mps69_1999

Having done several TA, for myself and wife, it's the perfect cruise.

We've done cruises with multiple port days and we find them exhausting, up and off the ship, sight seeing, back, change for dinner.... wash, rinse and repeat, feel like you're always on the go. Yes you don't have to get off the ship, but if you've made the effort to go, why not see the sights of the port.

The long sea days give you the opportunity to enjoy the ship, catch all the things going on board and do all the activities, oh and of course eat and drink until you burst.

Going for Europe to either the Caribbean or the US in the autumn months usually means the weather get warm if you're taking the southern route, and the seas can be a bit calmer. We've done the northern route once, and it was bit more lumpy, but still enjoyable.

One thing that you will notice, as you cross the Atlantic the clocks go back, therefore you get multiple 25 hour days, good excuse to have an extra hour in your bed or visit the buffet/restaurant twice for breakfast.

New TA released this morning sailing on the 27th of Oct, itinerary changed slightly.

Managed to rebook, getting a better deal than we previously had.  Took the Select Price which turned out to be the same price as the previous saver fare, all in secured a balcony room on deck 15, and £700 OBC for the same price as my previous fare.

Doesn't say, paperwork states we'll get more information as soon as it becomes available... usual hurry up and wait 🙄

Taking LHR out of the equation, narrows things down to Gatwick or Stanstead.

Thanks to the information, it's all very useful.

After a little bit of investigation, and checking paperwork, we are flying back into London.

I checked to find out if we could have flown back to a Scottish airport, but that option wasn't available, only London, Birmingham and Manchester. No great hardship at the end of the day.

Sounds like I'll need to go double check with the TA who we booked with if we nominated a return airport, as I honestly can't remember at this moment. Normally I'm all over these things.

Better checking before I really start looking at flights.

At this point I don't have any idea where we'll be flying back into, just know we're flying back from Bridgetown. Don't even know if it will be a direct flight or we'll be bouncing out of the US, fingers crossed I hope not.

Making a massive assumption it's going to be a London airport.

I'm not really bother which one, most will service flights to central Scotland, either Edinburgh or Glasgow 

The cruise we're on is October '23, just less than a year away, so wasn't expecting P&O to have the flight details up until about 2 months before the cruise.

I was hoping we'd be flying with BA, and I'd get BA flights from London back to Scotland, therefore I could get my luggage checked in all the way through, but from what I'm reading that might not be the case.... not real hardship.

I'll definitely making sure I'm leaving enough flight transfer time... long gone are the days where I'm running between terminals 😁.

Looking for some advice and reassurance

Sailing on the Arvia next year, Southampton to Barbados, and we’ve selected the extra night after we arrive at in Bridgetown.

How does this work, ship arrives, we don’t get off that day, assuming there isn’t another sailing until the following day?

As for flights, when are we likely to know the flight times…. I’ve tried looking for flights from Barbados back to the UK (London), but can’t see anything.

I’m hoping to organise back home to Scotland from a London airport sooner rather than later.

What’s been other people experiences?

I've done a few TA trip, Europe to the US usually Oct/Nov, sea days are the best.

Plenty of time to explore ship, kick back relax. The closer you get to the Caribbean the weather gets warmer. Generally the seas can be a bit calmer as you're on the southern route.

Massive plus side is the 25 hour days, as the clocks go back one hours a few times, so a great excuse to have an extra lie in bed, or two breakfasts 😉

Turning on Airplane Mode stops you using your data, but you can still connect to the ships WiFi.

This should hopefully explain it better.

https://www.pocruises.com/my-holiday/how-to-guide

I don't really want to hijack this thread, I'm finding it a pretty interesting read, I'm now curious what might happen in my situation.

I'm booked on the Ariva, next year, I've booked a balcony cabin, however I took the option to not choose my my cabin at the time of booking. I was told I'd get at least a GE type cabin, but won't know to closer the time, which is fine.

Given that some people don't seem to want cabins on deck 8, in everyone's opinion, what's the chances of landing up with one of these cabin on deck 8?

11 minutes ago, lindyloo22 said:

You have to spend 15 nights onboard before you become a member then you get 10 points for every night  onboard after that.

Thanks of the info.........must have missed that when I signed up, bit unfortunate that I fell short by 4 days from the first cruise, good excuse to book another one so I'm in the club.... 😄

I’ve just recently started cruising with P&O, on the Ventura last November, and thought I’d sign up to the loyalty program, just see what it would offer.

The cruise came and went, had a good time etc, got home gave it a week and thought I’d check my cruise history….nothing. I made sure I’d set it up right….all good.

Gave them the benefit, it was the festive season, and covid…. Give it a few more weeks…nothing, no cruise history…. I can log in so I know I’m the right person.

I’ve booked another cruise with them, and I can see the booking again, and my TA could find my membership.

Has anyone else had this type of thing happen, I don’t really fancy phoning them just for this…. What’s other people experiences, it would be good to know?

I can't speak for P&O, but I was on Symphony of the Seas a few years ago and got excited seeing they had archery, being a bit a keen archer myself I thought I'd give it a blast.

Slightly disappointed to find out it was softarchery, arrows with suckers on the end shooting across the basketball court. It was fun to watch I have to say.

I'd be very surprised if they have a fully archery set up these days with all the H&S involved, that's what you're thinking.

Honestly at this moment in time either of them. 

However I've only been on Symphony and she's gorgeous.

3 hours ago, woodscruise said:

After reviewing safety information individually, guests will complete the drill by visiting their assigned assembly station, where a crew member will verify that all steps have been completed and answer questions. Each of the steps will need to be completed prior to the ship's departure, as required by international maritime law.

Not wanting to sound like a complete negative nelly.... there are going to be an element of people who just won't do this, and there will be multiple calls for these people to complete the process before the departure.

If they are sitting in the bar or having food, they're not going to move.

Lets face it, we've all been in airports where people get called to board the plane, and hold everything up. I can see the same happening here too.

This wasn’t really a rogue wave or storm, just some pretty big waves at the time.

We were on the Celebrity Galaxy doing a transatlantic cruise from Europe to the US. For the first we went the north. We didn’t realise it was different from the southern route when we booked it.

A few days out the sea got a bit choppy. We had an outside cabin on deck 2, and for a few days the waves would crash up past the window. It was amazing to watch, I’ve got some pretty good picture.

I remember taking my daughter up to the top deck, watching the bow crash down through the waves. What was fun to watch was the flying fish take flight on the bow wave, we stood there for hours watching this.

I always take my kilt and all the trimmings, weighs a fair bit, but makes the cruise worth it. I don't get to wear it very often so these nights are special occasions.

My wife tends to take a couple of cocktail dresses too.

Getting dressed up for us is all part of the cruise experience. 

We're in the same position at the moment, hoping against hope that it will still go ahead, we've had it booked since Feb 2019.

I'm working on the principal that I'll make the final payment, and if it gets cancelled, RCI will give me a choice of full refund or move to another cruise.

I've got flights booked from the UK to Spain and then the US back to the UK, but I've not used RCI, these were all done by myself. We've also got a hotel booked in Barcelona, but that can be cancelled without loss of payment thankfully.

I think if it does get cancelled we'll be able to move the flights, but who knows at this time.

The dilemma I'm facing is we want to stay in the US for a few days after the cruise, and the flights tie up with that.

I've seen the lift and shift program too, again if the cruise does get cancelled we can just swap to the next TA in 2021.

We’re going on the Symphony for the Transatlantic crossing in October, and we hope to get on the ship pretty early to try and avoid the crowds.

Having never been on a ship with these types of things, what ‘m wondering is what time some of the attractions might be up and running, things like the zip line, abyss and carousel?

My wife wants to go on the zip line, but has to do it right away or she’ll chicken out of it if she has to wait and think about it for too long.

So a coupleof things to note.

If you arenot happy with the response from an agents, take it further, or don’t botherwith the package. They may be further offers later that work for them

The only waycompanies feel the pain is in their pockets…vote with your feet.

On the otherpoint of being new to the boards…..if the OP had had a good experience, andgood deal from RCI would they have been so quick to jump on the board andpraise how well they had done….being slightly cynical I suspect not.

It’s easy tocomplain, but seems to be hard to praise.

Still doesn’texcuse the bad maths of the situation either way.

Here is the funny thing, this will be the first time the ship has arrived in the US, so the Custom Agents will all be available to clear both crew and guests, just not for disembarkation.

Just thought it was a bit cheeky of RCI to implement this, more the principle rather than the money, give how much people spend on their vacations these days.

So this isthe scenario.

We’re doinga transatlantic cruise this year, on the Symphony of the seas. Originally wereonly stopping at Miami, where we’d be disembarking, then hiring a car to driveup to Orlando for a few days before flying back to the UK.

RCI have nowadded an extra port to this itinerary, stopping at Port Canaveral the daybefore we go to Miami. Now I was thinking…cool, save myself the hassle of hiring acar and driving back up, we’ll disembark here, we’ll make your own way to Orlando,and have an extra day there….all good.

My TA hasmade some enquires, and been informed if we want to do that we’ll need to pay£65. I’m thinking why?

I’ve alreadypaid for the night…I won’t be eating or using any of the facilities on board,and making my own way off the ship…..allowing our cabin steward in early toclear it for the next cruise.

If was in ahotel, and paid up front, then left one night early I won’t expect to becharged again.

Anyone hadthis experience, and how did you get on?

Loving all the updates, thanks to everyone posting their pictures.

Just a quick question, do we have an any idea when the float out is going to take place?

Never been on Radiance class, but was on the Rhapsody for the westbound TA. We really felt like there were too many pinch points, especially the Schooner Bar area after the shows, and around the main bar in the atrium.