SquishTheWhale

We have booked a private parking space in a nearby garage- I think with Just Park. It was about £60 for the week. The official cruise parking wanted over £200.

That's a pretty significant delay- I'm assuming original flight was 9am ish? So you should be entitled under eu261 and your insurance. I'd be pretty annoyed if I'd got up at silly o clock to drive to the airport to find that out. Especially passengers that will have kids with them.

Does anyone find that kids enjoy the show? I'm not a fan although I don't have a huge distaste for it that some do- when I was a kid I had an ALW cassette with lots of the songs on so at least those are enjoyable to me in a nostalgic way. Even if the plot is gibberish. Anyway my mum took us to London to see Cats when I was little and I remembered I LOVED it. We are sailing on Oasis with our 4yr old so I'm wondering if he'd enjoy it more than adults do. Anyone have any experiences taking little kids?

When we sailed with NCL a while back they don't check towels in and out (or they didn't then at least). We went on a beach excursion booked through the cruise line, so lots of people from the ship on the same beach. It started to rain so everyone packed up, we were some of the last people to get on the bus to go. Looked back and there was so many NCL beach towels just abandoned on the beach, soaked in the rain. If people can't behave like decent humans then I don't blame the cruise line checking towels in and out.

Thank you for posting this! We are travelling with a 4yr old so it looks so much better to navigate the port area

We used Barcelona Day Tours although as a caveat it was several years ago. The tour had maybe 8 or 10 people on it and they had a large comfortable van which we could also store our luggage in. We had stops at the Sagrada Familia, Park Guell and others with lots of commentary and sights pointed out along the way. Was great.

I agree with everyone else on the connecting rooms. However I'm not sure if anyone else has pointed out that contrary to something you said in your original post you can definitely book cabins for 5 online. If you can't see any when you search then they are probably sold out. They will come up when you expand the cabin category. You dont need to search with 5 people to see them. Excluding suites, you can fit 5 in an ultra spacious interior, ultra spacious ocean view and ultra spacious balcony on Oasis class ships. There's only a handful of each so they sell out and you may find connecting cabins better value. We booked our ultra spacious interior online so you must certainly can you don't need an agent.

You can attach them pre flight but they might tear off. In the past I've taken a roll of tape with me and just attached them once we landed, but now I have tag holders I just put on when we land.

I think my husband thinks that because he's a big guy who does martial arts he could take down any pickpocket, but I'd really rather not be in that position in the first place! Some kind of misplaced masculinity. We have credit cards for emergencies and I don't carry my passport around but obviously still don't want anything taken. Good idea on keeping backpacks to the front. I'm thinking as it's not a double zip I might put a safety pin through the zip into the fabric of the bag.

He doesn't listen to me but I'll bully him into it! We have a waist money belt so I'll use that for valuables

Thank you for this account, it was so useful. I would have had to have a huge freak out before I was calm enough to think through a plan like you did! You have got me thinking about the safety of my bags for our upcoming cruise. The backpack I intend to use doesn't have double zips so I can't lock them, but it does have internal pockets and a small pocket that sits against your back, so I'll be making use of the tips on this thread. My husband is a pain for keeping his wallet and phone in his pocket and insisting he'll never get pickpocketed because he'd catch them. One day his luck is going to run out...

I will for sure, thanks!

Thanks, I've found a golf cart tour that looks great and it says they even provide booster seats for kids! Just need to check they also have seat belts- looks like it from the photos but want to make sure

Thank you all, sorry I forgot to come back and check this! Some really good ideas here. The idea around the HOHO was that my son really enjoys riding up top on buses but sounds like it's more hassle than it's worth. Maybe as suggested we make a plan around seeing the colosseum and borghese gardens and just use the metro or walk! I'll also look into that golf cart idea, it sounds a fab idea, although just wondering how safe it is for little kids? I assume there's no proper child seats?

Planning on getting the train independently into Rome on our port stop with our 4yr old. The tours are too long and structured for him. We have a long port day so not worried about getting back. The plan is to get off at Termini and catch the HOHO bus as he'd enjoy riding up top. One stop we'd like to get off at is the Colosseum, just to see it from the outside as it looks like there's space for him to run around a bit and it's the one thing I'd like to see. Does anyone have any recommendations beyond that please? No museums or things that require pre booked time slots. I'm also looking for recommendations on which HOHO company to use. They all have terrible reviews online but one must be slightly better than others!

I tried to find a late deal for Aug this year and came to the conclusion they don't really exist in the school summer hols. If the extra berth cabins aren't sold out then they are crazy expensive. However I have seen some decent deals for Feb half term, not what I fancy as cold weather itineraries but good for some

How does it compare in size to others such as NCL Escape and MSC? While I'd never in a million years pay $90 I'm curious why they think it's worth it. Escape was great and I'd consider a charge up to $20 fair value as you could spend an hour up there. MSC I wouldn't go far above $5. But I mean there's people who book a cruise and then pay for speciality dining at every meal, or $1000 to sit in a fancy hut on an island so I guess there's people who will pay for this.

We did the submarine tour, titanic museum and aquarium (its all one attraction). Right in the port and easily takes hours, it was fab.

Most likely Jet2

I don't frequent the P&O social media so was only going off the statement the OP made they they were not adult only areas!

" not adults only but by afternoon it was overtaken by kids " How dare kids use a facility that they are allowed to use. I'm shocked and appalled. Maybe you should put up a sign next time informing people the pool is for your sole use?

Mid May in the Med it should be warm enough outside, unless its the evening I guess. Maybe we will just avoid the times when there's live music to make it easier to get a table!

We'll be with my 4yr old so will have to gauge how loud the live music is, but that sounds fun! He'd enjoy it if it's not loud and rowdy

I was thinking we'd order the 3 meat dish between my husband and I! And then a kiddos meal for my son. Thanks all- it looks great and is the only upcharge place we really want to try, so glad to hear you can just walk in.

UK pricing might be different, but I usually see very cheap TAs. Does that include your return flight? It's not unusual to see a TA from the UK or a European departure port for around £500 for 10-14 nights, especially if you book last minute. However the 1 way flight home can be very expensive.