starryuk

I was on board when my companion’s mother in uk became very I’ll. P and O waived all costs of phone calls to and from UK and gave us free wifi. The mother sadly died a few days later. P and O spent all day organising connecting flights home including taxi to the airport and escorting her from the ship to the airport. We were in the Caribbean (St Vincent ) at the time so it wasn’t simple. After we returned, Customer services phoned to see how my companion was and if the transfers had gone smoothly.  We were treated with compassion and respect. Amazing service. 

"I believe that in November the reason given was correct When it became possible to visit the US Islands Thomson have said in another email they expected US safety checks to be done whilst in port only to find they would have to fully empty the ship which they thought unreasonable so cancelled the visits

Personally there is a lot to do in Antigua and I would have loved to have visited twice on Celebration this January but we visited Tortola twice instead and it's was very sad to see the devastation but I hope we gave them some moral support as no other ships seem to be visiting"

I agree, Vitalsign. It must have been a logistical nightmare for all the companies, trying to re-organise the schedules this year. But, we had a bonus didn't we, visiting Bequia... such a delightful little place.

Waterbaby, I'm sorry you were disappointed with all the changes and agree it is rather strange that you were offered different on board credit. Try to visit again, if you get the chance. This year was a bit chaotic for everybody concerned.

Although we are not on your cruise, we are having the same issue.

There are:

• The port timetables,
  
• Our E ticket which gives us the latest update ( allegedly) on our itinerary, and
  
• The shore excursions site online.
  

All different from each other, making it almost impossible to book excursions privately as you say. Very confusing.

Who knows where we will wake up each morning, but at least it will be warm.

We did Cuban Fusion last year and arranged our own visas before we left, only to find that Thomson arranges them for all passengers on board. A charge was added to our invoice, but was refunded when we showed them that we already had visas.

We returned from the Cuban Fusion cruise a few weeks ago and yes, Thomson organised the visas for everyone. They were delivered to our cabin, as Longisland tea said.

We are on Mayan/Cuban cruise on 24th January. When I phoned Thomson, I was initially given a different Itinerary from that on our confirmation. When questioned, the lady went off to speak to someone and came back to confirm that our itinerary was correct...she said. So, we will 'go with the flow' and hope for the best. Good advice not to pay in advance for private tours.

This is our first cruise with Thomson. It doesn't feel as well organised as P&O, but we will see....

I am off on a cruise in a couple of weeks time and can't decide what to pack for formal nights. Are the majority of ladies wearing long or short evening dresses these days? It will be our first time with Thomson so I am not really sure. Help please.

We did a fjord cruise on Holland America. Our ship had an open deck right at the front and early in the morning they served us hot chocolate and cinnamon buns as we entered the fjords. Magic. The only thing which disappointed me a little was that in August, the waterfalls were not the thundering thundering torrents that I had imagined and there was not much snow on the hilltops. The scenery was idyllic though and I would like to go back in springtime.

Another vote for the Behind the Scenes tour

...and another.

The Azura tour was absolutely fascinating. It lasted for several hours and was worth every penny. By the way, no cameras allowed, which was disappointing but understandable for security reasons.

We visited Amber Cove last year (P&O), didn't spend the day in the new terminal, but went into the local town to explore. As you say, we were advised not to venture out on our own. The line of official taxis were taking passengers and accompanying them for the day. It was well organised and good value. our driver took us to shops we would never have found on our own as well as the town centre church and a beautiful beach.

If they organise the taxis in the same way at La Romana, I wouldn't worry unduly about taking one, but as always, hand onto your bags and don't 'flash the cash'.

We were in Dubrovnik recently. We took a taxi directly from the port. For 50 euros, for the taxi, our driver took us on a tour. He took us up to the top of the cable car and round about. It was very interesting with fantastic views. We stopped here and there to take photos and learned a lot about recent history and the war. After about an hour he dropped us off at the entrance to the old town. Well worth it we thought.

Having explored the old town, we took a little boat trip (glass bottom, but not many fish) which provided some welcome relief from the heat and finally we chose to walk back to the port ( 30 mins) although there seemed to be buses going that way. I was quite glad we chose not to walk the walls as there was absolutely no shade up there and a lot of steps!

As for local currency, we did take some, but euros were widely accepted as well. hope this helps.

Hello everyone,

We are looking into the possibility of trying a Thomson cruise and having read the posts here about bringing alcohol on board, I am a little confused. This is what I have just read on the FAQ on the Thomson website:

Can customers bring their own alcohol on the ship?

On your flight and once onboard our ships, you can only drink the alcohol that staff serve you. During embarkation, we have the right to search luggage and hold any alcohol that we believe has not been purchased on your flight - please retain your proof of purchase. Any alcohol that is not permitted onboard will be returned to you on your departure.

Are you all saying that this policy is not adhered to? Just wondering....

Thankyou for your wonderfully detailed report. I love your writing style and am on tenterhooks waiting to see what happened next!

I'm hoping to scatter my late husband's cremains in the various Caribbean islands

Hi Derbytwo,

I just wanted to say that I am scattering the ashes of my mum and dad in the Caribbean sea too. I will be flying out with them next week. P&O have been brilliant in helping me organise all the legalities etc. By the way, I went to our funeral directors who supplied and transferred the remains into the required containers for me.

I hope it goes well for you. A lovely warm and peaceful place to lay our loved ones to rest.

Starry

7 days before I leave for the airport and all I can think about is my holiday so I thought id search for Azura reviews.....wish I didn't, needs TLC, rubbish food, rude staff, so much Illness it's unbelievable, took me ages to talk the missus around hope she's not disappointed

We will be back on Azura for the 4th time in January. So far we have never encountered rude staff or illness. The food is fine. There are other places to eat if you dont like the MDR menus. I think I noticed the carpets a bit 'tired' in places, but nothing more.

If you go to have fun, you will. :) Enjoy the festivities!

I am very appreciative of the P&O attitude towards bringing alcohol on board ( and the kettle in the cabin). It is what keeps bringing me back to P&O. What is more, the reasonable onboard prices mean that we can feel free to bother/not bother bringing our own alcohol with us.

Not that we are heavy drinkers so I don't really know why it annoys me to be dictated to and threatened with bag searching and confiscation on other cruise lines. Perhaps it goes back to my school days!

Not sure about the dressing up at night - might avoid that bit.

Trouble is, you won't be able to eat in the dining room or go to several areas on the ship if you don't 'dress up'. But there are only a few formal nights and the others are smart casual.

You don't really see any/many jeans/Tshirts/sundresses/flip flops around after about 6:30.

I am not a dress up sort of person either, but I do on the cruise, because I don't want to miss out on anything going on!

You will love it, anyway, I am sure, whatever you decide :)

My second cruise ever was 3 weeks from Southampton and across to the Caribbean in January. Because we were going to the Caribbean, we packed all summer clothes. Consequently I spent the first few sea days in the one sweater and jeans I wore for embarkation. Had to buy new/clean warm outfit in Azores. Next day, the sun came out and from then on it was bliss!

As someone has already mentioned, the Ryndam, recently sailing from UK had some tubs of teabags available as well as the individual packets. PGtips, Tetley and Yorkshire.

I was interested to note that Yorkshire seemed by far the most popular, followed by Tetley and then PG tips. At least, I gathered this by how full(or not) the tubs were at any given time...well, it was something to do while preparing my cuppa.:D

Years ago on a Nile river cruise. With Thompson. In the onboard jewellery shop, which they recommended as being safer!!!

Before chip and pin. The bill, which I signed for, came to £200. On my return to uk, my next bank statement showed the amount as £1200. Sadly, I had thrown away all my receipts by then. When the bank produced the original bill, the fraud was obvious (different pen) to me, but apparently not to either the bank or Thompsons.:mad:

I figured that the shop worker must have inserted the '1' on my bill and then removed £1000 in notes from the till when he cashed up at the end of the day. I had to console myself with the thought that he/his family must have needed the money badly and imagine it was a charity donation.

An expensive lesson learned.

The funny thing about that first cruise was that during the stop at Half Moon Cay, some of the other passengers were complaining that the dogs swimming in the ocean somehow contaminated the water. They were quite loud in their complaints at the front desk, and to anyone else who looked as though they may listen.

Unbelievable!!!!!! Honestly, some people....:mad::rolleyes:

I don't think P&O particularly want returning passengers.

On our first cruise we booked many of their excursions, went to the talks without realizing they were sales pitches (and got sucked into buying), bought photographs and even the dvd. Now we are immune to all that!

Even though we are disappointed as each of the little touches of elegance disappear year by year, we still come back because of British ambiance, kettle, a fridge in the cabin, and the itinerary.

If we do get fed up with P&O we would probably change to Cunard.

You don't need to remember the way back as all the little roads lead back to St Marks.

We still managed to get lost...ish! But then my sense of direction is terrible. :)

It didn't matter anyway as Venice is small and with enough time we found our way back to the grand canal from where we re-oriented ourselves. All good fun.

http://cruisemiss.com/2015/07/22/britannia-and-seabourn-quest-to-the-rescue-in-olden/#comments

I am sorry to say it seems that the driver of the boat has died.

two more thoughts....

Make sure your shoes have good soles on them. Walking over cobbles all day can make your feet sore.

If you don't want to spend the time or money on a proper gondola ride, there are a couple of places along the Canal where you can hop on one simply to cross over to the other side. The cost was 50cents (half a euro) a couple of years ago. Look at the waterbus map to see where the stops are.