terry2

Well, unless things have changed since last year - there are no tea or coffee making facilities in the cabins on Black Watch.

Coffee and hot water for tea are available for you to help yourself in the Braemar lounge.

BTW, we have never notified our bank, do you need to?

The only time I had trouble with a card abroad was when I had told the card company I was travelling (fortunately I had another card). So since then I've never told them, and not had any problems.

Well it looks like we won't be able to go on this cruise as Thomson will only accept UK issued credit & debit cards which we as expats don't have.

Hmmm I'm a bit puzzled by that - I can see why they say that about debit cards (as they tend to be tied to banks) - but credit cards are usually issued by big specialist firms that are multinational.

Have you actually tied to book and the credit card been rejected, or are you believing what it says in some small print.

Just remember that the washy washy does absolutely nothing to help prevent noro.

maybe yes, maybe no. It all depends on what they are using for the washy washy - if it is a simple alcohol cleaner then yes you are correct. However there are products that will kill viruses (I carry one), so you need to ask what product the cruise line is using.

Note also that hand washing does not kill viruses, it merely removes them from your hands - so make sure the water from the tap isn't splashing the virus everywhere, you just want enough water flow to flush the soap from your hands.

As has been said you can pick it up just by touching a surface betwen hand washing and eating. So the other way to help avoid it is never to use your hand to put food in your mouth, always use a fork or spoon.

(and yes if there is an outbreak I'm one of the ones you can see using a knife and fork to eat things like bread rolls).

The odds are that there will be an open Boots at the departure airport (once you have gone throught security and are airside). If the airport is open the shops will be open.

I suggest you check with the airport what shops they have airside.

Now Fred., has become partners with Saga.

Well not really, as I read it, Saga are merely going to be a sales agent for Fred. It's not clear if they are just going to flog Fred's cruises, or if they will package them with their transport to the ships (presumably at a higher price).

Not the one I saw - nothing to do with a chaplain.:rolleyes:

Hmmm, if that was the series with six episodes on BBC2 recorded on a world cruise, then sorry but it was made by the BBC religous unit and did not look at cruise life in general. That was the only one about Fred that I've seen recently.

If you saw a different program can you remember where it was shown.

On my many trips on Fred. Olsen I have never heard of cheap offers. I will say, however, that the quality of the laundry is first class.

Thanks for the information.

A possibly silly question, but then I'm new to Fred.

Are there any special offers for laundry on Fred's ships and if so what are they? I've made use of such offers with other lines, and it would be good to know before we start planning the packing.

Thanks in advance.

Thomsons haven't exactly overburdened us with information on their Etickets, which is basically all the usual routine blurb, and apart from the first and last page (parking voucher) are a waste of ink IMO, I did not print them off.

As I recall the arrival sequence is:-

Get to the port - get directed towards the queue to drop luggage (note there may well be other queues there e.g. for the DFDS ferries).

Show your thomson ticket and get YOUR envelope - continue to the luggage drop off, attach the labels in the envelope to your luggage and drop it off.

Drive away (out of the port area) and loop back into the port entrance - but this time get directed to the car park - where you show your parking ticket, get another ticket for display in the car, and then get directed to a parking space.

Then take a shuttle to the terminal where you check in, go through security, and then take another shuttle to the ship.

So you have to drop off your luggage BEFORE you start thinking about parking, and all the people in the car go to the parking area (unless you have someone in a wheelchair).

When you get back you take a shuttle direct to the car park, where you locate your luggage (which has been offloaded separately) and then take that to your car.

You have quoted the Scottish fit for travel site. For anyone in England and Wales they should visit www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk There are some slight differences.

Ah well um, if you look at the bottom of the web pages of that fitfortravel site you will see that it is "copyright Health Protection Scotland - a division of NHS National Services Scotland"; so I would expect the version on the Scottish site to be the more up to date (but that could well just be me).

Morning, does anyone know what vaccinations you need for this cruise. I know we are only ashore for a short time but is there anything we need.

Thanks

Try looking on this website

http://www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk/destinations.aspx

which is where we check what is needed, and also happens to be the site our local doctor's practice uses to look up when we ask about vaccinations.

in particular for you

http://www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk/destinations/caribbean/cuba.aspx

and

http://www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk/destinations/central-america/panama.aspx

just look at the "Courses or boosters usually advised".

Note that the "other vaccines to consider" are for people spending a long time in the country or going off the tourist trails.

Sorry, since English is not my "native" language, I didn't know the English term for it.... But now I know. :p

Well it isn't really an english phrase, it is just airline industry jargon - so most english people don't know it either.

Incidentally, does Switzerland not issue foreign workers/residents like yourself with a special form of national ID card ?

No, not that I recall, but I was working for an international organisation rather than a firm.

I just want to mention that we live in Europe and we are doing a Panama Canal cruise from Los Angeles to Miami. Most of the major flight carriers do offer return flights form a different city - you just have to book a type of ticket that has the possibility of multiple stops. Yes it is more expensive than a regular return flight to and from Miami, but not as much as I expected before booking. And it is for sure a lot cheaper than purchasing two one-way-tickets.

The normal airline term is an open-jaw ticket; fly into one city and out of another. I've often used them. As has been mentioned above that is much cheaper than multiple one-way tickets, and is often close to the cost for a normal return to the most distant city (this is for flying from europe to the US).

I only told you what the Spanish law says- that everyone (tourists included) carries an acceptable form of ID at all times.

When I worked in Switzerland (many many years ago), we were told by the British Consulate that in (almost) all European countries it was a legal requirement to carry a goverment issued IDENTITY document at all times, and that in this context a driving licence (even with a photo) was not considered an identity document. So we were advised that we needed to carry our UK passports all the time.

I know the UK driving licences didn't have a photo at that time, but I also had a Swiss licence which did have a photo, but that on its own wasn't sufficient.

Things might well have changed about the requirement to carry an identity document since then, but I doubt it.

Even the UK.Gov Travel Advice page says "no Visa" If you do not stay overnight and are just passing through the Airport ..Classed as a day trip .

 

See here ... Turkish Visa

I think it has been updated since you looked. It now says:-

"British nationals need a visa to enter Turkey, except for cruise ship passengers with ‘British Citizen’ passports entering the country for a day trip, remaining in the port of embarkation and returning to the ship the same day."

Sorry, but you need to remember that cruising has a different set of terms and conditions in addition to the normal brochure T&C's and just about every cruise company has a total get out clause - the one from the thomsons online T&Cs is:-

24.4 The Carrier does not guarantee that the Vessel will call at every advertised port of call or follow any particular route or time table. The Master and the Carrier, acting reasonably, shall have the absolute right to change or substitute the advertised schedule and/or ports of call for any reason whatsoever.

So as has been suggested, you need to track the situation up to the time just before you need to pay and then decide if you are prepared to take a chance or try to change to a different cruise.

TUI AG’s cash balance, which is negative today.

 

cannot access the link, can anyone else?

there is no space between the link and the smiley - so you get an invalid url. try

http://www.tui-group.com/en/company/oneTUI

As my grandad used to say "you don't drink them for the taste son"

 

I'll make a comprehensive study of the spirits on the Braemar in 2 weeks time and report back.

and what conclusion did you reach? assuming you can remember :)

Just to prevent confusion.

When doing a NCL cruise and flying from the UK, the normal NCL package includes the cruise, flight AND one night at a hotel near the departing port. There is NO option of buying just the cruise and flight - though you can buy just the cruise and then make all the other arrangements yourself.

I assume they do it this way to make sure the passenger is scheduled to arrive a day in advance (just to allow slippage for flights going wrong).

The main train route cross-country hourly goes Manchester-Birmingham-Reading-Southampton so you probably would need to change at one of the Northern stations to avoid going via London.

He is correct, in that there are lots of Birmingham to Southampton trains, but there are lots of York to Birmingham trains, so that's a valid route. However, as I recall, there are two Newcastle to Southampton trains a day, which go via York, so they would avoid having to change.

Hmmm, there seems to be some confusion in the OP's message, which mentions Heathrow and Flybe.

As I recall Flybe are on the Newcastle-Gatwick route, it is BA that fly the Newcastle-Heathrow route.

Hmmm, there seems to be some confusion in the OP's message, which mentions Heathrow and Flybe.

As I recall Flybe are on the Newcastle-Gatwick route, it is BA that fly the Newcastle-Heathrow route.

Well if thomson don't do them from 2015, then I will be looking to other lines for ex-UK cruises in the summer.

I will be happy to go on fly-cruises during the rest of the year.