Fur coat and no knickers

[Megabear2]

4 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

On sea days we rarely both leave our sunbeds at the same time. Maybe 30 mins for lunch somewhere together. Normally the nearest buffet. 20 minutes ish in the swim up pool bar 

 

Our etiquette for that is we leave our stuff on the sunbeds all day but rarely one of us at least isn't there apart from above. I assume that's ok though?

 

What's the  rules? Is it an hour or more unattended you might get things moved if you are unlucky? 

 

 

It's meant to be 30 minutes but as you know P&O rarely act on people abusing the sunbeds.  If you are sitting there all day no problem.  

 

We choose not to sit in the sun all day, as a cancer survivor more than once I'd feel very uncomfortable doing this.   Clearly it's a personal choice how people spend their time. In our case we like to go off to lectures or events when we like and therefore cannot camp on sunbeds or seats all day if we wish to play by the rules. Lunch for us is a relaxed affair being served in somewhere like the MDR or Glass House, again over an hour.

 

This difference in holiday experience goes someway to explaining why a lot of us pay fof the balconies.

[terrierjohn]

13 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Even when I travel solo it can be difficult to find a seat after lunch outside on thr bigger ships.  Funnily enough the very biggest I sailed was Allure of the Seas and the number of beds, seats and amount of room seemed far superior but it could have been an illusion!

Assuming that cruise was a Caribbean one from the USA, then that does not surprise me. US lines have few sea days, and US passengers don't seem to be such avid sun worshippers as most Brits, and of course RCI have far more on board attractions that reduce the numbers seeking sun beds.

[Interestedcruisefan]

8 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Assuming that cruise was a Caribbean one from the USA, then that does not surprise me. US lines have few sea days, and US passengers don't seem to be such avid sun worshippers as most Brits, and of course RCI have far more on board attractions that reduce the numbers seeking sun beds.

They are all in the casino playing poker or the slot machines!!

 

During the day as well as night!!

 

Much bigger casinos on the RCL ships as well

 

Come to think of it having a balcony would be cheaper!!

 

Lol

 

I guess some of the Americans see more of the sun at home than a lot of us Brits as well

Edited November 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, terrierjohn said:

Assuming that cruise was a Caribbean one from the USA, then that does not surprise me. US lines have few sea days, and US passengers don't seem to be such avid sun worshippers as most Brits, and of course RCI have far more on board attractions that reduce the numbers seeking sun beds.

Yes, I've sailed on Allure Caribbean from FL many times and also a transatlantic relocation from Barcelona.  I've always had the same experience wherever she was sailing from.  

[Interestedcruisefan]

23 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

 

This difference in holiday experience goes someway to explaining why a lot of us pay for the balconies.

For sure

 

It also explains why it's really important for many people to have specific cabins in specific locations in the ship

 

Not only do they want a balcony but it needs to be one they will enjoy sitting on etc

 

When they expect to spend significant time on there each day 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Harry Peterson]

Now here’s a thought to avoid those empty sunbeds. Early polling by Carnival suggests that 99% of all users would like to see them charged by the minute.

 

Or was that 99% of all Carnival finance directors?

[Interestedcruisefan]

11 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Now here’s a thought to avoid those empty sunbeds. Early polling by Carnival suggests that 99% of all users would like to see them charged by the minute.

 

Or was that 99% of all Carnival finance directors?

 

[Guest]

Here is a fun (or not) tidbit that I don’t know if has been covered on here. My Mum is currently on Britannia and she says the lifeboat that was damaged during its incident in Palma is still missing.
 

Given that they had to disembark passengers when it happened, it kind of assumes that they don’t think their Caribbean cruises will be at full capacity.
 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

3 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

Here is a fun (or not) tidbit that I don’t know if has been covered on here. My Mum is currently on Britannia and she says the lifeboat that was damaged during its incident in Palma is still missing.
 

Given that they had to disembark passengers when it happened, it kind of assumes that they don’t think their Caribbean cruises will be at full capacity.
 

 

Maybe that explains less staff serving in the bars??

 

Lol

[AndyMichelle]

6 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

We've not got to the stage of wanting/needing solace on a balcony so far when we cruise

 

Maybe that time will come

We never used to think this way, but after our Britannia cruise this year, there were certainly times when we were so glad to have the balcony, sometimes you just need a break from certain types of behaviour... 

Andy 

[kalos]

22 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

We never used to think this way, but after our Britannia cruise this year, there were certainly times when we were so glad to have the balcony, sometimes you just need a break from certain types of behaviour... 

Andy 

Nor did we think that way but my days of drinking or walking far have gone , so warm weather cruises ,the balcony is our enjoyment .

Last cruise our balcony neighbour had recent heart surgery and booked their balcony so he could watch the world go by and relax .

We had plenty of inside cabins when I worked hard and played hard as I had little time for sat on a balcony .

So we adapt to what suits us all.

[Cruisemeister2002]

On 11/24/2023 at 2:52 PM, Interestedcruisefan said:

I understand your post for missing things you like

 

But IMO those extras you describe above are all actually low cost albeit great extras to enjoy and shouldn't make the difference between a good holiday and a bad one?

 

Your holiday can't have been the worst in 17 cruises for those reasons can it? I assume bad things happened alongside the missing extras above? 

They certainly did. Ship docked five hours late so left Southampton at 11.30 instead of around 5.30. We received notification of change of cabin the day before travelling to Southampton. All the labels had to be reprinted. Got to Southampton and due to the ship being late the port was chocca. Passengers and baggage as far as the eye could see. So no smooth embarkation. Onboard made our way to the new cabin where the door card was obviously for the original occupants. We let ourselves in and having paid £400 for a Celebration Package which I had confirmed via P&O a few days earlier that all necessary items would be in the cabin, they were not. It took 15 days to get most of the items that the package included. The food was anything but perfect and it wasn't just myself being picky as others on our table complained or didn't eat all the food. The waiter was obviously concerned as he constantly questioned whether it was o.k. The best meals we had were one's we paid extra for in Sindu, which were superb and the Beach House which wasn't brilliant, but nonetheless better than the MDR. The entertainment was poor except for two tribute acts that were brill. As for talks well it came down to some chap talking about photography virtually every day.There were a few other problems. Immigration, but I cannot blame that on the cruiseline and a problem in Miami where the airbridge moved, so after waiting for 15 minutes in 91 degree heat we were told to go back to the terminal building, exit it at quay level and access the ship via a lower gangway. We did this, queued in a queue  of 50 people, thirty were allowed on, then told to go back to the terminal building and wait for the airbridge to reopen, which it did 15 minutes later. As everyone will be aware these airbridges aren't just a few steps they wind around and around. Being in my mid 70's and having problems with my feet and legs it was no joke, neither for myself or other elderly travellers and one young woman who was having an asthma attack. The cruise also after leaving Southampton called at La Coruna and was then due to call in at Bermuda. We missed Bermuda, because of according to the Captain, the weather. But this announcement was made several days before reaching Bermuda and many passengers along with myself believe the reason more to be because of the ship leaving Southampton late, because the weather was fine and the sea was calm. So we carried on to Freeport Bahamas. So ten days sailing out. Then on the return it was 6 days to Punta del Garda and a further 3 days to Southampton. Which I knew about, but could easily have got on a plane and flew back home from Port Canaveral, except the wife cannot fly. So no, the reason for me not liking the cruise had nothing to do with boiled sweet, steaks, late night sandwiches or toiletries. I just believe they were nice to have although I appreciate many things are changing and as we won't be cruising  for many more years they have to accomodate the new style cruiser who maybe doesn't want formal evenings, set meal times etc.