terrierjohn

Probably correct, however HA is the top grade and HF the lowest grade.

Was Joanna in attendance?

TBH the hosts on Princess seem to take no notice of your booking anyway all mine are for sharing tables,so far I have had to stop them taking us to a 2 top table, and force them to put is on a sharing table. It's a good job the food is worth waiting for, otherwise I might get rather annoyed.

I think I would be tempted to do a charge back via the card I had used to pay, even if that fails in the end at least it would have caused them some pain to sort it out.

I do think that allowing walk ups to be seated ahead of those who have booked or are in a virtual queue is ridiculous, even though we have been benefitting from it on Sky Princess. But that is mainly because the restricted times I had available for dining prior to the cruise were really too early for us, as a result our booking has lapsed by the time we get to the restaurant. It really is a stupid system, and just about everyone we dine with comments on the empty tables, presumably waiting for someone who might equally fail to arrive at their pre cruise booking time.

Interesting view on customer feedback, I filled in the how's it going so far form on Sky Princess yesterday, complemented them on the good things but criticised the dine my way system. Did not want or expect any feedback but got a phone call this morning from a very nice young lady, agreeing totally with my views on how poor, as well as inefficient, their system is, the staff on board apparently dislike it and are concerned about the negative vibes they are receiving from passengers, but head office insist it should continue, however they hope their feedback will eventually lead to change. Selbourne you would be happy to note she thinks the old no booking turn up anytime system was by far more efficient for them, and did not lead to disgruntled queuers.

....and we get 2 facecloths changed every day if they are both used.

A further update on our Sky Princess cruise. The MDR food continues to impress, both for choice and quality, and the service from the wait staff is still top class. However their dine my way booking system is equally as flawed as the P&O app. Both of course lead to large numbers of bookings, resulting in tables being out of action and sitting idle when, if it was back to first come first served they could all be in play, leading, IMO, to much slicker service and hardly any queuing, and where ships have 2 or more dining rooms, there is still an option for fixed dining if there is a demand for it. We are still enjoying the music entertainment around the ship, Neo Funk did a rock n roll dance set last night which filled the dance floor in the Piazza, proving once again that there is still a demand for 60s and 70s music, despite Ludlums desire to kill it off. Having just visited shore excursions to check the availability of accessible shuttles, I was reminded once more of how these customer service staff should operate. The Princess staff listen, ensure they know just what you want, and then proceed to find all the answers. They all seem fully conversant with their jobs, and quickly find the details on their computers, no waffle no Umming and Awwing, and no leaving you more confused than ever. Oh and room service is fast efficient and free.

That is what I did on both occasions.

You get nothing without asking, but it does help if you have booked through the best on line cruise agent who will do all the leg work for you.

Back in 2014 we received 2 price reductions on a family holiday with Princess, resulting in a 40% saving on the original price.

It's not just P&O, Princess, Celebrity and RCI, all have the incorrect UK 2 pin razor sockets, so P&O will have saved quite a bit by not bothering to fit the wrong'uns on Iona and Arvia.

Unless the razor sockets are different to those on Sky Princess they will not accept standard UK razor plugs, the gap is not wide enough. Better to bring a UK razor adaptor plug, and use that in conjunction with your travel adaptor. I am also assuming that UK electric toothbrushes use the same plugs as razors?

As a comparison to P&O, we have just embarked Sky Princess, although she is a sister ship to Britannia, you really would not know it. She is far more glitzy and there is a lot more going off, especially in the Atrium or Piazza as Princess calls it, and the entertainment appears better quality, although geared very much towards US guests. But surprisingly the music is far more 60s, 70s and 80s than the current P&O offerings, which appears to think anything last century is too old fashioned. As regards the food, our first MDR dinner was significantly better than P&O, with much more choice, better more relaxed service with very friendly wait staff, in fact everything that die hard P&Oers seem to miss. I am looking forward to seeing just how much better it is over 14 days, and if it is worth the extra cost.

Just responding to your cabin category comment TigerB. All cabins of H category are identical, (except for the location of the bathroom, which can be on the left of the door or the right, and AFAIK there are no poles in any Britannia cabins.

I agree with cbjroms, periodic full muster to ensure the crew know how to handle an emergency seems the most likely reason for this change.

My sincere condolences on your loss Bazrat.

You still will not be able to look straight down on the ocean however, although the promenade deck is much narrower below your cabin.

We were not forced to order desserts with our initial orders on Iona in February, a waiter did ask once but we said we preferred to wait till later. But then even on freedom dining with different waiters, we were not asked again, and coffee was always served after dessert was finished.

I have never had problems with switching the heating/AC off in a PI, and the reception staff are generally very helpful if you have any issues

Maybe if you point this out to the F&B manager, he will arrange to reduce the glass price of your favourite wine Andy. Looking forward to your final summation of your first cruise back Andy, and hope you have both enjoyed it.

In many cases buying wine in large glasses, 250ml, is no more expensive that buying by the bottle and sometimes cheaper. I suspect this is now P&Os favoured system, it is probably quicker for the waiters, and probably only needs one "wine" waiter per MDR to open bottles and pour the wine.

I believe so, only travel agents, and covid, are banned.

I must be in the minority as regards Epicurean, we have enjoyed the odd meal whilst on a long Ventura cruise, but also had some poor experiences. However on Britannia and Iona we have not yet had a good experience, the food has been mediocre and the service not a patch on the speciality dining experiences we have enjoyed on Celebrity Eclipse. Granted the last time we were on Eclipse was 2016, so we have no recent knowledge of how good, or bad Celebrity is post Covid. Our next cruise is on Sky Princess, and I am hoping the MDR food will be good enough so we dont need to bother with with their extra charge restaurants.

It should be showing on your cruise personaliser, on the itinerary.