UKWLDCruise

I have stayed on the ship when back to backing from San Juan,  I have left the ship and turned round and boarded again in Miami and once I was asked to please choose a tour as they were having an inspection and they could do with the back to backers off the ship for a while.  I think it just depends.

My last cruise was the Anthem transatlantic in October and the last occupants of my room had left their key card in the slot.  I did wonder if they had a problem getting off the ship but it was still there when I got off in New York so the next passenger could use it.

The important ones like the ships sinking or keep your eye out for a man overboard etc will still sound in the cabin but the rest won't these days.

It has been the law for quite a few years now, since 2007, for UK sailings.

I did the October transatlantic last year and that was non smoking all the way across.

For UK cruises there are usually kettles in every room and of course a non smoking casino, one is by law though some people think that both should be.

In Lisbon the ship docks in town, Tenerife there is normally a shuttle and Madeira is about a 25/30 minute walk to town,  I don't know the others.

I would always suggest travelling down the day before and I would think about checking out the car parking fees before deciding to drive or not.

Yes, I do this all the time and the last time was only in October.  You can either switch to a cash account at guest services or just pay them off on the last day, either way works.

10 hours ago, DLKC said:

Thanks.  We've been on Serenade a couple times before but I've never gone to the gym (on any ship).  I have everything I need for PT but am not planning to take my weights expecting them to be at the gym - measly 1lb and 3lb - do you know if they have those available?

You might need to think in kilos I have seen equipment in both pounds and kilos on the ships.

there has been reports in the press of ESTA payment problems going back to the start of the year.  The articles I have seen say that the helpline is aware of the fault.

It even is on some other websites and this comment came from MSE in Feb this year.

The exact same thing just happened to me whilst trying to process my ESTA on a desktop PC - what a faff!

Try following the link in your ESTA Application Number confirmation email - it eventually generated a payment link & worked for me on a different device, ie iPhone.

I was on a cruise excursion tour of Petra and they warned and warned people that there was a long walk, that the ground was uneven and rough in places and if you wanted to see some things there was a ton of rough stairs.  I knew it was going to go wrong when people got on the bus complaining it was the furthest away from the ship, we had only walked just over half the ships length after the gang way.

The first person dropped out from our party on the path to the treasury, they were wearing dinky flat sandals and their feet had given up.  By the time we got to the amphitheatre there was four of us left with the guide.  Some had pushed on solo in disgust I admit but we had dropped people right and left,  some telling the guide they were going back and some not bothering.

The last few of us ended up having a choice of going back with the guide who was nervous of misplacing most of his coach load or going on solo all because people decided that they could manage when they just couldn't. 

It is not an age thing, I was in my late 50s myself, if was a general fitness thing but if people are failing to exclude themselves they have to have some fixed measure to do it for them. 

1 hour ago, neverbeenhere said:

Been on with huge groups of left wingers and another cruise with huge group of right wingers, I pissed them both off. 

I was at an event venue, not a cruise ship, when an AGM for British American Tobacco had been booked on the same day as a European Cancer Week Event and they only just escaped the Police being called. 

3 hours ago, firefly333 said:

The showers and bathrooms are tiny. I cant imagine 3 people at the same time in one.

 

I've traveled with a hc sister and I know on carnival there is a way to order a tiny shower chair thru special needs. She sat in the chair and I helped her wash her hair. I just reached into the shower. For sure 2 of us wouldnt fit in there. The shower chairs are small lightweight cheap plastic they had onboard. Seems like rcl the shower chairs were a bit bigger the stewards brought but still wouldnt be great for someone very large. Not sure without googling how big 115kg is.

115kg is about 250 pounds or coming up to 18 stone to translate.  I was in a ships gym and a woman used the scales but didn't understand the result, I knew this  because she said it measured in kilowatts.

It is not tedium that worried me on transatlantic cruises, my problem is the drip drip of changing an hour every few days rather doing it in one lump.

Normally they are fine with dry cleaning, I often will get a jacket done after wearing it on the flight across.

You do have to be careful though with anything they might think should be washed instead.  I sent a pair of jeans to be dry cleaned and they washed them and shrank them at least a size or two.

Their industrial washer/dryers put out so much heat I never send anything for washing if I can help it.

I am on in October and I was only able to make reservations today and only for the Cabaret.

We were on a back 2 back which was meant to be two different itineraries but due to bad weather they changed it to the same run.  They called us up in the cabin as the first week ended and said they would change all the travel arrangements and give us  a full refund on the second week if we wanted to go home.

We almost immediately said we would stay on. 

It brings to mind my fav Cary Grant quote from Operation Petticoat  - It's like watching a strip tease. Don't ask how it's done, just enjoy what's coming off.

This was stuck to one of the life raft canisters on the Empress in 2017.       

One day strikes can be effective as they usually muck up the day before and after as well, they even plan them sometimes so they start at one day and end the next.  Of course it is easier for the unions to get people to lose one days pay and multiple one dayers can be very annoying especially if they select a high travel day.

We have a train strike today and it clashes with weekend travel after a half term break and two major sporting events.

If you are looking to get one of the rums with a high proof and you are flying 70% is the max they say they will allow.

it might also be worth picking up a European round two pin converter to give you an extra socket.

the only thing to potentially think about is lifeboat allocation.

The European plug is often more useful for non Americans as it offers 220 rather 110.

I am on the transatlantic in October and was recently notified of changes in arrival times but only on the first two ports and no change on departure times. 

They do add excursions but you are not that far out anyway.

Excursions do book up as well so if there is something that you really want to do you might want to get a marker down, you can always cancel later on.  Things like cabanas will book up as soon as they are offered.

You can also think of booking an independent excursion, you can often find offers on your roll call if you are not confident enough to go solo. 

It happened to me leaving a ship in Miami and my suitcase was green.  Took three weeks for it to return and then only because Delta went the extra mile, RC was no use at all. which is understandable in the circumstances   Someone had collected my bag put it on a Delta flight and then abandoned it on the luggage carousel the other end.  Delta flew it back to London for me and escorted me airside to pick it up and then to support my declaration to HM customs that I had no idea what could be in my case.  When they opened nothing had been added but one item had been stolen by the way.