Cheshire Blue

appreciate that - and may call TA to do just that. Prior to that wanted to see if others had any experience of getting something back from P & O in such circumstances (OBC / free car parking / other ?)

UK based - have booked two cabins (via a travel agent) for later in the year - total cost circa £8,500 and paid 10% deposit (circa £850). Prices have now dropped on P & O website - so same (next door cabins) would now be £7,400 (i.e. total saving of circa £1100). Frustrating ! Clearly I could cancel and re book - but after losing the initial deposits - £850 - which I assume I will do ? the net gain is £250 (spread across two cabins - i.e £125 per cabin) which am not sure is worth the hassle factor. Any thoughts ? Am sure I read elsewhere that if you kicked up a fuss - P & O might offer some (small) compensation by way of OBC but could others advise if this is likely or whether i just "suck it up" and accept that prices may go up or down ! Any past experiences welcomed

could you post / advise as to drinks menus - cocktails / spirits / wines / beers etc - so I can try to see what I can get (and whether its within or without the £6.95 package limit) please ?

Thanks to everyone for the replies and in particular to Hampshire Steve - hope to hear further as to the current cruise over the coming days.

Am looking at booking an Arcadia cruise (18 nights) later in the year (November) so would be interested as to any further insights you (or anyone else) can offer on this ship. We have cruised on Aurora and Britannia before but not Arcadia. Most recently cruised on Celebrity Silhouette - where we enjoyed the speciality dining restaurants and the access to the martinis and cocktails via the drinks package. I assume P & O / Arcadia will not compare with this (sadly) but would welcome thoughts If I may ask a few specifics : Age range. We are late 50s / early 60s. How will that compare with the people on board (I suspect April will have similar clientele to November) ? Does it matter ? Does everyone go to bed at 10.30 ? We are normally up to about 12.30 ish ? Only two speciality restaurants on Arcadia - are they both open ? How difficult to book ? Are they any good ? How much are they charging ? Noticed you mentioned a mini Glass House ? What is this ? Could you let me know what cocktails would be available on board (and which fall within the Package limit - which I think is still £6.95) ? I understand Champagne is outside the package limits - so a real shame you cannot simply pay the difference (which would seem a fair way). More generally, is the ship well stocked for drinks ? I like nice reds with dinner ? References elsewhere to the ship being cold ? We are sailing in November - so would like there to be some heating ! References to queues / wait times for the main dining room ? Is this a problem ? Are we better on fixed dining (probably do 8.30) or Freedom ? Thanks for any help Sorry to intrude on your holiday - do enjoy

That might be the way forward for us - thanks for the tip

Thanks understand that - but hopefully some people on here have been on her in the past 12 months or so and so can give me some insight ?

Am looking at booking a cruise in early November on the Arcadia. Have sailed on Aurora, Oceana and Britannia before - but not the Arcadia (but we have no choice this time as we want a cruise from Southampton that include my wife's 60th birthday). Bit concerned that there is not much on here relating to Arcadia - seems to be the Cinderella ship of the fleet. We are early 60s - like a drink (and usually go all inclusive on other lines - Celebrity) and also sometimes like to eat in the Speciality Restaurants. Bit concerned (from what I've read) that the AI package on P & O may be a bit of a let down compared to Celebrity or Princess (restricted choices etc) and also that there only seem to be two speciality restaurants ? Would welcome comments on the above and also more generally from anyone who has sailed on Arcadia recently and so can advise if we should go ahead (or perhaps bite the bullet and fly somewhere - but would really like to avoid hassle of airports etc). We will probably be in a normal balcony cabin - but not sure how the Retreat works ? What you get and how much to upgrade to it etc Thanks for any help

Lots of cabins are available to choose when doing a mock Select booking (although I appreciate it could be that there are lots of Saver / Guarantee type bookings already in the system - which have not yet been allocated - so maybe almost full) ?

Thanks to all for the helpful responses on this. Seem to have gone a bit off topic (discussions as to using OBC etc - but that's helpful as well). Back to topic - consensus appears to be that provided the additional cost of Select fare is matched (or nearly) by the additional benefits - OBC offered / Car Parking etc - then the Select price is a no brainer (so as to ensure you avoid the "noisy" cabins etc). Several people comment that the addition for Select (over and above the Saver fare) is not usually very much. However in the cruise we are looking at - the additional price (per cabin) is £1200 and with only £520 OBC per cabin offered, this looks like poor value to me (at least from a financial perspective). We are also likely to be cruising with friends and so will require two cabins. Whilst they don't need to be next to each other - would prefer them not to be at opposite ends of the ship / on different decks. On this basis I assume we are stuck with the expensive Select price ? How likely is is that P & O will launch a better promotion for Select prices (i.e. with additional OBC / benefits) so bridging the gap between the Saver Fare and the "net" Select Fare - which at present is the £680 I referred to above ? Cruise is not until November 2023 (and not yet full) but unsure as to the usual schedule for promotions by P & O ? Any further thoughts welcomed. Thanks

Not cruised with P & O for many years but thinking of doing a cruise later this year on Arcadia. The advertised price is (of course ) a Saver price. The increase to get a Select Price is £1200 per cabin but the actual financial benefits which are then offered (car parking / on board spend) appear to be only £520 per cabin (plus shuttle buses). On this basis we would be paying some £680 per cabin to be able to choose a particular cabin. Is that it ? or am I missing something ? This seems a lot to me - but would welcome thoughts from others who often book with P & O

Likewise am enjoying your cruise (by proxy) Have stayed at the Moxy in Southampton - perfectly adequate for one night pre cruise (although I agree it's not somewhere I would choose to spend longer). It's a lower level Marriott brand, quite cheap and so you get what you pay for (bit quirky - hence the lack of wardrobes - but if all you have is an overnight bag, then not a problem).

That is my understanding as well - and they have lots of cameras in the casino.

This is correct. We have just come off Silhouette where Martinis were indeed priced at $15.5. However the premium package limit is $18 - so happy days ! I think the Classic package limit becomes $11 (inclusive of the gratuity). Champagnes (Cattier and Montaudon) were also available by the glass within the premium package in several locations - but you do have to ask for them by name (otherwise they will try to fob you off with the Celebrity Vintages, Bouvet or Chandon - all three are sparkling wines but not champagnes). Enjoy the cruise

How do you join this ? and then how do you get the discounts ? Please note that I hardly use the casino (other than the bar). Does that matter ?

I'd try to do both if you can. Murano is the better (if you're only doing one) but we have also had some excellent meals in Tuscan as well (and the view is simply the best at sea). Enjoy whichever you decide

Look forward to hearing your blog of the journey. We have just (one week ago) completed a nine day cruise on Silhouette - so if you (or anyone else) have any pre cruise queries - please feel free to ask. I'll try to assist (whilst the memories are still good !). Enjoy the TA - we did that on Silhouette three years ago (2019).

Thank you - am not too bothered about the lack of luggage tags and the e docs (which dont seem to include anything important). I was concerned about the difference in Boarding times - but am hopeful we can all get on together at 11.30 (despite one of us now having a 2.00 pm)

😀 thank you

We are cruising (two couples) from Southampton (Silhouette) this Friday - 30th September. All checked in online - with Boarding times of 11.30 am obtained for all four. All Xpress cards look fine. For some reason my wife and I have been unable to access our e docs and luggage tags (although the other couple could - separate but linked reservation). My wife tried to sort this problem out by editing our check in - but after this (mistake) whilst we now still cannot access the e docs and luggage tags, she has managed to amend (in error) her own boarding time to 2.00 pm (although the boarding times for myself and our two travel companions remains at 11.30). I have e mailed Celebrity to see if we can get her time changed back to 11.30 - but am not confident of hearing back from them in the next few days (i.e. before we depart). Are we likely to be OK to all board at 11.30 (as was planned) or will we now have a problem at the Port because my wife's Xpress pass now shows the later boarding time of 2.00 pm. Anyone have any experience of different boarding times in the same reservation ? We are keen to get on at 11.30 as we have a speciality dining package and wish to get times booked asap after boarding. Still no joy with the e docs / luggage tags (but to be honest am not too bothered about them) Any help / experiences appreciated.

Thanks for confirming that I don't really need them (which is what I thought). Am loathe to try to call Celebrity and have to hang on the call (unless I really do need the e docs).

We are now just 10 days from our cruise (and counting) - Silhouette from Southampton at end of month Have fully checked in on-line and have the Xpress passes - which show our package as PALL which is correct (even though our Cruise Planner is now stating the drinks package is "cancelled"). i understand this is a known IT glitch - so am not too bothered by this. We have the boarding time. One thing which may be a problem is that the e docs are still not available to download (still greyed out). Our travel companions (linked to us) can access their e docs - so really can't see why ours are not available to download as well. Any ideas ? Having looked at the docs of our friends - am not sure why I would actually need them in any case - they don't seem to contain anything of importance other than the luggage tags (which am sure we can do without / copy theirs). If the e docs do not become available for our own reservation - assume we just turn up at the Port (with our Xpress passes and cruise invoice) at the specified boarding time and sort out the luggage tags there ? Am I missing anything important ? Thanks for any insights

They can keep that. If I have to pay, I may as well take some decent champagne on board with me. I'll be looking for the genuine champagnes which are inside the Premium package (as per the advertising blurb - to get you to take the upgraded package) ! In the past they have had Cattier or Montaudon in the Premium Package - but understood they had some sourcing issues - hence the push towards prosecco type sparkling wines.

Thanks for the heads up. Ours is also a 9 night - the same itinerary as yours - so will assume the Curry NIght is likely to be on those nights as well. I'll check as to whether I can use the package. Disappointed by the "champagnes" which seem to be currently available - all the above are sparkling wines not proper champagnes. The Premium drinks package is stated to include champagnes - so will feel a bit let down if all they have is Bouvet, Chandon or Celebrity Vintage. Bit like calling Prosecco a champagne.

Thanks for this - we are on the same cruise at the end of this month (30th September). Sounds like this Curry Night (which sounds good) is on the 5th and 7th night of the cruise - is that correct ? We have a dining package (several nights) - so wondering if we can use one of our pre paid nights for this ? Also wondering what champagne (by the glass) is currently available on the ship - premium package ? Have they got any Cattier or Montaudon ? or are they still pretending that "Chandon" or Celebrity Vintages Brut are champagnes ? (Both are sparkling white wines - but not champagnes)