Thanks for the replies. Hubby and I have always been on the same account which is perfect. However we are going away in November with MIL, her friend and her friend's daughter who are all booked under my name and it's not like immediate family.

We got the AI free so that's a big help, but they have never cruised before and I'm expecting them to buy stuff in the duty free shop as well as book several excursions and beauty treatments. I really don't want to be dividing that lot up.

As WJ says,

Every ship we have been on I have had to explicitly INCLUDE the other persons to allow there ship card to be assigned to my account by putting name and cabin number on the credit card slip.

This has been my experience too, but it's four years since we cruised with Thomson's and I can't remember what happened then.

From the information that Alison kindly sent me, it appears that you register your credit card at the Purser's Desk on the first day at sea. On every other cruise we've done the forms came with the tickets so that they could be completed in advance and we have registered our credit card details at embarkation when we got our photographs taken and received our boarding cards.

There are several differences between Airtours AI and Thomson's AI. We won't arrive on the ship until 9.30-10.00pm so will miss out on the first day. I thought we would miss out on the last day too as Airtours AI finishes at midnight on the day before disembarkation. However Thomson's let you use it until you leave the ship so that's a bonus, although I don't imagine wanting to drink much before a 4 1/2 hour flight that doesn't land until 1.15am!

We have cruised the Canaries twice before so will probably get more use of the AI than we normally would if we were dashing round every port. We are intending spending more time on the ship to enjoy the daytime activities. Mind you, we said that last time and couldn't resist going ashore at every port!

Thanks for all the info and advice. As WJ says, I'll just try to catch the Purser's Desk at a quieter time and insist on separate accounts.

luci

Luci

Thomsons let you use the AI up until 6pm on the day of disembarking, we were the last flight off the ship, we left at 5pmish and we had thought the AI would end the morning we left, so it was quite good that we could use it up until we left. As we were depressed at having to leave, we had a couple of large wines later in the afternoon!!!!

Hope you have a great time.

Angie x

Hi there

Yes it was great to be able to use AI till you were called for your flight or Hotel. But we did notice that all the staff were much more careful when processing your card. It would be possible that the new occupants of our old cabin have moved in and are using their own card with with our old cabin number on it.

If they are not AI, I dont think they would be happy paying for our last drinks

Cheers

DAve and John ( The Twins )

As I said before, we don't drink much so it's unlikely we'll have more than a cocktail, a pint and a couple of lattes on our last day, but it's nice to have the opportunity. We'd much rather arrive earlier on the first day and not have to hang around on the last day, but that's the Glasgow flight for you.

Angie, did you use the courtesy cabin on the last day or did you pay to have a cabin for your own use? As there are now seven of us going, we may opt to do that.

luci

My BF and I each registered our own credit cards, although I was asked if I wanted to register him on mine! Like i've got any money, lol. So everyone can register the method of what they are paying individually.

Drinks wise, I think we only spent just over £100 between us. Glad we didn't opt for the AI, esp as you still had to pay £1.80 for Barcardi Breezers. I also noticed my Malibu and cokes didn't seem to have much Malibu in. The one I had yesterday at Thorpe Park had more in! So I did wander if they watered down the drinks a bit? Or gave you half measures? Soft drimks always came out of a can whicj I thought was good. No dodgy flat stuff.

Thanks for that Bexie, that's exactly what I want to do, everyone be responsible for their own spending. It's bad enough checking the statement for the two of us, never mind five!

According to the bar list, the drinks are a 40ml measure compared to the normal 25ml here and would have to be seriously watered down before you noticed the difference. I think they put in a lot more mixer than normal and that's why the drinks seem weaker.

luci

Maybe its just my tastebuds, as I thought the water tasted funny too, lol.

And I must have lost the use of my fingers twice on the last post, seeing as theres a couple of typos!

if the costomer request he can get less mixer so if you think that 150mil mixer is to much you can get a dash of mixer and secon i am tired of people who tell me how to make dirnk and yes if you are alcoholic the regular drinks are week that why almost all the ship AI request double drinks compearing of the regular pax. which are paying for drinks never order double

Luci

Liz and I showered in the gym showers, our flight pick up left around 5pm, and we decided to go shower around 3.30pm and then have a bite to eat.

In answer to Bexie.............No way was any of my drink watered down, a good few times I had to ask the bar staff to top it up with diet coke, as it was way too strong

And George................I only ever drank one drink at a time.........Im a non greedy non alcoholic Scots woman!!!!

Angie x

Bexie

Was that the tap water, from the water fountain or the bottled water that tasted funny?

If you want you can edit the typos in your posts by clicking on the edit button in that post.

Georgi

AI request double drinks compearing of the regular pax. which are paying for drinks never order double

Not all passengers get the AI "free" as part of their package and pay handsomely at £130 each for the privilege. They are paying for their drinks the same as the non-AI pax, only they are paying the money in advance and possibly paying far more than the amount they drink. I know I will be.

Angie

Thanks for the info, I forgot about the gym showers, have done that before. Did you take the towels from the cabin or by the pool or were there towels provided?

luci

Hi Luci

There were towels in the showers, so we didn't need to use pool towels. The showers in gym were good, and to be honest I don't think many people knew about them, unless they used gym. Plus we were on last flight to leave, so wasn't as if loads of people were clambering to use them at same time. Was a very stress free option!!!!

Angie x

Yes we'll be the last flight to leave too. Newbies won't have found them by then! Don't get back into Glasgow till 1.15am

luci

Luci

The only bad point about leaving last is that you see all the "newbies" arrive, and you know you are leaving...........believe me, its at times like that you wish you had gone already!!!!!
Watching them explore the ship makes you want to weep

Angie x

We did a two week cruise and had great fun watching the newbies getting lost for the first few days of the second week. Then we suddenly lost our sense of direction and couldn't find things which hadn't been a problem the first week. It was very strange.

(Now who's going off topic )

luci

Hi there

Going back awhile to Aug 2003. AI had only just been introduced. The only restrictions were Special expensive Whiskies and Brandies. Because of the way the staff were paid, there was a very different treatment of AI and non AI. At that time the cost of AI was £119. and it was not included in any offers. For a waitress serving a non AI person/s who could put as many drinks on their form as they wanted, a percentage went to Her/Him. For those on the new as it was then AI they only got a small percentage of the overall pot. If you served AI it made no difference if you were fast or slow you still got the same money. Also , correct me if I am wrong Georgi, the bars had a target set to SELL as many drinks as they could obviously for the company profit. For those on AI the least served would be more profitable, and less commission for the staff.

When we were there, there were two couples from deck eight, one couple had an anniversary and were promoted to " The Presidential Suite " because it was vacant. They were a great set but they were more used to USA cruises with much bigger swimming pools, so the ladies would sun bathe on deck ten and the gents would use Horizon's ( Georgi's Bar ) as their Mini Bar. Quite often we were invited to a commitee meeting, which we did of course. My could those two drink!!! But they were never out of order. Bailies, alcopops, special coffees, you name it they drank it and none of it was ever wasted, except on one occasion when they tried one of Georgi's specials which had salt around the rim, they finished them, but it required two alcopops to bring their mouths back to normal.

The next time we were on board was in Feb 2004, this time the cost of AI had gone up to £130 as it is now. Guess what!!! Now Alcopops, Bailies, Bottled/Cans of beer and special coffees, all have a small suplement.

As far as doubles are concerned, in the early days, you could only get one drink/measure per card per person at one time. We only met the double measure in July 2004. One time at Raffles bar at about 1.45am. We ordered our usual RW + Lem ( Red Wine and Lemonade ) and these Gi-normous glasses arrived, OTT I must admit, but we knew the waitress and bless her little cotton socks she was only being kind and double banking us before the witching hour of 2.00 am. They were not wasted by the way.

All in all it would seem that if you actually have to pay for AI, it is only natural that you want " Bang for Buck ", if it is included with the package it is not so important to prove a point.

Just on a finishing note, when the two people I mentioned recieved their final statements, they were split in two, because they couldn't get them under the door in one go
Cheers

Dave and John

Hi Dave & John

We were on the Spirit June 2004, we got the AI free cos we had booked so early. I have to say, that it was great for us, as my friend has 2 kids (8 & 13) so they had their own AI card, and could get juice whenever they wanted it, and as the card was marked "child" there was no fear of them getting cocktails, unless they were the "virgin" kind!
It saved us from having to wonder how much it was going to cost, as it was pre paid. And it meant the boys could have as much as they wanted. It was also good for us, as we didn't have to wonder how much the "bar tab" was going to be.

We never set out to "get our money's worth"..........a few people did, especially on our 2nd week, it was just nice to know we didn't have a hefty bar bill at the end.

I agree, that if you got to know a particular bar member, they would give you large vino instead of regular, but they knew we could consume it, by the amount of regular glasses we had over the period of the cruise!

We were even lucky enough one night to be sent over an expensive port, courtesy of Gregory the Maitre'D from Compass Rose.
and even Haris the Assistant Bar Manager got me a drink, without me having to sign the slip (makes you feel like a superstar by the time the cruise is over, cos you have to keep autographing!!!! )

One concern I do have though is how do they control someone who is drunk and requesting more alcohol, as on our 2nd week an older man who was very well oiled insulted a child, and when his parents complained to Management (not bar management) they were told that they could not stop the man from enjoying his holiday!!!! Thus meaning he could drink from 10am till 2am ????? I do believe there is a cell downstairs, so would the Captain have the right to intervene in this event?

I mean...if you go into a pub drunk they would refuse you more, but management basically said that wasnt the case onborad.

Georgi maybe your thoughts on this would be good, as you see it from the other side.

Angie

as long the costomer have his card and he want to drink i will serve him and after if he is making problems we call the security ! i had this bad experience and after i give the drink i call the doctor and the security !
i am serving adults every body need to know how much to drink it is not my falt if the person don't know how to drink !
in Bulgaria is the same as long as you give money for drinks you are geting them , if you have no money no drinks simple as that!
some times greedy people realy suffer from too many drinks i can give you examples if you want !
personaly i don't drink but if i want to drink and i don't get surved i will never go on the same place again even if i am drunk at the time for example so ....

Luci

It was the water from the machine in the Lido and the water served in the Compass Rose. My BF said it tasted fine though. The bottled water sold on board tasted fine as well. Everyone else was drinking the water from the Lido ok. I also thought the bread tasted sweet onboard.

I could edit my previous spelling mistakes yeah. Just need some Tip-ex!

Bexie

You need to bear in mind that the water onboard a ship is potable water, ie it's taken on at the quayside along with other bulks such as fuel oil and bunkered in tanks. It's not like getting nice, fresh mains water. Mind you water always tastes different when you're away from home.

I'll just have to fill up my bottle at the Lido for making my cuppa in the morning!

luci
Edit - typo