Hi there! Newbie booking first family cruise.

[ekco]

Hi Jan,

 

Hope you have had a fantastic time!! :D

 

Sam

 

Hi Sam

 

Just got back yesterday. Had a great time, even though we had a large tender obliterating any view from the cabin so be careful there. Julessmiles was right about the gluten free food. They had labels everywhere on the buffet. Although mostly British there were some different nationalities on board, including a few American girls. We were on the Island Escape, which I think is leased by Thomson, the Thomson Celebration is a bit larger with fewer passengers which would be good. We shared a fewports of call with the Aida which I think is a German ship, though I might be wrong, and that was enormous with a lot of balconies and a huge TV screen on the top deck. I'm not sure if bigger is better as there seemed to be an awful lot of people on board. We looked like the smaller poor relations. :D. Now to do the laundry!!:)

 

Jan

 

Jan

[samnewbie]

Hiya Jan,

 

Glad you had such a lovely time, sounds wondeful!

 

I'm liking the sound of the labelling of gluten free food, great idea, shame they prob all dont do that.

 

Ive looked at Thomsons but they are not on sale yet for 2011 so not sure of pricing or options really and dont want to then miss 'the boat' as it were for others that are...such a dilemma lol.

 

We are therefore trying to decide between NCL Epic (huge thing that it is eek! - daughter thinks it looks amazing though - shes a water babe so aqua park really appeals as does The Blue Man group and Ice Bar to me) or RCCL Adventure Of The Seas (love the look of RCCL ships and i'm a sucker for mini golf lol) so just weighing them up but its sooooo hard to decide. Both August dates so mega busy and both have 2 days at sea which i thought would help it be more relaxing and less port intensive especially as the ports and places to visit are going to be sooo hot and sooo busy.

 

Wish my husband would actually say which he likes best, that would be a help lol

 

Hope you had lots of fizz on your holiday Jan, wish we didnt have to wait till next summer!

 

Sam :)

[ekco]

Hi Sam

 

Thomsons are on sale for April 2011 now. Their new ship, Thomson Dream, is on sale with inside cabin for £790 BUT with free All Inclusive so you can make £200 pp if you take that and will just have to pay for the trips. The AI starts off free and gradually goes up throughout the year until close to leaving it is about £368 per party so a big saving if you can get it. Also gratuities are included in the price, we tipped our cabin steward but you have to budget for a few hundred pounds on a lot of the more expensive cruises. I think most of Thomsons 2011 cruises come on line in April so keep checking. We had a great time and found Island Escape to be better than a lot of the reviews said. Very surprised at how nice the public areas were after hearing about threadbare carpets and peeling wallpaper. We didn't see any of this, although the bathrooms could do with updating. We found more storage space in the bathroom than in any hotel we had ever been in. The entertainment was very good on the whole. We are going on the Thomson Celebration in June. They give day before check in at Manchester which we used this last time and it was fantastic. Parked, checked in and back in car in 10 minutes. It was exceptionally quiet though and off season so we don't expect it to be so good in June but we got an extra hour in bed next day :) We got our boarding cards and seat numbers so we didn't have to pay extra for a window seat.

 

So have a good look at your budget and factor in all the extra costs which can almost double your original price. Check out all the forums for the different cruises, at the end of the day you are off the ship a lot in the Med., which is what you've gone for, so it's mainly evening and bed and beakfast.

 

Jan

[Julessmiles]

Hello Jan Glad you have had a good time - your post made me laugh - I think we followed the Aida round last year (We did the Colourful Coasts on the Celebration) Couldn't believe what a huge ship it looked in comparison with the one we were on - we liked the smaller ship; the personal service and the friendly staff. Hello Sam You're right about restaurants in the UK not being so good with GF food - I don't think we have EVER been so well looked after than we were on the Celebration - the restaurant and buffet staff were so attentive - everytime we walked in either restaurants we were greeted by our names by all the staff so I think they had all been primed that there were coeliacs in our party. They even made a gluten free birthday cake for me to share with the family! I am sure that there are other cruise operators who are as good. Have you tried this messageboard for GF info:- http://members2.boardhost.com/glutenfree/ Part of that board has info on holidays/hotels etc and I know there are people on there who do cruise so they might be able to help you with the cruise ships you are looking at - try posting a message! Jules

[ekco]

Hi Jules

 

First saw the Aida in Funchal and couldn't believe the size of it next to ours. They left early and were just plain showing off when they blew the horn twice as they went. I'm not sure I'd like to be on with so many people though as it gets a bit busy on the stairwells and in the lounges. Then there it was again in Lanzarote (I think), and La Palma where we left first and they all stood on deck looking down on our little herring boat, lol. On the bright side though we looked down on the Costa Ventura in Gran Canaria and La Palma which was a fair bit smaller. Off to the Celebration in June, now I know what not to pack. No stilletos for one, they killed my swollen feet, I had to buy some flat dressy sandals in Arrecife. Bargain at 4.99 euros. Happy Days!! :)

 

Jan

[Julessmiles]

Jan

 

Lucky you on the Celebration; we loved it. Assume you are doing the cruise including Turkey & Greece? We did look at that one but due to sailing dates for that being on a Monday, we have opted to do the Spirit instead later in August this year. Will look forward to hearing how you get on with your itinerary!

[ekco]

Hi Jules

 

We're doing the Ottoman Treasures. We reckoned it would take quite a few holidays to get round all the sites with Turkey being so big, plus we get Santorini and Rhodes. It's going to be pretty full on and busy so we're staying all inclusive in Marmaris from 28th June to recover. I'm going to get some good walking sandals to get around all the archeological sites such as Troy as I got blisters yet again in the Canaries last week and it wasn't that hot. So, out with the enclosed walking shoes and in with the sandals. I have had whole holidays wearing just flip-flops, it doesn't make any difference if I take larger shoe sizes and once I get them they won't heal until I get home :). Would have liked to have gone to Gallipoli but the 2 clash unfortunately. Will let you know how I get on over on Thomsons forum.

 

Jan