TA from Barbados - help pls

[Nellie100]

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 

[janny444]

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.

[Nellie100]

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 

[janny444]

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.

[miniyorkie]

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. 

[ozzysdad]

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.

[philred]

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 ?

[miniyorkie]

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?

[philred]

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  

[Nellie100]

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. 

[kalos]

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

[Nellie100]

it does help we live 15 mins from Manchester airport so not a problem for us - how long was the coach trip? 

[kalos]

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 .

[Nellie100]

gosh a lot quicker than I thought we just need to take the plunge and book it

[Nellie100]

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 

[Nellie100]

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? 

[john watson]

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

[philred]

hi john was just wondering have you done this cruise and if so what time will the ship depart from barbados  thanks

[john watson]

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

[philred]

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   

[john watson]

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