Selbourne

Bournemouth. Our daughter had one with a lovely sea view.

We only cruise in balcony cabins and now have a price cap for P&O of £100 pppn (cruise price less OBC and TA discount). We had 2 weeks on Britannia in July for £93 pppn and 2 weeks on Ventura in October for £92 pppn. Both Select fares with free parking as well. In fact the Ventura one was a Superior Deluxe cabin, a standard balcony was less. Our 65 night Grand Voyage on Aurora next month is costing us £73 pppn, again for a balcony cabin. That’s a late saver but the parking has only cost us £160. I’ve also had £150 shareholder OBC on each of those cruises, but haven’t included that in the above figures. We aren’t keen on booking any Iona or Arvia cruises, but they can be even cheaper. Timing is key though. Current prices and the last launch prices were too high for us but are likely to drop closer to sailing IMHO. I did a thread on the cutbacks some months ago. There are quite a few more than have been mentioned so far in this thread. We’ve come to accept them on the basis that most didn’t really affect us as much as we thought, and those that did we have reflected in the fact that we now have a price cap for P&O that is much lower than we used to pay.

Brilliant info MB. Many thanks. Do you (or anyone else) happen to know if P&O provide a shuttle bus in Miami (or Port Canaveral for that matter) and, if so, where they drop you?

We briefly considered the sole accessible suite on Iona (identical layout), but when we discovered that it was at the aft and just above the Sunset Bar, where we read in the P&O blurb that music was played, we ditched the idea very quickly. We also didn’t like the fact that on Iona and Arvia the aft cabins are set well back from the actual back of the ship. When we were on Iona we checked it out from below and were glad that we hadn’t booked it, as we like a quiet balcony without a noisy area underneath it. All that being said, on deck 11 you would be one deck further up (which might make a tiny bit of difference). I recall there being music but I don’t remember it being overly loud (there was no DJ when we were there, just recorded music), but it can be a crowded area and with that comes noise. I believe that @grapau27 has stayed in an aft cabin or suite on Iona so will be able to give you first hand feedback on whether this is an issue or not. I can’t comment on the infinity pool. I’m aware of the issue but on the few times that we were aft we didn’t see any waterfalls! If, after you’ve had more replies, you decide to change cabin (which, with a Select booking you can obviously do) I would happily recommend the deluxe balcony cabins on the starboard side, from deck 10 to deck 14. As they are on the ‘hump’ they are much closer to the water than all the other cabins on the ship, which are set some way back due to the very wide protruding promenade deck. The starboard ones are the ones to go for, as the promenade deck under that part is very narrow with no seating, so nobody congregates there. We were only on deck 10 (the lowest of the 5 decks) and had no noise issues at all and, having checked out the whole ship, we were happy that we’d booked the best location on the ship. Hope that helps.

Just checked and yes you are correct. I’d forgotten that we became Caribbean tier just before Covid. We only started cruising again this year, so these were the first cruises where the benefits kicked in - hence me thinking that we had moved up more recently. We’ve been getting the magazine for donkeys years though, but haven’t had the latest yet.

Britannia and Ventura were both Mayflower when we boarded John and nobody was allowed inside the terminal until called. Was the weather particularly poor on the day you boarded?

Given the demand for wall calendars on this forum, if I receive one this year I’m going to auction it off to the highest bidder 😂

Nah, I’m down with the young ‘uns John 😂 I use my iPad more than my phone, so month views are dead easy. My wife and I periodically check that our diaries are in sync.

As you say, it may be that different rules apply for the smaller ships. I’ll check what happens on Aurora in January. The OP hasn’t said which ship they are on, but certainly on the three that we’ve been on there was no facility to wait inside if you turned up early. It was the naughty queue outside only. Of course, P&O may have softened their stance now that it’s the winter.

I know absolutely nothing about this issue, so this is pure guesswork, but am I right in thinking that Azura is unique in having been based in Malta for a very prolonged period of time? If so, it is likely that 100% of the crew currently on board will have had to commence their current contracts in Malta. Conversely, other ships, including those from other cruise lines operating in the same area, may only be based down there for a few months at a time, in which case the majority of their crew are likely to have commenced their contracts elsewhere prior to the deployment in the eastern med, so will be far less impacted by any ‘local’ issues there. As I say, complete guesswork as this is the first I’ve heard of this issue.

A youngster like you Jean? I thought wall calendars were just for the old folk who didn’t use the diaries on their smart phones 😳 😂

We’ve not had a monthly magazine either. We haven’t received a Christmas gift this year, but in previous years we received a wall calendar, but that was as Mediterranean tier. Hope they re-think the gift, as the only person I know who still uses wall calendars is my 83 year old mother 😂 Thankfully we do get the only three meaningful benefits - priority boarding, the Caribbean lunch and 10% discount on pre cruise purchases or onboard (once OBC is used up). The ability to book a few days early was also useful when launch prices were never beaten, but those days have gone!

That’s interesting. When was this John and which ship? We have been on Britannia, Iona and Ventura this year and with all 3 ships the boarding pass times were being checked for everyone at the entrance to the terminal and anyone who was early was directed to an outdoor queue. I dare say that many or most got in ahead of their allocated time, but they were still called in boarding time order and there was no facility to wait inside the terminal, other than for those booked for assistance.

I don’t disagree. We had an aft suite on Britannia and had multiple problems with it - noise from the Live Lounge 2 decks below, soot on the balcony, rattles from the near constant vibration whilst at sea and plumbing noises from adjacent cabins as the services for them were in a room accessed from within our suite! However we had aft suites on Ventura and Arcadia and had no issues with them at all. It is indeed true that certain cabins can have issues that you don’t appreciate until you are on board. A cabin a couple of decks higher than ours on Britannia wouldn’t have had half the issues we had.

That’s a really great itinerary, with plenty of opportunities to see the lights in port 👍

No problem. Glad to be of help!

I managed to change our insurance details by clicking the ‘Edit’ button under that section, although I’m sure that you’ve already tried that.

There is no facility to request (or pay for) earlier boarding. You only get priority boarding if you are in a suite or Caribbean loyalty tier and above. That being said, all of those who are entitled to priority boarding will have boarded by the time that you are planning to arrive and general boarding will be well underway. As long as you aren’t unlucky and end up with a very late boarding time, I would think that an arrival at around that time shouldn’t result in an inordinate wait, but I think that between 2pm and 3pm they prioritise coaches (which are scheduled to arrive around this time).

Yes, I know what you mean. I’m sure that we will find Aurora to be very dated when we go on her again in January, and we always miss the fact that she doesn’t have an Epicurean restaurant . We also loved the Olive Grove on Iona and would love to see that concept extended to other ships. That being said, we went from Iona to Ventura within a few months and felt much more ‘at home’ on Ventura. She felt much more like a cruise ship, we preferred the traditional (old fashioned to many) ambiance and, most of all, the relaxed uncrowded atmosphere, which was in stark contrast to what we experienced on Iona. Different strokes for different folks, although I appreciate that some love both extremes. It’s great that we have a choice within the same cruise line. If all the ships were identical it would be very boring.

Very interesting, not least because having read your detailed comments I thought that you were going to end with “and that’s why we prefer Azura” 😂 MDR food would be a biggie for many people, as not everyone wants to eat in extra cost restaurants every night, and some not at all. We haven’t been on Arvia, but we had no complaints at all with the MDR food on Iona. I thought that the issues with the MDRs on Arvia was around the lack of capacity (only 1,700 covers) and the time to get seated at busy times, rather than the quality of food. It seems that MDR food quality can vary from time to time, even on the same ship. I had read plenty of reviews criticising the MDR food on Britannia and Ventura earlier this year, yet we had no issues with the MDRs on either of our cruises on those ships!

We tend not to book excursions anymore as my wife can now only do the wheelchair accessible ones, which are few and far between and very expensive. However, for our 65 night Caribbean cruise I have booked quite a few excursions as a solo, with the idea that my wife and I will explore the port together for part of the day and then I will get to see more of the island whilst my wife stays on the ship reading on our balcony (which suits her). We had contemplated taxi tours but my wife wasn’t keen, so as a solo the P&O tour is probably more cost effective and obviously removes any risks, however slight they may be. As for price, I managed to make a few bookings during the Black Friday offer (a couple that I’d booked before I simply cancelled and re-booked) and obviously the 10% loyalty discount helps, but I’ve been keeping an eye on them since and a couple that I wanted to do that were fully booked have since become available, so I’ve nabbed them, and another has dropped in price since I booked (regular, not promotional price) so I cancelled and re-booked that one also.

I know that we take polar opposite views on this, but the statement that pre booking guarantees you a seat is simply not true. On Britannia there were times when the entertainment staff didn’t check people in, so it was back to first come first served, even though there had been a booking system. On Iona, because they let people without bookings in 5 minutes or more before curtain up to fill vacant seats, there were plenty of people who turned up a few minutes before the show complaining that they either couldn’t get in or had to stand at the back, in spite of having a reservation. By contrast, Ventura had no reservation system and was first come first served. Worked a treat, and we didn’t have to turn up way too early, even though we needed a wheelchair and companion seat.

yet a few still manage to slip through….. 😂

I believe that 1st sitting is always the most popular choice, so I’m hopeful that we therefore won’t end up with it. We like to watch the departures from our balcony in our casual gear with no time prrssure, then get ready (which takes my wife a while), go for a pre-dinner drink and then dine at around 8.30pm. This still gives us plenty of time to get to see the 10.30pm show if we want to. As none of the other evening entertainment appeals, pre dinner drinks and dinner are our main evening activities, so if we dined at 6.30pm we would have far too much time to kill afterwards. I didn’t know about the potential for fireworks on departure. Thanks for the tip! Agree we need to get some first hand info on Miami cruise port, as we intend to DIY there.

I agree. It’s an increasing trend and is extremely discourteous to others IMO. It’s not happened to us in Epicurean, but seems to happen a lot in bars now. As you say, people also seem to talk much louder than they would in face to face conversation and have the device volume on too loud as well, so it becomes even more intrusive. I think that people who do this are the ‘look at me’ types, who want everyone around them to hear all their news and have zero respect for the fact that others don’t wish to hear. If I wished to make or receive a call like that I would do so in the privacy of our cabin, or if an urgent call came in whilst I was in a bar or restaurant I would go outside to take it so as not to annoy others.