dronnygirl

So pleased you enjoyed your cruise.  The Caribbean was our first cruise and led to many more. It's enabled us to see places we would never save seen without cruising.

Pleased you had a great cruise. Pity you didn't get to explore Muscat, its a lovely city and very safe to wander round

I believe it's £160pp for 7 nights to upgrade. Whether or not to upgrade is for you to choose, we're not big drinkers and find the basic package okay for us, we just pay the extra for the odd drink or coffee.

Thank you Summerinkefalonia, some great itineraries.  However as Howmuch has said, they will have to have competitive prices. Rival cruise lines have some good prices and we are giving them a try next summer so we'll see how it goes.  

When we were on board recently the staff said that it's mostly work on the engine etc and lots of painting. Not sure what's being done in other areas. Many of the crew were excited to be going home although lots were staying on board. They said they would be painting and cleaning but they would be staying in the cabins and eating in the dining rooms

 

 

Only you can decide what's best for you. We've had outside and balcony cabins and both worked. We like to sit on the balcony and have a drink when we get back from a tour but equally you could have a drink on deck. With the time difference you will wake up early and it's lovely to sit on the balcony with a coffee watching the arrival into port, but equally you could put the money saved towards your next cruise!

Enjoy whatever you decide

 

 

Personally I wouldn't be paying out money to FB unknowns. As BJ said, you can share a taxi, they usually take up to 8 people and we like to share our experiences with others.  

Enjoy you cruiser 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All over the Caribbean you will find locals waiting at the dock who take tours round their islands. It's definitely the easiest area for DIY trips and much cheaper than the ship tours.  You can negotiate where you want to go or they will have a map to show where they suggest.  Best is to get off the ship early then you will have time to do a trip and then have a look round the local town before getting back on the ship.

 

 

You can stay on board until the coach takes you to the airport. You will have to vacate your cabin at 8am but you can apply to have a cabin for a few hours for a charge or a curtesy cabin will be available.  Your all inclusive applies until you leave the ship.

You can also leave the ship if you wish but must be back for the coach

 

Thank you for your responses. Hopefully it will be the centre then.

 

Could someone please advise where Sky Princess docks in Stockholm

I think they start in May cruising from Marmaris. Fabulous itineraries,  worth looking at

We used Iceland Guided Tours, excellent company and you pay when the bus picks you up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dress to impress night is usually the sea day, hope this helps 

 

I've also read about a tax imposed by the Spanish on food and drink. It seems this is being passed onto clients by NCL, even those who have prepaid for a drinks package. Let's hope other cruise lines don't follow suit, although the prices Marella are charging It's probably already been factored into the total price

Similar cruise November 24 is showing on Marella website

Well we eventually sailed late in the evening after 2 tugs had to keep us in place for several hours. The gangway was mended for the following day.

All in all we had a great cruise.  The ship was in good condition and kept very clean. Our cabin was a bit dated but we knew that before.  There was plenty of storage and everything was very clean, the only thing that let it down was the grouting in the shower – wish I’d had a brush and some bleach I could have had it sorted in a few minutes!

The staff were fabulous as always although there were less than there use to be and there were sometimes long waits in the bars.  We sometimes had to wait a while in the dining room but I felt that this might be due to the kitchen rather than the waiting staff.  The food was good, we had no complaints although sometimes the menu could be a little repetitive. 

The one strange thing was the wine, I’m definitely not a connoisseur but I know what I like and don’t like.  On the first evening I ordered a Pinot Grigio, the waiter brought an individual size bottle and poured it into my glass.  I tried the wine and it looked and tasted like weak sherry!  So I asked for the house wine. He brought Sauvignon Blanc which was much too dry for me so I eventually asked for the carafe wine.  This was fine so I stuck to that the whole cruise. The next evening the lady on the next table asked for Pinot Grigio, when it arrived she pulled a face and said it wasn’t good, again it tasted like sherry. Everyone we spoke to had the same problem with the Pinot – even though we had 2 stops in Italy they didn’t seem to be able to get the wines right.

The captain and his staff were friendly and approachable.  The shows were very good, the comedian and other guest artist weren’t really our cup of tea but were ok – you can’t please everyone!

Great cruise but feel we are ready to try something different so are jumping ship (pardon the pun) next year and trying Princess although I’m sure we’ll be back with Marella at some point

31 minutes ago, paulatsea said:

 

Thanks - going there in a couple of weeks - did they have a shuttle bus into the town ?

They had a ship bus that could be booked at £12 return. I think there is also a regular bus but only hourly so not too reliable.  If it had been a nice day, a walk on the beach would have been nice 

Well our stop in Ravenna was a Sunday. We got up and the weather wasn't good, high winds and cloudy so we decided to stay on board. I must point out though, we had expected to be docked in an industrial port but this wasn't the case. The town was 30 mins away and we could see cranes etc in the distance but we were actually docked between 2 very long beaches. We couldn't access the one to the right as it looked as though it belonged to a camping site but you could walk through the port gates to a ferry that cost 1 euro and took you to a marina and then to a beach. There were sunbeds although they weren't in use due to the weather.  In the afternoon the sun came out and we sat on deck with a pleasant view over the marina. 

Although we didn't go ashore, we were surprised with the pleasant surroundings 

Well today is a bit of a challenge for the crew. Trieste and it's very, very windy. Docked OK and we were off early but then told by someone in the town to take our time as the gangway has broken. We returned much later to 1 gangway which was in a wind corridor so they were letting people off for trips and we had to wait. It was only 1 person at a time and many needed help, the wind kept lifting the gangway and the staff had to keep lifting it back. Felt so sorry for the crew wanting to go ashore but having to queue to let passengers have priority.  Seemed a tad unfair.  Currently on the balcony on the sun but have a tugboat below holding us at the Dock.  Fingers crossed for tonight, think I may be getting the tablets out!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi pinkpondqueen, I'm on Ex2 at the moment and just been to check. The photo is correct, there is an infinity pool approx 5m x 2m but it is a jacuzzi not a swimming pool. The spa area looks nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi. We are finding the food good. Service a little slower as there are less staff but we have no complaints. Enjoying it.

I think you are on Sky with us in June? Looking forward to that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Brummjam, are you on Ex2 now? So are we, next week too.! Really enjoying it, can't believe how calm the sea has been. Enjoy yourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi kitty cat, I believe you can cancel and get a refund up to 24 hours before the trip. If you booked through Cruise Control you can cancel this way or via your agent if that's how you booked. Otherwise you can see the destinations desk as soon as you board 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh dear, it does seem as they are being unreasonable. Please don't cancel though as I don't think change of cabin is classed as a major change especially as they have offered a similar alternative and you may be left very much out of pocket.

That said, I would ring them again and try to discuss the upgraded cabin especially as they have offered £200 OBC and the cabin is now cheaper than you paid.  If the cabin is still available it's unlikely it will sell before Sunday!

Good luck and please let us know how you go on.