Grumpella

I know everyone says you don't need foreign currency, but I'm old, lol and I like to have at least a few hundred in the local currency. What is the best place to get foreign currency? AAA? Bank? Online? Thank you in advance for your help.

My daughter is going on her honeymoon this weekend and would like to bring her luggage with her on the ship, as she has had a "lost" bag once for a few days. She is in the Yacht Club. Will she be able to bring her luggage with her? I have seen another person do this on a Holland America ship I was on. Thank you in advance for your help.

Does anyone know if they drop you at only 1 terminal or do they stop for dropoffs at all the terminals? Thanks in advance for your help.

The name was General something. Sorry I delete all my stuff after a cruise. I would definitely get. And I would be surprised if your friend did not need, out TA told us we did need. Who knows.

I bought the insurance from our TA, who said it would satisfy P and O. Since she is authorized to sell P and O cruises to Americans, I took her word for it. When doing online check in, we were asked to give the name of our insurance company, address, phone number. No questions were asked at embarkation. I did have my policy on my phone if needed.

I am sailing on the Anthem of the Seas on July 21st. Today I was looking at some excursions that said Sold Out. Now these excursions say Check with the Shore Excursions Desk. Do they add more spaces to excursions once on board? Thank you in advance for your help.

I used Paragon Taxis and pre-booked him, Adrian. 150 pounds. Nice guy, great service.

I did a very detailed review in May, 2 Americans on the Iona, April 29th.

We did a P and O cruise in April. We had to book through a TA authorized to book those cruises as we are Americans. We bought the insurance through her. I do know that P and O lists a company on their website that you can buy insurance from that meets their requirements.

I used National Express for our cruise at the end of April, was very happy with the service.

I have used Paragon Taxis a few times, Adrian. 150 pounds from cruise terminal to airport. You can prebook with them.

There is also a Dutch Resistance Museum which is excellent and also had more information about Anne Frank.

I was there 2 months ago and I prebooked my National Express tickets and also paid extra for reserved seats. We were done and "out of the airport" in 2 hours. However, you never leave the airport to get to the National Express station, it is attached and there are signs at the baggage claim.

No extra documentation or visa needed. I just think as an American your friend might be a little disappointed with the food. Just very different options than I have had on other cruises.

Lol, that is probably true, but we don’t pay extra for food on this side of the Atlantic either.

My thoughts: Excellent: Iona is very clean, beautiful ship. It never felt crowded, even though there were 5,238 on board. Debarkation was very smooth, off the ship in 20 min. The registration for debarkation times seemed to work very well. Luggage dropped off at the pier by cabin floor which allowed for fast delivery of the luggage. The Quays had excellent fish and chips and burger and fries. Good selection of dessert also. Deluxe Balcony cabin was very big (for a cruise ship lol) with a good size balcony and very large sofa. Elevators were plentiful with hardly any wait times (I do think it helped that we were Aft). Queue for restaurants on the App is great. Being allowed to bring on water and soft drinks (we have never been allowed this on previous cruise lines). Not bothering you for photos at every port and every restaurant, like on other cruise lines. Very Good: Drink prices were good. Also loved not having to pay 20 % gratuity on every drink like on other cruise lines. Room steward. Room service was fast. Only ordered food once, I hate paying for room service. Beer was delivered several times. Good: Embarkation was good. We had a 3:15 time and arrived at 2:30 and were on the ship in 30 minutes. However, there was over 100 people in the "holding pen" at this time and the charter buses were arriving, adding to more people in the lines. We arrived at 11:30 to drop off our bags and asked about getting in line then, as only 30 people in the "holding pen". They said they were being very strict. I think this was shortsighted, as there was the backup later. It should have been decided based on the number of people at the time. I think it is a mistake to not offer people a check in time. Alot of people who were given earlier times don't arrive at that time. Also, we arrived the previous day, obviously, and I think it would have been smarter to give us an earlier time. On previous cruises, the people who come in the day before are given the earlier times since others traveling that day will be coming in later. Pizza. Pretty Good: Buffet food. OK: Food at the MDR was OK. We never had anything that was good or bad, just OK. We stopped eating there the last few nights and just did the Quays or buffet. Entertainment was OK, only saw The Sky's the Limit, but didn't want to see anything else after that. Poor: Bar service was very slow. It took at least 20 minutes to get a drink. And forget about getting any service by the pools or saunas. We bought a bottle opener at the port and ordered beer bottles through Room Service. MDR-slow service, no refills, the "walking dead". TV had to be "fixed" 3 times. It is very difficult to book P and O cruise for an American. We had to use a certified travel agent and we don't get to see the prices, categories, etc.. Keel and Cow service was very slow, they told us everything was cooked to order and would be 45 minutes. It was 45 minutes. It doesn't take 45 minutes to cook a steak. Never checked on us. No water refills. Never went back. No free ice cream machines. Would we do P and O again? Probably not, unless there was a very good deal. We like food and we don't think you should have to pay extra for food on a cruise. We will however cruise out of Southampton again.

Entertainment: Saturday: Sky’s The Limit at 8:30 and 10:30 Sunday: Sky’s The Limit at 6:45, 8:30 and 10:30 She 7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 Comedian Rory O’Hanlon 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 Monday: The Privateers 6:45, 8:30 and 10:30 TRIBOO 7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 Pulse 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 Tuesday: Vocalist Jayson Keeler 6:45, 8:30 and 10:30 I Believe In A Thing Called Rock 7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 Comedian Rory O’Hanlon 8:00, 9:30 and 10:45 Wednesday: Festival 6:45, 8:30 and 10:30 TRIBOO 7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 Pulse 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 Thursday: Festival 8:30 and 10:30 She 7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 Pulse 8:00; 9:30 and 11:00 Friday: Vocalist Jayson Keeler 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 Rise 7:30, 9:00 and 10:30 The Privateers 6:45, 8:30 and 10:30

Between 7:30 and 8:30 disembarkation for those carrying your bags off. Starts at 8:30 for the rest. You are supposed to register with reception by Weds night for the time you select. We were given a paper with our names and the time we selected on Thurs..

Haugesund was sunny today, no rain!!! We took our first shore excursion, Scenic Skudeneshavn. They were very organized with the shore excursions, directing us to which buses. There were 2 buses going on this tour. As soon as our bus was full, we left port. The museum was boring but the scenery was beautiful. We drove through the town on our way to our excursion. There is not much to do in this town, I suggest you book an excursion. We ate at the American Dinner in the Quays when we returned, it was very good. As for my credit for our cancelled shore excursion, I was told I would receive it in 14 days. They didn’t offer, but I certainly didn’t want, any more OBC. We started the cruise with 240 and still have over 100 left. We are going down to buy some liquor after dinner to bring home. We were also informed in the Horizon that we had to call or stop by Reception by today (Thursday) to tell them what time we wanted to disembark and if we were bringing our own bags. As we are bringing our own bags off, we were offered 7:30 or 8:30. Supposedly by registering for times, it doesnt back up leaving the ship. Let’s see how that goes. Lol

Alesund is cold and raining. Lol 3rd day of rain. Finally stopped raining at noon. i would suggest if you are climbing the stairs, do first thing in the morning. We looked up at 10:30 and the stairs are at a standstill, packed with people. There is an Aida ship here as well, so i’m sure this is adding to the crowds. The hop on, hop off bus is also packed. We saw some stops where not everyone could get on the bus. There is not much to do walking around town, very limited in the number of stores, pubs, etc.. We talked to several people who just walked around for a few hours and then went back to the ship. On another note, I cancelled a shore excursion the other day and then received an email that my credit card was expired and wouldnt accept the refund. Which is not true. After talking to shore experiences staff, there are alot of customers that received this email due to a glitch. They told me to call after my cruise. I told them to figure it out, I’m not paying to call from America to get this fixed because of their “glitch”. So wait and see, but 208 pounds. Lol

Olden was cold and raining the whole time. I would suggest that if u want to book a tour here with a local company, book before you get off. There was a very long line to buy tickets for the local tour company, and that was when we got off at 9 am. We walked to town, and bought some sodas and beers at the grocery store. We came back at 10:30 and there was still a long line for the tour company. We walked across the street to the shop and bought some tshirts. We then spent the rest of the afternoon in the pub, the white house next to the cruise terminal. My husband’s favorite day so far!! Lol

We just walked around Stavanger for a few hours today and did some shopping. Most things were closed because of the holiday. My husband likes to decide things last minute. Lol It was cold and raining the whole time. We ate dinner at the Keel and Cow. Very good steaks. They said everything is cooked to order and takes 45 minutes. Exactly 45 minutes for our meal to arrive. Limited menu for starters and waiter never checked on us during our meal, only 1/2 hour later to see if we wanted dessert. The other restaurants that can be booked are fully booked. The remote control for the tv was not working, had to have “fixed” twice.

Last night was Celebration night. I was very surprised that there were several men without jackets or ties in the MDR. No options like prime rib, beef wellington or shrimp cocktail that we are used to on formal nights. My husband wanted to see the Sky’s the Limit show last night, which I had booked in case we wanted to do 1 show. It was ok. The captain announced last night that we would be leaving Stavanger today at 3 pm instead 5 pm, as bad weather was forecast and he wanted to get ahead of it. I credit him with making the announcement the day before, as to give people a chance to change their plans. He stated that all excursions in the late afternoon will be cancelled. We just arrived in Stavanger. Cold and raining.

We had breakfast in the Pearl restaurant this morning. Food was ok. The food service was timely but as for getting coffee and juice refills, very slow. We had lunch at the Quays. Excellent fish and chips. There is a section off to the side to get water, salads and desserts. The Grab and Go on deck 16 is empty, I was told there are “technical” issues and it has been broken for some time. Seems like cutbacks to me.

We did the virtual queue on the app for dinner in the Pearl at 5:30. It took 5 minutes before we were notified to head to the restaurant. We are not very picky about food. The food was ok. The ship is very bright and clean. Our deluxe balcony (9741) is very roomy. It is an aft cabin. It is unusual in my opinion that the aft cabin balcony is above the sunset bar and not the ocean. Also, there is no light on the balcony. There are limited outlets, 1 on the side of the bed and 2 by the counter, 1 of which is for the water kettle. There is a USB plug in the light on the each side of the bed. Don’t ask us about any shows or entertainment, we almost never do any. Lol Oh, also unusual in my opinion, the buffet only has water for free drinks, no lemonade or iced tea.