Windsurfboy

Am I right in my understanding that you  think it is a significant step above  Seabourn in terms of food and service and the intangibles

It's dancing or moving deck furniture noise that comes through ceiling.  Expect sound proofing works for cinema 

It's interesting,  we use Saga which is all inclusive, but I don't  see that many getting  their moneys worth by drinking 24/7

However I imagine it is psychologically different when you've paid an extra £xxxx for a package, what you've spent for drink is more top of mind

2 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

I thought if you bought it from P&O you can buy as much as you want. Completely different to bringing onboard

I should have been more clear was talking  about bottles from room service 

I thought if you bought it from P&O you can buy as much as you want. Completely different to bringing onboard

Which port is best is 100% geography. 

So the benefits of Dover vs Portsmouth depends where you live. Nevermind how nice Dover is another 4 hours in car outweigh any benefits 

The only meaningful discussion is Portsmouth vs Southampton. In my mind no buses,  Southampton wins. Yes it can be quite a walk in Southampton terminal to ship,  so less able walkers may disagree. 

But it's academic,  Saga is committed to Portsmouth 

 take  the I want to book a new cruise option on phone it is answered quicker

30 minutes ago, Bobblehat71 said:

Thanks for the replies both. I gave up on customer services after 50mins . Will try again later today. 

On 5/18/2024 at 6:33 PM, yorkshirephil said:

The staff are trained for such eventualities and protocols will be firmly established. In the unlikely event of having to go to the muster station announcements will be made, whether people will follow instructions is a different matter. As you say people running around trying to find their partners or children would create chaos. Myself and Mrs YP have always agreed that we do not go searching for each other in any emergency.

That's all well and good if both are physically and mentally able bodied.

Luckily both of us are, but if it wasn't the case, would I have complete faith in some member of staff with many priorities getting there, or would I want to be sure myself. I can't imagine standing at muster station wondering what is going on.

As for children then the primeval instinct  kicks in , I can't imagine many mothers not making their way straight to kids club. 

I thought your card was by cabin door, don't you need that to register at muster Station. 

1 hour ago, david63 said:

The nonsense of that letter is that your travelling companion may not be with you, which is true but one thing that is certain is that a member of crew will not be with you and furthermore your companion stands far more change of finding you than a member of crew will.

Absolutely right, clearly  the travelling companion will drop everything and come looking for you. They will have a better idea of where you are than a random member of the crew. Nonsense. 

This is very different to the previous situation when they stopped you boarding because you said you had a cough in the previous week. No evidence for insurance company. 

In this case it is much more obvious. 

1 Someone either turns up in a wheelchair when they said  they wanted no assistance. 

2 Or something happens,  they then are in a wheelchair tell P&O,  but all assistance places gone.

Case 1, hard luck

Case 2, should be an insurance claim, you are not fit to travel in a ship.

One thing situation 2 is not that rare must be a few each cruise. So perhaps P&O should not fill all assistance places as booking opens , but keep a few for this type of situation .

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

One hell of a risk as you have to have 3 months left on passport on your return. Your return on 21st October is within 3 months of expiry date of passport on 11th January. With that in mind it is a big gamble that they might not let you embark your cruise because of less than 3 months on your return.

I think you have you sums wrong. Jeans passport 10 years ends Jan 2026 and she is renewing in April 2025.

11 minutes ago, Cloudyrain said:

Due to many places not accepting the added months, and the need for the 3 months after return, the safest way is to view your passport as 9 years, 9 months from issue date. Sadly the added months are mostly irrelevant now.

The EU and is associated countries are basically the only  place that doesn't recognise the  added months.

However given Jean will be entering EU with less than 3 months before  10 years is up, best get it renewed. I've read and so have many of you of officials misinterpreting rules, so better be safe than sorry 

Megabear2 said that your insurance would not pay if your medical advisor said you were fit to travel. 

Fit to travel all depends on the circumstances.  If your leg was in plaster and you were going on a skiing holiday,  you would not be fit to travel.

So for a P&O cruise,  you would have to ask can I  climb 10 flights of stairs in X minutes unaided, if the answer was no then you would not be fit to travel. Ask the wrong question get the wrong answer

Interesting,  it reminds me of covid and being stuck in South Africa. 

Initially Cunard said they were not responsible for getting me home, even though they had cancelled cruise said it was my insurance company. My I insurance company  said no,  it was Cunards responsibility. They were helpful, sent me a letter to give to Cunard explaining the rules governing this, and telling them it was their responsibility. On receipt of the letter,  Cunard accepted responsibility. 

Everyone who is quoting discrimination law, must realise there is a practical limitation to how many people needing  a evacuation chair a ship can cope with safely. Given it takes 4 members of staff per chair.

So at sometime P&O must say NO.

What we have is a new system,  that now asks everyone if they need assistance as they book, and that you must answer yes or no to proceed.  It reminds everyone that it is their duty to tell P&O if anything changes. 

What we have in this case is errors in communication on one side or other,  perhaps due to the change in procedure. It might be maladministration but not discrimination. 

The new stricter system that allocates an assistance chair to all wheelchair users, seems to be right thing to do. To rightly assume anyone who needs a wheelchair can't cope with perhaps 10 flights of stairs without effecting others. It is matter of safety for others.

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.

54 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

P&O really need to make the form mandatory, then able bodied passengers would just state that no assistance is required, end of, whilst anyone answering yes, would then complete it with their details.  But I doubt that they will.

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.

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

If my arm gets damaged this cruise, I have a sneaking suspicion I shall be 'having more words' with Cunard about their lift policy on their newest ship.

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

3 hours ago, cowandbucket said:

Captain Volarić .

😖

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.

39 minutes ago, cowandbucket said:

Disembarked at Portsmouth on Friday after a good cruise on Discovery. Wet Portugal, mostly wet Western Spain and France. The new port at Portsmouth is much more efficient and pleasant than Southampton and many times better than Dover which is a nightmare to travel to and from for most people (M25 !!!). Newcastle would be better. 🤣 We left the library at 9.30 as required and we’re sitting in our Titanmobile at 9.50. Then a pleasant nonstop (our choice) trip of 3.5 hours home. It took 5 plus hours from Dover last year. Interestingly, although we were supposed to share transport, we were sole occupants both going to Portsmouth and coming home. Imagine our surprise to meet up with old friends who live within half a mile from us who also travelled as sole occupants. Not complaining but not good planning.

incidentally they were not many steamers put out as nearly the whole cruise was wet and windy and very few ventured out on the promenade deck whilst sailing. The crew were putting them out as we disembarked. 

Particular mention to the staff in the Grill for consistently providing great service and good food.

One comment we heard from very many was that we couldn’t understand the Captain’s morning announcements. I’m afraid his English was very accented. We had no clue as to what weather to expect, disembarkation deck etc…. The one important announcement about passports to be surrendered was thankfully repeated by the Entertainments Director.  I’m sure they knew of the possibility of misunderstanding. In 12 days we never saw him around the ship either unlike the friendly Canadian giant of last year. 

Who was the captain.