bluemug

It is unfortunate, but there are people who feel they are better than everyone else

On Ventura cruise to Madeira just two weeks ago, my wife and me went up to breakfast and as luck would have it a couple were just vacating a double next to the window. As I looked around the breakfast room I saw a round table, the sort with a semi circle of cushions next to wall and a couple were sat at the table. He sat on an arm chair at one end of the semi circle, and she sat on an armchair at the other end of the circle. They had their coats books etc on another armchair between them. They were not going to let any other passengers on THEIR table. This is just as bad as towels on loungers. I was desperately looking for an opening to join them on THEIR table. Talk about dogs in a manger.

To fellow passengers and especially the staff. I hate loath and detest people that think they have the right to be treated as if they were the most important people on the planet.

coarse they're not, and I should know

cannot beat the Premier Inn at West Quay and breakfast in Wetherspoons.

I always think that you get what you pay for.

We are looking to book pre cruise stay in Southampton. I am sure many on this forum will be able to recommend places for us. We would also like to have a nice evening meal to start our holiday so would be grateful for any suggestions.

 

Cheers :D

 

sunny seas

Hi Sunny

We usually stay at "The New Place" hotel in Shirrel Heath, Southampton. For £199 you get superb evening meal, comfy room, really good breakfast, taxi to the ship (and return at cruise end) 14 nights on site parking. Last time I looked at port cruise parking it would have cost me ~£160 so I think the hotel stay represent good value. Going down the day before embarkation is a really good, stress free way to start your holiday

Anyway, do I take it that a FoI form 1694 will provide the necessary info for the cruise lines? My wife is ex TA (QARANC) and so we should get it once the FoI is actioned?

 

Thanks,

 

 

Rob

Not sure what FoI form 1694 is, but I am looking at MoD Form 1694-Nov 13 at the moment and I am sure that your wife will qualify. If you print off MoD Form 1694 and read through part 1, it should tell you all you need to know.

Biggest rip off we have had was from a British Company, P&O !

 

Several years ago we booked a suite for a very special occasion, at the cost of several thousand pounds. After we had paid, we received a letter saying due to lack of sales that the price was being reduced by £1000, and they would be giving a credit for a future cruise to be taken with them, the credit £500!

 

We sailed on the cruise, but never took up their generous offer, and moved to Celebrity!

we went on a tour to see :confused:the arctic foxes while on a cruise on board Adonia last month. We were treated ,by the tour guide, on how well off she was, how many houses she owned, how well her pop group is doing and which universities her sons are going to. When we arrived at the fox sanctuary there was only one fox cub on show and it was six weeks old. As we had booked the tour ten weeks previously if it hadn't been for the hunters shooting the fox cub parents there would not have been anything to see at the sanctuary.

Thats quite a distance from the port. We wouldnt want to have to get a taxi from the ship that far then start our journey home.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The taxi fare is included in the cost of the hotel and the taxi driver does all the humping and dumping of luggage. Distance to/from the boat is immaterial as the taxi driver does the driving. On return after the cruise ,you just ring the taxi firm and they tell you the reg. number of the taxi and approx arrival time

I heard that some Southampton home owners offer parking on their drive' date=' for a fee, while the car owner is off on a cruise. Any comments and suggestions along with possible costs would be appreciated. Also transfers to the terminal - taxi ?[/quote']

 

We found that parking at Southampton was really expensive (Circa £140 for 14 night) and that the parking attendents tended to play with the controls in the car We now go down the day before and stay in The New Place hotel in Soton. It costs £199 but for that you get dinner bed and breakfast, parking on site for 14 nights and taxi to and from port.

The food at new Place is fabulous.

I have no idea where my red discharge book is so not sure what I can use! Any ideas?

Look at my reply to "the english lady"

Hi

I know things have recently changed via the OBS for military service.

You mention it at time of booking. They put a code in.

When you get onboard you have to show proof..so what proof. I seem to have kept a little blue folder and one of the faded bits of paper says

 

s1560

Certificate of discharge from regular service in the Royal Navy

 

 

will that suffice, or shall I take the little blue folder (a5 size) with my other bits of paper in there...and some old pix where I look tiny compared to now..but that was Chatham, where I did part of my training, and I hated it, and didn't really eat there...Oh to look like it now when I cruise..looking wistful....

Hi

In your computer search engine enter M.O.D. Form 1694 -Nov 13

It is the Subject Access request form

Print off a couple of copies

Fill in relevant details and send form to address on bottom left.

You should get back from RN Disclosure Cell a confirmation of time served.

Contact your cruise rep. and tell him/her that you have proof of time served in H.M. Forces and that you are eligeable for OBS.

Don't laugh but the form includes time served in Home Guard. I sure that part doesn't apply to you.

It was accurate when I posted it a year ago. Glad to see Carnival giving OBC now too. Maybe look at the date of a post before you call it tosh.

any information that is inacurate is indeed TOSH

Anyone know if I can use my on board credit to pay my end of cruise gratuity

Cunard only gives OBC to US/Canadian military as far as I'm aware. Princess is the only major US cruise line to give anything to British military (and the Aussies get nothing). It is per military member, not per cabin. On our cruise to Hawaii earlier this year my parents, my sister and her husband, and myself all got $250 OBC each as we are all prior service. Form was very easy to submit (did it via email) and the OBC showed up on my cruise account (before we sailed) within 24 hours of my sending the email.

What a load of tosh. British military personnel (whether serving or not and even time spent in Home Guard) qualify for on-board credit on Carnival lines.

Hello everyone,

I was wondering which cruise lines offer discounts, or anything for active members of the British Armed Forces, I have tried to contact some companies but got nothing back?

I will be returning from my deployment in Afghanistan in late November and was hoping to book a cruise for that period.

The only one I have been able to find has been Princess cruises, but surely there has to be more than just ONE?? Are the UK Forces not appreciated as much as the US/Canadian forces? ;)

Via your computer search engine:-MOD form 1694-sept14

Data protection act 1998

Subject Access request (SAR) form

Print out the form and make a couple of copies

Bottom left of the form is where to send the completed form

When you get a reply from Glasgow again make copies.

Next cruise booking tell the booking agent that you are qualified for on-board credit and that you have proof of service.

Going to Iceland aboard Adonia leaving Soton 19 july. Judging by the roll calls, I will have the boat to myself:o

Good news. Hunting blue whales ended in the early 70's.

I suppose the aquarium that they are in is called 'the pacific ocean'

No sane person condones or supports inhumane slaughter of any animal/fish/bird or large mammal even if carried out by native tribes or communities in order to survive. However the barnpots associated with that organisation that I recently saw in a TV documentary really are more than slightly weird.

The "barnpots" as you put them have been judged by the International Commission on Cetation preservation are in the right and that Japan and other nations must stop killing whales immediately. If it were not for people who care then the sumatran tiger, the giant panda and the white rhino would be extinct by now. because there were no conservationalist the Dodo, the passenger pidgeon and 'lonesome george' the galapagos tortoise are now extinct. I go on cruises not only to see the scenery and meet the local people, but to see the local wildlife. If there were no local wildlife then my cruises would be that much emptier. I don't want my grandchildren to come to me and say 'why didn't I do anything to stop it'.

You cant put a blue whale in an aquarium.

I can only imagine how amazing it would be to see Orcas from your ship. It's on on my "bucketlist" to see orcas and great whites in their natural habitat.

 

Have seen plenty other types of Whales on cruises but alas never an Orca

Coming back from kristiansund last year we encountered really thick fog. Ships whistle was sounding and then the captain announced that there were whales ahead of us. needless to say all passengers started peering ahead of the boat but of course nothing was spotted. What a wonderful wheeze by the captain to get 800 or so pairs of eyes keeping watch ahead.

Seeing whales very much depends how patient you are. We saw dolphins and killer whales, but like birdspotting you may need to put the hours in.

 

If you are concerned about supporting the Faroese economy you should maybe not have booked the cruise at all. However once you have been and spoken to the locals you may have a better understanding of what it takes to survive living there. For somewhere only a few hundred miles from the UK it may as well be a different planet.

It wasn't until after we had booked the cruise to Iceland, that we recieved the letter from SEA SHEPHERD that brought to light the terrible behavour of the faroe Islanders. Did you know they encourage their children to take part in the slaughter of the whales. It does,t matter where you live on the planet, cruelty is still cruelty and should not be condoned

Going to Iceland on Adonia in July. What is the chance of seeing whales. If we do see whales will they be rounded up, tortured and slaughtered by the Faroese as they did on 6th june this year (150 pilot whales killed in the grindadrap) on Vagar island. maybe I should stay on board and not support the Faroe islands economy.

I just let them do it as well, but never buy. It saves hassle.

Good for you scriv. I try to get as many of me and swimbo on the photo board as poss. My best yet is 10. Of course I never buy and posing is more fun than scowling.

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong country; when it's time to plan a cruise, especially! I love the Cunard ships and would love to cruise on P & O as well. I'm still missing the QE2 and always will! I am dismayed by these big floating hotels here at the Florida ports near me, and all this drama created by both NCL and Carnival Corp lately is just ridiculous. As an American I would like to apologize that your Adonia has been taken away and some of you are not going to embark on the trip you were so looking forward to taking. That's how I felt when they sold the QE2 to the Arabs... 😔 If budget were no object we'd be taking a transatlantic over on the QM2 and boarding one of your British liners which still offer the smaller ships and ballroom dancing, which is mostly nonexistent on the mainline ships over here that we've cruised on with our children and grandchildren. We have many friends and students that participate in mission trips to the DR on a yearly basis. When I saw the cost of this fathom "volunteer cruise" I was completely speechless. I wonder if the cruisers will "raise support" for the trips the way our church members do for their missions costs??? 😳

Don,t be too sad about missing the QE2. You can always listen to her on Youtube especially when she is approaching Geirangerfjord.

Lusitania was a Cunard ship, maybe that was the reason.

QE2 was the queen of the British merchant fleet, and as The Battle of Trafalgar was a successful British naval action I thought it would have been a nice gesture on Cunard's part.