Selbourne

Make that 3 of us 😂. I remember being fascinated by the loading of steel on a ship in St Petersburg when we first went there and berthed in the commercial port rather than the new cruise terminal. Mind you, I also love passing Oil Rigs when heading up to Norway. Sadly, my wife and daughters just roll their eyes at me when I endeavour to point out these interesting things!

No worries. I have those all the time - and I’m not really that senior (yet) 😂

Sorry, you’ve lost me there wowzz 🤔

We are the same. We pick a cruise for the itinerary first (by some margin) and the ship second. We don’t mind the odd sea day to break up a port intensive itinerary, but we don’t enjoy them anywhere near as much as port days. We tend not to do excursions these days, so are happy to spend a few hours ashore exploring on our own, and then we enjoy the (quiet) ship in the afternoon whilst watching all the comings and goings ashore. We did a 24 night USA and Canada cruise a few years ago, with 6 sea days in a row both ways. We were bored rigid on those sea days and, in all honesty, we would have much preferred to have been at home on those days. We have no end of first class pubs and restaurants to go out for meals near us, so don’t need to be on a ship for that. We usually enjoy the guest lecturers but that’s only for an hour or two a day. Port talks are usually sales pitches for excursions and most of what constitutes entertainment isn’t really for us. Thankfully, the experience on that cruise told us that we would absolutely hate a World cruise, which usually has more sea days than port days, so that’s saved us a small fortune! Sadly, due to my wife’s disability, we can’t fly, so we are running out of ex-U.K. itineraries that we haven’t done several times and the new ships are so restricted, port wise, that I can’t see us doing more than a few cruises on each of them before they become too repetitive. Thankfully, the pandemic reminded us that there are other holiday that we enjoy as much as (and, in some cases, more than) cruising, so we shall just enjoy a mix.

Agreed. Family members recently did an MSC cruise and took advantage of a special offer that gave the top tier drinks package for around half the price that P&O charge, plus none of the daft restrictions that P&O impose. Many of the drinks that we enjoy are excluded from the P&O package, so for us to pay for it we would have to see a price reduction plus premium drinks and mixers etc included. In its present format (price and restrictions) we wouldn’t even remotely consider it.

Whilst some of us will cruise both the large and smaller ships, in the main they are targeted at very different audiences with equally different budgets and spending habits. On our cruises on Aurora and Arcadia, the overwhelming majority of passengers have been retired (average age 75) with high disposable incomes (no mortgages, no dependents etc) who are prepared to pay a high price for the cruise, especially if the itinerary is different to the norm, but will spend very little whilst on board. Conversely, the new mega ships are generally targeted at much younger passengers and first time cruisers. These folk are really being squeezed at present with the cost of living challenges, so P&O will need to be offering very low fares to just get ‘bums on seats’. However, once on board, these passengers will generally have a much higher average on board spend. It’s a clever move IMHO. As I say, we cruise on all the ships and whilst we have some reservations about Iona, we were tempted to give her a go on one of the very cheap cruises that I read about on this forum. Sadly, as we have to have an accessible cabin, we couldn’t book as they are all sold out. I might keep trying though, just in case there are any cancellations!

Or…….go and have a lovely cruise, but think twice before you report yourself to the crew because you have cold like symptoms. As far as I know, there are only two environments left in the world where this quarantine nonsense is still happening. China (although they appear to be softening their stance due to public unrest) and cruise ships. I guess North Korea may be a third, but we’d never know. Covid will probably be with us forever, just like flu, Norovirus and the common cold and, mercifully, for the overwhelming majority of vaccinated people, is now no worse than other viruses. Those with highly compromised immune systems, for whom Covid could still pose a major risk, would be foolish to go on a cruise ship, as your chances of catching it are higher than on land.

Exactly. I am sure that the vast majority of people who have symptoms that may or may not be Covid will just carry on with their cruise (if they feel well enough to), hopefully being sensible (e.g. not sharing tables or sitting very close to others in crowded places), but certainly won’t say anything to the crew. By doing so you are effectively volunteering yourself for cabin quarantine and a ruined holiday.

Thanks. That’s reassuring. We have done the Chefs Table a few times on Aurora, where it was a very special select occasion in the private dining room of the Glasshouse with just a dozen passengers, hosted by the Food and Beverage Manager and Executive Chef. I can’t say that a cordoned off area of the buffet appeals with hundreds of others, when the same meal is available in the more civilised MDR.

Thanks for the info. It’s a shame that it’s still a buffet, but as The Glasshouse has been struggling to provide meals this year, we might give it a go next summer. Were all of the specialty (extra cost) dining venues open throughout your cruise? We tend to use them regularly (especially Epicurean) and were concerned to read reports a few months ago of them being casualties of the staff shortages.

Good spot. Doesn’t excuse the cheap plonk though!

I agree with you. If it’s advertised, it should be provided. As the saying goes “You only get one chance to make a first impression” and , in this case, P&O have clearly failed. If these things have all succumbed to the relentless drive to cut costs, then the marketing material should be updated. Might be worth a quiet word with the Customer Services Manager on board. I suspect that they might throw a little on board credit your way to make up for your disappointment at the advertised benefits not being available.

Im afraid that you must be John 😂 I found the red to be drinkable in a drought, but the white and fizz (which they laughingly described as Champagne when they served it to us) were…., well, I’d best not say!

That’s a shame. Our next P&O cruise is on Iona. We usually skip the poor buffet lunch with complimentary anti-freeze, but would have happily given the MDR version a go as it looks much nicer, especially as the menu says that there is “refreshing beer” on offer. I much prefer those to “un refreshing beer” 😂

Yes, I agree. Enjoy your lunch and your cruise. I can recommend Peller Ice Cuvée in the Glass house. We always have a bottle to kick the holiday off 🍾

Unless these lunches have succumbed to the cutbacks, it’s the same lunch as provided to higher loyalty tier guests. It could be that the crew were confused about that? They are usually held in one of the main dining rooms. Might be worth having a wander to them and see if there are guests in there. TBH, even though we are eligible due to loyalty tier, we rarely bother with them as the drinks are poor quality and the food isn’t up to much. We tend to lunch in the Glasshouse instead, but that might not be an option at present. EDIT - Just read back over the thread and now remember that the lunch has been improved from a 3rd rate buffet to a restaurant meal, so definitely worth checking out if it’s available.

I discovered after we made the booking that the 3 deluxe balcony cabins that we booked on Iona for next summer (for us, our daughters and partners) were in an area used as a Covid quarantine zone, hence why I’m very keen to understand whether or not this policy has been dispensed with. Pleased to hear that none of your table companions succumbed and therefore plunged you into quarantine as ‘close contacts’, but it’s not a risk we would be prepared to take, however slim the chances may be. We are very happy to review this once quarantine is a thing of the past though.

I agree 100% John. We are vaccinated to the hilt and are living life as normal. With very few exceptions, those in hospital who have Covid are primarily there for other reasons and not because of Covid (unless they aren’t vaccinated for some reason). Although we would rather not catch Covid, our concern is not so much catching it, but the consequences of it on a cruise ship, namely quarantine. This would be even worse if it was as a result of having mixed with someone else, which is why we wouldn’t be happy sharing dining tables at present, even though we have enjoyed this very much in the past. Do I take it from your final comment that it is your understanding that quarantine zones are still in place? I guess that unless people have been quarantined themselves, or made a point of walking up and down every single passenger deck looking for them, the fact that people haven’t noticed them doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t exist!

That’s good to hear. Hopefully P&O have dispensed with the policy now.

I wasn’t actually referring to the pre-boarding health declarations, although I accept that people lied on these pre Covid and will probably do so even more now! I was thinking more about people catching it on board, which is arguably more likely. Either way, the issue is the same though, in that procedures pre Covid were entirely different. If someone came on board with a virus, or caught it on board, and was selfish enough to share a table (as somebody once did with us), then you might have caught it, but you could carry on with your cruise as normal (albeit feeling rough). With Covid on the scene, if you shared a table with someone who the next day reported Covid symptoms and then tested positive, you could be classed as a close contact and be told that you had to be quarantined in your cabin, which would ruin your cruise. As I say, an entirely different approach. I have lost track with what the current approach is though. Do people still have to quarantine if they test positive on board? If so, do they quarantine in their booked cabin or are there still quarantine zones? Does anyone know for certain?

Interesting and this, of course, is where the problems arise. Many who may have Covid symptoms won’t test or report it, but will continue to enjoy their cruise, hopefully being sensible and not dining with other passengers or sitting close to others, just as you would do at home or on any other holiday for that matter. However, if you dine with other passengers who report symptoms, not only is their cruise ruined, but yours is too.

You raise an interesting question. P&O have been (and remain) somewhat ‘cloak and dagger’ about their on board Covid policies. The scenario described by @9265359 certainly was the case, and is undoubtedly why the demand for tables for 2 has risen. We used to enjoy a mix of sharing and tables for 2, but we wouldn’t risk sharing anymore now for fear of this happening to us. The same mystery surrounds the thorny subject of quarantine cabins, where ‘zones’ of cabins were (are?) reserved for those who succumb to the virus and report it. This approach resulted in people having their pre-booked cabins moved (or even their cruise cancelled) a matter of weeks before their cruise. I have no idea whether or not this still happens, whether people now isolate in their own cabin or indeed if it’s now like everywhere else and no isolation is needed at all. I haven’t been convinced that just because people haven’t fallen foul of any of this themselves whilst on a cruise that some, or all, of these rather draconian rules aren’t still in place, or are available as an option should there be a Covid flare up on board. I know that we aren’t the only ones who have been hesitant about making a booking whilst there is still some uncertainty about these issues. Perhaps @molecrochip could shed some light on what the current situation is?

Following the useful discussion on this thread, we decided over lunch that we’d try to book on this cruise, just as a filler holiday to get away from the current gloom & doom and cold weather. Like you, we had reservations about a Saver (we’ve only ever booked one Saver, when we knew exactly which cabin we were getting), so decided to go for a Deluxe Balcony, as there are only four accessible ones and they are together in a great location. Sadly, it was all in vain. All accessible balcony cabins, of all grades, are sold out!

That’s interesting. Just spoken to our TA (the one that most regulars on here use) and their system just shows ‘to be allocated’ when you try to book a balcony cabin on a Saver basis. Whether or not this is unique to accessible cabins I don’t know.

Funnily enough, whilst we rarely sit on our balcony even in the summer, we would never cruise without one, whatever the time of year. For us, having a balcony is about the expansive view out from within the cabin and the ability to pop out when something catches our eye, plus to watch arrivals and departures from ports. In fact, we often sleep with the curtains open, in order that we can see the view as soon as we awake, before getting out of bed. One of the best experiences we had was a Northern Lights cruise, where we had spectacular views from our warm cabin and even a great display of the Northern Lights one night from the comfort of our bed 😂 For all of these reasons, a ‘balcony’ cabin of any type on the Promenade deck just wouldn’t work for us, so would in fact be a deal breaker. As it happens, there don’t appear to be any accessible Conservatory Mini-Suites (which is a relief) but there are two GC grade accessible balcony cabins on the promenade deck and we would not wish to be allocated one of those, which is a risk with a Saver. Unfortunately, on the cruise in question, the premium for a Select fare is ridiculous, especially as Iona is all Freedom Dining, so one of the major advantages of booking a Select fare is negated.