wowzz

Yes it was. We went back to our cabin after dinner, and (no sniggering) went to bed to get warm. All the bars were freezing cold - not surprisingly, they were all empty.

Exactly - the contender for post of the year and it is only March ! If I ever have to do a nine month contract, getting black socks would not be high on my gift list !

Not any more , with the advent of the packages.

20 years ago my wife would wear a full length dress. Now she wears a lbd, or equivalent, or floaty dress trousers and a sparkly top. Don't worry about where the cruise is going. The temperature in the ship remains the same.

No they dont have to, if you leave on the autotips, but anecdotal evidence is that rule has been relaxed.

The cruise line told you ( indeed stressed)not to tip, and you still did so. I know it is built into the American psyche to tip at the slightest opportunity, but why break the rules ! Branson is trying to break some of the old fashioned traditions of cruising, and doing away with tipping is one of them. Hopefully others will abide by the rules.

Are you happy to tip people who earn more than you do ?

I'm not sure that the formal nights generate that much extra revenue for P&O. After all, the photographers are independent of P&O, so only a small part of the revenue will trickle down to the bottom line. I suppose people may push the boat out (sic) with better/more drinks, which could be profitable. But, for once, I think P&O have probably gauged their market correctly - there is a demand for formal evenings from the majority of passengers, although perhaps less so for the new generation trying Iona and Arvia.

We have booked a Caribbean cruise for later this year. This will be our fourth in 25 years of cruising, so we are not exactly addicted to the area ! We have booked this year as a change from our preferred options of Sarasota or Lanzarote. We see a Caribbean cruise purely as a chance to get some winter sun, at a cheaper price than you will find in most Caribbean hotels. Unlike other cruise destinations we do not feel the need to explore the local sights, museums etc which can mean that some cruises become a bit of an endurance test. And, to be frank, as we get older, sometimes it is just nice to have everything taken care of for you. No worries about your luggage, hire cars, US tipping (!) etc. So, a relaxed 14 nights on a floating hotel will do us fine.

I appreciate that some people may have flights or trains to catch, or possibly a long drive home, but I don't understand this urgent desire to get off the ship. We ask for a 9am or later disembarkation time. This allows us time to clear the cabin at 8am, have a relaxed breakfast, and then stroll off the ship in a leisurely manner. Yes, we might arrive an hour or so later than those in the 8am melee, but we will be a lot less stressed when we start our journey.

Yes, my idea of hell is to be sitting with hundreds of others in rough weather.

And yet the rest of the world seems to survive without this system of bribery.

Did you not wonder at the time why you were paying so much for a minisuite ? Club/reserve minusuutes don't come cheap !

You need to be careful with your terminology. A drinks package only relates to drinks, whereas the Plus or Premier includes the relevant drinks package, and, perversely, is cheaper than buying a stand alone drinks package. The only real benefit of buying a stand alone drinks package, is tgat it can be purchased by a single individual, whereas the Plus and Premier packages have to be bought by both adults in the cabin.

Or at an outdoor bar !

But you can see virtually nothing out of those small windows .

Surely it depends on how many are in the pool. As a steward would you rather be given $50 for your own use, or some unknown figure at a future date, which is split between waiters, entertainers, cleaners etc ?

Travelling all that way, I assume you will be driving down the day before, so you will have plenty of time if things get sticky.

I certainly don't believe it. If that was in fact the case, why is the steward so pleased to receive a tip if he knows he has to turn it in ?

We rarely eat at the same time every night, so if you say bribery works, I'll take your word for it. However, I stand by my position that I have never seen anyone jump the queue at a bar, whilst I have been waiting to be served.

All well and good, but after three sea days in heavy seas, with the outside decks shut, it's lovely to be in the peace and quiet of your cabin, looking at the rough weather through your balcony windows.

Thank you. That was my point. I have the feeling that however much you stress the advantage of credit cards over cash, your rational argument is never going to prevail.

Not so sure about that in this case. Turkey is not that easy, or cheap to get to, compared the likes of Rome or Barcelona, so the fans without tickets are less likely to make the trip on spec.

Cruise ships have been sailing around the Baltic for over a year with no issues. Not sure why there should be any change now. We are off to Tallinn in July (amongst other ports). I have no worries whatsoever (apart from travelling down the A34!)

No it isn't. But tipping is certainly frowned upon.