jenny wren

We used to winter holiday in Eilat, Israel every year, for sunshine and birdwatching, until we started feeling a bit 'uncomfortable' because of the heightened security.........then John saw a weeks cruise of the Red Sea and Suez, so we booked it !!

That was it, we were hooked and in a months time we will go on our 37th cruise !!!!!

We always use cruisecal.com who are usually pretty accurate....click on the itineraries tab and then put the ships name in the box and then view the appropriate date.......

As we approach from the West we have always used Dock gate 20 with no problems!☺

We were also booking this cruise but have decided otherwise. Ephesus would be a big tick on our list of places to go. Rhodes is very pretty but have been before for 2 weeks. So back to the brochures and more planning.

Perhaps you ought to look at Thomson (Marella cruises) as well on Discovery 2 !! Superb itineraries out of Corfu from local airports, tips included and free all inclusive branded drinks! We've just booked! :)

We've just booked a Thomson cruise that is going to Kusadasi next September....they are also selling land based holidays in that area so I don't see a problem! Perhaps it is a fuel saving exercise for P and O !!!!!

We booked our cruise on Discovery 2 for September 2018 in the TUI shop last week and were able to book our cabin there and then .....the girl said it was a South African call centre......it did take a while but we did get it done !

Thomson still have Kusadasi on their itineraries for next year.....don't see a reason not to go as it is a long way from the big cities !

All of the above plus.....the itineraries are better than P and O offer with only one sea day per week on fly cruises to the Med. We have just booked two weeks on Discovery 2 flying from Exeter....oh yes flights can be from local airports rather than Gatwick or Manchester, so much nicer !!!

In my experience they sell most perfumes and toiletries including sun tan lotions. Whether they sell your favourite brands I have no idea. Cabins have basic stuff like shampoo and shower gels. Shops on board are always more expensive.

They are not 'always more expensive' ....my favourite L'Oréal face cream was about £8 less than I pay ashore!!:)

Yes we usually use Parking4cruises but I had noticed they charged more for the short Dr.....they are excellent though and cheaper for the longer cruises

We were in the TUI shop today booking our Marella Discovery 2 cruise and they said it's only the cruises that are Marella....the flights will be TUI flights.

It's amazing what they can do in two weeks by throwing everything at it 24 hours a day !!

I was asked in a questionnaire if I was interested in having xmas dinner in the afternoon, yes, of course, even better if the afternoon dinner was evening casual just like at home

We go on a cruise at Christmas because it's NOT like at home!!!!!!

I agree that P and O ought to start looking for some different itineraries.....we did a wonderful cruise on Adonia a couple of years ago with some lovely Greek ports i.e Monemvasia, Samos, Limnos, Gythion, they could tender at the smaller ones.

We are up to 37 cruises now and always looking for new places and Thomson are able to deliver lots of fabulous itineraries from Corfu and Dubrovnik, as well as Majorca for 2018.....of course we will have to fly but they go from regional airports so an easy journey to fly from Exeter for us...now they have newer ships as well which makes it even better (although we never had a problem with older ships)

We are planning to book Discovery 2 next year for 2 weeks and have no doubts about booking.......it is about 130 pounds per night as opposed to around 100 per night on Ventura sailing from Southampton...BUT we can fly from our local airport at a reasonable time of day, the tips are included, the All inclusive drinks and coffee package has most branded drinks included and there are 10 ports of call as opposed to 7 with P and O .......we think it's a no brainer! We have done at least a dozen Thomson cruises and maybe a few more with P and O but Thomson do seem to be upping their game recently and will, I think, give P and O a run for their money!

Someone on board has posted elsewhere that they will arrive Southampton 2000 hours Saturday to disembark Sunday morning!! Not a good outcome for those who were to sail on Saturday. What a shame!

On our two way Transatlantic, our first Cunard trip, we booked an early saver fare.....we were allocated an interconnecting cabin which was a disaster....it was like sharing a cabin with strangers, we could hear every word and television from very early morning to very late at night!!!! We were asked our preference for dining which was first sitting but were given late sitting which we managed to change after four days. So in hindsight we would have booked Cunard fare!

Carnival know what they are doing with their marketing. Cunard and P&O DO address different segments and demographics, with Cunard the more upmarket brand (whether that term offends people or not). There IS a different ambience on Cunard (generally older age group with all that implies, more formality, etc). Consider this: P&O has had Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeway broadcast from its ships, and ITV's "Lorraine"; a P&O Captain has appeared in a show on board, culminating with him chasing a member of the theatre company off stage to get back his cap that she has just stolen off his head; P&O promote the fact they have X Factor competitors performing on board. These seem as unlikely on Cunard as do speakers like David Blunket appearing on P&O, or P&O dining room managers wearing tails on formal nights (as happens in Grills). Different people will have their own view on which experience suits them best and whether the price difference is justified, but a difference there certainly is.

The P and O entertainment you quote is probably on the more family orientated ships like Britannia, but on the adult only ships i.e. Oriana, Arcadia and Adonia life is quite different !!

We did a two way Transatlantic on QM2 in June, our first Cunard trip......the tea, coffee making facilities are the same as P and O with exactly the same biscuits, tea and coffee in cabin....we felt service in general was worse than P and O , i.e. piles of dirty dishes left all day on open decks, had to get our own sun beds out !! Waiters in Britannia OK but nothing special......in fact there was nothing special at all.....the shops had far less selection than P and O. Shows were much the same. Tips are more or less £10 a day because of the exchange rate and drinks much more expensive. We were underwhelmed and will not cruise Cunard again.

We booked it before we went just to be on the safe side! It probably depends on how many passengers are doing the two way crossing, most seem to be going just one way.......I would point out that it is literally a shuttle to three different places with a driver plus assistant who said nothing other than what time the pick up was! So no places of interest were pointed out, nor any suggestions of what to look at.....it was very much do it yourself! Also time at each stop was dependent on traffic....in our case 50 mins at first stop (Museum mile in 5th AVE) so not long enough to go into Museum really, so we had a quick walk in Central Park......next stop by Rockefeller Centre we had hour and a half so we had coffee and cake then walked to St Patrick's cathedral browsed the underground shopping mall then time for pick up....last stop fairly close to 9/11 memorial which we had to find ourselves which we did ......then a quick visit to department store to find a loo and buy a bottle of drink!! It all seemed a bit rushed but we did drive past Wall Street, Madison Square, Trump Tower, The Stock Exchange, but none of this was pointed out to us, (we just noticed it out of the coach window), which I thought was a shame!!

In hindsight we probably would have got the metro from the cruise terminal, if there is a station close by, and planned something ourselves.....I have heard since there is some sort of ferry across to Manhattan which might have been a good idea....might be worth doing some research......but the traffic was horrendous so not advisable to go by road !!! We also heard taxis don't like to go from Manhattan back to Brooklyn. Hope this helps !

We did this on our two way T/A.....what did you want to know???

Our Thomson travel agent said they won't be going to Dubai again as they struggled to sell them......

Hi,

 

The reconfigured Kings Court is not wonderful, but it certainly has been greatly improved. I sailed aboard the ship four times before the "remastering" (2004, 2006, 2009 and 2014) and twice following the "remastering" (2016 and 2017). I have always been able to find a table, but sometimes it is a very long walk from the buffet to my table. It tends to be less crowded in the aft area of the restaurant (toward the grill restaurants).

 

Chuck

That was my point, that it is a long walk carrying plates of food from buffet to table, along a narrow walkway with two way traffic !!!

We're always happy to share tables but were unable to find any spaces close to the servery. We were on a two way crossing which we knew was sold out (as it went to Halifax as well as NY) so perhaps it was busier than normal.

Anyway we solved the problem by eating in the pizza/ pasta area where we could have a continental breakfast from close by the table !

But there would probably be more accidents if everyone was carrying bags and two plates of food !!!!! Why do they not supply trays....or at least large oval plates which one could use to carry more than one plate at a time.