Nellie100 Posted January 20, 2019 #1 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Morning all I am thinking of the Azura TA in March, I have been on many fly both way cruises and missed by December fix last year due to family illness's so wondering about this. Thinking of train journey home and pre-booking rail tickets which are reasonable at the moment what time does the ship dock and is it a reliable dock time? How long does it take to get off the ship? Can you self disembark? What time can you stay on the ship until - or what time do you have to be off the ship? I am always wary of booking tickets and not making the train once missed a train from London which had cost me £22.00 return ended up paying 110.00 to get home or wait until the next day and pay for hotel overnight Any tips welcome and any experiences - thanks Susan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janny444 Posted January 20, 2019 #2 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Hi....I always thought that the coach from Southampton back to your original airport where you flew out from was included but of course I may be wrong and stand corrected if I am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nellie100 Posted January 20, 2019 Author #3 Share Posted January 20, 2019 I was thinking train from a time perspective and will be booking saver fair and wasn't sure they were included. If so and coach is included does anyone know how long it takes? and how many stop off's? thanks again Susan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janny444 Posted January 20, 2019 #4 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Hi....length of time & stops will depend which airport you are going back to. I would think that because all passengers would have flown out from airport that that it will only be " comfort" stop(s). Wouldn't have thought with it being a saver fare that would make any difference to coach....just can't choose cabin/dining and no extra spends on board but as I said I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miniyorkie Posted January 20, 2019 #5 Share Posted January 20, 2019 2 hours ago, Nellie100 said: Morning all I am thinking of the Azura TA in March, I have been on many fly both way cruises and missed by December fix last year due to family illness's so wondering about this. Thinking of train journey home and pre-booking rail tickets which are reasonable at the moment what time does the ship dock and is it a reliable dock time? How long does it take to get off the ship? Can you self disembark? What time can you stay on the ship until - or what time do you have to be off the ship? I am always wary of booking tickets and not making the train once missed a train from London which had cost me £22.00 return ended up paying 110.00 to get home or wait until the next day and pay for hotel overnight Any tips welcome and any experiences - thanks Susan Hi. We are on this cruise. I believe that the coach return to airport is included in all categories. Just ring to request return coach. I would expect everyone would disembark quickly as it's not like a fly cruise dependent on flight times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzysdad Posted January 20, 2019 #6 Share Posted January 20, 2019 6 hours ago, Nellie100 said: Morning all I am thinking of the Azura TA in March, I have been on many fly both way cruises and missed by December fix last year due to family illness's so wondering about this. Thinking of train journey home and pre-booking rail tickets which are reasonable at the moment what time does the ship dock and is it a reliable dock time? How long does it take to get off the ship? Can you self disembark? What time can you stay on the ship until - or what time do you have to be off the ship? I am always wary of booking tickets and not making the train once missed a train from London which had cost me £22.00 return ended up paying 110.00 to get home or wait until the next day and pay for hotel overnight Any tips welcome and any experiences - thanks Susan If you do decide to travel home directly by train you can disembark pretty early but if your in no rush you need to vacate your cabin by 8am, we stayed on board till around 9am on our last cruise and had advance train tickets booked from Southampton to Manchester for 11.17, we picked up some food for the train journey home and still had over an hour to kill so will be getting return tickets for the 10.17 on our cruise at Easter, disembarkation was remarkably easy, we went to the theatre to join the queue at 9 and we're literally walking through the baggage reclaim 15/20 minutes later, we jumped straight in a taxi of which there were plenty and we were back in town 10 minutes later, luggage is lined up in deck order and is very well organised, you can even disembark with your own luggage if that's your preference, we've just purchased our train tickets for the journey to Southampton this week at the 12 week release date and the savings are considerable, especially if you can make use of a valid rail card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philred Posted January 20, 2019 #7 Share Posted January 20, 2019 early days i know but does any body know where the coach unloads the passengers on arrival back in manchester at the end of this cruise ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miniyorkie Posted January 20, 2019 #8 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Philred. I thought the same and I understand that the coach will drop off at the coach station which is located near to the train station so potentially quite a walk back into the terminal. We have booked parking in the car park 2 so need to then get the shuttle. Can anyone confirm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philred Posted January 21, 2019 #9 Share Posted January 21, 2019 hi mini yorkie was just wondering if our T/A would be able to give us the information we require will ask when we go into pick our E tickets up early feburary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nellie100 Posted January 21, 2019 Author #10 Share Posted January 21, 2019 Thanks for the replies can any past TA cruisers give me any more information about TA's - the expected weather? entertainment do they differ much from the usual 14 day Caribbean fly cruises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalos Posted January 21, 2019 #11 Share Posted January 21, 2019 (edited) Both times we flew from T2 Manchester to Barbados for our Azura TA cruises and on return to Southampton we were dropped off back at the terminal so we could catch our shuttle buses back to collect our cars from the car parks. Anyone who has booked T2 long stay car park should expect an E-mail or contact from Manchester Airport. That car park is now closed or closing and the New T2 multi car park is now open and they are relocating bookings to this one . I got the Email last week changing a booking we had in the old T2 car park . Hope this helps . Edited January 21, 2019 by kalos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nellie100 Posted January 21, 2019 Author #12 Share Posted January 21, 2019 it does help we live 15 mins from Manchester airport so not a problem for us - how long was the coach trip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalos Posted January 21, 2019 #13 Share Posted January 21, 2019 Think we were back both times 2.30 ish to 3 pm that included a 45 minute services break , so average journey was around the 4 hour mark . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nellie100 Posted January 21, 2019 Author #14 Share Posted January 21, 2019 gosh a lot quicker than I thought we just need to take the plunge and book it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nellie100 Posted January 27, 2019 Author #15 Share Posted January 27, 2019 Hello again and thank you for the replies I rang P & O and yes on a saver fare the coach back to Manchester is included so nearly ready for booking - just have to wait for confirmation of carers for elderly mum then I can book. Can anyone tell me a little bit more about live on board this type of cruise after doing the usual fly Caribbean where most days it's up and off ship this is going to be very different - how long after leaving the Caribbean does the sun usually last how long can I sunbathe is what I am wondering and if not what is there to do? I guess I will need to take some warm clothes for when we are closer to Southampton and going home to Manchester? One last thing does anyone know where the drop off point is at Manchester airport? thanks in advance for any replies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nellie100 Posted January 29, 2019 Author #16 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Bumped to the top - we have now booked a new one for us looking for a little info as noted above/below anyone know what the entertainment is on board at the moment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john watson Posted January 31, 2019 #17 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Transatlantics Eastbound i.e. Barbados to Southampton. Bookings on Caribbean holidays run Fri/Fri and Sat/Sat mid season. So for Transatlantic bookings of this type best is booking a Friday flight and the cruise is A DAY LONGER with the extra day in Barbados. Starboard Balconies are going to be sunnier as they face the South on the Transatlantic Leg. C Deck are the biggest balcony cabins so if you bag one tick no upgrades. Cabins need to be vacated by 8am then organised disembarkation slots run until around 10am. Regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philred Posted February 1, 2019 #18 Share Posted February 1, 2019 hi john was just wondering have you done this cruise and if so what time will the ship depart from barbados thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john watson Posted February 1, 2019 #19 Share Posted February 1, 2019 38 minutes ago, philred said: hi john was just wondering have you done this cruise and if so what time will the ship depart from Barbados thanks I have done this cruise on Ventura 2009, the basics are the same however. Flights leave UK on Fri or Sat that would be 8/9 March 2019 or 20/21 March 2020. Friday people get a complete day in Barbados stay overnight in port. Then Friday and Saturday all get three quarters of a day in Barbados. The ship leaves in the evening on the Saturday. I cannot remember what time it was but the ship will wait until all the flights have delivered all the passengers. The cruise line is not time critical on getting to the next port if you see what I mean. They can make up several hours of delay in the next few sea days. I have also done St. Maarten to Lisbon on Star Clipper, eighteen consecutive sea days, P&O is relatively fast by comparison. Regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philred Posted February 1, 2019 #20 Share Posted February 1, 2019 thanks for your reply john respect to you dont think i could handle 18 consecutive sea days this will only be our tenth cruise never done more than one sea day at a time looking forward to this though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john watson Posted February 1, 2019 #21 Share Posted February 1, 2019 27 minutes ago, philred said: thanks for your reply john respect to you dont think i could handle 18 consecutive sea days this will only be our tenth cruise never done more than one sea day at a time looking forward to this though This cruise was supposed to stop at the Azores but we were running late. With a total number of passengers on board at just 34 we voted to change course and go straight to Lisbon. We were averaging 8 knots but needed 10. We had an Atlantic storm which was exciting. I have put a video on for the sister ship in a similar storm 2,000 tons ships move more than 115,000 tons. Lol John https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEYqtWPE4mk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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