terrierjohn

We did the same on Iona in Feb. We came down the mid ship lifts at 8:15 and found there was no one disembarking, so we walked straight off without any problem at all, even though our disembarkation time was the ridiculously late time of 10:15, maybe that was because my wife was in a wheelchair, or maybe not.

I am very sympathetic to any passengers who are having their holiday ruined by something like this. I am also sympathetic to the crew who are having to deal with what seems an insoluble problem. Noise issues like this are probably only resolvable during an extensive refit, which happen very infrequently. Head office will continue to sell cabins unless instructed by senior management, and senior management are judged on performance, where profit is a major factor. So there is no incentive to fix the problem by withdrawing any cabins. I do not expect passengers to solve these problems, and my comment was not directed at you. I was asking how would a sensible person resolve this issue, my proposal would be to categorise the very worst noise issue cabins, offer them at discounted prices, with the noise issue clearly identified. This would probably not be ideal to senior management, but would certainly help staff since passengers cannot really complain about a noise issue they have accepted when they booked. Maybe others would like to come up with their own possible solutions.

Whilst I have every sympathy with Megabear, just how do you propose P&O resolve issues like this when they have full ships? I dont have any data but would guess that most passengers in these "noisy" cabins don't have a problem with it, or at least dont complain, so its unlikely any cruise line would take a cabin permanently out of service in these circumstances. So whilst for MB this is very frustrating, P&O do seem to be trying to find a satisfactory resolution to her problem. But until they can find an available cabin, possible as guest artists on board reduce, then a satisfactory solution is impossible.

I was really suggesting that in this situation you would not be able to have your favourite table. However we have, post covid on Iona, been seated at a table where the others had already ordered, and another time having 2 couples join us as we were about to receive our starters. I put this down to inexperienced table hosts not ensuring they fill up tables reasonably promptly.

I find the P&O buffet coffee to be bitter, rather than vile, once diluted with hot water it's perfectly acceptable. The MDR coffee I usually find is much smoother, which made me assume it was a better coffee than the buffet one.

You must be the unluckiest person alive, we normally book our speciality dining on board, and we have never found the restaurants fully booked. We might have to compromise on time or the day, but we have always been able to find a suitable booking.

Generally for a summer cruise, booking in January 4-6 months before can be a good time. The cruise industry calls this "Wave season" and will be offering discounted prices to get the current season off to a flying start for bookings. The next point is as you say after balance payment has been made, when any doubters will have cancelled their bookings, and cruise lines are looking to fill these and any unsold cabins.

I applied for 4 cruises, but 2 were after 31/7/24, which will not get approval until next years AGM n March 24.

I suspect that they probably joined the back of the queue, rather than showing their boarding pass to one of the staff on duty and then being directed to go straight in.

But that was equally the situation pre covid, when you turned up when you wanted, your favourite window table could, even then, have just been served their starters.

I would assume that the desalinated water produced on a cruise ship will be far purer than any bottled spring water, any additives added to it will have to be of BP quality, rather than picked up as the water drained its way through rubbish dumps and polluted rivers, before being bottled and sold at ridiculously inflated prices.

Once you reach the restaurant hosts desk you can still ask for any table preferences, even though you used the app.

Most mainstream travel insurance policies now cover you for cruising and will have medical cover of at least £2m which will cover for repatriation and medi-vac if needed, but you can pay extra for things like missed ports, which does have a surcharge but not a massive one. We are currently unable to get an insurer to provide annual cover and we are having to pay over £1000 for one trip cover, which is a significant add on to the cost of a cruise.

Maybe the same IT team that runs P&Os systems, also wrote the software for the travel insurance risk assessors.🤣😯

Same could be said for Israel.

I wonder if the NCL ship was a port visit, rather than sailing out of Sourhampton. In which case maybe it's similar to VAT being added to drink prices in Spanish ports?

You're very fortunate, on our only visit it rained heavily all day with frequent low clouds that obscured any view of the fjord.

It does rather seem that the current work to rule is proving to be more efficient that normal working.

This cruise was a replacement for one of the Baltic cruises they cancelled, presumably because they thought that without SPB they might struggle to sell them. Well they now find themselves competing with Regsl Princess whose itineraries are much more interesting than P&O, and struggling even more to fill these replacements.

I think he should be treated as an adult, except for alcohol, as I understand they now allow 16 yr olds to occupy a cabin on their own.

We found Aurora to be quite tired, even though we sailed on her fairly soon after a refit that included new carpets in the cabins. The bathrooms are pink and look more like 80s styling than late 90s. If you opt for a standard balcony these are cut out of the ships side and, although glass fronted, they feel quite shaded because of this. The public decks can feel a bit claustrophobic, as they have tried to cram too many venues into the smaller hull size. The theatre, although quite spacious, has the most uncomfortable seats I have encountered on a cruise ship. However our view may be influenced because my wife uses a wheelchair, and the newer ships are much better for wheelchair users, with auto doors just about everywhere, and no raised lips on doorways to pose problems. But the Medina restaurant, for freedom diners is very pleasant, as is the buffet restaurant and pre covid the food was excellent. .

If you never intend having another 2000 berth new build, then it could well be worth spending a significant amount, and giving them another 10 or 15 years life. Most luxury cruise lines have ships much older than Aurora still in service.

What I want to know is, when in the life cycle of a wife does "my darling husband" become "an infuriating man"?

We have seen tables with early diners being re-set and used for later diners.

New toilets could be fitted, we had a brand new one on Ventura once,but of course they have to be the same design, or very similar to fit the existing plumbing. I guess new basins could be also be fitted, and we have had new shower units in the past. So a bathroom freshen up would not be impossible, and I guess wardrobes and drawer units could similarly be refreshed. But I guess we will find out in the fullness of time what this multi million pound refit really will provide, although I do remember a similar promise of large new flat screen TVs to be fitted Fleet wide at each next refit, and that was back in 2015/6 at least one refit ago