Sea Green

Just seen a vlog of someone having Chicken Tikka Masala in the MDR on Sky Princess, so it seems Indian food is available. 

I don't recall seeing any Indian food on my Princess cruise (but then I wasn't looking out for it.)  But I think it seems to be a feature on most cruise lines (they recruit a lot of staff from the Indian subcontinent, plus traditionally a lot of Indians are vegetarian so it gives them lots of options for the veggie menu. What I would suggest for someone trying it for the first time would be,

Korma Curry (mild and creamy) or

Tikka Masala Curry (spicier more tomatoey sauce), with

boiled or Pilau Rice (very mildly spiced)

with sides-

Naan (flat)bread plain, garlic and coriander, or peshwari (with coconut and raisins)

Bombay potato (in medium spicy tomato and onion sauce)

and snacks-

onion bhajis ( mildly spiced onion fritters)

samosas (medium-hot spicy vegetable or meat pastries)

Avoid anything called vindaloo or phaal - these are VERY spicy.

This is just a basic example of a standard Indian restaurant meal, there are lots of indian dishes, see here for inspiration - https://sandinmysuitcase.com/popular-indian-dishes/  

What I can't do is tell you what they taste like. The characteristic of Indian cooking is to use multiple herbs and spices in dishes to create a totally unique flavour.

You should definitely try it if you get the chance.    

I've seen a good priced cruise to Iceland on Sky Princess next year, but after a very disappointing British Isles cruise on the Emerald in May (my first on Princess) I'm reluctant to risk another go.

The inside cabin was fine. I liked the medallion. There were no 'major' issues. But ship seemed to be very understaffed with no direction (longest embarkation ever, no-one mustering the lifts when we managed to get on,  food very variable and delays of 1 hour between courses, activities cancelled or changed last minute, tenders breaking down and drifting for two hours.) 

What I really didn't like was the entertainment. Daily activities were minimal and mostly a hard sell. Little options of evening entertainment other than the main theatre show and those were not good, old fashioned, cheesy and amateurish. And don't mention Fortuna Luck! 

I'm hoping that this is down to Covid and I was just unlucky with that particular cruise.  However I sailed on P&O and Cunard in full lockdown, and they managed to cope without similar issues. Also the Sky seems to be newer and bigger than the Emerald. But there will be quite a few sea days and I don't want to be bored or stuck for something to do.

Should I give Princess another chance? Are they usually this bad?

I have OBC applied to my account. If my cabin mate (same booking) buys something, will that be deducted from the OBC, or am I the only person who can use it?  Just want to know if I will need to be ordering all the drinks for us both.  

I could not get my security or profile picture to load no matter what I did. Eventually I logged on to the online version of the medallion app and it worked first time. (I took the picture on my mobile and emailed it to myself so I coulsd save it on my main computer.)  

How do you upload your security picture on the medallion app? I have tried both ways. When I try to upload a photograph it tells me 'unable to save, please try later.' When I try to take a photo directly from the app it just returns to the camera screen in a loop. 

Im guessing they can take a photo at the port if I just can't get it to work?        

1 hour ago, L751 said:

Does that mean it is only valid for a period of time?

 The QR code in the app is valid for period of time (the date is underneath the code) after which it automatically updates as the cetificate in the app is 'live'. If you download or print a copy it will only be vaid up to the expirty date when you will have to downlaod or print again.     

The honey and ginger ice-cream, it's the best.

My user name is sea for cruising, and greens my favourite colour. It's also part of Robespierre's nickname, The Sea-Green Incorruptible.

Rejected ideas were Pussyfoot and Polly Acker.

18 hours ago, wowzz said:

So, we have a situation whereby cruise lines are selling cruises,  and thousands of people are booking the cruises, based purely on an expectation that CV19 will be under control.

Whilst I fully understand that P&O have not handled the current situation well, it takes two to tango.

In an uncertain climate, P&O offered cruises for sale, and in the same climate,  these cruises were purchased by people who, understandably were looking forward to a summer break. But, surely, there must have been a doubt that these cruises would go ahead?

It's precisely because there was doubt that CRUISES would go ahead that we didn't book cruises but specifically SEACATIONS - i.e. not leaving domestic waters, not calling at any ports, and with reduced passenger capacity to ensure compliance with social distancing. The only thing that would possibly stop that is a return to a full stay at home lockdown. 

Or so we thought..... 😠   

33 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

If you check back at Molecrochip's posts,  he explains exactly why P&O increased their capacity limit for the sailings after 21st June. Just to emphasise that when these went on sale there was little indication that infection rates would increase such that the govt. had to delay the lockdown end date.

Whilst I would be upset if I was affected, I hope I would be fair enough not to try and lay the blame entirely on P&O.

The problem is P&O didn't give any indication when they took my booking that this was what they were doing - basically 'taking a chance' that travel restrictions would be lifted on 21 June so they would get away with it. It was never stated it was in any way conditional, wait listed or dependant on lockdown restrictions.  I could have 'taken a chance' and booked to travel to a green or amber list country in the hope that travel restrictions would be lifted, but there is too much uncertainty for that to be a sensible decision. So I did what I thought was the right thing - booked a seacation that would be fully compliant with current travel regulations and restrictions, and would go ahead except in the very unlikely event of another stay at home order. 

If I HAD booked under those conditions I would be irritated but understand it was uncertain. But the point is I booked under the impression that I was one of the 1000 max people allowed on a seacation. If I had thought there was a chance I might be sailing at anywhere near capacity of 5000 pax that would have also influenced my decision to book. But I couldn't make informed decisions because P&O kept all the relevant information to themselves.  

21 June was only ever the first date easing restrictions would be considered. We could still be at Step 3 on 21 June 2022! So P&O to do this and then try and blame the Government is exceptionally shoddy. 

I've just been cancelled as well. Really annoyed as it was never a 'conditional' booking, they shouldn't have overbooked in the hope that restrictions would be lifted - we could be at step 3 until next year!! I picked this cruise to coincide with a birthday and more importantly work leave pattern. So now I have to rearrange something for three weeks time!. 

And yes I had the Blue Light Card discount too  🤔

So I have just had an email from P&O cancelling my booking for my 18 July Britannia cruise 😞   

It seems they have overbooked in the hope that lockdown restrictions would be eased on 14 June, and they now have to cut down passenger numbers to comply with social distancing / max passenger numbers.  

Cruises affected up to 19 July are:  B113N, B113P, B113Q, B113R, B114N, B114Q

Just had an email from P&O cancelling our cruise for 18 July as they can now no longer comply with social distancing rules. Seems they have overbooked and now need to reduce passenger numbers. 

Another thing to consider - if you switch to a resort and you are confined to your room for a day coz your knee is very bad......you are in your room all day and hubby probably stuck with you.

If you are on the ship you can camp out on your balcony and watch the ocean, and order room service, and hubby can go and enjoy the ships facilities for an hour or so (or fetch you supplies from the buffet! :D)

Plus the ship will have medical staff on board, the resort wont.

As long as your cabin is near the elevators to minimise walking, and you leave enough time to make your way slowly back to the ship once ashore I think you'll be fine. Cruises are very popular with people of all levels of mobility. Shore excursions are normally very clear about the amount of walking involved. Enjoy your holiday!

It does seem to be a bit pock luck, and dependant on the number of sea days.

My 7 day Fjords cruise only had 2 sea days, we had Matt Monroes daughter talking about his life and career (actually just reading from the book she had written) which was just OK.

But on my 14 day Baltics cruise we had Ron Gatepain, who was a very engaging public speaker, doing a series of lectures on Russian history and architecture. And an art expert, whose name I don't remember, doing talks on Baltic amber, laquerwork boxes etc.

Really hoping I get to hear some of the people mentioned in the comments now!

We're just back from Oriana too - and completely agree about the food. We had a good experience in all freedom dining - asking for extra veg on several days and being given a bowl of assorted veg as a side. Excellent service too. We never used the buffet on Azura due to the crush and lack of seats - Oriana totally different. Always a seat to be found and a good selection of meals through the day. The best bit was the 10.30pm - 2am late night bites - the lovely young staff would make anyone a mug of hot chocolate or Horlicks on request, so that quickly became our end of day habit before bedtime. Great fun...

Afternoon tea in the MDR was a bit disappointing and basically sandwiches and cakes that you'd find in the buffet tea as well. Tea served from a pot by staff - no tea leaves and strainer like we'd hoped were still in use. But at least we tried it...

So generally a big tick from us for Oriana's food.

Disappointing if they've downgraded the MDR Afternoon Tea on Oriana. When I went it was definitely not the same as the buffet - it was proper finger sandwiches, and upscaled cakes & pastries served on a stand.

Not thats theres anything wrong with the buffet tea either - its my first stop after a busy day in port for a coffee and a bun :)

We're just back from Oriana too - and completely agree about the food. We had a good experience in all freedom dining - asking for extra veg on several days and being given a bowl of assorted veg as a side. Excellent service too. We never used the buffet on Azura due to the crush and lack of seats - Oriana totally different. Always a seat to be found and a good selection of meals through the day. The best bit was the 10.30pm - 2am late night bites - the lovely young staff would make anyone a mug of hot chocolate or Horlicks on request, so that quickly became our end of day habit before bedtime. Great fun...

Afternoon tea in the MDR was a bit disappointing and basically sandwiches and cakes that you'd find in the buffet tea as well. Tea served from a pot by staff - no tea leaves and strainer like we'd hoped were still in use. But at least we tried it...

So generally a big tick from us for Oriana's food.

Disappointing if they've downgraded the MDR Afternoon Tea on Oriana. When I went it was definitely not the same as the buffet - it was proper finger sandwiches, and upscaled cakes & pastries served on a stand.

Not thats theres anything wrong with the buffet tea either - its my first stop after a busy day in port for a coffee and a bun :)

I know its irritating when you want to know where your cabin is, however your not really being treated as a second class citizen. Remember P&O need to keep as many cabins available for the Select passengers who get to choose their cabin number. Then the Savers are slotted in to the empty cabins. So even if you booked a Saver fare when the cruise was released, you wont get your cabin number until 2/3 weeks before sailing.

I have done late sitting on Ventura and we stayed right until 15 minutes or so before show time, we always found a seat.

We usually ask for a table of eight, and expect that people will eat elsewhere some evenings. Its not noticeable on a big table and its nice to hear what people thought of the other venues.

I agree with all the advice to book an organised tour with the ship OR a local company, for various reasons.

1) Getting a Russian visa yourself seems to be complicated and time consuming.

2) The ships tend to dock in industrial areas with no facilities meaning you will pre-arrange all your transport etc.

3) Russia is a very unfamiliar territory for most travelers and probably not somewhere you want to stick out as a tourist wandering about on your own. If you suddenly found yourself, ashore in St Petersburg speaking no Russian and needing to get back to the ship in a hurry, would you know what to do?

4) A guide with local knowledge will be best place to maximise what you can see in your time (early entry to the Hermitage? what sites are near each other?) rather than you thinking 'now where shall we go next?'

I normally just go ashore by myself but decided it was to difficult in St Petersberg and went with the ships tour. It was a very good two day package and I didn't regret it.

The companies offer various packages, 'active' tours for those who want to see as much as possible, and 'comfort' tours for those who want a slower pace. And they normally do groups of maximum 16 people, which make sit less rushed again. If you really dont want to give up control, you could always book one of the private 'design your own' tours.

We had the strawberries, about 6 to 8 as i remember, definitely more than 4. They were fairly large and good quality, with thick and tasty chocolate.

The boxed chocolates were underwhelming, the Tasting Club are much nicer (but do remember to cancel subscription ASAP if not continuing!)

We didn't do the P&O tour, we got one of the mini vans at the dock then just booked the troll car when we got to the glacier. The way up was very scenic but quite steep, and even when we got off the car there was still a 20 minute or so walk to the glacier. I have no mobility issues, but I wouldn't want to do the whole walk up and back unless I knew I could allow at least an hour to amble up, time at the top, then an hour back down, and not be rushing to get back for a pick up.

As formal dress code specifies tuxedo OR dark suit, I agree its probably sensible for your husband to stick to that and then buys a Tux at his leisure afterwards for your no doubt many future cruises. He could always wear a bow tie with it if he wants to be more dressy-uppy.

Lots of good advice below, just adding a few thoughts

From what I can tell American lines seem to concentrate on being floating resorts and providing lots of activities, entertainment, and shopping on board. British lines concentrate more on just being a nice way to take you to interesting places. So you will probably find it quieter than you are used to. Imagine a HAL cruise to Alaska where the passengers are more interested in the scenery than the casino.

From what I can gather American lines seem to have much earlier dinner times. And they don't open the Main Dining Room for breakfast and lunch on port days. P&O do, and just my opinion I think they do lunch particularly well.

Dont forget to do the traditional British afternoon tea - both the formal waiter served MDR version and the self serve buffet version. Just for comparison! :rolleyes:

Its true the entertainment is geared towards British tastes, for instance comedy routines on regional British accents and quizzes about the London Underground stations. But the production shows are generally Broadway / West End style, so more familiar ground there.

If your sailing in Europe many ports are easy to DIY so there may not be as many excursions available as, say, the Carribbean.

Do try to get to the formal nights if you can, it would be a shame to miss out! As said below a dark suit / sparkly top will be fine. If you dont want to take the extra luggage round Europe, and if you have time, you could try to pick something up in a cheap fashion high street store like Matalan or BHS before you board.

If you go to sailaways, P&O normally do a "Great British Sailaway" party with patriotic flag waving and songs, so you might want to bring a couple of small Stars and Stripes so you can join in!

Lastly, P&O passengers are predominantly British with very small amount of other nationalities. You will be a rarity so don't be surprised if lots of people want to say hello and ask about your holiday. Enjoy your trip! :)

We've booked two very late saver deals now, like within 4-2 weeks before sailing date. Both times we got late dining, which is what we hoped for, so I think early seems to be the most popular sitting.