CCFC

We flew direct from Heathrow to Miami, overnight stay in the Intercontinental then off to the ship about 1pm the next day. I live in the Midlands but the only direct flights close to us were from London. If you go on their website the flight booking programme is very good and shows you the cost and how many transfers if any.

Until I book another cruise with them then its hard to say, my cruise last year with them was great but that was before all the pricing and loyalty rewards all got changed.

 

Must say the rewards for loyalty are not up to other lines standards by any means.

Its quite a shame as its a lovely sail away and the ship goes so slowly I cant see it doing any damage, its mostly pulled by tugs. Im glad I did it this year in May with a few grey skies but as the Cruise Director said its one of the top 3 sail aways in the world.

 

You would think the Venetians would be thankful for the trade it brings.

 

If anyone is interested I did a short video of our sail away here:

 

 

There are no waves from the ship at all.

Always shooting themselves in the foot the Italians, they are broke and now do this. Madness in my opinion.

Why cruise lines think being higher up the ship is an upgrade is beyond me, we had a lovely outside on deck 5 and had a great time as we right by the Piazza.

On some Costa cruises I have looked at the daily rate is £18, now that really is worth thinking about.

 

"All Inclusive beverages*: includes a selection of alcoholic and soft drinks by the glass (draught beer and wine) and coffee, with the exception of Mini Bar products ad premium brands.

- Adults (18 years and over): € 19.50 per day, including service charges."

What airline limits you to 20kg on a long haul flight! Its been 23kg or 50llb when we have gone, I'll avoid them!

Surge protectors are frowned upon and have been confiscated previously as they can set off alarms.

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=40130269&postcount=17

You can still smoke in the Tradewinds bar on top deck (or could in June, I will be able to confirm in 2 weeks when we go back on her from Rome to Barcelona)

Using the cross in the middle of the pool at the back and the tide mark at the front by the bridge to gauge how much its moved, it looks as if the front has raised more than the rear?

Wonder why its got P&O on the side!

Only half the casino is smoking as a rule these days with it being smoke free on formal nights.

We always go for a table for 8 second sitting too, always met great people. Once on a back to back only 2 of the 8 changed and I think the new people felt a little left out as the original 6 were getting on great. Sometimes I do find it hard to remember names so sneak a pen in and write names down only to be thwarted next day as we all do the 'table shuffle' and sit next to another couple, last cruise we asked for a table for 8 and got a table for 10 which normally I wouldn't have asked for but again we all had a great time. We all turned up to egg on the Pop Star entrant who eventually won!

I hope they put another ship out there as next year Princess are cutting back on their European offerings. We flew to Venice in May and were straight in the sun and off to Rome again in October. While Southampton has its advantages like no transfer fees and flights to pay for we managed to get the flights and transfers for £210 which isn't an awful lot more than paying for CPS to park the car.

When we were on the Ruby in June people were surprised to see us doing a ship made Sudoku and Quiz when sat around a bar. If you go to the library there are daily quizzes and Sudoku's. Don't forget your pen though!

Also on a French theme Escargots!