sammyh25

10 hours ago, ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE said:

Crossings are a lot of fun. Have you done one before?

 

I will also be doing the TA on Icon, as I will be joining the ship in Spain.

 

⚓︎

Done a few TAs, on Vision, Oasis and Allure.  Had some motion in the ocean on Allure as she left the Med but other than that great crossings, even on Vision!!!  Hoping for calm seas on Symphony in October, 🤞

Doing the TA, 29th October on Symphony and on Icon 19th October next year. Will pop downstairs and say hello on the TA. 😂

On 8/13/2022 at 11:21 AM, sammyh25 said:

• Ship:  Apex
• Length of Cruise: 12 Nights
• Cruise Sail Date: 23SEP2022
• Date email offer received: N/A
• Captain’s Club Tier: Elite
• Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: TA
• Current Cabin: Edge Stateroom w/Infinite Veranda
• Bid?  Yes/No: YES

If YES -  Bidding Details:

• Cabin Category: Sky Suite
• Bid Offer: £1000 pp
• Notification Date: 30AUG2022
• Accepted / Rejected: Accepted

General Comments (offer details, etc.)

Celebrity Suite; £1750pp (Expired)

Aqua Class: £400pp (Expired)
Concierge Class: £100pp (I cancelled it, fear of an obstructed view!!!)

Happy days.... 👍

16 hours ago, rihabo said:

Has anybody been successful at uploading their Covid-19 vaccination card through the Celebrity app?  If so, could you please advise where that feature is located on the app.

I uploaded ours the night before the rules changed and by the morning it had vanished from the app.  I think you no longer need to upload anything you simply answer the questions re vaccination when you click on the Health Status section of the App.  

12 hours ago, UKPete71 said:

Can I check I understand this right, if I’m flying from the UK on 27th August to sail on Equinox on 29th I could get a supervised LFT done on 26th in the UK before I travel? 

Yes, 3 days before would be any time 26th, 27th or 28th. 👍

• Ship:  Apex
• Length of Cruise: 12 Nights
• Cruise Sail Date: 23SEP2022
• Date email offer received: N/A
• Captain’s Club Tier: Elite
• Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: TA
• Current Cabin: Edge Stateroom w/Infinite Veranda
• Bid?  Yes/No: YES

If YES -  Bidding Details:

• Cabin Category: Sky Suite
• Bid Offer: £1000 pp
• Notification Date: Pending
• Accepted / Rejected: Pending

General Comments (offer details, etc.)

Celebrity Suite; £1750pp (Expired)

Aqua Class: £400pp (Expired)
Concierge Class: £100pp (I cancelled it, fear of an obstructed view!!!)

Will update, if/when, offer gets confirmed.

I uploaded, as the front of my pass, the NHS Scotland certificate showing shots 2 & 3 and for the back of my pass, I uploaded the original NHS Scotland certificate showing shots 1 & 2. 

It was all confirmed within a few hours.

It's all quite complicated to get organised depending on your timings and length of stay prior to your cruise!!!!

We're taking our "Oasis of the Seas" lateral flow tests at Heathrow on the Friday we fly to Miami and those will be good for boarding the ship on the Sunday.  I've also arranged for another 2 tests to be done from home on the Wednesday so we have everything in place to get checked in online before flying from Edinburgh to London on the Thursday.  Also now got our Day 2 test arranged for our return!!!!

This was discussed many times prior to the start of the Staycation cruises, you should find loads of useful information in this thread...

You are correct in that you need to double check with your Bank that the cover they provide meets P&O's requirement and that it is documented as such in their policy document, or in any endorsement document they may provide.

The P&O Insurance is ridiculously expensive and there are many other companies out there that will offer much more competitive quotes for the same or better cover.  A lot of us have used StaySure, but you will see others mentioned in the thread I posted.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

2 minutes ago, davecttr said:

It could also vary according to where the cabin is? Iona is a looong ship, or your Peninsular. I had a 12 noon boarding time for a midship deluxe on deck 9 and was surprised that there was a 11.45 category.

 

wonder what the time will be next time, deck 16

We've got 11:45 boarding on the 18th Sep, deck 9 Conservatory Mini Suite....  Travelling with another couple who are on deck 17, think we'll board on foot and meet them on the ship!!!! 😂

18 minutes ago, daveoc said:

No there wasn't. The only 'special' night was the Celebration(Formal) night. There were people around the ship in tropical shirts on other nights though.

That'll be me in two weeks then.

Most of my cruise attire is designed for the Caribbean, not Southampton in the autumn!!!! 🌴🍹⛱️

2 hours ago, Mad4WDW said:

Hi

 

Does anyone know where we have to go to purchase the drinks package when we’re onboard Iona? Prefer to buy it on the ship so the onboard credit comes off the cost 

 

TIA

Just a word of caution.... 

I read on one of the other threads that a few people had been told they couldn't but the drinks package once they were onboard Iona, person they spoke to said it wasn't available for sail!!!

Whether they only sell a limited number or they were all miss-informed on that sailing I don't know, might be worth considering purchasing before you board and get you monies worth on night one, like we intend to do. 😉

@JohnScot  This is the NHS Scotland website you use for your certificate, either paper or downloadable.

https://vacs.nhs.scot/csp

2 hours ago, JohnScot said:

Will be cruising on Iona soon and have a couple of questions.

1. On P&O website is states that the notification from NHS confirming that you have received both jabs must have a bar code or QR code otherwise it will not be accepted. I am in Scotland and the letter from NHS Scotland does not have a bar code, anyone from Scotland that has already travelled this year have any comments.

2. How do you get the wifi package. I cannot see anywhere on MyPOcruises where you can see the package options and add wifi to your account.

You can either request NHS Scotland send a paper certificate to you, or from tomorrow you can also download the certificate from the NHS Scotland website.

Don't worry about any barcodes, this was applicable to the NHS England App and was only mentioned on the P&O website to tell people where they would find their vaccination status.

@molecrochip Brilliant photographs thank you.  Now if you can just get yourself and your camera into a Conservatory Mini Suite that would be a mega 👍 from me. 😉

5 minutes ago, margo2011 said:

Yes I do to but as she said I needed to book transport ,drinks package and she couldn’t confirm a cabin number I didn’t see the point .I thought if any issues arose booking direct May be better silly me .

Not sure about transport but you definitely don't need your cabin number assigned to book a drinks package, we've done exactly that.  Just login to your booking and you can do it all there. 👍

40 minutes ago, welshrich said:

Hello, We've cruised quite a few times but only ever on RCI, we are trying MSC soon and looking to book a cruise with P&O on Iona in December.   Pleasantly surprised reading some posts at how much more reasonable bar prices are than on RCI, can anyone tell me if P&O do drinks packages and if so what the approx cost is please?

Just been looking into the same thing for our UK Staycation cruise on Iona in a few months.

The variety of drinks available on P&O is quite poor/basic compared to RCI and a lot of their cocktails have gone up to £7.95 which is £1 above the drinks package threshold!!!!  We decided we could "slum" it enough with what cocktails and drinks are available in the package. 😉

I'll post a link the the thread that has a bar menu on it and you can have a look and decide.  The actual price of the drinks isn't too bad, but if like us you'd rather not have a bill at the end of the cruise it might be worth considering.

Page 2, post 49 of the thread below has a picture of a bar menu. 👍

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

I think you'll find the same discussions on many other boards, including Cunard, Saga and Princess.  

I think maybe you've hit the nail in the head, "Cunard, Saga & Princess"... 😂

We have never sailed with P&O before, mostly Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, so quite unfamiliar with the P&O goings on and I find the whole taking umbrage/outrage about what people wear amusing....

We've sailed from the UK a few times but never really came across such views before. Is it a general P&O clientele mindset, or is it the P&O old Guard resisting progress? 😉

20 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Oh no it wouldn't.👖🤣

Oh yes it would.....

Sorry, a bit early for that... 🎅

1 minute ago, majortom10 said:

Doesnt matter what they cost they are still denim jeans just with a fancy label on.

Very true, and they are allowed and will look really smart. 😉

2 minutes ago, ScratchTheRat said:

I think I'm gonna make a Vlog about this topic actually. It's often contentious!

Definitely taking my smart jeans in September, they cost a lot more than a pair of M&S slacks. 😉

32 minutes ago, thornegirl said:

If this works this was the drinks menu from the Crows Next last weekend

 

 

137D28DE-FE12-4A5E-ACE6-D20B913948ED.heic 1.1 MB · 8 downloads BC7426CE-F4C4-43D7-9CDB-BDBE6FFB7843.heic 1.18 MB · 2 downloads

Think these are Apple files, but managed to find a website to convert them so I could see them on the PC, thank you.

Coming from Celebrity and Royal Caribbean the selection of drinks seems quite poor/restricted.  Does each bar onboard have different choices or is this quite typical?

45 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

I am not sure that anyone can answer whether it is worth you getting the drinks package as that is a very personal decision and based on how much and what you drink!

You misunderstood me I think. I'm not asking anyone if it's a good idea whether we buy the package or not, that as you said is a personal decision, I'm trying to ascertain just what is now included in the Ultimate Drinks Package.

The P&O website is saying, "With our generous Ultimate drinks package you can enjoy anything you fancy. Nearly every drink we serve is included for a fixed price per person, per day, and you can pay with on-board spending money." 

The implication is that almost all drinks are included in the package, if people are now saying cocktails aren't included and other drinks are above the £6.95 limit then there is an issue.  The website is misleading and maybe miss-selling the product. 

Wonder if it's worth risking trying to get this thread back on topic, as I'd still love to know the answer to the original question.

"Can someone who was on the shakedown cruise yesterday post the drinks prices and menus please? I have seen them on social media and the prices have gone up, many cocktails now £7.95 and so not included in the drinks package."

I loved reading about everyone's thoughts on paper vs virtual menus and the merits of the various covid protocols, but I really only want to know if there is any point in us buying the Ultimate Drinks Package, well on this thread anyway. 😉