babs135

Giving serious consideration to a 8/9 night cruise on the Venezia out of New York in November (package includes a night in the Big Apple).  I know that Carnival has a reputation (rightly or wrongly) as being a fun-line, but what does this actually mean?  We are senior citizens and still like to have a good time, but neither of us able to get up and party anymore - the knees don't bend like they used to!!!  Will it be very noisy - can take the hearing aids out!!!!

Any other travellers about the same age as us are will it be mainly younger people - will I have to take DH's spectacles off!!!!

Value any genuine comments please.

Nothing booked and any chance of booking something at the moment amounts to a big fat ZERO!  I hate circumstances which make booking anything difficult (plus a lack of funds is probably another major obstacle!!).

Looking at a land based holiday early in the new year but that's it.  So depressing.

But being serious, neither of us is in the best of health right now but once we're on the mend we'll probably wait until the turn of the year to see who's offering what in terms of an incentive to book.

In the meantime, to those of you off on a cruise any time soon, safe journey, have a great time and raise a glass or two to me and DH.

Don't laugh, but one of the reasons we've never done a river cruise is because the ships look very close to the water and I'm frightened of the water!  Ocean cruising suits me much better.  However we'd quite like to try such a cruise but don't know where to start. Which company, which region, etc.

I know there is a dedicated forum on CC, but before venturing over there I'd be grateful for any advice you can give.

Especially interested in how prices compare between ocean and river cruising.  We're quite happy in an inside cabin on ocean going ships.

Surely this can't be right?  Diabetics will be at a huge disadvantage.

Marella guests concerned as fridges are removed from cabins - Travel Gossip

Just off the Anne and something happened that I don't recall on any of the other ships.  We were second sitting in the Britannia and the time given for turning up was between 8.15-8.30 pm.  On the second night we arrived at 8 pm fully expecting to join a queue only to be shown to our table and promptly served!  We continued to arrive for 8 o'clock the rest of the cruise as it meant that we didn't have to rush to get to the theatre.

Is this a new 'thing' or just on the Anne?

I must confess that we liked it as the early sitting is far too early and the late sitting can sometimes end up in a bit of a rush.  Open dining is not a particular favourite as we like the comfort of knowing where our table is and who will be serving us.

Fortunately both of us plus our daughter did not contract the virus.  Is it possible that you or someone in your group picked it up during one of the port visits rather than on the ship itself?  Mask wearing was even less than we've noticed on previous occasions.

However, Covid is a strange beast; on our last cruise which was on the Victoria we again shared the cabin with our adult daughter.  She was with us 24/7 and then in the car on the home journey to Manchester.  24 hours later she tested positive and we did not, continuing to test on and off for a week.  Why she got it and we didn't is a mystery.

We're just off our first cruise on the Queen Anne and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  We have now sailed on all 4 of the Queens and look forward to our next voyage whenever that may be.  During this cruise a number of members of the crew stopped to say hello as they recognised us from other cruises.  As this has never happened before we were obviously delighted that they remembered us but my question is this : as the crew now acknowledge us as 'frequent sailors', are we now true Cunarders? 😉

TOMORROW!!!!

Months of planning and now : 

5 hours ago, George C said:

What cruise ? 

We're sailing on the Queen Anne to Scandinavia and Norway, leaving on Sunday.  Having sailed on the other 3 Cunard ships it will be interesting to see how this compares.  From what I've read, it's nothing like the others, but we go with an open mind.  

Getting closer! 

We will have virtually two full days in Copenhagen and have been looking at the abovementioned card. It seems like a good idea but I'm wondering if the fact that we will be docked at Oceanquay slightly negates the benefits. 

56 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

According to online itineraries posted on various cruise booking and travel agent websites, you are scheduled to arrive Copenhagen at 7:00am on August 21st and depart Copenhagen at 6:00pm on August 22nd.

 

You are scheduled to arrive Rotterdam at 8:00am and depart at 11:59pm on August 26th according to those same online itineraries.

 

Edit to add: To complete the timings, you are scheduled to arrive Skagen at 8:00am and depart at 7:00pm on August 23rd. For Oslo on August 24th, you are also scheduled to arrive at 8:00am and depart at 7:00pm

Thanks John.

I've been trying to find the times for arriving and leaving Copenhagen (overnight stop) and failing miserably. I can see us arriving (no time given) but there is no mention of us even leaving, let alone a time!  Similarly for Rotterdam, times were posted earlier in the week but have now disappeared. Any help would be gratefully received.

We always use Penguin Parking. We drop off the car and they taxi us to the ship and the reverse works on return.  

59 minutes ago, maryann2 said:

 

It seems strange.

I do know that Carnival provides Kosher meals but they are frozen.

Sounds like the group wanted to take over a kitchen on the ship and I can't imagine any line allowing that. 

 

Royal Caribbean and Princess are both trialling fresh kosher food rather than the usual frozen stuff.

Cruise ship death plunge in front of family: Shocking moment cruise ship passenger falls into the ocean as horrified couple and child look on | Daily Mail Online

When will people realised that it's just about impossible to fall overboard ?  Nevertheless it's very sad.

In the 'good old days' I used to enjoy reading the brochures whilst having breakfast.  I even read the small print, which is something a lot of people don't appear to do nowadays when looking on various websites which is why we often get weird questions!! 🤣🤣

We are due to sail on the Queen Anne in the next couple of weeks and have just received our check-in time of 3.45 pm!  I understand that we cannot and should not just turn up and expect to board, but

1)  how early do you think we can realistically arrive at the dock?  We are platinum level and both use walking sticks but not sure if this would make any difference.

We will be staying in Portsmouth the night before.  One train of thought is to drop off our luggage at the dock and then go to West Quay shopping centre to waste some time.

2)  What time does the luggage drop open?

The problem with the luggage drop is

3)  what to do with our hand luggage?  I'm not sure I want to leave it at dockside as it contains medication, chargers, etc.

4)  The next problem is the car!  Can we leave it with the parking company (Penguin) and then go shopping, before returning to them and then they will taxi us to the ship. And should we leave the carry-on cases in the car or lug them around with us in the Centre?

Thanks for any advice.