AlanCruise

One consideration if going into the USA is to ensure you have the correct documentation to enter the USA. From the UK this is normally an ESTA, get it early in case it is refused for some reason as if you need a Visa it can take a long time.

To clarify the previous answer about Cuba and entry to the USA, the position is that if you visited Cuba after Jan 12th 2021 then you are not eligible  for the normal Visa Waiver program (assuming you are from a country where that is available) and will need to apply for a full USA visa, which can take months to obtain.

There seems to be a debate about whether you can get away with it if there is no stamp for Cuba in your passport.

What you will find however is that all the passengers disembarking with their own suitcases overwhelm the lifts on the ship whilst getting down to the gangpank.  So be ready to carry your suitcase down the stairs on the ship!

No self service laundry,  there is a paid service (free if you are in a suite). I have no information on price.

We did some hand washing in the sink and the heated bathroom floor makes a good drying system.
 

I took goggles and used them a couple of times. Once on the zodiac when a bit rough and spray was coming in. Second time on land when it was getting windy and wet!

If you have some take them.

I looked at the options for the Blue Dollar (this is the tourist type rate which is much better than the official rate) and took some dollar bills for this purpose.
However we found that just before we went (Over Christmas) that the non argentina credit cards had started giving better rates and in the end just used the cards and the slightly better rate for cash wasn't worth the effort (we were only there for two overnights)

Visa card rate as of today is listed as 310 Peso to the USD (the rates we saw in shops were typically 350).  Mastercard lists a rate similar to the official rate and that is the initial exchange, but a few days later we got a partial refund (can't work out the actual rate as forgotten the original peso price) but similar to visa rate.

Apparently the best rates are got by using Western Union to do a transfer to yourself and pick up in Argentina but you have to find a Western Union location. We didn't try this.

Just returned from Roald Amundsen.  On board is warmish, no need for warm clothes to eat.

Internet is free and very good (Uses Starlink). Great for email and Web browsing. There apppear to be some restrictions. e.g. for some cloud storage and video streaming, but you can access Youtube and we managed a couple of Facebook messenger video calls.  It was always available, even in the middle of the ocean.

No restrictions on sun screen. There will be a session to vacum your outer clothing to remove any seeds or similar. You have to wear there boots when going ashore in Antarctica.

Just returned from Roald Amundsen to Antarctica and Falklands. No time changes during the trip, we stayed in Argentina time.

It appears that there have been a few cases on the recent Antarctica trips. The current policy is just for the infected passengers to isolate in cabin for 5 days. It is much less serious than it was a year ago.

We came back Jan 2020.  Hold bags were collected from outside the cabin previous evening and went straight to the plane. Passports were checked by local officials on board the ship.
We were also checked in for the return flight by the ship and boarding passes left in our cabin.

On the departure the coach dropped us at the airport terminal and we then went through a special queue straight to the security check point and to departures. No need to do any check in at the airport.

You don't need to book WiFi in advance. Available on the ship - it's up to you to decide if you want to spend the money. You are in port for most days and can use the standard mobile phone connections, check what your phone company policy is now on roaming to the EU.

You normally need to buy insurance in your own country. You need to ensure that the policy covers medical treatment on the ship and possible evacuation. Many standard policies may cover this.

There are often specific cruise extensions that cover for example missed ports or confinment to cabin, that is an option that you can choose but is not required by P&O

If you look on the deck plans on the marella web site it marks the cabins with portholes.
It's only a few right at the front of the ship, 7 on each side on deck 5 and 1 each side on deck 4.

For the £50 charge I find it worth selecting a cabin for location anyway.

Recently on Ventura in 3 berth the steward came in the evening to bring down the upper bed and prepare it.  We actually told him to leave it down after a couple of days.

On a recent cruise out of southampton I had uploaded the photo. They then took one at check in anyway. I queried this and the response was they can't see the one I uploaded, so they take another one anyway!

Without the upgrade you can only order the included wine by the glass, but they will keep topping it up (often without asking). Often the bottle will be left on the nearby waiter station!

January this year we booked a Marella Canaries trip one day before it departed!
This was due to another cruise (different company) cancelling on the day of departure.

We found Marella availability online, but got an error when we tried to pay. However, the local TUI agent was able to make the booking for us.  Flight tickets came through  immediately and the only issue was on arrival at the ship where it took some time for them to find out what cabin we were having.

At the time we needed a Covid test after 9pm the evening before departure and it was too late to order one for posting to the house - but we were able to get it done at Bristol airport on the morning of departure.

2 weeks ago on Ventura there was a shuttle bus from the ship to the centre of Porto.  Free to all passengers. It was described as going to Caves Ferreira - this is the Port Wine area on the south side of the river and about 15 mins walk to the old town.

I think refunds for port taxes tend to come from USA based cruise lines as these tend to be added as an extra to the basic fare in the first place. For P&O the prices quoted are inclusive and don't separately identify charges like these.

The instructions say you need the last 6 digits of your ships card number - which you don't get untill you are on the ship - but that may be the same as the boarding pass number. And once you are connected to the wifi you have to go to myholiday.pocruises.com  in a browser.

And to avoid confusion, although they call it an app it isn't, you just go to web page on the ships WiFi. You don't have to download anything and you don't pay to access this part of the WiFi.

Back to the original question!
On Ventura last week there were plenty of drinks being taken into the theatre (and there were staff on all the doors checking for bookings).

But there are no drink sales in the theatre (unlike some other cruise lines).

As per the original post the shuttle in Porto was free for all passengers. I suspect some form of sponsorship!

The one in Lisbon was free for Select booking but otherwise £2 per trip (with a maximum of £4 it said)

Turning off WiFi will not affect what network you connect to!
On P&O you can connect to the ship WiFi free of charge for the MyHoliday "App" but this does not conect to the outside internet.
You normally get a text when you connect to a network and many UK service providers will not connect to the maritime network unless you specifically opt in.

Some feedback from our trip on Ventura to Spain and Portugal last week.

Travel to Southampton cruise terminal.

We took the train to Southampton, taxi to the Mayflower Cruise terminal.
Plenty of taxis available both ways.  £8 to the ship (more traffic as there were 5 ships leaving) and £7 back.

Check In

Very quick. Checked Vaccine records and you need to verbally confirm you have a negative lateral flow test.
Didn't look at insurance documents.

Then normal check in – took another photo even if uploaded previously!

Covid

On board all the crew were wearing masks and a very small number of the passengers.

No other apparent covid restrictions onboard and no information about any covid cases was given.

We were advised to take vaccine records ashore at each port, but never checked.

Eating

The Beach House and Sindhu restaurant were operating on board and became fully booked after the first couple of days, although walking past Sindhu it looked very empty. Epicurian was closed.

We mostly used the freedom dining for dinner and used the virtual queue system. Near the start of the dinner period (soon after 6pm) we normally got a table in a few minutes. It is apparently quicker if you opt to share. 

Some visits to buffet for afternoon tea and also the burgers and pizza from near the swimming pool.
We did one evening in the Beach House which we enjoyed - cost is £7.50 plus a supplement for some menu items.

Entertainment

For entertainment only the main arena shows needed any booking. Going to the 8.30 performances it was normally fairly full but always some spaces.

Shuttles

All the shuttles provided were very efficient with plenty of buses.

Santander – Free shuttle to port gate – which is in the centre of the town

Vigo – No shuttle required – Terminal in centre of town

Lisbon – A charged shuttle (£2 if not select booking) to main square was available but was also easily walkable.

Porto – A free shuttle was provided from the port to near the town centre – described as Caves Ferreira (one of the wine caves where you can do tours) – about 20 to 25 mins trip. From there about 15mins walk to the bridge over the river for the old town. A short free shuttle was also provided to the port gate.

Guernsey – Tender port using the ships tenders and one local ferry

You can stay on the ship until your transfer to the airport, so typically about 3 hours before flight time. But you do have to leave the cabin earlier (Unless you pay extra). A secure location will be made available to store hand luggage and if there is time you can go ashore to visit locally.