killaypirate

My refund in UK was paid via secure link into my chequing account, after entering the bank & account numbers.

Port & shore excursion cancellation on last day left me with a credit on my OBC. Didn’t know what would happen when saw the credit amount was referred back to corporate finance. Emailed with query, phone call within 4 days explaining what would happen; secure email sent with link to secure payment. Email arrived later that day, $ ( converted to £ GBP ) paid within 2 hours. I think that was good service.

Thanks very much for that info

What is the potential taxes on pre-paid drinks packaged? We will be departing from Barcelona. On a recent cruise departing Lisbon we were charged 23% sales tax on purchases from shops, but zero on pre-paid drinks ( but that was on X and I gather cruise lines follow different interpretations of the fixed govt regulations). Thanks for any information.

Looked at VV website. Not many itineraries to tempt me but if I found one the quality food would be hard for me to resist. Might go dry for the cruise, don’t like bar tabs at the end!

Not cruised with P&O since July 2019. How does it compare now to then. Recent cruises with Celebrity & Azamara. Both becoming poor value for money and in Celebrity's case poor menu choice & quality of food.

Didn't try at embarkation, not enough time. Video didn't terminate correctly so it took 3 attempts.

Recently sailed Emerald Princess Sep9. App did not let me book included speciality dining witnout charging credit card until only 5 days before departure. On board app worked satisfactorily with a few outages. Did not use or order food or drinks though.

Recent comparison Celebrity Concierge (CC) July24-Aug5 vs Princess Balcony(PB) Sep9-Sep16 PRE DEPARTURE CC no OBC . PB Premier inc 2 speciality dining. CC app/website let me pre-book excursions & MDR dining times. PB app let me pre-book excursions &MDR dining times but did not let me pre-book speciality without charging my credit card! EMBARKATION No difference. Less than 30 mins from check-in to 1st drink. STATEROOM CC available immediate to deposit hand luggage. PB not available until 1pm. Safety drill exactly the same online method Room &bathroom slightly smaller on PB no sofa, Balcony similar size. PB shower had curtains. FOOD PB wider choice in MDR and not everything had mashed potatoes! We had the school lunch menus on CC! No NY strip on classic menu (PB). NY strip on main menu 1 night but seriously undercooked combined to Crown Grill speciality which was cooked to perfection. Similar Upgrades in MDR available in both. smaller buffet options on PB especially indian & asian food. Similar quality. DRINKS some drinks, sodas & speciality teas/coffees cheaper on PB. Alcohol similar range & price on CC. On PB however getting served in buffet & MDR was almost impossible, glass of wine ordered in MDR BEFORE main course arrived AFTER main course. CC has al Bacio coffee bar which we really enjoy. PB has 4 tables & always served in take-away cups. SERVICE PB- More staff avaiable in buffet to assist serving water/teas/coffee. But service in MDR was slow & disorganised. SHORE EXCURSIONS CC better organised in assembling & dispatch. PB particularly expensive and not value for money, not that CC offers much value for money either. ENTERTAINMENT similar. OTHER FACILITIES not used on either so no comments available. DISEMBARKATION similar. POST CRUISE CC had no experience except the survey did not always consistently asked same questions about each excursion. PB - waiting to see. We had a port cancelled and OBA credited with port fees &excursions which resulted in a final refund on OBA. Final account showed this amount referred back to corporate finance and still waiting for answer to my email query. SUMMARY PB was $50 pppd cheaper. Would use again based on itinerary and price. CC would not use again but book verandah or AQ cruise only fare

Possible start of divorce proceedings with X on Saturday. Departing NYC on Emerald Princess. Favourites cruise lines were Azamara & Celebrity. Today only Azamara, who knows by the end of next week. Even if Princess only as good as X is now, at least I will be paying a more approriateky cheaper price. Cabin category always been Balcony or Concierge on X, & Balcony (suite only once) on Azamara.

Did the scandinavia cruise this summer $7000 balcony, booked on board previous cruise. Next year would be $8800. 25% increase in one year. Looking @November cruise in Med $5250 in Aqua. Land based 5* hotel $1350, but only half board & drinks meals only. Could have 1 month in hotel or 1 week on cruise, starting to make me think cruising days are over as much as I like it

On recent Silhouette ex-UK we paid £235pppd, upcoming Emerald Princess £200pppd so 17.5% extra.

We were on Silhouette late July/early August. First cruise with the school dinner-like menus. For us everything else was really good as usual but MDR menu & quality were very disappointing. Will give X one more opportunity if MDR menus still not up to scratch then that will be the last X cruise.

Recent app update appears to have fixed bug which stopped me booking my 2 included speciality dining without charging my credit card. Just in time as departure only 5 days away. Still doesn't recognise my package but it'll be already on the night I'm sure.

Was finally able to book our speciality dining for this weekend. Just have to wait & see if it all worked correctly!

This was the point I was trying to raise. But the flood gates have now opened. Will Celebrity address these concerns? Very much doubt since the next in queue will take our places. Perhaps it was a bad choice of title.

Once negative feedback starts the ball rolling, other people who may not have bothered previously will now give their own assessments of current standards. Perhaps this downward spiral has been masked for too long by not enough people speaking up sooner. Will be giving X one, & only one, more chance following the school dinner menus suffered in MDR on our recent cruise. But before that Princess cruise next week, only 4 weeks since Silhouette cruise so can comment on the Princess v Celebrity debate.

That must have been early last month before the changes were introduced. We sailed on July 24 & had the new ‘improved’ school dinner menus.

Will not be returning to X. On Princess next week so will see what that’s like. Otherwise Azamara with/without flying, or non-X from Southampton with no flying.

For us AI has always been for convenience as much as anything and not necessarily cost effective. Removing one item from the list may make some people qustion whether to buy it in the first place. If we book another X cruise, ans was seriously considering one in November, then that will be OK since it will be booked before Oct 4th but after that any future X cruise, if any at all, will exclude AI and save money which will give X less revenue.

Extra info to my last post. It was Silhouette we sailed on ex-UK with 20% extra.

Is this on ex-UK cruise? The extra 20% is either gratuity or sales tax included. On recent ex-UK classic package limit was $12 not the usual $10, individual drinks were also 20% more expensive.

Bring your own towels & bedding

Like to have as much data as possible before booking. How does this work for trans-atlantic flights?

Appreciate your understanding of my method. I also think that my way should have a greater impact on X, if anybody bothers to read it.