Bobblehat71

For anyone who has booked a fly cruise , the deposit is non refundable so the one free change is only of real benefit after final payment date.This is not covered in their T&C's I only found out by calling . 

Hi Ryan,

That's the Premium Xtra package. It wont get you Champagne or super expensive spirits but Includes just about everything you need. A quick search on this forum should get you a breakdown of the different drinks packages and whats included.

On 9/3/2022 at 5:19 PM, Ardennais said:

We enjoyed the Guggenheim - interior and exterior! I seem to remember that we also visited a transporter style bridge just outside Bilbao. First time in La Rochelle we just ambled around the town. Second time, we took an excursion to Santes and a very interesting chateau. 

I really enjoyed the Guggenheim , well worth a look even if its not your thing. I don't remember the entrance fee being particularly expensive either. From there you can take a nice stroll down the river to the old town .Lots of nice tapas Bars. Its only a short stroll back to the bus from there.  La Rochelle is quite nice for a  stroll about and beer but not a huge amount there.

They did them from Rotterdam in April this year. 

On 9/4/2022 at 10:26 AM, Trimone said:

Booked superior balcony early saver, lets hope there's more atmosphere on board than NCL!

 

  

I've been on two P&O cruises in the last 10 months and I would say the atmosphere on board has definitely changed post covid. I don't think this is cruise line specific it just a general change in behaviour since covid.  In my experience you will find the atmosphere on board P&O completely different to NCL so you will notice a difference. 

The last covid pass I downloaded in May had an expiry date just under the QR code on the top right of the certificate. They have extended the expiry dates now, I think they are now valid for up to 6 months.

Not sure if they are the same if you order them by post.

The skydome pool is fine all year round. I was on there in March. It does get very,very busy though.

Annoyingly most of the seating and beds are taken up by people not using the pool.

I got sent a revised booking confirmation out of the blue last week. They had removed my cabin choice and replaced it with a Guarantee Cabin and changed my dining preference! Got through to them on the phone only to be told my original cabin had now gone 😀  They did sort it and I got a better cabin location but they had no explanation for why it had happened.

RCL would be my first choice with kids but it does come at a price.  MSC have had good reviews lately and the Southampton cruises now cater for the UK clientele more than they used to. Probably more child friendly than P&O. Arvia  is probably going to be the best bet if sticking with P&O. 

I'm also on Europa in January.  Nobody seems that keen on getting off in Saudi 😁 With additional cost of Visas and lack of bar service I wonder how long Saudi will remain on the Itineraries. The choice of excursions is pretty limited and I'm not sure there's that much you can do on your own.

You're best bet is to do a quick search for the school term times in Germany , italy etc.  eg. the UK school holidays start at the end of July and run to the beginning of September.  I would think June cruises should be generally Kid free.  

I can see quite a few passengers staying on board if they haven't got a simple and cheap solution to this.

I've read that previously passengers spent hours trying to get through customs to get ashore and reboard at the cruise port even when they had the correct visas.

on my upcoming Europa its this:

Easy - £203

Easy + - £289

Premium Extra  - £392

IMHO The two brands are not comparable. Will you be disappointed? If you like RCL then you most likely will be disappointed.  

To be fair the reason people ask some very basic questions is because the search function is pretty hopeless. It also doesn't help that MSC has probably more options than all the other cruise lines combined.😅   I'm a fairly seasoned cruiser but booking my first MSC cruise last week made my head hurt.

I assume MSC will sort a VISA for the cruise stop?

9 hours ago, publicpersona said:

 

Can you show a screenshot of exactly what you see, as it varies per ship? With the Duo, you should have one special dining experience at each of the two listed restaurants.

 

You are right to be asking some questions about the specialty packages. I can recall buying the package of three onboard Meraviglia and being led to think that one of them was the Teppenyaki restaurant. It wasn't, it was the sushi bar up front. Not bad, but not what we were expecting.

it does list all speciality restaurants not just the 3 shown above. I’m hoping it’s just worded badly and is meant as one experience / meal at each of the two restaurants that you pick. 

Hi All,

Looking for some help with the Duo Dining Experience.  

The Cruise planner Title says "DUO- TWO DINING EXPERIENCES"  but the description says "Includes one dining experiences at one of following restaurants"

Just want to make sure I can book two separate restaurants of my choosing.  eg. Steakhouse and Teppenyaki

Any help much appreciated.

I always used to book a select fare as the free parking was always about the same as the additional cost. The last two cruises I've done I just booked a saver fare as the select prices were ridiculously more expensive even with the on board credit and parking. I really don't know why anybody pays hundreds of pounds extra just to pick a room. 

Just booked, first time on MSC . Hopefully the Roll Call will get a little busier closer to sailing.

I'm guessing the "up to" is what the * is for and likely to be for a suite. More likely £50 or less for balcony or inside.Its not to be sniffed at but It does look a bit desperate from P&O.

26 minutes ago, BouncingWheel said:

If they only need 40% capacity at normal pricing to break even then they should be easily able to get above that with use of some discounting etc... even in trying times. However, my opinion is that will lose more regular, current P&O customers - who want more than just a floating, basic, cruise experience - and pick up loads of one-off try P&O/ try cruising passengers who see it as a very good value holiday.

So my opinion to your question is I think they will be fine but the difference between Adult only and these 2 new ships will become even more chalk and cheese.  In 5-10 years time they will become a 100% budget cruise line like P&O Australia but that will also work as every industry needs them.

Great post, 

I've been on two P&O cruises in the last 10 months. My next two are on MSC and Royal Caribbean.

Whilst P&O offer good value for money they don't provide what I would consider to be the full cruise experience. I've spoken to a few couples on P&O recently who were new to cruising and they all said that they were disappointed with the cruise experience. Typically they commented that it just wasn't as exciting or as much fun as they were led to believe by friends and relatives. I suspect those friends and relatives had sailed with the likes of RCL , NCL or Celebrity etc . IMO P&O either have to up their game considerably or as you say resign themselves to being a budget cruise line. I don't think they can have it both ways.

9 hours ago, gizbug said:

What is the range of prices people have seen (and how far out from their cruise date) on the Alcohol beverage package?

Again, $72 a person per day seems high (current rate for me)

 

I'm interested in this to. I've not sailed with RC for a few years. Do they still have regular sales on the Deluxe package?  I'm trying to do a cost comparison with an NCL cruise with an almost identical itinerary. Its likely to be a boozy affair so a drinks package will be essential 😅

2 minutes ago, Billish said:

My point was reallly about passenger numbers. Can P&O get sufficient passengers on them, year round ?

I think all cruise lines are going to be hard pushed to fill ships over the next couple of years regardless of size. Its definitely the wrong size ship to be going back and forth to Norway every week. That said its not really designed for warmer climates either.   

Nothing wrong with the size of Iona or Arvia . The problem is they just don't offer anything new . They are just bigger ships with more cabins. The only difference between IONA and Ventura is that it takes you twice as long to get any where 😉 RCI and NCL pack more facilities into ships much smaller than Iona and Arvia. 😎