LondonTowner

On 3/26/2024 at 4:19 PM, memoak said:

If everyone who fell on a cruise sued the courts would be tied up for years and the ambulance chasers would be lining up at piers I tripped over a poorly parked scooter in the casino and broke 3 ribs never thought about a lawsuit or complaint 

It wasn’t a lawsuit at all. I wrote a letter of complaint to the CEO of P&O and was offered compensation. Nothing more. At the end of the day they were at fault.

I had specifically asked for a cabin on P&O which had a shower only and not a bath.

I had also requested a shower chair. When we got on board we were given a room with bath.

I spoke to the steward who sent the Hotel Services Manager to my cabin. Next the steward arrives with a stool to put in the bath.

When I went to have a shower one of the legs gave way. Fortunately, my partner was in the cabin and was able to help me.

I reported the incident to the Health and Safety officer and he made a report.

When I returned home I wrote a letter to the CEO and received compensation.

In this case not only should compensation be paid, but there should never have been a charge for the medical treatment.

Yes, they do take CC.

We’ve just been in Cyprus and did a tour with Spanish Tours. We went with other passengers from our Roll Call.

Very good trip with extremely knowledgeable guide.

Have you joined the Roll Call for your cruise?
 

I have a folding mobility scooter and have arranged a shared transfer from Rome to the port with 4 other people on our cruise.

On 2/3/2024 at 4:22 PM, tkline said:

We just had to pay a 30 euro deposit, the trip costs 150 altogether and we pay the balance when we get to the ship. They said they will take credit cards. 
 

I used to work for a vacation company a while back and they used to say you should always trip drivers and tour guides if they were good because they don’t make a lot of money 

In Europe there are official tour guides who are highly qualified and earn a fortune. Coach and bus drivers are also reasonably well paid.

i have worked as a non official tour guide myself, mainly in Spain and earnt good money.

Tipping is not expected.

We were there twice last year. I have a mobility scooter. You have to use th3 Port Authority bus to the port gates.

From there we took a private shuttle to Bruges. The company is called Express Shuttle. If you Google you wil find it.

I think it is €11 each way. They have accessible buses (but not every one).

You can either book online or when you get there.

Bruges has a lot of cobblestones, so makes for a bumpy ride.

We have just had a week on MSC Euribia, their newest ship. Hated the layout of the ship. Entertainment was less than inspiring, service very slow.

Food was OK, but I’ve been to Italy about 50 times and not had food like this.

The coffee was good.

Our cabin was freezing cold even though the thermostat was at its highest. Reported it to our cabin steward and gust relations, but it fell on deaf ears.

Hated passengers embarking and disembarking at every port. There was a lack of continuity.

Weve been on a variety of cruise lines, so have plenty to compare it too.

We won’t be travelling with MSC again.

Our Celebrity cruise to Israel and Egyptcwas cancelled and the whole itinerary has been changed. One of our ports of call is Limassol, so this post caught my eye.

live sent Spanish a message and they replied with 2 tours for the day we are there.

At the moment they dont have anyone booked for the day we are there, but have put us on the wait list. I hope some fellow passengers come along so we can get a group together.

Just now, lostinespace said:

I booked with https://www.getyourguide.com/zeebrugge-l95294/return-cruise-shuttle-service-zeebrugge-to-bruges-t75029/ for 43eu for 2 people. 

I think the Viatour and GetYourGuide are the same company we used in June.

My partner and I are on the 24/11 sailing too. We have a balcony, midship cabin on deck 13.

Weve been to all the ports before except Rotterdam.

we got a good deal including drinks package. We’ve done about 17 cruises with many different cruise lines. This is our first time with MSC. I’ve heard varying reports, so will make up our own minds.

The comments I’ve just read were helpful.

On 11/5/2023 at 7:42 AM, Eglesbrech said:

For information the ship is offering a Brugge on your own transport which was not advertised in the excursions before the cruise. 
 

It leaves at 8.45 for 6 hours (including transfer times) for 49 euros pp. 

 

This may be specific to this cruise as others have mentioned it was not offered to them. It was advertised in the daily programme last night.

That’s very expensive. We were in Zeebrugge on a Princess ship in June. There is a local shuttle at the port gate. It runs every 30 minutes throughout the day for €20 pp return.

I’ve also received a full refund on my deposit from Celebrity. Just have to wait and see how long it is before we get our excursions refunded from Guided Tours Israel.

From St Pancras to Southampton you could prebook a n accessible taxi to go to Waterloo Station. From there you could take a train to Southampton on SouthWest trains by booking Special Assistance.

in Southampton you could check with WestQuay cars to see if they have aWAV taxi.

Accessibility on public transport is quite good throughout Europe.  Have you visited Barcelona and Paris beforehand? The traffic is horrendous and very difficult to find parking.

The reason you can’t rent a WAV in Europe and bring it to the U.K. is nothing to do with Brexit. It’s because we are an island and drive on the other side of the road. Somebody would need to collect the vehicle and return it to its original destination.

I always book the Special Assistance when I book the cruise. Have never had any problem at a port.

I’ve taken both wheelchair and a scooter on various cruise lines. If you named your ports you’d get a better response.

I never do any overpriced ship excursions.  I do plenty of research before I go.

Look at WhatsinPort, weather there is a HOHO bus, public transport, port shuttles etc.

When I booked our cruise a couple of months ago I asked if they did military discount. I was told they’d stopped doing it, but we got some kind of senior discount.

we are departing* from Southampton.

On 10/25/2023 at 9:38 PM, Zach1213 said:

 

The distance between Morocco and North Africa is, indeed, quite short 😉

Morocco is in North Africa.

On 10/27/2023 at 2:55 PM, Stocksy82 said:

Hope this works, my wife found it in the FB group

Thank you for that information.

6 minutes ago, lostinespace said:

Thank you all for the input, we are on the Euribia in Hamburg on the 26th. My wife is very disappointed to be missing the Christmas markets. 

There will be a Christmas market in Bruges when we are there.

Lots of good recommendations of things to see and do.  We normally get off at 3very port no matter how many times we’ve previously visited. However, from my research the day we are there, 26 November is not only a Sunday, but also a religious holiday.

we were hoping the Christmas Market would be open in front of the Rathaus, but, apparently it’s not.

we may still go into the centre, but we have visited before.

We choose cruises for the itinerary. Have looked at Saga, but their cruises are outrageously overpriced.

we choose for the itinerary and our last cruises have been with Celebrity or Princess.

54 minutes ago, showingdiva said:

Just back from Euribia.   It's 12 euros for a return trip.   Drops off / picks up by the station.   Takes about 25 minutes each way.   Hamburg is like a giant construction site.

 

There is nothing around the Steinwerder terminal, and even if there was, because so many embark / disembark in Hamburg, it's busy ... unlike the city.    There is nothing doing on a Sunday (especially a wet one).    

 

Sorry if I'm not selling it, but if (and it's a big if) I went back, would do an excursion instead.

We have visited Hamburg before, so if the weather is bad we may stay on the ship.

We will be docking in Hamburg in November, but I understand the Euribia docks in Scheinwerder and there isn’t much there. Can  anybody tell me if MSC have a shuttle to the centre or if there is a port shuttle?
Thank you

On 10/11/2023 at 4:32 PM, Cruise_Context said:

Travel.state.gov is the US Government site that guides some of the decisions and timing of cruise line itinerary changes, hence the lack of announcement regarding changes to most itineraries for November.

 

The levels are: 

1. Exercise normal precautions

2. Exercise increased caution

3. Reconsider travel

4. Do not travel

 

For your situational awareness, while many on here are mentally and emotionally at level 4+, in actuality the US has Israel listed currently at level 2 (same as it was before the current conflict), except for Gaza, which is clearly a 4, pasted here: 

 

 

 

Not everybody on here is an American and the British government is advising against any non essential travel to Israel.

this also invalidates your travel insurance.