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Thanks for the updates Andy

Does anybody know anything about the refit? It was meant to have started yesterday. Sometimes carnival/p&o post a blurb on their blog a few months in advance of a refit but all searches just mention it's 2019 refurb and can't find any details

I was right, the cruise I want in May just dropped, but my holiday allowance hasnt been approved so I can't book yet! 🤦‍♂️ Fingers crossed it stays at the lower level for a few more days. To answer @Waju I personally find cruises I like and keep checking the price (don't forget to delete cookies on your browser) til it drops to a price i'm comfortable with paying. I've never paid more than £80pppn on a cruise. This has for me, always been the 3 month out mark, but I never knew the reason until this thread. I have seen much cheaper cruises with a few weeks to go, but I can't get holidays that quickly, but if I was retired/semi-retired then I'd be waiting and snapping those up. In 2022 I saw a fly holiday to Indonesia that included a 7 day cruise and several nights jungle safari for £800pp, and a last minute fly-cruise around the adriatic for £250 including flights, 7 nights, can't remember the cruise line. I think i saw those on holiday pirates, so you could check there @Waju

When is balance due date? I've only ever booked around 3 months out and paid in full. This is since the late 2000's, not cruised much post COVID.

I always thought the sweet spot was 3 months out. Always got my best prices then, then see a slight jump up 2 months out. Still bargaining on this as we're holding out to book a May sailing for a couple of weeks!

This would be great news if so

That's two for Azura, maybe it's ship dependent now. Can I ask how long the sailing was, my last 2 were both 7 nights, this could also be a potential factor

When did P&O stop this, or is it still going on certain ships? I didn't cruise between '17-19' and have been on Iona in '22 and themed buffets were gone, and I think on Oceana in '19 but I can't remember. Did they release a statement about this, or did they just vanish. Was a welcome change from MDR especially on Indian, Asian and Thai nights, and Country & Western. Horizon on Iona was absolutely dire, you could barely cobble a coherent dinner together with it's mish mash of options!

Me and my partner are considering the fjords cruise in May on Arcadia, and wouldn't mind knowing about the recent entertainment onboard. What shows, and performers have been on recently? Trying to get a feel for it as we've never done an adults only cruise before. We last cruised on Iona in '22 and found the whole entertainment schedule to be very lacking, especially with the rumours of P&O basically trying to cater for two markets, we expected Iona to have a more modern entertainment schedule but a Lee Evans tribute, and an Annie Lennox tribute aren't it. No offense, but neither have been relevant since the 90's and most of P&O's entertainment is stuck in that era. One of the pub quizzes was literally recycled from an early 2000's cruise, the entertainment host admitted to it and had to change the questions halfway through when me and some of the other passengers complained that 60% percent of the cruisers had never heard of half the answers (it was a celebrities quiz) and some of the language of the questions was most definitely non-PC. Complete shambles tbh So are things the same on Arcadia, or potentially 'worse'? Oh, and a side note, does Arcadia have themed buffet nights, or have P&O scrapped this fleet-wide now?

Short window as in you think it'll take longer than 45 mins to check-in? On Iona last June and I think from arriving at the terminal to being on board took about 15 mins tops. They had lots of staff in the terminal, more than any other cruise I've been on.

I saw in one of your posts you ordered the test at home kit from Medicspot, did you use this to board on your latest P&O cruise? everything go smoothly?

Medicspot do a kit for £12 and the option for a spare for £7 in case there are issues. Has anybody successfully used these to board P&O as they're not on their list of companies to use? https://tests.medicspot.co.uk/products/outbound-antigen

Just thought I'd add a link for the kit 'Lanky Lad' has used as it took me a long time to find it on Boot's website, it was well hidden imo: https://www.boots.com/covid-19-testing/pre-departure-to-uk-covid-19-travel-testing

Morning cruisers, unfortunately the pandemic/lock downs have not been kind to me and I've gained some extra baggage 😅 Not looking to purchase or hire any suits and fancy a more casual experience for Iona in April, is this possible? Was hoping to wear shoes, black denim and a plain, fitted, hooded sweatshirt on the evenings. Will this get me into the more casual bars for the quiz nights, and the two/three (I've not brushed up on Iona) entertainment venues? Tia