Mrsvemb

I cannot comment on a world cruise, but I have travelled in suites on both Aurora and Arcadia on many occasions. 

The Piano and Library suites I cannot comment on, but the standard suites on Aurora are, in my opinion, much better than Arcadia. 

The suites on Arcadia are really just a double sized cabin, with a few extras. They are all one room and in suite dining either has to be at a table on the balcony or at the coffee table using the sofa to sit on. The loo and bathroom are combined. 

Aurora suites are larger and have a heavy curtain that seperates the bedroom area from the lounge area. There is also a dining table and chairs which is very nice for in suite dining. The loo is separate from the bathroom. The shower has a proper shower door as opposed to the awful plastic curtains that cling to you on Arcadia.

My preference would definitely be Aurora and the piano or library suite would just be the icing on the cake.

Val

B. I am a non smoker. It is not difficult to avoid the outside smoking areas if it bothers you that much. It doesn’t bother me at all.

Does anyone have any experience with this? What insurance companies are cheapest and best for cancer patients in the U.K. ? Thank you

Unfortunately, I have a lot of experience. Firstly, if the cancer has spread, then the options for insurance are very limited. We used All Clear. They always gave full cover, however for a 16 night cruise to the Mediterranean it would cost in excess of £3000 for the two of us. Both of us had cancer, my late husband had two primary cancers that had both spread. Mine had not spread. There are plenty of companies that will cover cancer that has not spread. Just google it and you will get plenty of options to try. I wish you well.

Val

Val. Thank you so much for your help. I have been on the coeliac uk website constantly and it is really informative and has helped me to understand about myself. I am definately going to join and thanks for your tip re the scrambled eggs. Food on our cruises has always been a big part of the enjoyment, both for myself and my partner, so this is a little daunting. My biggest challenge I think will be "will power" as I LOVE desserts, cakes, afternoon tea etc. He has said that at least it will stop me asking to try his meals in future. Just hope I don't drool over his food too much haha. Thanks again. Viv

Food has always been a big part of our enjoyment on cruises too. I love desserts too, but being coeliac doesn’t mean that you miss out. You can order all three courses in advance. I have ordered chocolate fondants and all kinds of desserts and they are all made gluten free. As for afternoon tea, if you go to the buffet ask at the counter and they will get you gluten free options. I am sure that the same applies in MDR but haven’t tried that. What you do find wherever you go is that you don’t have as much choice.

Val

I haven’t cruised on P&O for 18 months. As has already been said inform P&O either at the time of booking or as soon as you can. It always has been that you order the night before for lunch and dinner in MDR. This works really well and gives loads of choice because most menu items can be adapted to gluten free and prepared in a separate part of the galley by the diet chef. Likewise you can use the speciality restaurants, they ask that you see them 24 hours before to discuss your food. I try not to use the buffet. I don’t like food that others have messed with and the risk of cross contamination is high. One unexpected item to avoid in the buffet is scrambled egg. It is made from liquid egg and contains gluten. I have never had problems at all with MDR food. If you go there for breakfast tell the waiter that your food must be gluten free.

I did hear that P&O were changing how they handle special diets, so my apologies if what I have said is out of date. I believe that they were thinking of disposing of the diet chefs. More cut backs!

It is a big adjustment Go onto the coeliac website www.coeliac.org.uk

It has loads of information and you can join for £24 a year which gives you unlimited access to all of the information you need to manage your diet. You will be surprised how many foods contain gluten.

Hope all goes well with your diet and enjoy your cruise.

Val

Wouldn’t need to send you a bill, they would simply add the charges to your registered credit card.

 

David

For the ships medical facilities, this is added to your onboard account. The ship will not charge directly to your insurers. You have to claim this back when you return to the UK. I had a bill for £1200 which we paid and then claimed back from insurers.

P&O gave us a letter stating that if it was a problem to cover this on your registered credit card, you could either present another credit card or see the purser to arrange how you will pay it upon your return. I think they give you something like 3 weeks to raise the money.

Other costs like helicopter evacuation or ship diverting would be far in excess of the limit of most people’s credit cards. Probably in excess of £30,000. Not sure how this is handled if you don’t have insurance, but rest assured you will have to pay.

Val

We have found GENERALI Travel Insurance to have the most liberal pre existing conditions coverage which allows for purchase at final cruise deposit. https://www.generalitravelinsurance.com/travel-resources/timing-when-to-buy-travel-insurance.html GENERALI was recommended to us by our diabetes doctor.

Unfortunately of no use to us Brits, as it only insures Americans.

 

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My husband used to work for Generali and you are right they don’t do travel insurance in the UK

Val

We used to take three cruises a year, but have reduced to one because of the cost of insurance.

We book a suite, and enjoy to the full.

No cruise this year, due to my husband having major surgery followed by treatment that is still ongoing.

We worked hard and paid a lot into pensions, so we might as well spend it

Val

In our case, the loss of deposit is less than the insurance premium, so it makes no sense for us to insure until the final balance is due. We never book early, so the risk on the deposit is kept to a minimum.

This year we had to cancel a cruise, so lost the deposit, but it wasn’t a P&O cruise so the deposit for two of us was £300, as opposed to insurance premium costing in excess of £3000. It makes sense for us to self insure the deposit.

Another point is that many insurance companies will not insure on a single trip basis until 12 months before. Many people are booking cruises 2years in advance now and not all can get an annual policy due to pre existing conditions.

There is no right or wrong way to do it, what is right for one is not for the next person. The main thing is to insure at the time the final balance is paid and ensure full cover for pre existing conditions.

Val

I have a severe intolerance to gluten. I must say that I feel that I am treated like a queen. As has been said above the head waiter will give you the menus the night before. They are the same menus as everyone else has. You choose which you would like and a gluten free version will be prepared. I always order lunch as well. There is a diet chef on board.

We always go for club dining, but it works the same on freedom. We also eat at the speciality restaurants and they just ask that you go to see them 24 hours in advance. We tend to avoid the buffet, but have seen gluten free options and you can ask for toast at breakfast.

One thing to be aware of is the scrambled eggs. You should check with one of the chefs in the buffet to confirm that they are gluten free.

You need to advise P&O, either through your travel agent or direct with P&O of your allergy.

You will be well looked after

Val

Aviva and many other insurance companies have declined to cover us. There are very few companies who will cover cancer that has spread and those who do offer cover, charge extortionate premiums.

It is annoying because we only travel when we know things are stable. On one occasion one of the questions is ‘how many times have you seen your consultant in the last 12 months’. We answered two but realised afterwards that it was actually three times because we brought routine scans forward by a month to make sure all was well before taking insurance and paying the full balance. When I called to explain this, we were charged an additional £300. I argued that we were trying to prevent a claim to be told that we should not have bothered bringing the scan forward. Just make a claim if necessary.

Very frustrating and expensive

Val

Unfortunately, age and pre existing conditions really bump up your premium, now in our mid 70's and both with pre existing conditions, typically insurance costs us 5 to 10% of the cruise fare, and we can only get trip insurance.

Our insurance typically costs 40 to 50% of the cruise fare and we travel in a suite so you can imagine the cost. Whatever the cost, we would never travel without full cover for pre existing conditions.

Val

When the email came out a couple of years ago regarding staggered boarding times, we asked the question about priority boarding for suite passengers to be told that every passenger is important and that this would ensure that all passengers got their luggage quickly. After beating about the bush it was admitted that there would be no further priority boarding for suite passengers. There was obviously a lot of complaints and this was in fact reinstated before it was implemented.

At that time we also raised the fact that perks of being a suite passenger were being removed but the prices were increasing. To name a few: senior officers party, priority luggage area on disembarkation, disembark when you wish rather than go to an area and be herded like cattle. More recently irons and ironing boards have been removed. This can’t be a safety issue because the iron would switch off automatically if left idle.

The only real advantage of having a suite on P&O is more space. A suite usually means a separate bedroom and living space. It is just a double sized cabin.

We do like the butler. We always have breakfast from the MDR served by the butler. Sometimes we have lunch too as we don’t like the buffet and don’t always want to go to MDR.

I think that P&O need to look at what other cruise lines offer suite passengers. We did suggest this during our exchange of emails.

Val

Think you will find that without providing travel insurance details online in your Cruise Personaliser you would not be able to download your e-tickets.

Yes that’s right, however, there is nothing to stop you adding an emergency telephone number and a fake policy number. No checks are made to see if the policy exists.

Val

You cannot rely on the EHIC card. It will not cover any visit to the ships doctor or being kept in the medical centre for example. I spent one night in the ships medical centre had ecg, blood tests etc. The cost was £1200. I had to pay this up front and claim back from insurance. The big cost would be if you needed to be removed from the ship by helicopter or the ship needing to divert to off load you for urgent medical care. These costs would run in to tens of thousands of pounds.

P&O have never asked to see travel insurance. They do ask for insurance details on cruise personaliser which I am sure that they don’t check.

It is just not worth the risk of travelling without insurance that covers pre existing conditions as well.

Val

Kevin, so sorry to hear that you have had to cancel your cruise, but health comes first. Tests may or may not prove a cause, in my case it was concluded that erithromyocin ( anti biotic) damaged the electricals in my heart. All other tests were fine.

Next year, with a firm diagnosis you should be able to get the insurance.

We too have had to cancel a cruise this year for other health reasons relating to my husband, so know how you must be feeling.

Here’s to a good cruise next year.

Val

I suffer from Paroxysmal AF. I had an episode on board Arcadia a few years back. The treatment that I got on board was excellent. I was taken to the medical centre at 1am and almost immediately, the senior doctor was with me. I had various tests, ecg, bloods etc and was give an anticoagulant injection. The treatment didn’t stop the AF. I was kept in the medical centre overnight and my heart flipped back to a normal rhythm at about 8am. I was released at about 9.30am, but strongly advised not to Go ashore that day. I had to return for another ecg that afternoon. The treatment that I received was far better than I have received in my local A@E and I felt safer and more confident that I was going to be Ok.

As for travel insurance, They paid the claim with no problems, the bill was about £1200. I always cover it and the additional premium is not a vast amount.

One thing I find, is that certain things will trigger an attack. In my case alcohol (haven’t had a drink for 4 years), too much sweet food, decongestants, certain antibiotics, stress. It helps if you can identify triggers and avoid them to keep it controlled.

Get AF covered on your insurance and go and enjoy your cruise.

Val

Yes, did this cruise last year. We did it on Arcadia and went to Bruges and Hamburg. It was very foggy most of the time in both Bruges and Hamburg. However there was a day at sea in between and we sat on our balcony with a thin jumper on in lovely sunshine.

New Years Eve was a formal night with a gala dinner which was excellent. We were docked in Hamburg until the early hours of New Years Day, where there were firework displays going off all around.

The food was not great on the other evenings, though I understand that it has improved since.

We enjoyed the cruise, though we did say that we wouldn't do another 'cold weather' cruise.

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask

Val

Just to add to the above replies. You can ask your butler for the breakfast menu from the main dining room and order your breakfast with your butler the night before. He will bring it at the requested time and lay the table with a white cloth. Very civilised. You can also order lunch and dinner if you wish.

Enjoy

Val

Having been on both, I would go for Arcadia. It is a smaller ship, not a block of flats. Also the sea screen in a pool area on Azura is a complete pain. You cannot relax by the pool with that blaring out whatever they put on. As someone else has said, the retractable roof over one of the pools on Arcadia is very useful in Norway

That is just my opinion, we are all different, so it depends on what you prefer on a cruise.

Val

This guide helped us with pre existing conditions in travel insurance: https://www.thediabetescouncil.com/diabetes-travel-insurance-guide/

 

The WHEN to buy travel insurance indicates what coverages you have for trip cancellation. If you did not buy travel insurance @ time of initial deposit, you likely cannot obtain trip cancellation coverages now.

http://blog.csatravelprotection.com/index.php/when-you-should-buy-travel-insurance/

This is not the case here in the U.K. You can obtain cancellation cover any time right up to the time of departure, regardless of when the initial deposit was paid.

We never insure a trip until the day before the final balance is due. As we have to pay high premiums for cover, it is more cost effective to gamble on the deposit than to insure it. Our premiums are always higher than the deposit.

Val

We've had a number of corner suites on Arcadia both on B and C decks.

 

The best corner ones out of those two decks is definitely B deck. The room is much much better for wardrobe space. There are wardrobes and drawers in the usual dressing room area, but there is also a bank of them next to the bed in main bedroom area, whereas in the C deck Suite they do not exist at all in the bedroom, making the only wardrobe area in the dressing bit, which is no where near enough (except if you were on a short cruise (3-4 nights)).

 

The actual area in the Suite is smaller than the middle Suites by quite a way, especially if you decide to have the larger table put in.

 

The balcony on B deck is also deeper by about a foot or so. It's still a good size on C deck, but not quite as good in depth.

 

The bathroom is exactly the same.

 

One thing that the corner Suites have over the middle Suites is hooks by the door to hang your coats on. A small thing, but very helpful.

 

We would have a C deck again if we had to, but I would probably go for E deck, or even D deck, if B wasn't available.

 

 

Re. noise - we've never heard anything in either Suite.

 

 

Any other queries please do ask. :)

We too have had corner suites on both B and C deck. I would agree with everything said above apart from the fact that we would not go for C deck again.

It felt cramped with not much space between the bed and the little table in front of the settee. Also felt a lot of vibration at night which we didn't get on B deck.

For us B deck would definitely be first choice, failing that midships.

Val

We got off of Arcadia this morning. To be honest, the procedures implemented to try and halt the spread of norovirus were very half hearted. We don't eat in the buffet, but will sometimes get a hot drink. You could not serve yourself with a hot drink, but you could serve yourself with food, the tongs and serving spoons being touched by everyone.

The pens passed to you to sign for purchases are touched by hundreds of people, (again we only use our own pen).

There was evidence of frequent cleaning of lift buttons and stair rails.

No menu covers in use, no salt and pepper pots on the tables, but when coffee was served at the end of the meal sugar pots were placed on the table.

The ship was sanitised before we boarded, and I believe it was repeated this morning.

Val

Another big plus with the deluxe balcony cabins, is that like the suites and mini suites, they have glass fronted balconies. The standard balconies have the metal front.

Val

Hi, we had a similar situation this year with P & O and were able to choose another cruise within a year time frame...........but your situation where you have purchased from another person makes it awkward..... but if you have changed your names I can't see why they can't offer you the same exchange that we had. ...Maybe its because the cruise is really soon.......

This is only available if you have more than 90 days to departure and you have not paid the final balance.

Val