grannypops

We were there last November.

The Long Bar has been done up, looks fabulous and it has the reed fans and old fashioned cocktail shaker machine. You can still throw the monkey nut shells on the floor while drinking a cool Singapore Sling.  

They are 32 Singapore Dollars each and actually not the best ones we had on our trip ☺️

Wow this thread is still going over five years old now!

I'm back, been P&O cruising for past couple years but back to Thomson and off next week on Majesty with grandson who is 15 in three weeks and towers above me :D and

Babypops is now six and almost as tall as me too haha yes really :D

Well I must think of some more tips for you all. The one about taking looser clothes for the latter part of your cruises is important to take into account as the sea air definitely shrinks clothes - every cruise I go on it happens :rolleyes:

I noticed the old link I posted for Hyacinth Bucket's cruise episode of Keeping Up Appearances no longer works so here's another:

Onslow's line at the end is an absolute classic and tickles me every time I watch it!!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O018cGoijd8

when we went to cairo and luxor seeing that there were children younger than him having to "work" did upset him a bit especially at the valley of the kings where we were talking to a boy who was 9 and he told us how he is not allowed to go to school as his family make him work/beg and if he did not make enough money the older boys would beat him up,now i know that they can bend the truth a bit to get money out of tourists but we told him we had none with us cos after cairo didn't want to lie and could not take any more hassle,this little boy was nearly crying asking us to take him with us i could hardly look at him and i think it made my kyle realise how much he has which is not a bad thing,makes you a better person hopefully xx

The constant hassle does spoil going to Egypt as it is relentless and the thing is that I would spend money in their shops if only they would leave me be to look around first... I do feel awful when it's children though.. friends of ours went to Cuba and told us a desperate woman there begged them to take her baby home with them - for all it's troubles, how lucky we are to live here in UK :(

Lol, and they said it would never last.:D It still makes me laugh thinking about false teeth flying past my window. I hope it never happens.:eek:

 

I miss Berwyn, remember the troll who came on and saw his photo's then had the cheek to say that

he and his wife always looked miserable. How rude.

 

Jan

Ahh yes, Berwyn's great, I hoped he'd pop up again :)

I didn't notice anyone trolling, maybe it was another thread on Thomson part of cc forum that I haven't followed? But that's a terrible thing to say :mad:

 

I'm amazed that this thread that I started is still going strong after all this time but all the hints and tips are still valid and more are always welcome.:):)

 

Jan

Hi Jan

This has to be the best thread ever on here, well done starting it :) I've had some laughs on here :D

hi granny,so true this year was our first cruise and my 12 yr old loved it and they do learn so much going to different places and seeing how other people live,as for kids clubs not a chance in him going near them he says other kids are annoying and noisy(bit of victor meldrew in him i think lol). until he is doing exams and they lower the prices i will take him out of school and pay the 50 quid fine if they don't give permission ,it was easter when we went to egypt but if it had of been term time what he saw there was not just educational in school terms but in life also

estherxx

Hello Esther, glad your 12 year old loved the cruise, my grandson is 11 and he has never been interested in the kids clubs when we've been on holiday, he plays for a youth football team and does a lot of after school activities but seems to prefer older company and has a great love of history.

The first time we took him to Egypt.. well he 'changed' on that holiday, he grew up noticeably. Like a lot of children he's been quite spoiled with material things having a big family. We actually were on holiday in one of the 5* hotels in Hurghada but went on a mad day trip to Cairo overnight on a bus where he saw the pyramids and encountered children younger than himself begging and selling souvenirs, saw people with no shoes, ragged clothes.. he was swatting flies off himself, covered in dust and dodging camel poo - big difference to how he lives here in UK (sorry I'm laughing at the memory :))

One of my tips: if you're going on holiday to any third world countries is instead of giving the children money or sweets go to the local pound shop at home and buy skipping ropes, pens, pencils, colouring books, even footballs, inflate them there (ask at the gym/sports place at hotel).

We gave the maids some costume jewellery (Primark!) earrings and bangles in the Dominican Republic and she was absolutely over the moon with them.. I always wonder you see if they have to hand over cash tips... and the ones in the streets begging, you do think to yourself there's quite likely someone evil there putting them out to 'work' :mad:

Berwyn, I worked in an insurance company for years and you'd be surprised how many claims we got for glasses falling off overboard, broken false teeth, I even had one for a smashed glass eye, when the ship lurched as the customer was washing it!

Haha love it - did the insurers pay out though?

Haha I hope not :eek:

Haha Ekco, nothing like Onslow - he does wear a shirt over his vest I'm glad to say :D he's talking of getting a white tux as we're never going back to ordinary holidays now we've discovered cruising and I've seen a no fly Caribbean next year we might go on if the price drops a bit :)

OMG! I remember that episode, it was repeated last year. So funny! I'll think of you next time it's on.:D:D

 

Jan

Haha - I think I'm more Daisy than like Hyacinth really :eek:

I sat and watched the episode this afternoon on youtube after I thought of Mrs Bucket... made me laugh on what was a wet miserable day earlier in London...

I've put the link to it in my previous post (above) - love it :D

Something to while away an hour on a wet day :)

Sea Fever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6Ha21Npqkk&feature=related

haha my 3 year old does have a sailor suit lol worn on captain's gala dinner night :D - he also wears tuxedos and does the pirate get up and has a cute hawaiian shirt for Tropical Night

one of reasons my lot like to cruise is that they get the chance to dress up :)

I have some hair pins and brooches which I would never be able to wear except on a cruise - some with anchor and ship designs... scarves with nautical designs, plus all that blue and white striped stuff - and the red white and blue stuff for Royal celebrations - Primark is wonderful for cheap accessories.. and beach bags..

lol just thinking of Hyacinth Bucket on Keeping Up Appearances when they went on the cruise :eek:

Hi Ecko :)

That's a very good tip to spread the clothes etc across the luggage in case one piece goes walkabout.

My case should arrive tomorrow.. fingers crossed the contents are all still inside... it would be a pain to lose the jewellery and accessories - not expensive as such, but there are some nice cruisey/nautical themed bits and pieces like brooches and hair clips that I've amassed over the travels which wouldn't find easily again...

Hiya Ecko :)

Glad you got your case back safe.

.... as a larger lady :eek:, the thought of losing my suitcase with my clothes on the way out on holiday is my idea of a personal nightmare (well that and the one about being accidently locked outside the cabin starkers LOL)

I always say to grandadpops "if you are going to lose our luggage make sure it is yours" as he could always buy some tshirts and shorts and some flipflops no problem, but I'd never find a Billy Smarts dress shop in some resort abroad :D

love gp...who.still.can't.spell...

Hi all

I'm back :D with a new tip:

If you suffer from memory loss/sheer stupidy (as my dear 'grandadpops' is known to ;)) and happen to leave one of your good lady's suitcases at Southampton, containing the crown jewels, hair accessories, ghds, duty frees and the all-important fridge magnets which were so very carefully selected from the various ports of call visited...:(

...then never fear, those nice P&O baggage handlers will save the day (and your ears) and promptly courier your missing suitcase home for £25 +vat! :)

love gp x

Hi Berwyn, I do look all the time now at cruise offers and keep tabs on prices, I read a post on here last night (researching Azura) and someone had put they got a good deal for same itinerary last year at 400 more pp than it is now! I like P&O cos of the no flying bit too cos with all the extra stuff we have to take for baby we'd be paying a fortune in excess baggage.

Saw that Thomson are doing UK departures next year - will keep eye out on those... :)

The late booking all really started for me as I can't book ahead as we run a business plus foster children so we never know when a slow time or busy time is coming - and now we have adopted a little one we can't do certain types of holidays... wish I had discovered cruising years ago... may not be the cheapest holidays but the value for money is unbelievable..... and on the ones I've done, including the Nile cruise, you simply don't have to be amongst people in football shirts boozing all day, swearing and shouting at their children... I can see why some people like to keep it quiet LOL :eek:

May not be relevant at all to most on here but my big tip to parents: if you want to show your children there's more to life than computer games and tv soaps, R&B music (99% of the pop charts it seems nowadays) and gangs, take them on a cruise but not to the 'kids club' all day.....make the point of it the places you're going to vist... the Horrible Histories book set was one of my best buys for him.... they'll love the cruising way of life, watching the tug boats/crew at work, it will genuinely positively add to their education in ways they would never see otherwise... they learn about Ancient Egypt/the Romans etc at school... seriously it cost me less to take him on cruise than it would book a caravan and eat chips all week at Haven or Butlins/Pontins and there's still swimming/fun/shows etc onboard between excursions..

I'm lucky I don't have that problem here in our street as it's not near main road or airport/station etc but must be a pain for you. I do notice the odd car over the road but never across my driveway - that would be annoying of course. I was thinking we might do a house swap with some people from USA while the olympics are on.. We'll prob never get tickets to any of the games/ceremonies so no point expecting to watch it on anywhere but a tv screen so might as well go off somewhere cos the roads will be worse here than ever...

all this early booking nonsense for a good deal? If you must go on a certain popular cruise on a certain date in a certain cabin then book early but if you just want a basic cabin for 2 and can bear to book, pack and make house sitting, travel, parking arrangements last min then you'll save an awful lot of money. OK this doesn't work if you have a job and the deals are not there in peak time i.e school hols....quote]

 

Sorry this does work if you have a job, just book your annual leave in advance for the week AFTER the kids go back to school (straight after Easter and the end Oct beginning of Nov are very good) and start researching prices and itineraries, shopping and getting things ready in the weeks before... you WILL get a deal you'll be happy with.. . of course you also have to be able to PAY in FULL... if money no object and you simply must have family cabin/diabled/single cabin/a certain suite/several cabins together then book when the holidays are first advertised. :)

 

When baby pops starts school proper we will be limited but at moment making most of it...

I know taking children out of school is frowned on but my grandson came on the pharoahs and holy land trip with me (he's been on several other cultural trips before too) and the head teacher at his school is happy for a week off until they are a certain age - genuinely what he learns in a week away is always remarkable... the interest he has now in geography, history, seeing how the other halves lives, both 'posh' and third world countries, meeting people from other cultures, proper silver service dining and trying 'unusual foods' for your average 10 year old (as opposed to school dinners or eating at home I mean where we don't do 6 courses:eek: every evening, believe it or not haha!).

 

I notice they don't seem to encourage any competitiveness at schools now... so simply being aware of the notion that you need to have money to be able to travel and keep taking nice holidays like granny goes on means working hard at school is essential really to get ahead and prosper... unless you have a rich grandad... and even I haven't found one of those yet LOL :D

Oh yes the zoo is great.. not just for this site's topic, but all travel.. sign up for the weekly emails that come with the top deals.. it's usually my starting point when researching hols... and there are other sites too that send weekly emails like this.. one is the printed pages on the telly's site; and another is a great, deal checker, in itself ;) remember google is your friend .... the highlight of my wednesday log into my email account is these emails that come amongst the junk emails.. had cheap flights, weekends away, cruises and all inclusives via these.. they are not t.a's sites just lists of deals

:(My next tip is going to be:

Try to make friends with someone who lives in Southampton so you don't have to pay car parking charges! :D

I haven't put this into action yet and I've reluctantly just paid 166 to CPS even though we have a blue badge (I do need to research the rules for this as we rarely ever need to display it as we can park usually at the normal paces we go to shop/visit/school etc) and could prob park up somewhere and get a local cab in last couple miles?

Someone must have sussed this parking at the port lark out???? But will anyone let on? ;)

I mean, I live in London (outside congestion zone) but we have no parking restrictions in our cul-de-sac and someone could easily park opposite my house for two weeks without anyone becoming suspicious, I'd just think it was someone parked visiting a neighbour.:confused:

I know you can stay at local hotels and park included - we did that last year but this year we'd need 2 hotel rooms so it's cheaper to pay CPS. :mad:

There are people who advertise parking on their drives but we'd still have to pay them and then pay the cab into terminal and the change over with my lot (and I don't just mean the luggage/baby seat etc :eek: lol) would make the saving, this time anyway, negligible.

:) Yes google is your friend - if you just type cruise uk in it you'll come up with the way to find sites. Apart from Thomson don't look to book direct with cruise lines... My cruise is listed at 699 on at least 4 agent sites now and has been for the last week, but NOT direct with P&O they can't put the price that low or all the peopl who paid 2K will get annoyed!

You only get those prices at the last min and you can't be too picky about cabins, what is left is what is left. But we got a deal - would cost more to eat out every day for just that price.. We even got obc. But all this early booking nonsense for a good deal? If you must go on a certain popular cruise on a certain date in a certain cabin then book early but if you just want a basic cabin for 2 and can bear to book, pack and make house sitting, travel, parking arrangements last min then you'll save an awful lot of money. OK this doesn't work if you have a job and the deals are not there in peak time i.e school hols. Remember this royal wedding bank hol was unexpected when brochures came out, people mostly booked their easter hols for last week and this weekend.

People say to me how can you afford a cruise but we don't pay 2k each as per brochure. Booking direct with P&O is no no - the 699 inside guarantee cabin still showing at as 1462 on the PO site. Ventura med 14 nights on 29th is now same price at the 16 night azura one via agents.

Hello

I look at the sites you mentioned already but the one that lets you search by date, cost, line, ship, area etc... and then shows what actual cabins are available.... is the most obvious address if you were looking for a cruise from a uk website, you know without being critical?;)

signing up for email alerts for deals at these sites is recommended. and there's a great one for holidays and travel (including cruises) with the place where animals are kept in cages...

LOL don't know about cruisecritic more like cruisecryptic :confused:

Wow this thread is still going! :)

Hope you're all enjoying your cruises? I never did go on the Thomson Red Sea one, I always book late to get a good deal as the cabin doesn't matter to me just the price, but I couldn't get free time to go on any cruise until now and the itineraries have changed plus the grandson who'd be interested in doing the excursions with me is back at school next week anyway...

I haven't had time to be on here much since 'baby pops' came to live with us and he's a hyperactive toddler now who is into everything :eek: I'm afraid we've defected to P&O for cruise holidays with him until he's a bit bigger because their night nurseries mean we can dress up and go to the formal dinners without causing a riot :eek:

Going on Azura on Tues for 16 nights - booked yesterday bargain - round about the same price as the 8 night Thomson Spirit one through the Suez Canal I was looking at!

Keep adding the tips - I love reading them and I'll add some more myself soon

GP x

Hi everyone... hope you're all having having fun cruising :).... thanks ekco for bringing this thread back to life... I haven't been on here for ages, got notified there wasa new reply to the thread!

I must plan a cruise soon, still fancy the red sea thomson one. We went on P&O oriana 'around britain' in July it was brilliant! been very busy since... but hopefully after xmas can get away and take advantage of the cruise bargains about..

oh yes, for you bargain hunters... I noticed yesterday that Primark currently have men's white pin tuck dress shirts in packets complete with black bow tie for £6 each! bargain :eek: got grandad pops one so now we have to go on another cruise no excuse hehe :D

grannypops x