Megabear2

It's official... Carnival supports ducks! https://www.thestreet.com/travel/carnival-cruise-line-makes-a-bold-ruling-on-cruise-ship-ducks

This was posted 9 hours ago on the BBC. Assuming they told passengers before now. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjr4x254yrxo.amp

Those are pretty standard questionnaires. The ones I've recently completed for P&O/Cunard in particular are far more detailed, not tick box exercises. You have a box to give more details on your opinion. I've had quite a few of the ones you describe as well. P&O in particular are asking quite in depth questions.

In recent months I've had a fair number of questionnaires regarding dress code both from Cunard and P&O - for the latter a very comprehensive one just this week. These all ask about perception of the dress codes, ie what do you take them to mean/describe. I take this interest to mean the senior management are looking at feedback to see if changes can/ought to be considered/made.

No, they were on each table. I too thought they might find legs .. It seemed a very good idea and meant staff didn't have to stand around in what at the time was a virtually empty area.

I made the point because many hotels state quite clearly that you are not allowed anything (including a bottle of drink, even soft ones) for consumption on their premises (it's quite topical, if you don't believe me ask Mr Google). I did not say they search you, that is what you have decided I was saying. No doubt many do take a bottle with them, most likely from duty free, but I am merely pointing out that it is becoming more widespread to state nothing other than food and drink provided or purchased on site. There's also the fact a hotel doesnt scan you on check in and relies on trust whereas the cruise line does the opposite. As for wanting to sell drinks packages that's really a very old argument that bears little relevance to not allowing anything other than a litre of wine or a bottle of champagne to be brought onboard.

Those buttons were in use on deck 1 atrium and games room on QA Around Britain cruise. I pressed one and a minute or two later a lovely chap arrived to take my coffee order.

Depends where you are travelling. It is very common in some European countries to say only food and drink provided or purchased in the hotel may be consumed on hotel premises. The policy started in common package holiday destinations to help hotels with the problem of fake claims of food poisoning but has expanded quite a lot since the pandemic. If you read enough reviews you'll find even things like a bag of crisps given to your child have caused problems.

Goodness! How do I know which one I should be booking then?

Very interesting from a normally high spending passenger perspective, but not really a proper comparison overall regarding most passengers experiences but it should not be questioned as to voracity. I'd liken this to a Waitrose customer visiting Lidl to buy groceries on a one off and describing how they found the experience. Would they do it every week or would they miss their little extras after a while? Arvia operates more or less the same itineraries year in year out, virtually the same ports every single cruise. Clearly the Saga and Cunard ships will offer variety. Would this be a problem to our more discerning guest who travels more high end? To get this clearly enjoyable experience he has used the top cabin and the paid for restaurants which is fine but does the itinerary not changing bother him in the long term - it is the same for 2024, 2025 and 2026 as it was in 2023? I guess I'm saying is this intended to be that one trip to Lidl! Using the paid for restaurants on any line will obviously give a skewed vision of the general cruise experience. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, particularly when the thread states clearly what it is comparing. Thank you for taking the time to let us know how you found it.

Very overcast and humid here. Topping up the greenhouse watering at 5.30am this morning the outside thermometer showed 17 degrees. It's only meant to be 23-24 degrees today so taking advantage to deadhead the pots, bags and baskets. Currently overrun with cucumbers from my three plants, we now have 6 ready to pick and 2 in the fridge with at least 30 more forming! I've asked my OH if he can find a cucumber soup recipe as a result! Got a bit carried away yesterday and booked a week in Ischia at a spa hotel for the period between our Scotland trip and our Aurora cruise, seemed a shame to have 5 weeks with nothing in it! Never stayed there although I've had many holidays to Sorrento and Amalfi that took in trips to Capri. I had wanted to choose Croatia to be honest but so many hotels had warning about smoking being allowed in bars and restaurants it put me off. Ischia looks like an adventure with a 2 1/2 hour ferry trip from Naples. Apparently I'll be picked up at 5.30am for my return so I hope I'm not too relaxed or I might miss the boat! Now holding for Cunard to book a couple of Queen Elizabeth cruises for next year and the 2026. They seem to be as bad as P&O on answering calls these days. Carnival House really does need some extra staff. Have a great day everyone whatever you are doing.

As a Cunard officianado I was completely surprised by that ship - my friend booked us on and I thought I'd absolutely hate it. Quite the reverse in fact, I ended up loving her. It was indeed modern but having now sailed on three newer ships in the two years since including Queen Anne, Arvia and Norwegian Prima I have to say it is the most innovative ship I've sailed in recent years and to this day I'm in awe of the tender platform and the actual boats.

The "Magic Carpet" although odd looking does at least serve a genuine purpose. The tenders and landing deck on this ship are truly amazing and access for the disabled and wheelchair users is a breeze.

No, not unpopular with me, I'd normally do the same but £1300 is currently the price for a business class flight on BA for this September so an economy flight at that price seems very high. I'll have a chat with them tomorrow, as flights won't be released for a few months I assume it's easy enough to add them.

Next silly question from me! Decided to go with the September cruise and about to book while the room is available, however in light of the suggestion I look at purchasing my own flight and adding a night or two in Seattle I am thinking of just reserving the cruise. Am I correct that if the other option doesn't work out I can add Cunard's flight at a later date? Normally I would just book the flight with Cunard but at £1300 it seems to be double the current asking price for this September never mind next. The cruise itself is coming in at £1700 so the flight just sounds silly money.

Thank you. Actually that one would work time wise and there appears to be a single outside cabin on offer as well. The one I was quite keen on was (Q526) which calls Ketchican, Juneau, Skagway, etc. I hadn't thought about port time so will revisit.

Thank you, that's very interesting. Cunard want £1400 for London to Seattle to London and £1500 for London to Seatle San Francisco to London on the repositioning cruise. I have looked at the repositioning to Miami in September as the price is fairly good but my concern is how much of Alaska you see on the repositioning. It is very helpful to know the flights can be bought for less as obviously September flights aren't able to be priced yet.

I am considering a solo Alaska cruise next year as an additional 70th birthday present to myself. As my husband and I are sailing QM2 three week transatlantic which arrives back in Southampton on 15 August, I seem to be realistically looking at the itineraries at the very end of the season including the relocation cruise. I have absolutely no idea about anything Alaska save I understand I should sail the Inside Passage? I'd be very grateful for opinions on the itineraries at the very end of August and into September as to which might be the best for hopefully scenic cruising, relatively okay weather/sailing conditions (will i need my winter woolies/snow gear!) and fingers crossed ease. I note also two cruise lengths I'm looking at 10 night ones but happy to change that if necessary to get best itinerary. As I'm going to be alone again I'm looking at the cheap end of the scale, probably an outside or at a push balcony. Also I note an operational overnight in Seattle is necessary. I assume Cunard still organise this, but wonder if the transfers etc are still included as I've had previously in other parts of the world. Seem to be no transfers to airport available in advance either, assume I can buy onboard? Thanks for your help.

ICF is looking at this cruise. Not sure if he booked but held off when the prices rose expecting a drop. There are very few inside left and unless loads drop out at final payment I do not see this dropping if at all. Interestingly I booked 35 nights QM2 on release. My balcony cabin (glass not sheltered) was £7200 plus $680 OBC. That's now well over £10,500 as is the 2026 QV version. Cunard insides aren't selling like P&Os which indicates the new clients over there may be some of the disgruntled looking for a more refined cruise. Interesting times indeed. Meantime I'm hoping my upgrade comes through for Aurora. If it does it will be £1200 ess than the quoted price when I booked. I took select only to choose dining to tie in with the family and if Saver had been a proper option booking now would be £300 less than our outside select.

There currently aren't many cabins left on this cruise. A handful of outsides on deck 4, 2 on deck 5, only midship insides, a couple of deck 11 front facing deluxe balconies and clusters of midships balconies. It's sold very well. I'm guessing they expect it to sell out so are trying to move the remaining balconies in particular. If you look at a lot of the cruises until March there are balconies left but the insides and outsides are sold out. I think it's becoming likely the "new" cruisers aren't prepared to pay high balcony prices, the changing demographic (just for you Zap!) seems to be not prepared to think the balcony is worth it.

No longer 2 full days. Arrives early afternoon, departs afternoon. Very poor. Tallinn is also pretty rubbish. Arriving evening which is actually late night, departs afternoon. Aarhus arrives early evening, departs early evening. Unfortunately the email saying more port time is a complete lie.

Latest update on my monitored cruise on Aurora in August. Inside Saver £2798 Select £3058 OBC £120 Outside Saver £3098 Select £3598 OBC £200 Balcony Saver £3398 Select £4698 OBC £280 Deluxe Saver £4998 Select £5398 OBC £280 Mini Suite Select £9858 £400 OBC Inside cabins are now rising again. Outside savers have risen £100 but select has dropped £100. Interestingly the balcony cabins are the ones they are reducing significantly. The select price has not changed since 10 June, having dropped on 5th to £4858. The lowest select fare was 30 May at £4698. We are now at a much lower saver fare with a £600 drop since 10.6.24. The select stays the same. Deluxe balcony is unmoved. Looking at the balconies currently on sale there are around 12 on Deck C, most of mid forward, mid aft and aft on Deck A with a handful of midships and 10 Lido Deck. I have now made my upgrade bid 2 days ago at just above the minimum which would make any balcony offered just over £150 more than the current on sale select fare and substantially above the saver (the balcony saver is now £300 less than the price I paid for my outside F deck cabin). We shall see.

Good morning another beautiful day. Assistance dogs are very topical over on the Cunard board at present due to two unexpected canine guests being taken for walkies away from the kennels. Apparently one was "barky and nippy"! The difference on assistance dogs and emotional support dogs has been the topic for a couple of days. Cunard and P&O have a strict description of what an assistance dog is and the terms under which they can be carried. https://www.pocruises.com/accessibility/life-onboard/assistance-dogs Incidentally the Cunard kennel guests often include cats. I have a friend who works in a law office who every year brings her two over on QM2 for a six month work spell. They are very well known by the staff as a result. The daily exercise is a popular entertainment as well. The dogs/cats have their portraits taken with their special bellboys near the end of the voyage. There is also a fire hydrant and lamppost in the kennel area for the dogs' pleasure.

I'm fully aware you aren't the only one on this thread with these views but this thread wasn't about non visible disabilities but has taken a side track. I'm guilty in that I mentioned the topic in respect to one comment regarding our very well respected friend Selbourne. He and I vehemently disagree about lift use by people with hidden disabilities, we have discussed the issue very many times in a civilized manner. There has been countless discussion between us and others on his problems with fake priority boarding and the reasons he no longer uses that route when disembarking a ship. With regard to personal, we had a discussion, I accepted your opinion and left it. Overnight people offered their stories, I rejoined the conversation because frankly one person in particular sounded extremely upset by how you responded and I thought it unkind and unnecessary for that conversation to continue. That's not personal it's suggesting enough is enough and maybe time to leave and return to the original topic of the thread, ie the accessibility form completion, walking sticks and occasional use of wheelchairs etc.

As one of the another persons taking this "personally" I would have thought that by now instead of causing extra distress to those who have a different view through personal experience it might be kinder to stop dissecting their situations? At the moment it seems that you are just going out of your way to pour more oil on the fire, we know your opinion, I accept it and perhaps now might be a good time to stop arguing with others who wish to tell of their experiences. As you say an open forum is for everyone and if someone wants to speak of life on the "other side" there doesn't seem to be any point in continually repeating the same points, after all they've been moved to write to give the alternative view. Of course we take it personally. We are the other side of the coin to the ones you claim abuse situations, and actually our family members are the ones who are made, whether intentionally or not, to feel very bad by the looks and comments they receive. As I said before it's not very nice to have someone say to you "there's stairs over their mate" (as happened to my husband on Britannia) when he lives not only with chronic pain from fibromyalgia but also has several parts of his heart not working. No one would dream of writing or speaking in such a way about someone with a visible disability, surely it's not too much to ask for the same respect without assumptions as to whether someone is genuinely in need.