Selbourne

That must explain the strange arrival time then. Thanks for explaining.

That’s useful to know. Many thanks. Two daft questions about Grills. Do they keep unfinished bottles of wine for you for the next day? P&O always used to do this but stopped it for some daft reason (although that may have just been during Covid). Secondly, I assume that tap water is plentifully supplied in the grills and they don’t try to fleece you for bottled water? 😂

Gosh. Thanks. I’m impressed that you can lunch in Princess Grill as soon as you board. What a nice start to the cruise. We have been told to arrive for check in at 1230pm. As there is no disembarkation from an incoming cruise the day we embark, do you think it’s worth us arriving earlier? I’m guessing that they are likely to commence boarding earlier than usual so as to avoid a build up of queues?

This will be our first Cunard cruise having only cruised P&O before. A couple of questions please; Priority Boarding - We are Princess Grill and therefore have priority boarding. Do priority boarders have a dedicated place to go for lunch when they board (as happens on P&O) or is it just the buffet? Are any other places open for lunch on embarkation? Presume not the Princess Grill but what about the Golden Lion? Entertainment - Do you have to pre-book theatre shows or planetarium (or anything else for that matter) or is it just a case of first come first served? If booking is required, is it via an app or equivalent? Thanks

The booking confirmation says just one formal night (the Coronation event on Friday evening). I was wondering if there might a formal night on the first sea day as well, but I guess not if we are arriving into Liverpool late that evening?

Yep. Got mine. $50. Half a bottle of wine on Cunard 😂

I thought the letter said 1130 am arrival but you are quite right it says 1130 pm, so the Wednesday would indeed be a sea day. I thought that was quick from Southampton to Liverpool 😂

My booking confirmation shows Wednesday 3rd as being a Sea Day and then Liverpool on Thursday 4th only (arrive early morning, depart evening). I hope that the timings on the letter you have posted are accurate and my booking confirmation isn’t, as I quite fancy an overnight in Liverpool.

I had thought that it might be that an evening in port means people being ashore and not spending on the ship, but P&O seem to be doing a lot of overnights now although, in their case, I think that is cost saving as it’s less fuel used by not going to an additional port.

I was hoping for an overnight in Liverpool (to see the historic waterfront illuminated) which I believe was the original intention (arrive 1130 Wed 3rd, depart evening of Thu 4th), but the schedule shows that we arrive and depart on 4th, so we will only be there in daylight now.

That chimes with a lot of what I’ve heard, although our excellent cruise specialist TA (more on them later) had said that with all the prices listed as being ‘from’ and demand expected to be exceptional (given how ridiculously low the prices were), they were concerned that prices could rise very quickly after opening, hence why they wanted to know in advance what the maximum price was that we were prepared to pay. Whether or not that is true I have no idea. Our TA (that many on this site use) have managed to secure our last few bookings (both P&O and Cunard) within 5 minutes of them going on sale, and that was also the case yesterday. When they called me, the lady said that she secured us a booking in the grills within the first minute, but she couldn’t initially book an accessible cabin (which we can’t cruise without 😱). The system then crashed and she went back in to switch us to an accessible cabin and was then battling against 400 other live bookings being processed at that precise moment! Thankfully she managed to secure us one of the just two accessible Princess Grill suites 😓 I’m pleased that those who were on the aborted planned cruise were offered the cruise for free, as I’ve read all the comments on the Cunard board and many of them are understandably very unhappy. I’m intrigued as to how so many ‘new to Cunard’ passengers managed to book the cruise, given that it was only announced 24 hours before it went on sale. I wonder how they knew about it? Although we will ourselves be newbies, we received the email as we have a future booking with Cunard so are on their database. I guess it must be down to a combination of those who had opted in to marketing emails (although never cruised) and the fact that no priority was given to higher loyalty tiers, so everyone had exactly the same chance? Like you, we now need to see if our 2019 cruise wardrobes still fit and I promise not to let the side down by doing my Sir Les Patterson impressions in the Grills lounge or restaurant 😂

Thanks, although of course cruise prices do go up as well as down - often substantial movements in both directions!

Funnily enough, I said exactly the same thing to my wife earlier. It really was ludicrously priced, especially the Grills. We were asked in advance by the TA what was the maximum price we were prepared to pay (as prices may have risen once bookings opened) and as we were only interested in Grills and knew that it would be a one off opportunity I said £1,000 per person. I’ve never really priced Grills properly but knew that £200 pppn would be a bargain as we are paying more than that for Britannia Club next year. Anyway, we got into Princess grill for the advertised ‘from’ price of £499 each, so £99.80 pppn, which is half what we would have been prepared to pay. We just have to hope that they get the ship repaired by Tuesday, although TBH at those prices I’d happily sit in the dock in Southampton all week enjoying the Grills dining experience 😂

Only just May, so yes - especially after the weather we’ve been having lately! Plus, in the sunshine that’s quite pleasant. I’ll take that over the wind and rain of this week. Didn’t really book the cruise for the weather though, in all honesty 😉

I believe that the queuing issues being reported are just on Iona and Arvia and mostly during school holiday cruises. I don’t think you will have any issues with Arcadia.

😂 Thanks. As luck would have it, the forecast for next week actually looks pretty good - even in Liverpool (sunny and 15 degrees C)

Well we were expecting our first Cunard Cruise to be next year on Queen Anne (Britannia Club). Thanks to our excellent TA, by 1305 U.K. today, all of a sudden it’s going to be next week in Princess Grill on QM2 at the princely sum of £99.80 pppn. Newbie question - do gents have to wear jackets (and/or ties) in the Princess Grill restaurant on casual nights?

Well we have some exciting news too. Within 5 minutes of bookings opening, our excellent TA contacted us to say that we have secured one of the two Accessible Princess Grill Suites for the princely sum of £499 each. That works out at £99.80 pppn for Grill class on Cunard! I appreciate that it’s only a trip to Liverpool and back, but I love Liverpool and have always wanted to arrive there by ship, and we have never cruised with Cunard before, so the whole experience will be a first (as well as our first cruise since Covid). We are booked on Queen Anne in Britannia Club next year (at a hell of a lot more than £99.80 pppn) but would probably never contemplate Grill class given the usual vast cost. Dining is a highlight for us on a cruise though, so hopefully 5 days and nights in the Princess Grill restaurant will be a nice treat, especially at that price!

Balconies are quoted as £299 but when you enquire the cheapest seemed to be £349. Still very reasonable though.

QM2 broke down and a return trip to New York was cancelled. As a filler, post repair (hopefully) a 5 night cruise has been dropped in at very short notice (only announced yesterday). Only goes to Liverpool and back, but extremely cheap.

Well done for reporting them. Some people can be so selfish and thoughtless.

Comparisons with P&O are very relevant though when weighing up options. Sounds as though trying to get answers on the Saga thread may be a bit futile though 😉

Correct. Avoid deck 8 as people on the promenade deck will be walking past, may park deckchairs against your balcony front and your outlook is hindered by looking across the promenade deck and the glass screens. Personally I’d also be a bit wary of deck 9 as still a bit too close. Decks 10 to 14 best. Some of deck 15 is below pool decks etc which can result in overhead noise, even early in the morning, as deck chairs are dragged around for cleaning.

Thank you. That is exactly the sort of response I was hoping for, so it is indeed extremely useful. We haven’t ditched P&O but have decided that we will cap our expenditure per cruise to match what we now perceive it is worth. As a result, we have booked a number of inexpensive P&O cruises to a number of different regions. We are trying Cunard (Britannia Club) next year to see how that compares. Price is comparable to a suite with P&O, but the Club dining arrangement looks better for us than just being able to have breakfast in Epicurean (the sole dining benefit of a suite with P&O). We shall see what we make of it.

I guess it’s like most consumer products Jean. Take cars for example. All will get you from A to B, essentially doing the same job, so many people are quite content with the budget brands as they cost less. Others will happily pay considerably more for a premium car, as they prefer the improved quality, refinement etc that they offer. Many dismiss premium cars as being for ‘badge snobs’ etc yet have never driven one themselves to understand the difference! P&O are now positioning themselves as the budget cruise line, whereas Saga price point makes them premium. Having driven hundreds of cars from many brands, I know that I’m happy to pay more for something that I know is better. I’m just keen to know if those who have cruised both P&O and Saga feel the same!