afternoon cruisers
cabin party! sounds good. have been to aldi's this morning they have worldwide travel adaptor plugs on special offer, £1-99. vivien

Thanks to all the posters re: life on board the Melody, it has been very useful, especially the knowledge about ports and excursions etc. I'd hoped to do the Pompeii one but now I can see that most of the others might not be necessary. It has also been very reassuring to know that, as a lady who detests dressing up (can't afford to have clothes that I can't wear every day!) I won't feel especially out of place in the restaurant.

I keep hoping that a few more people will sign up on our roll call (17th October) but it still looks like just The Courier, Trevor Burns, Lindee's mum and me at the moment. I am sure that, like the other cruises that have already taken place, that there will be more DE cruisers booked on it that have yet to discover the HT website (the poor things!). They don't know what they have been missing.

Well, this weekend, I should have been going to the Led Zeppelin convention but suddenly remembered that I was booked on a genealogy course the same day. Now wouldn't you know it - they've cancelled that! Ah well, I'll just have to enjoy our boys lifting the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon instead (sorry to Maureen (MEH) for bumping you out of the Premiership!). And sorry to the admins for shameless off topic-ness.

thanks scarlet re the info on the bubbly. I think I 'll give it a try!!

Thank you for the information, Buster and (off topic) thank you for the apology ledzep. That team down the road didn't do us any favours either!

Still no tickets. I suppose I can always fly to Milan and back!

If anyone on the cruises has not been to Malta, I recommend M'dina. Just the sort of place you need after a cabin party. I thought you could just buy bottles ashore and keep them in your cabin. Cunard do not mind - the steward will even get you a glass. In the Caribbean, there are shops that deliver your order to the ship.

I am not sure whether I told you (senior moment) that I have a good deal at Heathrow. A night's stay at The Renaissance - on airport and 8 days parking at the hotel for £87. A taxi would cost me nearly £130 and I would have to leave at 3am.

What a horrible day! I have to go to Winchester this evening so am not looking forward to going out again. No doubt Summer will arrive when I leave.

Maureen H.

OH NO - no HT on Monday, 23rd May due to maintainance work - what will we all do ( in my case, probably catch up on some long overdue housework)

Elaine xx

sorry luci I know

All you Melodians just returned. Thanks for all the info and reports.
:ghug

How easy was it to get off the ship? Were you in dock or did you have to use tenders? And do you have to wait for the people who are booked on trips to get off first? I know we are only in Naples for 4 hours so would there be time to do Pompeii without booking the ship's tour?


It's too long to wait for my September cruise so I've just booked a week's golfing holiday in Spain in July.



I don't mind not having HT on Monday as I'm going up to Norfolk for the weekend and I won't be back on line until Tuesday. Hope you fix all the Gremlins, Van

Byeeeeee

hi there all you peoples,
i haven't posted for some time but i have been following the site every day. it's great that people are definitely going on cruises and some are now back.
does anyone know the current situation as regards **** discussions with the DE? haven't heard anything nor have i heard of anyone being contacted to say the june louis cruises are off. what if they don't know of the HT forum?
since i turned down an island escape cruise offered at the price i could have bought it for on the island web site i don't even know if i'm still on the database. any thoughts anyone?

JennieL,
It was easy to get off the ship, just took a deep breath and jumped


No, seriously, at all ports except St. Tropez the ship was docked in port and after the mad stampede of Italians disembarkation was easy. At St. Tropez we had a launch boat to take us to shore but as the timing coincided with lunch we thought that was more important so we waited til after the rush. The launch boat was constantly back and forth to shore so no problems getting there or back. I did the Pompeii trip as a Melody excursion and there was plenty of time within the 4 hours to do this. There was also free time at the site to roam as we liked, there was an arranged time to meet back up for the coach. Some other Melodians got a cab up to Pompeii which worked out cheaper than the tour - think it was 42 euros for Melody tour. The site is much bigger than I expected so take some comfy walking shoes with you.
Ibiza also had a frequent coach run. As we were there overnight the coach was running until 3am. Some of our group (who shall remain nameless) ended up having to walk the 4km back to the ship as they missed the coach!
Hope this helps

Scarlet.

wull

I am in the same boat (no pun intended) as you. I had a june cruise and never been officially told that it had been cancelled. I keep sending emails to **** and DE but have never had a reply. Only by looking in on this site do I get a picture of what is happening.

The fact that People are still going on cruises and there is the occasional posting of someone being offered a cruise coupled with DE losing face if people do not get the promised cruise keeps me optimistic that I may one day be offered my cruise.

hi Floeeohy
What a good idea getting a badge made. Hope its a big one which stands out. I think I will get a big tag made for my hand luggage mb85 MAY so keep an eye out for that one in the cafe. I'll be travelling down on the coach from Nottingham through the night so look for someone with big bags under their eyes as I am sure I shan't sleep on the coach.
4 weeks to go. Can't wait.
See you all at Stanstead.
May
Nottingham

Wot's 'appnin??? I'm not getting emails about new postings either and did I miss (in a senior moment aka as a "CRAFT" moment...("Can't remember a f.....lippin thing") the notice about the site being down on the 23rd? I can't exactly blame it on the juro tanker as the same has been diverted, (obviously to others on the site but no names mentioned ), since I was calorifically challeged some five weeks ago. I read everyday but don't always post as work/kids/grandkid/animals/life in general rather take up the time- and don't even start me on my Dyson hoover losing all its suction sausage -:shock: It's been wonderful to read everyones reviews and I am soooooo looking forward to hearing from those who are going on the Opera this weekend :pele. Please get all the menus/low down on excursions/tips etc that you can. Would particularly like to know what you have to do to get the Captain and 5 crew members into your cabin late at night!! As for me, I'm off to the deep tropics next week and not a thing packed yet as I am too busy out on the streets with a beggin' bowl to raise the £75 for my malaria tabs....all 24 of them (can you believe that ). I know Luci, but if I didn't take them and contracted malaria, what would it cost the NHS to treat me is wot I ask myself? Anyway onwards and upwards as they say and regardless of non-functioning email alerts I shall keep reading until I am on my way to Heathrow. Have a fantastic time to all you cruisers over the next few weeks wherever the sea takes you and I just wish somebody else on this site was going on 3rd Sept, 'cos otherwise its just juro, juro and little ol'juro

JOE, DON'T FORGET THE CORKSCREW!!!!

G+T mixed and ready, nibbles safely stowed and some liquers for nightcaps. Yup think I'm packed.

Tell you ALL about it when we get back! Woohoo!

Hilary

I have received my travel documents for the 30th. May. Instead of Bahamas Deck, I am on Premier although still in an inside cabin but it is a double. Fortunately, it is the other end from "Pluto's Play House".

Maureen H

I have received my travel documents for the 30th. May. Instead of Bahamas Deck, I am on Premier although still in an inside cabin but it is a double. Fortunately, it is the other end from "Pluto's Play House".

Good to hear that you've been upgraded to a better room

Lets hope we all get the same treatment when our tickets arrive

Don't forget that we want to hear all of the gossip when you get back (or even if you can get to a cyber cafe while out there) and all of the photo's (as long as they are not too rude )

And don't foget - have plenty of

Well done on receiving your documents MEH, spot on time too! Rising 4 decks is a good upgrade so enjoy it!

HILARY

I,ve got the corkscrew, it lives in my case!!! got a bottle of champers and wine, cant find any miniatures though, they dont sell them in asda!!
You are packed early, i've still not done a thing, i have got 5 hours before i need to leave here, a 2 year old to feed, a 6 year old to collect from school , tea for everyone and i've still got to pack

bye for now everyone, I will certainly keep the site updated on my return and grab all the info i can.
suitcase here I come!!!!!!

Hi JennieL,
My wife and I did Pompei last year - 15 minute walk to train station from port. For a few euros one train drops you straight outside the gate of Pompei. Take snack and water with you - food and drink very expensive when you get there. we found we had more time at Pompei than the people who queued for the coaches on the organised trip and the train got us there before the first coach. Being seasoned cruisers (twice) on our second cruise we didn't go on any organised excursions just read the guide books and the ship's information then copied these excursions via public transport, paid peanuts and on comparing notes with other passengers when we got back, found we had more time at the places. They spent a lot of their holiday stuck on coaches and stuck in traffic.

Be brave

Can anyone help me to put on some photos of the Melody cruise 09-05-05??? Have been into photo gallery and upload photo but no joy

- CunardQueen - you can send me a cheque if you don't want these published!

Scarlet.

The was a lady on Three Counties Radio today who had previously complained that she had not received her documents. Yesterday she received a phone call from " a very nice man" saying that someone would be in touch with her about this matter "in 1 or 2 weeks" . So things might be moving along for here but (call be a cynic) this "1 or 2 weeks" seems to be a standard reply. But I could be wrong.

Also on the same feature Three Counties read out a postcard that they had received from someone who they had managed to get on a cruise , saying that he was having a wonderful time.