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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😃

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?

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

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

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

Which is just about right, imho 😃

We spent 65 nights on Aurora in January and so long as she is still in the fleet will be doing so again in January 2025 ,the cabins are a little dated ( mostly the bathrooms ) and we are about to spend 99 nights on Arcadia in January, same applies regarding cabins , overall if these two ships can still turn a profit after maintenance and depreciation and unless an offer to good to turn down appears then I suspect these two ships will be around for a good while yet ( personal opinion of course).I do agree with Selbourne that when the time comes for either or both to go they will probably not be replaced

Ditto

Yes they do ,best advice is to pay with a card that does not carry a conversion charge

In response to Terrier John and Selbourne, Re tv, I was implying that any future bandwidth should be first made available to passengers paying for internet connection. In no way was I suggesting that people should not watch tv . On a personal level tv is near the bottom of my things to do on a cruise , but as I have discovered in the past, personal opinions are not the brightest things to express on these boards and I must therefore remind myself not to pass comment, unless of course it is to help answer specific queries or advice to help others

Hope not ,T V is the last thing I'm interested in on a cruise, However if it provides better wi fi for those people that need it for work purposes etc then it has to be a good thing

Interesting point regarding longer cruises, on every one we have done we have always ended up been some of the last people up ,and were talking as the last show finishes (11.15 ish) the only other people who we could talk to were the staff , the upside of that is we have made some long standing friends with quite a lot of them, it does however make for a pretty dull atmosphere. This does not apply to the biggest three ships of course as ,up until now they have never done longer cruises.

Couldn't agree more, with regards to visas they just bat you away to some third party visa site, and obviously after this Januarys fiasco they have realized their error in communication ,and as such we have received written notification that our 2025 Aurora 65 night cruise WILL require the YF vaccination/exemption letter .,suspect this is due to visiting the Caribbean following on from Brazil One interesting snippet we picked up while pulling our hair out in January was that just because you are over sixty does not make you automatically exempt, the whole thing is a minefield☹️

We paid £25 pp for the official gp letter , in January we were lucky? That our gp e mailed us with a covering letter stating our exemption with fifteen minutes left before our luggage was to be removed from the ship , we are taking no chances this time and that’s why we have paid for the official letter , even though P and O have said we don’t need one , I just don’t believe anything they tell us tbh

As somebody who had this issue in January I now know that nothing but an official gp or yellow fever clinic exemption certificate ( or the vaccination) will suffice . We have paid for said exemption certificates as we do not want to be treated like naughty schoolchildren again ,even though P and O have said we do not need them for our upcoming world cruise , just as they never told us we DID need them for the aurora cruise in January! Believe me this time we will be taking no chances and have our shoe size, waist size and inside leg measurements amongst other things . The attitude at Southampton in January was nothing short of diabolical, also I believe the number who had to make alternative arrangements to be more than 40 , some losing the whole trip🤢

Usually when you book your next cruise

Blimey miles away from 83 yet , but have our guide dogs wall calendar which is sent every year, prefer it to the I phone one tbh, only ever received one calendar from P and O and that was many moons ago.

The balancing act of modern ,up to date cabins and facilities against dated but easier to navigate ships

We have seen this on three different occasions the idea of missing the ship is never intentional, however one incident last year highlighted how things can go awry, we joined a few other couple's on the quayside to visit a beach via minibus and arranged a return pick up time , driver duly arrived and as we set off the minibus broke down ,never to start again, eventually (Caribbean time) a replacement arrived and we got back with half an hour to spare, having original allowed 3 hours to get back and have a drink portside before boarding

As you are new to P and O you will miss out on the pre booking discount so the price if booking onboard will be the same , if you wait to book whilst on board you may run the risk of your choices not been available as the popular trips are usually full before the ship sails, if you have an idea of what trips you wish to go on and are happy with the price the best option would be to pre book , over the last few years the prices between independent and ships excursions has narrowed considerably. Whatever you decide have have a great cruise 😎