GOQ

48 minutes ago, devonuk said:

We were allocated ours this morning. 4 grades higher than we booked but not a location we would have chosen 🤷‍♂️

Thanks for that devonuk.

Just checked my account and find I have been allocated one of those "best be avoided" deck 8 balcony cabins near the bow. Never mind, it will be an experience.

My account has been updated with the cabin number and I can print out my luggage labels which was my main silly worry, but my boarding pass still says cabin "tbc"

I bet I was right about that bloke with the clipboard.

15 hours ago, molecrochip said:

 

She has been built in the most challenging of times with Covid and supply chain severely affecting the build. Whatever happens, even if there are bits and bobs to be finished or ironed out, the ship is the product of many people’s loving work.

 

I wonder, I am still waiting for my cabin allocation for the January 6th cruise, I have an image of a guy with a clipboard examining each cabin followed by a fellow pushing a trolley loaded with bedding.

"Right Fred this one's got a bed and the toilet works, set it all up and put it on the ready list".

Hope they do mine next. Seriously it must be a bit of a logistics problem to get 2610 cabins initially set up with all the needed contents.

Really looking forward to this one, the maiden transatlantic.

On 12/19/2022 at 10:17 PM, wowzz said:

It will be added to your onboard account. 

I couldn't see anything on my onboard account so I just booked my replacement cruise through my account assuming an extra £100 on board credit would be applied to the booking, It was not.

Oh dear, phone up P&O I suppose.

I have booked an Early Saver fare for the K301A cruise next month however no cabin has yet been allocated and the check in page states:

“Your cabin will be allocated when you join us on board”

What do I do about luggage tags, since I will be taking the Intercruises coach down to Southampton, how will the coach driver/P&O know where to deliver my case?, a bit of a worry.

A friend of mine had her cases delivered to the wrong ship last summer so P&O had to sort her out with some clothes for the voyage, so she was not very impressed with P&O.

Also I have only previously cruised with P&O to/from Southampton, this time I will be returning from Barbados to Gatwick by air. I have my flight details and seat number but there is no mention of flight boarding passes anywhere, there doesn't seem to be any option to download them. How do I get boarding passes for the return plane journey?

I am booked on the January TA cruise with an Early Saver fare, I have checked in online but have still not been allocated a cabin.

It will be interesting to see how much of a difference there is internally between Iona and Arvia. 

I quite liked Iona but I did find the decor a bit harsh and clinical, a bit like a shopping mall. Hard surfaces, lots of glass, metal and marble. 

At last I have found a couple of possible alternative cruises to replace my cancelled B315.

The cancellation email states

"As a further apology for this cancellation, we’d like to offer the first two guests booked in your cabin £100 per person on-board spending money if you choose to book any alternative 2023 holiday before the end of December 2022."

If I book a replacement June/July 2023 holiday this week how do I get the offered £100 on-board spending money.

Thanks 

Paul

4 hours ago, Fionboard said:

On Arcadia in a couple of weeks and hope drink selection is  still as good as it was in August. Currently on Iona. where choice is  very limited (but then everything on Iona is limited)! 

From a beer point of view there were far more draught beer real ales available on Iona. Arcadia had a good stock , but they were mainly bottled beers. No draught IPA on Arcadia... awful 😉

Just my opinion .

Great, thanks very much, I will do as you suggest.

Thanks

Hi

So far I have only taken P&O cruises from Southampton so have never been on a fly/cruise with P&O. When I have done a fly/cruise with Marella they supply a phone number/ web address link to request boarding assistance to the aircraft.

Can anyone suggest how I request assistance for boarding a TUI chartered flight via P&O, thanks.

I am getting a bit older now and by the time I get to the check in desk I am usually in a bit of a distress.

Thanks

Paul

On 9/21/2022 at 6:36 PM, Waju said:

 

Sorry Paul I can't help with single cabin questions but I don't think there are any cabins that open onto the pool/terraces at the back of Aurora - in fact I'm 99.9% sure there aren't.

 

If you choose a cabin towards the aft, even an inside, the 'tiers' are all lined with chairs and tables and a really nice place to sit.

Thanks Waju and all you others who have provided advice.

I have booked a Single Balcony cabin on D deck.

I was trying to decide between a double or single balcony when the price of the double balcony (solo occupancy) went up and the single balcony didn't. The difference became £350 so that decided me.

Thanks

5 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I accept that the Grand class ships do not like strong winds and tend to list badly, but despite that they do not wallow anywhere near as much as a smaller ship. It will be interesting to see how Iona performs when we test drive her in 11 days.

I was on Ventura crossing the Bay of Biscay last November during some stormy weather. I was out on the promenade deck when I noticed the ship listing heavily to Port, the captain came on the tannoy system announcing they were having some engine problems so were doing an engine restart, the ship then became stable.

I was again crossing the Bay of Biscay on Iona last February during the weekend following the big storms which shut the railways down. There were no problems with Iona, a lot more stable than Ventura under the same conditions, but it creaked a lot.

Am image flashed through my mind from the film Alien where they cut the finger of the Alien and it's blood dissolves through the floor and all the lower decks.

Sorry.

🤐

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

How would you feel to have to keep  explaining your health conditions or problems to other guests if you go to use a lift?  That's what invisible disabilities often lead to as the supposedly able bodied person is embarrassed and made to feel a fraud.  

 

May I ask what is your description of a disabled person who isn't wheelchair bound as this might help people get a better grasp of how you actually know these people had little need to use the lift.

Megabear2 you have hit the nail on the head for me with this comment:

I have a number of arthritic problems but when I am not in pain I walk quite well. I usually walk a mile on the prom deck before breakfast each morning and do visit the gym, so might look quite fit.

However I do have a balance problem caused by the arthritis and without a walking stick I can fall, stumble and collide with other people and fixed objects. But I can use the exercise bike and rowing machine in the gym because they are sitting down exercises. I do have limited motion in my left arm but I CAN use the rowing machine.

So I am acutely aware and feel quite embarrassed that people might think me a fraud if they see me wobbling around the ship on a stick, getting the disabled seating in the theatre, being helped onto the tender and taking the crowded lift for only one floor, after seeing me do a mile around the deck or using the gym.

Generally though people are quite helpful. I just hope they don’t think I am drunk. I’ll have to get a Tee Shirt printed "I'm not drunk, just wobbly".

I am considering a cruise on Aurora for the first time next year as a solo traveller.

Looking at the deck plan the single balcony cabins are on D deck aft near the terrace pool, it looks like they actually open out onto the terrace and I have read on the Net that they have steel fronted balconies. Any advise on this?

Perhaps it might be better for me to choose a standard balcony cabin. Are there any standard balcony cabins I should avoid, would leaving cabin location to chance with an Early Saver Fare be OK, or should I choose a Select fare?

TIA

Paul

Thanks for the report, the Aurora is definitely on my cruise list now.

56 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

Every P&O cruise leaves me saying, in frustration, surely, SURELY, they could come up with a plan to help the last morning movements?  It would take a few staff but I feel it would pay dividends - leave passengers with a rosy glow and warm feelings, leading to future bookings, rather than the opposite

Last February Iona was several hours late docking at Southampton, my allocated disembarkation time would result in my arriving home very late and possibly missing my train, so I elected for self disembarkation. So did everybody else it would seem, with the resulting confusion and chaos it took well over an hour of queuing to get off the ship.

But they did try, even the captain was helping manage the queues. He spotted me dragging my suitcase with one hand and with a walking stick in the other, he pulled me out of my queue and said “As you are on a walking stick sir, please join the “family with children queue”, which was slightly shorter.

On 9/15/2022 at 12:38 AM, bbtablet said:

As we progressed slowly down the levels, it was disturbing to see on every accomodation floor the whole area in front of the lifts full of wheel-chairs, often two-deep, with their users becoming increasingly distressed as the 4 lifts whizzed by or stopped only to reveal them already crammed full of able-bodied passengers, none of whom appeared prepared to sacrifice their comfortable ride down.

 

I suppose you might expect everyone to be a bit stressed out and apparently thoughtless on a crowded disembarkation day, and it might be quite disruptive to empty a lift to accommodate a wheelchair passenger, so everyone will just stay put.

It works both ways too, I am in my early seventies, walk with a walking stick and have some difficulty dragging my suitcase/hand luggage around. On one of my recent cruises a couple, wheelchair user and his wife, boarded an empty lift in front of me. I asked if there was room for me, No she said and shut the lift door.

Thanks all.

I've booked a select fare on this one and have been looking forward to Tromso.

I am off to Norway on Arcadia in a few weeks time.

On checking the ports on "whatsinport" the port schedule states Arcadia will be docking in the Breivika dock at Kai24 which is 4Km north of Tromso City.

Do you know if P&O will provide a shuttle bus service at this port?

TIA

Paul

I have received extra OBC for 2 of my 3 cruises next year but nothing for my October cruise in 3 weeks time. 

I currently have 3 P&O cruises booked for next year, I have £200 obc for the first, £150 for the second and nothing for the third.

Puzzled ??? 

On 8/25/2022 at 6:47 PM, davecttr said:

 I had a deck 4 cabin once but had to be moved because of a horrible grinding noise after midnight. It came from the engineering spaces directly below and i think it was part of the food waste processing.

 

 

I have just had the very same experience on Explorer  last month Dave.

I had cabin 4053 and was woken up about 2AM every morning by a noise that sounded like a bag of rocks grinding together. I eventually got moved to cabin 4028 on the other side of the ship. However that cabin also had another mysterious noise occurring at 6:30 AM every morning, but as I am an early riser it wasn't a problem, a bit like an alarm clock.

On the Ventura library the book cases were kept locked, I had to peer through the glass to select my books and then ask the library person to open up the case and provide me with the books. On Iona the book cases were left unlocked for me to choose the books directly.

What is the procedure for choosing books  on Arcadia ?

I am looking forward to my first cruise on Arcadia in a few weeks time.

22 hours ago, elsieelsie said:

Hi, I just returned from a Baltic cruise on Britannia. Not sure if your itineraries will be the same, but we kept to ours and on schedule. Also bear in mind some destinations have more than one place to dock, although they are likely to use the same one. Shuttle buses were always FREE as we booked a ‘Select’ price but charged to your on board account if you booked a ‘Saver’ price. You get your boarding pass scanned as you board the bus.

Skagen - there was a shuttle bus provided, free for both saver and select. We didn’t use it as the walk into town was only 15-20 mins.

Kiel - no shuttle bus but only a short walk into town

Stockholm - shuttle bus to Stromgatan, opposite the Opera. £5 per adult, £2.50 per child if Saver fare passenger. We didn’t use this as we got on a ‘Red Sightseeing’ hop on hop off bus just outside the port, which was well worth it in Stockholm.

Helsinki - shuttle bus to Makasiinterminaali (£4/£2 for Saver)

Tallinn - shuttle bus to Mere Blvd Old Town (£4/£2 for Saver)

Copenhagen - no shuttle provided. There are hop on hop off buses waiting alongside the port. We walked. About 10/15 min walk to the Little Mermaid and another 15/20min walk to Nyhaven. We like walking and it’s a nice walk wherever you are heading. Walked for over 5 hours one day! 
 

It was brilliant on board, our second time on Britannia. We had a fantastic time!

Thank you from Me too, very useful info.

I will be doing this one next year.

Thanks

19 minutes ago, FIFE1 said:

Sorry one quick question, how soon can you order the test. I have tried this morning and  the website says it does not recognise my booking ref, in FAQs its says two weeks before you travel?

Yes two weeks is what I understood. I ordered my test 10 days before travel, no problems, tests arrived in plenty of time.