…no) and Rome (Civitavecchia). On Eastern Mediterranean ones you will see Venice (Ravenna or Trieste), Olympia (Katakolon) and Piraeus (Athens). The time to get to places like this on the itinerary can take a long time. Rome can take up to two hours each way based on traffic from Civitavecchia. Florence one and a half to two hours each way from Livorno. Venice (which most ships cannot sail into anymore) use Ravenna or Trieste which are two hours aw…
…te into the night, same as Saint-Tropez. There was no to tender or dock in Nice. We had an overnight in Livorno allowing tours of Pisa, Florence and Tuscany. The infrequently visited Calvi in Corsica was also fab, but that port could not have coped with large ship numbers. The Cutbacks What about cutbacks? There were a few things missing on my cruise versus past cruises. The White Night still took place. The same format on the pool deck with food…
…l helps with stability especially when the pool water starts moving about. Nice Pad Cruise ships have areas where helicopters land to do medi-vacs off the ship. And they can be well hidden. On Celebrity Solstice I stumbled across it when I was invited by the Hotel Director for a sail out party from Costa Maya. There it was, right on the bow. On that Queen Mary 2 trip I noticed a large yellow dot on a wide-open space on the Deck 12 sports deck. On…
…a full-time job, a busy job, so if I’m going to do something, it’s really nice to do it with a bit of luxury added in. Danielle: Do you have a favourite Cunard trip you’ve been on? Mark: Yeah, Gary and I did a seven-week cruise on Queen Victoria from Southampton to Sydney. Obviously via lots of places in between – that was half of Cunard’s world cruise. They do a world cruise every year from January. I was a little nervous of doing that, thinking…
…o the dock side. It also means that even if I splash out on a cabin with a nice, beautiful floor-to-ceiling window, I often have another ship docked, right slap bank up against that, literally a few feet away, making it dark and I’m staring into another cabin. It also means venues, like lounge and dining room, can be a little bit dark and that’s quite shock for many travellers. Heavy On The Wallet Another big plus is river cruising is generally al…
…did. We were spending some of Mark’s bonus this year to go on this rather nice train trip! A Quick Stop in Bournemouth I was soon on the move again – back to my carriage to enjoy the scenery – as we headed towards Bournemouth. We arrived at 1:30pm and had several hours to explore before we would re-join the train at 17:30 for the journey back to London. Mark and I enjoyed what I can only refer to as a typical seaside day. We went in the amusement…
…alace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, was. I thought it’d be quite nice. Went around the corner after the entrance and wow. There was just this most beautiful series of buildings and structures. Also in that whole complex area is the Silver Pagoda. This is still the area where the King of Cambodia lives and basically works out of. Absolutely phenomenal. No one had told me what to expect and how phenomenal this place was. Temples & Pagodas…
…mer for lunch on port days when that was less busy, but pleased I had this nice quiet venue for breakfast! The two downsides for me were the venue was surprisingly noisy at dinner, and having to book a time for dinner where on luxury lines it is open seated and no need. Both were a function of the numbers of suite guests on this huge ship. Of course, a big upside was not having to navigate the main dining room or Windjammer. I had friends on the s…
…out – Getting It All Over If you want to come back from your cruise with a nice all-over tan, or a lady wanting no tan marks up top, you do have some but not many options. With one exception, only one line focused on North American cruisers allow topless sunbathing, but most lines will turn a blind eye if you do it on your balcony discreetly. Even the supposedly stuffy Cunard stipulates “Should you wish to sunbathe topless, this should be done on…
…ly than the combined cost of the lower grade and Club Orange. They saved a nice bit of money. Plus, Club Orange came with other perks such a bigger room service breakfast menu, priority seating, area in the dining room, concierge service, tote bags, priority embarkation and disembarkation and more. So added upgrades there too. We managed to get many people upgraded on my future group cruise and save them money. Subscribe to my Tips For Traveller…
…he daily programs, port guides and leaflets. I love collecting those. It’s nice to go back over the years and look at past cruises. I also use them to research some of the videos that I make. “Steal” These On A Cruise – What You Can’t Take From The Cabin What I couldn’t take home from my Cunard Queen Anne cabin without being charged were things like the fluffy dressing gowns, branded umbrella, or binoculars. I could ask to buy those. However, I co…
