The Spanish
Well-known member
also targeting other 'demographics'. Carnivals Fathom brand is being pushed very hard. I met the woman running it recently, very interesting woman and very interesting concept.
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Off on my first cruise next month. Anyone else been on one?
- Thread starter gregbrighton
- Start date
also targeting other 'demographics'. Carnivals Fathom brand is being pushed very hard. I met the woman running it recently, very interesting woman and very interesting concept.
The Spanish
Well-known member
Queen Mary 2?
I
So true! Met Canadian honeymooners on a med cruise (princess) a few years ago. She wanted to watch the film that evening, he didn't and went to Friends of Dorothy to find out what it was
So true! Met Canadian honeymooners on a med cruise (princess) a few years ago. She wanted to watch the film that evening, he didn't and went to Friends of Dorothy to find out what it was
gregbrighton
New member
- Thread starter
- #104
lol we had them in the daily activities sheet.
Publius Ovidius
Well-known member
The friends of meetings are actually quite sad. An American chap asked me to accompany him to the. Bill meeting as the Mrs was having a massage which was hideously expensive, but got it as a loyal customer thing...anyway, there was all these guys and gals struggling with alcoholism and there was me stinking of red stripe..lol.
Especially if you are on drinks packages or loyalty schemes, the temptation to drink yourself silly is there, although to be honest in all the cruises we have done , we have never seen anyone totally out of it, although one Jewish lady who ran a charity in London and didn't drink normally discovered Sancerre wine and I kept topping her up and three bottles later, we had to " escort" her to the theatre, where she sang along to all the songs at the top of her voice annoying a particularly pompous Scottish couple.
For those of you who have done cruises, do you do the action that everyone seems to do but doesn't admit to? IE. As you walk along the corridor to your cabin, if a door is open, do you walk past, but lean backwards to get a glimpse of the cabin and get all indignant that they have the same grade as you but look to have more goodies in there.
Especially if you are on drinks packages or loyalty schemes, the temptation to drink yourself silly is there, although to be honest in all the cruises we have done , we have never seen anyone totally out of it, although one Jewish lady who ran a charity in London and didn't drink normally discovered Sancerre wine and I kept topping her up and three bottles later, we had to " escort" her to the theatre, where she sang along to all the songs at the top of her voice annoying a particularly pompous Scottish couple.
For those of you who have done cruises, do you do the action that everyone seems to do but doesn't admit to? IE. As you walk along the corridor to your cabin, if a door is open, do you walk past, but lean backwards to get a glimpse of the cabin and get all indignant that they have the same grade as you but look to have more goodies in there.
They are the ones that tip the cabin attendant at the beginning of the cruise
Publius Ovidius
Well-known member
They are the ones that tip the cabin attendant at the beginning of the cruise
Very true...we tend to ask for an ice bucket every day and cold water jug every night! We also are civil to the cabin or bar stewards and always stop and chat...surprising what civility does. Some miserable sods treat them like skivvies and it's pathetic.
One bar steward, Charles on celebrity who is a bit of a star and appears on most of their brochure covers, we got friendly with him and one night Karen asked for a sparkling wine and he winked at her and dissapeared off coming back with a glass of sparkling wine...which turned out to be the best champagne stuff they had on the ship as the captain was having a party for the owners of the line and they were cracking open the best stuff. Three glasses of that and I had to carry her on deck to get some air..lol
No, Queen Elizabeth. I thought it was "2", but I guess not.
Publius Ovidius
Well-known member
We have been on Victoria, but to be honest the class system on Cunard really put us off. Queens grill, princess grill and brittania class...we had a meal with someone we met in the queens grill and there was so much hassle trying to get us in and we hadn't paid for it, eventually we told them where to poke it and wrote a scathing report on the various cruise forums. Cunard kept phoning us to apologise and offering us upgrades next time...they didn't get there was never going to be a next time.
I don't know what your observations are but I find generally it is the Americans that treat the cabin staff poorly. That maybe unfair but it's what I have noticed the most.
Sorry Dave to pester you, I haven't done Cunard yet but there are often quite tempting 2-3 night cruises at a good price. Is it really very stuffy? So far, in order of preference, I have done Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, MSC and Costa and Celebrity is probably as formal as I would like to go.
Didn't bother me at all. Just like an aeroplane, you get what you pay for.
Publius Ovidius
Well-known member
It's certainly more formal than most lines. You can pay big bucks for the Azamara , silver seas etc, which actually are the same price as Cunard, but a damn site better. It's what your expectations are really.
To be honest, we always say that we would go on anything ( apart from Thomson ) if the price was right, and we have looked in the past at the three day ones on Elizabeth and QM2.
The is always the view that someone told us and we tend to hold to it....go on a cruise line where you want to cruise with the type of people on it! So if you want people with a lot of money and want to tell you that, the high end ships are those to aim for. If you want a party, RCCL, Cranival and Disney are the ones..celebrity and Hal are around the same and attract different people whereever you pick the ship up from. Our last celebrity in the Caribbean from San Juan was full of Puerto Ricans who got the cabins cheap to fill the ship....lot of Americans pissed off but we loved it as they took over the dance floors around the ships and we had a ball. On the other hand some Italian ships are despised by Brits because they don't like the noise the Italians make.....and some Americans think the same of the Brits on princess ships out of the U.K. as they think they are only there to get pissed .
It's very much horses for courses.
gregbrighton
New member
- Thread starter
- #114
Funny you should mention Thomson cruises. I looked at several videos on YouTube and there seemed to be a lot of your typical 'white van man' families - loud and not particularly well educated with noisy offspring. I can aspire higher than that, to be honest. I found the conversation on Cunard with the older crowd perfect for me.
Publius Ovidius
Well-known member
We have mates who swear by Thomson and won't go on anything else. One advantage is that being smaller ships they get into smaller ports, and visit places the bigger beasts don't get to. But I agree they have been described as Chav land, but to be hosts , P&O have a reputation as Butlins on Sea....
Worried Man Blues
Well-known member
One needs the no oiks and no snobs section and definitely avoid all those horrible people wearing awful football shirts, What? Rather!
gregbrighton
New member
- Thread starter
- #117
Yeh, P and O don't really interest me.
Robot Chicken
Seriously?
I enjoyed the Thomson cruise I went on earlier in the year and I'm going with P&O in a couple of months. I've also been with Cunard, Costa, MSC and NCL. I haven't been with Royal Caribbean yet but I'd also like to try Fred.Olsen and Voyages of Antiquity.
Publius Ovidius
Well-known member
southampton seagull
Member
- Dec 9, 2015
- 22
cruise tips
The 3 days trips are usually filled with stag/hen do's so you don't get the real cruise experience. You really need to go on 5-7 day trip. I suggest P and O as they are not class orientated like Cunard, a friend of mine was refused entry into a bar on QM2 as she wasn't in the right grade of cabin. Nothing is too much trouble for the staff on board so if you need anything just ask. If you need a special diet ie gluten free tell them before you go and you will be catered for.
The 3 days trips are usually filled with stag/hen do's so you don't get the real cruise experience. You really need to go on 5-7 day trip. I suggest P and O as they are not class orientated like Cunard, a friend of mine was refused entry into a bar on QM2 as she wasn't in the right grade of cabin. Nothing is too much trouble for the staff on board so if you need anything just ask. If you need a special diet ie gluten free tell them before you go and you will be catered for.