see if it's offered on your particular cruise once onboard?

Thanks,

Sally

On the way back I stopped at the Carabina store to get my buddy his annual bottle of scotch.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Could I just ask if you had any problems taking the Scotch back on board? Have not sailed with Princess for a for years but from what I'm reading recently they seemed to have tightened up their allowances on taking drinks back onboard.

Am really enjoying reading your posts. Can't wait to sail in July.

Eclue,

Already visiting Kotor during second week and yes totally agree that it's a beautiful place. The Turkish ports are between Crete and Mykonos during our first week so hopefully we'll get Rhodes as one of our port replacements :)

We just did this cruise in September and it was wonderful. We were disappointed we skipped the Turkey stops but understood why. the Greece stops were wonderful.

Hi catsdinner,

We're sailing on the Royal next July with planned stops in Istanbul and kusadasi. What ports did they replace these with?

Just to clarify ....

Have just spoken to Princess who confirmed that yes some itineraries have been changed for 2017 BUT not all. Our port itinerary still stands but is subject to change at the discretion of Princess should it become necessary.

If anyone has any queries, do what I did and contact Princess direct, they are more than willing to discuss this with you.

Princess has removed Istanbul from their 2017 itineraries, but will stop in Kusadasi.

eclue:rolleyes:

Eclue,

We've just booked a cruise on Sunday aboard Royal Princess for July 2017 which has stops at Kusadai and Istanbul. How do you know Istanbul has been removed? We weren't informed.

Update,

We have taken the plunge and have booked cabins on A deck for a summer 2018 sailing. Hopefully there won't be visitors to the Treatment Rooms whilst we're sleeping 😴

Thank you all once again for your quick and comprehensive responses.

Thank you all for your responses.

We're looking at forward cabins on A deck under the treatment rooms. Does anybody have any thoughts on these cabins?

Hi,

Thinking of taking a summer cruise on Arcadia, our 2nd with P&O, and was just wondering if there are any decks with uncovered balconies?

I can see there are some on the sun deck but are they classed as Balcony cabins or mini suites?

Also are there any decks with larger balconies like on the Princess ships.

Many thanks

The missing element is any other colour! (Except cream..or even very dark grey.that is just as acceptable in my view...after all there are 50 shades of black, and 50 shades of white too!)

I totally agree, I will call mine an 'off white'. I'm happy as long as I'm not the odd one out :eek:

Better commence the packing :D

Thank you English Lady, my panic is now over :) I've spent the last few weekends looking for B&W but to no avail. I've got a white flower hair accessory so hopefully that's my nod towards the 'white'.

First time with P&O and we have a black & white night.

Will I be forced to walk the plank if I wear black/cream or is it strictly B&W?

Any advice please

Give P&O a ring - I did for our cruise to the Fjords in a few weeks time and they were very helpful :)

PS it was about $80 per person

Hi,

Did you book this in advance? If not where is it located and how long is the trip?

Many thanks