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21 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

If you buy it from room service to drink in your cabin I am not aware of any restrictions, if you buy it from the duty free you get it at the end of the cruise.

 

We have had a couple of long cruises where there has been a voucher delivered to the cabin where you could pick up a litre of spirits per person to drink in your cabin with a discount, I think either 10% or 20%.

Indeed on the longer cruises they SOMETIMES give vouchers for in cabin consumption at a greatly reduced price , however the problem is that the most popular brands get sold out quickly and are seldom restocked , if you drink gin it does not appear to be an issue, if you don't its tough luck  

There are only two port presenters left and they are only on the world cruise and the 65 night cruises ( or 75 night ) ,Speaking to one of them it would appear that its only a matter of time before they too are gone, regarding the condition of Aurora I agree that things will need to be updated if the high prices are to be justified , although it is our favourite both it and Arcadia need some serious money spending on them to bring them up to a standard that warrants the high prices ( personal opinion )

well after years of procrastinating we have booked for the Balmoral later this year and as we like to try other lines we will go with an open mind, the sailing from Newcastle was the thing that tipped it for us

34 minutes ago, Funboy said:

Have to agree. On our recent Iona cruise virtually no-one washed their hands in the three areas we ate in...buffet Olive and Quays.

I’m afraid to say it’s a massive issue across the whole fleet , something really needs to be enforced with relation to personal hygiene in eating areas. As for leaving restrooms, what can you say? 😟😟

3 hours ago, david63 said:

Is it possible that the gifts were not ordered within the required timescale? From memory these gifts need to be requested at least four days prior to sailing

Mine were ordered and paid for three months in advance , unfortunately neither shoreside or on board would accept responsibility 

It may not be important ,but there is no doubt when the crew have a good captain in charge IE, a peoples person , the whole ship is a happier place , we have noticed this with both sides of the coin

Of no help with the contacting customer service ,but I can say I had a similar experience on our recent cruise and the on board reception informed me that shoreside had not relayed the correct information to the ship ,the result been that the surprise birthday package for my wife was in our cabin as we arrived in January, instead of March , it took a few visits to sort out the situation but by then the surprise was spoilt.

Best of luck and hope your complaint is dealt with when you eventually find a way to speak to somebody 

I can see both sides to this issue , however in relation to choice , a very popular whisky ran out within three weeks of our world cruise and was never replenished , despite various port stops where it could have been , and if you don’t drink gin (I don’t ) the onboard offers were very restrictive, the only other whiskey offered was top end malts which I don’t particularly like . I took onboard one bottle of my preferred whiskey and bought another whilst on board before it ran out , however with just the one drink on the balcony pre dinner it soon ran out , and I was unable to purchase any from any bars for the remainder of the cruise. If this new policy is implemented it is to be hoped the onboard stocks are sufficient to satisfy demand 

Had an inside cabin three times on Ventura on lido deck (it was our preferred location and cabin) and we had no problems with noise or anything else 😃

41 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Yes same thing happened to us with Nationwide was very impressed. Will be interesting to see how things will be different when Aviva take over travel insurance.

Indeed it will , not for the better I suspect

8 hours ago, Funboy said:

On our recent cruise on Iona we rarely saw anyone washing hands entering the Horizon. We stood and watched as we washed our hands and when it was busy, especially at breakfast hardly anyone stopped to wash. Personally I would love to see staff at the entrances telling people they cannot enter without washing hands first.

 

This is exactly what was happening on Arcadia, staff were stationed at the hand wash facility but so many passengers argued or ignored them or said ,"were just passing through, or I've just washed my hands" that staff didn't enforce it, with the exception of one staff member who would not let anyone pass until they washed their hands , the grief she got was incredible but she stuck to her guns, unfortunately she was only there a few times and passengers went around the other side to avoid her.

Only when the captain announced that it was his orders to wash hands and his orders to make staff  take note of cabin numbers etc of those who refused to comply did you see 100% compliance , personally my thoughts have always been that this action from the start could have helped matters .

The obvious conclusion is that a captain should not have to resort to these measures and that some peoples dirty habits have a major impact on other passengers and crew☹️    

38 minutes ago, kruzseeka said:

Well I'm pleased to say that we've just returned from the 12 night Norway cruise on Arcadia which followed on from your return and there was no evidence of NV onboard. 👍

 

We also had a 90 minute delay wrt boarding tmes whilst additional cleaning took place.  We arrived about 20 mins before our designated time (2 pm revised from 12.30) and boarded immediately to find quite a few already on board.  I think they began embarking at 1.30.  We spoke to someone who had come by coach and there had been no revised departure time for them so they arrived about 2.00 and boarded immediately.  He said it was the fastest boarding they'd known!  There was quite a wait to gain access to cabins but it all seemed to work well and I didn't hear any complaints. 

 

The Capt and Hotel Manager were very up-front about the infections prior to our embarkation and frequently reiterated the need for hand washing and compliance.  Enhanced procedures in the buffet were in place and you couldn't help yourself to teas/coffees - staff would make those at your request.  

 

After about 3/4 (?) days an announcement was made that here had been no reported infections so normal service was resumed in the buffet.  We didn't get any indication later in the cruise that there was as a recurrence. 

 

So hats off to their procedures and compliant passengers.  We had been a little apprehensive beforehand but had a good cruise and thankfully no infections. 

 

I m

 

 

 

 

 

We too 

 

Glad to hear all now appears to be calming down, I do feel a lot of sympathy for the staff as they do all they can to stop the spread of infections, however if a minority of passengers are incapable of basic hygiene ( and from what I witnessed they are) they are fighting a losing battle, towards the end of our cruise fellow passengers were bringing to task those that would not comply, it did make trying to get drinks in the buffet a long winded affair

7 hours ago, seahorse001 said:

Oh dear. All the P & O ships I have been on have NEVER enforced washing hands anywhere on the ship. I personally witnessed people entering the buffet going in and out with food & not washing their hands.Also in toilets .In MDR there is hand gel on reception. I guestimate 10% of people used it & staff did not challenge them. SOME passengers are disgusting 🤮

I have the utmost sympathy for your enforced delay , however it is not just Aurora , we got off Arcadia after 99 nights and its fair to say that infections were plentiful ( of all descriptions)and increased in the last three weeks of the cruise , it says something when the Captain announced that anyone not adhering to basic hygiene requests would be put off the ship, and indeed 

they were, we never used the lifts and never once touched any grab or handrails during the whole voyage ,even when the ship was rolling all over, and still succumbed in the last few days and got off the ship with infections of varying descriptions which we are still suffering with. Honestly I do not know what the answer to this problem is but feel that earlier ,and strictly enforced standard hygiene practices perhaps would have minimized the spread , it must be stated that as passengers were flying into the ship and embarking at numerous ports this will not have helped ( passengers next door to us were isolating with sickness etc within an hour of embarking) 

I do wish you a speedy embarkation and hopefully a healthy cruise😃

Having just returned from the full world cruise I can confirm that the problems began after Singapore and increased dramatically after embarking passengers in Capetown , Captain Sharples did a good job in trying to contain it but some people will just not do as they are asked and some did indeed get removed for not following the requests of the captain , rightly so imho. 

Unbelievable how rude and obstructive some people are to staff when asked to follow basic hygiene requests, it is also fair to mention that if enforcement had been made from the start it would have restricted some of the problems.

Some passengers embarking in Capetown were isolating in their cabins within an hour of boarding so no doubt they brought issues on board with them.

Unable to confirm but mention was made of a couple put off in Tenerife because they stated they were allergic to water 😒

Nice pictures ,thanks,  hope things calm down for you all,  just a little surprised to see green beans though as its out of character for P and O 🤣🤣🤣🤣  

I have to agree about sleeping well in an inside cabin , we usually end up over sleeping  when we have been in one , just like sleeping in a hotel room with blackout curtains .

If you don't use your cabin for things other than showering and sleeping you wont miss the balcony. and if its free , well why not !!! 

Have a great trip and hope things at home improve for you 👍 

Two observations following Selbournes report, firstly I have written confirmation that the welcome onboard lunch will DEFINITLY be a sit down affair on our upcoming world cruise,  I always doubted this as its a given a lot of high tier passengers will be aboard this cruise, so if what happened on Aurora yesterday rolls over to Arcadia on the 6th it will lead me  to believe that anything the company says must be taken with a large pinch of salt ,time will tell.

Secondly it is a well known problem on Aurora that the beds have less room underneath to store suitcases than any of the other ships ,so I assume its the bed manufacture that is the issue ,for most its just an inconvenience ,however in Selbournes (and possibly others ) situation it makes things really difficult ,as for storing suitcases on balconies ,Really?

Best wishes for the rest of what should be a memorable trip😃 

1 hour ago, Jules of The Seas said:

Just off Aurora new year cruise. Apparently 93 cabins were affected by floodwater on the previous cruise, mainly on C deck forward, port side. Some 10 couples were denied boarding and sent home as they couldn’t organize new cabins. Some cabins still out of service.

We also missed Zeebrugge port due to high winds making it unsafe to dock, according to the Captain.

Could you confirm if the 10 couples who were turned away were embarking the 65 night grand Voyage please as we know two couples who were going on it? Thanks 

From personal experience the 65 nights will fly by , agree completely regarding the space centre , amazing place, We wont be able to keep up with your updates too much as we don't use the ships internet unless its absolutely necessary and we are sailing for 99 nights , I don't think we cross paths on either of our voyages but wish you both the best of times, even though I understand boarding has had a bit of a hiccup 😃

Also forgot to mention the drinks package is standard on balcony cabin ,so you may need to check if your cabin is covered under these terms?

9 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Takes us to places we would need to road trip to though from Cape Town

 

Richards Bay and Port Elizabeth 

 

And not too keen on driving over there 

 

I had looked at Rovos Rail but much more expensive to travel with them 

 

Are the drinks that are included good quality?

 

My wife would drink sparkling wine and I would drink gin and tonics mainly

 

Perhaps a glass of wine each with dinner as well?

 

I realise this is the opposite of Arvia in terms of ship but we like quality as well 

 

Looks like they have a jazz band as well on board which we enjoy

 

 

Absolutely loved Azamara , the drinks package is really good with plenty of choice of good quality wines and spirits ,you can upgrade to the superior package but tbh its not worth it (personal opinion ) , the food was superb as was the level of service in every department , smaller ships for sure but really well furnished , I would say two weeks would be enough for us as night time entertainment is limited , nice clientele on board and a classy feel to everything , as for comparing to P and O I feel you would notice the difference even before you step on board.

We will definitely sail with them again when the time and itinerary is correct 

2 hours ago, david63 said:

Inexperienced staff.

Lack of training.

Left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

The script says so.

Make it up as you go along.

 

Take your pick of any of the above!

Or all of the above 🤣

As somebody who is embarking on this cruise all I will say is that the information relating to vaccinations ,testing and visas from P and O has been ,dare I  say, indifferent 

3 hours ago, Technoman2 said:

But throwing her boobs out whilst in the ruckus should be a determining factor. I kid you not.

Oh my stars😒

Interesting read, thank you, having done numerous Caribbean cruises it is always nice to get a new perspective on the cruise ,shame about the behavior problems caused by a few passengers , however upon reading other reports it would appear this is becoming a common theme