Gil3

Hi! Dronnygirl

We're also in Ravenna on a Sunday ( August) with Marella Explorer2

There are buses from the cruise port to the town center, near the railway station.

You can take the bus 90 ( stop Porto Corsini) to Ravenna FS if you want to visit the San Vitale basilica and the mausoleum with their mosaics.

As it is Sunday, there's only a bus every hour (8.39 9.39 ....).

You can find more information on the bus website : www.startromagna.com

We're looking forward to this cruise.

Hi AussieBoyTX!

Thanks for the wonderful pictures.

We did the same excursion on La Digue but it was on our way back to Mahe (we were on the 11/26 to 12/8 cruise).

We really enjoyed our visit here and found Anse Source D'Argent beach really beautiful.

Have a very nice day in Remire, can't wait to see your pictures.

Hi!

We're just back from the 12 day cruise "Secret Islands of the Seychelles". It was a very nice cruise. We had nice weather in general but had to skip Astove because of bad weather coming from Madagascar. It was replaced by 2 landings the morning on Anse Lazio, a stunning beach on Praslin island and in the afternoon a landing on the island of Grande Soeur.

Generally speaking, the expedition team, the captain and the crew did their best to allow us on land even in some very windy conditions.

We had 2 nice snorkelings from the zodiacs in Poivre and in Rémire.

Be prepared for wet landings, sometimes in very choppy seas and you will sometimes be drenched in the zodiac.

We had a very rainy day when disembarking the ship in Mahe. It was the beginning of the monsoon season, the locals told us.

Regarding the ship, she is very nice, the crew was wonderful, always eager to please, smiling and efficient.

The food was very good (but we're french, so it matches our tastes) the bread was really delicious.

We also had a bunch of moaning passengers on board but in our views, there was nothing to moan about, so we just ignored them.

We had to be tested for Covid 72h before boarding. Then we had an antigenic test on board ( free).

Ponant also organised a PCR test on board the day before we disembarked when the french governement announced that we had to be tested 48h before re entry when coming from outside EU. This test costed 145 euros pp and was delivered by a local lab.

On board, you have to wear masks when you circulate or when queuing but you can remove it when seated, even in the theater. You don't have to wear them on board the zodiacs but it's mandatory in the tender.

Hope it helps

Valérie

Thank you Cruisedreamer.

Yes it will be two very different cruises.

We're ready to board our ATN flight😁

Thank you Wendy and TKB for your kind wishes.

I'll report back when we get home but not until the end of august as we board the Aranui 5 for a Marquesan islands cruise when we step out of the Paul Gauguin.

Ia ora na, bonjour,

We'll be on the 29th july 10-night cruise 😁 (we are me and DH, it's a 30th anniversary cruise😇).

We're leaving tomorrow and we've been tested negative so we can board our ATN flight😷

It seems that there won't be many passengers on the cruise, and the roll call is very quiet.

Thank you to all of you who wrote trip reports or gave great advices to explore the ports of call : I've been reading these boards since july 2019 when we booked the cruise.

I hope we won't be disappointed

18 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Sorry, I may have missed this, but are we sure Cunard don't offer some sort of visit to Portsmouth?  Also, given you will need time off for lunch, if you are going under your own steam, will you be there long enough to get the most out of the Mary Rose? 

Hi Exlondoner,

I've just check my Voyage Personnaliser and Cunard doesn't offer tours to Portsmouth,  and you're right the time may be very short so  we may save this visit to Portsmouth for another longer stop or stay in Southampton.

21 hours ago, MCC retired said:

 

Booking a balcony on the Sunny Side ( port side Westbound) is not always best .

Our recent Westbound TA was in a Starboard balcony .

Very little sunshine most days and the Port side balconies took the brunt of the wind most every day .

We enjoyed the calmer Starboard side balcony .

Port side Westbound is never a sure thing .

Hi MCC retired,

Nice to have your point of view.

We're on a Britannia Club balcony on deck 13 on the Starboard side and I was thinking we were missing something because I've read on these boards that Port side was definitly a plus on a Wesbound crossing.

21 hours ago, Bigmike911 said:

Cunard sponsor a walking tour of Southampton focusing on the areas of the city that would have been home to some of the crew of the Titanic. It will take you to locations near the docks, through the old town, and ends up at the SeaCity Museum which has a large Titanic Display. On the return you can go to the Westquay Shopping Center, which you will have passed along the way to the museum. There you will find a complementary motor coach back to the ship. At that point you may need a rest as I did two years ago.

Hi Bigmike911!

Thank you for your answer but we generally prefer  doing our own things and take our own pace, even though we know one can learn more with guided tours.

22 hours ago, VintageCCG said:

 

In Soton why not just rent a car for the day?
You might possibly have to get yourself to Southampton Airport for an early morning pick-up, as I did last summer between eastbound and westbound legs aboard QM2.
Gives you easy access to the Naval Dockyard (Mary Rose, RN Museum, HMS Victory, etc.) as well as the Gunwharf Quays shopping centre or Portchester Castle ... and you could stop in at a grocery store for any desired onboard snacks or other essentials. 

Yes, renting a car could be a possibility but DH would have to drive left…😱

On 10/20/2019 at 5:34 PM, Windsurfboy said:

If you want to stay near Southampton,  try the new forest, wonderful walks round Brokenhurst .

Yes, we've been to the New Forest and Beaulieu two years ago spending three days in Southampton before embarking for a British Isles cruise, it's gorgeous.

On 10/20/2019 at 5:32 PM, Windsurfboy said:

I personally would not trust trains especially southwest trains on a Sunday.

 

Why not look up local taxi firms in Southampton and email them ask for a fixed price quote for a trip to Portsmouth.  Do the same with Portsmouth taxi firms for the return. 

Thank you for the suggestion Windsurfboy. It is probably more expensive than the train (and it's a Sunday) but also more reliable. We'll look into this idea.

Thank you Exlondoner and Pennbank for your answers, very informative.

So we will stay in Southampton given the problem you mentionned with the train on sundays.

We'll  then probably visit the Seacity Museum and a walk around the old town, weather permitting. 

Hi everybody,

First, please forgive my bad English, I'm french speaking and though I do my best, it's far from perfect

So, we're booked (we, that is DH and myself) on the westbound crossing departing from Hamburg on november 1rst.

And we still have some questions regarding our days in Southampton and in New York.

For Southampton, we'd like to go to Portsmouth to visit the Mary Rose but we wonder if we will have enough time. We intend to take the 8.31 AM train from Southampton central and be back with the 14.08 (2.08 PM) train from Portsmouth Harbour to be in time for a 16.30 (4.30 PM) sailaway (as nobody seems to know if the sailaway will really be at 18.30 ie 6.30 PM). Do you think it is doable  (isn't the 8.31 train too early with the disembarking process?)

Second question ; we have a very late return flight in JFK (22.30 or 10.30 PM) so we want to spend some time at the 9/11 mémorial museum before heading to the airport. But we have to store our luggage and don't really how to. I've seen that we can use something like Luggagehero or Bounce but is it really safe? Is there other ways to store ones luggage?

We were interested in taking a Cunard transfer including some time in town (I saw a transfer to Macy's and back) but it's only for guest in transit.

What do you  folks do when having a late flight?

Thank you for your help.

Valérie

Hi Richard,

It's really nice to see your postcards (and read your blog).

We were on the same cruise and loved it, so it makes nice "souvenirs".

We were also neighbours as we booked a guarantee suite and were allocated suite number 530;). It was perfect.

We managed to dine two times in Restaurant2.

One on first day without reservation, just coming at 7.30 PM and ask for a table and another day with a booking made on day one as I've also followed the advice of the Seabournites;) of these boards.

It was a treat and we made good use of the referral coupon by choosing a bottle of Perrier-Jouet "à la carte".

We are hooked, so we're looking for booking another cruise on the Odyssey this summer.

PS : sorry if there is some mistakes but I'm french and my English is not always top notch

Hi Edlos,

Thank you for your feed back. It's quite a mixed review but as we go for the itinerary, I think it will be ok. Plus we're ready to fight for food ;).

I've just seen in the roll call section that you are on the Costa Magica tomorrow. I'm booked on the same cruise leaving july 29th. Would appreciate a quick review if possible.

I wish you a nice cruise.

Hi,

I've sailed both, though my last cruise with Costa was in 2011 and the last with MSC was in february 2015. I didn't find any major différences between them and enjoy both.

Hope it helps.

Hi Suzanne,

We (i.e. DH and I) are on the same cruise as you and your family.

I'm surprised that you didn't have any answer from Kourshem Tours because I emailed them last week and they've answered the same day. Their price is 120 AED per person.

I've read your review of the Lirica to prepare this cruise and it was of great help, thank you for all the détails.

On our cards, was written "Aurea", so they know that you have the drink package. When you order your drink, they take your card and come back with a bill that you have to sign but the amount is 0.

We were in cabin 12006 but, as Amomondo said, the Lirica is a small and rather old ship so I don't think the layout of the cabin is the same as on more recent ships.

Hello,

I'm just back from a cruise aboard the MSC Lirica in an Aurea suite. No problem with the drink package but be aware that some items are not included (like some upscale whiskies).

The appointement for massage at Spa was a little bit hard to find because they had restricted possibilities. And the "your choice dining" didn't work at all cause we had to give an hour for the entire cruise and only had choice between : 6.30,7, 8.45 or 9 PM so we chose 8.45 PM.

Hope it helps