Pullmantur Horizon ~ Nov 15, 2018. Malaga to Dubai Relocation

[KenC]

Phill and I are doing a 3 week back to back Malaga / Athens / Dubai. Great rates and all inclusive!! This is our first time through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. Our 4th time on Horizon. Be good to meet up with some FOD's for the free cocktails somewhere along the route!

[KenC]

Had a great time on Horizon's Carnival cruise in the Canaries. Some Spanish FOD's onboard ... wonder what November has in store???

[gregg907]

Well, you won't be alone. Victor and I (Gregg) will be there with you the whole time. We were on the Santo Domingo to Lisbon on the Zenith in April. We had a great time. Where are you located? We are having problems figuring out if we need visas before the trip or can we get them at each port. The post-Athens ports. I think that if we were flying into the countries we would be OK. Not sure about by ship.

[gregg907]

Anyone else going?

 

 

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[Holiday mood]

Had a great time on Horizon's Carnival cruise in the Canaries. Some Spanish FOD's onboard ... wonder what November has in store???

How was the wifi connection in cabins on the Horizon,? was the basic AI sufficient, I heard you can only ask for 1 drink at a time so for say a G/T you have to ask for first the Gin then after the Tonic, ????

and no I am not a Horlicks drinker :'):'):'):')

[gregg907]

We were on the Zenith last April and folks were quite happy with the WiFi speed. Streaming movies, etc. they said that it was much better than the Monarch had been the previous year.

 

Gin and tonic should be one drink. I don’t think mixers count separately. I had a friend with the premium package get me a Hendricks and Fever Tree tonic just to see what a $12 drink would be like. It was great but not $12 great when I had plenty of other things available to me at no extra cost.

 

 

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[Holiday mood]

We were on the Zenith last April and folks were quite happy with the WiFi speed. Streaming movies, etc. they said that it was much better than the Monarch had been the previous year.

 

Gin and tonic should be one drink. I don’t think mixers count separately. I had a friend with the premium package get me a Hendricks and Fever Tree tonic just to see what a $12 drink would be like. It was great but not $12 great when I had plenty of other things available to me at no extra cost.

 

 

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Thanks so much, can't wait.

[Holiday mood]

Can anyone tell me if we need to ger multiple visas for Oman and Dubai part of cruise, or will Pullmantur organize that for us, seeing as we enter Oman 2/ 3 times thinkfor Dubai we will be only needing one as 2nd day should be classed as transit

Thanks

[gregg907]

As US citizens we are expecting to get visas upon arrival at each port. Based on our research that is our plan.

 

 

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[gregg907]

Who all are we with the Lgbt contingent? Victor and I are going from California and friends of ours from Ajijic and Puerto Vallarta Mexico will be on board too. It looks like there is more family posting on the Athens to Dubai board

 

 

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[KenC]

Well, you won't be alone. Victor and I (Gregg) will be there with you the whole time. We were on the Santo Domingo to Lisbon on the Zenith in April. We had a great time. Where are you located? We are having problems figuring out if we need visas before the trip or can we get them at each port. The post-Athens ports. I think that if we were flying into the countries we would be OK. Not sure about by ship.

 

Hi guys - sorry only just seen your post as had give up on CC. Delighted to know we have company for the whole trip. Our fourth time on Horizon! We are based in Mijas near Malaga. Where are you guys from? Not sure about the visas either - planning to call Pulmantur here in Spain shortly to find out more. Will keep in touch now we know you are aboard!

[KenC]

How was the wifi connection in cabins on the Horizon,? was the basic AI sufficient, I heard you can only ask for 1 drink at a time so for say a G/T you have to ask for first the Gin then after the Tonic, ????

and no I am not a Horlicks drinker :'):'):'):')

 

As ever it depends on the satellite connection which might be imperfect after Athens!

 

The wait staff on Horizon are normally great and happy to serve drinks as and when you need them. In the dining room the wine flows quicker than you might want lol.

[KenC]

Hi guys

 

Got nowhere with Pullmantur customer services, who put responsibility on the passenger which is a little unfair as normally special rules apply to cruise passengers. As far as I can make out, all necessary visas are obtainable at the point of arrival and should be free of charge for cruise passengers. That's for UK passport holders and I would assume it's the same for US passports too.

 

One thing to say about cruising on Horizon is that dining companion mix can be quite fraught due to English speakers being in a small minority!! Last two tables were dire - anyone fancy a LBGT table?? We are on First sitting (7.30pm) which corresponds to second sitting on non-Spanish cruiselines LOL.

 

At least Cocktails will be more fun with some company onboard!!

 

Ken & Phill

[gregg907]

I think that we have the early seating also. Today we booked the package of tours for the second portion. They look like a good value and do the Petra and Cairo tours that I would have chosen anyway. We are thinking of booking the package of tours for the first part too. Just got home from a 15 Day transpacific from Vancouver to Tokyo. Great time

 

 

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[gregg907]

There will also be a couple of people coming from Mexico. One from Ajijic and the other from Puerto Vallarta. We were on the Zenith with them in April from Santo Domingo to Lisbon. We had a ball

 

 

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[gregg907]

We contacted the guys in Mexico and we are all interested in sharing a table. We are in Oakland CA. Across the bridge from San Francisco

 

 

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[KenC]

That's great. Can you organise a table through your agent? We are booked through a US agent and are currently away from home for the weekend. Can provide our booking reference on Sunday evening if you're able.

 

We will be booking the Petra excursion too, but will skip the Cairo visits as we were there for the umpteen time a couple of years ago. Most of the European ports we like to explore for ourselves.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you guys.

 

Cheers

Ken and Phill

[gregg907]

Send your booking numbers and names to me at gregg907 at yahoo dot com and I’ll have our agent put together a table if possible.

 

 

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[KenC]

Send your booking numbers and names to me at gregg907 at yahoo dot com and I’ll have our agent put together a table if possible.

 

 

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Perfect! Will email you with details on Sunday.

 

Cheers

Ken and Phill

[Holiday mood]

On 9/19/2018 at 1:03 PM, KenC said:

 

Hi guys - sorry only just seen your post as had give up on CC. Delighted to know we have company for the whole trip. Our fourth time on Horizon! We are based in Mijas near Malaga. Where are you guys from? Not sure about the visas either - planning to call Pulmantur here in Spain shortly to find out more. Will keep in touch now we know you are aboard!

 

On 9/19/2018 at 1:12 PM, KenC said:

 

As ever it depends on the satellite connection which might be imperfect after Athens!

 

The wait staff on Horizon are normally great and happy to serve drinks as and when you need them. In the dining room the wine flows quicker than you might want lol.

Hi, its me again, did you do a check in on line when you travelled with Pullmantur before?  It's just that the paper work online gives you a page to download your case tags, the question is is do you use normal A4 paper or should i put a thicker paper in my printer for tags, sounds a stupid question I know, but want to look savvy, as normally do things through an agency but this time we have gone direct with Pullmantur. Also don't seem to offer any WiFi pack on 2nd part of cruise Athens /Dubai on line, sorry for all questions but want to get things right .  Also read to get coloured photo copies of passport, which I have never had to do before, so maybe needed, just to let anyone know. Thanks for reading

[KenC]

Hi there Holiday mood. 

 

We normally check-in online with Pullmantur and yes we print our luggage tags on normal A4 paper - the best thing to do is use plenty of sellotape around the ends as well as the top when you put it on your case so that it won't tear when your case gets manhandled!

 

Don't know about the wifi packs online, we normally get one onboard as I think they give extra discounts sometimes once you've sailed!  Stupid question, but are you using the correct booking reference to get access to the online facilities to the second cruise - it's easy to get them mixed up and I'm sure everything is available for booking by now.  I will check in the morning out of curiosity.

 

By the way, what's your name and where are you from?

 

Cheers

 

Ken & Phill

[Holiday mood]

12 hours ago, KenC said:

Hi there Holiday mood. 

 

We normally check-in online with Pullmantur and yes we print our luggage tags on normal A4 paper - the best thing to do is use plenty of sellotape around the ends as well as the top when you put it on your case so that it won't tear when your case gets manhandled!

 

Don't know about the wifi packs online, we normally get one onboard as I think they give extra discounts sometimes once you've sailed!  Stupid question, but are you using the correct booking reference to get access to the online facilities to the second cruise - it's easy to get them mixed up and I'm sure everything is available for booking by now.  I will check in the morning out of curiosity.

 

By the way, what's your name and where are you from?

 

Cheers

 

Ken & Phill

Thanks so much for reply,

   I'm Susan, hubby is Pepe we are living on that fab coast  line Benalmadena Costa,   I'm from Middlesbrough Pepe is from Malaga.      The wifi is offered on the Malaga / Athens   but not  on 2nd part of cruise,  for some reason, 

   Going to get in touch tomorrow with Pullmantur as paid for excursions in full but on the  e.mail they sent back  it says  Bono for excursions but still  says we still  have to pay on board maybe just wording, will also will check about the wifi as well but if they have offers on board may leave it till then..

Bit scary watching them cruise lines pass at the min,  hope weather does a big turnaround before we leave.

 Really looking forward to the cruise, 

  Thanks Again 

       Susan

Edited October 21, 2018 by Holiday mood
Big mistakes once re read

[KenC]

Hi Susan

 

didn't realise we were such close neighbours - we live just outside Mijas Pueblo!!

 

See what you mean about the Wifi not being available for the second cruise - it's just not there is it???  Perhaps they are wary about offering wifi in advance for the Middle East in case the satellite link is unreliable - they might want to control expectations better on board the ship.  We don't book wifi in advance.

 

The excursion email should have a Bono or voucher, you need to print the pdf attachments (BonoShorex###) and bring with you - probably need to exchange for tickets once onboard.

 

I suppose a colour photocopy of your passport may be necessary if the ship holds onto our passports to get customs clearance in the middle east ports.  We always travel with laminated copies of the ID pages just in case.

 

Yes, the weather is chronic right now - must be nearly 10 deg C below normal???  The last time we sailed out of Malaga on a transatlantic we were looking forward to sailing past our bit of coast but the weather was bad then too!  I'm sure it will all calm down again by November.

 

Cheers

 

Ken & Phill