Bill Y

Relax Andy it's Aurora. Still not news I wished to hear.

Been notified that boarding will be delayed due to stepped up disinfection measures less than 48 hours before embarkation and asked to arrive one and a half hours after boarding pass time and that Loyalty embarkation lunch "will be held during the during the course of the cruise" So what is anyone's experience of this? Do people obey this request? Or is it a bun fight with people turning up waving their boarding passes and saying that they had not been notified of the delay? Is priority boarding still recognised ahead of the chancers? it seems a recipe for chaos.

Undoubtedly with the introduction of the two mega monsters the capacity has been stretched. We were surprised last year when booking onboard for 2025 to be told to confirm with CPS ASAP.

As others have said you download your luggage labels after online check in and also boarding passes. For our upcoming cruise we were emailed directly by P&O (not via travel agent) exactly three weeks before advising us that "online check in is now open" however there was the warning when we did this "If your cabin has not been assigned yet, please continue to complete your personal details and check back later to download your luggage labels".

Aurora is an all weather ship capable of long voyages, have not personally sailed on Oceania but have heard it said that Oceania was built for Princess for warm weather cruising so plenty of space outside but not so good when everybody was confined inside. @molecrochip may be able to shed some light on the decision.

Well said! This is a pet peeve, planed obsolescence. These devices should come with a government health warning, I noticed a few years ago that John Lewis had disclaimers on “Smart TVs” saying that neither they nor the manufactures could be held responsible for third party software ceasing to function. If you upgrade a devise then often software requires a chargeable upgrade too. A good reason to adopt an if it ain’t broke don’t fix it approach, my two laptops run XP and 8.1. Rant over.

Interesting, Stockperks did not seem aware of that, just said that they were going to bring out a desktop version. Do you need an Android emulator or similar to achieve this? Most banks etc offer online access (PC) and mobile access (Apps) so there is not a problem, but some banks like Atom require an app and an attempt to access it via Google play from my laptop is met with “This app is not available for your device”. I am genuinely interested in being able to do this.

Yes, most satellites used for broadcasting stay in approximately in the same place "Geostationary" to achieve this they orbit the equator in the Clark belt at the same speed as the earth turns. The direction that the receiving antenna has to point depends on where on the equator the required satellite is stationed. from the northern hemisphere its southerly and northerly from the southern hemisphere. Another point is that some transmitting antennas have the coverage "footprint" restricted, this increases the power and reduces the spill into territories where the there maybe no agreement from a rights holder.

My understanding is that to access an “app” a smart phone is required. Which some people don’t need or want. I don’t think that it’s particularly funny that people without smart phones are unable to open “apps”. There are several reasons why people may not wish to possess or use a smartphone;- Requires a larger screen, Want to use an actual keyboard and mouse device, Unable to operate small touch screen, May not think it’s a good idea to have apps that provide quick access to financial accounts on a device that is carried around in public. One should use technology as a tool not to be a slave to it, although I appreciate that some employers require their drones to always have a smartphone constantly switched on. Unlike teenagers not everyone needs the latest gismo for bragging rights, but each to their own.

I don’t think it’s a case of having your cake and eat it as P&O used to state that the early saver fare gave you second choice of dinning after select. The website https://www.pocruises.com/our-prices-explained now omits “second choice of dinning” merely states “Flexibility required for your desired dining style, dining time and table size in the main restaurant” whereas for savers (presumably what used to be termed as late savers) it’s “Dining allocated upon boarding”. Note even when we book select the restaurant and table etc has only ever been confirmed by a card in cabin. Things may have changed so we are interested when they did. P&O have form on this, there used to be “Vantage fare” which said if they reduced you would receive the difference as OBC, this did not normally happen as any reduction would be a “getaway fare” then we noticed the price had dropped by £100 so we contacted P&O who said vantage fare finished a year ago and you booked a “select fare”. I was interested in the wording people quoted on their P&O confirmations last October as unless I book on board I do not see a “P&O” confirmation as my TA issue their own confirmation of booking and as also has been said you used to be able to see your request on the cruise personaliser.

I detailed my experience on the earlier January thread, including:- To recap, I have a paper certificate and don’t do apps. Emailed Stockperks the details they requested and a recent scan of the certificate. I received an “OBC Benefits Submission Acknowledgement” the same day, three day later I received “Successful OBC Application to Itinerary” I asked Stockperks what happens next, would P&O respond and send out a revised confirmation invoice? I have not had a reply it seems that once Stockperks have issued “Successful” its job done and they wash their hands. But the good folk on here advised the they had received the revised confirmation from P&O straight after the Stockperks Successful OBC application notification. So a day later contacted my TA who has confirmed the additional OBC. When I contacted Stockperks I was informed that they were going to have a desktop version but in the meantime forward the information via email. that was January so don't know if any progress on the PC version has been made.

Thanks to those that replied. There used to be a distinction between “early” and “late” savers not too long ago, indeed the P&O website still mentions that, but the P&O website is often discredited on CC as been out of date. As late as last October it was being reported on CC the booking confirmations were stating "As you have booked under our Early Saver price you will receive second priority for dining. We will capture your dining preference nearer to sailing and we'll do our best to accommodate it, subject to availability. You will receive notification of your allocated dining once on board." So am wondering what happed regarding the “capturing” of the dining preferences as I am not aware of any further posts? So I would be interested in how @NavyPanda, @Marmaduke, @Leomins et al got on? Yes in the past there was always capacity on the late sitting but it would be nice to have the request go in before the cruise rather than queue up after boarding when it probably could have been sorted out easily beforehand

But you are then in the realms of the computer says no, one of the reasons I don’t do apps. I suggested the OP email customer services as it’s staffed by a human but each to their own.

Our ancient share certificate was accepted earlier in the year, but I applied by email as I don’t do apps. I can only suggest you email the customer support team: - carnivalcorp@stockperks.com .

We have not booked a saver for several years, then there used to be a pecking order for dining requests, select fares first, early saver next, then late savers. I seem to remember on CC over the last year people saying that dining requests cannot be made until close to sailings dates? How does that work? I can’t see anything on the cruise personalised or whatever it’s called now. We booked in Jan 23 so assume it was an early saver, and when asked about dining would have requested second sitting table for six. As we are due to sail in a few weeks time I asked our TA to check with P&O that they had the request. They have come back and said that “Saver fares do not allow for dining requests” So do early savers still exist and has anyone had any experience of requesting sittings on these fares prior to boarding in the last nine months? TIA

Capella is a Travelmarval ship part of APT, both are marketed in Australia and the UK as tips included both on the ship and on excursions we, have been with Travelmarvel three times in different parts of the world including Amsterdam to Budapest on Capella last year and on all trips tips were not expected or angled (solicited) for. There is no formal dining on river ships, most people dress for dinner as people would in the MDR on non-formal nights on an ocean ship. If you don’t want a full service dinner lighter options are available in McGeary’s bar at the rear of the upper deck although we did not try it. You probably already know this, most excursions are included in the price unlike ocean cruises, but there will be a few optional ones at extra cost.

Different people want different things from a cruise. You were attracted to the Douro as you originally booked a cruise on it. You mentioned a previous cruise on the Danube, I don’t know where on the river but if it was yesterday was Vienna, today is Bratislava and tomorrow must be Budapest then a Douro cruise is like chalk and cheese a far more relaxing less full on experience. Coach rides have been mentioned but they all are of short duration apart from the visit to Salamanca in Spain which everyone agreed was worth the journey. We too have not noticed fumes, when the ships are moored the engine/s will only be ticking over to generate electricity. I initially thought the advice to go for the most expensive cruise was a good idea, but if you wish to see more in Germany that can be done in ten days then rather than have to return for take two to tick off all your places of interest then maybe the Douro is the more cost effective? Having done the Douro cruise (not with Viking) two years ago and spent ten weeks working in Lisbon twenty years ago I can confirm that the Portuguese are lovely people.

I doubt that P&O would be using charters for world cruise segments, in the past we were on a block booking of 100 seats to Singapore according to BA but P&O did not inform BA of the names until very late on. Years ago segments used to be sold with or without flights, they don’t appear to advertise that now. They still sell cruises without flights to the trade who then add pre or post cruise extensions’ to the cruises as a package, i.e. Golden Triangle then cruise back. But as others have said speak to your TA or P&O

Thanks for your reports @Selbourne we have enjoyed reading of your experiences and seeing your pictures. They brought back memories and made us look again at our pictures. We cruise primary for new destinations as we normally feel that there is a certain magic on the first visit that’s seldom there on subsequent visits unless you wish to return for a specific reason. So it’s unlikely that we will return to most of the places that we have visited but it’s nice to be reminded of the places we have visited in the past and have an excuse to look at the pictures again. We appreciate the sheer amount effort and time you must put in to produce such detailed reports. We are on Aurora at the end of April first time on her since 2018, so hopefully the talks etc on sea days will be better than last year on Ventura, What you have reported sounded positive but we have found previously on transatlantic crossing that P&O tend to pull the stops out regarding daytime activities so we will see. These longer cruises appeal to people who cannot or wish not to fly and often visit interesting places that do not warrant expensive stand alone trips. World cruises and segments we feel have lost their appeal as they now appear to just be a whistle stop race around the world with fewer stops and we personal feel their days are numbered. We hope that you will find future cruises that appeal to you. We hope that your throat is finally recovering.

So glad to hear that rare commodity common sense has prevailed, but P&O really should not put you through all this hassle. It seems common these days that no one will take ownership of a problem and run with it, it would appear that brownie points are awarded for fobbing people off. For P&O to contact the ship and be told that the problem can be resolved and say that pictures have been seen that confirm this then refuse to confirm this in writing or show the pictures only causes suspicion when you have been told many conflicting things. I was aware that there were a very small number of cabins that are fixed twin bed on Ventura and Azura and that lower beds cannot be configured as a queen if the bed above is used, assumed that it was in case a person fell out of the upper bed and landed on the person below. But did not realise that it can be such a problem if the upper berths are not required and as others have said P&O are presenting themselves as cruising for families. I hope that this does not put you off cruising. .

That must be a first, was he employed by the tourist board?

True, but once you have run the gauntlet of taxi drivers and tour touts you can normally relax a bit. We have been to bazaars where if you dawdle past a shop people will run out and try to drag you in. It’s just that we felt that it was constant there and with the persistence was the perceived threat of it turning nasty.

Interesting. I noticed earlier that Aurora was in pole position for docking then she turned around about 2000’ away. But since then Mariner of the seas, Carnival Celebration, Norwegian Breakaway and MSC Devina have successfully docked with Carnival Breeze approaching. I realise that the captain’s decision is final and safety is paramount but why such a hurry to abort and slowly sail away? I can’t help but think what his form master would have put on his report.

We visited Ocho Rios some years ago on Oriana, we and another ship berthed at the main pier but a Carnival ship had to dock at the overspill dock, this was euphemistically referred to as the "James Bond" pier, it was the industrial pier featured in Dr No. From what I can remember it was a flat walk between there and the centre. don't know if it's still used. That rings a bell, I remember lamb on P&O that could only be described as been well hung. probably the same offering on a formal night.

I agree, until you mentioned it I had no idea that the new locks did not use mules and that they are only single chamber. Thus being vulnerable to any failures, but clearly the old locks will be maintained for some considerable time. The problem will be once the “Pananmax” ships (Arcadia & Aurora) go. No doubt Ventura will take over as she has for some 35 night cruises, but will only be able to use the new locks. Yet another case of being glad we did it when we did.