hayley_bopp

Morning - promenade deck playing shuffleboard Post-port afternoon - VCL enjoying a frozen cocktail and the air-con Post-dinner - R-Bar sipping an espresso martini

It was NEVER open on my 14 night Navigator cruise. Not once. I checked. Every. Single. Day. ?

They offer them. On embarkation day. Worth it to get a feel for the spa and the treatments they offer if you're interested in having one. They also enter you into a raffle towin money off a treatment but you have to return when the raffle is drawn to be in with a chance of winning.

Loving the pics as always What settings do you use to get the vibrant inside/night shots and still have sharp focus on any people in shot?

Thanks so much for this review. Its confirmed that I've done the right thing booking this as a surprise for my husband (and me!) on our upcoming IoS cruise. I'm particularly impressed tht they let you try the alternate wine eurgh the entree and allowed you to have more of what you enjoyed - although I wonder if that is what generally happens or if it was because you were a smaller group than usual.

It's been WAY too long since you've been on a cruise @twangster! ?? Can't wait to read your blog. Safe travels ?

We used the spa on our Navigator cruise in 2016 and even though I had a voucher for $50 (won in the raffle!) We still found the prices to be WAY over-priced compared to land spas in the UK - you can get a whole spa day including a treatment and lunch, at a good quality spa, for a comparable price. Unfortunately we were both disappointed with the service and experience. We both had a hot stones massage. The treatment rooms were cramped and clinical - more like going to a salon at home rather than an expensive spa. The atmosphere was not relaxing. Despite paying for a 50min treatment, and following the advice to arrive early to go through pre-treatment paperwork/consultation "so you don't miss any treatment time", the massage itself was only about 30mins with an overly long 'consultation' at the start, which seemed more of a way to find out what other treatments they might be able to sell you, and a very hard-sell pitch at the end - not a relaxing end to a spa treatment. We both LOVE going for spa treatments and are willing to put our hands in our pockets for a good service but we didn't feel we got that and won't be going again on our next cruise.

Yes just go and deposit cash at guest services as and when you want. I think they will/can put a cap on the total amount you can charge to your seapass card before you have to go and pau it off - I seemto remember a figure of $500.

I've heard they form very orderly queues at the Windjammer on the cruises out of HK too ?? ??

It can be a debit card but they may put 'holds' on different amounts during the cruise before finally charging the full amount of any on-board spending on disembarkation day. It can take up to 30 days for your bank to release the hold amounts so it might be better to use a credit card.

Hmmm. That's strange. Was looking at it on the CP which listed it as Izumi Hibachi and gave a sample menu with a la carte pricing. Come to think of it, I vaguely recall seeing sushi on there which I thought was weird for a Hibachi but I've never actually been to one before... ?

Thanks @Matt . Now I've just got to convince my husband that it's worth it...

Thanks everyone. I'll just keep checking cruise docs.

So I'm all checked-in for my July Sailing on IoS and have printed our Set Sail passes (and spent a small fortune on the cruise planner!). But where are the luggage tags? I can't see a link to print them ? Any help gratefully received!

Great shots ?

On our upcoming IoS cruise, we'd like to try Izumi Hibachi and Giovanni's Table. We'd like to try Izumi Hibachi one evening for dinner. Should I pre-book on the cruise planner? We're not particularly bothered about date/time - more concerned with getting the best price! If we do pre-book, how does the pricing work with it being an al a carte menu - would we get a credit pp to spend? I'm also thinking we could try Giovanni's Table for lunch on a sea-day - am I correct in thinking this is a cheaper way to do it? Again, should we pre-book or not? TIA

I've been to Barcelona a couple of times (albeit not on a cruise) and it's a beautiful city - I'm looking forward to going back there on IOS this summer. Anyway, there are hop-on hop-off buses which are a great way to see all the sites. The Sagrada Familia is a must see. The tour of the Nou Camp stadium is worth a look if you're a football (soccer) fan. Gaudi's Parc Guell is also interesting with great views over the city if you climb to the top of the stairs at the back of the park. We went to Civitivechia on Navigator in 2016 but chose not to go to Rome as it's so far from the port (and being from the UK it will be relatively easy for us to go there for a weekend at some point). If you do choose to go to Rome, I'd recommend booking through RC for peace of mind as it's so far from the port. We booked a wine tasting excursion in Tuscany through RC. It was a pleasant afternoon but my husbsnd and I weren't that impressed with the actual wine tasting - nowhere near as good as others we've done in Napa & Sonoma. We still came away with some nice, very reasonably priced wine though. My parents, who'd never dine wine tasting before, really enjoyed it.

Mojito all the way ?

I think the dining packages look like good value but I want to eat in the MDR on nights 1 & 2 so think we're probably best just to go with individual bookings.

Did you book a guarantee cabin or did you select your cabin? Did you book via a TA? If so, I'd suggest speaking to them about it.

Keep up the excellent 'research' ?

Mine is stated on my booking confirmation from my TA

The Segrada Familia is so impressive. Have a great cruise!

Always take passports in case we don't make it back to the ship for any reason.

Apparently guests were disembarked for tours as usual, damage to the ship is minimal and port authorities expect her to leave port about 2am once necessary repairs have been completed and she's expected to arrive in Belize, her next scheduled port, on time. https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/cruises/msc-cruise-ship-crashes-port-12341913