cheshire

For me it’s cutting afternoon tea in the MDR. It’s something quintessentially British with clotted cream and scones. Maybe it’s nothing if any significant to many in the same way some other aspects wouldn’t bother me..

Sadly for me and a few others the apparent removal of afternoon tea from MDR is a major disappointment. In the buffer it’s whipped cream which may suit some but for me it simply has to be clotted cream. We will try Epicurean and have a lighter evening meal

I know bottles of wine are available but what about wine by the glass?. We aren’t on the drinks package as we prefer to choose the wines we want which aren’t included. The Mrs. Prefers white whereas I prefer red. I’ve only seen wines by the bottle in the menus. we are going to take the commodore wine package to use when the menu choices suit a choice we can agree on.

That’s a tight turnaround. As of now she’s still in the shipyard.

I’m dreading some of these vlogger “couples” being on our cruise. Some are cringeworthy some ok but the “look at me” type grate me. imagine being in the Epicurean and one couple of chaps I won’t mention would simply ruin the ambiance.

Going to do a check three days before as they suggest. On the maiden Caribbean cruise post Xmas so hoping nobody we mix with at Xmas gives it us. Best to check before we fly

I wouldn’t be too happy if I found we were isolated having had to share a table with others who then developed covid or vice versa for that matter. we like a bottle of wine with our meal. What if you’re with others who disapprove?

We ticked the no upgrade for that reason alone.... deck 8 no thanks but i can see the attraction for some.

Good point. having booked a superior balcony deluxe i'm not sure there are bad ones for the additional sum paid though had we booked other cabin grades arguably so.

Exactly so in other words the select fare offers no benefit.

We have booked a select fare on Arvia which offers the following benefit (Iona excepted) First priority for dining style on ships offering both freedom and club dining? So exactly what does this rather costly benefit confer? It goes on to state "plus first priority for seating time and table size for club dining?" Ok that I understand but on Arvia?

I think Arvia will have formal nights on Day 2 and day 9 both sea days. Already been discussed just one a week which in turn is formal shoes, jacket etc hmmmm

That’s my thinking. I like formal evenings. Uk based cruise is ok but it seems a pain.

If Arvia has two formal nights on a carribean cruise it’s a faff packing one outfit for that alone. Jackets, shoes, formal shirts. Weight is tight enough as it is

Iona had a number of missed ports in the Norwegian series this summer. Are these huge ships not suited to cruising to some destinations at certain times of the year?

And that’s the rub. The prices were based on what was supposed to be included in the fare. If you book a five course meal and get four you wouldn’t be happy. I can think of many other analogies too but the principle is under promise over deliver.

The obsession over £10 canapés was such I was inclined to put £10 in the post to have it edited out. Classic sign of OCD.

You see it isn't a perk its an integral part of the holiday experience for us. Its included in the price we paid and therefore will cause a problem going forwards if it is withdrawn. My timeline is full of examples of us having afternoon tea. It's our thing. We have a number of excursions planned that will see us returning to the ship after lunch and so we intend to have afternoon tea through to Dinner. Some may like dance classes, fitness classes, children club etc but if you say and even highlight afternoon tea then provide it. I can accept that due to certain weather related issues some services have to be withdrawn temporarily but really....... What other services will be withdrawn I wonder.......

It doesn’t work that way. Aircraft schedules are planned months sometimes years ahead especially charter programmes to fit in with a cruise. The specific aircraft from a fleet may not be planned until a few months out. Crewing is normally 4-6 weeks out. p&o had a contract for the Barbados flights as usual with Tui. There are Then the flights Tui have for their own Cruise programme or beach stay holidays there. This means the outbound flight crew have a day or at most two before flying home. I think the Antigua problem is crewing. They don’t have the flights so crew could be there much longer or need to be flown in/out of another island adding to cost/logistics. I wouldn’t be surprised if Wamos air got involved. I don’t expect Tui as it would be a 787 8 or 9 series.

Simply unacceptable. They should restrict sales until or unless they can provide the service standrads they guaranteed. Glass House is also on our list of places to eat along with limelight, Keel and cow, Beach house, Already we are booking into Epicurean for four nights at least. We think we will only be in MDR for the 2 celebration nights and two other nights. What's concerning is the simple fact that if they are short of crew now what will it be like when Arvia arrives? You might have expected high staff numbers on Iona as they settled in new crew ready for transferring to Arvia.

I have to say the removal of afternoon tea for us is a real disappointment. My wife just summed it up. “If you’re on a British ship and can’t get afternoon tea then what’s the point”. It’s another “enhancement”. The fight over the buffet in Horizon does concern us but we will happily use the MDR for breakfast at our leisure hoping the one hour queues aren’t as bad by January.

I love afternoon tea. It’s quintessentially British. Warm fruit d ones, strawberry jam and ideally clotted cream though I sadly fear the latter will be a bit of an ask. my wife likes a nice pot of tea and cake. Unhurried and served to her. too much to ask for?

When do bookings for restaurants onboard normally open up before departure

Vary easy transaction and with even just 100 shares the onboard spend is a return of nearly 30% per cruise