Groovybusybee

It really depends on the hotel, the more expensive, say 4* hotels will have face cloths as standard. More budget hotels probably not.

It sounds a great itinerary, the stand outs for me as a UK resident would be Blenheim and Bletchley Park, both very interesting. My husband used to work at Blenheim in the old dukes time so I have visited often. 
 

I hope you enjoy our country, I will be following along.

Debbie

142 days out and shore excursions have been uploaded.

Hope this helps.

Debbie

We are 146 days out and no shore excursions are visible yet. I’m checking most days.

Debbie 

Hotel Casanova just off St Marks square https://www.hotelcasanova.it/

right in the centre of things but beautifully quiet at night when all the tourists have departed.

Debbie

Hi All, 

I am an experienced cruiser (usually Celebrity) but first time on P&O.  I’m travelling with my sister who has limited mobility and we are booked in an accessible cabin on deck 12. This cruise has sort of snook up on me and suddenly I’m going on Friday and I feel as if I don’t know anything about the ship or how P&O operates.

A few questions………plug sockets, UK or American? Which adapters should I pack?

We have opted for anytime dining, I’m assuming I can book table times on the app? But we would quite like to sit at a larger table so that we can meet new people, do you still use the app or just turn up and wait to be seated?

When is muster, and do you need to take lifejackets? We like to get there early as my sister is in a power chair, ditto hanging around until the crush has dispersed after it finishes as we obviously need to use a lift.

Any help in answering these questions would be much appreciated. Thank you

Our 3rd July Baltic sailing has been cancelled (second year running for us) and we have decided to take the refund option. Unfortunately no one seems to have told the IT department and the link in the email says that I’m not eligible for a refund as only sailings up to the end of May have been cancelled.  Left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing again.

Phone lines are, as expected, stupid busy. Will try again tomorrow.

Debbie

You are correct that each individual will receive a separate FCC, but when three are sharing a cabin it’s not split equally.

We got three FCC’s for our cancelled around Japan cruise, the amount is based on the cruise fare each individual was invoiced. So passengers 1 and 2 got an equal amount, the 3rd passenger received considerably less as their fare was at a reduced rate being the third person sharing the cabin.

Hope this helps.

Debbie

I had our Japan cruise cancelled in mid February, way before the cruise with confidence etc. I received our FCC yesterday. It came on two separate emails, mine and my sons were detailed separately on one email - my husbands on another direct to him.

So about a month to process but that was before the current avalanche of cancellations.

hope that helps re timescales etc.

Debbie

Following along vicariously, hope you have a great and healthy cruise.

Unfortunately our around Japan cruise has been cancelled, we have cancelled and rebooked for  next year our Baltic cruise and our replacement April fly/drive holiday to Florida next month has a huge question mark over it. 
 

Can’t wait to hear about your travels.

Debbie

If you still haven’t planned anything for Naples may  I suggest Underground Naples. 
 

It’s a volunteer run underground museum which dates back to Roman times but comes alive during WW2 when it was used as giant air raid shelters. Best €10 we spent. A 15 minute walk from the ship along a very non descript side street - very Naples.

Debbie

Pulling up the virtual chair, sitting back and prepared to enjoy.

Thanks for taking me along for the ride Jim and Iain.

safe travels.

Debbie

On Infinity in the summer - at least one doctor and two nurses.

debbie

Pulling up a chair...........been looking forward to your next review.

Debbie

Remember them taking the nightly chocolate away? There was uproar and they eventually reversed the decision.

Maybe we need to overwhelm their twitter and Facebook feeds with complaints plus the usual channels to complain?

Like others I feel that this is a cheap move by Celebrity, I wouldn’t say I was a massive user of the facility but have occasionally enjoyed watching a film. 

Debbie

Following along, we are on Millie in April for an around Japan.

safe travels

Debbie

I don’t know if this is usual MDR fare or not but last month on Infinity there was a different special  available in the dining room every night except evening chic nights.

I had the teriyaki chicken served with rice and stir fried vegetables- hands down the best meal of the holiday.

French onion soup is my favourite starter.

Debbie

I have just got off Infinity, this was the first time I’ve had an internet package so can’t say if it’s any better or not. However, I thought it was pretty poor, constantly dropping in and out, I seriously doubt it would support WiFi calling.

surfing the net, Facebook etc was painful. We were in a  forward deck seven balcony stateroom if that makes any difference.

Regards Debbie

Loving Venice in the early morning light.

We have just come off Infinity Venice to Rome. Hope you have a great sailing.

Debbie

A similar thing to be aware of that on the same trip was the water shuttle to St Marks in Venice. All I can say is that it was the Ryan air of shuttles................after we had paid we were told that the drop off was ‘ just four bridges away’ from St Marks square. The price of the shuttle was only 2€ more expensive than the public water bus, so no real difference, and it didn’t stop anywhere else on the way.

It wasn’t a problem for us, but my sister who has MS found the walk a little challenging and on the return trip we encountered a family where due to mobility issues the Dad hadn’t managed the walk.

If you have walking issues I would stick to the public water bus that drops you much closer.

Regards Debbie

We were in Select dining, and shorts a plenty.

Entertainment like food is subjective. Poolside Olympics are just not our scene and not something we have seen on previous Celebrity sailings.

Hope you enjoy Rome.

regards Debbie 

Overall we had a wonderful cruise, but I can’t say it was a typical (I hope) Celebrity product.

It was our first M class ship, and she is certainly looking tired but the staff keep her spotlessly clean. The decor is a bit dated and the soft furnishings desperately need changing. However, we never had to fight for a table in Oceanview Cafe, El Bacio or sun beds. The ship sailed full but it never felt crowded, even on embarkation lunch time we managed to find a table in the buffet - something we have struggled with on S class ships.

We were in cabin 7039 and had a great stateroom attendant, Select dining was a bit hit and miss our waiter Jess wasn’t the best but the assistant Djhannah more than made up for any shortcomings. Food, whilst subjective was certainly better than Silhouette last year and there was always something on the menu to tempt me. It helps that I think the french onion soup is one of the best starters.

Ports of call were good, Venice was a return trip for me, we went to Murano on the first day to buy the piece of glass I should have bought last year, unfortunately the shop was closed but I managed to find the glass works who produce the item and I ordered the piece to be made and shipped. Next day we went to St Marks and had the obligatory gondola ride, cheesy but great fun.

Our tour in Split was a disappointment, we opted for The Game of Thrones sites tour. The guide was very knowledgeable but never shut up talking, it was seriously overkill, no time to stand and take in views etc. It was also fiercely hot 42 degrees and whilst the tour was badged as moderate it should have been strenuous, 2km hike up a 30 degree gradient of loose shale with no handrails. I think it was telling that of our group of 30 ish people only about 4 or 6 opted to continue the second half of the tour which was a further hour and half walking tour around the town, most people at this point went back to the ship. I did go to guest relations and suggest that the tour advert should be amended so people knew what they were signing up for but to be honest the person I spoke to didn’t really seem that bothered. As a result of this bad experience I cancelled our other booked tour to Pompeii, it was badged as strenuous and if it was going to be more difficult than the one we had just done I don’t think we would have enjoyed it.

Montenegro was fabulous, stunningly beautiful and a wonderful sail-in/out. Tender port but efficiently done with both local and lifeboats used, about a 15 minute wait to get off. The old town is charming and great for leather goods. Definitely on my list to return to.

Corfu, least favourite port, not particularly attractive and the only place we were hassled by beggars who were quite aggressive.

Naples we did a great local excursion. Twenty minute walk from the ship to Underground Naples, 40 m down steep stairs into the Roman water tanks and tunnels which served the whole city. These were used in the Second World War as air raid bunkers. The whole city lived down there. Fascinating place and great volunteer guide, the best 10€ spent of the cruise. Highly recommended.

As I said we really enjoyed the cruise but now for the contentious bit...............go get the popcorn and sit back!

I have never really understood why people get so het up about dress codes, well I do now. Celebrity have a policy but they just don’t enforce it, well they do sometimes............

Bare chests in the buffet, bikinis in the buffet, pyjamas in the buffet, I didn’t think it would bother me but it’s unsanitary and it did.

The main dining room was similar in that scruffy cut off denim shorts and T shirts seemed to be acceptable dress, even on evening chic nights if you were from a non English speaking country. We saw an American teenager dressed in smart burmuda type tailored shorts turned away after having the dress code explained, whilst many Italian and Spanish teenagers were allowed in wearing cut offs and running shorts. It just didn’t seem fair. I would like to think that maybe the staff at the door didn’t have a good enough grasp of the language to explain the dress code. We heard guests complaining about the non enforcement of Celebrity rules, the restaurant manager said he would pass the complaint onto his manager.

The other area which to me was a negative was the Cruise Director, Luigi.  Loud pool games every afternoon, not much trivia or the usual Celebrity entertainment, a  generally manic demeanour- it felt like Butlins at Sea. I wonder if he had been brought on as there was such a large Spanish guest population and he was a Spanish speaker? All announcements were in English and Spanish. It felt more like a Royal Caribbean cruise with knobbly knee contests etc. Main theatre entertainment was weak but the music around the ship in lounges and bars was generally very good.

Officers around the ship were almost invisible.

I have two future cruises booked, around Japan and the Baltic next year, I’m hoping that the product will be back to what we usually expect.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Debbie

That link worked for me with our surname and celebrity booking ref, I’m not sure how far out but I’m sure around the 20/21 day mark.

regards Debbie 

There is sometimes a difference is what you can pay for items in the US versus the UK. I have generally found that branded handbags etc are cheaper onboard that in the UK, but as ever it’s worth knowing the price back at home before you buy. Internet access makes this an easy thing to check prior to purchase.

Debbie

Jim and Iain - thank you for a wonderful trip report, I have enjoyed every minute. I will miss my early (UK) fix each morning.

When can we look forward to your next adventure?

Debbie

Pulling up a virtual chair Jim, I so enjoy your reviews. 

Making final payment this week on our Med cruise, so this will make it seem even closer.

regards Debbie