Happyhummingbird

On Azura in April we only had 1 guest speaker, I don't recall his name but he was by far the best that we have seen. He was a ceatacean expert and gave a talk on each sea day and was often found on deck looking for whales and dophins and talking to anyone who was interested.

Would his name be Clive Martin, by chance? He was guest speaker on our transatlantic cruise on Adonia last October. He was most interesting & informative. :)

Cafe de Paris is a wonderful spot in good weather to sit and people watch but just be aware of prices before you order as the prices are extortionately expensive even for a drink.

Thank you, majortom. I had a feeling that visiting here would be a tad expensive. However, since starting this thread yesterday, we have been so buoyed up by all the lovely suggestions that we had decided to actually book a cruise visiting Monte Carlo on Azura next year. Admittedly, it's not high season and the F1 gang will have well left town. But we will hopefully have chance to sample the delights that the port has to offer at a much quieter time.

Also, thanks to all who have advised us here on this CC thread, we can pace ourselves to enjoy things that do not necessarily cost the earth but will still give us a true flavour of the port. We plan to watch the changing of the guard at the Royal palace, have a stroll around part of the F1 circuit, (map will be downloaded from google before we go). We intend to call in to the botanical gardens and then wander along the harbour and gaze at all the luxury yachts (and in our mind's eye pick our own). ;) Popping in to view the casino might be an option, (we believe it costs 10 euros each) but we might decide instead to put the funds to splurging the money on a cool beer & cocktail at Cafe de Paris, watching the world go buy & admiring the fast cars. :)

Thank you once more for all the great suggestions. Our cruise on Azura by chance happens to coincide with a special big birthday for me so that has made it even more special than ever. Best Wishes. :)

There is only one place to have a coffee and watch the 'expensive' world go by and that is the Café de Paris is Casino Square. We have visited off a cruise on a couple of occasions and spent an hour or more sitting having our coffee and OH will enjoy watching all the expensive cars driving past. It is definitely the place to see and for others to be seen.

Oh! That sounds wonderful. Café de Paris it is then! :D

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions. You have all given us a lot of options. We're starting to get quite excited by the thought of it all. Cruising is a lovely way to holiday and cruisecritic is such a helpful forum. Cheers! :)

We visited the Prince's car collection.

Hundreds of cars to swoon over.

Years ago, for a small fee, you could go inside the casino to have a look. It was very ornate and quite interesting. Of course, these things change and it may no longer be an option. Sure a bit of internet research will provide the current state of affairs!

We were there last year the weekend before the GP and it was exciting to see all pit area preparations, and to walk around some of the race course.

Monaco is very easy to do on foot and we visited the palace and watched the midday changing of the guard as well as the botanical gardens. A very pleasant port to visit and see all the millionaires yachts.

We love visiting botanical gardens. Thank you for that suggestion and the changing of the guard sounds good too. :)

use the ho-ho bus a good tour of Monaco , it also drives around the f1 course

I can see hubby really enjoying that tour. Thank you! :)

Hi there.

Hubby & I have been watching the Monaco Grand Prix today. Or rather, OH (a total sport-a-holic) was watching the GP, I was skipping in and out whilst doing other things and thinking how pretty it all looked. Anyhow, it got me thinking about us possibly visiting there one day on a cruise ship...

I know that it pops up from time to time on P&O's cruising itinerary. Can anyone please tell me what are the best things to see & do around the port on a budget? Please be gentle, I realise that the skies the limit and it's millionaires row, however in our case I am talking realistic everyday means! ;) Is there an iconic place to grab a coffee/cocktail and while away an hour or so just simply watching the world go by, by chance? Or is the place just too wildly, crazily expensive to even consider. Any suggestions most welcome!

Thanks everyone. :)

When we flew with them last year to Oceana, we took a holdall each as our carry on bags. My handbag, (which is pretty generous in size), was inside my holdall bag when we checked in (just in case they quibbled re the number of bags). We have never known TC weight hand luggage but other airlines in our experience have, so we always stick as close as we can to the limit. (A tip - it's toiletries that can weight heavy so if we are ever struggling with luggage weight, we simply buy additional ones air side). However as it was a hot weather cruise, on this accasion we found it pretty easy to travel light with our clothes.

Have a wonderful cruise! :)

It will vary with the tide. The officers on the bridge will usually make an announcement as to which decks are being used for the gangways and the signage by the lifts and stairwells is very good to follow. :)

I agree that 2 night cruises are not a true reflection of a longer cruise. You do not get a chance to explore the ship fully and try out all venues. They are limited as to what they can offer e.g. no Captain's Welcome on board party, themed nights, chance to relax on a full day at sea etc. But if you take them at purely face value, understand that they will go at a fast pace and be full of people celebrating then they can be good fun. We book them occasionally to fill long gaps between holidays and to help satisfy the cruise craving. We have also done 3 and 4 night cruises. Depending on the itinerary, these might include a sea day. We felt that the 4 nighter actually felt more like a regular cruise. Whatever you choose to do, I hope that you have a great time. :)

This seems a bit surreal you are on a cruise in the sunshine. It starts to pelt with rain, brilliant idea, lets go out on our balcony there is an umbrella available so we can keep dry.

 

Rofl John

Rofl You've obviously never met my husband. He always leaning on the ships rail, having a deckko to what's happening on the dock side at sail away time, come rain or shine! lol He's not alone either, I've often seen others on their balconies with their brollies... ;p

They could be used as parasols too, I guess. Far better! haha :cool:

Hello,

 

Are you absolutely sure? I seem to remember that the whole of the balcony is open to the elements (apart from about 2 inches) rendering it useless when it rains.

 

I hope someone with more experience can confirm this.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

Hi there. The balconies which have no shelter at all are D deck ones on Ventura & Azura. The used to (not sure if they still do), provide an umbrella in the cabin, so that it was possible to go out onto the balcony in the rain. C deck balconies have both a covered & an open to the elements deck area. C deck balconies are huge! :)

Yes, here's another vote for C Deck balconies. We think that they're really good. :)

I have to say that to some degree having oddly configured cabins is the risk you take with a much older ship. In times past, they built the ship and then slotted all sorts of cabins in around the working elements of the vessel. I remember on our very 1st cruise, we were on an older ship and were given an L shaped cabin. It had 2 single beds which could never be made into a double. Newer ships have standardised cabins, generally built off site as complete units with all the plumbing & fittings already installed and then craned together at the shipyard. The cruise industry has changed so much over the years. :)

We live in Guernsey and have already booked our flights to Gatwick. Flights are incredibly expensive and we wouldn’t be refunded so no chance of changing the date.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Oh, that's a pity. Have you tried appealing to their better nature? You never know, they might have a heart and transfer your air tickets. (It's a long story that I won't bore you & others with on here, but we once found Flybe most understanding for regional flights changes we needed. Hopefully other airlines may do too). You never know until you ask...

:)

Hi eddiecat. I'm really not sure if this is even possible, but have you considered asking them if they would be willing to transfer you to another (similar itinerary) cruise on Oceana later in the year, perhaps? Or is the date of this cruise fixed in stone for you? :)

Nope, none. When I rang our TA on Friday in the morning they said they would talk to P&O and get back to me but never did. So I rang them again late afternoon and they told me there was nothing they could do. Then, I rang P&O directly and they said they would ring me Monday morning but still NOTHING! Starting to get very impatient.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hi eddiecat.

I could understand that if they had a spare cabin available, then they might possibly be able to change your booking. However, I have just looked at the P&O website and the cruise is still showing as completely sold out. Can I ask you what in these circumstances you are expecting P&O to do?

I'm not sure if you've cruised on Oceana before Eddiecat, however we have and what I will say is this...

Oceana is a really lovely, welcoming ship. Hopefully, P&O will come up with something for you and you will be able to change cabins BUT even if they don't, I'm sure that you will have a wonderful cruise. As I mentioned in my previous post on here, we have never heard of 'railway cabins' before, but I'm pretty certain that if they were that bad then everyone would have been mentioning them online and they're not, so please try not to worry. It's a lovely itinerary, on a very special ship (that captured our hearts years ago and hopefully she will do for you too). Chillax, go with the flow and have a good cruise. We will. Best Wishes. :)

Hi there Eddiecat. We are on this cruise too and were surprised to read about 'railway cabins' as we'd never heard of them before. After we booked it last year, P&O changed the itinerary slightly and dropped a Turkish port in favour of one in Greece. We think that this has made our cruise very popular and hence Oceana has now sold out. However, it is not unheard of that people have to cancel cruises for various reasons, so do not give up hope yet of a cabin change. We will cross our fingers for you and hope that you get a good response from P&O this week. Best Wishes.