ScotchBoy

Is it possible to have lunch in Sindhu? I can't seem to book it on CP but I'm sure that I've read somewhere that it's possible? Do you book it once on board or just drop by on the day?

TIA

Hi there! We've just booked this cruise yesterday. Have been on Azura at NY several times, so maybe I can help.

1) Ladies can where all black, all white, or a mix of the both. Some ladies also buck the trend and wear alternative colours, but most stick to the traditional black and/or white. My hubby wears his white dinner jacket on black and white nights. Personally I wouldn't wear all white unless I had a seriously good tan.

2) Generally men enjoy the tropical nights as they can wear their loudest shirts. My hubby has 2 very loud shirts and he loves them. In our experience, the 'musical decade' night is not that well attended but it depends on the age group on board. For instance, 30 to 40 year-olds wouldn't necessarily dress up for a 60s night, whereas they would enjoy re-visiting the 70s.

3) On NYE, we have always dined in Epicurean. However, this year we are undecided. Whilst the service and the meal are both fantastic, we find the atmosphere rather flat. We make up for it with the party on top deck though ;). This year we are toying with going to main dining room as there may be more of a fun atmosphere. We'll see.

4) The formal nights are usually on sea days, but we have occasionally had them on port days. It's rare but it does happen.

Hope that helps. We are particularly excited for this cruise as we thought we would miss out on the Caribbean this NY due our imminent house move. However our sale fell through on Monday, so yesterday we booked a cruise! As they say, every cloud has a silver lining :D.

Thanks all. I should have said that P&O can't offer us return flights from the Caribbean in premium (just outbound), which is why we were considering the scheduled option. Happily this has been achieved. We've had to pay a supplement for the BA WTP flight, but overall it's still cheaper than 2 weeks on Britannia and we have a decent balcony on C Deck. Can't wait to get on board Azura again!

We've done both to the Caribbean from London with P&O - it was just based on seat availability. The downside of scheduled for us was having to go through immigration and baggage reclaim in Barbados - which is normally avoided on charter.

 

Any time i can avoid the halfwits crowding around the baggage carousel is a plus in my book.

This is interesting. P&O can get us out to the Caribbean but they can't get us back. They are looking into a scheduled return flight with BA but have advised us that we will have to pay extra (don't know how much yet). How much extra did you have to pay for your scheduled flights? This may give us an idea although I know flights costs can vary widely. TIA

On previous cruises, we have learned from fellow P&O passengers that they have not flown with Thomas Cook or Thomson (i.e. chartered flights), but with British Airways or Virgin (i.e. scheduled flights). How is this; does anyone know?

Thanks

I'll be interested to find out what islands will be substituted on our cruise - we are going to St Maartens and Dominica, plus St Kitts and Antigua. Soon find out no doubt.

Exactly Janny444 the thing is if they had asked (the steward would probably have given him as many as he wanted and apologised for the error of only leaving one) they wouldnt have anything to complain about.

To slightly mis-quote Disraeli - " I don't complain and I don't explain"

When you asked the steward for extra sachets....I know one shouldn't have to ask...did he refuse?

We had ordered room service breakfast with coffee, so we just waited until that arrived and we had our caffeine fix that way. On the second morning, as we were disembarking there was not need to bother the steward. I just wondered if it was an oversight on his behalf, or if by reducing coffee sachets in the cabin, passengers are manipulated into visiting Costa (extra cost). Would like to know if anyone else has noticed reduced 'provisions' in the cabin.

Dai - sorry to say no chocolates on Saturday night on Britannia. Maybe it was the steward just being a little overworked?

We just got off Britannia on Monday. It was a 2-nighter (just to keep us going until next month) but we were provided with one sachet of coffee each on the first morning and one sachet between us on the second final) morning! Just as well we were getting off and drove 20 minutes home for a decent coffee. For £350 pppn, one sachet of coffee between two is not acceptable.

We love P&O but we'd like more imaginative itineraries. We have our own businesses and can only take an unbroken 2-3 weeks over the Christmas period when our offices close. We'd like to go with P&O to the Far East or South America, but it's not possible at our desired time. So, as Princess and Celebrity have ships based in these destinations over that period, we are considering sailing with them. We want to know what other people like/dislike about these two lines from a British point of view, as this great nation of ours has its own very distinct sensibilities. Thanks.

Thanks for all the replies. I have checked out the stern balconies and the suite ones in particular; but I think they're overlooked and that would be a negative for ''SWMBO'' - will probably stick with cabin on the side of the ship.

Hi, we are looking at Britannia and, whilst we love the ship, the balconies leave much to be desired, i.e. they are really shallow. So my question is this: which cabins have the deepest balconies? Does anyone have pictures? Thanks.

Thinking of doing this cruise Oct 18 Southampton to Barbados, we realize the weather for the first two days maybe bad, however would it be sunbathing weather from the Azores onwards?

 

They are also selling as a 14 night & 15 night (£50 difference) so is the extra night onboard or do they move you to a local hotel

Hi, we did the re-positioning 2013 and it got us hooked! The weather is progressively warm from the Azores onwards; so yes it is okay for sun-bathing. The extra night on board in Barbados is definitely worth it. You get a full day in port which allows you to use the evening as well should you venture off the ship (see Oistins above as an example). You keep your cabin until debark day, and can use the ship's facilities until you go to the airport. Your card works until you leave for the last time. During that final morning, you can leave the ship and re-board until you get collected for the airport. Very civilised. Have a great cruise.

The flights to/from Malta are not chartered exclusively by P&O. In their blurb, P&O do offer extra nights before or after the cruise, so it should be quite easy for you to book a longer stay. Call them direct and they will give you more information.

However, Caribbean flights are chartered exclusively for P&O, so you pay the full package price even if you arrange alternative flights to suit your own needs. Hope this helps.

We joined Britannia on a 2-week cruise at St Lucia in Nov 2016; we had planned in advance to book the Retreat, so I made a point of getting to the Spa desk as soon as we got into our cabin (can't remember if there's an opening time for desk whilst in port or not but I think it was about 5pm) and paid for the whole 2 weeks - there was availability.

 

Ironically the only time I saw a queue of people hoping to book the Retreat was when I had to have the entry cards re-validated at Barbados a week later, and I recall that there was a lot more people at the desk trying to book it. In fact, whilst at the desk they sold out, leaving some people in the queue disappointed.

 

I think the capacity of the Retreat is about 60 in total; I'm guessing they must have a quota of weekly / 2 weekly passes set aside for each embarkation port & day, otherwise those joining the ship at Bridgetown on a Saturday would be at an unfair disadvantage. We certainly weren't put at a disadvantage when embarking at St Lucia...

Thanks for your post. We feel a bit more at ease now that we may be able to get passes for the duration of the cruise. I was hoping that some spaces would be held back for the 'mid-cruise' joiners. We generally spend relaxation time on the balcony but the balconies on Britannia are pointless so we are strongly considering the Retreat as an alternative. It's a pain that you can't book in advance.

Thanks Jody75, I was afraid that it might be a bit of a bun-fight. We enjoy the Serenity Pool so we'll hang out there instead.

We've booked a week's cruise in the Caribbean on Britannia. We are boarding in St Lucia which is the mid point of the 2-week Barbados to Barbados cruise. We understand that approximately 300 passengers board in St Lucia, with the other 90% passengers boarding in Barbados, the week before. My question relates to the Retreat. Will it be possible to book the Retreat at the mid-way point or will all places be taken by passengers who have boarded 7-8 days prior to ourselves. Anyone had any experience of this?

I also agree that the portions are more palatable in the Beach House, although we still can't manage 3 courses or coffee!! My wife loves the flavours in the sizzler plates.

On Thursday 25th May, we gathered in the muster stations for 8:15pm. Drill started 20 minutes later. Open dining for the evening due to different arrival times for passengers, although dining was suspended from 7:00pm (IIRC) and re-commenced straight after muster. We had arrived on ship on one of the later flights from Gatwick, and dined in the buffet. Sailed c.9:30pm-10:00pm-ish. First time on this ship and fell in love with her. Just got back and booking another asap.

An update: we flew Thomas Cook from Gatwick. We collected luggage from the carousel and handed it to the coach drivers at Malta Airport. Very slick operation, I thought. It arrived promptly at our cabin and we managed to unpack before muster. On our return, the luggage was bonded, so we didn't see it until Gatwick.

Incidentally, getting through security at Malta was scarily swift. We debarked coach transfer, and were through security and ordering a beverage in less than 15 minutes! Excellent.

I read your post as 'Be On (the) Look Out' for my tie; made me chuckle :D

When I did this cruise a few weeks ago flying from Gatwick we had to collect the baggage on the way out and take it to the coach. It was then taken from the coach to the cabin for us. On the return the bags were left outside the cabin on the last night and then appeared at Gatwick.

 

Collecting the bags at Malta took some time (30 minutes or so to appear on the belt) and some people were clearly unhappy about it.

 

Even getting out of the airport to the coaches was not easy, as it seems the airport is struggling to cope with the number of people on cruise changeover days.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Unfortunately Malta airport seems to be having a few teething problems at the moment. All adds to the fun :rolleyes:

Hi, we're off to Malta next week to meet Oceana. I am led to believe that the flight is not exclusively P&O passengers so I would think that luggage is not bonded as it is in the Caribbean. Do we have to collect our luggage from the carousel and then go through passport control with it? I'm presuming that we then meet a P&O agent who will direct us to our transfer? Thanks

Thanks everyone; think we may risk it without packing great big ear defenders, that way she'll be able to take another pair of sandals............ Can't wait, really looking forward to it.

Oh wow!! lucky you. That is on my wishlist too, although DW does not know it yet!

I work in engineering in a very noisy department. If I were you I would cover all my bases. You might find the silicon roll up ear plugs that fit in your ear quite sufficiant (make sure you roll them up and put them right in the ear so they mould to the shape of your ear) they are easy enough to pull out.

If it still to noisy for your wife, she could wear ear defenders as well (they could become uncomfortable if the weather is warm) Make sure they are light weight and I would not pay more than £15 for them.

Hope you have an amazing cruise and a fab day at the grand prix

Good point about the warm weather; don't want to ruin her hair!!:rolleyes: