jollyjones

From my personal experience of transatlantic flights in biz, I start looking at 10 months out, usually find a price I can accept at 8 - 9 months out, and always plan to buy before 6 months out. I usually buy by 8 months out as I have found that gives me the best combination of price with flight times and seat availability. Your experience may be different, and I'm no flight expert, but that is what my experience has shown me. And once you've bought your ticket, never look back at the price but do look back frequently to catch the schedule changes early so you can deal with them, before the rest of the herd notices, if there's a problem. If you feel you'd prefer to wait till closer before your trip to buy, I suggest you do a dummy booking to price transatlantic tickets at say 2 or 4 weeks before flight date ...

Eight from Tahiti to LAX. Loved every one, would have liked more. I love sea days and usually do at least one, if not two, transatlantics a year. That's what cruising is all about for me. The ports are just a minor distraction.

Thank you so much for your reply which gives me the answer that I need, although it's not the answer I like. The last thing I want to do after boarding is scurry around trying to find the correct tables to book the various add ons I want - hardly a relaxing way to begin a cruise. But at least I know where I stand now - thanks! PS but why does booking add ons (including dining and drinks packages) show as an option on my cruise page on the website?

Thank you all for your replies - I must admit that when I posted the question, I thought it'd be a simple yes/no, easy for past guests to answer. With my usual cruise line, I know from experience as a past guest that anything I pre-book online will not be charged until after boarding when any OBC I have will automatically be applied. However, despite your help, I'm still not clear about booking - it's the dining and drinks packages and other add ons that I'm interested in. (I am not interested in booking excursions, I do my own thing in ports) I can see on the 'my reservation' section of the website where I can book add ons so what I'm mostly asking before I click on the 'book' button is am I committing myself to paying with a credit card or does payment wait till I'm onboard and can use my OBC? This is what is not made clear and I don't click on links unless I know what I am committing to. I'm not likely to use all the OBC I have so I definitely don't want to pay for add ons by credit card. Sorry to be a pest but this is what is so great about CC - actual real life knowledge from pax who've been there! PS I appreciate the suggestion to just phone them, but I don't like dealing on the phone, I like to do it online.

That’s not a wonderful solution, I’m not keen on hanging on an international call for it, I’d much prefer to do it online. Isn’t there anywhere on the website that makes it clear? The faqs seem to be pretty useless.

I have booked an Az cruise that comes with significant OBC. I can see a number of add ons that I will use, but the Az website doesn't make it clear that if I book these before I board, will my credit card be charged or will they be charged to my OBC? It'll be aggravating to have to scurry around immediately after boarding to book what I want, especially as none of the packages suit me, I'd want to book the specific individual elements I'd use. I do see some comment here on CC about paying for excursions then getting the money refunded via OBC once on board but that's absurdly inefficient, I wouldn't want to do that. You Az regulars obviously know the answer so please enlighten me!

I fear you are not getting DW's point. Why would anyone want to patronise a country suffering under the rule of a savage and repressive regime? DW's gay, I'm a woman, we're both considered to be less than human there.

Potential tropical cyclone 16? https://www.weathernerds.org/tc_guidance/storm.html?tcid=AL16 https://www.nhc.noaa.gov

Probably but you just can't predict. It will be warmer than going via New York. Funchal is well worth a visit, it's the route I'd choose.

Look at this page: https://www.silversea.com/best-luxury-cruise-deals/single-occupancy-supplements.html Scroll down past 'request a quote' and the cruises and filters are shown.

The issue of having cash in small denomination bills is becoming a nuisance. Travelling for me these days is almost entirely cashless. When cruising, I do expect to tip excursion guides unless they were not good at their job but I now have to plan ahead and equip myself with 'small' cash because it's the only time I'll need it. I used to tip about US$5, euro 5, or GBP 5 but have moved up to about 10 in those currencies because it's really hard to get smaller notes (and the cost of living has gone up too so it's not an unreasonable increase) - I use whichever currency (I make a guess at it) may be most accepted in countries with different currencies. So far no guide has ever refused cash - I console myself that they probably are well used to having to deal with many different currencies. But having enough small money is still a nuisance. And David63, no, you need to bring small money with you - I'd suggest you equip yourself with a number of five pound notes before you travel, that'll get you through. Or 5 euro notes if you can be bothered.

I have sailed OC and was definitely not made to feel ‘one of the family’. As a solo I found it wasn’t easy to have a good dining experience, I didn’t like the small cabin, and I absolutely hated the narrow and cramped-feeling bathroom. One and done for Crystal for me. Just reached 500 days with SS, ‘nuff said.

Well, I can give you my update on Lee - it’s happening right here, right now. Fortunately, and I hope it’s course doesn’t wobble, it’s just far enough to our west that we’re getting storm force winds rather than hurricane force. That hasn’t stopped the power going off already this morning, although mine is now back on. I bet they’re not saying much to you because it’s going to be a bit tricky - you and Lee have to cross paths and it’ll all be in the timing. Best of luck! I’m sure you’ll have a great cruise, however it floats out.

I keep one of the single use bottles in my cabin and refill it from the glass bottle in the fridge every morning. On my recent cruise, this upset my butler who offered to bring me a new single use bottle every day, so I had to explain about the plastic waste. In the great scheme of cruising, I know it doesn't make much difference, but I feel better doing this.

Interesting! I guess I was lucky - I flew JFK to BDA this morning, after a night in the TWA after arriving from LHR yesterday - on time departure, early landing. Sorry about your cancellation Lois, hope it works out for you without too much more headache.

Definitely don't take your brain. I just did one on the Moon and it was insultingly simplistic - for anyone with even a smattering of cooking skills it certainly won't teach you anything. And it was disturbingly lacking in basic kitchen hygiene.

The group in Port Elizabeth were confronted by armed robbers (can't remember if it was knives or guns) and were relieved of everything that was in their possession - neck pouches, backpacks, fanny packs, phones, watches etc. etc. This included passports because they had been told by their cruise line that they needed to carry them ashore and a great deal of discussion ensued on CC about whether that was accurate. Particularly since other pax said they had not needed to show their passports to get on or off the ship. Disclaimer - I think I'm remembering this correctly, but I may not be. Also, I'm not saying this is a frequent occurrence but it shows that it can happen.

If you look at the deck plans, there is some sort of indent from the corridor to the cabin. This is the door, each pair of cabins is usually a mirror image, the door should lead you to the corridor past the bathroom and closet and foot of the bed to the desk. Looking at the Nova plan, there is a little indent at 6011 showing where you walk in and, indeed, the bed will be to your left with the head of the bed more for’ard, the foot more aft.

Bags are in the terminal building so you can walk off the ship too. Can’t miss the terminal building, it’s totally obvious. You then queue forever to go thru immigration in the building, then you find your bags in the shambles, also in the building. They sometimes shout at me for refusing the bus, they threaten I’m going to get run over, but there is no requirement to take it, just stick to the marked pedestrian walkway! PS triv at 8pm, Viking are full crazy!!

Hi Les, Long time no chat! Yes, you had a bad time at FLL but you have to remember that I have Global Entry with TSA pre-check and don't travel with a trunkful of camera gear, so my experience at US airports is a lot different. And I avoid flying BA if humanly possible. BGI is just a pain for everyone. And my last cruise out of Bridgetown was in the time of Covid testing and extreme paranoia, on a very windy day when the Spirit computer systems had crashed and they were trying to check us in outdoors with pen, paper and clipboards. Much of it ablowin' in the wind ... PS I always refuse the bus from check in to the ship - it's not obligatory - it's so much quicker to walk.

Getting anywhere from Bridgetown is a nightmare. Getting from the street to the plane in BGI is a nightmare. I'm glad I've sailed in and out of Barbados often enough because I now avoid itineraries beginning or ending there, it's too much of a hassle. Just like I'm avoiding Fusina / Venice.

I am on the Moon right now and current wifi usage is heavy. Speedtest is showing Starlink 9mbps down, 3mbps up - that is premium, I choose to buy it because I'm impatient, and I like to look at some of the sites blocked on the free stuff. The free option is usually about a quarter of that speed, maybe only a fifth. Dunno if they still do, but SS used to block heavy usage sites for the free option - such as google maps and YouTube. I also find you can't airdrop between devices, even on premium - I have to load my photos from phone to laptop by cable.

And woe betide if you get mugged.

And I always take a second form of ID for the port security issue Alithecat mentions. My driving licence is a plastic card that fits the other side of the little wallet the room key card comes in so I carry it in there when off the ship.

Usually, about half way through your cruise you will receive in your cabin a piece of paper with all the post cruise transport options - you fill in what you want and hand it in. This will almost certainly include transfer to airports in the vicinity. However, be aware that SS charges per person and the cost isn't trivial. It may be worth investigating availability and cost for a taxi since that charge is per car. Which is preferable depends on your own comfort level, how many in your party, availability of taxis and how far it is to the airport.