Dinglebert

Before I phone pando I just wanted to check. I booked a DD cabin on Ventura. Superior delux aft. This was in consultation with the cs at the time so it eould be in 9 and not overlooked. The cabin has just been allocated and it’s D623 which to my reading is DB and overlooked. am I correct that this is a downgrade?

That only applies on certain ships. You can't do it on Azura or Ventura.

My understanding is that they base it on the cost of the balcony at the time of booking. Not at the time of the change. In a way it protects them from people moving their cabins around all the time as soon as there is a better deal. Unfair perhaps but the other lines do the same unless you are American with RCI when you can do exactly what you are wanting to do based on the current price.

This causes me a bit of an issue. Looking to book for next October which includes two nights in Israel. The single reason we want to do this cruise is those two nights. Going elsewhere is not what we would want to do. Now there is no-one who can predict the future of unrest in the middle east other than there will be some somewhere at all given times.! Does cancelling ports before the cruise allow customers to choose a different cruise instead?

Our experience from April on Azura were that the choices available in MDR are much reduced from pre-covid. We did have to send back 3 meals to be reheated. The cheese plate was frankly pathetic. Oddly there was more choice of cheese in the buffet than in the mdr. It was the shortages we found odd. No orange juice for breakfast one morning. Couple of cereals have also disappeared. The most constant shortage was butter. They were very reluctant to give guests any. If ther were say eight of us at a table then there were seven bits of butter. Once you notice the great butter shortage it becomes almost funny. It was definately being rationed for some reason.

Personally prefer the lower decks and therefore we don't upgrade. Nice to be almost straight out to atrium.

We bought it on our April cruise and do intend to do so on our July one. However you do need to check which wines are available or not. Discovered on the evening of purchase that at least 3 of the wines were not availble (two of which were the most expensive ones).

We were on Discovery 2 last October and have booked again for this October. Its our ideal size of ship. Not tiny but small enough that it feels more like a community onboard where you meet a lot of the same people. We did upgrade the drinks package. I'm sure the basic is absolutely fine but I couldn't be bothered trying to work out if I could have a particular cocktail or not and so for a relatively small amount of money just upgraded. Our first cruise was Rhapsody which is also a sister ship to Discovery 2. We really like the layout.

It does in that it rules it out. Stops the hemming and hawing.

I have been hemming and indeed hawing about putting in a bid for one of these for our upcoming cruise. At present we have a superior delux balcony room. The upgrade cost isn't that high in theory. The only thing stopping me is the room layout. I can see from videos and plans that the inside room has twin beds. I am struggling to see they could be made into a double. We enjoy the dark from an inside cabin. Does anyone know if they convert into double or not. The reason I am doubtful is that there is a door both ends of the room and a double would just be in the way.

Our TUI flight last year was moved to a Canadian company for our Edinburgh to Palma flight. No issues other than all the safety annoucements were in both languages which apparently is a legal requirement for all Canadian planes even when being chartered by a another line.

I have had an occasion however where booking direct with PandO over the phone they were able to see cabins that I couldn't. It may be that the office at PandO have a more "live" availablity than the rest of us which would make sense.

I see the entertainment as part of the cruise. Seen some really good acts on ships (and some whose failure of BGT should have been taken as a message). We enjoy the ships singers and dancers in the main. We equally like a quiz from time to time, enjoy a cocktail while doing nothing on the deck. We like to dress up on formal night, enjoy sharing a table with strangers and meeting some really nice people. We enjoy waking up in new places and exploring off the ship. I think we just enjoy cruising.

Thanks all. Our current cabin will be aft. It’s a 14 day to canaries so a lot of ship time. Will review videos but will probably stick. Our current deal was on reflection a good one. Extra money spent is less money to spend on the next cruise!

Received an email from pando yesterday with upgrade bid details we are currently for our two week Ventura cruise in a Superior Balcony Aft DD. bid prices are Family suite £160 pp which is a no for us. Don’t need two bedrooms. Suite. £490 pp Suite. Mid-ship. £610 pp Penthouse suite. £1280 pp. In about 3 minds. The minimum bid would be our limit. We have in the past successfully bid up with RCI. Unsure if suites would be a large improvement over Dd superior balcony. Obviously penthouse would be but it’s nearly double our current price. Would be good if like RCI they gave double night points

Yes but hang on there. Firstly you just can't have any duck anywhere. Any duck found in say the MDR must be dressed appropriately for that area. All ducks must wear some sort of clothing. I am a bit confused as to what to give the nearest member of staff if a duck if found in the area they work. Lets say the duck hider walks past your cabin door when it is open as the room steward is in the process of cleaning. They enter the room and hide the duck in your bed (how we would laugh if that was us who found it not). Do we have to tip the room steward extra? I suppose the impartant question is this. What do you do if you find a duck dressed like a pineapple?

I would be rather surprised if PandO decided the review I gave them on the email they sent while I was at Malta Airport meant they employed more waiters. My powers while enormous and impressive to many are in reality rather non-existant. However that said enjoy your cruise. I know where I would rather be!

Yes now you mention it. We were on deck 5 and it was there during the day at points. Never in the evening or at night which is odd.

Just back today from our week on Azura. The main point is we really enjoyed our cruise. As usual we met some lovely other cruisers (and a few of the other ones!). The destinations were good, the staff helpful and friendly. The shows were excellent. All in all a great cruise. Here comes the howevers. These are all minor but they do sort of add up. There was a shortage of waiters. Meals were taking well over 2 hours. Now in itself not the end of the world. However if you were planning to go to the 8.30 show and didn't sit down till 6.30 then forget it or miss a course. Shortages. These were odd. Marmalade was well just missing most of the time. Orange juice at breakfast was in short supply and often not available. Butter appeared to be rationed to one piece less than was needed eg four bits of toast 3 bits of butter. Alpin was off the list after day 3. The choices at dinner are much reduced as is portion size. The latter isn't a bad thing. The cheese plate was frankly pathetic and of course no butter. We bought the Captain's wine package. That first night the first selection wasn't available, neither was the 2nd or the 3rd. I did ask at customer service about why the selections were not there and they blamed covid, which as a nurse just does not work to me as an answer. One thing I would like them to do is add a time that any events will last. It would help planning. Oh well that part of what could be seen as moaning over, and believe me there was a lot of it on board even from staff. Next PandO is 1st July on Ventura for two weeks. However next year may very well be a different line.

They can based on the results refuse to insure you for that "condition" and therefore in short insist that the cruise is cancelled or if you travel you are not covered for that condition.

Carnival ord 1.66. Are the shares. Any credit us in addition to room credit

Neither can I for 6th April.

I will never be driving to Southampton agan. We have done it three times but the last time was a complete mare. Literally from the outskirts of Southampton to the Lakes my average speed was 33 mph. After the lakes it was OK. It was stop stop all the way. This year we are flying Edinburgh Southampton day before and back via Heathrow.

I’m in on Thursday and nothing showing

How do you see the entertainment which is going to be on the ship before you go?