joeholiday2

And just 15 days to go, Linda!!! :)

We are happy with our cabin allocation as well. Deck C midships for us, and deck B for M & D. :-) :-)

I class this as an upgrade as last time we booked a saver on Oceana we were in the bowels are the front.

Hi Dave, thanks for the info. Might decide when we get on board what to do. The Gaudi tour says limited availability, so it may be academic anyway. We will probably do the hoho bus. Will have a look at the details in a minute.

 

Do P&O dock further away from Las Ramblas than Thomson?

Yes they do Linda.

It's at the large cruise terminal rather than the world trade centre dock at the bottom of the Ramblas. We are scheduled to dock at berth D, which is the furthest out as well. P&O i am guessing will want about £5 for the shuttle bus, but the port's own bus the T3 is €3.50 return. Walking will take around 25-30 mins according to google maps.

Hi Jason.

We are on the same cruise.

Have a look at this thread:

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2177044

Some say the Cadiz HOHO isn't worth doing, Cadiz is very flat and accessible.

If she wants to go out then I will be pushing my MIL around Cadiz in her wheelchair.

May see you around, but I don't routinely walk around with the ducks on show :D

Thomson Geosprout. In honour of one of our most valued members :-) :-)

I trawled the port timetables to get the times, I suppose it's best to take them with a pinch of salt though. Gib is a long walk down and very steep towards the bottom. We will probably do the gardens geo mentioned and other things on the flat like the 100 ton gun.

SF in Barcelona should be do-able, if walking it's about an hour from the bottom of the ramblas, I would pre-book online if you want to go inside though. The ship docks in a different place than the Thomson ships, it's a good walk to the ramblas, so getting the cruise port bus will be the best option.

Hi Linda.

Inboxed you on FB with the stuff we might do.

If you haven't done Lisbon before though I recommend Belem, easy to do on the trams.

Cadiz is such a nice place to walk around, no real need to go to Jerez or Seville unless you have been to Cadiz before. Don't miss the small Church in the same square as the Cathedral, it's full of gold. The Holy Cave Church is good too, €3 entrance and you get to see some Goya masterpieces.

The Taxi tours in Gib are OK if you want a whistle stop tour, but you will always be running at the drivers convenience, and you might want to spend longer in some of the places. We did the cable car to the top on our own and took most of the day walking down at our leisure seeing what we wanted and for as long as we liked. Also bear in mind that the rock might be covered in mist so be prepared for that.

Something different to see in Barcelona is the Mercat Del Born, close to the Zoo. Inside is an exhibition centre about old Barcelona and some excavations of the old Town. It's somewhere to head to if you have already done the main sights.

The old town up the hill is a nice part of Cannes, and it's nice just to walk along the prom and soak up the atmosphere. We had thought of getting the train to Antibes, but think we will just have a mooch around Cannes again.

Don't forget to DL toms port guides onto the nexus to take with you and you can make a routebook on the shorebee website that is quite good, this can also be downloaded.

Yes we are Vera, but we are only doing 10 days and Joe is doing 17 days.

 

Thanks for the info about the tickets. Looks like Kruzseeka's info is correct and you might yet be moved up a grade :)

A little extra for Joe and Linda.

 

The details appeared on the c.p. yesterday, an e-ticket with cabin, boarding and gate and dock information and some snazzy luggage labels however a note at the bottom said not to print them out yet as the information may be updated.

 

So you may only get half the information on Saturday.

 

By the way are you two going on the same cruise?

Thanks Vera.

Thank you very much.

 

Received cabin no. at lunch time. Exactly two weeks before we go.

Looks like it will be next Sunday for us Linda......

Hope you got a nice cabin Vera

:D Yes and we know at least some who would take that view! :D

 

But I think it's what has already been mentioned - probably has to do with fare category. Those paying Select fare and have chosen their cabins and don't want any other are sorted. Those who have paid Select and want a possible complementary upgrade are best off waiting until as late as possible to see what frees up in a higher category.

 

Early savers come next, then the latest deals 'Savers' get sorted out last and as cabins continue to be sold those who purchased earlier potentially get pushed up the categories. We ended up on both Early Saver (one month notice of cabin number) and Saver (am now reminded that was more like two weeks before departure) with improved cabin categories. Still the same type of cabin but in better locations. You know how they have different codes for the same cabin type depending on whether fore, midships or aft and high or low decks well as I understand it your initial booking gives you the lowest grading of that category but I think you keep getting shuffled along into better locations as more (possibly cheaper priced bookings) are taken. I might have this round my neck but we certainly got better location cabins than our initial booking on every trip.

 

So from that point of view, the later you hear, I reckon the better your chance of improvement. Hopefully! ;)

I think that sums it up perfectly.

The Christmas Cruise we did on oceana was only booked about 3 weeks before and we had the worst possible cabin low deck at the front. It was very rough!!! Hoping for a better cabin this time as the cruise is still up for sale.

Doesn't it say something about the p&o forum when we Thomson regulars/defectors are discussing p&o logistics here?

Have just checked. I got emailed a PDF "Cabin Allocation AZURA <ref>" which gives cabin, room details, final invoice etc.

 

It was emailed me on 7th October 2014 for a cruise departing on 25th October 2014.

 

Obviously this was just this one, but I've got the impression that this is about normal, so I would expect yours RSN - maybe contact P&O if you get nothing 7 days beforehand ?

Thank you :)

We are 3 weeks away from departing, heard nothing yet.

Do they email to say they have allocated or should I be checking CP every day?

Century is not going to CDF,she is going to China to a new cruise company next month.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5971

Thanks for that, it must have been old info I was looking at, dated Dec 2013.

Celebrity century is going to cdf this April, they own zenith and horizon, and are part of rcci. The ship is the right size and the 2 mein sheiff`s are the same class. Hmm??? We could be getting that or more likely one of the German ships?

To change to subject a bit, have you got your cabin allocated yet Joe? We haven't but some who are going after us have :(

Not yet Linda. The general consensus between the other forums and fb is we get to know 2weeks before.

I thought of chipping in and asking that as he has secured Linda a Suite could he do the same for us?

Then I thought..... "Don't feed the Trolls"

It's so much nicer on here:D:D

Agree with the last comments re drinks package.

Not sure on your itinerary but the cheapest ports for duty free are St Maarten and St Kitts.

If you are DIY (local buses etc) for trips out make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get back, we usually aim to get back about 1.5 to 1 hr before sailing.

There will be plenty of taxi mini buses waiting at port, they normally do some kind of Island tour for 2-3 hrs when they have enough people and usually charge $20-25, you can sometime barter with them. They are a lot cheaper than the Thomson trips, and generally better fun.

If you do Tortola the open side bus tours are a must, some fantastic views.

I believe Richard Grey has just gone on as Cruise Director, you have one of the best there, a really nice man.

Enjoy the Cruise and please report back your findings when you return.

Thanks Presto. It was up on YouTube a while ago but got removed. Must DL it in case they take it down again.

No queue for the pasteis, but it was boxing day and we got there early around 10.30am. Plenty of seats at the back, I was surprised how big it is in there.

Just to give you an idea of what we have done in Lisbon, it's a lovely City:

26th Dec Lisbon (Thurs)

Got €6.50 day transport pass from lottery kiosk at Apolonia Station, just behind main ticket counter. Metro to main Comercio square, tram 15E to Belem, had a nice walk around all along the front and had the Pasteis (yummy) from the famous cafe. Tram back to Figurera square and did the Santa Justa elevator which is included in transport pass. Got tram 12 around the Alfama past the Castle, walked back to ship.

April 14.

Got day pass from St apolonia again, metro to Restauradores, went up the Gloria elevator. The church of Sao Roque is reached by turning left at the top of the Gloria elevador, really nice inside. Turned right at the elevator for the miradore alcantara. Back to Restauradores Metro station and got metro in same direction to Parque, Had a look around Park Eduaro Vii, walked to top end for view. Walked to Sao Sebastiao metro which is underneath the Corte Ingles, got on red line to Almeda, got on Green line to Martim Moniz, got 12E tram towards Castle. Get off at viewpoint and walk around castle area, walked it down to look at Cathedral and walked back to ship just after lunch then sunbathed. A nice sail out under the bridge and past Belem.

We are planning on going to Cascais by train the next time we go.

I can honestly say we had a fantastic time on the Dream last summer - certainly no complaints; quite the opposite in fact. Something has gone wrong over the winter for it to be getting the feedback it has recently been getting. The superb Hotel Manager we had onboard I believe has been on Leave over the winter but not sure how long for - not quite sure how much of an effect that really does have on the whole running of the ship but would be interested to see if / when she goes back on if reviews start coming back more positive.

Good point Jules. I never thought of that. She did do a good job didn't she, a lovely person.

Another Fred eh, you'll be joining the full fat defection club and doing a p&o next !!!

I use both, prefer it on here though, more sensible and less rants. Unlike the p&o board.... Some of those could start a row in an empty house.

Been reported on FB that Richard Grey is going on Majesty for summer season and Katy will replace him on Spirit.

Quite a few on FB don't like Katy, but we do. A good CD:):)

Yes Geo, spare flips flops.....

These were first time on, bought on a previous holiday so no comeback

Just bumped this up for you Mags:

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1171965

Some good tips in there.

BTW, you can take booze to consume in your cabin onboard as well.

We have found St Kitts and St Maarten the cheapest for duty free booze.

Bumping up for new members....