Interestedcruisefan

I don't think you do have to book the minute bookings open? The only thing I've found that needs to booked under pressure of time is 710 club which you can't book til you board Other than a Norwegian taster menu night on Iona fjords cruise in Epicurean which always sells out fast as it only operates on one night of the cruise Maybe there's other stuff but I would hazard a guess it's possibly people creating dramas that aren't needed being honest What things are people booking urgently when bookings open that they couldn't book with less urgency? I would be interested to know?

Aged 50 I would personally suggest Iona So many more dining, drinking, activity and entertainment choices than the smaller P and O and Cunard ships You would be travelling outside of school holidays in June so no problems with kids Would be a great place for a 50th and lots of extras you can add

Having closely looked at what my parents paid and got back in return from Saga in November the price difference is HUGE I assure you Fannyliz It's scary what saga have created in terms of perceived value and what they get away with charging IMO But my parents enjoyed the cruise so that's good at least

Give over windsurfboy Using a virtual queue a tiny fraction as bad as using real queues ? I actually enjoy it tbh Some theme parks charge an absolute fortune to give VIP guests the chance to use virtual queues rather than physical queues And people gladly pay big prices for it I do think some Brits do like to physically queue It's probably an ingrained habit over generations

So true - your observation re trains

Definitely not down market But very rare nowadays anywhere other than cruises or balls or sports hospitality. When normally you would be on tables or 10 with people you've chosen to be with We've done it in the past on cruises when there was no choice. Sometimes enjoyed it and sometimes didnt. But when cruises began it was the only way they could offer served dining to so many guests All eating together at the same time 100 per cent it would deter many younger demographics booking cruises. I remember when we knew we had to do it we were apprehensive Now it's a choice And when you go on the big ships and you go into MDRS you can easily see by choice that most people decline to share There are still large tables but mostly 2s or 4s and even on the larger tables they aren't all sharing meals with others. Many larger tables are only sharing them with family groups cruising together Using phones on dining tables I don't like. But it's very much not confined to small tables We manage fundraising at Hospitality events Walking round the tables of 10 and more often than not more than half the guests are looking at their phones That's just life in general. Nothing to do with cruising Cruises have to move with the times to win new customers and have to give them choices they want Or they won't win the new customers There's a choice now (on the bigger, modern ships at least)

Time you started doing as you were told zap!!

Couldn't you join the virtual queue whilst waiting for the baby to fall asleep? You can always exit and join another queue if the queue goes to quickly and the baby is still awake when your table is ready or you are getting close to front of queue too quickly?

With modern world progress I'm confident there's far far more changes for the good than the bad though Would anyone seriously like to return to doing muster drills the old way for example? Even in airports using the passport control machines is starting to become better !!! Lol (Overall) certainly helped with queues on our most recent holidays as people embrace the change and the tech has improved Then compare it to places where we still had to queue and wait for a limited amount of customs staff to check our passports In general we use technology to improve most things And in general there's few things I would like to change back

Cunard worried me when I considered a cruise with them by having different restaurants for different levels of customer spend I like entry level cabins then spending money to elevate my experience to the best food and drinks on the ship Which I know I can do on P and O? Albeit I was re-assured on the above a bit

Fair enough. Nothing wrong with any of that

Never seen that happen on 5 weeks of cruising on Arvia and Iona Honestly. Never had a single problem like that. Never had a glitch. I think those glitches are super rare. And scare stories go back a while now. For me - I don't count queuing as sitting at a bar waiting for an app to tell me a table is ready I count that as sitting at a bar. Normally it's the 710 club where I'm drinking Gary Baylor's favourite Negroni cocktail and listening to some of the best musicians on the seas playing jazzy covers of great songs live Its an absolute pleasure for me. Not a queue. Ps talking about Gary Barlow my wife is at Take That tonight in Nottingham with her friend. Tickets booked online. Hotel booked online. Restaurant booked online. She even sent me a link with her table number on it in the bar they were in so I could buy them both a drink online!! Lol

So how do you choose to dine on cruise ships Melly?

Definitely more queues for everything on older ships with less people booking on apps than bigger ships where it's more widely embraced But those queues are tolerated Also on smaller ships where you can't pre-book theatre you will face having to leave meals or drinks over 30 mins before a popular show starts to be able to get a seat The same shows will open doors 30 minutes before the show starts and people will be queuing from 15 mins before that It is what it is

I have serious qualms about queuing up and waiting for anything Hate even 2 minutes queue in Co-op nowadays and will head for the self serve Only tend to have to do it in airports and boarding cruises still And I hate that to I start timing how quick people are moving and estimating how long my life will be put on hold I do question anyone who really does enjoy queuing for anything Especially on a cruise where theres so many better places to be than in a corridor?

You have to keep reminding yourself when you reach the front of the queue there's another 15 mins grace! But sometimes that's not enough of course Or you take your cocktails you were relaxing with to the restaurant with you etc

For the big ships they need new younger demographics to have a viable future and are getting them In the meantime the older ships still offer what traditional cruisers still want to see But every year there will be less of these My daughter wanted to dress up on Princess in Alaska. But her boyfriend didnt have a dinner jacket. So she thought they would need to dine in buffet. Very wrongly as just wearing trousers, shirt and shoes (no jacket, no tie) qualified for formal on that cruise Problem was the queues for MDR which we couldn't pre-book meant we had to go to buffet regardless or we would miss the theatre show I'm a member of a Rotary Club. One of the youngest member (age 55) average age nearer to 75 now When I joined 20 years ago everybody wore a suit and tie to every meeting Now no more than 2 members out of 30 wear a suit. Maybe 4 members wear a tie. Some wear jeans. The world has changed a lot in 20 years

Warner holidays aren't as cheap as they used to be either!!

What kind of holiday can you compare sharing tables with others and eating at the same time at fixed times every night in the same place to? Where does this happen nowadays in the modern world apart from on the more old fashioned cruise ships? It does happen on escorted coach trips. And it does happen on Warner holidays I believe? (Not sure on the sharing tables bit) But where else would you get this? As for dinner jacket dining maybe once a year at a New Year's Eve event? Or maybe a summer ball? Dresscodes have become more relaxed pretty much everywhere in the modern world?

Great post I will add that on my last arvia cruise (2 weeks Caribbean cruise in Feb including half term one of the weeks) that 100 per cent the biggest problem I faced was queues going too quickly at which stage you have 15 mins to get to what you have booked. Which might be before we've left the cabin and us wanting cocktails before dinner etc It was never a case of waiting ages Never has been once in two arvia cruises and one Iona cruises I started deliberately joining longer queues or leaving a queue (remember it's virtual) and starting again in those instances

But we know that many go to clubhouse or skydome or crows Nest or the atrium or limelight club or 710 club or Bodies or the cinema or casino for their evening entertainment or kids club or teen club? I've missed a few And popular shows get 2 nights in the theatre as well

They have 3 shows a night though for busy theatre shows and that gives anyone who wants to see the show's lots of options One early, one middle and one late They will even put a really popular show on more than one night

I guarantee even if quality of MDR was a couple of levels higher the specialties would still be popular I find the MDRs good quality But many people nowadays are used to trying lots more things. Especially when they are on holiday. Its fun and the specialities are comparatively cheap for what you get as well!

There aren't enough school holidays for the big ships just to aim for families though I think they are going after anybody who wants a fun and good value holiday with lots of choices Going after people who may in the past have been booking all inclusive holidays abroad etc where they stay in same hotel with hotel entertainment for a week or two And they couldn't impress them with the old style cruising with the old MDR approach in those cruise ships and the lack of choices for dining and bars and entertainment Absolutely nothing wrong with those choices but that type of cruising would be something to appeal to Warner holiday demographics or escorted coach holiday demographics (again great holidays for those demographics) It's clear Iona and Arvia are going after younger demographics who may in the past have been staying in all inclusive resorts with 9 restaurants etc and lots to do in resort or holiday villages abroad or center parcs kind of demographics Hence Nicole Scherzinger and Olly Murs helping launch arvia (Nicole 45 years old and Olly 40 years old) Demographics from that agegroup And it's clear they are hitting the spot with what they are doing as well Most of the complaints last year (there will always be some) had moved on to Maleth airlines rather than on to the actual ships

Arvia and Iona are getting far far more right than they get wrong Very well organised machines now IMO I would suggest its only old time cruisers who like set dining times every night and like to share tables who would have any reason to want them to do things different with regards to dining. Which is fair enough. And P and O have ships that do that still. New cruisers will very much appreciate the huge range of choices the big ships offer and the freedom to dine early or later and not have to share I couldn't even book a table last week on Princess most nights And when I could the only ones I could book required me to share They had walk up physical queues of 20 mins plus without bookings Not for me But lots of people in the past just have got used to sharing tables at set times I guess and also accept physical queues as part of cruising Try selling that concept to new cruisers in this day and age Just won't happen Younger people so used to doing everything using apps and phones nowadays they would actually immediately question being told to go and physically queue for anything they want to do It's not the modern way of doing things