terrierjohn

November cruises are generally poor sellers and quite often they are heavily discounted nearer the date, so if you can be flexible it might be worth waiting. However you might not get the airport you want.

Every evening your steward says "Abracadabra" and its transormed into a bed, amazing eh?

There are signs saying no photos, but I snapped these so we could show my Son and DIL prior to our cruise next year, but don't tell anyone!:eek:

Just one of the many benefits of freedom dining is that everyone on the table will arrange their own drinks, and no one expects others to share with them. However when we used to do club dining with the same table companions every night there were occasions when sharing was proposed, and I always regretted it, especially on the next night when the "table leader" would enquire what we all wanted to drink that night.:o

On Celebrity ships, and I'm sure on all others, the bar staff will always get theirs. Every purchase of any beverage includes an add on of 18% for bar staff.

 

None of the bar staff gratuities are prepaid like wait staff when Select Dining is chosen.

On Eclipse out of Southampton bar staff gratuities are built into the bar tariff rather than being added on afterwards.

However this does mean that bar staff as well as all others covered by your gratuities will receive a share of gratuities, although they obviously are happy to receive a little extra if you feel they have gone beyond the norm.

It is stocked before breakfast and does then have breakfast time items, as well as the normal sandwiches and deserts.

However we found the sandwiches a bit dull, and certainly nowhere near as well filled as you get in M&S or even the cheapest sandwich shop, and there is only a limited choice. It is best used for a quick bite if you get back on board between meals so to speak, not really worth taking off ship which in some countries is verbotten anyway.

I agree with you Jazzbeau, but our choice is restricted since we need an accessible cabin, however I can't see the point of paying the extra for concierge or Aqua accessible balconies on 10 or 11 versus our normal choice of deck 7. All the cabins are equipped the same and are exactly the same size, which makes the canapies in concierge darned expensive and I could not live with the Blu overhang and support stays nor the possible noise from the lido deck above.

I believe all have now been replaced by a World Bar, same place different name, new drinks menu.

What, ask a waiter to make your cuppa for you :eek::eek::eek:

 

Actually all the drinks stations seem ill laid out to me, however everyone would have a different ideal design. :(

Britannia's straight counters are an improvement on the corner units used on Azura/Ventura, there is now room for 2 or 3 people to serve themselves at the same time, rather than one person making tea holding up everyone else.

I have to agree. Its the way people are nowadays. The Britannia does seem to have got round the problems in the buffet. It is so well laid out. You still get those who elbow in but they are far fewer.

Your comment is very valid, Britannia's island serveries make it so much easier to serve yourself, as compared to those on Azura/Ventura, thus avoiding the queues and the accusatory stares when I seek to obtain one item from the middle of a row of waiting passengers.

An update. P&O contacted me after I posted on their Twitter feed. They have sorted this out for us and we have our seats! Happy now.

 

 

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Glad you got it sorted to your satisfaction in the end, it seems that you got a "jobsworth" when you first rang P&O customer service; which is a bit of an oxymoron in P&O's case.

Re stocking isn't done on a cruise to cruise basis, it's a rolling process. Your theory would only be valid if all the unused food at the end of a cruise was dumped and the ship completely re stocked for the next cruise.

 

Obviously this doesn't happen given that the ship has temperature controlled and co2 padded storage rooms as well as freezers. There is very little actual fresh food served aboard a modern cruise ship.

 

So yes there is a cost in feeding everyone on board whatever rate they have paid.

 

David.

You may have a minor point about food cost, but I do know from talking with the Eclipse catering manager that they have a fixed replenishment order for every turnround in Southampton, but of course they do intend to sail full.

However even the full cost of food is well below the £50pppd that Jenny paid, and all the other wage costs are fixed anyway, so to operate with empty cabins would be very detrimental to a cruise ships overall profit, I trust you are unable to accept this logical explanation.

Fair comment, but you didn't have to feed them 24/7, entertain them, transport them to interesting locations and provide all the other facilities of a large cruise ship.

 

So yes I would sail with empty cabins if I had to pay people to occupy them.

 

David.

David, I have already answered these comments, food quantity is fixed for each turnround, cooking for an extra few hundred is hardly likely to cost anything as wages are already paid and energy costs are at worst a few pence per head, same for all the other costs you mention, they are fixed regardless of passenger numbers. So all the cheap offers go straight onto the bottom line, either increasing the profits or reducing the loss, which if you check Carnival's results is generally a profit.

So stop worying and just accept that the cruise line management know how to run their business.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jenny wren View Post

As i said earler we paid less than 50 pounds a night for our cruise...

This illustrates what's wrong with the cruise industry. It's impossible for P&O to make a profit on rates like this, particularly with non drinkers. So standards inevitably fall, as we know has happened over the last few years.

 

The best Premier Inn in Bournemouth is priced from £100, so the same rate as the cruise cheapo. No food, no entertainment, no ports, nothing but a basic room, which won't be a patch on the on board one.

 

And they're still building more ships. Madness.

 

David.

David, I agree that no cruise line would make profits at that average price, but they would make a darn sight less if they left the rooms empty, the marginal cost per person on an all almost full ship is extremely small, not even the cost of the food since they are contracted for a full ship replenishment every turn round, so all of the income from late availability rooms goes straight onto the bottom line.

And the reason that all lines are building more ships is simply that they expect to make more profits as a result.

As i said earler we paid less than 50 pounds a night for our cruise...no flights as we sailed from Southampton..we don't drink alcohol so those prices don't apply to us...you could reduce tips if you wanted.....

Yes there were alot of other nationalities but they were mostly English speaking....not like Costa where announcements are done in five languages!!

Itinerary is always the deciding factor for us but we also would like a bit of recognition that we are spending/have spent several thousands of pounds per annum with P & O :)

Jenny, Presumably the £50pppn was for an inside cabin booked reasonably close to sailing date. We need an accessible cabin and therefore need to book on brochure launch and I have been astonished at Princess brochure prices for a balcony from Southampton compared with P&O or Celebrity; which is a shame because Princess was our preferred cruise line in the past.

Perry Grant recently jumped ship after years on Celebrity Eclipse, I read that he had gone to Princess so perhaps he is guesting on a number of Carnival ships.

The reason I book direct with P and O is because the travel agents want your balance weeks before P and O do. Would rather hang onto the money for a few weeks more:eek:

I have always found our TA is prepared to defer payment for us if we ask.

Have you checked the S class sticky? This might have your cabin info, if not you can probably work it out.

Yes - our experience too. I wonder why they then choose to adopt a different policy and apply a % charge to pay for your cruise.

 

There must be some rationale behind it....... hope you will spend more freely on board if it can go on a CC? Assume if you have decided to go on holiday and spend quite a lot of money, a small surcharge is hardly noticed? I'm sure there's some psychology at play here - at least in their minds. They wouldn't pass up the opportunity to put an extra charge on the obs unless they thought the concession was worth it. Or am I being too cynical?

I suspect the main reason is because the profit margin on the cruise price, especially saver fares will be quite low, whereas the profit margin on your on board spend, for drinks, shore excursion or shopping is probably astronomical.

A deck is the top deck of cabins and as a result some have the possibility of noise from above, either sunbeds around the pool or chair movement in the buffet. All cabins from 301/2 aft also have an overhang from the wider lido deck above resulting in more shade on the balcony.You have not specified the type or sleeping numbers in the cabin you want, which might be why your TA is only offering A deck cabins, but I suspect it is just lack of knowledge since there are options for most grades on a range of decks.

Our preference would be to have cabins above and below us to minimise any public area noise, and prefereably not too far forward or aft, but Britannia is fairly stable and in most seas you will not notice much difference whichever deck you choose.

I wonder if the duvet cover is replaced before each sailing. I always worry about any covers on top of the bed.

I also hope the sheep are washed before I board the ship....:p :D

You don't have to worry on Celebrity, they also change the duvet covers mid cruise.

If you ask your steward I am certain he would find you one.

Our recent Eclipse cruise we had a sheet and a very thin duvet, which could never be considered way too heavy.

I have a Speck case on my cell phone which has a slot for a card, very useful.

When my card malfunctioned I was advised not to keep it near my mobile because this can affect the magnetic strip.

We only use our mobile for texts when cruising, this can work whilst at sea but not always. P&O ships mobile is normally quite good, but Celebrity's is very poor, we returned from Eclipse last week and I had to switch off and re-boot my phone the next day as mine was still linked to Celebrities maritime service and neither sending nor receiving messages.