the penguins

Correct but for what you save, in this example $150, you lose the security of booking through TBL including a free phone number if there are probems/queries during the booking and the guarantee to get you to the next port. The Guide benefits from TBL's extensive marketing system and is guaranteed their money if you don't show up on the day.

We confirm what what is due and that we expect the payment to be made within 28 days and if it's not we will go straight to our Credit Card Company. Even at the height of the Covid refund saga here in the UK when people were waiting for months all our refunds were received within 28 days.

Venting is good, and the OP got lots of advice on possible solutions. It's the title of the Post which, to me at least, is questionable.

I like the upfront payment part it sort of guarantees the booking. Guides through TBL also only get paid after they have done the tour.

Agreed - you can always borrow a phone.

Not quite the same but on Royal on the day after that the Cruise Director had said that it was very rare to leave anyone a group missed the ship. I say "group" it was actually the ship's orchestra. The crew were taking bets if they would be sacked on the spot or allowed back on board at the next port. They were let back on as the ship needed them for the show and as we disembarked the next day we never did hear what happened.

Our preferred choice is Toursbylocals. You deal direct with the guide, pay via the head office in Canada, full refund if the ship doesn't dock or your are refused disembarkation, you can pay extra for "cancel for any reason insurance" (if you take this option and don't cancel the premium is credited to your account to use on a future booking, if you miss the ship TBL will pay to get you to the next port. We choose a guide with a vehicle that holds 6 to 8 and share with one other couple ( we like the space).

I agree. we find what we want at a price we are prepared to pay and book it. After that we concentrate on the trip itself not on what may or may not happen to the price. We regularly book flights the day they go on sale.

I have been watching this debate with interest and I can't see how you were "ripped off". Annoyed I get, trying to get the lower price I get, but "ripped off" - no. You chose, the itinerary, ship, date, and cabin. At that point you had the option to book or wait to see if the price would drop. You chose to book so clearly you accepted price was fair. You could have waited and by so doing risk loosing the cabin you wanted or that the price might rise but you didn't you booked. Sales happen on all, well most products and services, all the time. Relax and enjoy your cruise.

Another issue for X could well be the marketing. When S class was introduced X proudly announced that 85% of the cabins had balconies. Imagine if they now accepted that IV's weren't balconies they would have to admit that on their new class of ship only around 10% of cabins had balconies - what a PR disaster that would have been.

another option: Celebrity Apex departs Southampton 26 July 2025. It's a 12 night roundtrip but there would be 3 opportunities to disembark as follows: 1 August in Barcelona. 2 August in Cartagena 5 August in La Coruna. You would need to check if disembarkation was permitted in any of the above ports and there would be a small fee but it could work. Good luck. Geoff

Look for a TA site that lists repositioning cruises as one of its options and you may find what you want. Very little demand in the UK for cruises that start here and end anywhere in Europe and even less that start in Europe and end here.

Just that he doesn’t recognise Field Hockey so to him there is no need to add the “ice”. But yes he takes his hockey very seriously in fact so seriously that one day a week he leaves the house at 5.0 am for early morning goalie practice, plus evening training and matches. He was top of the league this season for the most Shut Outs and the best % saves to goal ratio and he will also play for any of the other local teams when they are short of a goalie. Ok perhaps we are a little biased.

I wasn't but we were discussing/ comparing "cruise" ships not " expedition" vessels. I have looked at the Octantis and Viking are very clear in their descriptions and that only 6 cabins out of a total of under 200 have walkout balconies However it remains true that Viking chose not to have any of this type of cabin on its ocean going cruise fleet.

Oh dear "teen-age" another word/phrase we can't use. Our grandson insists he will be a "teen" in June not a "teenager". Oh yes and when I ask how he got on at Ice Hockey his standard reply is "it's just hockey Grandpa".

That would go down just great with our grandson's teachers in Dallas

Why wouldn't you? It was and still is all true. 😇

I once read a novel about a guy called Bill Posters who spent his life dodging the police while he tried to find out what he was being prosecuted for. Can't remember the ending but it might be available on Kindle.

the OP is an American so I was replying in the same "language". I have this issue every day as our English son is now an American citizen, our Grandson is 100% raised in America and our grandson's mum is 100% American.

due to the Boss' mobility issues alternating isn't an option. Nor is the buffet as that's much further to walk (our preferred cabin is Deck 7 close to the midship elevator which is almost directly above Al Bacio). Of course I am talking S class no idea how E class works.

Very simple, the boss sends me to the Al Bacio.

I used to write travel brochures and every year had a number of calls pointing out errors. My standard response was "sorry you weren't the first person to spot the deliberate mistake and you don't win the prize". One of my favorite, often repeated grammatical errors, is on Posters ( Bill Boards) which reads: SALE LAST WEEK, Why do I want to know about a sale that's finished?

As we have a Texan grandson we should be used to your humour (sorry humor) by now.

you would be surprised at how hard it is to do research even when you have done a few cruises and know what to look for let alone when you are new and don't even know what to ask. We did our first Princess cruise last year and it never occurred to us that the widths of the entrance door to a standard balcony cabin would be so much less than on S Class that we would need to fold my wife's Rollator to enter and exit. Nor that the corridors are so narrow that the Rollator had to be folded every time we had to pass a Cabin Steward's trolley. Nor why Independence of the Seas has a number of "stand alone" disabled toilets whereas Silhouette has none. By "stand alone" I mean with direct access from outside without first having to go through/into the conventional single sex part. Sorry about your Michelin star restaurant. 🤣

you would. Frankly a lot of people just read the adverts and book. When in the UK you see offers for 3, 4 , 5 different ships /cruise lines/itineraries often in one full page advert and each has a price for inside, ocean view balconies and suites it's not so surprising that people think that the accommodation will be very similar. Experience tells you otherwise and indeed it's often only after passengers have done a "Cabin Crawl" or two that they begin to realise just how many options are available.