davecttr

I think buying your mixers in port and taking them into the bar with you to add to drinks will be frowned upon. Would you do it in your local pub, no, because they would show you the door. Same applies to ships. OK, you can get away with it on deck but if i ran the bars i would seriously be not impressed.

Don't kill the golden goose or we might end up like american lines where you can't bring alchohol aboard. I bet the corporate bean counters have already thought about that scam.

Sorry you already put all the menus. One more question. If you order for example a Gin and tonic on AI,do you get a splash of tonic or do you have to pay for the mixer

You used to get a splash of tonic from a can, usually schwepps or similar.

Now we just don't know. people returning from Celebration are not providing the answers, I suspect they don't drink. :eek:

another 'that airline' moment for Thomson then :(

i suggest you try to get your kids to drink Mocktails. There are 8 available and they are free.

I presume a kids drink package includes all non alcholic drinks otherwise just what are they expected to drink. IRRC they are Very particular about brands.

Another doubtfull observation. Those menu pics don't show a statement about the spirit measure size or free mixers.

if the robbing b******s have reverted to standard pub measure that will be the equivalent of a 60% price hike :eek::eek:

Just noticed.......

 

Tonic for your G & T now chargeable! :mad:as are many of the soft drinks!:mad: and no Tequila Sunrise to top it all off.

Can't see that anywhere on the menus

they are charging for cans of tonic but mixers for your spirits are probably still free.

Who would buy 330ml of tonic for their gin, it is over 1/2 a pint :eek:

Getting Panicky..........Tequila Sunrise is missing :eek:

OMG!

no tequila sunrise

bombay sapphire is still there though - phew

I have also wondered if the problem with the Cruise Personaliser is linked to potential cancellations. I do not understand how a company as big as P & O can have IT problems for this length of time. It just doesn't add up.

 

We are booked on a cruise in January and should have been able to book our flight seats in October. I have given up waiting for the e mail which says the problem has been fixed. I am now expecting to receive an e mail regarding an alteration to our cruise.

 

Does anyone else feel there is more to this???

It still looks like incompetence to me although how a company of P&O's size can allow this is beyond me. Their community forum is still not showing the latest messages even after many complaints.

Contrast this with a recent experience on Thomson where the flight seat booker was available 90 days before the return flight. Gets lots of people that one, the return flight has to be in the 90 day period before you can book the seats.

Sorry. But you have no chance. They will not give you compensation or discount any other cruise you choose. I learned the hard way when they cancelled my cruise. I lost hundreds plus annual leave through having to cancel, hotels, car parking etc. P&O didn't want to know.

Well they must be getting desperate if they are willing to upset thousands of passengers and suffer the knock on effects on future bookings and bad publicity that will result.

there are a lot of other cruise lines out there and customers don't like being mucked about!

OK, thanks, got it.

as i wrote on the P&O site, what a shambles

also a potential public relations disaster

even less incentive now to book early as the cruise might be pulled fro under you :mad:

P&O had better ensure that any unfortunate cruiser caught out in this mess suffers no financial penalty. Plus a hefty offer for the stress and inconvenience.

I wonder why they didn't reduce the fares?

Oh! extra obc for Vantage fares :rolleyes:

Azura A309N

Ventura N313

Adonia D307 & D312

Oceana E316

Oriana X405

 

All cancelled :eek::(

source of info ?

Wonder if anybody might be able to shed any light on the following: I know our noise problems aren't quite the same as those identified in this thread but in reading the thread there seems to be alot of ship knowledge out there. My wife and I have just returned from a 10 night Atlantic cruise, Spain, portugal, Morocco on P&O Arcadia. This was our 6th cruise, having cruised both with P&O and NCL previously and so are familiar with the general noises and vibrations etc that may be encountered in cabins due to the dynamic nature of the ship. However, on this cruise the usual underlying noise was completely overshadowed by a persistent and extremely loud low frequency thudding (it almost sounded like something was swinging around behind the cabin space?). We were on e deck at the forward end immediately above the theatre. We had the accomodation supervisor in but although agreeing the noise was loud the best they could offer was earplugs! We were also told nobody else was experiencing this but having asked around on ship there were indeed plenty of others who were experiencing it. Would anybody with an engineering background based on ships be able to suggest any possible causes or reasons. Many thanks gris47

My best guess is a lift or something similar banging against the lift shaft in the crew area?

i have a forward inside cabin on B deck booked for next May and will not be happy if i can't get a good nights sleep :mad:

No problem Dai. If i go to a formal night i will be wearing a dinner jacket with all the trimmings, plus a nice informal jacket when required.

i know its a long way ahead but i am looking forward to this cruise, especially the 2 days in St Petersburg.

Dave, I quote from the Cruise Overview:

 

"Dress codes or Black Tie and Smart nights will be enforced in the Crow's Nest, Intermezzo's, Meridian Restaurant and the Ocean Grill"

 

Note that this does not include: Piano Bar, Palladium Theatre, the Orchid Restaurant and Bar, the Globe, the Spinnaker Bar, the Rising Sun, the Casino or the Belvedere.

 

So, there's choice for all.

Brilliant!

Thanks, I can now forget about it until next May :)

I am doing the Baltic which will be all new ports for me.

I will be wearing formal gear and will take a cotton/linen jacket for semi formals but it is nice to know i won't be thrown out of the rising sun or the Casino if i change after dinner.

Arcadia very formal eh!

It should be fun on her next year when I take my DJ of after dinner on formal nights. Lots of tut-tutting I expect ;)

Of course I am going for the itinery not the ship or the formal ambience.

Now if I had access to a copy of the in-cabin guide I would know how formal P&O, not the passengers, believe the ship is.

I am not trying to be controversisl but I have tried to get information on which venues require formal dress. No, not what it says in the brochure or on the web site. The only true information is in that in-cabin guide. :(

Any topic on any forum about Arcadia will have me asking the question but so far no info. i have the info for Ventura, Azura, Oceana and Aurora bu not Arcadia.

Not certain but think employed by Louis Lines my niece did that job till Jan and they where her employers.

that would depend on the ship. The social hostess usually has another job as the welfare officer. Alaire on destiny last year had three jobs. welfare officer, social hostess and future cruises salesperson. I think they are 'crew' rather than entertainemnt and the welfare role suggests they are similar to a holiday 'rep'.

On our first Thomson Celebration cruise, I did not pre-book a cabin and we therefore ended up with an inside at the very front on deck 1. This was OK except in the early morning, when there was a lot of very loud noise docking. I imagine this would apply on Spirit and probably all ships.

Yes, that will be the bow thrusters used when docking and undocking. as sometimes the ship docks well before the scheduled time it can still be the wee hours :eek:

Even modern ships have noise from the thrusters. On Ventura i could hear them 4 decks up!

I remember a alarming clanging noise around the port rear stairwell on deck 3. It sounded like a trip hammer hitting a metal drum in the engine room. Only when the ship was moving but i don't know if cabins nearby had problems.

Thomson Dream

The cabins on Deck 9 mid-ship (9019 to 9040) had a very loud vibrating news, I think coming from some sort of generator or something in the middle. Seemed quite a noisy area anyway.

 

Thomson Celebration & Thomson Spirit

Decks 1 and 2 (and maybe decks 3 and 4 also) cabins at the back suffer from a vibration noise from the engine. If on these decks, I would try and book anything mid-ship to the front.

Athough I was on deck 7 I did a walkabout of Dream while we were at sea and can confirm that those cabins seemed to be in a very noisey area. A lot of the noise seemed to come from the ceiling and there is also that mysterious white space which may contain air conditioning plant? I thought it a bit of a con to have to pay extra for that area.

Thinks. Thomson are not going to like this topic ;)

Any of the single cabins. I have cruised on both ships several times and on reflection have never had a really good nighta sleep :(.

Cabin 575 on Spirit last month was truly awful on 3 nights. Sailing in and out of Geirangerfjord especially. Just like being in a concrete mixer but with no water to soften the blows. I moved to the showlounge to get some sleep. The rest of the time a nice hammer effect through your pillow.:eek::eek::eek:

Majesty inside deck 6 midships cabin 6053. Very bad vibration and rattling. Cabin carpet grubby and furniture chipped badly. Needs a deep clean.

Good grief, that cabin is midships and should be well away from any vibration. :eek:

Whats the problem, my full pack for a 14 nighter including dinner jacket etc plus the case weight is only just over 16KG :D

Wear the heavy stuff to travel!

Make full use of the ships laundrettes. They are free on P&O

Sounds lovely :)

 

Are the windows in the suites large? And can you see out to sea when sat on the sofas?

About 2x3 feet

no, the windows are set quite high in the wall

It sounds nice :)

 

Are the DVD's free to hire? Also what sort of ones are there?

 

Thanks for all the answers in advance :)

Yes, the DVD's are free.

IIRC the film list was pretty up to date, say a few months after release?

Im loving the sound of the walk in wardrobe :)

 

You get a DVD player as well in the Suite is that correct? - If so do they have DVD's on board that you can borrow? - Do they charge for these?

Yes, there is a large flat screen TV and a DVD player. You will find a list of available DVD's in the cabin and you just ring reception and they deliver :)

You could try the genuine jacuzzi in the bathroom as well.

I found the drop down berths not very comfortable but kids will love them. I ended up sleeping on one of the two sofas which was very comforatble. Don't tell the cabin steward!.

I thought there was an amazing amount of storage space including two full length low cupboards below the windows.

Overall the suite was very comfortable if a little old fashioned in its decor.

I also liked the priority check-in, straight to a seperate desk avoiding the sweating peasants :D

The fridge is opposite the enormous walk in wardrobe.

Don't forget to use all the perks offered.

I thought the layout of the suites on Dream was excellent with a bedroom that was actually seperate from the living area rather than just being screened with a curtain.

last month we had 3 or 4 cold wet days in a 14 nighter, a bit windy too, especially on sea days. If you plan on eating in the Lido bring lots of layers as they were issueing cosy blankets:eek: