daiB

1 hour ago, sandancer said:

They asked if he could move around the cabin without using the chair and he can as it’s not exactly a marathon from the bed to the bathroom. However any further than that is a problem. He can get up the few steps into a coach but couldn’t make it to the back to find a seat. We found the driver & guide to be really good about giving him a seat near the front. Whilst this is great I would give a lot to go back to the days when he ran marathons and wheelchairs were not in our orbit at all. 

Hi southerner, I would also say that either of the two stern dining rooms are best as we have found the two smaller ones to be quite tight for my scooter which is narrower than a wheelchair. I love Iona because of the accessability. It has put me off some of the smaller ships although we are booked on Arcadia next year.

7 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Yuk!!!, that looks disgusting, you really are an unlucky fellow when it comes to buffet dining.  But I suppose since we regularly use the  buffet, I quickly get to know the layout, so I know where to find things. Conversely I never enjoy the MDR for breakfast, the food seems tepid compared to the hot food in the buffet, and I always seem to under order,  which of course with self serve never happens. But I would like P&O to have waiters serving coffee and juice at the tables like Princess do  those drink stations are often a nightmare.

I also really enjoy the Jam Shed red wines, although I confess that I don't think I would be able to differentiate them on a blind test.

I am in to the Jam Shed as well. 😁 we have a bottle of the Malbec for tomorrow. 

2 hours ago, sandancer said:

Spoke to Intercruises this morning and told them that the wheelchair can be folded and put in with the luggage. The agent said we will be seated near the front of the coach. I asked about the size of the bags and she said not to stress about that, just make sure they are not too heavy. She reiterated that we can take 6 bags between us - I think not. 

Hi Sandancer, we now use the Baggage Handling Company for our large luggage sp when we travel down to Southampton we travel light. 

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

We are very near the forward lift lobby on deck 9 and yes it’s still creaking! I filmed a clip of the noise in our cabin but as I’ve only bought the basic WiFi I can’t post it. 
 

I’ve noticed a list once or twice but we are going every which way at the moment, plus a lot of juddering. My wife feels fine today. It’s still very rough but yesterday we had the corkscrewing that made so many people feel sick. 

You are lucky we had it flat calm for 3 weeks on Iona. The storm we should have had the captain raced ahead of. Keep safe.

23 minutes ago, david63 said:

You can have room service drinks (preferably ordered via your butler) but will have to pay the going rate.

 

I may be wrong but I don't think that there is a welcome aboard lunch in the Caribbean

Correct no lunch as peoples arrival times are so varied.

22 hours ago, laslomas said:

 

The Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle (see the tab at the top of this page) was a way for CC Forum followers to meet with each other on their cruise, and with Officers and Staff. Was usually very informative, especially chatting with the Hotel Director and the Chef. You needed to register, and a minimum number was required, 25 I think. But I think Covid put an end to most of these meetings. 

In my 60+ cruises I have never known a P&O meet and mingle. If you look at the Roll call pages you will see why.

We are sorted on Iona in March 26 2 cruises BtoB. 

Happy Days

Dai

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

What is shocking you the most Dai? 😂 Hope that you are both enjoying your cruise BTW.

We are, its hot hot  hot.

:)

28 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks. That’s very useful to know and may well be the best approach. I’m just nervous that they might remove cover. I thought about calling them and saying “we are considering going away for longer” and see what they say, but that may be risky!

As we are on Iona, I have just seen this and I can only say I am shocked!!!

🙂 🙂 🙂  

Not been on Arcadia recently but when we were on there were very few people using the buffet at all. 20 tops.

On 10/3/2023 at 2:31 PM, smj777 said:

I'd be inclined to query this, did you book direct through P&O or use a travel agent. You aren't getting what you paid for so I'd see what remedies are available.

 

Sorry this is standard practice for late bookings. Ever since I have been cruising. But I agree If I could book late I would not book select. Booking at that time would not give you the cabin you wanted as the popular cabins would all be gone.

8 hours ago, solentsam said:

We are both in our late 60's, and have been cruising with P&O for nearly 20 years (27 cruises) My wife is a wheel chair user and we have been on Iona three times and Arvia twice, we have two other cruises booked one on each. We have sailed with all of the fleet  some more than others but now Iona and Arvia are our favourites they are far better for accessibility than the rest of the P&O fleet and we love the extra dinning options. we were on Arvia in July school holidays yes it was busy, but we expected that. We used the MDR's occasionally but not all the time and found the virtual queuing reasonable at the times we dined around 7:00 waits of about 20-40 mins.

Spot on. Love Iona, for exactly the same reasons. We are on Arvia in May and Iona next week.

7 hours ago, CarlaMarie said:

 

You are spot on. What actually is P&O's identity in the market? They have had both Iona and Arvia built fairly recently, yet the amenities onboard for families and children are fairly limited - yet they want to attract the young families.

Sorry they dont they want to attract them in the school holidays and the figures show that they are. However for the rest of the cruises they ave to attract older cruisers as that is where their bread and butter is, 

P&O has an identity of a cruise line concentrating on cruises ex Southampton for most of the year with a fly cruise element of one ship ball year round and a 2 ship season of 5 months in the Caribbean. Linked are the world/long cruises in Jan/Feb/ March which are adult only. They are not a cruise line for with brash activity based attractions and never have been.

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

But the younger people that P&O are seeming to attract to Arvia & Iona are the ones that want 15 drinks a day on the alcohol package and have no interest in any other part of the ship except Skydome area. With reference to your thoughts on Princess you may be correct with regards to British cruiser's on ships based during summer in UK. A lot of disgruntled P&Oers are migrating to Princess. Also don't forget Princess is a very small selection of their ships where the majority based in Med, Alaska and the Far East are very popular with Americans as that is Princess main market.

 

 

 

Odd as P&O’s bookings are up again for next year on top of the best quarter for over 10 years.

12 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

The stock market seems not to agree, though. Maybe because occupancy is one thing, and prices/profitability/debt servicing another.

Another report says Carnival had a profit of 1.2B over the above quarter, much better than expected.

For those who think P&O and other lines are not doing well. This is from an article in Cruise Industry News,

“On the European front, occupancy came in better than anticipated for Costa and AIDA, with both brands hitting 119 percent occupancy in August. Not to be outdone, P&O Cruises achieved its highest occupancy in over a decade,” said Josh Weinstein, president and CEO, on the company’s third quarter earnings call.

Overall Carnival Corps had 109% occupancy for the 3rd quarter.

2 hours ago, bbtablet said:

Thanks, Carla - do we just turn up at the MDR and show out Boarding Pass?

Is there not an invitation issued - how are we to know about it if not?

As you board you will be met by a member of staff. They are there to direct you to your muster station and the buffet or priority lunch. Just inform them that you are Caribbean (it will be on your boarding pass) making sure the Caribbean member goes first. And “Bob’s your Uncle”

27 minutes ago, amurray88 said:

Just booked my first P&O cruise and went to book a drinks package. I can quite believe it but they're charging £10 a day for a soft drinks package....for our 6 month old. 

 

I understand adults need to both have the same drinks package, that's the same no matter what cruise line. But to charge a 6 month old for a drinks package seems insane? Is it just me?

Simple don’t buy any package. Much easier and usually cheaper

3 hours ago, nellydean said:

 I will check my daily wotsits, to see if it was open?

 

I didn't think it was open but, if it was, I thought it was for fixed diners only? 

It is in the evening. But not for breakfast. It’s open to all. But keep that to yourself.

19 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Interesting to read your review as we are on Ventura next month. 
 

Re Epicurean, we have certainly noticed vibration in there before, as we have in aft venues on a few cruise ships. I’m pleased to hear that the Crepes Suzette is prepared tableside on Ventura, as it does make a huge difference. We were on Iona a few weeks ago and it wasn’t prepared in the kitchen. It was prepared at a central point in the restaurant (which we happened to be seated next to, so we still had the full theatrical experience 😂). However, on Britannia in July it was pre-prepared in the kitchen and, as a result, was extremely poor with only a fraction of the flavour. 
 

As we had some problems with Freedom Dining on Britannia we have switched to Club for our Ventura cruise. As for breakfast and lunch, can I ask how many MDRs were open for each and, if more than one, did you find that one worked better than the other? Thanks

On Ventura the Bay Tree is open for breakfast. It is usually quieter as some people fid it difficult to find ????? The good thing is that it is open until 10.00 on a sea day.

This was the case March 22.

9 minutes ago, Rubynic said:

Unfortunately it is the 8.30 show we want to try & go to. Out of interest are you able to book entertainment  or is it not working for everyone ?

Hi, go now and do it, opened up this morning sometime. 😎

Gan Canny

Dai

2 hours ago, Rubynic said:

Thank you for your reply. I have checked again today but still nothing available to book. I guess I’ll just keep checking. Was hoping to get some stuff booked as are travelling on the coach with Intercruises & have an estimated arrival time of 4pm !! Didn’t want to miss out due to our late arrival.

As long as you can go to the early or late show in the theatre you should be OK only the 8.30 shows seemed full. BTW we are on Iona in 11 days as well

6 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Only in your opinion Dai, as a Yorkshireman I must have different ideas of food quality, because ,IMO it has declined in both choice and quality, since the pre C era.

Your opinion v mine. I reported on my last cruises on Iona the excellence of service and food. It’s there in black and white.

3 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

Oh my goodness. What awful reading those reviews make.I can’t understand why they are still allowed to operate.

They go bust and then change their name and start again. A very traditional way of working. Builders have been doing it for years

45 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

We found the food very good on Iona in Feb but sadly very poor on Britannia in April. 
 

Meant to add - service poor on Iona but good on Britannia! Very inconsistent, 

We must just be lucky. Service on Britannia excellent but we were in fixed dining. Cant fault Iona either.