heatherb1958

I find the only time it is a nightmare are the short, closed loop Southampton trips, all the others where people get on and off at the different ports are a breeze. If everyone stuck to their embarkation times the closed loop cruises wouldn't be such a problem. We have done several MSC cruises out of Southampton , the 5 day trip we did in May last year was like queuing for a Disney ride , Euribia in March this year was a delight , on the ship from arrival to a bar was as fast as I could walk , 😆

Great wrap up review photo dump 😎. What is the chandelier show? I am guessing something to do with the lights behind the bar ? . Will find out 7th September 😆. We have done the Arctic circle trip on Brilliance in 2012, visited all your ports plus the Lofoten islands. Our Blue nose ceremony was out on deck at 11.30pm ! Thank you for rekindling the memories .

You can have a miniature shot of Baileys and other liquors in those desserts , makes them more palatable 😆. We did meet a lady on Sky Princess last year , 24 nights , she WAS having at least one a day . Every time we were going in to early dinner there she was having one , we became friends , lovely lady , she is the size of Princess Catherine so can get away with having those desserts 😆.

Thank you all so much for the replies , so so glad I booked it now. Our itinerary is a cold one but we are from Northern England so will just put on an extra jumper 😆. One more question re the cocktail... we are on Princess plus anyways but can you literally order what you want or is it from a set list, quite fancy sitting there with a Vodka martini and our 'butler' serving it 😆.

Hi all , we are on Caribbean princess soon in a true aft balcony and after seeing some videos on YouTube about the Ultimate balcony dinner for 2 thought it would be a great opportunity to experience it at sailaway which is scheduled for 6pm on the day I have chosen. What have folks experiences been like? . First off , you do only purchase in one person's name and it is for 2 people right ? Secondly , what is the earliest time you could start the evening off ? I am guessing it is from restaurant open hours maybe . I saw somewhere that a photo is included, is that still the case ? Princesses' website doesn't show every minute detail of what is actually included so any responses from folks who have done it in the past 6 months would be appreciated. I know there are cutbacks in all areas with all cruiselines so recent first hand experience replies would be truly appreciated.

Great photos . On Anthem recently we had 75F and sunny skies in Olden when I did the hike up to Huaren. For an overweight 65 year old with slight asthma and arthritic hips who only hikes on holiday it was hard going but so so worth it. Did you notice the post box up there ? Inside was a log for you to enter your details 😎. Mine are there 😆.

I am half Scottish, father from Edinburgh , I lived in St. Andrews and Leuchars for a while as a kid. Love St. Andrews but not been for a long long time. Lymington is just stunning too. , pronounced Limmington not Lime ington. 😁😁

Great start .. following along for the ride, we are on Apex in September . Absolutely love Norway and just got back from 2 weeks there on Anthem , did a lot of hiking myself . We visit Brockenhurst and Lymington when staying in Southampton, love seeing the ponies roaming around everywhere and especially when the foals are born. Lymington I love for the charity shops , got some bargains there myself and sitting on the waterfront watching the yachting and activities in the sun is bliss. Oh, and there is a Wetherspoons in Lymington too for cheap drinks 😆 Happy cruise day for tomorrow.

Wow, 5 ships ? We visited here on Enchanted princess July 22 and were the only ship in town but tendered , maybe we were too big .

So this info contradicts everything in the other thread then ? Oh, well , we'll find out for ourselves in September what exact dining situation we will be in , currently late , 8.30pm out of Southampton.

That is good to hear . 😊

Interested in more replies on this subject. We booked Apex for September , 6th cruise with Celebrity last one was Silhouette June 23. We enjoyed the buffet on Silhouette, the MDR not so much . I told hubby we would do buffet on Apex as we could only get late fixed 8.30pm and that is too late for us until I started to watch YouTube videos 😆. From what I have seen it reminds me of Dynamic dining with Royal back in 2014/15, 4 restaurants with a different menu though theirs was the same menu everynight in each restaurant . How does the fixed dining work exactly , same table everynight or just the same time everynight ? We like to eat very early , hoping we can just wing it and turn up.

Following as we have Apex booked for September doing the same itinerary but swap Cork for Glasgow. None of the ports are new to us but the ship is and we love to cruise . Great start to your live report .

If it is a closed loop sailing out of Southampton, i.e. everyone embarks and disembarks there , currency onboard is Sterling. If it is one of the itineraries where folk can join in Hamburg, Rotterdam etc the currency onboard is Euros.

Well so far we have not been asked, maybe because we eat early. Lovely peaceful location in dining room , no blaring music just entertaining wait team . We have the same table next cruise and requested same team. I wonder if it is because the ship will soon be going around Africa without passengers to get to Dubai so they are trying to get their bonuses up in the time they have left here in the UK.

Which dining room are you in ? Remember when there was a question on the post cruise survey that asked " were you asked to give a 10 by any member of crew ? " and " which department were they in and what name ? ". Sorry but if we are asked to give a 10 they'd get a big fat zero. Our wait team are fab and don’t need to ask for a 10. We haven’t cruised Royal in 18months.

We stayed onboard today. Have been to Stavanger countless times and in the month of April with clear blue skies and tshirt weather. Bbbbrrrrr today. Love Stavanger but not enough to freeze my bits off. There is a fab 'new to me' clothes shop I can spend ages in looking at clothes you'll never find in the UK. Bought a scarf last time, they always fit ! 😂

Hey, I'm from Manchester , the joke is we all have webbed feet up here in the North 😆. Raincoat is packed plus bikini 👙 😳.

We are all packed ready for tomorrow, hope to meet you onboard. enjoyed your pics and comments to while away the days .

@mil76, we have been to IOW , easier to do Portsmouth on a turn around day , see the historic docks which are right next to Portsmouth Harbour train station , you get off at the end of the line not the station in the city which is Portsmouth and Southsea. Done the journey between Southampton and Portsmouth as tourists a couple of times . Plenty to see in Portsmouth and can highly recommend the pub on the seafront The Ship Anson for great atmosphere and fab food . Or you could go to Winchester , nearer to Southampton by train if you have issues. We have been by bus from Southampton but much quicker by train. Or go to Brockenhurst in the New Forest and see the free roaming ponies . So much to do from Southampton

@Bruin Steve- I feel your pain but GTY cabins are truly the luck of the draw. If you go onto cruisedeckplans there are some photos of your exact cabin. I could only see one as I am not a member but it was of the view through the window which wasn't bad. We had a porthole on deck 2 very forward on Legend, long gone now, and it was like looking through a tube but we were fine. If the bed is under the window we have it set up as twins so we can see out without having to stand or climb over the bed. I did once on Brilliance leave the bed as a double and physically pushed the bed sideways in the cabin so we had floor space under the window, room steward was OK with it, there was still room to make the bed. It worked for us.. My mantra is there is a solution to every problem and those were my solutions. Yours will possibly be throw more money at the problem and do Royal up. Good luck in finding your solution.

We have stayed on decks 2,3 and 4 on Royal ships. Close to getting off the ship, when the lift arrives on your floor it will be empty 99% of the time .. Port intensive cruise , you'll be fine.

You will love Sintra, another World Unesco site. Enjoy your day. I am starting to pack for Friday. 😎

Lanzarote 😆 , affectionately known as ' Lanza grotty ' by us Brits and also the windy island . We have holidayed there and visited by cruise ship, done the 🐫 ride. Personally we like Lanzarote, so much to see and a lot to thank Cesar Manrique for .

@mil76 - have visited Funchal countless times and done island tours plus the cable car, refuse to do the basket 😂. One of my favourite places to visit is Santa Maria Street, very famous for it's painted doors, looks like walking through an art gallery with pavement cafes/restaurants/a few shops. If ever you are back there ...