murphyjl

Currently on Iona . My self and family went into two separate jacuzzis a couple of days into cruise. I was in mine for about 20 mins the result of which is a skin rash and constantly itching. My wife the same and sons even worse. I’ve been cruising for over 20 years and never had this before. 
I’m thinking somebody must have added too much chemicals prior to us being in . Don’t want to go near pools etc now on this ship as a result. Anyone had this before?

Hi

I like to go ashore independently. Going onto Iona on Saturday for Spain and Portugal. Anyone know if testing is required for going ashore as part of arranged trips or independently?

Thanks. 

1 hour ago, crazy cat lady 83 said:

We are having a amazing time. The ship is beautiful and the food has been amazing. The children have loved it and for them it’s been no different to other cruises, just minus the kids club. They haven’t been bored at all and are sad to be getting off on Saturday.
 

Due to the itinerary change we had to complete another PLF form and one for Belgium 2 days before 😑

 

Whoever is cruising on Iona in the future we hope you have a great time. Make sure you try ‘The Olive Grove’  Plus if you need to use the lifts don’t use the centre one and use the forward and Aft ones instead as less of a wait. 

nice to read your family are having a great cruise. Going onto Iona on Saturday and my two youngest (8+11) are looking forward to it. Leaving behind my 17&18 year olds for the first time ever. They have cruise with me every year since they were born so disappointed  not to be going.

On 10/25/2021 at 7:50 AM, crazy cat lady 83 said:

We are currently on the Iona with a 12 and a 10 year old. It is different to the normal cruise experience but we are having as always a great cruise.

Normally we do use the kids club and it is running in ‘bubbles’ but we have chosen not to use it this year. 
We are about to go in the swimming pool  for the first time. We have been to the cinema and watched Cruella. There is a kids film being shown every day. We watched the show in the sky dome last night which they enjoyed and going to the theatre tonight. 
I was very stressed 2 weeks before boarding with all the forms and tests. More for the sake if I get them wrong. However if these are needed for our cruise for next year I will find it less daunting. 
 

Nice to hear you are enjoying the cruise with children. I understand what you are referring to with regards to all the forms and testing. Plenty or room for error as there is a lot to do. Just coming to the end of all the forms myself and looking forward to Iona in a couple of days.

Cruised for 18 years with my 4 children and always enjoyed it. Oldest two not going on my trip to Spain and Portugal in a couple of days. Had a couple of trips cancelled so after all the form filling and testing I intend to have a great two week cruise with my two youngest sons.

Just got PCR results in so one step closer to our cruise.

I am doubled jabbed and fully aware I can still catch covid and pass it on similar to unvaccinated children. I would suggest anyone concerned about children on cruise ships would enjoy adults only ships which are available. 

Are the covid tests free onboard? Just wonder if somebody felt they might have what is the procedure. 

This whole testing thing is a nonsense

16 hours ago, Scriv said:

Excellent! That sounds just what we are wanting to do this time round visiting St Petersburg.
Can you remember if this tour is available on both the first and second day of the ship's stay in St P?

hi. The tour was available both days.

Just had a look in our Holiday Info Book - St Petersburg Explorer was £42

I was on the St Petersburg Explorer trip and it was about £42.

I have been to St Petersburg a few times so know my way around (its easy and difficult to get lost).

The St Petersburg explorer trip was ideal for me as I like just wandering around and doing my own thing. However the the bus itself does not go very far in terms of exploring.

The bus parks at one location and you are given a map. You are told come back in two hours. Once back on the bus it literally drives around the corner and you are told come back in three hours. Don't get me wrong this suits me however it may feel like a bit of a con if you are expecting to be taken round the city.

In short if you are fit and able to walk around and enjoy exploring on your own then this trip is great. You are dropped off in middle of city and left to get on with it.

We were in St Petersburg this time last year when the CONACAF Cup was played, rehearsals for the World Cup. We were disappointed that we couldn’t get near the Church of Spilled Blood as it was in the fan zone, I’m assuming the same applies now.

 

 

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Just back. You can get around Church of Spilled Blood with no issues. I walked around St Petersburg for 7 hours and the world cup had no impact apart from noticing a few people with football tops on.

Not much difference between both of them. I would let cabin availability dictate. I would also consider doing a two week cruise if possible. Done this twice all the way up to North cape and it was excellent.

Just back from this cruise as well. Weather great and enjoyed the cruise along with my four sons. Few negatives I'm afraid to say. Sea screen in need of repair and apparently its been like that for a year now. First time trying freedom dinning and I would say its hit and miss in terms of service standard. Ranging from 40 mins wait for a plate of soup to 60 mins and all three courses rushed out to us.

Day two my son got a bad ear infection which I put down to the pool. Four nights of screaming through the night in pain then not allowed in the pool.

I have read many reviews in the past about ships being tired and in need of upgrade. Buy and large this has been nit picking imho. However I have got to say Azura is in need of upgrade and in general it looks like a ship PO are letting run down.

As I say I enjoyed the ports and weather etc had a great holiday.

sea screen on Azura is not fit for purpose. According to the staff it has been like this for over a year. Disappointing for me as I,m a big cinema fan and enjoy watching movie out on deck. In terms of the football I'm sure they just want everybody in brodies etc buying drinks.

if you hold the shares in joint names and are in separate cabins you get both get OBC. For example if you are parents and need two cabins for children you could put one joint shareholder in each cabin and get the OBC for both adults.

Thanks for the sympathy and good wishes. I have never thought of shutting down water before I go on holiday but after today's burst I think I will add it to my routine of things to do before I go. If the pipe had gone just a couple of days ago when I was on Crown Princess my home would have been totally wrecked.

Well the roof roof box is yesterdays problem. My house has now been flooded today.:mad:. Incredible. Mains pressure pipe burst in my house and it's flooded. If there is a positive side then its that it didn't happen when I was on holiday. Incredible.

I am really sorry...can't even imagine. May I ask...what hotel park and cruise. We are looking to do this...WOW

Don't think it would be fair to mention the hotel. Suffice to say it was a big expensive brand who specialise in supplying this cruise and park service. This could happen at any hotel that does not have security patrol of some sort.If you want to be safe go for insured security parking.The signs which say "park at your own risk" in hotel car parks really do mean it. Personally I will never leave my car with a roof box on view again. It will need to be taken off and stored in car if it fits that is. I can't be going on holiday wondering if I can get home on return. Especially with four children.

To put you in the picture the roof box is basically the size of a coffin which is double width. When I bought the new one myself and son carried it into my hotel room for the overnight stay. I didn't want it to get stolen before I got the chance to use it. The next morning when we were carrying it through the hotel the receptionist said to me "oh did you find it". I managed to resist saying yes turned out it was in my hand luggage beside my socks .

That's awful... did the hotel have cctv pictures?

They felt the scale of looking through cctv was too big a task. Police did not attend and simply asked for details of what was stolen.

It's shameful really given how much people pay for their cruise. If you pop into Five Guys for a burger you will see how seriously they take hygiene. The staff in their can be seen changing gloves at every step when required. Spending £10 on a burger at Five guys gets me better hygiene standard than £10,000 on a cruise. Something not right with that.

I would have been better off if the thief had taken the car as well. At least that way the company car insurance would have paid for the £500 roof box on top of car.

I Agree! Especially on the Florida departures Board people are always looking for free parking with a hotel stay. No way do I park for 7 plus days in an unsecured lot.

 

 

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No free parking with my hotel stay on this occasion I paid for the parking. I may have been better just parking in a random street.

Got off the Crown Princess on Saturday after an enjoyable cruise. I travel with my four children and wife so our luggage is for six. As such I need the biggest roof box Thule has to offer. When on holiday my car was parked at a local hotel. A pre paid cruise and parking package. On arrival back at hotel after cruise I found my roof box had been stolen. This may seem minor however I was unable to travel home on my nine hour car journey as it was impossible to fit the luggage into car.

The result being I had to stay in Southampton for an additional night until I could get a replacement roof box. To make matters worse the first box I purchased on Saturday had a faulty lock so I had to return this and source another.

Fair to say that Saturday was a bit of a downer in terms of a return to dry land. On this occasion worse things didn't happen at sea.

So the reason for posting is to warn people incase this happens to them. My replacement roof box cost £500 not to mention the other additional expenses. I tried to do a little research on Gumtree and ebay on Saturday night to see if I could source my actual stolen roof box. I couldn't find mine but there is a big market for "used no longer needed" roof boxes. Oh and Police not interested and company car insurance excess too high to allow me to claim the cost of stolen box.

Had a good look through my holiday pictures last night to get back to how I should have been feeling after an enjoyable holiday.

OP - what a terrible ending to your cruise! I certainly wouldn't consider this a 'minor' problem.

 

You might want to put your cautionary tale on the British Ports of Call Board http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=233 and the UK Cruisers board http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=683 to warn future cruisers and name the hotel. I am sure others look for recommendations and warnings about cruise port parking on those boards.

I will do just that.

Got off the Crown Princess on Saturday after an enjoyable cruise. I travel with my four children and wife so our luggage is for six. As such I need the biggest roof box Thule has to offer. When on holiday my car was parked at a local hotel. A pre paid cruise and parking package. On arrival back at hotel after cruise I found my roof box had been stolen. This may seem minor however I was unable to travel home on my nine hour car journey as it was impossible to fit the luggage into car.

The result being I had to stay in Southampton for an additional night until I could get a replacement roof box. To make matters worse the first box I purchased on Saturday had a faulty lock so I had to return this and source another.

Fair to say that Saturday was a bit of a downer in terms of a return to dry land. On this occasion worse things didn't happen at sea.

So the reason for posting is to warn people incase this happens to them. My replacement roof box cost £500 not to mention the other additional expenses. I tried to do a little research on Gumtree and ebay on Saturday night to see if I could source my actual stolen roof box. I couldn't find mine but there is a big market for "used no longer needed" roof boxes. Oh and Police not interested and company car insurance excess too high to allow me to claim the cost of stolen box.

Had a good look through my holiday pictures last night to get back to how I should have been feeling after an enjoyable holiday.