BornLucky

If there had been a Q&A i reckon the first question would have been: how come the officers / high Latitude members dinnner leaving Belfast had wine flowing while the rest of your paying customers werent allowed any alcohol until 11.40pm? The whole day / evening in Belfast officers were notably absent from public areas.

Having got off Star this morning my main disappointment is that at no point did pasasengers get any hint of an apology never mind compensation. All we got was "thank you for you understanding". The problem was NCL not the Ports. If you had said "SORRY" I might have been more understanding. NCL: Shame on you.

Orion and Jupiter have the Planetarium dome. There are, I understand, no plans to add on any future builds. I know lots of people think they are a waste of time and space but if utilised in the right way by Viking it can be a real treat. On Southern Atlantic Crossing last month the resident astronomer was fantastic. His Theatre talks, on deck stargazing and yes, Planetarium sessions were a highlight of my cruise. The other dome shows were worth the time as well. The resulting loss of sitting space is hardly a problem given the multitude of quiet areas on all Viking ships.

Had been following this topic as had intyerest in afuture Panamana Canal cuise. We disembarked Jupiter last week after a 21 day voyage. The Restaurant and World Cafe were extremely poor. Not just the service but the menus and food preparation way below previous Viking standards so it is obviously a wide ranging problem for Viking. Had been on the same ship a few months ago and it was great but many of the experinced crew had been moved to the newer and Ocean and Expedition ships. On a positive note the Entertainment staff were excellent.

With respect I disagree. Yes the Cunard price is higher but they offer you a huge choice of properly made and presented coctails within the limit. On P&O there is almost no choice and the presentation is amateur. Basic P&O drinks are the best value and for most paying as you go is probably the better option.

Glad you made the package work for you. I dont't think anyone could argue with my view that the P&O Ultimate drinks package is the worst such offering of any cruise line. It is the only line where I don't buy the package and have pretty much switched my custom to other cruise lines. Even when other Carnival Group lines have similar rules on paper they are in fact much better in terms of the choice you get. I do however agree P&O have a good choice of beers but they are only about 4 quid anyway so don't justify buying the package.

Each to their own. I pefer the bar staff to make my cocktails rather than me doing a venue crawl to pour from cup to cup. How about getting the cocktails you want on your holiday? Your compromise saves you a few quid, probably not a significant proportion of your overall holiday cost. If budget restricted take some drink on board and have it in the cabin. Either way has to be better than calling a 25ml (dirty the glass) measure of Baileys in a coffee a cocktail.

soft drinks equals three fountain drinks: pepsi, pepsi max, R.White lemonade. Nothing else, so no e.g. ginger ale or milkshakes. coffee is regular size.

two rubbish cocktails permitted on P&O drinks package. Pages and pages included on Cunard and all properly presented.

The problem is that P&O restrict the choice of inclusions far more than on the others. The Cunard package is more expensive but you can have pretty much any drink you want. On P&O you almost have to ask what you are allowed !

The problem with the drinks package is not the number of drinks allowed but rather the absurd restrictions on what you can order and the way it makes you feel (3rd rate passenger). On every other cruise line I have been on I buy the drinks package. On P&O I did the last time but the resulting frustrations ruined my cruise experience, I will cruise P&O again but no matter how much I spend on drinks by ordering as I go it will be better than with the package.

I think a related problem appears to be that capacity has been cut, so more are showing as sold out quicker. If you are not in a P cabin expect to have a restricted choice. For some activities there may be a physical capcity restriction, but too many that are showing as sold out merely require another bus and guide. If you look at roll calls here on CC it seems to be that more passengers than usual are opting for third party small group tours.

You can bring unlimited soft drinks (and tea/coffee) with you when you board plus two litres of alcohol for in cabin consumption. That is an easy way to have drinks you like, keep costs down, then pay as you go for some nice drinks in the bars / restaurants. Far less hassle than trying to work around the drinks package restrictions. I think one of the daftest restrictions I encountered was being told I could only have a single espresso coffee after dinner, not a double !

I would rather pay 60 pounds a day on drinks i want rather than 40 on ones that P&O deem to allow. In all probability will end up up not spending much more than 40 anyway. Also heartening to me that I can feel a satisfaction from giving my money to a grateful bar owner ashore rather than endorsing the P&O Ultimate Frustration package aboard.

Unlike many other cruise lines I can honestly say from experience that booking a "cheaper" grade on Viking Ocean has zero impact on the way you are treated from the moment you step aboard. First class consideration all the way.