MBP&O2/O

Les, was that Stephan? If so then you are being very complementary about his replacement 😏 Chocolate fireguard is a phrase that springs to mind.

I may be wrong but in the UK, if you book the air and cruise via a TA it becomes a Package Holiday and then it is governed by the Passenger Rights / Package holiday legislation which says that major changes to itineraries must be compensated accordingly. Ie if they change the whole kit and kaboodle you are entitled to a full refund. It's a while since I read it but that is the gist of it.

I joined my very first ship in drydock in Falmouth ... that was when England had UK flagged ships and a ship building industry😏

For me, I dress according to my preferences which are probably more than the requested dress code indicates. When at sea, we kept 4 hrs on, 8 hrs off watches. There was plenty of 'admin' to do in your 'off' time. Meals were NEVER a relaxed affair. You had no choice about what to wear, and no choice about when to eat. Taking as long as twenty minutes for a meal was frowned upon. When in port, 6 hrs on, 6 hrs off. Same principle but no dining saloon as you were in working gear. Meals were frequently missed altogether. To be at sea, on a ship with a smart dress code and being allowed to have a relaxed meal at a time of my choosing and in pleasant surroundings is spot on. Other people can do what they want as long as they don't try to force feed me their desires, like an arrogant sounding guy who pointed out to me that i didn't need to wear a tie! When I told him I knew that and wore one out of choice he had no answer.🙂

For me, a combination of itinerary and ship is the focal point. If the two don't fit then I don't go. If they do then it's a whole lot of research. 😏

Try making a dummy booking ... when I did it,several offers came to light of which the cruise package was one. I have never cruised from Vancouver but my research shows the walk from the PP to the check in area as minimal, so I took up another offer.

I don't recognise many of the wines off the published [ comp ] list, but those I do are generally standard supermarket fayre. Certainly, for me, nothing to get excited about.

My last cruise on Silversea was bang in the centre of town. There was a Ponant one there as well.

Thanks for all that ...and I can't stand oysters either 😄

Our last SS was DIY as far as excursions were concerned. Some were fair, most ... as far as my preferences go ..were hyped up and not so good. I won't entertain no compensation included excursions no matter which company is involved.

Slightly off topic ....Still food related 🙂 Seafood in Vancouver .... recommendations that are not pub / happy hour / fun related? Just a nice relaxing seafood restaurant ... there seem to be a couple near Canada Place. Rileys is one that springs to mind. Comments appreciated.

Which ever side you choose you can guarantee that the interesting occurrence will be on the other😏

I would have thought that they should have reported it on board as a matter of course? Such dangerous (imho) habits need dealing with immediately.

They "forgot" to send mine last time. Didn't answer 'chase up emails. My PCC is as slack as a bag of spannes. Unlikely I will sail with SS again but if I do i won't be working with that person.

Never having sailed either ... Good start .... we have booked an Odyssey cruise. We looked for the itinerary first and then suitable ships for that itinerary. We chose SB because the smaller ship will get more off the beaten track. IMHO Viking ships are too big for what we wanted. We looked at Silversea but felt it wasn't worth the money.

I was on a ship that sank. The root cause was a seawater cooling pipe disintegrating and flooding the engine room. No physical evidence was available for the internal inquiry. This was the only inquiry. It was determined that the pipe failure was more than likely caused by metal fatigue. No proof. A bit like a fire that was more than likely caused by a cigarette. No proof. Even without proof, the company chose to immediately drydock each and every ship of that class so as the approriate examinations could be conducted. As it happens they did find evidence of metal fatigue on a couple of ships. They seemed to take the 'more than likely' as a serious option, as could Princess should they have chosen to do so. Just a thought😏

My age has overtaken my IQ .... according to my son. .. Will I fit in 😄 On our last cruise , when on excursions , we often 'out walked' many on the younger ones.

.... plus there are many ports that will not allow cruise ships unless they have particularly low emissions ... Norway springs to mind. Even the older ships are being upgraded to comply.

We too have an Alaskan cruise booked and I can see me falling out with the fashion police 🙂 or vice versa 🙄 If I wear a jacket then I wear a tie .... and on Formal nights I usually wear a tux. Will be interesting to see the reaction of some people 😄

I used to work on oil tankers. Smoking where not allowed was a sacking offence. If smoking is to be be allowed on a ship it should be in dedicated areas only, and the rules should be rigidly enforced.

We've had our last SS cruise, in the main because of the incomptence of the UK office and the PCC. Similar issues. The PCC would not answer emails and when telephoned - in exasperation - was prone to giving misleading and/or incorrect information. She also 'forgot' to send embarkation documents.

We only used chinagraph for plotting on the steam driven radar .. charts were paper and 2B pencils. I am sure I read somewhere that they are only given basic instruction for terrestrial and celestial navigation, and in respect of the latter no open btridge wings won't help.

When I worked for P&O we got massive discounts fot cruise fares, but if a full fare passenger came along then .......😏

Thanks for the reply. The ships in port are 2500pax, 3200pax, and 500pax! Watching a video on YouTube gives the impression that each bunch of passengers are pretty well separated into their own 'waiting area', so if that is the case and there is a semblance of organisation it might work well ... maybe, perhaps 😏

As a slight aside ... how well organised is it, or is that dependent on the cruise line? On our embarkation day there are three ships scheduled to be berthed so I suspect it will be manic😤