bogofman

Hi, yes the draught Guinness was in Michael's, alongside the Brooklyn Lager and one other American draught beer of which I can't recall. Boddingtons was on draught downstairs in the music hall but not upstairs and rather bizarrely, the old speckled hen was available upstairs at the pool bar under the north star.

 

So there was plenty of draught but it did pop up in funny places!

This was very iritating the best pint of draft on the ship only available on the top deck, old speckled hen , they also had Heineken but they could never get the temp and gas set so it was generally too warm and froffy, had to cool it down with ice.

The Stella on draft in the music hall tasted like no Stella I have drunk before, tried it a couple of times and could not drink it, way too much gas, good job I was not paying for it

The fullers draft larger in the pub was too sweet, the best bdrink here was the guiness

Problem was only the pub has guineas, so I had a long walk from 270, to get a refill, as no draft in 270, and only one barman and massive queues

Are there enough suite users to justify the segregation? are they all not in the pay restaurants?:rolleyes:

We have sailed RCI several time sand there is definitely a difference with the bar and dining room staff.

i couldn't work out if they were over worked, bored or just not interested in what they were doing.

many bar staff were very surly and it must affect the amount of tips, if any, they get on top of the 18%)

it didn't matter how many times i used the words please or thank you

The wow bands were very good and worked every where (except reliably on the bionic bar)

i used my wow band to pay for drinks and enter the state room, no need to carry the card ( although the bar staff were more geared up for using the cards.)

I'm wondering if the staff attitudes are all to do with the way tips are now collected on these newer ships ( and the use of drinks packages)

We were on the Anthem 20th June out of UK and I was surprised at the average age of passengers ( from observation) it was a lot lower than I expected, as it was not during school holidays.

Previously I had experienced older pax at this time of year.

There was also a good mix of different nationality rather than mainly uk pax,

Surprisingly there was a lot of late teen, early twenty US lads and girls in groups with what appeared to be without parents, is this the norm for US youngsters?

It's unlikely groups of younger uk kids would holiday on cruise ships this way.

There was also a large proportion of Spanish speaking passengers ( maybe from south america) I wonder if RCI have been doing special deals?

It all made for a very international feel to the cruise which was very good, although not that good for RCI bars sales.

I over heard a conversation that 50 percent of pax were not spending anything, the rest of us must have had the free package

Mike thanks so much I have found this very helpful! I am wondering if you did DIY excursions in places like Marseille, Lisbon and Cadiz, where we will going during our cruise later this summer--also if you went to Vigo or Cartagena interested in those as well. Hope you had a great trip!

Marseille caught the ships transfer and the waked upto the cathedral

cadiz we walked around the perimeter of the old town, visited the two castles (free entry) then walked through the gardens, was better than we expected, walk was about 6 miles

lisbon we caught the train and spent the day in the beam area, 2 tickets return cost 6 euros

cartegana we visited the romantic ampetheatre, walking distance the ealked up tge hil to the castle

vigo, been before and did not like, this time we walked up to the castle and had a great time, a complete difference to saying in the town, gain free entry, great views and gardens

Gibraltar, we even walked up to the top of the Rock and back gain, this time 7.5 miles , we have GPS tracling on our tablets

La spezia walked to the train station and visited cinque terre

Search online for more info and study the Google maps before going

i wish there was a way to find recommended US TA's (with free phone to UK)

without breaking this sites rules

i've searched the web and found loads of TA's but how do i know they are any good, reliable, or even real? without personal recommendation?

In the US do you also keep your perks when asking for a price drop, obc?

again here in UK, we would lose any perks and deposit to change the booking,

unless the perks were still active as an offer

I have gin and tonic last year made with Bombay sapphire (recommended by the bar staff)

on the classic package

looking at the latest list it now only premium.

anyone know different?

Anyone know where the smoking areas are on Equinox boat deck, we have a balcony on deck 6 and I have read reviews of passengers not able to use their balcony due to the smoke rising from below.

Does this happen?

Yes we booked on-board, I used my ipad but you can use the ones dotted around the ship for free.

 

As long as you have already installed the app on your ipad/phone the app will connect to the ships wifi for free

You only need a package if you want to use the internet.

Could not use on my Android tablet as the app said not compatible :-(

even tough its the latest samsung device.

Further info,

at the train station there were long queues for train tickets (cheap option)

but you can buy a cinque terre day ticket from the shop on the platform 12 euro

trains run several times per hour both ways, you can get the time table when buying the ticket or print off Internet before

The villages are only a few minutes apart,

we tried to walk two of the easy routes but the paths had been damaged by land slides and we're closed

they didn't apear to have started the repairs

the above ticket includes the entry to the paths and the national park

Just time coming back to give you plenty of time

we went wrong walking to the train station and went out of our way, so print the route b4

Thanks Guys, we looked at the Harmony for next year and ideally would have loved to have sailed on her but they only offer 7 night cruises which is not enough, so we have provisionally booked the Independence out of Southampton for next year. But I understand that's a very different ship?

Also disappointed Harmony only doing 7 nights, I'm sure they could have created a b2b with different ports to make up 14 nights

If you compare prices 7 nights on Harmony is similar to 14 on indy

We prebooked all online b4 sailing and never had to wait, however we like to dine late, there was always plenty of spare space . You can use the onboard app to change your bookings at any time, or in the normal way.

I would not book the classic dining option as I would not want to be stuck with the same waiter every night, we had some dodgy ones and some very good ones.

the good ones were in Silk, and the most dodgy in American icon

All menus had a large choice of classic dishes as well as the themed options, I would have prefer more themed options.

Also the menus are based around the same Base, I.e

lamb shank in the grand and curried lamb shank in Silk, not exactly a curry just a curry sause covering the standard shank,

Similar with the sea food dishes, some time two types of salmon on the same menu

one classic and one with an oriental theme

We had also done pisa and Florence many times on land holidays so in la spezia we walked to the train station and visited the cinque terrace, 5 villages all connected via train

We also disembarked today and generally had a great cruise, but there were a few things could be improved.

there was always a lift out of action , the lift to the north star was broken until the engineers came aboard in cicivavecchia (after a week) so disabled could not go on the ride

the robot bar had one robot out of action and ordering via the tablets was hit and miss

We found the service and food to be not constant between the 4 complementary resturants.

We found silk to have the best service and American icon the worst, so much so we cancelled our American icon resurvat ions as each time it got worse

You have to check your account often when handing over your cards in the resturants, twice we had drinks added we had not ordered and had to go to customer services to have them removed.

What is good about the iq app, if you have your device with you its possible to check your account as soon as you make a purchase

Bar staff seemed to be genearly quite grumpy

Show times were also generally over by 10pm and as we had late dinner booking we missed most, such as the comedians etc

Each of the bars had different selection of beers

eg draft guineas only in the pub, old Speke led hen only in the outdoor north star bar

no decent draft larger in the pub,

Which dates? we usually sail on Equinox in August?

who is reserving the ship?

This is the beer menu from Gastro bar on X Equinox in June Last year:cool:.

 

http://www.moreton.co.uk/ebaypics/GastroBar Equinox001.pdf

 

Enjoy

and only 1 available on the classic package

Franszikaner Weiss beer.

IT took me over a week to find out they also sell the other beers on the classic, Heineken, bud etc, they did not publish those

plus the draft beers were all premium prices

Not sure how they work out their pricing but a lot of what Celebrity call premium beers (not available on the classic package) here in the UK cost a lot less than

Franszikaner

We have just paid the final payment and I'm now waiting for the disappointment that the prices are going to start falling, as their are many berths left to fill.

I just hope they don't offer the cheap prices plus the all inclusive packages otherwise it will really leave a bad taste.

I'm sure if we call (from UK) they won't let us change/upgrade without cancelling

and losing the deposits

Barcelona port bus costs about 3 euro,s return, drops off bottom of las ramblas near sea front

ships also sell a transfer same buy for about 10e. The port bus circulates to all the berths

Cannes is a tender

Rome , citaveccihia, free port bus to town

Genova, can walk to town , maybe 15 minutes

Salerno, bus to town, cannot remember if there was a charge, still need a 20 minute walk to train station

Chania not been on a ship but I believe the ship docks in a different location, as it's a small Greek port in crete I visited in 1989

Hope this helps, best to use Google maps to clarify

It's possible to join the Harmoney in Rome or Barcelona, so you could do a pre or post in Rome

or at least it's available on the UK Web site, we are looking at doing similar next year, since we would like to try oasis class ship b4 it relocates.

We will be visiting La spezia in 3 weeks on Anthem of the seas,

(I understand the port now has a new dock and hence no need to tender)

How long does it take to walk from the port to the train station?

does the port put on a shuttle to the town?

or are their buses from the port to the station?

Thanks

I'm from Uk and travel to Europe all the time

We almost never carry cash, except for a few euro's pocket money.

everywhere uses credit cards, and if we do need the local currency (not all Europe uses euro's) we use the bank cash points (with debit card) which are everywhere

We recently visited Sweden and Denmark (not on a cruise) and never used the local currency only credit cards ( then pay off as soon as get home- we don't pay interest)

here's an actual event I witnessed a few years back on a train passing through Nice station in France on the way to Monaco.

An American couple were getting on the train with their bags, husband on first with the main suitcases, wife following behind with smaller bags, they were getting on just as the doors were closing, when the woman started calling out loudly. She was having her bag snatched as the doors were closing and the girl taking the bag was escaping off the train.

Listening to their conversation as the train sped away. Half of their holiday money in $$ had been taken, plus everything else in her hand bag. The Husband had the other half of the money.

(They will target couples in this way as they know one of the couple cannot give chase as the other is on the train that is leaving.)

Its a lot safer to only take out what is required from debit points at banks and almost always use your credit cards. There is no need to carry cash

Has the new cruise dock been completed now?

I read that a new cruise dock was being built, is this close to the centre? train station?

previously we have docked near the bridge.

we will be visiting La spezia in 3 weeks on Anthem of the seas,

How long does it take to walk from the port to the train station?

does the port put on a shuttle to the town?

or are their buses from the port to the station?

Thanks

Our equinox cruise out of istanbul also has a lot of empty cabins (I assume they don't get many locals booking cruuses)

we have not yet paid the final payment, and are also wondering about upgrades, our price paid is actually higher than current pricing for same cabin, but it looks like the packages ae not included, so I don't want to lose them,

Do they ever upgrade customers who have paid more, or do they sell of the higher grades at low cost closer to departure, seems unfair if that happens, would make more sense to upgrade the higher payers and sell off the cheaper cabins??

The 3 drinks packages are available for the full range of cruises not just those out of the UK, so I would imagine it must be applied to all regions when booking,

I wonder if the cards will have one off 3 different codes?

It's going to be confusing for the bar staff.

I don't see anywhere the price of purchasing a select package only getting it included, maybe this will become standard included package for all, with an upgrade option?