When is everybody going.

[sandraandjim]

Thanks for that John.  You had already been and gone by the time we arrived last year.  Will see you at the Rainbow.  By the time you and Dot fly out I will only have one hand left to count!!

Sandra (and Jim)

[alex]

been and fetched my tickets i now feel the holiday is closer roll on may 7th

[coys]

Only 19 days for us.
After a lot of problems with Minoan ferries firstly we booked  from Venice to Corfu, then two weeks later they e-mailed us to say they were canceling all sailings from Venice to Corfu.They told us they could put us on a ferry from Ancona on the same day,  We had to say yes even though it would cost us more in fuel and tolls because we had already booked on Euro tunnel to cross the channel. A few days later we received an e-mail to say we were booked from Ancona, but unfortunately it would not be calling in to Corfu only Igoumenitsa where we could catch a ferry at our own expense to Corfu. They offered us a 10% discount plus meals on the ship which does not cover the additional expense on the Corfu ferry. We had no choice so we had to agree. Looking forward to being back in Arillas.
Barry. 

[GaryS]

How do these service organisations get away with screwing with their life blood?

[coys]

It's not just the tourists who they are screwing, The lorries bringing food etc into Greece will have the extra expense of fuel and tolls in Italy. This cost will be passed on to the Greek community.
Barry. 

[kevin.g]

barry
thats such a shame,,hope you get there safely.......yammas

[coys]

Thanks Kev.
It will all be worth it when we arrive in Arillas, then we can relax for a few months.

Barry.

[Eileen]

Hi Barry,

Our sailing a week past Tuesday was also changed.  It was an absolute nightmare at the Ancona ticket office with large disorderly queues forming with people jostling and pushing their way in.  LOL...they didn't get past me in my line!  We queued for over 2 hours but some people waited for over 3 hours.

Hopefully by now the front line ticket staff have got up to speed with the changes.  I felt sorry for them and the pressure they were under as they worked their way through all the problems caused by these last minute changes.

The free food?  It was simply awful.  On boarding we reported to the reception where we were given a small slip of paper informing us we were entitled to 2 free meals - dinner and breakfast - from the self service restaurant and restricted to a choice of 3 main course dishes mentioned on the slip of paper.  The meals were dire, of low quality and obviously thrown together to meet the compensation offer. 

The only good thing about the change of departure port was the shorter ferry crossing.  It was actually a godsend, as personally I think Minoan have went downhill and thankfully will not be returning with them.

It was a bit of a scramble to get to the ticket booth at Igou due to the number of passengers being dumped there instead of Corfu.  We paid 65 euros for car, 2 adults and 1 child.

But....we are here and loving it!

[Val n Bill]

What a nightmare for you all, is the change a permenent thing?

                        Val x

[Ivan]

As I'm sure Eileen and Coys know Minoan were taken over by Grimaldi a couple of years ago. I've travelled with Grimaldi on other routes and Minoan now seem to have been taken down to their standards, in particular the food. Oh well there's always Anek!
                                  Ivan

[BBB]

No, Minoan start the Venice/Corfu route on June 18th and this will finish for the winter in mid September.
We were booked V/C in late May and we found out through the internet that our ferry was cancelled. We were offered the Ancona/Igoumenitsa route with the departure time 4 hours earlier, meaning we couldn't get there in time with our current Eurotunnel/hotel bookings and meant an extra night on the road and extra fuel/toll charges, not to mention the cost of the ferry from Igou to Corfu. We worked this out to be s couple of hundred euros at least.
We decided to delay our trip and are now booked in June on the Venice/Corfu route at no extra cost to us except £6 on our Eurotunnel booking.

We did the Ancona route earlier this year and found Ancona a nightmare to disembark and chaos getting out of town. The ferry companies charge the same price for all the routes which seems unfair.

[coys]

Thanks for the warning Eileen.
We did not expect much food wise but a bit better than what you experienced, like you we will not book Minoan again. Having paid over 800 euros you would think they would treat there customers better.
We went Anek last year with no problems but this year their Venice Corfu schedule did not start till May so unfortunately we booked Minoan.
Could probably have changed booking to June departure but we like to be in Arillas start of May.
Barry.   

[Curt]

Just 4 more sleeps !!!!!!!!!

[ness44]

Into double figures now!!! 98 for me and counting down!

[mikej]

That means it's 97 days for us then Ness as we get there day before you....enjoy.