Windsurfboy

Have you looked at fjord specialists, or do you definitely want to sail from Southampton.

Nordic walking poles are not mobility aids. However could double up as one.

I have sympathy with P&O why they need to be strict at the time of booking with the numbers requiring assistance chaird. MANPOWER. The question " I need an assistance chair and I weigh less than 128Kg" indicates that an assistance chair needs 4 people (as max weight people are allowed to lift is 32Kg). So at 4 people per chair there must be a very finite limit to the number they can cope with and evacuate a ship in a quite limited amount of time.

Everyone does have to tick or not tick assistance is needed as you book, or you cannot proceed. So by not ticking this you have explicitly said you don't need assistance. I presume it's exactly the same on TA system. So to answer question above every able bodied person does state no assistance is needed

It's an impossible question to answer without knowing what budget and how formal they want. P&O start off cheaper , but have only Fjord cruises in mega ship Iona. Which during school holidays is full of kids , otherwise much less so. Iona has a wider range of included dining than Cunard. But reading CC MDR in Cunard is better than P&O Cunard offer 7 days as well as longer, are dearer like for like cabin and then have the grills at a price. To me timing and itinerary would be number 1.

This is where a walking stick is useful even if you don't need one

😖

I remember about 6 months ago or so, getting an email from P&O asking us if anything had changed and telling us of our duty to keep them informed of any changes. We had booked direct nearly 2 years ago , and said then no assistance required. So I presume everyone booked directly got an email. Perhaps the problem lies in the absurdity that if you book through a TA , Carnival (p&O and cunard) never email you directly but channel everything though TA. I don't know if it is TAs or cruise line that insists on this.

Who was the captain.

That's interesting and encouraging. It shows Md is both honest in accepting that the specialist chefs could perhaps do a better job, and flexible in the service to QG, ie if you are in QG and its cooked on the ship you should be able to get it. Luckily these restaurants aren't too far away. For example wouldn't work if tempura had to be brought up from deck 2 or 3

The speciality restaurants look excellent. Especially the Asian and Indian. I wonder if the sweet spot (economically) on QA , would be a PG , hence access to grills, but using speciality restaurants for a change (the PG alternative to ordering off menu) . The one question is how easy to get into speciality restaurants, not the same if you need to book everything in advance. Has Cunard said anywhere the capacity of the speciality restaurants. I wonder how the off menu Asian, Sushi , Indian food you get in QG compares to speciality restaurants, would chefs dedicated to one cuisine in speciality restaurants have the edge. When we were on Vistas and QM2 only speciality option was Veranda which didn't excite us.

Thank you. Looks like there is plenty of room for more. Think I remember more on SOA in 2022.

It all depends, yes runners should give way and clearly not force their way through. On the otherhand, walkers should also consider others, walking 4 abreast at half a mile an hour is equally inconsiderate. I've actually never had a problem . I don't recall the anti clockwise rule on other ships, things just worked. As to running machines , runners and power walkers are just as deserving of fresh air and a sea view as everyone else.

I see half of cruise critic is on this cruise. So exactly right people to answer questions. How does QA compare to the Vistas. How is off menu ordering in QG, is it just as flexible as normal. How is QG dining room , how have people found the banquette seating. I've heard PG is a nicer room, what do you think. What's the speciality dining like, is it good , how easy is it to get into, do you have to book days in advance. What is the grills deck like, is the service good

It is far safer for runners to go against flow, because as you say you can see them coming.

Hope you have a great time. Favourite ship. Last time I was on Spirit of Discovery in November last year had a great cruise, but it was still suffering from aftermath of previous disastrous cruise. One noticeable thing , very few steamer chairs on promenade deck , less than half versus on our previous Saga cruise. I think a lot got swept overboard even though tied down. What's the situation now, is there enough to fill both sides of ship on prom deck.

Sorry this is a a cruise not the local pub . One should expect better food accompanied by better wine than your local pub . If you want a cheap meal then you can get a microwave meal and cheap wine from supermarket. That's not why you go on a cruise. I've been looking at the P&O wine list , the mark up varies, some are 300% , notably those wines in the £ low 20s. However there most expensive wine Gervey Chambertin has a mark up of well under 200%, better than many restaurants on land

Yes but this is about hotels for a UK holiday versus cruise ships. Sorry but I don't think 30 mins from Hornchurch on a specific date qualifies as typical. We wanted to stay overnight this time last year in North West, but noticed it was Eurovision in Liverpool. Oops no cheap deals for 50miles of Liverpool. Prices are supply and demand . Pre Covid there was just over 600,000 thousand hotel rooms in UK (excluding air bnb etc) . This fell by up to 50,000 due to covid, the government has also taken 50,000 off the market. So prices have gone up. Would be even more but for the expansion of air bnb etc Hence the cheapest cruise prices are very good value compared to hotel, but at top end even P&O suites prices still plenty of exceptional UK hotels for that money. Unless you want a holiday in Central London. (Nightmare)

When you say "you were served " a Yellowtail Chardonnay, is it now on the wine list and you choose it. Or was it served as part of a package.

Had same, in trying to please early arrivals and not leave them outside, staff forget they are actually making it worse for those who have a genuine early arrival time and arrive on time. I think although a bit harsh, the system adopted by P&O because of it's mega ships, that of not letting early arrivals in terminal is best. But lots disagree.

I agree, but the move over , ever increasing inducement takes time, this seems last minute, but given right wording shouldn't take more than a few days if inducement was enough. But nothing stopping Cunard emailing everyone with balcony, offering healthy inducement and asking for volunteers. I'm sure if they emailed what must be hundreds, they would get enough willing to have a refund and OBC. This would be easier for those they can email to directly not via TA.

Nowt you can do but concentrate on own hygiene, and remember Covid lessons keep hands away from face. Avoid buffet

They have limited resources to check on washing, but I'd concentrate them on the buffet, most risk of cross contamination. For other restaurants it's more important for supervisors to check on staff.

We'll put YC on our list, but we like to sail out of UK.

Luckily I have got dinning booked. It is a one off experiment so far Sagabis our go to line. Never tried Yacht club, much of what you quote , mini bar etc can be paid for . My one reservation is plan to use own balcony, I think my wife may miss the YC sun deck , she always ends up chaaway to neighbours.