I spoke too soon by saying there were no problems with the site. As soon as I'd typed that, the site went down for an hour. Sorry!

luci

Re-booted it earlier Luci when I came on and realised there was a problem.

Sorry Folks -

cheers magsy, i opted to go for a grade 4 cabin, still cost me next to nothing. I am taking my nan now though. I was quite looking forward to going on my own, but at least she'll experience cruising. she's 86 though, very fit, but can still winge!!! should be good though, i think she will be flabbergasted at how nice the ships are. She seems to think she is going on a ferry!!!
I got a really good price to add her in my cabin, booked her on a cruise only basis and booked the flights to venice with jet2 myself. They are only £94 return at the moment so she has a bit of a bargain!

Joe and Kev,
That's great and I am pleased you got a good deal for Gran. Don't worry, she will be far too busy to whinge! She may develop a liking for cruising!

joe and kev, good news, have a great time on the Opera, it's fantastic.
Tony R

Rang MSC today - to ask about the possibility of vegetarian/vegan food. The person i spoke to was very friendly but said I have to go thru who i booked with - they have to put the request into MSC - they cant guarentee anything - she said they had done soya milk before but couldnt confirm in advance. Doesnt sound too hopeful

Alison

Hy everyone glad to hear all the cruises are finally coming off. I picked up my Euros yesterday, and am looking for a light bag and a slimline money belt I have heard Rome is bad for mugging ARGHHH .only about 5 weeks to go now whoopee. can anyone tell me where the cheapest place to buy duty free English Cigarettes would be on the med cruise to Genoa Rome etc calling at Marseilles? or would it be better to buy in the airport?

I don't want to worry all you good people, but I was listening to the BBC Three Counties Radio consumer programme today and they have received an e-mail from someone who was due go on a future cruise. According to him, he got a phone call from Rise yesterday evening saying that all future cruise bookings have been suspended pending the outcome of discussions between Rise and the Daily Express.

Of course this is just one person saying this. The BBC are now trying to get in touch with Rise and the DE to try and clarify the situation and they will report back on Monday morning's programme. Just keep those fingers crossed folks.

I have been listening to a consumer programme on a local radio station today......and I was surprised to hear, that a person phoned in to say they had heard from R... ,and was told all further cruise allocations had been suspended until talks with the D.E. had taken place........has anybody else heard this,as the presenter of the programme was asking for people to contact his programme if they had also received this statement.......apparently he has been dealing with people that were promised cruises and are still waiting!!!!!!!!.

So it seems we are not out of the wood yet (or should I say out of dry dock). I suppose a lot depends on what is meant by 'due to go' and 'future cruise'. Would that be those who are already confirmed or those with a 'promise' of something next year. I should have thought that those of us with confirmed flights and cruises, who have already had the money taken from our accounts, should be in the clear, but nothing can be taken for granted with this offer.:bhead Only those who have already sailed, or are at present on the high seas, can really relax.

I wouldn't worry too much if you have already received your confirmation letter and the money has been taken

If the company we cannot realy mention cancel these then you could probably seek legal advice and take action against them for breach of contract (my opinion only).

just managed to get yet another good deal on a holiday - leaving 1 month after my cruise.

6 days in Milan for under £200 and no chance of it getting cancelled by a certain company

(sorry Luci) if anyone is interested in a similar offer from the Journal (a north east paper) & ryan Air are doing flights from Newcastle to Milan or Teeside to Rome for 1p (yes one pence) only limitation is the dates you can travel. (Tuesday Wednesday & Thursday) these can be seen once you get into the site

web page for the offer is : http://www.ryanair.com/member/njournal.html and the password to get into the site is "flight"

and remember don't and if it all goes pear shape then have lots and lots of

1 thing i forgot to mention about the Ryan Air offer is that it closes Midnight on Sunday (15th may)

It strikes me that now is the perfect time for Rise and/or the Express to make an announcement on HT to clarify the situation!

Hy what a shame they only do Newcastle Airport . last year was unable to use a "free holiday prize" as I could not fly from Bristol. travel by train to get there .or by coach. that particular offer was in a t.v. times mag. I paid 99 pounds admin fee. and as they reserved the right to change arrangements last minute could not risk getting to Newcastle the previous day from Somerset incidently flights are now availbale from Bristol to Newcastle.So all beware of these so called prizes on scratch slips from magazines. being a travel firm they must have been aware it was impossible to get there from here.the company was based in Exeter

I wish they would magsy, as someone who has already got her tickets in her hand and all ready to go next saturday, I would be mortified If they cancellled it. I'm sure its not going to come to that but boy will i be happy once my feet touch the gang plank!!!!!

hi floeeohy, not really sure about the duty free cos we dont smoke. We went to rome a couple of years ago with ocean village, its a great place if you get to go round it, a little tip i do have for there is that there are water drinking fountains all over the city for FREE use, so dont bother buying bottles of water, just take an empty one with you and keep on filling!!!!

To date the DE have not posted on this forum. I cannot see them bothering to update us now.
Those who cannot be named, have not posted on HT since January and I cannot see them bothering to post now either.

Hi

I have just posted on the 'I HAVE A CRUISE ALLOCATION BUT NO CONFIRMATION' site and then I read an entry made by
TRISANTONA on this site earlier today saying that the D.Express are in negotiations and that everything is now on hold.
I CAN CONFIRM THAT because we have just rcvd a call from mkm CONFIRMING EVERYTHING IS NOW SUSPENDED.

TRISTONA when is this BBC 3 countries radio consumer programme coming on. What is their frequency. Can u give me a contact. I have been given all sorts of answers by R***. Maybe the BBC can shed some lght on this.

Rabi

Good Afternoon from the Balcony Cruise ship 'Good on the night'

Ye Gods is'nt it parky today, almost had to dig out the old termals, I got a salad in the fridge thats where it will stay as well, Irish stew weather tonight. with a drop of the black stuff in it, well it's O.K. in stew drinking it, well thats another issue.

It is good to hear of yet more members getting tickets.
:pele :pele :pele :pele

Thanks for your laughter Dizzy becareful of that head banging, the best part of head banging is when you stop.
rofl rofl rofl
Best tip I had about Rome floeeohy is that if you wish to cross the road only start out if you see a nun or priest crossing. (sorry Luci)
but whjilst I am ......................

I also told everyone weeks ago that Bristol is now an International Airport although I did forget to mention Newcastle, along with Dublin and Manchester.

Can you imagine a creature from outer space studing English and landing in Newcasle or Sunderland, he'd be complaining to the space version of Watchdog dam quick and getting a refund from Lingaphone in double quick time.

Bye for now

Phil Morris