Selbourne

That’s the one we just tried to book. Balcony cabin £999 per person (saver) for 16 nights. That’s £62 pppn for a balcony cabin - on Aurora 😱 This particular cruise is over the Coronation. I should imagine some folk have cancelled before balance due date as they don’t want to be away. We wanted to be at home for the Coronation as well, but at that price we’d watch it when we get home 😂

I know. It’s so infuriating though. Had we been able to book a standard balcony cabin, we would have just booked our cheapest cruise ever (by a huge margin) on Aurora. Never had a problem booking at launch before as we need an accessible cabin and prices were never cheaper thereafter. However, there is clearly a supply and demand challenge now, judging by some of the giveaway prices. As you know, those of us needing accessible cabins can’t hang on for them though!

Gutted. Just called about one that really appeals. No accessible balcony cabins available 😡

They will always fill them if the price is low enough. I’m not convinced that the business plan predicted having to sell cruises as cheaply as they currently doing though. Supply and demand seems to be working in the customers favour at present.

Which ones are cheap Jean? We’ve almost given up looking at Aurora cruises as they had become so expensive, but we love the ship. I know that you always quote inside prices, but balcony prices should be reasonable as well if an inside is only just over £50pppn

For those who are lucky enough to be able to avoid the school holidays, the big P&O ships are certainly offering some very cheap cruises. Prices are remaining high on the adult only ships, probably due to the number of traditionalists who don’t like anything bigger. I guess the older passenger profile on the small ships also helps, as retired folk are generally less affected by the cost of living crisis than those with mortgages and dependent children.

That’s a good question. I’d also like to know if The Quays is open during embarkation. We find the priority boarders lunch to be underwhelming and avoid the buffet like the plague, so have always gone straight to the Glasshouse for lunch, which is no longer an option.

Apparently it was a 2 hour job, but when the contractor realised that he’d been booked into a suite it was revised to 2 weeks 😂

With the tons of free publicity that you are giving P&O, I should think that you might get a free cruise next year! 😂 On a serious note, it’s great to hear that you are having such a fabulous holiday and enjoying Arvia. It’s encouraging to hear that P&O seem to be getting their act together with the big ships, having clearly struggled initially. The acid test will be how they cope in the summer school holidays when, with most of the upper berths occupied, the passenger numbers will be around 20% more than at present, yet venue capacity and crew numbers will be no different. We are on Iona in August so will see how they cope when ‘stress tested’!

I’m picking that up as well. Whilst we like the speciality restaurants, we don’t want to be in them all evening. I’m concerned to read that all these comments about slow service are still being made when the ships are supposedly back up to full staff complement (if that’s true).

Thanks both. We shall definitely give it a try for lunch if we can find a quiet area out of the main flow.

Interesting. I don’t like the sound of it being a general thoroughfare and seating area, rather than exclusively a restaurant. We prefer quieter places to eat. Might give it a try on a port day when most people are ashore!

You are welcome. You really don’t need to worry. One thing that P&O is brilliant at is making provision for wheelchair users. My wife is a full time wheelchair user and cruising is the only foreign holiday that she will entertain. There is assisted embarkation and disembarkation, most areas of the ships are wheelchair friendly (especially the newer ships, with automated doors etc) and the accessible cabins on Iona look brilliant. There are (limited) wheelchair and companion seats in the theatre. Passengers are asked to give priority to wheelchair users in lifts (most do) and they will even assist wheelchair users on gangways in ports of call. As a carer myself, it’s a great holiday. There are only two negatives. One is that in the main dining room they will often try to sit you alongside walkways (so as not to have to squeeze between tables), but just say if you don’t like the table as most are easier to get to than they think. Secondly, and this is the biggest negative for us, wheelchair users cannot get off the ship in tender ports. Not really an issue on Iona as, being so big she tends to only goes to ports where she can berth, but it’s a real pain on other ships. Apparently one or two other cruise operators have wheelchair accessible tenders.

I’m keen to try Keel & Cow when we are on Iona this summer, but it’s a shame that it’s in the atrium. We love the Glass House on most of the ships, but not on Britannia for this reason - too busy and noisy with people continually walking around you. Hopefully there are some quieter areas or nooks and crannies around the edges furthest from the atrium?

Hopefully you will get the same boarding time, but if not it sounds as though there are two of you plus your father? Whilst there is assisted boarding, it is easy for an able bodied person to embark a wheelchair bound passenger themselves. This gives you two options; If you have an earlier boarding time than your father, explain to the P&O staff member receiving guests at the terminal that your father was allocated a later boarding time but travelled with you and you are his carer, they will let the three of you check in together. You could then use regular boarding, with one of you pushing the wheelchair and the other dealing with any carry on luggage (my wife is happy to have some carry on luggage on her lap in her wheelchair). If your father is given an earlier boarding time than you, you can do the same, or go straight to the assisted boarding area (usually the first cordoned off area that you see as soon as you enter the terminal), explain that you are your fathers carer but were given a later time and I’m sure that they will board you together. EDIT - Just noticed that as well as being linked, your cabins are next to each other. It’s therefore almost certain that you will get the same boarding time as it’s usually done by deck anyway, but the same two boarding options as described above are open to you.

The reverse can actually be the case. Bigger / taller ships suffer far more in strong winds. If the wind direction hits the ship on the side, the enormous height acts as a sail and the ship can lean far more than the smaller ships. We were on one of the larger ships once and we were on one hell of a tilt for quite some time. The Captain reassured us that there was no danger at all but it was quite a challenge walking around! There are some films on YouTube that show this phenomenon.

Very true. Once the sickness starts it’s too late! 🤢 We have recommended Stugeron to loads of people since being recommended it by countless folk on this forum and it has worked for all of them, but only if taken in advance!

Having tried several things that didn’t work, I am eternally grateful to the folk on this forum who universally recommended Stugeron. It’s only available over the counter at a pharmacist and they have to alert you to any potential issues or establish any conditions that may cause an issue as part of the standard dispensing process, so I think you may be worrying unnecessarily. If someone just asks for sea sickness tablets they could well end up with something like Kwells, which I find to be far less effective. No harm at all in getting a recommendation!

The Bay of Biscay can be very rough or very calm. No pattern to it and impossible to predict. Your answer is Stugeron tablets. Take 2 the first night as you leave Southampton and one each morning and one each evening before bed until you are across it. They say that you shouldn’t drink alcohol with them, but we have always done so with no issues.

Quite possibly but, then again, I can’t recall a bar that I’ve ever been to ashore that requires a DJ either! If I wasn’t going to bother to go to the MDR on formal nights I certainly wouldn’t take formal wear just to go to a certain bar!

Of course. That explains it! We avoid the buffet like the plague and have never felt the need for a midnight snack when on a cruise, but maybe when we are on Iona this summer…….. 😂

Bizarre. Can’t think of anywhere else where people would eat in a cafeteria wearing a DJ but, as they say, there’s nowt so queer as folk 😂

Not that this explains it entirely, but keep in mind that the standard excursions are priced per person, whereas the accessible tours are priced for one person with the carer or person accompanying person free. So it’s actually £115 per head in this scenario. This caught me out recently when I booked two places in error and had to then get a refund for myself! Whilst it’s a shame that we have to pay a lot more, we are paying a fare that reflects the additional cost per head of a small adapted mini bus with a very small number of passengers, versus a coach with 50 plus people. Obviously if it’s a 10 mile distance DIY trip then a cab will be far more cost effective, if the disabled passenger can transfer from a wheelchair to a car seat.

I suspect that those figures are based upon lower berth occupancy only (as stated passenger numbers usually are), so the figures are even more skewed than that on the family ships and even more again in school holidays. All told, it completely explains why cruises on the adult only ships are so expensive and why the reports of staff shortages seem to be most prevalent on Iona and Arvia.

If true, that’s a worry!