kermchem

There should be no need to link your broker account to the stockperks app - as that seems to be the most dodgy bit about the new app based system. You just need to buy the shares in a format where you can generate a pdf file of the account showing your name (same as the name of the person going on the cruise) and that you hold 100 shares. Redact all other information.

On the recent 12 day Azura repositioning cruise from Tenerife to Malta in April the cruise personaliser definately said 4 formal nights in the weeks before the cruise, which turned out to be 2 when onboard.Shipboard and central communications not talking to each other?

Major, high street, travel agent seems to have persuaded Royal Mail to deliver their glossy today. “Azura’s continuing her fly-cruise holidays to the Mediterranean but you’ll see more stops at Kusadasi where you can explore Ephesus - one of the world’s best-preserved ancient cities and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There will also be more overnight stays in Valletta, giving you more to uncover Malta’s capital. Also new to Azura’s holidays are stops in Toulon, and Calvi where you can explore Corsica. This rugged, mountainous island offers plenty for nature lovers from hiking and snorkelling to sunbathing and kayaking” My summary of the various 7 day itineraries is that there are more than 3. Some run more than once, indeed perhaps every 3 weeks, but they have tried to spice up the variety.

Given that we flew back to the UK from Malta yesterday, after an Azura cruise from Tenerife via Valencia, we appear to have been on the same cruise as the orginal poster. I am sorry to hear that you contracted the lurgy, and you were not given the treatment you appear to have expected from the onboard medical staff. The e-mail I received from P&O 36 hours before leaving the UK says "... following a small number of reported cases of gastrointestinal illness, we have implemented enhanced approved protocols to maintain the wellbeing of all guests and prevent spread." A similar message was repeated by the Captain in an announcement that was made into cabins before we left Tenerife. The gastrointenstinal illness was never named. On entering all eating areas (MDR, specialist eateries, buffet) as well as the Playhouse theatre, guests were required to satitise hands with an alcohol gel - the staff were pretty efficient at ensuring this. There were also gel dispensers widely distributed about the ship. Only the Venezia buffet was operating, and all buffet items were served onto your plate by the buffet staff. I assume that Verona buffet staff were being used to provide the necessary additional manpower. Passengers were advised, but not required, to use the toilet facilities in our own cabin, and to wash hands properly with soap for at least 20 seconds under running water. The staff were very efficient in sanitising a table after guests left, and I think most guests were equally good in waiting for this to be done. On arrival in Cagliari, Tuesday 26th March, breakfast in the buffet was suddently self-service, and the Verona buffet was also open. By dinner same day we were back to served food in buffet, either because of an increase in cases (the original poster), or perhaps because Italian port health authorities disagreed with the decision to relax restrictions. No announcement was made about relaxation or return to restrictions. After breakfast on the final morning (Thursday) at least one buffet was sealed, even as a walk-through, presumably to allow for a deep clean. On only one occasion did I encounter a fellow passenger with a serious coughing fit attempt to fill the atmosphere in a food serving area with the fine particles from his lungs, throat and mouth. He was totally unware of his behaviour, and few passengers around him seemed to care. I left the area. We have returned home with no apparent gastrointestinal issues, no coughs, colds or sore throats. This was "only" our fifth cruise and we have had sore throats and coughs before. I wonder if a balcony cabin is a good investment. But, no-one with access to the facts ever actually said "norovirus", and they were encouraging use of alcohol gel (which does not kill noro) and soap (which does kill noro). Would I cruise on Azura again next week? Yes.

There is no booking required for Glass House on Azura, certainly not this cruise. Recognise that this is a wine bar that serves food, turn up, order a drink and be patient has worked for us twice. Do not arrive at 7.30 and demand immediate food.

Sitting on my 5ft by 9ft A deck balcony on Azura, the B deck below us are identical, C deck stick out further and the superior balconies on D deck further still. All C deck protrude by the same amount.

Dined in Glass House on Azura again last night (Friday). Now on menu B this week. No chicken and chorizo on menu. Haddock and chips was “off the menu” by the time we ordered, and the sea bass baked in banana leaf was lovely but missing banana.

Azura is just departing Cadiz on her way from Tenerife to Malta. Dined in Glass House yesterday. We drank a glass of Prosecco when we arrived at 8 and were served food at 9. We concluded that it is a much more pleasant wait then getting a freedom dining table for 2 at the same time. Glass House has a slightly different menu next week. Food is available at lunchtime with apparently much shorter wait. Cannot comment on Chicken and chorizo.

While we are reminiscing, do remember that before the Great War the exchange rate was $5 = £1, so those fares looked less scary to us Brits.

I teach at a university, and I can tell you that the youth of today are not capable of drinking beer and eating dodgy food - many of them don't seem to have the stomach (or the immune systems) for the job. Or perhaps they have not been exposed to the bugs to build that immune system.

E-mail this morning from Stockperks, or at least some organisation claiming to be them, saying that their systems have suffered a glitch, and some users have not been able to claim their perks. I wonder when the message is going to get back to Carnival corporate HQ that this organisation they have signed up with are a joke. Unhappy cruiser. Unhappy shareholder.

I have a similar grey redeem button even after ownership of shares has been recorded. Let us know how you resolve this. My greater annoyance is with this app being so US-centric. Does P&O, Aida, Costa know how they have made life so difficult for their British and European customers?

OK, another Friday morning, time 10.20 am. It appears that flight MLT1972 the 9.20 from Gatwick to Barbados is sitting on the ground at Gatwick. Departures are showing the gate as closed. Presumably the passanger are sitting in the gate or on the plane.. Meanwhile the Manchester flight MLT1974 departed Manchester at 10.04 half an hour late and is currently flying in a direction that suggests it is going to land at Gatwick rather than Barbados!

(I also couldn't resist) I needed to Google "Avenue 5", and the opening text of the first hit (IMDb) says "The troubled crew of Avenue 5, a space cruise ship filled with spoiled, rich, snotty space tourists must try and keep everyone calm after their ship gets thrown off course into space and ends up needing three years to return to Earth" So if that is the P&O target market for 3025 then I will be looking for a different cruise line.

I have no experience of Americans and cruise lines other than what I read, but it seems that the cruise and flight part of the fly-cruise are separate bookings, and the concept of a "package" holiday is unknown. Americans seem to fly, stay in hotel for a few days and then cruise. Buying a cruise "with air" seems to be the subject of many a discussion thread. P&O are mass-selling winter long-haul fly-cruises from Barbados to Brits, up to 28 months in advance, when flight schedules are only available at 12 months, P&O don't actually own an airline (unlike Marella / Tui) and UK airports fall apart at the mere forecast of half an inch of snow, and they are doing it with bigger ships than before. Oh, and those passengers walk off the plane and onto the ship same day. Amazes me it even works. Sorry to hear that the rubber band broke this weekend.

I am no stranger to booking travel arrangements online - my first experience was booking a flight online in about 1996. I published my first web page in 1994 (now I feel old!). I have built several websites, so the internet is not a novelty to me. We have cruised before (P&O Oceana 2017, Airtours Carousel 1997 and 1998) but our Canaries Islands experience on Thompson Topaz 1999 (rust and bucket are the best terms to use, together with "missed ports") meant that to persuade my other half to cruise Canaries again, I decided that we needed to sit with a real TA agent. Our chosen agent is the one with the largest UK branch network, and every time we have been there (book, rearrange flights, final balance payment) we have been the only customers in a high street branch on a Saturday morning. I have learned a lot from lurking in this forum (I am showing a profit on my P&O shares even before I get my OBC). Yes, I will book my next cruise online with an agent that offers a discount, but only if my other half is convinced. I don't doubt that some TAs have the direct desk phone number of their friendly individual at P&O towers, some cruise-specialist online TAs might even have direct access to P&O IT systems (if you reserve a cabin with them then it disappears from the P&O booking site - I have done that experiment), and an online TA can probably save up all the online queries and send them to P&O in one consolidated list, or even ask for a phone back when someone at P&O is quiet. But ten days ago, in a deserted branch of the largest TA in the country it took 30 minutes for P&O to pick up the phone. If P&O wants more Joe Public to cruise for the first time (and increase the value of my shareholding please), then to return to the thread title, the CEO needs to (a) pick up the phone and try calling his sales office that he is currently advertising on TV, and (b) visit a high street TA and ask something that needs a call to P&O. The CEO gets paid more per hour than I do and he will not be happy to sit and wait, even on his weekend!

We booked through a high street TA because, yes, I knew exactly which cruise I wanted, but we needed an agent to make all the nice customer service noises that one of us needed to hear, and we work in the week, usually in different towns, so an empty (!) TA on Saturday morning it is. I could have booked direct for the same price, or with another TA for a discount, but neither would have made for domestic bliss! But, back to my earlier comment, P&O has effectively two phone numbers, one for direct customers and one for all the TA’s (big ones, small one, specialist, mine, yours, etc.) and they don’t have enough staff to answer EITHER of them. Use a specialist or online TA and they still have to sit on the phone and wait for P&O to answer.

I am not sure it is much better if you do book through a TA. Two weeks ago we visited our large chain high street TA on a Saturday morning (oops) to ask if we could change airport (from BHX which was what was left when booked, to NCL which now has availability) for a cruise where the final payment was almost due. Select price paid, so the answer should be yes, and indeed was yes. But only after the TA had phoned P&O on the dedicated TA-only number and waited about 30 minutes to get through. The actual call took only 5 minutes or so. We live in times when staff shortages are the norm.

Not strictly true to say ‘that’s it for this season’. There are still cabins being sold for Caribbean cruises this season, and presumably if you book a cabin with a flight from Manchester right now then you get a seat on a Maleth flight, as I assume that the Tui seats have gone. . I guess if you try to book with a travel agent then they will tell their clients the story. If you book with P&O by phone then hopefully the call centre staff are briefed. But if you look at the current website there is nothing there about flights. True, no promise about premium economy, but also nothing to correct any assumptions that a purchaser might have.

I think that the direct trains from Aberdeen to Plymouth and Newcastle to Bournemouth may be summer timetable only

To me, the problem with the idea that there will be no late deals is that the customer P&O is trying to attract does not book their holidays two and a half years in advance. Why are Tui and Jet2 flight not available for P&O to confirm when they sell a cruise 18 to 24 months ahead? Because these are holiday companies who expect to sell summer 2024 holidays in January 2024.

Arvia leaves Southampton on 24th October on 14, 15 and 22 night cruises. Roughly a third of the cabins will be allocated to each. If it looks as though a cabin is not available for 22 nights then it will have been allocated to one of the others.

Ok, so when Azura leaves Tenerife on a Saturday with pax who have been on board for eight nights, a week, a night or just arrived, and you can book some speciality dining from home two weeks before your cruise “departs”, how does this work? We are booked on the Tenerife to Malta repo in March 2024, Saturday flight, so among the last to either board the ship or find the booking window opens.

My understanding is that Azura winter fly-cruises from Tenerife are available for 7 days and 14 days, with departures from Tenerife on both Friday and Saturday. The P&O IT system seems to assign an individual cabin to only one of the cruises that might be running at any one time. Indeed there are probably Friday cabins and Saturday cabins. So when you look at a Friday departure at least all the Saturday cabins appear to be taken, and I wonder if when you look at a 7 day cruise then the 14 day cabins also appear taken.

Both Ventura and Iona were already going to the Caribbean in January 2024, though not on the same date. Presumably P&O have some booking data already to justify the 2025 repeat.