jazzhands

Late follower as on Sky in October for Canary Islands cruise.  Hopefully enough time to get their act together!

Thanks for the replies, appreciate it. Sorry I probably confused you but was meaning do you have to rush and book the Afternoon Teas as soon as you embark, for days in advance, not on embarkation day itself.

Sorry to resurrect this thread but as a first timer on cunard I am keen to understand if you have to book either of the Queens or Lion afternoon teas in advance to ensure you can get in, e.g. on embarkation day?

Hi

I have read on the Cunard website that there is a small charge for eating Dinner in the lido restaurant in the evening. Can anyone confirm if this is the case?

Thanks

Thanks for the feedback djdobrott, much appreciated.

Hi

Just about to press the button on our first Azamara cruise on the Quest, end of August around the Med. My wife is not great with balance and is concerned that the smaller ship will toss and turn considerably more than the bigger ships and she will have problems (never had a problem on the bigger floating villages).

Would appreciate if anyone can give me their views on the stability overall and whether this will be a problem. I am trying to assure her that the Med. will be like a pond in August, but she doesn't trust me.

If it's going to be bad then it will have to be the Queen Victoria as a backup option.

Thanks

When we were on recently we couldn't get in Sanctuary on the Sea Days because they had been fully booked in advance by people booking them on embarkation/day 2.

I think it is worth getting there asap and trying to book the days you want in advance.

We got that package on our Explorer cruise at the end of June.

We had two meals in Izumi to make the most of the discount.

We felt the package was very good value and would certainly take it again if/when it is on offer.

Other than the MDR and Windjammer, can anyone tell me which other dining venues are complimentary please?

I've also been tracking the prices as even with the "All Inclusive" they seemed to be extremely high.

I have seen a couple of reductions on Anthem Of The Seas sailing out of Southampton in the summer of between £400 and £500 when compared to the All Inclusive price.

If I factor the All Inclusive benefits, e.g £25 per person per day for drinks package - three of us = £75/day x 14 days = £1050 then add the $400 OBC = total benefit was £1050+£250 = £1300.

In my simple mind, to me that means the price has gone up by £800-£900.

Wish I'd have booked when the All Inclusive offer was on!!

Anybody know what the price reduction/benefit profile usually looks like - e.g. we've had "Early Boookers Discount", then "All Inclusive", now "Spring Sale", what usually comes next and is it worth hanging on to see what happens?

Mid April.

Thanks for that.

Sorry to resurrect this thread but does anyone know when the refurb is meant to be completed by?

Thanks.

One word of caution for those whose native currency isn't the $USD. I pre-ordered two Soda packages a Coffee card and some in room gifts prior to departure over the phone with Princess.

When I received my debit card statement I was shocked at the absolutely appalling $ to £ currency conversion rate that Princess had applied (note Princess did the conversion and not my bank as I queried this) which meant I ended up losing out by approximately £20. Just another sting for us UK cruisers!

It is absolutely no hassle at all buying the cards when on board and there are stations set up all over the place on the first day or so to buy them.

Do this rather than pre-purchasing if you don't use $USD.

lorri111, I have just come back from cruising the Med on the Regal - you will have a fantastic time.

I just left the auto-tip on and other than the standard 15% on drinks etc. I did not provide any additional tips at the end of the journey as I personally felt that was sufficient.

That said, the cabin steward was clearly hanging around at the end of the trip with the expectation of a top-up, which I didn't give.

**EDit - sorry just seen this answered on a thread not so long ago so please ignore**

I always leave auto-tipping on, as there are 3 of us, this amounts to $34.50 per day. Our main reason for doing this is because we choose anytime dining and therefore don't tend to have the same waiting staff in the MDR more than once so want to make sure they get a share of the tip at the end of the voyage.

Do any of you also then tip the steward on top of the auto-tip?

It felt a bit awkward this year on the Regal because even though we auto-tipped the steward made it very obvious that he was hanging around for a top-up on the last day/evening.

Has anybody tipped the drivers and if so what do you think is a fair amount?

Thanks for the quick response Gracie115. I will drop RIL an email now.

Really useful thread, thanks to all who have contributed.

If there are 5 adults in my group do you think RIL would send a car or a minivan?

Also, if only 3 of the group wanted to go in to the Colloseum but 2 couldn't due to mobility issues, do you think the drive would hang around with the 2 and/or maybe take them somewhere else?

Is it unlikely that the package will be available on 8 night cruises? I am going on the Crown on 10th August for 8 nights round Norway.