Postcard #1.2 Timing and our cabin

Having acquainted ourselves with the ship a bit we went back to the cabin to unpack. The bags arrived within 2 hours of us boarding, I have however come to the conclusion that it was all down to timing with our quick check in as we could see some pretty big queues inside the terminal as we walked around the upper decks.
Our aft facing cabin seems a good size and I think it will be ample for our needs over the next week. The bathroom is very compact but then it doesn’t need to be huge.

Posted using WordPress for BlackBerry.

Postcard # 1.1 Venice

We have arrived in Venice after a 2 hour flight from Gatwick. After being greeted by the MSC rep we were escorted to our coach which within 25 minutes had us at the dockside. We were checked in very quickly and on the ship in record time. Not a queue in sight! 10 out of 10 for the embarkation process. Our cabin was available immediately as so we dropped off bags and made for the buffet. We have also purchased the Allegrissimo package for everyone which at €23 per adult and €12 per child will provide unlimited soft drinks, wine, beer, coffee, smoothies, milkshakes juices, certain cocktails and ice cream. I think the boys might just break the bank on this one!

Posted using WordPress for BlackBerry.

Our documents have arrived

With just 2 weeks to go before we sail, our MSC cruise documents have arrived, they are not at all what I had anticipated because they are in the form of a little voucher book. Even the suitcase tags are included in the pages.

Regardless of the format its always nice when your documents arrive in the post because you know that the cruise is getting close.

Posted using WordPress for BlackBerry.

MSC Musica – Ships in port with us.

I have just gone through my little routine of checking which ships will be in port with us and found that we will be joined by some familiar names at a couple of the ports. All being well we should be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the Celebrity Equinox, Costa Atlantica & Celebrity Silhouette who funnily enough are probably our 3 favourite ships .

22 July 2012, Venice, Italy

Costa Favolosa 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Norwegian Spirit Depart: 9:00 AM (Dock)
MSC Musica Depart: 5:30:PM

23 July 2012, Bari, Italy

Costa Favolosa 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM
MSC Musica 1:00:00 PM – 6:00: PM

24 July 2012, Katakolon, Greece

Costa Favolosa 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM
MSC Musica 12:30:00 PM – 5:30: PM

24 July 2012, Santorini, Greece

Costa Atlantica 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Celebrity Equinox 2:00 PM – 10:00 PM (Tender)
Zenith 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM (Tender)
MSC Musica 8:00:00 AM – 2:30: PM

25 July 2012, Mykonos, Greece

Norwegian Jade 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM (Tender)
Celebrity Silhouette 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM (Tender)
Nieuw Amsterdam 1:00 PM – 11:00 PM
MSC Musica 7:30:00 PM – 11:59: PM

26 July 2012, Mykonos, Greece

MSC Musica 12:01:00 AM – 1:00: AM

26 July 2012, Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Ruby Princess 6:00 AM – 5:45 PM
Navigator Of The Seas 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM (Dock)
MSC Musica 7:30:00 AM – 4:30: PM

27 July 2012, Corfu, Greece

Zenith 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM (Dock)
MSC Musica 1:00:00 PM – 7:00: PM

28 July 2012, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Seabourn Spirit 8:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Costa Favolosa 12:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Zenith 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM (Dock)
MSC Musica 8:00:00 AM – 2:00: PM

29 July 2012, Venice, Italy

Costa Favolosa 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Ruby Princess 05:00 AM –
Zenith 10:00 AM – 11:59 PM (Dock)
Carnival Breeze 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
MSC Musica Arrive: 9:00: AM

Subscribe to Wansbrough’s Cruise Blog

I have recently installed a new plug-in which was added to help keep you up to date with all the new posts that I make. If you look in the bottom right corner you will see a little tab marked * Follow . If you click on this tab it will reveal a subscription form where you can add your e-mail address. Once you have registered and verified your details you will automatically receive an e-mail notification whenever I make a new post.

I have set this to send a notification once a day so as not to bombard you with e-mails when I am posting regularly when away on a cruise. If you are receiving this message now it is because you have already registered a comment to my blog in the past. If this is the case then I would like to take the opportunity to say thank you for doing so.

I would also like to reassure you that your details remain confidential and will not be passed on to anyone else.

Announcing Norwegian Breakaway 28 April – 29 April 2013

In 2010 we cruised from Rotterdam to Southampton on the brand new Norwegian Epic for a one night relocation cruise and so when the opportunity to do something similar came up again how could we not do it. So today we booked our cabin on the the yet to be finished Norwegian Breakaway doing exactly the same route.

When it came to choosing a cabin I found the amount of different cabin grades a bit over the top and we debated on which would be the best for just one night. In the end we chose a mid-ship balcony (Cat BA) on deck 14, as this stateroom is mid-ship it means we will have easy access to all the  dining and activities on board.

  • King-size bed (that can be separated into two twin beds) with pillow top mattress
  • Chestnut leather headboard cushioned and tufted to make reading and sitting up in bed more comfortable
  • Convenient lighted recess above the bed to hold books, magazines, tablet computers or electronic reading devices
  • Sofa bed with additional storage
  • Built-in 26-inch flat-screen television
  • Built-in vanity area with shelving and lots of storage space
  • Full-size closet that is easily accessible with sliding doors
  • Recessed nook under television to hold cruise information, books and magazines
  • LED lighting surrounds the perimeter of the ceiling to give the room warmth
  • Energy efficient by utilizing key card access to control lighting in the room
  • Mini-bar
  • Bathrooms feature a contemporary, clean design, ensuring a generous and comfortable space
  • Multiple rich-wood shelving areas to help reduce clutter and keep everything within easy reach
  • Enclosed vanity underneath the sink that hides the trash bin, along with more storage
  • Built-in sink generous in size with an easy to use faucet
  • Private shower with a shaving bar for the ladies
  • Accommodates up to 4
  • 226 sq. ft.
  • Located on Decks 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 & 14

Our journey will begin with a drive to Southampton Airport where we will fly to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, from there we will take the train to Rotterdam and overnight in the Maritime Hotel. This hotel is right across the river from the cruise terminal and we have booked a room with a river view. It will only be a 15 minute walk on the morning of the cruise over the ‘Erasmusbridge’ to get to the ship.

Airport Parking Booked

This morning we received the details for our flights from Gatwick to Venice for our MSC Musica cruise. We will be flying with BA for both flights and this also means that I have now been able to book our airport parking. I have always used Holiday Extras for this purpose because apart from finding the cheapest deals we also get Avios points which will go towards paying for future flights.

http://www.holidayextras.co.uk/

Announcing Celebrity Eclipse 14 Dec – 28 Dec 2013

Celebrity Eclipse

On the 24 April 2012, we finally took the plunge and booked a dream cruise for the family. It is something that we have wanted to do for a long time and although it is some time away we are all very excited about the prospect of a family Caribbean Christmas cruise. While we were on the Celebrity Silhouette we purchased some cruise deposits, the incentive being that they would provide us with some on board credit when we eventually booked our next cruise. Because we had purchased two of these deposits, the offer could be extended to provide credit to one additional cabin per deposit. This means that we could book four cabins and each cabin would receive the same onboard credit. We have also been lucky enough to get 4 hump cabins in a row on Deck 7, 7266, 7268, 7270 & 7272. See photo below for the location of the cabins.

Our Cabins on the Celebrity Eclipse

 

Below you will find a list of our itinerary along with a map. For us it will mean Christmas day 2013 will be spent in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas and most probably on the beach at Magen’s Bay

Celebrity Eclipse Itinerary

 

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART
Sat Dec 14 Fort Lauderdale, USA 4:30pm
Sun Dec 15 At Sea
Mon Dec 16 At Sea
Tue Dec 17 Oranjestad, Aruba 8:00am 8:00pm
Wed Dec 18 Willemstad, Curacao 7:00am 5:00pm
Thur Dec 19 At Sea
Fri Dec 20 St. George’s, Grenada 8:00am 5:00pm
Sat Dec 21 Bridgetown, Barbados 8:00am 5:00pm
Sun Dec 22 Castries, St. Lucia 8:00am 5:00pm
Mon Dec 23 St. Johns, Antigua 8:00am 5:00pm
Tue Dec 24 Philipsburg, St. Maarten 8:00am 5:00pm
Wed Dec 25 At Sea
Thur Dec 26 Labadee, Haiti 8:00am 5:00pm
Fri Dec 27 At Sea
Sat Dec 28 Fort Lauderdale, USA 7:00am

 

Postcard #13.3 Our Limo to the airport

Our Limo to the airport

Our Limo to the airport

Our Limo to the airport has arrived and to be honest its a bit over the top for just the 2 of us. Its the biggest car I have seen collecting people from the ship.

Our Limo interior

Our Limo interior

Posted using WordPress for BlackBerry.