5 things you wish you'd known on your first cruise

[ekco]

Royal Caribbean allows smoking inside.:eek: That's got to be a no no for me, I didn't even like not being able to go on Deck 8 on the IE because of the smokers and on Deck 1 on the Celebration we got the smoke coming up from the bowels of the ship where the staff hung out. No offence intended but it has a really bad effect on me. That's another thing I didn't like about the Celebration, that the pool was split in half with smoking and non-smoking. All very well but the smoke gets under the overhang and drifts across to non-smoking.

 

On a lighter note, is everybody out tonight? I'm going to put some bunting up next week and get into the spirit of things. We went to the shopping centre yesterday and it looked lovely all decked out with bunting. Our kids were little when it was the Silver Jubilee and they had a great time at the street party then. I just wish we'd taken photos of it all, they were given silver sugar spoons by the school in presentation boxes and we've still got them.:):) I think everyone has forgotten how to celebrate national events.

 

Start making the jelly, lol.:D:D

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

Royal Caribbean allows smoking inside.:eek: That's got to be a no no for me, I didn't even like not being able to go on Deck 8 on the IE because of the smokers and on Deck 1 on the Celebration we got the smoke coming up from the bowels of the ship where the staff hung out. No offence intended but it has a really bad effect on me. That's another thing I didn't like about the Celebration, that the pool was split in half with smoking and non-smoking. All very well but the smoke gets under the overhang and drifts across to non-smoking.

 

On a lighter note, is everybody out tonight? I'm going to put some bunting up next week and get into the spirit of things. We went to the shopping centre yesterday and it looked lovely all decked out with bunting. Our kids were little when it was the Silver Jubilee and they had a great time at the street party then. I just wish we'd taken photos of it all, they were given silver sugar spoons by the school in presentation boxes and we've still got them.:):) I think everyone has forgotten how to celebrate national events.

 

Start making the jelly, lol.:D:D

 

Jan

 

Hi Jan, from what I've read on here about the only one RCI don't have smoking inside on is the Independence that sails from Southampton as they follow UK smoking regulations.

Yes every bar and lounge apart from one allowed smoking on one side. Like cafes here before the no smoking ban, smoking one side but not the other. But as soon as one person lights up it drifts across the lounge. And the one bar that was non smoking was right next to the casino and if you sat at the wrong end you got the smoke drifting in.

 

I'm a nurse, I'm not offended about talking about bowels :D

 

Sorry, I had to go to bed last night.at 10 pm. Had been up since 12.30 lunchtime on Thursday. Had worked Friday night and didn't go to bed when came home.

 

Berwyn

[grannypops]

Hello

 

I look at the sites you mentioned already but the one that lets you search by date, cost, line, ship, area etc... and then shows what actual cabins are available.... is the most obvious address if you were looking for a cruise from a uk website, you know without being critical?;)

signing up for email alerts for deals at these sites is recommended. and there's a great one for holidays and travel (including cruises) with the place where animals are kept in cages...

LOL don't know about cruisecritic more like cruisecryptic :confused:

[Cymro1953]

Hello

 

 

LOL don't know about cruisecritic more like cruisecryptic :confused:

 

That's true Granny, at this rate we'll have to be members of MENSA to crack the posts.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

signing up for email alerts for deals at these sites is recommended. and there's a great one for holidays and travel (including cruises) with the place where animals are kept in cages...

LOL don't know about cruisecritic more like cruisecryptic :confused:

 

Zoo?..:confused: I can't cope, I'm no good at puzzles. Circus?.... What? ....lol. Petshop? Aargh!! Dogs Home...:confused:

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

Zoo?..:confused: I can't cope, I'm no good at puzzles. Circus?.... What? ....lol. Petshop? Aargh!! Dogs Home...:confused:

 

Jan

 

AhI've got it!! Jan type cruises then zoo into the box on google

 

Berwyn

[grannypops]

:) Yes google is your friend - if you just type cruise uk in it you'll come up with the way to find sites. Apart from Thomson don't look to book direct with cruise lines... My cruise is listed at 699 on at least 4 agent sites now and has been for the last week, but NOT direct with P&O they can't put the price that low or all the peopl who paid 2K will get annoyed!

 

You only get those prices at the last min and you can't be too picky about cabins, what is left is what is left. But we got a deal - would cost more to eat out every day for just that price.. We even got obc. But all this early booking nonsense for a good deal? If you must go on a certain popular cruise on a certain date in a certain cabin then book early but if you just want a basic cabin for 2 and can bear to book, pack and make house sitting, travel, parking arrangements last min then you'll save an awful lot of money. OK this doesn't work if you have a job and the deals are not there in peak time i.e school hols. Remember this royal wedding bank hol was unexpected when brochures came out, people mostly booked their easter hols for last week and this weekend.

People say to me how can you afford a cruise but we don't pay 2k each as per brochure. Booking direct with P&O is no no - the 699 inside guarantee cabin still showing at as 1462 on the PO site. Ventura med 14 nights on 29th is now same price at the 16 night azura one via agents.

[ekco]

AhI've got it!! Jan type cruises then zoo into the box on google

 

Berwyn

 

Oh yes!! I've got it!! Never heard of that before, looks interesting, thanks.:):)

 

The sun is just starting to come out, not that warm today.

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

Oh yes!! I've got it!! Never heard of that before, looks interesting, thanks.:):)

 

The sun is just starting to come out, not that warm today.

 

Jan

 

New to me too.

Sunny here as well and much warmer than yesterday.

 

Berwyn

[grannypops]

:(My next tip is going to be:

Try to make friends with someone who lives in Southampton so you don't have to pay car parking charges! :D

 

I haven't put this into action yet and I've reluctantly just paid 166 to CPS even though we have a blue badge (I do need to research the rules for this as we rarely ever need to display it as we can park usually at the normal paces we go to shop/visit/school etc) and could prob park up somewhere and get a local cab in last couple miles?

 

Someone must have sussed this parking at the port lark out???? But will anyone let on? ;)

I mean, I live in London (outside congestion zone) but we have no parking restrictions in our cul-de-sac and someone could easily park opposite my house for two weeks without anyone becoming suspicious, I'd just think it was someone parked visiting a neighbour.:confused:

I know you can stay at local hotels and park included - we did that last year but this year we'd need 2 hotel rooms so it's cheaper to pay CPS. :mad:

 

There are people who advertise parking on their drives but we'd still have to pay them and then pay the cab into terminal and the change over with my lot (and I don't just mean the luggage/baby seat etc :eek: lol) would make the saving, this time anyway, negligible.

Edited April 24, 2011 by grannypops

[grannypops]

Oh yes the zoo is great.. not just for this site's topic, but all travel.. sign up for the weekly emails that come with the top deals.. it's usually my starting point when researching hols... and there are other sites too that send weekly emails like this.. one is the printed pages on the telly's site; and another is a great, deal checker, in itself ;) remember google is your friend .... the highlight of my wednesday log into my email account is these emails that come amongst the junk emails.. had cheap flights, weekends away, cruises and all inclusives via these.. they are not t.a's sites just lists of deals

[ekco]

We live about 10 minutes drive away from Manchester Airport on a nice road just near a hotel that serves the airport with a shuttle bus for guests who stay and park there. This doesn't stop people parking outside our houses in the night then beggering off in a taxi to the aiport and leaving their car here for a week. We had one a couple of weeks ago just opposite and we were all on full alert to catch them when they came back but as usual they sneaked back in the night. Posh car too and obviously someone who could well afford to pay, I bet they wouldn't have left it in Moss Side for a week!! They should think themselves lucky we didn't have it towed away!! Would these people like it if we parked outside their house for a week and disappeared, absolutely not!

 

So my hint and tip is, unless you really want to rub the local residents up the wrong way don't do that.

 

Sorry to sound grumpy but when you have to put up with this it's no joke.

 

I could go on, lol. There's more, so much more.:eek::eek:

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

We live about 10 minutes drive away from Manchester Airport on a nice road just near a hotel that serves the airport with a shuttle bus for guests who stay and park there. This doesn't stop people parking outside our houses in the night then beggering off in a taxi to the aiport and leaving their car here for a week. We had one a couple of weeks ago just opposite and we were all on full alert to catch them when they came back but as usual they sneaked back in the night. Posh car too and obviously someone who could well afford to pay, I bet they wouldn't have left it in Moss Side for a week!! They should think themselves lucky we didn't have it towed away!! Would these people like it if we parked outside their house for a week and disappeared, absolutely not!

 

So my hint and tip is, unless you really want to rub the local residents up the wrong way don't do that.

 

Sorry to sound grumpy but when you have to put up with this it's no joke.

 

I could go on, lol. There's more, so much more.:eek::eek:

 

Jan

 

I know what you mean Jan but on a smaller scale. We've got the annual Victorian Extravaganza coming up next weekend and we live near the main show field. And this year because of the extra BH they'll be parked nose to tail down our street and surrounding ones all day every day for 4days.

You won't be able to move the car out at all.

 

Berwyn

[grannypops]

all this early booking nonsense for a good deal? If you must go on a certain popular cruise on a certain date in a certain cabin then book early but if you just want a basic cabin for 2 and can bear to book, pack and make house sitting, travel, parking arrangements last min then you'll save an awful lot of money. OK this doesn't work if you have a job and the deals are not there in peak time i.e school hols....quote]

 

Sorry this does work if you have a job, just book your annual leave in advance for the week AFTER the kids go back to school (straight after Easter and the end Oct beginning of Nov are very good) and start researching prices and itineraries, shopping and getting things ready in the weeks before... you WILL get a deal you'll be happy with.. . of course you also have to be able to PAY in FULL... if money no object and you simply must have family cabin/diabled/single cabin/a certain suite/several cabins together then book when the holidays are first advertised. :)

 

When baby pops starts school proper we will be limited but at moment making most of it...

I know taking children out of school is frowned on but my grandson came on the pharoahs and holy land trip with me (he's been on several other cultural trips before too) and the head teacher at his school is happy for a week off until they are a certain age - genuinely what he learns in a week away is always remarkable... the interest he has now in geography, history, seeing how the other halves lives, both 'posh' and third world countries, meeting people from other cultures, proper silver service dining and trying 'unusual foods' for your average 10 year old (as opposed to school dinners or eating at home I mean where we don't do 6 courses:eek: every evening, believe it or not haha!).

 

I notice they don't seem to encourage any competitiveness at schools now... so simply being aware of the notion that you need to have money to be able to travel and keep taking nice holidays like granny goes on means working hard at school is essential really to get ahead and prosper... unless you have a rich grandad... and even I haven't found one of those yet LOL :D

[grannypops]

I'm lucky I don't have that problem here in our street as it's not near main road or airport/station etc but must be a pain for you. I do notice the odd car over the road but never across my driveway - that would be annoying of course. I was thinking we might do a house swap with some people from USA while the olympics are on.. We'll prob never get tickets to any of the games/ceremonies so no point expecting to watch it on anywhere but a tv screen so might as well go off somewhere cos the roads will be worse here than ever...

Edited April 24, 2011 by grannypops

[grannypops]

May not be relevant at all to most on here but my big tip to parents: if you want to show your children there's more to life than computer games and tv soaps, R&B music (99% of the pop charts it seems nowadays) and gangs, take them on a cruise but not to the 'kids club' all day.....make the point of it the places you're going to vist... the Horrible Histories book set was one of my best buys for him.... they'll love the cruising way of life, watching the tug boats/crew at work, it will genuinely positively add to their education in ways they would never see otherwise... they learn about Ancient Egypt/the Romans etc at school... seriously it cost me less to take him on cruise than it would book a caravan and eat chips all week at Haven or Butlins/Pontins and there's still swimming/fun/shows etc onboard between excursions..

Edited April 24, 2011 by grannypops

[Cymro1953]

all this early booking nonsense for a good deal? If you must go on a certain popular cruise on a certain date in a certain cabin then book early but if you just want a basic cabin for 2 and can bear to book, pack and make house sitting, travel, parking arrangements last min then you'll save an awful lot of money. OK this doesn't work if you have a job and the deals are not there in peak time i.e school hols....quote]

 

Sorry this does work if you have a job, just book your annual leave in advance for the week AFTER the kids go back to school (straight after Easter and the end Oct beginning of Nov are very good) and start researching prices and itineraries, shopping and getting things ready in the weeks before... you WILL get a deal you'll be happy with.. . of course you also have to be able to PAY in FULL... if money no object and you simply must have family cabin/diabled/single cabin/a certain suite/several cabins together then book when the holidays are first advertised. :)

 

Hi Granny,

Even with a job and needing to book holidays in work well ahead you could always look at next years cruise itineraries and decide on the ones you are interested in and book time off for then.

And then book last minute like you have to make the savings.

I know you'd have to pay the lot in one go, but we'd have to pay the balance 3 months before anyway if we'd booked early. And it'd most probably a lot higher than the way you've done it for this week's cruise.

I'm going to try that next year.

 

Berwyn

[grannypops]

Hi Berwyn, I do look all the time now at cruise offers and keep tabs on prices, I read a post on here last night (researching Azura) and someone had put they got a good deal for same itinerary last year at 400 more pp than it is now! I like P&O cos of the no flying bit too cos with all the extra stuff we have to take for baby we'd be paying a fortune in excess baggage.

Saw that Thomson are doing UK departures next year - will keep eye out on those... :)

The late booking all really started for me as I can't book ahead as we run a business plus foster children so we never know when a slow time or busy time is coming - and now we have adopted a little one we can't do certain types of holidays... wish I had discovered cruising years ago... may not be the cheapest holidays but the value for money is unbelievable..... and on the ones I've done, including the Nile cruise, you simply don't have to be amongst people in football shirts boozing all day, swearing and shouting at their children... I can see why some people like to keep it quiet LOL :eek:

[Cymro1953]

Hi Berwyn, I do look all the time now at cruise offers and keep tabs on prices, I read a post on here last night (researching Azura) and someone had put they got a good deal for same itinerary last year at 400 more pp than it is now! I like P&O cos of the no flying bit too cos with all the extra stuff we have to take for baby we'd be paying a fortune in excess baggage.

Saw that Thomson are doing UK departures next year - will keep eye out on those... :)

The late booking all really started for me as I can't book ahead as we run a business plus foster children so we never know when a slow time or busy time is coming - and now we have adopted a little one we can't do certain types of holidays... wish I had discovered cruising years ago... may not be the cheapest holidays but the value for money is unbelievable..... and on the ones I've done, including the Nile cruise, you simply don't have to be amongst people in football shirts boozing all day, swearing and shouting at their children... I can see why some people like to keep it quiet LOL :eek:

 

Hi,

Like you I wish we'd have discovered it years ago. But then we'd probably even more broke than we are now. :D

We love how it's all there for us. No wandering about town in the evenings looking for a bar or entertainment. And in Dec. 2009 when we did the Colourful Coasts with the 2 boys in their early 20's then we didn't need to worry if they were out getting into problems. If we couldn't see them we knew they were safe on the ship somewhere.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

Well, that was nice. The sun came out nice and hot so I've been in the garden all afternoon while you two have been chatting. Saves getting a tan on holiday, only 41 days to go to Fuerteventura. Ta Dah!!:D:D Couldn't get a cruise to suit on the days we have off so it's a 5* AI.

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

Well, that was nice. The sun came out nice and hot so I've been in the garden all afternoon while you two have been chatting. Saves getting a tan on holiday, only 41 days to go to Fuerteventura. Ta Dah!!:D:D Couldn't get a cruise to suit on the days we have off so it's a 5* AI.

 

Jan

 

Lovely, the only thing you'll miss is the rocking up and down from the waves

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

Lovely, the only thing you'll miss is the rocking up and down from the waves

 

Berwyn

 

It's the same chain of resorts that we cruise and stayed in Turkey last year. Mix of nationalities and everything included with no wristbands or drunks. Tried the archery, mountainbiking and Tai Chi in Sharm but probably a bit hilly in Fuerta for cycling. I don't do hills, lol, gears are a mystery to me.:eek:

 

That Zoo site looks good and thanks to grannypops for that. I'll have a good look later on.

 

Sun still out. What is the Victorian Extravanganza? I think I'll go and park outside your house, lol.:D Put the eggs away Berwyn.:D

 

Jan

[Cymro1953]

It's the same chain of resorts that we cruise and stayed in Turkey last year. Mix of nationalities and everything included with no wristbands or drunks. Tried the archery, mountainbiking and Tai Chi in Sharm but probably a bit hilly in Fuerta for cycling. I don't do hills, lol, gears are a mystery to me.:eek:

 

That Zoo site looks good and thanks to grannypops for that. I'll have a good look later on.

 

Sun still out. What is the Victorian Extravanganza? I think I'll go and park outside your house, lol.:D Put the eggs away Berwyn.:D

 

Jan

 

What eggs?? Not had any here, nor hot cross buns :(:(

We've been doing it for 25 years, they come from all over for it.. they shut half the streets down and all the shops and businesses get involved. Dress up in Victorian Costume, we have funfairs and steam engines and those pipe organs on the streets. They also have a vintage vehicle exhibition too.

http://victorian-extravaganza.co.uk/

Have a look there.

 

Berwyn

[Cymro1953]

PS Jan,

you might as well park outside the house. If you don't some other b***** will.

 

Berwyn

[ekco]

Thanks for that Berwyn. Lol, I meant the eggs you had ready to throw at our car.:D:D

 

Jan