danielundecided

Even though I'm 41 and can walk up/down stairs perfectly fine I feel like it's much more reasonable to do this - those poor miship passengers during muster who have to walk all the way to the front or back! It's also a pain having to take the elevator if you're only going up/down a couple of floors; by the time you've been waiting for an elevator and you have ridden it you could've walked down the stairs twice by then!

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Sel, they've always worked for us! Partly a very weak resistance to drugs and partly never really experiencing a sea storm methinks! I'll make sure to pack some sturgeon next time we go, but I highly doubt we'll need it.

Kruzseeka I think I've said it in the wrong way! What I meant was that if we're feeling a bit iffy in the day we'd use a regular seasickness tablet such as sturgeon, but if it was at night and the ship was rocking terribly we'd use Kwellls if that makes sense; the only drugs I would mix are paracetamol and iboprufen. I like to think that I have enough common sense not to do that! ;)

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We just use some Kwells if it's later on; you can get them for £4 I believe and they are really good - melt in the mouth and work quickly, so you don't have to take them before your cruise, only when you feel a bit ill at night. I say later on because if you take a tablet (obviously depends on the person and their weight) I can almost guarantee in 3/4 hours you will've fallen asleep. When they say "may cause drowsiness" they MEAN drowsiness. Obviously during the day Sturgeon would be a better option.

It depends on the ship as well. We went through the BOB in April/May on Oceana and she bobbed violently, leading DD to be spontaneously sick on the floor. Larger ships like Ventura and Azura handle the waves really well (sm didn't need motion sickness tablets even though the water was quite choppy. Oriana and Aurora are built for ocean cruising so they should hold the waves quite well too.

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I've never travelled on Aurora but looked at cruises for my parents - if you can go for a PE a C deck cabin such as C173 or C147 would be ideal as there are cabin decks above and below, meanwhile they're not too far forward.

For A deck I would say it is the same protocol; try the cabins closest to the lifts/stairs and keep searching for an available cabin, working forwards until there is one available. I would try to not go further than A131 as there are no more cabins over the top of the others. To be fair all of them should be OK but get as close to the middle of the ship as you can for a PF grade to minimise movement.

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Any kind of dress should be okay. When we last sailed with P&O my wife wore her flow-y dress and she was dressed in a similar manner of those to her age. I don't think the length is an issue; mainly just the kind of style it is.

I'm very jealous of you - I could be doing with a break from the office and be popping down to the Canaries! [emoji6]

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

If you want a balcony that is impossible to overlook, any balcony along either side of A or B deck and a few on Riviera deck should give full privacy.

-Cabins on C deck are priced as regular balconies, however they are half private and half overlooked as they are bigger balconies - so there's still some privacy.

-Cabins on D deck a no-no; they're all overlooked.

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Yes, you could get pizza but I really liked the food from the 'grab and go' fridge so used that quite a lot - sandwiches, wraps, mousse type desserts etc.

 

There will be differences, and if you are aware of them before you go then I think that helps, but I am sure you will have a good time.

 

 

 

We are now looking at a cruise on Azura for February so I guess that says it all, and I still think for the Caribbean you can't beat P&O purely from a logistics point of view. The problem with Royal, Celebrity etc is that they typically 'homeport' in Fort Lauderdale, Miami etc which means 2 days sailing down to the Caribbean and 2 days sailing back. It's the equivalent to an American wanting to visit the med but sailing from Southampton when they could fly straight to Rome and join a med cruise from there. It doesn't make sense unless the cruise is really cheap (which they generally are not) or you want to visit the country the ship is sailing from (which we don't as we have done Florida many times independently).

I couldn't agree more about the logistics of the P&O fly/Caribbean model. When we did our Caribbean cruise on Princess back in 2012 we spent a couple of nights before and after the cruise pad it out to a two-week holiday so we could visit Florida again as we sailed from Fort Lauderdale I believe. For a 10 night cruise I felt a bit disappointed because you spend quite a while on the plane there (I LOATHE flying - don't know how to express it enough) and you don't really see that much so it's a bit disappointing really. I think P&O really have have hit the nail on the head this time; they also don't visit the crowded Caribbean ports from what I've seen.

I've vowed I never want to be flying long haul again again (already done 4 return trips and that's 4 times too many!); one day when the DC have left home DW and me will sail transatlantic both ways :D

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hi,

-You have two black tie nights for every seven nights you spend on board, so you definitely won't have no formal nights

-P&O do have sailaway parties at every port that have dancing and music but the best one would be the great British sailaway (you'll be having it as you leave Guernsey) - a lot of Pimms involved so good for me! :)

-The weather should be lovely; it won't necessarily be swim-in-the-ocean weather but it should be sunny. The Bay of Biscay has been terrible in April for us but Britannia's a large ship so you shouldn't feel much movement.

-You can take a "reasonable" amount of alcohol on board to drink in your cabin - apparently it can be commonplace for people to take it up to the lido and add spirits to non-alcoholic drinks. P&O don't specify how much you can take on board, but you can take some on at each port if you want to.

-Can't comment on this, not had one of P&O's burgers for a while!

-It's £25pppd just to get in - we never use it as we're up by the main pool with our teens who wouldn't be allowed in.

We've found P&O to be comparable to Princess as they're similar in a lot of ways; but it's quite blatantly obvious P&O are making drastic cutbacks - we noticed this in 2013 and my parents who have recently got off a cruise on Arcadia mentioned P&O are cutting corners.

P&O really are a lovely cruise line though. I think they combine the perfect amount of traditional and modern cruising. I've yet to try out Britannia but I would have to say I believe she is more on the modern side.

Nevertheless, have a great trip and let us know how it went in June. :)

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

This is not correct. There has been one of the constant recurring tipping threads

 

recently on the Cunard board and the correct policy, via a very well respected member has been put up as a sticky because posters were getting fed up with the multitude of theories about tipping. And the policy here is identical to the Cunard one.

 

 

 

Worth taking a look.

 

 

 

David.

This is not correct. There has been one of the constant recurring tipping threads

 

recently on the Cunard board and the correct policy, via a very well respected member has been put up as a sticky because posters were getting fed up with the multitude of theories about tipping. And the policy here is identical to the Cunard one.

 

 

 

Worth taking a look.

 

 

 

David.

Thanks for letting me know. I'd read it a while ago and I thought it sounded a bit dodgy which is why I hadn't said I was sure of it. P&O isn't always transparent with a lot of things and it really frustrates me!

P.S - don't want to get too attached with Cunard; always wanted to sail transatlantic return on the QM2 to New York but I don't trust myself to not book something stupid on a whim (done it before and don't want to do it again :rolleyes: ) or get a bit depressed [emoji6]

Hulluk33 I'm sure I you'll have a great time - as humpy said Ventura really is a magnificent ship! She also handle the waves well so there shouldn't be too much motion.

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

If you use CPS (who P&O recommend) it would work out around £110-120. With holiday extras you can get it much cheaper but not as secure. With intercruises (P&O's official coach transfer service) the cost would be around £350+ return. For a hotel I believe you would have to be booked in for the duration of your cruise and again not everywhere has secure parking. I think your cheapest and most reliable option is to drive down yourself and book the CPS parking; the coach transfers are crazily expensive and take over 6 hours from hull - you could be there in 4 and a bit hours if you drive.

Whatever you do try to make it as relaxing as possible because it will get your holiday off to a good start :)

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

As humpy said you can opt out of the auto-tips at reception. Children under 12 are NOT automatically opted in for auto-tips - for anyone over 12 it is £5.50 a day, so for you and your partner it would be £110 total. The only complication of turning them off is that if you turn them off, any tips in cash that you give the crew they have to hand in and aren't allowed to keep them (as you turned off auto-tips) I've read.

Whatever you do have a great cruise; out first cruise was a few years back and we haven't stopped!

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I can't particularly comment on the cabin area as I've never stayed there, but I'd have thought if you're going with a PF grade a cabin as far back as possible (for a PF grade) on Riviera/R deck would be the best option - they have cabins above AND below. If only cabins on E deck are showing, remember you can always search for a specific cabin on the booking page where they show you the available cabins.

Ship-wise, we've travelled on NCL Epic and Emerald Princess. Although my past cruises on P&O and Princess were both a few years ago, I could compare them as almost identical. If you book a select fare before 30th November you may also get free OBC regardless; we did and we're in a PE grade on Ventura next April (we had no extra OBC advertised as we went for the coach transfers).

NCL is much more relaxed compared to P&O and if you're cruising between the 2nd and 18th April expect quite a few families as these are the main dates for the Easter holidays I've found. P&O have Black Tie nights and you don't need to go TOO extravagant (I just wear my suit that I wear for work with a nice tie and DW wears a nice dress) but you still need to bother if you don't want to eat in the buffet. There will be 2 black tie nights per 7 nights you spend on board.

P&O is a lovely blend of traditional and modern cruising overall in my opinion; they have the family areas, and the quiet areas - there really is somewhere for everyone.

I'm sure you'll enjoy the cruise if you do book it - our first cruise with P&O was when I was 33, seven years back and I thought I wouldn't enjoy it being a young family but we loved every second of it.

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Have a great trip whatever you choose to do; the Caribbean's beautiful

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Ha! We just had this same debate in our household for The November 5th on the Caribbean or the November 6th on the Regal. Same scenario - obstructed OV on the Caribbean or balcony on Regal. We had been on the Regal before, and while it was a nice ship, we weren't in love with it. We do really love having a balcony, but the extra day and the better itinerary for the Caribbean made us go with it over the Regal. Good luck.

 

 

 

BTW, we're hoping for a last minute upsell offer for a balcony, but I won't be disappointed if we don't get it.

I'm disappointed we don't have the US pricing system in the UK!! If we want to give ourselves an upgrade we have to pay what price the cabin you want to upgrade to would've costed the time you booked. It really sucks when the price is largely lowered as we've seen with our cruise next April. Also, as soon as you hit book now, your deposit is gone; whether you go on the cruise or not. I hate it :rolleyes:

Anyway, back on topic. I would go for the Caribbean Princess personally;

-I LOVE the Grand class ships (again a personal preference)

-I feel like Bonaire would be a more interesting first time port than Princess Cays

-You have an extra day

-By the way - go for cabin E414/415 or E416/417; these cabins are classed as OV but have very little obstruction. E414 and E415 would be best as by looking at the deck plans the only obstruction is a few thin metal poles along the side. For a view of a very similar obstruction to E414/415 click on https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/fleet/VE_obs and scroll down to E323 or E326.

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I know that P&O do some fabulous winter canary island cruises as it's sunny all year round there :--)

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

My parents have just got off their 4th cruise on Arcadia, and have booked the Caribbean cruise on October 7, 2017 if that's the one you mean. They never comment negatively on Arcadia (and they're quite harsh) so I think if you book it you'll be A-Okay.

As for the comparison with Princess, we found Emerald very similar am experience to Ventura. Obviously they're different ships but the experience seems consistent.

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

My parents cruise a lot and have done quite a few B2Bs with P&O. Apparently you just wait on the ship for most of the day which would be nice as it'd be very empty!!

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hate to resurrect this (I never got through to P&O); they're now pricing the outside cabins LESS than what we paid for our PE inside cabin in August. For an upgrade could we theoretically get an upgrade for free or am I applying the wrong rules?

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I believe if you go on P&O's FAQ page and you type in "what do the obstructed views look like on Britannia?" it brings a page up with photos of each individual balcony. When we were looking at a cruise to the fjords on her we saw that quite a few "obstructed view" balconies weren't obstructed at all.

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Yes, you should be able to print both off from the cruise personaliser

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Will we see the return of the fuel surcharges ?

Have they disappeared? When we cruised in 2013 we were charged £240.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Agreeing with Dwalkerdave; if things such as fuel continue to be bought in dollars (with the exchange rate so bad no one wants pounds sterling) prices will go up and get transferred to the holiday makers. It's a bit of a shame IMO - which is why we've booked our 2018 cruise as soon as they came out.

Even with a finance degree I couldn't tell you what exactly going to happen but I am pretty confident the exchange rates will be stabilised by 3 years (at a minimum with a "soft Brexit") after we leave the EU; the price hikes shouldn't be forever.

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

The pound is very weak against the pound and even worse with the dollar (with thanks to Brexit) so trust me when I say this (finance degree); spend in £ wherever possible and when using a card try to use one which had the best exchange rate and best deal for buying abroad to avoid nasty bills.

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I agree about Aurora. I think she would be lovely for your parents first cruise. We love her but we also love Oceana but maybe Oceana is better suited to warm climates. Aurora is a more traditional ship but has not long had a refit so is in good condition - incidentally I don't agree that Oceana is shabby, we were on her in May and had a lovely time.

 

I also agree that if your parents really want to see what cruising is all about then a seven night cruise would be good. I hope they enjoy themselves whichever cruise you choose.

Thing about the bay of Biscay,which is what I guess they may worry about. We came back from a cruise down to the Canaries. It was like a millpond going down, only slight above that coming back. This was September.

As long as they take some seasick pills with them, or ginger, or sea bands, so they are prepared, they will be ok.

Try and get a cabin low down midships which would reduce the motion of the ocean even more.

I think Aurora may be a good start. She has a crows nest bar at the front top, with lovely comfy seats and amazing views. I know Oceana does not have that.

We are still trying to work up to one of the big ships..ie Ventura..

Thanks for the advice regarding the cruises. We've now added R722 and X812 to the pile of cruises and knocked X713, N808 and E722 out of the list. We have all agreed that for a first cruise Ventura would be too big a ship and that Oceana wouldn't be able to handle the weather of December well.

Our current list sits at:

Aurora R722 (Germany, Denmark and Norway 10 nights) in December 2017

Oriana X812 (Ireland 7 nights) in July 2018

Aurora R719 (Spain and France 7 nights) in October 2017

Oceana E720 (Spain and Portugal 10 nights) in October 2017

R719 is only just staying in the list because we're unsure about the Bay of Biscay in late October - are our fears unfounded?

I think a lot of the problem also lies in that one of these cruises would be their first and probably one of their last (due to old age and FIL's heart attack making travel insurance almost impossible to get) - they think that it's a bit of a gamble when you're spending so much money just to see if you like something for the first time. I've told them they should go for it because they never know what's coming around the corner.

Dan

Thanks for all the advice. I didn't think a two night cruise would be a good idea. The ones on the cards now are;

-Aurora R719 (Spain/France 7nt)

-Oriana X713 (France/Belgium 4nt)

-Oceana E720 (Southern Spain 10nt)

-Oceana E722 (Southern Spain 9nt)

-Ventura N808 (Iberia 7nt)

If anyone could help advise regarding weather that would be awesome as I am a hopeless case when it comes to Autumn cruises.

Dan

Sent from my iPhone using Forums