Foreign cruise ports

[wowzz]

16 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Forgive my ignorance.  I have no memory of what you are referencing.  

Well, the IRA were conducting an indiscriminate bombing campaign at the time, so security would have been pretty tight. Exploding a bomb on a Cunard "Queen" would have been a good propaganda victory for them.

[ldubs]

23 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

Bremerhaven, Auckland, Civitavecchia, Montreal, and Vancouver are the only non-USA ports from where I embarked a cruise. 

 

A favorite?  I love Vancouver and Auckland for more than their embarkation facilities.  Regarding the best of the group for "specific cruise embarkation issues", Vancouver is the winner.

 

 

 

I also really enjoyed Auckland.  The small town atmosphere as well as the location of the port and ease of boarding were terrific.  For us, Sydney, Barcelona & Venice would also have to be near the top of the list.   

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Forgive my ignorance.  I have no memory of what you are referencing.  

You are not alone.

[clo]

3 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

The only foreign port I've embarked from is Vancouver.  I wouldn't call it a favorite.

Interesting. We've been to Vancouver a few times over the years and just loved it. 'Course we're really into food, especially Chinese food, and they're top notch.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Forgive my ignorance.  I have no memory of what you are referencing.  

 

The IRA were waging a bombing campaign and had assassinated Lord Louis Mountbatten in 1979. Cunard were considered a higher profile target than the P&O ships, so while we increased security, Cunard ramped up significantly.

 

If we docked next to a Cunarder, as P&O Officers, even we could not get aboard.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Forgive my ignorance.  I have no memory of what you are referencing.  

 

Deleted a duplicate post

Edited December 23, 2020 by Heidi13

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Well, the IRA were conducting an indiscriminate bombing campaign at the time, so security would have been pretty tight. Exploding a bomb on a Cunard "Queen" would have been a good propaganda victory for them.

 

Thank you.  I now know what I did not know at the time.  

 

I wonder if such "unrest" contributed to the poor service and experience that my traveling companion and I experienced on QE2 during our sailing in July, 1980?   From what I learned at the time, the ship's issues were labor problems.  Were political issues mixed in with this?  

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Thank you.  I now know what I did not know at the time.  

 

I wonder if such "unrest" contributed to the poor service and experience that my traveling companion and I experienced on QE2 during our sailing in July, 1980?   From what I learned at the time, the ship's issues were labor problems.  Were political issues mixed in with this?  

 

Didn't work for Cunard, but labour issues were most likely the root cause. That is around the time when many of the British ratings were being replaced by cheaper crews.

[wowzz]

6 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Thank you.  I now know what I did not know at the time.  

 

I wonder if such "unrest" contributed to the poor service and experience that my traveling companion and I experienced on QE2 during our sailing in July, 1980?   From what I learned at the time, the ship's issues were labor problems.  Were political issues mixed in with this?  

No, the issues you experienced on board  were nothing to do with the IRA murdering civilians. 

Edited December 23, 2020 by wowzz

[George C]

We have only sailed twice from Europe, loved our cruise 4 years ago leaving from Barcelona, great city , hope to do Europe again as soon as things return to normal.

[clo]

43 minutes ago, George C said:

We have only sailed twice from Europe, loved our cruise 4 years ago leaving from Barcelona, great city , hope to do Europe again as soon as things return to normal.

I could LIVE in Barcelona!

 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, clo said:

I could LIVE in Barcelona!

 

I generally do not like cities, but Barcelona is one I could make an exception for.