1st timers.

Hi everyone, this is our first cruise, there are 4 of us going, we are all well travelled holidayers so we have been around quite a bit. Is it worth booking the tours onboard or do our own thing on arrival at the various ports. Also is it worth upgrading to a balcony, we have outside rooms on either deck 3 or 4, do these have portholes or picture windows? Just one other question ( the wife wants to know) can we take drinks bought ashore into our rooms? Thanks for any help, Dave.;)

Hi Dave and welcome. I wouldn't personally book a balcony on the IE, they look as though they have been bolted on afterwards to the side of the ship. Unless you are a smoker then I would save my money for excursions. You might however, want to book a particular cabin or upgrade to a higher deck, maybe deck 7 which is closer to all the amenities. It's always a bit busy on decks 3 and 4 with the crew coming and going from their quarters. Do a search for the Island Escape on YouTube, it's very interesting.

Yes you can take your own drink onboard and we have done it a lot. Sometimes they scan your bags and sometimes not but it's not to catch you smuggling booze, just security.

If you type a list of your itinerary then we can advise on the trips.

Why not do a countdown clock. Tap on countdown clocks tab near the top of the page and follow the instructions then cut and paste the gobbledegook.:):)

Jan

Hi Jan,

thanks for that, is my countdown clock not showing then, i can see it. I will take your advice and try to upgrade to a higher deck. Our itinery is, sail from Palma, day at sea, Ajaccio, Rome, Livorno, Toulon, Barcelona and back to Palma. The wife likes window shopping, but the only places i would like to see are the collosium and pisa, the rest of the time we are just likely to wander around the port of call.

Cheers, Dave.;)

Hi Dave, yes your countdown clock is showing ok. Palma, you should have a bit of time to go out, although it's a bit of a trek along the walkways, I did notice from the top deck that there might a cut through near the ship and past the security kiosk. Not sure about that. Anyway, not far from the exit by the walkway and straight ahead there's a bus stop and the number 41? goes into the centre of Palma. For ourselves we walked left along by the port and up a slight hill where we found a large shopping mall where we stocked up in the supermarket with water, wine etc. Don't forget the corkscrew.

Day at sea. Can be boring and if you don't get up at the crack of dawn don't waste your time walking miles looking for a sunbed as they're all snapped up, apart from the ones on the top deck in all the wind. Sometimes it's better just to give up and sit outside the Beachcomber with a cup of tea.

Ajaccio, not much here in the way of excursions that we fancied but we got the tender in then walked through the town to the left and along the coast for a mile or two. Easy walking and there is a large piazza with a statue of Napoleon. On the way back strolled around the centre and went into the art gallery, not bad but nothing special. About 6 euros. Expensive here so back to the ship for lunch. Quickly off the ship again and caught the sightseeing bus just outside the port. There are 2, one is for an hour and the other 50 minutes, around 8 euros for that one. We caught the latter so we could get the tender before last. A nice tour around the town and up the coast, another statue of Napoleon for a photo op. We were there in July and it was Bastille Day so lots of parades.

Rome. If you've been there before it's easy to DIY from the port by train. There is a great video on YouTube showing you how or do a search on Thomsom, Kruzseeka has great tips. If you can't find them I think I've got them saved. We wanted to see the Sistene Chapel so we splashed out on a full day trip which cost us about £86 each, lunch included with wine at a restaurant, but it did include entrance fees. As we approached the Vatican the queues at 9.30am were enormous and independent visitors would be queuing about 40 minutes even then. We went straight to the front and were fitting out with earpieces, etc. and found the guide who stayed with us throughout our visit. We also visited a good few of the museum rooms and St Peter's Basillica. There is a station just nearby, the one for the Collisseum is the Termini next one along. After we had a nice lunch then a coach tour around all the sites but not getting off anywhere. I think you have to decide which part of Rome you want as it's not possible to do both. A good alternative is the Rome On Your Own where you go with a guide but are then left to find your own way about with a map and meet later for the trip back. This way you can spend longer in the city and if the coach is late the ship will wait for you but will NOT wait if you diy. Something always to bear in mind and you should always carry taxi money just in case something happens and you are delayed.

Livorno. We had a lovely day in Florence and did Florence On Your Own similar to the one above. A great place to wander round with the map as everything is in about a half mile radius. You are dropped at the station and meet back just nearby. A simple map is provided but very accurate. We went in the Palzzo Vechio just behind the statue of David, very nice and there are toilets in there as well. We took a couple of bananas, apples and buns from the breakfast buffet so we didn't have to bother with lunch. There is a Florence and Pisa trip but we preferred to have more time in Florence as we thought we'd seen enough of those photo's over the year of people holding the tower up, lol.

I have been to Barcelona but not from a cruise so, again, do a search on Thomson for the best diy tips. I believe it's quite straightforward but it is a large city with very long, straight, wide roads so walking is not recommended without a plan. I've heard the metro is the best way around.

I haven't been to Toulon so can't help there.

Hope I've been a bit of help but as I said search on Thomson forum for the best tips as everyone has a different idea of what they want. Some people are more active than others so they would want a different type of experience.

Jan

Cheers for that Jan, it was very helpfull, we are both very exicited about this trip as we have been thinking of doing a cruise for many a year now, but have always opted for the all inclusive option so far, so a change will do us good me thinks.

We got the `free` drinks upgrade when we booked, not that we are big drinkers, lol. But looking at the Thomson Cruise web site, if we booked the trip now and payed for the drinks we would be better of and an upgrade to decks 7/8/9. So booking early hasnt really done us any favours we think?

Never mind though. Once again, thanks for the heads up and hope you have a good cruise yourselves.

Cheers, Dave.;)

Hi Dave, You'll have a great time and the IE is a good starter ship, onwards and upwards afterwards. The cabins on ships are a bit like staying in a caravan and don't compare to hotels but you don't go on a cruise to stay in the cabin and are out all the time apart from washing and sleeping.

I've found that the prices more or less balance out, you pay more for the base price and get free AI or you can go a few weeks earlier or later and pay a lower base price and pay maybe £138 for a drinks package. It's only as you get closer to departure that the drinks package shoots up but if you don't drink a lot like us you can take advantage of cheaper base prices around 5 weeks before departure. Bear in mind that if you book well in advance then want to upgrade your cabin later you will be tied to the upgrade prices that were available when you booked and not the lower prices that may be available on the price of the day later on. With that in mind you might as well upgrade sooner than later and paying £39 to choose a particular cabin is well worth it, it's less than £20pp. Keep away from the front end of the IE, moves too much and is very noisy with banging in the night. Midships is always best.

Anyway if you have any more questions just ask on here or Thomson. Look a couple of page along on there for the thread '5 things you wish you'd known on your first cruise'. Plenty of useful tips on there. If you can't find it I'll bump it up.

Can't wait for my cruise on the Dream in three and a half weeks.:):)

Jan

Cheers for that Jan, it was very helpfull, we are both very exicited about this trip as we have been thinking of doing a cruise for many a year now, but have always opted for the all inclusive option so far, so a change will do us good me thinks.

We got the `free` drinks upgrade when we booked, not that we are big drinkers, lol. But looking at the Thomson Cruise web site, if we booked the trip now and payed for the drinks we would be better of and an upgrade to decks 7/8/9. So booking early hasnt really done us any favours we think?

Never mind though. Once again, thanks for the heads up and hope you have a good cruise yourselves.

 

Cheers, Dave.;)

Hi Dave

Looks like we are on the same cruise ( this will be our second) last year we were on RC so this could be quite different.We have pre booked a cabin mid ship deck 7 outside.We got a phone call today to ask if we wanted to upgrade to a balcony or premier but we declined ( not in cabin much) we will use money for tours etc. May see you onboard,!