JeanieC,Aston

Hi As the poster who the author of post #352 was replying to I agree with your comment re a Marella. My cruise on Explorer last month was great and have booked Explorer2 for next year. One reason,,,,I really dislike sea days. Both Arvia and Ventura of 13/14 cruises have at least 6 sea days each were Marella 7 nt cruises only have one,plus I do like DP’s.

First Guinness now Jameson’s,,,penny pinching of the worst kind.

Hi I don’t believe P&O has ever used Eavesway since they fell out years ago,,,P&O played silly beggars with Eavesway giving passengers the last departure times from the ship whilst Cruise Connect/Intercruises passengers where off first. Thats all changed now both Intercruises and Eavesway are now given the early disembark times,,,,on my last cruise using Eavesway this year it was 07:45 and we where on the road by 08:15. From the North West P&O usually use Ellisons of St Helens,,,lovely coaches.

Hi That is what I said,,if you book coach included with your cruise booking,,,it’s a package. I am not talking about booking cruise and then say book Eavesway,,,that is not a package.

Hi all See what I did there!!!!😏 Hasn't the last x3 pages been more interesting than talking about chocolate.

Hi I did say as a one off to see the difference….Value? There is an old saying “Some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing” This really does apply to cruise ships. I have to admit after my Celebrity cruise this May it looks like it was my last.way too expensive going forward,,,,they have now lost value for me.but that’s for balcony,,,,£2700 if you like an inside seems OK. It looks like I will just have to settle for P&O.problem is I end up comparing all the time.

Hi ICF Dont want to seem rude but you have admitted that you are in bed for 22:00 and also said you never went into the clubhouse or pub……try the Club for the 22:30 show or the pub at 23:00 at night and you will see the real problems with lack of staff.

Hi I know how it works,the problem was the waiter would walk the floor collecting orders. Instead of delivering them as they were made he stood at the bar talking to the other waiters until All the orders were completed. The waiters in the queue waited even longer. I have never heard so much complaining about the time taken to get a drink. Another problem was if you only had x2 barmen making drinks and x6 waiters floor walking it was chaos. It only needed one section of the bar for waiter service and one for bar service,,,and each manned up with enough for a ship with near 6000 passengers.

Hi You would be surprised… I am looking for a cruise next October from Southampton. There is x2 options Celebrity Apex and P&O Britannia. As TCF books inside cabins I had a look. Granted Celebrity is 11 nights and P&O is 14 nts. Celebrity===£2700 with £300 OBC. P&O = £2600 with £140 OBC on Select. Its worth a one off for P&O fans to see just how much better P&O could achieve. The choice of food in the buffet would be worth the difference alone,,,steak or fresh fish grilled while you wait on P&O for lunch? The buffet on Silhouette makes the buffet on Ventura look like a snack bar

{I didn't face any of your issues and loved both my cruises but I clearly want different things to you on board and never like to sit in atriums on any of the ships to worry about the atmosphere there} Must be me,,my go to cruises the last few years as well as P&O is Celebrity ‘S’ class. Most evenings revolve around the atrium,you can spend most of the night in any of the bars around it and be royally entertained…rock n roll parties,60s party,ABBA night,silent disco.and no waiters with iPads taking 20 orders then waiting until barman has made them all before bringing you your drink.

Hi I am looking to book a cruise next April. There is x3 choices,,,,,,Arvia,Ventura or Marella. I want info on all three before I make a decision. I read Iona/Arvia threads to convince me one way or another to try that class of ship again.Probably Iona is a once and done,,,but maybe the performance of Iona has improved and passed to Arvia. I like Ventura and my Marella cruise last month was a good one. So it’s not anger,,it’s about the information im losing due to peoples reluctance to post because we have post after post about chocolate.

Hi Not strange at all.why would the OP want to? Have a look at the likes of post #9,,,and if the OP had come back I can guarantee a similar posts would have appeared. And 7 posters though it was funny,,,not funny when you are on the receiving end. No need.

Hi You would do.

Hi For probably the 10th time,,,the reasons of probably been done to death between yourself,myself and others in the last few months. To summarise….. The queues. The bar service due to not being able to go to the bar was not good enough,,,waiters with iPads a bad idea. No atmosphere,,especially in the Atrium. MDR service was a shambles. Lack of live music venues for number of passengers,,,I was on Marella Voyager last month and I could. Get a seat in the Caberet bar,,watch a musician/singer then a game show then a party band and then stay there for a couple of hours,,,where on Iona can I do that without seeing a repeat set x4 times in the evening in the Clubhouse. Getting in queue on App for dinner at 19:00 and getting sat down at nearly 22:00. Late supper in buffet only one counter open for the many who wanted a snack. Thats enough for now,,,,,I don’t want to repeat a well worn thread. You liked Iona I didn’t….walk on.

Hi Are you sure,,,,you are booking the holiday with P&O that includes coach transfer,,,that is you are booking a ‘package’.

Absolute disgrace how this thread has been sidetracked,no doubt by those who didn’t want any criticism of their favourite cruise line to go on. Its turning the thread into a Chat Room as opposed to a Forum. For what it’s worth I totally agree with some of the OPs points, my cruise on Iona in February was the worst in over 80 cruises on different lines,even worse than MSC.

Hi Jim I believe it’s Raffles Hotel,,,you should have tried the famous Singapore Sling in the Long Bar,,,only $26. Enjoying your travel……

Looking at a Ventura cruise to the Canaries for next April….its £300 cheaper today than yesterday.

Leaving Flam September 1st last year,,,,,sun cream required.

Hi The big thaw sets in by April where the waterfalls are full bore,,,I was last there in August last year and they were barely a trickle. Bare in mind that the Fjords are for the beautiful scenery not really the ports many being quite boring,, also keep in mind Bergen is the rainiest city in Europe,,,pack a waterproof. The highlight for many is the ride on the Flam Railway return trip to Myrdal,,book cheapest on line. Another photo of Flam with the station,a brew pub in the town.

We always buy the DP. I may have a couple of V&T before dinner,,x2 glasses of wine with dinner and a few more drinks during the night,,,without coffee or soft drinks I’m quids in. My wife easily makes it pay,,,she likes Prosecco,,,,,x6 tiny 125ml glasses a day @£6.50 a glass it’s easy.

Hi In 20 minutes time at 11:00 Gib time everything will stop for 1 minute to mark Armistice Day. Noticed she is bunkering for the long run across the Atlantic. Watch the planes landing in the wind on that short runway,,done it a few times and it can be quite hairy.

In Gib last month,,,,shuttle taxi ship to town,,,bought a couple bottles of whiskey then back to ship. Bottle of Teelings Irish for £17.

Hi I was on Marella Voyager last month And after pulling away from the quay in Gibraltar the ship was plunged into total darkness,engines stopped and we were drifting 150m from the quay. Emergency lighting came on and with the drummer from the band making the beat the whole of the Squid & Anchor pub went into a good old sing song. This was 21:00,,,Captain dropped anchor and x3 tugs came out pretty swiftly to stop any drift towards the quay,,,,,it was a fuel to generator problem,,,we sat there until repaired until 01:30. Then the Harbour Master wouldn’t let us sail until the repair was inspected and a certificate issued by a Marine Surveyor,,we moved to an anchorage in the bay and waited for surveyor to travel overnight,,,,he arrived at 13:00 next day inspected,signed the certificate and we sailed at 14:00 straight to an unplanned overnight in Malaga missing Cadiz. Fun at the time but not so funny if we would have been miles out at sea.or even in the Bay of Gibraltar with the huge number of ships at anchor.

I have done x3 NYE cruises on Ventura ( the 5 day one),,,for NYE dinner they gave everyone a set time in one of the restaurants so everyone dined together,,,on one of them we where allocated Sindhu as an overflow restaurant. This enabled the entrance of a piper and the Haggis Address. A superb night was had by all. It was 2019 so May have changed now