jeanlyon

There was no queue for lifts and nobody being disturbed by us. As I said above, the crowds were all the people sitting in all the areas with their carry on stuff waiting for their turn to get off. We got in the lift, nobody else around and when we got off, there was nobody around either. We were off at 8 am. Now this is Aurora. I have no idea what it would be like on one of the big ships. We have always done it this way and never had a problem.

What I do know is that it's all in dollars, the drinks prices are ludicrous etc. etc.

Yes agree. But an awful lot of folk could take far less baggage than they do. 4 cases each for a 19 night cruise is just ridiculous.

Well true, but we are 76 an 85. Dragging a wheeled suitcase is not that difficult unless you are wheelchair bound.

We always self - disembark. On our October cruise, we should have been off by 0745. We actually started to move off at 0800. There were no other people around, nobody in the baggage hall. It was absolutely fine. In fact, one of the reasons we like to get off early is coming down from breakfast, seeing everybody packed into places all waiting for their disembark time. We have one case, and one carry bag each. Simple. These days with wheeled cases, makes life very easy.

We sail on either Aurora or Arcadia and also with Fred sometimes. We like smaller ships and adult only. We tried Azura and did not like her at all. It felt bland and not like a ship. We loved Adonia. Fellow passengers make no difference to us really apart from whether you have a good table for dinner which we normally do. We are always up late, enjoy the shows, mostly. Obviously our hearing isn't going, because everything is usually too loud.

I have never found anything in P&O shops that isn't cheaper in an ordinary shop. So I never buy anything at all.

Agree. We always go for Select on an inside. This time, we are paying about £80 pppn and got £520 OBC plus parking. Pretty good deal. Quite happy with an inside, in fact sleep really well because it's dark!

How dare you ! I do use my Google Calendar, but just like to have one of the charity calendars on my wall. Not actually sure why!!

Actually I do. I have one in the kitchen to remind me of the odd thing.

Yes agree about the Captains party. I only drink white or red wine, nothing sparkling, so went without.

We always self-disembark and usually get off around 0815.

I have been Caribbean for ages and I've never had a magazine. I did get priority boarding though.. No idea about Christmas present.

a Canopy over the balcony or are you talking about canapes?

Butter was in little yellow dishes on Aurora. Biscuits were replenished every day in the cabin. Wine kept for the following evening if on Club dining.

Have you also looked into doing it yourself when ashore. We never do excursions, just DIY wherever we go.

I'm the opposite. Did the Baltic once, but had rain in Stockholm, rain in Copenhagen and we now only do the Med or Azores, or Canaries.

We had 3 overnights on a Fred Olsen cruise. There were people manning the gangways all night and all day. I imagine they do it on a rota, so hardly a problem. As for the poster, it shouldn't really say overnight if it's not!

We do too.

Yes I have an overnight in Madeira on Arcadia next year. Arrives Early Morning, depart early Evening the next night.

We are on the Bolette. Our friend did a cruise on her and thought she was very nice, so looking forward to it. Will be interesting to see what the food is like compared to P&O. We are going to St Malo, Brest, the Azores, Madeira and Porto. Makes a change.

Yes tend to agree. We are on Fred in April, but booked through a TA, got the 5% Loyalty discount and then a further nice big discount from the TA and £400 OBC. Unusual but rather good.

Yes, but not for 2024/25. Whereas with Fred, it doesn't matter what cruise or when, still get 5% off.

OK that's interesting. With Fred, I get 5% off for any cruise I book. I must have been thinking of that.

So just looked at cruise for 2025, logged in and there is no Loyalty discount. Have they stopped this?