Cruise and Maritime...anyone been on Magellan?

[poole boy]

Bristol is the home port of Azores for C&M we have gone from Bristol twice in the last 3 years on Discovery (now left the fleet) and we thoroughly enjoyed both cruises and if they came up with an itinerary we both liked we would have no hesitation in going with them again as in our opinion some things are not as good as P&O but others are better.

[GillD46]

Bristol is the home port of Azores for C&M we have gone from Bristol twice in the last 3 years on Discovery (now left the fleet) and we thoroughly enjoyed both cruises and if they came up with an itinerary we both liked we would have no hesitation in going with them again as in our opinion some things are not as good as P&O but others are better.

Can I ask please, we don't NORMALLY choose P&O, so what , in your opinion is worse?

[Gill W]

Morning Gill,
Yesterday I received an email from C & M with my cruise tickets etc attached. I was expecting to receive them by post but I live
in France so wonder if that was why they were emailed to me. Anyway it's good to have them and it makes it seem real now!

Hi there - I received my tickets this morning by post, so it does seem to explain why yours were emailed as you are overseas.

All documentation was in order, including the amendment to our car registration number.

Looking good so far

[poole boy]

GILLD in my opinion the ship was a lot older and smaller which was fine for a week but not sure we could find enough to do for a second week on the first cruise we had an inside cabin to be honest not the best but on the next cruise we had a brilliant cabin on deck 7 outside as good as any we have had on P&O, the food was excellent as was the crew could not help enough the shows seemed to be put on the crew who were very enthusiastic but not as slick as P&O offering.
as we do not like the big ships on P&O we tend to stick to the mid size ships on P&O and if we are looking for a week we look at C& M

[GillD46]

Very interesting Poole Boy Thank you for that.

[Gill W]

I've just had a closer look at our paperwork, and it turns out we've had a free cabin upgrade.

We booked a standard outside cabin on deck 5 - we are now in a premium outside cabin on deck 7. I rang them to confirm this, and it is indeed a complimentary upgrade.

I've been with P&O for 15 years and never had a sniff of a free upgrade, but I've got one first time with C&M!

Sounds as if it's similar to the one that Poole Boy had, so I'm delighted

It's not as if they are having trouble filling the ship either, I looked at the website and it's pretty much sold out, apart from a few inside cabins

[Gill W]

We're packing today for our little break on Magellan.

We sail tomorrow and get back on Sunday

The ports are due to be Amsterdam on Friday, and Antwerp on Saturday.

Looking at the weather forecast on the BBC, the weather in the southern North Sea looks 'interesting' on Friday. To be honest, I'll be quite surprised if we dock in Amsterdam on Friday.

I'll report in full when I return

[barney]

Good luck Gill !

Hope you have a lovely time.

Don't forget to pay for the tunnel

[Manoverboard]

We did a b2b 24 day cruise in a Junior Suite on Voyages of Discovery ... comparing it to P&O ... no Butler, balcony nor even a cabin fridge. Less glitzy than P&O but there were only 5 sea days and it was doubtless one of the most interesting itineraries that we have ever done.

We have spotted a couple of C&M cruises of interest but would only book it/them providing the ship's Terminal was Bristol, Avonmouth cos Tilbury's a pig to get to from Darzet.

[oldbluefox]

Have a good time Gill. We look forward to hearing what you think of C&M.

[Gill W]

Hello from Magellan!

We left home at 10.30 and were on board by 11.45

First impressions favourable.

Will do full report when we get home

[Manoverboard]

Have therefore assumed that you embarked in Tilbury rather than Avonmouth

Bon Voyage

[barney]

When my dear old Mum used to cruise Moby and the Gravesend - Tilbury ferry was still running, they would be from home to on board in twenty minutes

[Manoverboard]

When my dear old Mum used to cruise Moby and the Gravesend - Tilbury ferry was still running, they would be from home to on board in twenty minutes

Sounds like a good plan ... but how big were these Ferries, did they sail or were they chain driven and when did they stop running ?

[barney]

There is still a limited service running Mob but it's a much smaller boat.

The ferries in the hey day held hundreds and were mainly used by workers going from Gravesend to Tilbury power station.

We used to go over as kids (bunk on without paying) to play in Tilbury Fort

The one I remember was called Edith and ran until the mid nineties

wiki Tilbury-Gravesend ferry it it tells all.

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/TilburyGravesend.html
have a look at this if it interests you

[Mervyn and Trish]

They sold the old one to Thomson. It's debuting as their "new" ship next year.

[qbman1]

We shadowed the "new" CMV ship Azores around a few ports on the recent Round Britain. Looks like she could do with a lick of paint - maybe that was the old Gravesend/Tilbury ferry ?!

[Gill W]

There is still a limited service running Mob but it's a much smaller boat.

The ferries in the hey day held hundreds and were mainly used by workers going from Gravesend to Tilbury power station.

We used to go over as kids (bunk on without paying) to play in Tilbury Fort

The one I remember was called Edith and ran until the mid nineties

wiki Tilbury-Gravesend ferry it it tells all.

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/TilburyGravesend.html
have a look at this if it interests you

That was very interesting.

I never knew the names of the ships, but we'd go over to Gravesend for a day out.

At Tilbury, the walk way from the terminal to the ferry landing stage can still clearly be seen.

[ambrosian97]

My sister did the Fjordlands cruise in Sept 2017. She and her husband booked it a year ahead in 2016. Tragically, just 2 months before setting sail her husband collapsed and died with heart failure. To save her having to cancel the trip, his sister offered to take her brothers place on the cruise in a straight substitution. When Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) were advised, the sympathy my sister received for her loss was zero. They saw it as a money making opportunity, quoting a clause in their Terms and Conditions and charged her an administration fee of £232.50 (25% of the booking cost).
There was no fundamental change to the holiday, just a different name on the booking. CMV absolutely refuse to reconsider and choose to hide behind this clause in their T & C's. Their T & Cs and FAQ's don't even mention "name changes" specifically. Other cruise companies however are upfront about them. P&O for instance advise an admin fee of £20. Carnival and Celebrity declare that normally no charge would be made at all.
My view is that the admin fee charged by CMV was draconian and that their treatment of my sister at a vulnerable time was spiteful.
All that said, somehow my sister did manage to enjoy the cruise itself and was well looked after by the ship's personnel

[Manoverboard]

My sister did the Fjordlands cruise in Sept 2017. She and her husband booked it a year ahead in 2016. Tragically, just 2 months before setting sail her husband collapsed and died with heart failure. To save her having to cancel the trip, his sister offered to take her brothers place on the cruise in a straight substitution. When Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) were advised, the sympathy my sister received for her loss was zero. They saw it as a money making opportunity, quoting a clause in their Terms and Conditions and charged her an administration fee of £232.50 (25% of the booking cost).
There was no fundamental change to the holiday, just a different name on the booking. CMV absolutely refuse to reconsider and choose to hide behind this clause in their T & C's. Their T & Cs and FAQ's don't even mention "name changes" specifically. Other cruise companies however are upfront about them. P&O for instance advise an admin fee of £20. Carnival and Celebrity declare that normally no charge would be made at all.
My view is that the admin fee charged by CMV was draconian and that their treatment of my sister at a vulnerable time was spiteful.
All that said, somehow my sister did manage to enjoy the cruise itself and was well looked after by the ship's personnel

We have made two changes to our P&O cruises over the years and were charged £100 Admin fee on both occasions, cannot remember if that was each or per booking. Either way the detail for a change ( any change ) is stated in their T&Cs.

ps .... Hello and welcome

[allatc]

Hello from Magellan!

We left home at 10.30 and were on board by 11.45

First impressions favourable.

Will do full report when we get home

What happened to the report ?

[Mervyn and Trish]

Hello from Magellan!

We left home at 10.30 and were on board by 11.45

First impressions favourable.

Will do full report when we get home

What happened to the report ?

Perhaps it was a very long cruise?

[allatc]

Hello from Magellan!

We left home at 10.30 and were on board by 11.45

First impressions favourable.

Will do full report when we get home

What happened to the report ?

Perhaps it was a very long cruise?

Or maybe she never returned and an impostor has taken over her CC activities !

[Ray B]

Re: CMV Magellan Review 3rd - 6th September 2015
Delete post Edit Report this post Quote #32 Post by Ray B » 13 Feb 2018 12:49
Gill W wrote: ↑07 Sep 2015 14:41
I returned yesterday from my short break, and have started to write my report.

Here's the first two parts, more to be added in due course.

Check in and boarding the ship

Magellan was berthed at Tilbury, so we had an easy 45 minute drive to the terminal. We had booked our car in for the port car parking (booked and paid for at the time of booking the cruise).

Initially there was a little confusion. We had been given written instructions about how to get to car parking location, which is in the port area. When we got there, there were Magellan parking signs, directing us to a different location. We decided to go to where our written instructions told us to go, but when we got there, there were some operatives around to tell us they had to change the parking location at short notice. So, we followed the signs, and found the correct parking area, with no further trouble. It turned out that lots of people did exactly the same thing as us.

At the parking area, we were directed to a parking bay, and parked up. It’s Self Park, so the keys were retained by us. Our case was put on a bus, and we went on a different bus for the short drive to the terminal.

We arrived at the terminal at around 11.35am for a noon boarding time. We were given a health questionnaire and sat down to complete it – then they immediately started calling our luggage label colour for boarding.

It appears that boarding is done in cabin order, the higher graded cabins are first. The terminal was fairly quiet so they started calling us ‘black label’ people early.

We entered the queuing zone. First of all we handed in our health questionnaire, and then shuffled along to the next table, where we were given our cruise cards. Then we shuffled along to the check in desks, where we produced our passport and tickets. They also took our photos and added this info to the boarding card. In addition we registered our credit card.

Then, a few more yards to the security area. Some people had their bags x-rayed and had to walk through a security arch – but some didn’t. We didn’t – we were just waved straight through. I don’t know the criteria for missing the x-rays, but I’d have been happier if ALL passengers were looked at in detail.

Then a bit further – and we were on the ship by about 11.45. It’s a much smaller operation than Southampton, but it was efficient.

When we boarded, a member of the crew showed us to the cabin which was a nice touch. Also, the cabins were available as soon as we boarded.

We had a light lunch in the buffet area. Our case had been delivered to our cabin by the time we came back from lunch. We unpacked and looked around the ship until the safety muster.

This was slightly different to what I’ve been used to. They have a list of passengers and make sure all the names are ticked off, to ensure everyone attends. We were told to put on our life jackets while we were waiting for the PA announcements. This was quite entertaining, as no previous demonstration had been given by the crew, so half the passengers has no idea what to do! After all the PA instructions had been given, we were then taken to our actual lifeboat, where we had to stand, women in front, and men behind, to be inspected. I suppose this is for women first in an actual emergency.

After that, we sailed shortly afterwards,





The Cabin

We had originally booked a standard outside twin cabin on deck 5, but we were upgraded to a premium outside cabin on deck 7. This premium cabin was actually the highest grade cabin apart from a few suites and mini suites, so it was a very good upgrade and in an excellent midships position.

If we have a smaller cabin, we tend to book a twin bed formation, as it allows for a bit more floor space. Therefore, bearing in mind our original cabin selection, we had opted for twin beds

In this cabin the twin beds were in an ‘L’ shaped formation, so one bed was under the window, and the other was by the wall at a 90 degree angle. So this meant that the cabin seemed very spacious indeed, with lots of floor space.

We each had a small bedside table, and there was also a padded stool to sit on, and a chair to sit on at the dressing table. The dressing table had about 5 drawers underneath, and there was a three door wardrobe with hanging spaces and shelves. The safe, which was a good size, was also found in the wardrobe. If you are on a cruise for any longer than about 3 days, you’d need to take more hangers.

The shower room was much bigger than I have got used to on P&O. You didn’t feel at all cramped, and there was enough room to move around without accidently banging into things.

When I go on holiday, I normally bring flannels, just in case, but have never needed to use them, as they have always been supplied.

This time I didn’t bother – and no flannels were supplied! It wasn’t too much of a problem, but bring your own if they are needed.

There was a small flat screen TV, but there are no tea making facilities in the cabin. Tea and coffee can be obtained from the buffet. You’ll need a European adaptor for any electrical items.

The cruise card is not also used as the cabin door key. You have a separate card for the door, a rather old fashioned hole punch thing

All in all, I was very pleased with this cabin. It’s not the furnished in the latest fashion, but it was roomy, clean and comfortable.


More to follow in due course

And it never did.