FamilyCruiserUK

Having been on venture many many years ago, well 2017 we are booked to go on Arvia next Aug. Been on plenty of Royal ships since 2017, Oasis (love it), Brilliance,( old and small and dated) and Anthem (new but no space and lacking things to do). Read the article and first thought was, well not much competition for that style of large ship from the UK. Royal are silly expensive, but then i thought well i havent looked at other cruise lines from Southampton. Im guessing as Iona is new its the ship seasoned UK cruisers want to try. Like when people go to spain and have an english breakfast lol. But everyone has their own ideas of cruises and ships they like and THAT is down to the variety of cruise ships out there and why we all enjoy cruising.

Yes just pop down to guest services on day 1. They usually have a staff member going along the queue taking peoples room numbers for those who want to remove the onboard gratuities. Saves having to stand in the queue for ages waiting to get to the desk front.

For my mums recent birthday we were onboard brilliance. We took our own decorations for the room and set these up when my mum was off on a trip. Much cheaper and better then royals offering. We ordered a cake on the sat for her birthday on the tue. It was made fresh and delived to our table in the MDR post main course on the Tue. Was 30 USD and gluten-free.

I do feel for the op in regards to not price matching. Unfair that you can reprice the costs in america but not in uk for the same cruise. As for the room, select v saver. The difference in price is wrong i feel but its the chance you take with saver. But if your like me the room is just to sleep and shower in, and i rather use the money saved for other parts of the cruise.

We were on brilliance in aug. Mainly for the port of calls. The ship itself is dated, in layout and room decor but it is well looked after. The pool is salty which threw us and our daughter for a bit. TBH if only sail on her if the itinerary was where i wantes to go.

I suppose id be considered a middle aged cruiser being 44 and i must say i actually enjoy a formal night. Its one night where you can dress up, have pics taken and look smart. I do not wear a suit in the UK ever its just a smart casual shirt and chinos or smart jeans if i go out for a meal. As for shorts, well in evenings tailored shorts are fine, but i draw a line at gym shorts, tshirts, baseball caps, vests and flip flops in the MDRs or specialist resturants. As for the venue's being enforced, its like some places in UK. There will be a dress code. But then for me i have to work hard and save hard to afford a cruise so the formal night is a luxury i wont do outside of a cruise ship. I have even taken my mess dress and worn on occasions.

Its the windjammer for us: Eat with our daughter and she has plenty to choose from. Can eat at a time we want. Sit where we want. Enjoy the interaction around the food stations. Eat a much or a little as you want. Always do small portions and multiple trips. Some ships can even eat outside. Love windjammer not interested in MDR. Also found the MDR food contains little choice for us ( dont like fish) and average food.

Its been in the travel papers here in the UK about travel to Europem, But not coming into force till later on next year. It will be like the american system for us to vist. ESTA or what ever its called. Pay some money fill out a form with lots of questions and then when you arrive at your destination you MAY be asked specific questions. However the introduction date is constantly slipping, but something for you to keep an eye on.

Should be 10% on what your paid. Whilst the fcc is totally rubbish and i feel for everyone affected, i do believe that apart from a full refund anything extra is a bonus as the company is not by law mandated to give further compensation. Just playing devils advocate. I firmly believe more compensation should be given, esp as it effects, flights, hotels, car parking, taxis booked etc. Also the cost or rebooking a cruise. Most builds slip and very few construction jobs are delivered on time. But bad press for P&O and like i said i am sorry for those affected and hope their can get more compensation.

😂😂😂😂 so just priced it up for us family of three. 2 adults on own inside room £1966. ( base price £983 per person) 2 adults 1 child inside room ( eligible for kids sale free) £2584.... Divided by 3 = £861 ish. Or £1223 each plus £138 tax. Child showing as £0. So they push up the base price and make it sound like kids sale free when clearly they do not. Does make me giggle. Looks a good ship but will wait till she or one like her comes to europe and save on flights. Edit sorry inside room not a suit, just saw pricing.... 😂

We went on royal out of Venice. Flight was booked through royal for jet 2 via our TA. We couldn't access the booking but the TA could. So the TA checked us in 28 days before each flight and picked our seats.

The ship is a family resort cash cow. So will be more days at see for guests to spend time at sea. The size restricts where it can dock. Having been on both huge ships (oasis) and recently brilliance (small) ship for us as a family Oasis wins every time. Even my 70 year old mother found Oasis much better, more fun, more to do. Although the greek islands were stunning. But i think she looks great in the clas sf reaort ship. If i want non resort ships then plenty of other cruise lines out there.

Love it. Tbh looks good so far. Veey family orientated which is good for families like myself. Will split the RC faithfull down the lines of family cruisers and non family cruisers. So for me its a tick in the box, but will wait till the novelty wears off before i sail on her.

More importantly you can start every post on here "As a diamond member"... Its the little things that keeps us all going 😂

Haha i noticed after i posted it....bugger

Totally down to where you are. We are uk so get bugger all free stuff from TAs, when ever we want to check or change anything royal tell us to go through our TA. If you have a good TA then great, sadly the last one we used was average. I would say make sure you use a good cruise specialist TA, there are some out there really on the ball. For any unbooked future cruises we will go direct to royal.

Ok, thought id have a go.....not a google image either

I think his remarks of fly cruises not doing well would be obvious. The chaos of the airports, lost baggage, missed flights did not help. Also people didnt know what was going on with pre cruise testing as it was changing all the time. Many i doubt would book a pre flight hotel, airport parking, pre cruise stay with the knowledge of needing a test 24-48 hrs before the cruise. The risk for some was too much so stayed closer to home. As for the future, well we shall see.......

From my experience: Most people only really bothered about chair hogs around the pools. Other places on deck seem to be fine. Which is expected as the pool is the popular area. If your towel is just left folded on a deck chair the pool attendants usually ask those around the chair if they have seen anyone who owns that towel. Towels that are laid out and stuff around the chair as long as every now again you come back to the chair and people around you notice your in the pool a lot all will be fine. The idea is to stop those people who hog the chair, with just a towel whislt spending lots of time away from the pool, lunch, shows, etc. As happened during our european cruise this summer. As for spending all day in the water thats fine, our dau does but she will still come back and forth to the deck chair to dry off for toilet or grab a drink. So its in use, even though shes part fish with the amount of time spent in the pools.

Parents in law lived in bath for a while. A little history but for me id go to windsor castle just outside london, 20 mins from Heathrow, have a look around then head to southampton the following day.

A ninja all the way. We have had a number of air fryers over last few years and since having our ninja we havent looked back. Its fab and does a lot of different functions.

Happened on brilliance during the summer. Lots or Italians leaving towels. Pool attendant was told by a white shirt office to go and remove towels. You could tell what beds it was as they didnt even bother to unfold the towels!!! Was a lot of shouting Italians later on lol.

Apps not working for us neither is the log on with the royal website. Something broke somewhere....but will be up and running soon.......with price rises 😂

Yeah same on app

No idea we dont have them here in the UK.