tacticalbanjo

I agree that the majority of people don't care about washing their hands. I was on Britannia in June and the use of handwashing stations at the buffet was minimal. When people did use them they didn't wash for long enough, just a quick rub and rinse. Having said that, the one time I have caught noro on a cruise ship (not P&O!) it just so happened to be the night after the waiter at our table in the MDR was absent due to feeling unwell. We assumed he had the spicy cough until one by one we succumbed to the dreaded noro.

I think a lot of people don't realise that washing with soap and water is far more effective than the sanitisers. I tend to dodge the sanitisers because I prefer to wash my hands properly before consuming food and drink so I don't judge anyone else doing so. Unless I'm on a ship with handwashing stations and spy someone walking past without using either!

Post-Brexit queues at Eurostar immigration are so heavy they are unable to fill the trains. Do not rely on turning up right at the last minute.

He doesn't say anything. The hotel is long closed and demolished.

Looking forward to following your trip. I'll be back on QV in November albeit down with the rowers. It will have been a year and a day since I was last on board, it seems like a terribly long time to be away but horrible work won't let me have unlimited time off!

I suspect that a lot of the problems aren't actually to do with the app itself but the backend systems. A bit of personalisation shouldn't make any difference to functionality between the apps. So many companies treat IT as something they have to begrudgingly invest in so they buy the cheapest systems possible then wonder why customers find the final product horrendous to use. Probably Carnival UK have supplied some ancient servers and employed some of the cheapest jack-of-all-trades IT guys they can find rather than investing in decent, reliable kit and experienced - and therefore expensive - specialists.

It's exactly the same webapp for both P&O and Cunard. Most likely developed at Carnival UK level then personalised for the individual brands. It's not like Cunard's IT is any great shakes either tbh.

I'd plan for a night in London or Paris. A medical emergency on board requiring a detour or bad weather can mean the ship arrives into port late. You don't want to spend your whole crossing worrying about on time arrival into Southampton, not getting pulled by customs agents (I have only had this once but you can't rely on it not happening), traffic not being heavy (weekday morning traffic will be heavy through central London) or trains running to time (not that you will be particularly welcome with luggage on the packed like sardines early morning trains filled with commuters heading to work) just one of which will scupper your plans.

My now 18 month old hates sleeping in the buggy and has FOMO so trying to have her sleep while we have fun was out of the question. Given the kids club staff have all the proper childcare qualifications and they check on the kids every 10 mins, we felt very comfortable leaving our daughter and enjoying a bit of night life. These are the requirements for the youth reps on board P&O and Cunard which share youth staff: Previous experience within a child care/ educational establishment for at least 6 months Qualified at Level 3 Diploma level or above or hold a degree and/or PGCE Be currently working within a childcare or educational setting On Britannia the staff told us that they confirm to UK childcare ratios.

I don't have any experience on Iona but have used it on Britannia and the set up is probably similar. On Britannia it's first come first served which worried me a bit because my little one came with us to dinner and was put to bed afterwards. But the staff told me that they'd never had to turn anyone away and the nursery was nowhere near full at any point. In fact, each night they set up fewer cots and beds as it became clear that only around 3 or 4 of the 70 under 4s on my cruise were actually using the night nursery. I saw a lot of small children asleep in buggies in the evenings so I guess most parents prefer to keep their little ones with them or don't like to settle them in the night nursery then move them when it closes. And some people only leave their children while they eat. Some of the kids had been collected by their parents by the time I rocked up with mine!

I feel a bit disappointed now that I've booked a ships tour for my trip in November but I'll be leaving my husband on the ship and didn't want to risk an independent trip as a solo female.

What a great review. I've done Cunard twice with my under 2 and loved it both times. The kid club staff are excellent and I loved being able to take my little one to the night nursery knowing she was sleeping peacefully and well supervised while we could take in some live music and a cocktail.

On my first cruise post-baby I was very surprised to find that my buggy didn't fit through the door of the cabin. So every time we had to unfold it in the hall then load baby and get all the assorted baby related gubbins in the basket. Then reverse the process when we came back. I was expecting to keep the folded buggy in the cabin but thought I'd be able to wheel it in and sort ourselves out in the cabin instead of having to do it all while blocking the hallway. I was new to cruising I might have been tempted to just leave it out in the hall and justify it that the cleaning carts are out for long periods each day so what difference does a buggy make.

When I was on Britannia on the 23rd June sailing we were on first sitting to suit my little one so at the same table each night. We got treated to a little boy being taken to the toilet midway through dinner each night. How did I know that? Because mum carried the kid's potty openly through the restaurant not in a bag or anything so mum's bare hands were touching the used potty. 🤢 I should be thankful the kid was taken out to the toilets rather than just being sat on it in the middle of the restaurant I suppose. I don't understand why Britannia doesn't have any passenger accessible stairs midships. I thought Sky Princess (which is essentially the same ship) was bad for lifts but at least some people could take the stairs at midships but they are locked away on Britannia. I ended up doing a lot of going up to come down because I don't like to carry my toddler up/down too many flights of stairs (I trip a lot due to ADHD clumsiness) and if we were getting off she was in her pushchair.

I've been on a Cunard (QM2), a Princess (Sky) and a P&O (Britannia) all since December. There are pros and cons of all the ships. I found the food on Princess, particularly in the buffet which I usually try to avoid, to be the best of the three. But service was hit and miss on our sold out sailing. I love the old school vibe on Cunard. The dress code makes dinner an event every time. I also love how much live music there is. And a proper wraparound promenade deck is a big plus point. On P&O I liked the low drinks prices and all the activities on offer suitable for people of all ages. I'll likely be doing a lot of multigenerational cruising in the future so knowing that there's loads to do for grandparents, parents and the kiddo is important. If I could pick and choose I would want the ambience of Cunard, the ents programme from P&O and the food from Princess. Plus the medallion which I found myself really missing on Britannia even for simple things like the door unlocking as you got to it. We got Princess Plus for £40 and it's so relaxing not having to worry about drinks prices. Even my teetotal mother said she missed the convenience of being able to order on the app and have a drink delivered anywhere, even to your cabin. I highly encourage everyone to try all three lines if they find an itinerary they like.

You won't be able to register until 14 days beforehand. The link can be found under Before You Sail. Then click on Life on Board. Then scroll until you see the Children's Club heading. The link should be there already but it won't work until 14 days before. I really can't imagine that it will be a problem if you need to do it onboard. Have a lovely trip. I did QV in October and QM2 in December with my little one and we had a great time. I can't wait until we are on QV in November.

I've just had my first cruise with P&O after 12 with Cunard and 1 with Princess. I have a one year old so my cruising priorities have changed somewhat and I was excited to try P&O because the kids facilities looked very good. So off I went to Norway on the 23rd June on Britannia with my mum and my toddler. Overall: You always find things you do like and things you don't like but overall we had a good time and the good bits far outweigh the niggles. We will definitely be back to P&O. Holidays are easier with grandparents in tow and the Britannia was absolutely perfect for a multigenerational cruise. Kids facilities: As we hoped for, the kids facilities were really good. We knew the staff were shared with Cunard so knew what to expect from staff but not the actual rooms. The stay and play for under 2s was basic but they had a good range of toys which were rotated all day. My little one is a crayon connoisseur so was happy to see the tub of crayolas out most days. Very tasty! We were very excited to try the water facilities and my toddler loved the splash area. The Lido pool was slightly less successful. Who on earth decided that the one pool open to kids in swim nappies should have a shallow end of 5'5"? It would have been much nicer to be able to touch the bottom of the pool instead of trying to float while supporting a non-swimmer. The night nursery was absolutely fabulous and my little one was out like a light each night. It was so good to be able to leave her for a few hours in the evening knowing that she was being looked after by properly qualified staff. I know some people like to keep their kids with them in the evening but I much prefer to know that my little one is having a nice deep sleep in a dark quiet room. The night nursery will be a big factor in booking P&O in the future. Food: We had first sitting club dining and found the food in Meridian to be of a good standard. The service was a little lacking compared to what I've experienced in the past. Plates left in front of us until the next course was ready to be served instead of being taken away when we were done but that's just a small thing and clearly the way it's done on P&O. The buffet was fairly disappointing. It felt like there was very little choice especially in terms of vegetables. I will admit that the buffet I experienced on the Sky Princess last month was incredible and spoiled me for other buffets but I found myself missing certain items like mushrooms and peaches at breakfast and a wider bread selection. I also found it strange that there appeared to be just one ice machine and fruit juices weren't available outside breakfast. But the standard of the food in the MDR meant we were happy enough. We had a night out at The Glass House and really enjoyed it. Because we weren't sure what time I'd get my toddler up to bed we didn't join the virtual queue and just rocked up at 8pm to see if we could get in. There was a queue of 8 and we were told to expect about an hour but there must have been some no shows because as soon as I'd got a drink at the Sunset Bar I had a message to say our table was ready. The food was excellent and at a very reasonable price. Entertainment: My mum loves hosted games so she was pleased to be back on P&O with all the shuffleboard and deck quoits competitions. We also liked listening to live music in the evening. We went to the silent disco twice and had so much fun. There's a lot to do for everyone including the kids. We didn't go because they were either a bit old for my child or at nap time but I saw magician shows and workshops and there was some interactive Wallace and Gromit things like a make your own plasticine Gromit and a Shaun the Sheep dance session. We did go to Shaun the Sheep story time and my little one was absolutely made up to meet Shaun. Room: We had a standard balcony cabin. I'm used to having a sofa instead of a chair and worried about finding somewhere to store the buggy but the room was plenty big enough. The beds were very comfy. The pillows were a lot better than the ones I had on Princess last month. One slight downside was that the shower tray was worn enough to look constantly dirty. Especially when combined with the stray hair we found on embarkation. But the room was kept very clean. A baby bath was no problem and there were plenty of high chairs in the buffet. When asked what he wanted us to do with dirty nappies, our steward provided a weeks worth of red biohazard binbags.

If you can’t work out how to register the kids then you can do it the day you board. I couldn’t get the link to work the first time I took my daughter on Cunard and didn’t bother the second time. It didn’t make any difference except that I had one more thing to do on embarkation. The registration is to do with allergies, medical issues, who can sign in and out of the kids club.

I got off Britannia yesterday. It’s Jude’s brand.

I'll be on board this trip with my mum and my toddler. I'm going to have fun packing three million outfits for the toddler in case of any eventuality! I've created a link on my phone homescreen to the My Holiday webapp. You can find it here - https://myholiday.pocruises.com/. It will start working when you connect to the ships WiFi.

Banks have to refund fraudulent transactions whether it has been done on a credit or debit card unless you've done something really daft like give your PIN to someone. But with a credit card you wouldn't have to pay your bill immediately giving you time to fix the problem. With a debit card you might get direct debits bounce depending on when in the month your account gets cleared out and how long it takes the bank to refund you.

I think the point about airports and cruise terminals is interesting. Can you imagine being told you must turn up at the airport after 3.30pm but no later than 4pm? I can't imagine anyone would comply with that. No matter where you are travelling from, even just crossing Southampton, traffic could easily cause you to be late given such a small window. But P&O seem to think you can time arrivals that precisely. And it's all very well saying that you can go for a stroll but for people with limited mobility or families with children, it really is easier said than done.

P&O's Peninsular Club rewards both lifetime and current loyalty in their upper tiers. For the top tier Ligurian you need 250 nights with at least 20 being in the last three years. P&O also manage to give on board spend discounts to all their tiers which is a nice touch. The problem for Cunard is that unless you made Platinum and Diamond conditional on sailings in the last few years then you'd only have all but the most frequent travellers on Silver and Gold. And if you introduce new tiers on the top and want to restrict priority embarkation to those new tiers then you risk upsetting passengers by taking away a perk from them. Unless they did some sort of complex grandfathering thing.

I'm on Britannia towards the end of the month on what looks like a very similar itinerary. I'm hoping MDR service will be improved. I'm travelling with my mum and we're both regular cruisers so we will both notice if the service is lacking. Even the toddler might! This is her fourth cruise with two Cunard and a Princess trip under her belt. Also hoping that Haugesund will be more open in the middle of the week as I will be cruising with my one year old which puts lots of excursions out of the picture because I can't guarantee she'd have a car seat. So walking about it is! We've got plenty of years of travel left ahead of us and I've been to the fjords before so this is really a test of whether we like the kids facilkites now that such things are important to us instead of bars and atmosphere.

If Cunard want to make sure people comply then they need to allow for people being late and push final boarding back several hours after their last allotted check in time. It's not acceptable to most people to be given a 3pm check in time when final boarding is 3.30pm and if you miss it because of traffic tough luck. Last time I cruised it took me about 20 mins just to get from the dock gate to the terminal because the traffic was so bad. Even if we were to stay in Southampton instead of doing the hour or so drive in the morning I could end up being late and missing the ship. I'm platinum with Cunard so it doesn't matter for me but I understand why others turn up early.