Bar-fly

On 12/3/2023 at 12:16 AM, twotravellersLondon said:

 

That's one of the most transparent and honest reports that we've seen. We knew that something was really amiss when FOCLs didn't invite reviews on Feefo. You all deserve nothing less than a fu ll refund!!!

 

 

Hi Two T's, Fred Olsen is playing the incident well down, it all stems from the Captain's decision to sail with only one propeller shaft working into the worst predicted gale in 70 years, as the gale grew in strength we were going nowhere fast and the Captain decided to run for lexos then changed to Gatxo in the Bay of Biscay unfortunately, during the turn there were several deck 4 cabins flooded including the companionway, as the ship listed my wife and I had our life preservers to hand but in retrospect they would have been useless in such seas, while there were several injuries and one passenger told me he stayed seated as instructed but with one big crash was catapulted off his chair and underneath the adjacent table receiving obvious damage to his nose and forehead, the ship had so much list that the waves hit my deck 5 cabin just like a sledgehammer, both of the ship's searchlights were on and searching the wave patterns in order to turn and in my view it was with luck that we completed the turn, and with the wind and waves behind us the ship picked up speed to Gatxo where I was told that 40+ passengers had left the ship, and where the technical engineer came aboard to fix the software which then allowed the two propeller shafts to work together.

All in all, we had just one good day of sun and two ports where the weather was hazy sun with clouds, in fact we were glad to get home, I received an email in answer to my letter asking for my money back stating that they were looking into it, I do wonder what is there to look into?

Hi Trevor, I now see your point, and as people pick their cruises by port or destination I foolishly thought that after payment we had a contract of sorts, having cruised for many years I do know that things don't always go to plan and it's another reason why we should read the small print 🙂 I still feel that the on time arrival at Madera for the company PR stunt took presedence over other decisions and why we sailed into the teeth of a massive storm    

The captain announced that we had an intermittent engine fault, so we did not have the power to clear the well-publicised approaching storm.

Should we have gone to sea with this fault? in my view certainly not!!  So we were caught and battered by the worst storm for over 70 years, the ship took on an unnatural list which I believe was righted by pumping water ballast from one side of the ship to the other which righted the ship, in this manoeuvre deck 4 windows were shattered and water ingress also flooded inside cabins, we limped to Gatxo which was cold and wet and although unfortunately after making repairs we did not go the Canaries where we were contracted to go but to Madera, for the Fred Olsen PR exercise which it seemed that the captain thought was more important, in total we had just one day on deck in the sun, therefore, it was not a cruise having had just two contracted ports, should we get our money back? you bet we should so let's see if FO can match Saga without any quibbling.  

Hi all

On our last fly cruise I think our allowance was 23kg each, that’s a lot of clothes, and lets face it nowadays we don't carry the suitcase we pull it on wheels, so in my view there's no excuse for not taking enough clothes to change each evening, I myself just can't imagine dinning with other guests not having had a shower and a change of clothes, and I would not care to sit next to someone who had been tramping round the sights, and afterwards wearing the same clothes to dinner, I suppose that is acceptable at a holiday apartment, but not on a cruise ship.

It's all about personal standards, and we have all been in the vicinity of someone who whiffs a bit, and as I said previously, I suppose they just can't smell themselves.

Lets not forget it’s not always BO that’s the fault, as clothes will also take on smells from the daily grind, and sitting next to a smoker at dinner who’s wearing the same clothes that they had been smoking in all day does emit a nasty and acrid pong for people nearby.

Quote: I would say that at least 80% of the men had on a sport coat, some with ties. There were even a few suits. This was my experience on this trip. I'm sure others, based on their comments, found casual to be just fine and I would agree, but not for the Captain's night and Farwell Dinner night.]

I guess that says something about the good standards of Uniworld, and the type of cruisers that they attract, and I agree casual is fine on casual nights, but casual doesn’t mean wearing the same clothes all day and night.

All cruise companies have a brochure and usually within it a paragraph or two pointing out the ships dress code, and guests are expected to comply with it.

And yes HydroKitty, :-) even though I'm now retired, I still do shower every day.

Quote: Dinner is always a bit special for us when on vacation so we make an effort - just our preference.

Well done caviargal, me too :-)

Quote: Someone above said that most people on river cruises dress in the morning and keep the same outfit on till bedtime.....I think that's pretty accurate!

Ugh’ fancy sitting next to someone at dinner who hasn’t changed, they must whiff a bit after having had the same clothes on all day, I guess some people just get used to there own smell.

It makes me wonder if these people actually wash for dinner, even if they do wearing the same clothes would soon negate that.

River cruising sounds a bit more relaxed or free and easy, but one should dress a little more formal (or smarter) in the evening, if only in respect to fellow passengers who have taken the effort to shower and dress in a clean shirt & slacks/or Blouse & skirt etc, and to the crew who have presented their dinner as professionally as they can.

It doesn’t cost much to be smart on a more casual holiday, just the time to wash and change, there is a very big difference between casual, and scruffy, Do these people also wear working trousers (Jeans) and trainers in the evening? I wonder.

I'll bet the Captain and crew change their shirts for dinner, and I wonder what they think of us when they smell someone whiffing of daily B.O while bending over them to serve the food?