elmsliebev

Agree with you about the port of departure, it's just a happy coincidence when the right itinerary at the right price is a more local place!

Emam, you briefly mentioned Ambassador in your orginal post. We did a cruise from Liverpool with CMV just before Covid (Isles of Scilly, Rouen, Honfleur etc), and I understand Ambassador has grown out of that line. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes the ship was old but very clean and the food was excellent - freshly made dosa at lunchtime, brilliant grill & Indian restaurants paid options, lovely staff. If we didn't already have 3 cruises booked over the next 18 months (P&O, Cunard, Oceania), I'd definitely be looking at Ambassador again - sailing from Liverpool was a delight!

Le Havre is about a 20 minute walk to the town. It's a lovely town even though much of it was flattened in WW2. There is a concrete church (St Joseph's) which has amazing stained glass. La Rochelle is very cute though if there's an excursion to the Venise Verte (Green Venice) or Ile de Re or Oleron, I'd take that - my favourite part of France, not least for the oysters! Bilbao is one of my favourite cities. We had almost a week there after a day from a cruise. The ships dock quite a way out though the place they dock is a lovely little fishing village in itself. There's a big square lined with tapas restaurants, a great food market and the Bilbao transporter bridge is definitely worth a look if you're interested in anything mechanical/engineering. It's a great itinerary!

We took out the cruise cover element (£40 for a year) of our Nationwide Flexplus account last year as we were on Cunard for 29 nights and were more concerned about covid - the confined to cabin element rather than missed ports. As it was, we both had covid and were in the cabin for 6 nights. Nationwide paid up £1800 very quickly, so we booked another cruise! We both have minor medical conditions (a mix of mild asthma, depression, IBS, gout, benign lump) and this year, weren't charged any extra for those conditions. Previously my asthma, gout and lump weren't charged extra but OH was. We've renewed the cruise cover element this year.

we last cruised with P&O over 10 years ago on Oriana. Back then you could get hot chocolate and Horlicks (very rock & roll!) in the buffet (I think it might have been the Al Fresco cafe) at night, as well as tea & coffee. We're on Azura soon - is hot chocolate still available? thanks

we used Eavesway on March this year for an MSC cruise. They picked us up in Blackpool, the starting point for that particular route. We had to be there 15 mins before the alloted time. We did have 3 or 4 stops, Preston bus station and then service station but it was very comfortable, wifi on board, no issues.

of course, though I have bought in the USA before. My reply was pretty much tongue in cheek.

Copenhagen is on my list of places to go, even more so now I know where Tiffany is! I'm a fan as well. Never been offered champagne though, a mere offer to clean the necklace I was wearing is as far as I've got. I'm thoroughly enjoying reading your reports, thank you.

that is such a shame. One of the things about Cunard is the use of dance hosts. I took my mum on QE some years ago and she really enjoyed dancing with the hosts a few times. They even took me out a couple of times as my OH and I had just started having lessons. They were vey kind and it's one of the things that sets Cunard apart. On a TA with a girlfriend for her 60th birthday, we palled up with 2 of the hosts, occasionally meeting up for a coffee and finding out more about how it all works. As Lissie says, doing this for a couple of cabins (the guys we met shared a twin cabin) and a few meals is pretty shabby.

I think I'm even more confused now! We are on Azura in October and booked directly with P&O as they price matched the TA. We have already had the OBC applied. In June 2024 we are on Cunard Queen Anne, booked through a TA with no add-ons like staying anywhere. Cunard wouldn't price match until after we'd bought it from the TA and we would have to claim the difference back! So we booked with the TA - will I still get the OBC on this one? It wasn't a cheap deal.

we are booked to travel in October 2024 from Tokyo to Singapore (16 nights). We booked under OLife but of course Simply More is now in place. We are in an Inside cabin. I have been advised by my TA that it would cost us £275 pp to change to Simply More (c $360). Am I correct that this would mean - unlimited wifi for both of us rather than 1 device only per cabin? - a set amount for shore excursions ($500pp in this case) rather than the 4 excursions previously included, and we can use that spend on pretty much any tours? - wine, beer, champagne with meals - a quick calculation of 1 glass of champagne and a couple of glasses of wine with dinner each day would work out around $800pp including drinks gratuity (15%?). That excludes anything we may occasionally have at lunchtime. Are the beers on the Grand Bar menu the ones that are available at mealtimes? We like the occasional beer at lunchtime, espcially Newcastle Brown in my husband's case as he's from there! It seems a good deal for us, as we only tend to drink alcohol with meals and have soft drinks the rest of the time. Out of interest is dessert wine also included? Thanks

another vote for the Car and Fashion museum. From there it's a short walk to the beach where there are a few "espetos" bars selling freshly grilled sardines. Another great musuem is the museum of crystal and glass, quite small and a labout of love from the British owner https://www.museovidrioycristalmalaga.com/ There's also a wonderful sherry bar https://antiguacasadeguardia.com/

I'm so very sorry to read this. Deepest condolences.

we did a tour with Cosol in St Lucia (already mentioned). It was excellent, a full day with lunch provided. A pick-up truck followed us around with drinks every time we stopped! We saw the Pitons, snorkelled, went to a waterfall and mud baths, banana plantation etc. Sadly the guy who ran it then was killed a couple of years ago but it seems to be still running and getting excellent reviews.

it should be on your planner when you log in.

we had the Premium alcohol free drinks package on QE last year that included hot drinks. We could get coffee, standard tea (not the iced tea) and hot chocolate in any of the bars, as well as iced tea and iced coffee in Carinithia. Carinithia also did a special hot chocolate with little dishes of cream, marshmallows and chocolate flakes. Tea always came in a pot in the bars. One of our favourite things was coffee in the mornings in the Commodore Club. From what I remember you could also order espresso, latte etc after dinner in the dining room at no extra cost, as well as tea and filter coffee.

another vote for Nationwide (their travel insurance with the Flexplus account is excellent too) but I've recently taken out a Halifax Clarity credit card which was recommended here and on Moneysaving Expert as my holiday credit card.

well, they do say every day's a school day! Over the Pennines it used to be pampas grass in the front garden (allegedly!), never heard of the pineapple.

thanks for the info. We have a taxi provisionally booked, but they need to know definite info of course. I'll keep checking. Are you on the repo cruise too?

Are both your flights with Jet2? Maybe our return flight it with somone else. Hopefuly it will appear soon! Looking forward very much to the cruise. Just deciding what to do on our "changeover" day in Malta (we're on from 5/10), I think Rabat & Mdina looks likely.

we had it on QE last year. We were in an inside cabin and were moved to a balcony until we tested negative for 2 consecutive days (after 5 days). I had no symptoms at any point and OH was just starting to feel a bit off colour when there was a shipwide test after leaving San Fransisco. Hope it all goes ok for you.

presumably for the summer season? In March she was boarding at every stop (Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge & Le Havre). We had our fastest ever boarding at Southampton with MSC. Had 4pm boarding time, arrived about 1.30 by coach from NW England, straight on the ship.

we're on Oceania next year - I have to try Elvis the fat years ice cream! We sailed from Southampton in March, fastest check in we've ever had. Sounds very like your experience. Enjoy the rest of your trip, I look forward to reading your observations.

We are on the Azura repositioning cruise in October from Malta to Tenerife. We have our Malta flight info, but nothing yet for the flight home from Tenerife on 27/10. Has anyone got any Tenerife - Manchester flight info for later in the autumn? We do have flights times of 11.30 dep, 15.30 arrival but no carrier or confirmation of times. thanks

we bought at £5.77 after very helpful advice on here. 2 cruises booked (so far) and enjoying watching the prices - my only foray into shares 😃