oldsilverfox

Is the in-house magazine for Captains club members

First of all, I sincerely apologise in advance if this topic has already been discussed, but I was only aware of this when I opened my latest copy of Vista, so here goes;

(deep breath)

I read that the super Summit is to have a makeover, and that the Normandie restaurant is to be rebranded as a Murano.

Now I really am not an opponent of all things new, but sufficient to say that the Normandie decor was IMHO one of the elegant and classy at sea.

I read somewhere that the panels came from the original Normandie via several hotel "refurbishments", and I suggest that it really would be a major tragedy if they were removed only to turn up again ashore as part of some tacky hotel decor elsewhere.

There are precious little liner/maritime artefacts remaining and it would be nice if Celebrity could reuse them elsewhere in the fleet (hint; Cunard have done this using some heritage items from previous ships, around the QM2)

When we were last on the Summit we saw the statue of the little girl, also from the Normandie, which was in the MDR. She looked so forlorn with little indication of her illustrious past.

So, Celebrity, please reuse these valuable artefacts and locate them in a suitable setting somewhere which does justice to their pedigree and enhances the brand.

It is interesting to compare the razzmatazz around the Celebrity chefs with their cooking classes, with the "also-ran" attitude to the Art classes.

Only Carnival plc knows how many art packs they sell, but given that you do not need the equivalent of a huge shiny stainless steel kitchen for a place to hold art classes they would seem to be a better overall revenue earner for the Company.

Perhaps the interest in the new Art show on the BBC will encourage them to revise and upgrade their importance in the entertainment department. It appears one can only hope.

On the Azura trans-Atlantic last October, there were Art Classes in the morning and the afternoon. The tutor was very good.

BUT

He was only scheduled to teach for 45 mins per lesson. This is totally inadequate as throughout the cruise, additional students would still be arriving and he would have to break off and spend 5-10 minutes going through the syllabus, selling the art packs etc, so sometime the class would be down to 35 minutes.

On my return I wrote to P&O entertainment explaining the situation but I never received a response.

FWIW On my last Cunard voyage the lessons were two hours in the morning and the same pm.

Given the significant numbers of passengers who turned up for the lessons, for the life of me, I just cannot understand why P & O don't give their Art classes more priority.

A profound thank you to all of the forum members for their relevant and constructive comments.

Here is my concern on the subject.

We have been on over 50 cruises with most of the cruise lines. Celebrity ranks as one of the best four star companies whilst you are on their ships. I like sailing with Celebrity.

BUT

In an increasing competitive market with increasing emphasis on luxury/class, they are seriously falling down with offering a dire, two star or less "customer service" from their UK office. Paying for a long premium call to pay your cruise balance is totally unacceptable. One of the replies mentioned similar phone delays contacting the airlines but these days, airlines are mass market brands, not promoting themselves as "Modern Luxury".

If anyone from Celebrity reads this forum topic, rest assured that on our forthcoming cruise if Lisa Lutoff-Perlo asks for questions, you are sure of one question in advance.

I know that all of the cruise lines are cutting back on everything that they can in order to cut costs but I do feel that RCL/Celebrity have gone way too far with their "Contact us" facility.

I've have just spent a considerable time on the phone waiting to be connected, just so that I could pay the balance on my forthcoming cruise. At least Carnival has a dedicated "button" if you are settling your account.

As well as long waiting times on the telephone, we also do not appear to have the benefit of an email contact that you can try as an alternative to the mostly non-applicable FAQ's on the site, however remote the chance of getting a response.

Here is an example; I am uncertain whether my cruise deal includes free parking at Southampton. There is no information on my invoice nor on the Cruise Personaliser. So, should I spend another small part of my life listening to how "your call is important to us" or has any forum members in the UK got any better ideas on how to get a response ??

By coincidence at the same time, I also had a similar query on a forthcoming Viking river cruise. 0208 = UK number, straight through to a helpful person.

BTW I understand that the CEO of Celebrity and the UK Celebrity head will be on my cruise. If she is taking questions, and anybody from Celebrity ever reads these forums, I will be looking for some answers.

In case anyone thinks otherwise, I am a keen Celebrity passenger but I do think that their pre-cruise customer support is dire.

The schedule of the terminals that cruise ships are using in Southampton can be found on the ABP Southampton website. They are the port Authority.

Look for leisure > cruise ship schedule.

In general QE and Ocean terminals are in the "Old" docks, and the Mayflower terminal is in the "New" docks.

The City terminal is mainly retained by the remaining lines, i.e. RCCL and MSC

I've just looked at our Luggage Labels on our VP page, prior to printing them.

I see that it says " Do not remove, to be used for Embarkation and Disembarkation"

So it appears that Cunard may no longer be handing out the usual coloured-coded luggage labels for your disembarkation and if you remove the labels during the voyage you might earn an extra visit to the Purser's desk (deep joy) to plead for replacements.

BE WARNED.

If you are not in a hurry to get to London/ would like to see some of southern England's glorious countryside, here is another option.

There are two routes to London from Southampton. London Waterloo direct and London Victoria via Sussex on Southern trains which is a longer journey. However Victoria can be more convenient for some London hotels.

Southern also have some superb value fares if you book earlier. For example last week we travelled Gatwick Airport to Southampton for 15GBP pp for a day ticket but we could have paid only 5GBP pp if we could have nominated the actual train (difficult if you're on an incoming flight).

Hint; Be sure to book a through/ no changes service (check the box), otherwise you will be porting luggage across a station halfway through the journey. Not all services are direct.

Hope this helps and you enjoy the South of England.

Have a look at the Megabus site. This is site run by the Southwest Trains group, the rail operators, which enables you to travel around the SE of England for heavily discounted fares, for example Southampton to London from 5GBP

As you might guess, there are some conditions;-

You can only book three months in advance. There are only three scheduled trains each way nominated for the discount BUT they are off-peak, which is ideal for cruise passengers. Otherwise these are the standard services, sitting alongside passengers who have paid the full price.

Two hints; weekend bookings fill up very quickly with students, also you may be confused when it you start booking. The key is to look out for the box "How do you want to travel BUS/TRAIN ?" Tick train !!!

BOOK AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE/ NO REFUNDS.

Given the range of common sense points made above, it beggars belief that a group of "travel trade professionals" sitting around a table could come up with, and agree such a scheme, in the face of such obvious drawbacks.

Can you image it working at a major airport ?????

Exactly what I was thinking.

Why would any cruise want to upset passengers right at the start of their holidays ??

According to page 12 of the August Cunarder magazine, if I'm interpreting it correctly, Cunard are axing the premium check-in dark at the Ocean Terminal and instead, will fast-track the premium passengers to the head of the Britannia queue.

So, you are a Britannia passenger who has spent 10 minutes or more in the check-in queue , at the very last minute, as your turn comes, another (premium) passenger cuts in alongside you like a (insert suitable German car marque) driver at the traffic lights, and takes your turn. Result ????? = not good all round.

The premium check in model has worked ok for the world's airlines and cruise lines for years without problems and it is difficult to understand why Cunard are axing it. If it because it is underused at times, surely a better answer is to use it as an temporary overflow for the Britannia passengers when it is idle. Result ????? = happy bunny.

I believe that it will cause more tensions and ill feeling than the dubious benefits it is supposed to deliver.

Someone please tell me that I am totally wrong on this !!!!

Hi Sanjam and oldsilverfox,

 

we baught our IPad in KLASS also last Nov 2013 in St Maarten and yes we got an Apple warranty with it. We have had no bother with it and it's still going strong.

 

Oldsilverfox, we are also on the same cruise as yourself on 31st October

Sot-Barbados and staying on for a B2B. Have you had a look at our Roll Call you are very welcome to join us at our meet and greet on Saturday 1st Nov in the Karmala Room. At 11am.

Thank you for the info about Klass. May I enquire what sort of deal you received ?

Many thanks for your kind offer re; the meet and greet. I had been following the amazing response on your Rollcall forum, all down to your stirling efforts and enthusiastic organisation.

Saturday, we will be halfway across the Bay of Biscay, so our presence could well be dependent on the vagaries of the weather, but we will try !!!

Hi,

You might not find that as easy as you think.

Until recently we used to have a two week holiday in a Caribbean resort, until the costs of the holiday mushroomed, due in part to the increase in APD.

What we found was that it is relatively easy to book a holiday out there, the limiting factor was the lack of capacity in the airline seats. Virgin and BA appear to have a duopoly and tend to reserve seats for their branded holidays.

Thank you very much for your helpful thought but we're on the Azura next Friday, sail out and fly back !!

I already have an iPad 3 but I'm looking to upgrade in my ceaseless drive to reduce the weight of my (electronics) baggage. The older iPads are quite lumpy.

No response from Klass, not that I was really expecting one, so here is my cunning plan.

I have taken the prices from the Apple US website and will use these as a price guide when shopping.

However these prices are not region specific as you well know because you have to add sales tax when in the USA e.g. +7% in Florida. However if St Maarten really is a tax free island, these US-base prices should be fairly close.

FWIW a 16gb iPad Air is $399 (£240)and the latest iPad Air2 is $499 (£300)

BOTH PRICES ARE APPROX GUIDES ACCORDING TO EXCHANGE RATES, so please don't flame me if you disagree.

I've just had a look at the Klass website which includes one of those 360 panorama views of the store. I notice it says "Apple approved reseller" on the facade, so it should be ok, not like those totally spoof stores in China !!!!!!

I've emailed them asking for prices but I'm not holding my breath for a reply.

Hi Richleeds

It is a 32 gb and it was cheaper in St Martin than it was in the US, hence the reason I bought it.

Hi,

Please could you kindly confirm whether you got any sort of Apple warranty with your iPad purchase from Klass ??

Are they the store which has branched into being an Apple approved reseller on the Island ?

As I mentioned above, for me, the key thing is to have some sort of Apple-backed guaranty, just in case something goes down. If it does and Apple walk away, you are left with a rather an expensive paperweight for the money that you have saved !!!!!

Thanks for your valuable input.

On the second question, I think the camera prices are extortionate on P&O and quite often last seasons tech.

 

I would imagine P&O will state it has to be the exact same camera.

 

So, for example, if the UK version stocked on the ship is a Panasonic "DMC-TZ50 euh" the local version would be "DMC-ZS50.cek" and they might wriggle out of it that way, even though essentially it is the same camera.

Wow !! I just knew there had to be some sort of room to wriggle !!!

You could be spot on. As per your example, cameras are often "zoned" according to their video recording system, i.e. PAL or NTSC although in actual practice it doesn't matter a jot.

I will keep a sharp lookout !!!

We're shortly off to the Caribbean on the Azura. Our first stop is St Maarten which we have previously visited a couple of times, though not recently.

According the various websites St Maarten claims to be duty-free and tax-free and now boasts an Apple approved reseller.

I might just be in the mood to upgrade to an iPad Air, or alternatively some other AV products in the other stores in the main street.

My question is, has any other forum members recently bought any AV/technology products on the island ?? How do UK/online prices compare ??

Before any members mention about warranties, Apple's is generally bomb-proof. My iMac came from Hawaii (also a sales tax free haven) and has subsequently been looked after by Apple UK without problem.

A supplementary question. Has anyone had experience of P&O's onboard stores price-match ???

It appears to be saying that it will match like for like prices to those found in ports that it is visiting. Given the generally premium prices of technology sold on board, against the keen prices generally available in St Maarten, how does this claim up in real life situations ??

Hawkeyetise.

Nope.

I have just had a look at the HMRC website pertains to VAT in Restaurants, bars etc.

It clearly states that if the customer FREELY gives a tip in a restaurant, that tip is not subject to VAT. Since the tills onboard are programmed to automatically add a 15% gratuity, in my opinion it is not freely given and therefore must be subject to VAT.

All this for $1.40. You should have stayed home.

If I thought I was going to pay $9.45 for two ordinary coffees in paper cups I probably would have !!

Hi Hawkeyetise,

Here we go.

When you purchase a drink onboard most cruise lines levy a 15% surcharge as a gratuity. There is no opportunity to opt-out of this.

I am no expert on VAT but either NCL has then added a further VAT percent on top of this (cost + 15%) which means they are also charging VAT on the gratuity, OR they are charging VAT on the drink, and then adding a further 15% by way of the gratuity. Which do you think it is ??

I did not dine in any of the premium restaurants but throughout the gift shops etc, there were prominent notices displayed saying that 25% VAT (????) would be added to the ticket prices of all of the items, at the point of purchase. (I must admit I thought that UK VAT was 20%.) They weren't selling booze or cigarettes although the shop was open !!

Given the already premium pricing of onboard merchandise, as you can imagine, they weren't doing a great deal of business. Also as a point of interest some items, e.g. children's clothes, are not subject to VAT.

I now believe that the travel industry mags are reporting on this.

OK, if this really is a UK VAT charge on food and beverage presumably this should also be applied to the surcharge levied in the premium restaurants ?? If not why not ?

How does this tax work?

a) Selling price = ( menu price + gratuity) x VAT

or

b) Selling price = ( menu price + VAT) x gratuity.

Either of the above options raise even more questions.

For those who suggest that I am concerned over $1.40, it appears that there is a lot more (NCL Revenue) in this than at first glance.