Fur coat and no knickers

[zap99]

6 hours ago, FangedRose said:

Glad to see the back of the boiled sweets, I would never eat anything left uncovered in bowl in my cabin. Never knew how long they had been there! Steak is still always available (at least in September). Also glad to see the end of the non Silver Service. Proper fed up of having to wait for fellow diners to acknowledge that the waiter was there then dithering over their choice. I've never had a cold meal since that palaver was got rid of. A vast improvement. If you want more veg just ask for extra veg when ordering. I'm sure the buffet is still open after the show (never needed (or wanted) to go myself), but tablemates were saying they had been.

Our hotel in Menorca had a chocolate fountain one night. Lots of folk took pictures, but not many sampled it. Folks tastes change.

[room with a view]

On 11/22/2023 at 6:17 PM, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi

I am looking to book a cruise next April.

There is x3 choices,,,,,,Arvia,Ventura or Marella.

I want info on all three before I make a decision.

I read Iona/Arvia threads to convince me one way or another to try that class of ship again.Probably Iona is a once and done,,,but maybe the performance of Iona has improved and passed to Arvia.

I like Ventura and my Marella cruise last month was a good one.

 

So it’s not anger,,it’s about the information im losing due to peoples reluctance to post because we have post after post about chocolate.

 

 

Jade, Gem, Pearl or Jewel ...NCL .

[zap99]

On 11/22/2023 at 4:40 PM, kalos said:

 

According to  my new chocolate advent calendar,there are only two days until Christmas 🙃😉

At work, the CSM gave her staff advent calendars. One Monday a girl found a notice on her desk telling form her that her advent calendar privileges had been withdrawn due to misuse. On Friday She had opened Saturday and Sundays squares.

[zap99]

20 minutes ago, room with a view said:

Jade, Gem, Pearl or Jewel ...NCL .

I would book Arvia for April.....oh, I have. An NCL will be later in the year. I need a few more points.

[purplesea]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

I would book Arvia for April.....oh, I have. An NCL will be later in the year. I need a few more points.

Are you on K407 or K408?

[zap99]

1 minute ago, purplesea said:

Are you on K407 or K408?

K409 Med, from Southampton.

[purplesea]

Was just wondering as we are on K407.

[yorkshirephil]

5 minutes ago, purplesea said:

Was just wondering as we are on K407.

Phew

[Grandad John]

1 hour ago, yorkshirephil said:

Phew

But phew for who?!!

[amurray88]

On 11/22/2023 at 8:19 PM, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi 

I did say as a one off to see the difference….Value?
There is an old saying “Some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing”

This really does apply to cruise ships.

 

I have to admit after my Celebrity cruise this May it looks like it was my last.way too expensive going forward,,,,they have now lost value for me.but that’s for balcony,,,,£2700 if you like an inside seems OK.

It looks like I will just have to settle for P&O.problem is I end up comparing all the time.

I got my 7 night Jan 24 cruise, with flights for £967 for 3 of us when I minus the OBC.... I don't think I could get 3 flights with 3 suitcases for that so think that's value. Interestingly, since 2010, my idea of budget has seriously decreased for no real reason. I only noticed this when I thought I got a bargain on NCL Epic in 2017 when I got 7 nights for £1800 for 2, not including flights etc and now I'm looking for <£1,000 for 3 including flights 😂 think I need to have a word with myself.

[Guest]

44 minutes ago, amurray88 said:

I got my 7 night Jan 24 cruise, with flights for £967 for 3 of us when I minus the OBC.... I don't think I could get 3 flights with 3 suitcases for that so think that's value. Interestingly, since 2010, my idea of budget has seriously decreased for no real reason. I only noticed this when I thought I got a bargain on NCL Epic in 2017 when I got 7 nights for £1800 for 2, not including flights etc and now I'm looking for <£1,000 for 3 including flights 😂 think I need to have a word with myself.

The problem is, I can’t see any other cruise line drastically slashing costs like P&O are. And it’s quite obvious where the corners are being cut to cover the difference. I’d rather pay a bit more and get the staffing levels back and food back to pre Covid.
 

Speaking of pre Covid deals…. I paid £480pp for 7 nights on the Navigator of the seas out of Miami back in 2019. That also included a premium drinks package and WiFi. And the ship had just had a multi-million $ refurb! A steal!!!!!! The flights ended up costing more than the cruise!!!!

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Guest
Changed “deal” to “line”

[yorkshirephil]

2 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

The problem is, I can’t see any other cruise deal drastically slashing costs like P&O are. And it’s quite obvious where the corners are being cut to cover the difference. I’d rather pay a bit more and get the staffing levels back and food back to pre Covid.
 

 

NCL, MSC and Ambassador have had lots of deals this year with prices at £50 pp per night and on a few slightly less, so the deals are there. How much longer they will last is any ones guess. 

[amurray88]

9 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

The problem is, I can’t see any other cruise deal drastically slashing costs like P&O are. And it’s quite obvious where the corners are being cut to cover the difference. I’d rather pay a bit more and get the staffing levels back and food back to pre Covid.
 

Speaking of pre Covid deals…. I paid £480pp for 7 nights on the Navigator of the seas out of Miami back in 2019. That also included a premium drinks package and WiFi. And the ship had just had a multi-million $ refurb! A steal!!!!!! The flights ended up costing more than the cruise!!!!

I do love a deal... 7 nights drinks on RCL would set you back £480pp now!

[Guest]

Just now, amurray88 said:

I do love a deal... 7 nights drinks on RCL would set you back £480pp now!

It would! 
 

Still can’t believe I actually got that deal. I know P&O often do a week for the same price, but this was a steal with everything included. Yet a year prior on the Symphony cost me triple!!! With no drinks or WiFi 

[amurray88]

23 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

It would! 
 

Still can’t believe I actually got that deal. I know P&O often do a week for the same price, but this was a steal with everything included. Yet a year prior on the Symphony cost me triple!!! With no drinks or WiFi 

You can't win 😂 I got Symphony last Easter for £460pp for 7 nights (nothing included) although got non-alc for £14/nt which I was happy with. 

 

Bearing in mind that was still COVID times (testing before going on, limited timings for some bars, no Hairspray but all other shows were on). Don't think COVID pricing will return to RCL any time soon!

[terrierjohn]

41 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

NCL, MSC and Ambassador have had lots of deals this year with prices at £50 pp per night and on a few slightly less, so the deals are there. How much longer they will last is any ones guess. 

I presume those prices are all for inside cabins though Phil, there's no way we could consider anything less than a balcony.

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, amurray88 said:

You can't win 😂 I got Symphony last Easter for £460pp for 7 nights (nothing included) although got non-alc for £14/nt which I was happy with. 

 

Bearing in mind that was still COVID times (testing before going on, limited timings for some bars, no Hairspray but all other shows were on). Don't think COVID pricing will return to RCL any time soon!

Oh that’s so good! I was on one of the first sailings so it was a bit pricier and it included a flight. So the base cost was £1000 which is still more than double I paid for Navigator before extras! 
 

Yeah pricing has gone mad. However I’ve heard Royal have been changing all the MDR menus and it’s not as good as it used to be. But that may be ship dependent. 
 

I got a good deal on the Celebrity Silhouette last Feb- £999 for 10 nights out of Ft Lauderdale including premium drinks, WiFi and tips. Ended up paying £1200 as I bid to a balcony. Still a great price. 
 

I also got a reasonable deal on the Beyond for Feb this year. £2500pp for a B2B out of Ft L. Sunset Balcony, drinks, WiFi, tips and $400OBC included. For perspective, my parents have paid £3200pp for two weeks in a standard balcony on Britannia next Feb. So even including the flight, it was cheaper on the Beyond, which included a far lot more!!!!!! (Side note, the Britannia cruise was booked so long ago. You can now get a balcony on it for as little £2100pp.)

 

Celebrity prices have now shot up. The cruise lines are all now having to recuperate the Covid losses. 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Guest

[Selbourne]

23 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

I’d rather pay a bit more and get the staffing levels back and food back to pre Covid.

We didn’t notice any issues with staffing levels on either Britannia or Ventura this year. Service was excellent on both ships and we didn’t have to wait long to be served anywhere. Iona was completely different and the bars in particular seemed under staffed, but the ship felt overcrowded so I suspect that was a factor (it was summer school holidays).

 

We found the MDR food to be good on all our post Covid P&O cruises, although there’s no getting away from the fact that choice has diminished (with the ‘always available’ items now used to pad out the menus) and portion sizes have decreased (most starters would struggle to fill half a saucer 😂). We’ve all felt the impact of food price inflation over the last year, or so I suspect that they have been tasked with trying to keep to the same budget, so something has had to give. 
 

Whether we agree with it or not, I think we have to accept that P&O has changed its market positioning. When we first started cruising with them I’d say they were what you might call ‘upper-mid’ segment. Over time they gradually became ‘mid market’. Now they have moved to be very much a ‘mass market’ operator, aiming to be the cheapest ex-UK operator in order to attract the burgeoning ‘new to cruising’ market. From a business perspective, I think that this is a very wise move, as it’s where the growth potential is.
 

I would have an issue if this had happened with prices (in real terms) remaining as they were but, in fairness, they haven’t. The prices that we pay now reflect the absence of the things that, to many of us, made cruising unique compared to land based holidays, but the market that they are targeting now has no knowledge of the past and therefore don’t miss these things. I also suspect that many ‘traditional’ cruisers will happily do without these things in return for the lower prices. Whilst we noticed a few dozen cutbacks on our P&O cruises this year, we were surprised that, with just 2 or 3 exceptions, most had very little impact on our cruise experience. 

[terrierjohn]

5 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

Oh that’s so good! I was on one of the first sailings so it was a bit pricier and it included a flight. So the base cost was £1000 which is still more than double I paid for Navigator before extras! 
 

Yeah pricing has gone mad. However I’ve heard Royal have been changing all the MDR menus and it’s not as good as it used to be. But that may be ship dependent. 
 

I got a good deal on the Celebrity Silhouette last Feb- £999 for 10 nights out of Ft Lauderdale including premium drinks, WiFi and tips. Ended up paying £1200 as I bid to a balcony. Still a great price. 
 

I also got a reasonable deal on the Beyond for Feb this year. £2500pp for a B2B out of Ft L. Sunset Balcony, drinks, WiFi, tips and $400OBC included. For perspective, my parents have paid £3200pp for two weeks in a standard balcony on Britannia next Feb. So even including the flight, it was cheaper on the Beyond, which included a far lot more!!!!!! (Side note, the Britannia cruise was booked so long ago. You can now get a balcony on it for as little £2100pp.)

 

Celebrity prices have now shot up. The cruise lines are all now having to recuperate the Covid losses. 

I assume you have advised your parents to cancel and rebook  if the saving is so high?

[yorkshirephil]

6 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I presume those prices are all for inside cabins though Phil, there's no way we could consider anything less than a balcony.

Correct John, balconies on NCL and MSC are well priced as with a lot of the newer big ships, Ambassador ships are older so balconies are more expensive.

[amurray88]

6 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

Oh that’s so good! I was on one of the first sailings so it was a bit pricier and it included a flight. So the base cost was £1000 which is still more than double I paid for Navigator before extras! 
 

Yeah pricing has gone mad. However I’ve heard Royal have been changing all the MDR menus and it’s not as good as it used to be. But that may be ship dependent. 
 

I got a good deal on the Celebrity Silhouette last Feb- £999 for 10 nights out of Ft Lauderdale including premium drinks, WiFi and tips. Ended up paying £1200 as I bid to a balcony. Still a great price. 
 

I also got a reasonable deal on the Beyond for Feb this year. £2500pp for a B2B out of Ft L. Sunset Balcony, drinks, WiFi, tips and $400OBC included. For perspective, my parents have paid £3200pp for two weeks in a standard balcony on Britannia next Feb. So even including the flight, it was cheaper on the Beyond, which included a far lot more!!!!!! (Side note, the Britannia cruise was booked so long ago. You can now get a balcony on it for as little £2100pp.)

 

Celebrity prices have now shot up. The cruise lines are all now having to recuperate the Covid losses. 

You're right, having to make their money back! Oh well, we will see what the future has in store. A balance between value and quality is needed 👌 been quite a while since I done a beach holiday so here's hoping cruising keeps offering good value... although I'm not sure what I'd do with all the space in a hotel room now that I'm used to an interior cruise cabin! 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I assume you have advised your parents to cancel and rebook  if the saving is so high?

Unfortunately it was a moved cruise from one that was cancelled due to Covid. As they couldn’t get the money back they just decided to see it as a trip paid for ages ago. 

 

 

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, amurray88 said:

You're right, having to make their money back! Oh well, we will see what the future has in store. A balance between value and quality is needed 👌 been quite a while since I done a beach holiday so here's hoping cruising keeps offering good value... although I'm not sure what I'd do with all the space in a hotel room now that I'm used to an interior cruise cabin! 

Agreed! 
 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Guest

[Interestedcruisefan]

6 hours ago, Glitterati said:

Agreed! 
 

I kind of feel that wanting to make money back for what cruise lines lost during covid is irrelevant 

 

What's done is done with that. They may want to make their money back but what they all want and what they can actually achieve are two different matters. Plus don't forget normal holiday hotels and resorts are in the exact same situation. They were all impacted by covid significantly.

 

Holidaymakers will simply choose how much they want to spend now, how often they want to holiday and who with based on what's out there to book. 

 

Value for money. A very important factor to a LARGE number of holidaymakers of course.

 

For me and my wife cruising has NEVER been such great value in real money terms especially as we don't have to pay gratuities now either (if we choose P and O)

 

Nothing we see in cruise pricing suggests that companies are trying to make their money back from covid

 

We are cruising more than we ever did now as a result. Very much helped by the fact we don't need a balcony to love cruise holidays. And we aren't retired yet. Albeit we are self employed so we can choose when to work and went to holiday as a result. 

 

My parents do need a balcony to enjoy cruise holidays.

 

So I get  it. But cruise holidays are nowhere near the great deals they can be without balconies of course.

 

An interesting situation for us I do remember was BEFORE we ever cruised we did assume we would want a balcony to enjoy it more.

 

Only after we cruised did we realise we didn't spend enough time or get enough value from the balcony to justify the extra cost. Which is significant as we all know.

 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I kind of feel that wanting to make money back for what cruise lines lost during covid is irrelevant 

 

What's done is done with that. They may want to make their money back but what they all want and what they can actually achieve are two different matters. Plus don't forget normal holiday hotels and resorts are in the exact same situation. They were all impacted by covid significantly.

 

Holidaymakers will simply choose how much they want to spend now, how often they want to holiday and who with based on what's out there to book. 

 

Value for money. A very important factor to a LARGE number of holidaymakers of course.

 

For me and my wife cruising has NEVER been such great value in real money terms especially as we don't have to pay gratuities now either (if we choose P and O)

 

Nothing we see in cruise pricing suggests that companies are trying to make their money back from covid

 

We are cruising more than we ever did now as a result. Very much helped by the fact we don't need a balcony to love cruise holidays. And we aren't retired yet. Albeit we are self employed so we can choose when to work and went to holiday as a result. 

 

My parents do need a balcony to enjoy cruise holidays.

 

So I get  it. But cruise holidays are nowhere near the great deals they can be without balconies of course.

 

An interesting situation for us I do remember was BEFORE we ever cruised we did assume we would want a balcony to enjoy it more.

 

Only after we cruised did we realise we didn't spend enough time or get enough value from the balcony to justify the extra cost. Which is significant as we all know.

 

 

ICF, I wonder if the reason you constantly bombard us with the  benefits of inside cabins might in fact be more to convince yourself that you don't really miss the benefits of daylight or your own personal balcony?😉