eric4395

Wife and I  from the UK looking to go on this ship Nov 2024 12 nights Beauty in Bonaire cruise from Miami.

This would be the most expensive cruise we have ever booked, it's for my 70th birthday but looking at the many negative reviews on quite a few different sites about Regent  it's putting us off now. .

Just now, Leomins said:

Would this be for a non alcoholic package? He should really make that clear to avoid disappointing people.

No because  he mentioned if you have 2 or 3 glasses of wine and beers  after he said it ?

He is totally misleading people talking nonsense like this, some cruise lines are stretching up near £$/£100 pp per day!

Also mentioned drinks packages at about £20 a day pp, what ship is this on.??

 Hi Can anyone advise where P&O 

Ventura normally docks in Lisbon. We are arriving  shortly on Oct 12th

Just now, CDN_travel_dreamer said:

Hi Eric! 

Not answering your question, but an opinion 🙂

 

We spent a 10 day family vacation in Lisbon last year and I wouldn't recommend the aquarium if you only have one day in Lisbon. 

 

The Oceanario is a nice aquarium, but nothing more than any aquarium you can see around the world. It is quite far from city center in a modern neighbourhood. If you do go, there is also a big American style mall with a large food court nearby.

 

However, Lisbon is such a beautiful historical city, IMO it would be a shame not to see it.

 

What I would recommend that we all loved (including kids) would be an tuk-tuk tour of the city. It was great fun to ride around and gives you an overview of the city. The guide will stop at the best spots, for as long as you like and act as your family photographer 🙂. I believe they can even pick you up from the cruise port. There might be other companies, but we used Tuk Tuk Tejo and were very satisfied. 

 

Just an idea to consider 🙂 

 

FYI, when we traveled last year, for the 4 of us it was cheaper to take an Uber than buy 4 metro tickets. I wouldn't bother with the public transit if you are a big group.

 

I hope you have a wonderful day in Lisbon, whatever you choose to visit 🙂

 

 

Many thanks for your suggestion. My wife and I have visited Lisbon before and this time we are in Lisbon for 2 days. There will be a few children in our party  ages 4-7 so we thought the aquarium would be good for them. Also we are looking at the tuktuk on the other day as well.

Our family will arriving on a cruise shortly in lisbon.We are thinking of going to the oceanarium.

Numbers might range from 6 people going up to all 15 of us.

10 adults 5 children.. we are looking at all options to get there

Taxi could mean 4 taxis at approx 40 euros return journey ( only an estimate) = 160 euros !

Metro Would that be santa apolonia to s sebastio on blue line then change to red and onto oriente then a further 15 minute walk? Is this 2 seperate fares?

Train is there a direct train from santa apolonia to oriente ?

Bus -  i seen number 728 bus mentioned from outside port upto oriente area is this a possibility and how often does it run?

Can anyone advise as cost effective best way to do it

On 9/17/2023 at 4:12 PM, Dermotsgirl said:

Please let us know the outcome

That's my travel agent who just so happens to be my niece 🙂

Confirmed she has doubled checked with p&o customer services and all is well for me to check in at port.

The 6 months scenario is just a standard email covering themselves.

EU countries we visit are all 3 months just as previous posters have confirmed.

Just now, 9265359 said:

 

I suggest you were misinformed by Cunard as their rules don't say that - 

 

Passports and Visa (cunard.com)

 

Cunard guests can only board and travel to EU or Schengen area countries* if their passport was issued less than 10 years from date of embarkation.

 

The passport must have at least three months left before the date of expiry when you disembark (regardless of whether or not the passport has an extension period).

 

For cruises that travel outside the EU or Schengen area, in line with the requirements of many of these countries, guests are required to have six months validity left on their passports from the date of final disembarkation.

 

All passports should have sufficient blank pages for entry and exit stamps (applicable to the length and ports of call in your itinerary).

 

*EU countries include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Additional countries in the Schengen area include: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

 

P&O's rules are (unsurprisingly since they are the same company) worded almost exactly the same  - 

 

Check Your Passport & Visa Requirements | P&O Cruises (pocruises.com)

 

P&O Cruises guests can only board and travel to EU or Schengen area countries* if their passport was issued less than 10 years from the cruise embarkation date.

 

The passport must have at least three months left before the date of expiry when you disembark (regardless of whether or not the passport has an extension period).

 

For cruises that travel outside the EU or Schengen area, in line with the requirements of many of these countries, guests are required to have six months validity left on their passports from the date of final disembarkation.

 

All passports should have sufficient blank pages for entry and exit stamps (applicable to the length and ports of call in your itinerary).

 

*EU countries include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Additional countries in the Schengen area include: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

This applies to British Citizen passports however, if you hold a different passport then you should contact the relevant embassies or consulates to confirm your entry requirements. 

 

If you do not possess the correct documentation you will be denied boarding, without any refund of the cruise fare and subject to any fine or other costs incurred by P&O Cruises.

Thanks so going by this I see  no reason as to not being allowed to board. The only inconvenience is having to check in at the port rather than online. I expect p,& o to substantiate this tomorrow.

Just now, Castro and Millie said:

Just a note of caution Eric, as I had a similar issue with Cunard a few weeks ago. My passport had approx  5.5 months of validity left on our return date so the online check in wouldn’t work. The countries we were visiting had no stipulated dates so was fine for them so I called Cunard. They checked and were adamant that their T&C state 6 months and there would no movement to this. I would think that P&O conditions are similar and if so I would advocate getting a new passport ASAP. 

I think post 8 covers that in my case everything will be ok

Just now, zap99 said:

In about the last year of validity we check when we have a window of a month ,or so with no foreign travel planed. That's when the passport goes off for renewal. Preferably about 6 months, ish.

Yes exactly as I will be doing prob b4 end of year as it will be next year b4 we holiday again.

As far as we were concerned everything was/ is in order to do this cruise it's not like we have been caught out by bad planning. It's because p& o never let us check in online yesterday & it was  the first sign of alarm bells ringing for us. However looking at the replies there is no reason that we won't be allowed on the ship on embarkation day.

14 hours ago, July morning said:

Similar thing happened with our passports couldn't be bothered with the stress got new ones all done online within a week 😁

by the way I'm on this cruise as well and couldn't check-in shall try tomorrow I think it could be that we're all trying to check-in on the first day 😂

In all honesty I would be more stressed with less than 3 weeks to go before we cruise that there was any kind of delay in getting our new passports as it says on the website  it can take up to a month, despite the fact others say it was done within a week/ 10 days.. There are still occasional delays for some people.

Surely P&O can clarify tomrow when my travel agent calls them ( I have also emailed customer services personally) that with the details I have gave them all is in order to check in at the port with no further problems.

5 minutes ago, AlexMcSpot said:

I've seen a few ask this question. I'm not trying to be funny, there could be genuine reasons, but I wondered if you only have so few months left on your passport, why not update it and save all the worry

Well as its the last holiday i will prob be taking till well into next year why give up 6 months of my passport. I wont be worried till p& o officially tell me its invalid, i will get this confirmed on monday  one way or another.

Looking at the replies it is still valid .

Just now, Denarius said:

On my understanding of the EU rules you should be OK. But as others have since posted P&O quote 6 months, probably because many of their cruises visit non EU countries some of which have different rules. So probably best to make them aware of the situation.

Yes I have been in touch with my travel agent who booked the cruise and they are going to get in touch with p&o on Monday to confirm all will be ok.

24 minutes ago, Ataraxia said:

I believe it is six months - and the actual expiry date is now 10 years from the ISSUE date.

 

It says 90 days  for france portugal and spain. ?

13 minutes ago, Denarius said:

This is a bit of a minefield.

Portugal, Spain and France are all part of the Schengen area of the EU and the EU's Schengen area rules apply. The link that follows will take you to the relevant page of the EU's website.

 

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/entry-exit/non-eu-nationals/index_en.htm

 

The relevant section reads

"If you are a national from a country outside the EU wishing to visit or travel within the EU, you will need a valid passport and possibly a visa. Your passport should be valid for at least 3 months after the date you intend to leave the EU and it must have been issued within the last 10 years. This means your travel document must have been issued within the previous 10 years the day you enter the EU on condition that is it valid until the end of your stay plus an additional 3 months. "

 

One thing to watch is that the EU no longer recognise any extra months added to a passport because it was issued before the previous one had expired. They consider it to expire 10 years after issue. In your case, this means in Feb 2024 not April 2024.

I am still within the 3 months though as even if it is feb 2024 when it  expires i am off the cruise on oct17 th and its feb 8th 2014 when it was issued  so that is more than 90 days?

Hi  Everyone check in day for our 10 day  p& o cruise in 3 weeks time 

However not allowing us to check in online.

Our passports are date of issue feb 2014

Expiry date is April 2024

The 3 countries we visit. Spain , France ,Portugal  say you only need at least 3 months/ 90 days so as far as I can see they are still valid. Any advice on this from anyone who has had similar. I take it there should be no problem to check in at terminal. Thanks for any help.

On 9/9/2023 at 3:26 PM, Mike Senior said:

If you had previously purchased a drinks package via My P&O Cruises, you will automatically receive an improved new package, at no extra cost. This will have been communicated to you by email, informing you of your new package entitlement as per below:

 

Childrens' drinks package – The Refresh drinks package

Non-Alcoholic drinks package – The Alcohol-free drinks package

Ultimate drinks package – The Deluxe drinks package

I haven't received any email as to what package I am on now ?

Hi Everyone apologies if this has already been answered on forum.

My wife and i reserved our cruise in october before the drinks package changed.

We are showing as ultimate  package which doesnt exist anymore

Can anyone confirm that we will be exchanged for the new deluxe package.

Thanks for any replies

One of the worst cruise programs ever,  it would put people of a cruise, they have hardly showed anything about a normal cruise and even made it look like there were hardly any other guests onboard which is quite a feat🤔

I agree , it's strange the way they have put this together, the ship is meant to be full but it looks half empty, hardly shows any aspect of what a normal cruise is like onboard a ship , entertainment food etc, and in all honesty the groups they have chose would put you off going a cruise especially that family from isle of wight, I feel sorry for the children, education this education that. Give them a break!

Buy cigarettes and sell them back to friends &  relations when back home ( if you have no use for them yourself) thus reducing the price of your cruise😊

Just now, chocolabmom said:

So, if I understand this correctly - Captain's Club Classic tier members receive 10% off the charge to upgrade from Classic to Premium?  And I can use any OBC that I have to pay towards the price?

Yes that's how it worked for us

Just now, Edione said:

I would suggest waiting until you’re on the ship as it will give you time to experience the offerings of the classic package. It’s not as bad as you may think. Decent beer, wine and Prosecco. If you have OBC you can simply use that to pay for the higher priced drinks as opposed to paying the full upgrade fee. You only pay the difference between the $10 limit on the classic package to whatever premium drink you’re after. However, If you’re into cocktails then the £18 a day might be the better option as they can be quite expensive. The cost we were quoted is £111pp to upgrade from the classic package. I have $300 OBC for our next Edge cruise in August and I’ve used some of that to upgrade to the premium wifi as it’s much better. On Edge last year the basic wifi was shocking - we couldn’t even send images on WhatsApp. 

My wife phoned the captains club number and we were entitled to 10% off so went ahead and upgraded, total cost was £400 for a 12 night cruise.

Looking at the speciality restaurants now and I am sure they had a three night package on offer at one stage now it looks like the minimum package is 6 nights. Any idea why they don't offer a 3 night package on the planner? . Do you think 3 night packages would be on offer when on the ship.

Wife and I are on Sillouette cruise out of Southampton in July, we have onboard spend and plan to upgrade our classic drink package to premium, also would like to use the rest of it on at least 1 or maybe 2 speciality restaurants. I see you can get it at a reduced price at the moment however no reservation times available till on board. We have anytime dining in the MDR and prefer to eat each evening approx 19:30- 20:00 but reluctant to go ahead and reserve in case we get offered 6pm or 9 pm etc where we wouldn't enjoy our meal at these times. Anyone of past experience on celebrity know  of how difficult it maybe to get times near what you are looking for.

Maybe best if we just wait till we are onboard and see what times are available before reserving  and pay the going price?

3 minutes ago, ladylemondrop said:

I may be wrong but I think it does cost slightly more to upgrade on board. However, if you do it at the bar you intend to spend most time at, those staff will be over the moon and always really happy to serve you 🙂 

Taking the prices quoted at the moment ( the  top price)the difference between the 2 packages is £18:88

  If you take the difference between the sale prices its approx £15