rojojacko

My wife and I are booked on our first Seabourn cruise sailing in October 2025. We have a $300 on board credit which I believe came from Seabourn and, being Carnival shareholders, will apply for our shareholder on board credit. I saw the referral program mentioned and googled it and wonder if the term ‘not combinable with third party shipboard credit’ in the T & Cs will exclude us from the referral program. Also, if eligible, is there a window for me to apply if there is a suitable sponsor?

I will be monitoring this board for information about Seabourn and, needless to say, we’re very much looking forward to this cruise. 
 

Many thanks. 
 

Rob

We too are thinking of booking the 3 night package for our TA cruise on Anthem next month. Can I just check that we can dine at any one of the on-board speciality restaurants, thinking about Chops, Jamie’s and Wonderland, without surcharge, and is it possible to dine at the same restaurant three times. Will probably look to change the ‘courtesy’ booking from day 1 as soon as we board. 
 

Many thanks. 
 

Rob

At the moment Princess Plus is half price, down to £25pppd, in the UK on selected cruises so a real no-brainer for us. 

Thanks Harters. Our parking is free with our agents booking so we’ll see where we end up nearer the time. 

We are boarding Marina in Portsmouth early September and experienced this port for the first time in late February cruising with Saga so chauffeur to and from the port was included. Really easy process and a small terminal to check in at then bussed to the ship to board. This time we’re driving ourselves and parking so not sure if it will be quite so smooth and easy. 

On board Adventure now and just a handful of books available, certainly not shelves full and many look very tired!

Thanks for all of your help and advice. I phoned Saga this morning and was able to book our preferred time for all of the included excursions. I will wait until we board to see how the OBC appears. 
 

Rob

Hi. Although we are new to Saga, we are seasoned cruisers and are booked on the Northern Lights cruise for February 28th. We are very much looking forward to it and have heard nothing but good reports and friends did the same cruise in 2022 and had a great time. We booked through an agent but didn’t realise that we wouldn’t be able to access the Saga ‘manage my booking’ which I understand allows the excursions to be booked once released and gives information about the chauffeur service. 
 

Can anyone please advise me when to contact Saga directly to book the excursions and find out about the transfer. Also, our booking came with on board credit from the agent, what is there to spend this on once onboard? 
 

Many thanks. 
 

Rob

Just got off Reflection a week ago and the drink service in the theatre was in place. 

Thank you for all of your encouraging responses. Following my post, friends from some years ago were in touch to tell me that they had sailed on this same itinerary last year and thoroughly recommended it and were very impressed with their Saga experience. The more I read about the ship, the more I look forward to the experience. I also note that premium drinks (whatever they are) are to be added to the all-inclusive for next year so a further bonus I guess. Nearer the time, I will be looking for advice as to whether my tuxedo needs to come with me!
 

And yes ann141, it is that sailing. 

Rob

Thanks very much for the review. We have today booked a Northern Lights cruise on S of A for next February and weren’t sure what to expect. We are seasoned cruisers but this will be our first with Saga. 
 

Rob

On 6/6/2022 at 10:13 AM, gordylad said:

Ive never dabbled in shares so wondering if I can buy RCL in the UK? What is the current price?

 

Cheers

As of today, it’s $56, about £44. I bought mine through a UK broker many years ago and have had many $ of on board credit plus the dividends pre-Covid. Just submitted my latest brokerage statement by email and never had any issues. I have the OBC already showing up for my next two cruises, also valid on Royal Caribbean cruises and Azamara, but not sure about that since it was sold. I don’t believe that you can buy them direct as they trade in the USA. 

Thanks all. Just looked on my ‘MSC for me’ app and it now shows €50 - £40 so I’ll wonder no more. Can’t believe that we have a 10am boarding time! 

We’re on the 13th May sailing to the Fjords and have some OBC in Euros, anyone know how this will work if the on board currency is GB£?

Thanks everyone. Like blueskadoo I had assumed that this was in addition to the OBC which I can see and have used to book some first night speciality dining, albeit that it shows as UK£ on my planner. I’m intending to do a tour with Celebrity on disembarkation day with an airport drop off as we have an evening flight home but I didn’t want to book it using my OBC if there is a separate and different excursion credit available. I’ll continue to monitor this thread in the hope that the mysterious and separately mentioned excursion credit can be found hiding somewhere!

We’ve booked a cruise on Reflection sailing from Rome in a Sky Suite on the 5th August and received $800 on board credit amongst other benefits. When I look to see what to expect as a first time guest in a suite, I see that a shore excursion credit is listed as an additional benefit to the on board credit but I can’t see what or how much that benefit is or how to access and use this. Is there anyone who can advise me on how to access this? Also, any tips on how to maximise our enjoyment of this suite experience. 

Many thanks. 
 

Rob

Just disembarked Iona yesterday after visiting Spain and Portugal and no testing required to go ashore for adults, who would all have been fully vaccinated. However all unvaccinated youngsters had to have a P and O administered test in Barcelona whether they went ashore or not and a test to go ashore in Portugal. Not sure of the age range for them. These requirements were said to be those of the two governments. Daily temperature taking at breakfast restaurants and when going ashore. Had a great time! 

4 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Our of interest, if a person has recently had Covid and recovered,  say 4 weeks previous, how long does it take to get a negative test?

My wife and I both caught COVID at the beginning of this month. Although not necessary, we both tested negative on day 9 of our 10 day isolation and have been testing since then, the last was a negative this morning. We did read that we could test positive for up to 4 weeks which caused us some concern as we are on board at the end of this month. Both double jabbed so it was like a bad cold for us with lingering coughs but feeling fine now. 

There was an evening turn down service on our recent Royal Caribbean cruise which was very welcome when you returned to the cabin, but no chocolates!  No evening service on our recent P and O cruises though and I’m not sure of any logical reason why it’s missing. 

Thanks Hadley. That’s really helped us. We are so looking forward to the cruise. Thanks also for the show info. 

Thanks for the review. We are Brits sailing on the 19th September We also have a 12.30 boarding and we’re aiming for that but may turn up a little earlier as they let you on early. A couple of questions; was there shampoo available in the bathroom; was it easy to book activities using the app; are the ifly and North Star and dodgems free to book and use and, lastly, were there any excursions available on the dock in Belfast (if you went there!), specifically to the Giants Causeway. 
 

Thanks in advance.  
 

Rob

We did the 4 night Britannia cruise and for most of the day the coast was in sight and much of that time we had a mobile phone signal, sometimes 4G but also down to 3G on occasions. This also allowed us to use our included data. At night the ship tended to head further out so the signal was lost. To avoid using the maritime network, I put the phone on flight mode and switched that off and watched to see if it picked up my Lebara/Vodafone network which I then was able to use. My wife was on 02 and did similar. A friend on EE seemed to get a stronger signal than either of us but it may well depend upon your phone. We didn’t explore the availability of ships wifi other than using the ‘my holiday’ service which we found okay but a bit hit and miss. Good luck. 

I’ve booked two cruises on Britannia using the BLC and was refused my shareholders OBC for both with an explanatory email reply. I’m not too disappointed as the BLC discount far exceeds any OBC as a shareholder and that which comes with the current staycation cruises. I also see that the Princess and Cunard discounts aren’t anywhere near as generous as the P and O one so perhaps that’s why people are getting the shareholder benefit. Nor are the benefits as generous with RCCL cruises!

From my experience Carnival have always honoured their shareholder on board credit offer but RCCL have sometimes stated that 'our fare paid has not qualified us for the shareholder on board credit', but our latest few RCCL cruises have all qualified and this has been confirmed within 3-4 days. Give them a call if you don't get an answer within a week. Good luck. 

I instigated this thread back in October and am only a few weeks away from this cruise now so fully paid (including pre-payment of gratuities). Looking back now that the thread has been resurrected it is annoying to see how many people assume that removing the pre-payment means that you won't be giving tips!  That is certainly not the case with me. I am still miffed (an English expression!) that I am expected to pay a gratuity before receiving a service but it's probably time to put this thread to bed. Night, night all and thanks for your thoughts, advice and help.