Radiant Alaska from Seattle

Date: 17 Aug 2025
Duration: 12 nights
Ship: Riviera
Line: Oceania Cruises
In a decision of historic generosity, British Airways is proposing to enhance the in flight experience of passengers travelling from London Gatwick by adding seats. Yes, you read that correctly.
The 'enhancements' will also include newer entertainment systems with larger screens. Not that you'll actually be able to see them, because you'll be so restricted that you could actually be able to gnaw on your own kneecaps as an appetiser..
Each aisle on the airline's fleet of Boeing 777's will receive an extra seat. That increases the capacity by fifty two passengers per flight, every flight. BA calls this process 'densifying'.
Personally, I'd call it daylight robbery. So it will now take longer than before for the already over worked staff to deliver anything like a relaxed food and beverage service. Mind you, since they stopped providing drinks napkins for passengers some time ago, I guess that's at least one time saving expenditure. There's BA being thoughtful again, you see. I mean, even Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask.
Let's look at this realistically. With the collapse of the Pound vis-a- vis the Dollar, air fares are up. For the privilege of stumping up ever more extortionate sums, we're now getting less service, in more cramped surroundings, from an airline that treats its customers with such unbridled contempt that it no longer thinks that they should have a drinks napkin, let alone a small cocktail stick to stir your drink- when you get one, of course.
And it does not stop there. Baggage Astray is also adding twelve additional seats on each of it's short haul fleet of A320s, flying out of Heathrow to European destinations. And anyone who thinks that this 'densifying' process will stop at that little lot really is living in cloud cuckoo land, pun wholly intentional.
If the service was reliable- oh, wait. I nearly forgot myself. Of the eight BA flights I have been on thus far this year, not one took off on time. Naturally, Barely Adequate has more threadbare excuses for this than even Hitler's high command, but no solution.
And if Heathrow (just one letter diference from Deathrow) was even fit for purpose- but no. This skyway robbery just seems to go on and on and, if anything, it is gaining height every year.
The only thing on a true crash dive here is BA's credibility and reputation, and perhaps even it's very future. Sad.
Date: 17 Aug 2025
Duration: 12 nights
Ship: Riviera
Line: Oceania Cruises
£4,366 OUTSIDE
£4,817 BALCONY
Date: 17 Feb 2024
Duration: 12 nights
Ship: Vista
Line: Oceania Cruises
Date: 28 Feb 2025
Duration: 7 nights
Ship: Explora II
Line: Explora Journeys
Date: 25 Jan 2025
Duration: 14 nights
Ship: Marella Explorer
Line: Marella Cruises
£1,776 OUTSIDE
£2,115 BALCONY
£2,362 OUTSIDE
£2,599 BALCONY
Date: 8 Sep 2025
Duration: 11 nights
Ship: Fantasia
Line: MSC Cruises
£1,899 OUTSIDE
£1,979 BALCONY