JeanieC,Aston

Lots of people walk around with bottles of wine,,,I always buy the DP now but used to buy the Wine package for my wife,,,I drink Guinness and Jameson’s.

Most night she would take the opened bottle out of the restaurant to finish in the bar…….maybe this is what others do.

I did read one cruise line has stopped storing wine after diner to be drank the next night,,,can’t remember which.

Here is the hot tub and conservatory cabins…..

I imagine those screens are to encourage people to walk down the middle of the deck and not holding on to someone’s balcony rail.

On 4/29/2024 at 12:41 AM, mahdnc said:

Here is a photo of the Cosmopolitan dining room as it looks today (after its Revolution makeover):

 

 

Here is what the dining room looked like when we last sailed on her in Aug 2010.

 

 

 

I have always liked the Millennium class MDR because of its two story wall of windows that look out at the back of the ship.  Century class ships were built that way as well and so 5 out of the first 6 ships we took with Celebrity had this design and it represents the good old days in my mind.

Hi

I had a very enjoyable Med cruise on this last week,,,believe it was Celebrity Mercury,,,the windows are still there.

2 hours ago, Bazrat said:

Standards must have been very poor on Iona, we was on Arvia and not once did we have a problem getting to our table and have not read it anywhere else there have been problems 

Standards was very poor on Iona.

27 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

P&O do now attempt to take you to the table, but quite often the waiter/stewards don't know where the table is!!😯

Same on our Iona cruise last year,,problem was those who now show you to the table are commandeered from the cabin steward team even when they had a map they was getting lost.

They don’t even dress them like restaurant staff,they are the ones in the scruffy grey polo shirts.

15 hours ago, mike x ftc said:

We love Fred but we accept when we cruise Fred we have a window as balconies are far too expensive, when we cruise P&O and other lines on bigger ships we have a balcony as it is cheaper but we know dining, service etc will not be the same. It's all about choice, where you're going and for how long.   As someone has said Fred's drinks packages are very cheap and more often or not they have an offer and they are free, our 2025 Northern lights cruise included one. This is worth quite a bit of money on a 10 night cruise.  Other lines drinks and drinks packages are prohibitively expensive.

Hi

Did Fred twice from Liverpool,,really enjoyed the cruise and I agree with others the food was far superior to P&O,,,they even show you to your table in the buffet that’s laid out with cutlery and table clothes,,,then the person who showed you to your table gets you your tea or coffee,,,,little things that makes a difference.

Where I disagree is re the Drink Package,,,,it’s woefull,,,,one beer,NB,one lager.cheap spirits,,,the choice of one white,red,rose house wine….if you want say a Guinness or John Smiths maybe a Jameson’s or a choice of wine you pay 50% of the bar price.

We are looking at an 8 night Round Ireland cruise from Liverpool on Bolette with added DP,,,,,,,in a fully obscured Outside cabin on Prom Deck====£4400 for 2.

who are they kidding.

I would sail Fred from Liverpool every time if it was at P&O prices.

1 hour ago, happy v said:

This may have changed. We were given 8.15 am with Intercruises to Newcastle. People on Eavesway to Newcastle were given 10.15 am. There were no Eavesway coaches in the car park when we got off

 

Wow that’s late,I never thought P&O would want people still on the ship at that time.

1 hour ago, david63 said:

Even before those who have priority disembarkation (suites and top Peninsular tier)?

I don’t know what time priority are given but on my last P&O cruise disembarkation times for coaches was at or near the top of the list.
Of course walk off’s were the first off.

They started giving coaches first debark times…

Eavesway say the coaches will be parked up from 08:00 and can travellers try to be on coach by 08:30,,,,,alas you always get ones who linger over a long breakfast and stroll up at 09:30 or even later.

You can always book one of these if you want a faux balcony cabin on Fred.

They are called Lanai cabins,,not much privacy though with doors open but you do get your own steamer chairs.

12 hours ago, heathstockton4 said:

Has anyone done the North West route (Burtonwood) with the new and later pick-up time, we are a 10am pick-up from Burtonwood which seems very late to me?

It does seem late,with lunch stop it’s 5 hrs plus.

Eavesway have always left Burtonwood at 07:45 and usually pulls into the terminal around 13:30.

Flam is a lovely village,,good shopping and a brew pub to try the local brew.

It is easy to book the train online,,,,there is a little Noddy train for a short trip up and down the valley.

Here is a photo,,,the train is just ahead of the electric ferry in the photo.

one of the ferries seen is battery powered and does trips up the fiord.

13 hours ago, snaefell said:

There are variable speed limits & 50mph speed limits all over the place these days so I guess it is possible

Correct,,,never thought of that.

5 hours ago, Josy1953 said:

We also prefer Eavesway but have only once had a poor coach from Intercruises. We had a bad journey last year with Eavesway because the driver was pulled up by the police on the M6 for exceeding the speed limit, before we left the coach he asked everyone not to report him to Eavesway because he would lose his job.  I did email Eavesway when we got home because I worried the whole time that we were on the ship that we might get the same driver on the way home so didn't enjoy the cruise as much as I normally would.

He must have been going downhill,,,,for 40 years now coaches are by law req to fit speed limiters at 62mph.

I only ever use the coach from the North West,,,,P&O coach (Intercruises) or Eavesway from Burtonwood Services,,,,,Eavesway picks up at 07:45,Intercruises have been as late as 09:00,usually on a Ellisons coach.

Both companies have comfy coaches with most importantly toilets on board.

one thing I look for is the difference in price between Select and Saver.

With Eavesway being £110 each I look at the difference in price if I take the included coach on Select.

Usually it works out it better for me to book Saver (Don’t mind dining time and can book location with Saver) although not always beneficial

My next cruise was a difference of £200 with £70 OBC.so it was a Benefit to go the Select route.

I preference Eavesway as I know what I’m getting,,,,love Ellisons coaches but never sure we get them on the return.have had some old clunkers.

From Warrington it’s usually 5.5hrs with three or four pick ups with a 40min drivers stop for late breakfast usually at Warwick Services,,,drivers get advance notice from other drivers which services are less busy,,,,,,on return it’s Norton Cains services for lunch.

Dont know if Celebrity docks earlier than P&O but we are always on the road at least 1 hour before coaches from P&O.

I load 5 Rolling Stones albums on my iPad just finishes listening to them as we arrive in Southampton,,,,always better than murdering my arthritic hip driving.

12 hours ago, EM35 said:

They deliver a luggage label to your room with the details about where to meet the coach to the airport and what time etc the day before departure. 

 

Each flight - airport and time as there are numerous flights going to some airports - has a different coloured luggage tag, with the relevant information. Once you've put the tag on your bag, there is a part you keep youself - I'm assuming in case the bag gets lots they can track it. 

 

Hope this makes sense.

Thanks.

If they took your bags from outside your cabin then straight to airport then you didn’t see them until your home airport.

How do they know which aircraft the bags are to go on without bag tags,,,how do they stick the little tag onto your passport?

OK if all bags are going to the same UK airport,,,but they don’t!!!

Serious question.

Jet2 are brilliant at Manchester,,,,self check in easy,,,,,put bags on scale,show barcode on your boarding card to the machine and out comes your bag tag,,,,take case to belt.

Jet2 staff everywhere to help.

The security check in T2 is now massive.

Earing places everywhere,,,the only problem that has been mentioned is it can be a long walk depending on gate number.

A tip,,,,there is a water fountain after security in the corridor to Duty Free,,,,fill your water bottles up to save paying the extortionate price in the shops for bottles.

ps,Jet2 starts flights from Liverpool next month,,,,great!!

8 hours ago, Liao said:

So the dinner with the wine would be $500!!!  I'm reminded of what WC Fields once said...

”Water for dogs…Beer for men”

Don’t wonder Noro spreads on Iona,,,you spend half the cruise standing in queues!.😏

A glass of Prosecco on P&O is £6.75,,,,one glass before dinner,one glass at dinner and three glasses the rest of the evening (tiny 175ml glasses) a coffee and can of Pepsi and you have paid for your drink package…..Easy.

2 hours ago, ExArkie said:

Speaking as an American, I happen to prefer dark beers and am particularly fond of Boddingtons. The essentially complete industry-wide dearth of dark beer is why I don’t have beer on cruise ships. 

More and more our supermarket shelves are becoming full of bottles of dark beers from small brewers,,the likes of Bitters,Stouts or Porters,,,some of the Porters are really good.

There was a newspaper article today reporting on Diageo that Guinness is now the most popular beer brand in the UK,,,with the biggest increase being women drinking it.

On 1/27/2024 at 5:27 PM, markeb said:

 

Wasn't me posting the list!

 

The $11 beers generally aren't anything special, and hardly worth an upcharge. The $15 beers are generally pretty good and as you say there are better offerings in Craft Social when it's available. Beer has never been a strong suite of RCG. We sailed Royal a couple of times from England and even though they had a bar with a pub style counter, the only English beers I remember were Newcastle and maybe Old Speckled Hen. In cans.

 

We've been on the premium package so I've usually had a couple of the better IPAs. And I usually do water and soda at the pool anyway.

Hi

Ive sailed a few times on RCL and Celebrity and both lines always stocked John Smiths and Boddingtons Bitters.

Now on Celebrity both have gone leaving no Brit bitters.
Then last May they put Guinness into the PP,,that was the last straw,,,now I stick too P&O and Marella cruises.
 

on one Silhouette cruise last year when they ran out of Guinnes a staff member told me to drink Newkie Brown saying it’s the same as Guinness,,,,he was the Bar Manager!!

What is it with Americans love of Coke Cola and American beer,,,is it the gas?😏

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Drinks were included on our  recent 12 day south africa azamara cruise 

 

Whole cruise was amazing

 

But literally some days of the cruise we chose to just drink still and sparkling water and be good

 

Don't think it's healthy  to drink the amount you would need to drink to get  value from most drinks packages 

 

It's shown us never to contemplate paying extra for drinks

 

We wouldn't get any value from it

 

Also we started trying to eat less and be more healthy with food as well despite the great choices available

Out of interest how many drinks per day?,,,soft drinks,water,fruit juice (J2O),beer,a drop of whiskey maybe or a wine with dinner.

I find lots of people overestimate the number.
I’ll help you,,,,todays cost for DP is £36 per day,a glass of Prosecco (125ml) is nearly £7.

I remember a horrendous crossing from La Palma to Madeira many many years ago…the Captain reported it was due to x2 continental shelves meeting in that area of the ocean.

Wow! That was 1999 on Thomson Topaz,,,,an Airtours ship supposed to sail in the opposite direction was still in Madeira when we arrived,,never risked it,,,,the Topaz,,ex Empress of Britain never missed a sailing due to weather the Captain said..unlike today Leviathans.