wowzz

I was obviously talking about the price on board ship, as the discussion is about the value of the various packages. I calculate everything in £, as that is the currency I use to buy the Plus package. So, I stand by my point that a decent glass of wine on board ship will cost me £15 ($15 + 18% service). Clear enough ?

For the sake of balance, can I just say that I have never had any issues inputting information into the app, have been able to make dinner reservations with no problem, personal data has been transferred to future cruises seamlessly, etc, and once on board the Medallion has worked faultlessly. Cruising with a line that does not have similar technology feels like going back to the dark ages!

We have hever done a Baltic cruise, so all the ports are new to us, but I can understand your point about visiting the same ports again, if you have previously cruised in the area. Our July 8th cruise does have a sort of overnight stay in Helsinki. It actually departs for Tallinn at 3am, so plenty of time to explore the city at night. I think we just have to agree to disagree about overcrowding. We did not find any issues on Regal Regal Princess ( sister ship to Sky) last summer, when sailing virtually full. We just prefer the whole Princess atmosphere compared to P&O.

Which is why TerrierJohn and I have moved to a Princess cruise, with 9 ports in 14 days. And, before he says anything, it was John who highlighted the benefits of the Princess cruise over P&O.

Yes, I admit it ! You tempted me and I succumbed !

Thank you - that looks great. So, can we just go and have a drink without a reservation ?

Perhaps they didn't expect anyone to want to eat dinner in the afternoon !

So, on a 14 night cruise you bring 21 bottles of wine ?

Your TA can do nothing. You can book the same time, in the same restaurant, every night for the four of you, but you may not get the same table, unless you are prepared to eat the monent the restaurant opens, in the middle of the afternoon .

Lets face it John, you knew I was on the same Princess cruise, so you knew you had to book it !

As you may have gathered, we are on Princess cruise to the Baltic this July. Nine ports in a fourteen day cruise, and, it would appear that the cruise is virtually sold out. I agree that P&O may not be pushing these cruises enough. But, many of the passengers on our cruise are Americans, which may explain the high occupancy rate. A slight thread drift, but why does P&O make it difficult for Americans, Canadians, Australians etc to book with them, whereas Princess accept bookings from everyone ?

But Sindhu is an Indian fusion restaurant. It is not your typical Vindaloo and lager sort of place. As such, I think it is an excellent experience. But, I have no experience of the themed curry nights, so can't comment on the comparison.

Strange decision if I may say so. Many people are not booking too far ahead due to economic issues. People are reluctant to book too far ahead. If you can afford to put a deposit down on a 2024 cruise, why not ? Are you only going to book cruises where only a handful of cabins are available ?

So, by your logic, everyone will now cruise with Noble Caledonian based on 31 out of 1700 responses ? The people it was "produced for" are such a small minority that I don't see the likes of Princess or P&O being too worried. Similar surveys show that Ryanair are one of the worst airlines in Europe. They seem to be doing OK !

Yes, I don't plan to be out that late !

Agree about Starbucks - I'd rather drink water !

Unfortunately Jean, there is no profit for cruise lines in the free restaurants.

1700 is acceptable, if the respondents are chosen to represent the cruising public as a whole. That was not the case here. And to then formulate a league table, where many cruise lines had less than 40 responses, is obviously totally erroneous. Noble Caledonian was top, with only 31 responses !

We have an overnight stay in Helsinki (a Thursday in July) Anyone got any ideas as to what to do/where to go, even if just for a beer or two. Many thanks.

Not much in it currently. Cheapest balcony on Princess is £3800, £4178 on Aurora. Taking the 2 extra days on the Aurora cruise, I guess that makes Aurora cheaper, but not significantly. Aurora does become significantly more expensive when you go to higher grade cabins, I guess because there are fewer available.

You can try, but why wait to day 2 ?

The 2024 itinerary does look interesting. Was a little tempted, until I saw that the cheapest saver balcony cabin was over £500pp more than our Princess deluxe balcony. I know the Aurora cruise is 16 days rather than 14, and prices next year are more expensive, but even so, I think I'll pass.

£150 per person in our case!

Totally agree. Awaiting an explanation from MissP22 !

We have booked a Princess cruise to the Baltic this year (July). Both Copenhagen and Stockholm are included. Looks to be a far better itinerary than any offered by P&O.