vinob

I think it depends what you are looking for, sometimes cruises can be port intensive, Our first cruise years & years ago was on a fly/Caribbean cruise and it was a new port every day, whilst it was lovely to see all these new destinations we actually found it quite tiring and we felt we had to see each island, since then we have booked cruises that have a few sea days mainly sailing from Southampton. We are doing our first transatlantic re-positional cruise this month and we are so excited about it. We are so looking forward to the slower pace of sea days and spending time relaxing together. As its a special occasion you might want to make it more so by booking joint spa treatments and the Retreat or breakfast in bed, You don't have to be with the crowd all of the time, there are some quiet spots on the ships. Like Berlingo said nothing beats sitting in the Sunshine with a coffee/tea as you sail into port, so if you can afford it a balcony is nice. Congratulations for your forthcoming 30th Anniversary, hope you have a wonderful cruise, but be warned you could be hooked and other holidays may never seem the same again. Best wishes Viv.

Many thanks for all your replies, I have found it most helpful. I would book ahead for our 20th October cruise on Azura but I like to eat in the MDR on formal nights and if I'm right you don't get to find out when the formal nights are until you are on board., Does anyone know if I book speciality restaurants now would I be charged if I cancelled the booking on board if it coincided with a formal night. Kind regards Viv

When we first started cruising with P&O in 2005 and for quite a long time after the small cans of tonic etc. were 75p each, now £1.25! I suppose it's one of the ways they get added income without raising the price of the cruises by too much. I wonder are the bottles of Gin on the menu, just 75cl or 1 litre?

Whilst the spirits look quite reasonable, the price of mixers is quite expensive, just priced pack of 12 mixers (small tins) in Sainsburys @ £4.00, but I suppose its the same anywhere they always bump up the price of soft drinks/mixers.

Do you mean 20th Oct - we are ot same cruise and we only know the changes by looking at the CP - nothing from P&O or our agent. Phoned our agent who said that they are working through the bundle of changes from P&O and will send us details ASAP.

I'd have thought that P&O would have emailed all the passenger directly under the circumstances instead of flooding the agent with 100's of changes. Without the CP we would not have known.

Sorry for late reply, haven't been into this thread for a while. Yes we're on Azura on 20th October.

We booked through an agent, but when I ring P & O's Freephone I always press key for having booked directly. We've sailed with P & O a few times but last cruise with them was 2013 . I have to say I've found it hard getting information from them not just about the changes to itinerary, but other queries I have and using the email contact takes ages to get a reply (sent query 5th Oct and still no reply yet). So I have to say I have found a decline in their customer service regarding certain queries, but I will say their staff dealing with disabilities were excellent and went the extra mile regarding query about MOH's Cpac machine.

I think the biggest thank you needs to go to Cruise Critic and all its lovely members:* who take the time to answer queries and give much more in depth information than you would probably get from the cruise line.

Hope we all have a wonderful cruise and that the weather gods are kind to us.

Kind regards Viv.

Many thanks for all your replies, they are most helpful. Kind regards Viv

Is that £20 pp or £20 per cabin, if its pp that can make it expensive to book for the whole cruise (doing reposition transatlantic), especially as we won't hit good weather if lucky until after Madeira, so on 15nts minus first and last day could cost £520 minus any discount if you are lucky. Would love to do it but it seems an awful lot of money. I think I might just have to dream on.

Many thanks Charleyben, you post is really helpful and I will use it as a guideline. Kind regards Viv.

Hi Folks

There are quite a number of posts stating food quality in P & O's MDR's has gone downhill in last couple of years, so can anyone give me the current additional cost for the speciality restaurants on Azura,

Any recommendations appreciated, also do they get booked up quickly. Don't really want to book any until I know when formal nights are. We didn't have a problem booking them last time we were on Azura, but that was back in 2012/13. Just wondering if they get booked up quicker if the MDR's aren't so good.

Kind regards

Viv.

I must admit that I thought the gratuities were added at start of cruise, having said that, we didn't have much onboard credit on last cruise and it was used up on first day ordering the wine package, hence I probably didn't take much notice.

This time we have more onboard credit. I think its a bit underhanded of P & O to wait until credit is used up before putting gratuities onto account. I wonder what they would do if you went to reception and said either put gratuities on account in full at start of cruise or remove my gratuities altogether and I'll tip as I go.

Many thanks Toftwood, I will have a look for the ships number.

Kind regards.

Hi Folks, God forbid family would need to use it, but does anyone know if P & O have an emergency contact number in the UK in case family need to get an urgent message to us through P & O, as opposed to just ringing our mobiles with bad news..

I've been through all the bumph I have and can't find an emergency contact number.

Thanks Viv.

We sail on Azura on 20th and have had nothing at all from P & O or travel agent regarding changed itinerary :rolleyes:, I only know through this site (y) and its now showing on my cruise personaliser.

I think it is to make it difficult for you to book independent tours as you don't know your exact arrival and departure times. I think these are the P&O times but as I said I just phone and ask for the exact times and they always tell me.

 

 

Each port visit will vary according to the cruise and port. Foreach cruise we will indicate next to each port the anticipated arrival anddeparture times as follows:

Early Morning: The ship will usually arrive or depart between midnightand 08.59am

Morning: The ship will usually arrive or depart between 09.00am and11.59am

Early Afternoon: The ship will usually arrive or depart between middayand 02.59pm

Afternoon: The ship will usually arrive or depart between 03.00pm and05.59pm

Early Evening: The ship will usually arrive or depart between 06.00pmand 08.59pm

Evening: The ship will usually arrive or depart between 09.00pm and11.59pm

These timings are guidelines only and the actual times may vary.

I think you might be right about making it difficult to book independent tours. (When we were on a Baltic cruise with Princess we booked an independent 2 day tour of St. Petersburg, the itinerary was the same as Princess but we only paid just over a third of the price Princess was quoting, the tour was excellent and we had the bonus of been on nice 12 seat mini buses instead of been herded on to 50+ seat coaches Princess was using.

Do you have a magic telephone number for P&O, every time I ring for information I seem to be listening to their automated message for ages, sometimes I've held for 20+mins and then given up. Fortunately its been the free-phone number. Regards Viv.

I would imagine they don't print times in the brochure as things can change and the brochures are printed well in advance. If they printed the times then they would get lots of moans from passengers if the times had to change and were not the ones that were in the original brochure. I too have looked at Tour times and you can gauge likely departure times from that.

I agree with you Annie, but there is nothing to stop them updating the itinerary that you get in your cruise personaliser, putting times instead of morning, afternoon and evening and adding that they could be subject to change

.. Whilst you can ring P & O it can take forever to get through. I've often listened to their recorded message for 20+ mins, fortunately I've used the free-phone number. Regards Viv

Maybe a seasoned P&O traveller can help me? Our cruise details clearly tell us that we will have four formal nights which is fine. It also says that there will be some theme nights including Halloween and Black & White. Do P&O use one of the formal nights as the Black & White night (as has always been the case on other cruise lines we have travelled with) or will it be an additional night to get dressed up. Black & White night is so easy for the men if you are going to be wearing a DJ anyway.

On the several P & O cruises I have done, Black & White night is counted as one of the formal nights. Regards Viv

Many many thanks for all your replies, we were hoping by buying it up front we would get the extra loyalty discount as we have onboard credit so won't get any extra discount until its used up. Never mind it was worth a try, as we say in the North 'A shy bairn gets nowt'.

Kind regards to you all, Viv.

Hi folks, hoping you die-hard P & O's can answer my question Having done several cruises with P & O we have a small Peninsular Club discount. I was under the impression that if I booked and paid for a wine package up front for a forthcoming cruise that I would get the loyalty discount on the package. Contacted P & O today with debit card in hand to be told there is no discount buying it up front, yet I'm sure that I've seen reviews where members have said you get the discount buying up front. The person on the end of the phone kept going on about onboard credit we have, tried explaining this will get used up buying individual drinks, therefore wanted to buy package ahead of cruise. Obviously if no benefit from buying in advance will wait until onboard. Can any one advise.

Kind regards

Viv

Unfortunately P&0 like to keep this information to themselves ( unlike other cruise lines). However, most ports have their own website with arrival and departure times - often up to a year in advance. I have found these to be pretty reliable.

Hi, I was wondering the same, a couple of the ports say afternoon. However, if you look in the tours section and click into them they show the times of the trips. i.e. one of the islands we are going to says afternoon departure, but when I went to book a beach trip it gives two times 8.30am or 12 noon and the trip lasts 4 hours, in other words the ship can't be leaving until after 4.00pm at the earliest, unless there is some last minute change, think this is the nearest you will get to gauging time ship will leave.

Regards

Viv

Hi Folks,

Cruise ship organised beach tour VERSES local company or under own steam.

We only have a few hours in port, leaving mid afternoon. The ship offers organised beach tour for just under £30pp which includes transfer, sunbed and welcome drink.

Looking for a nice beach not to far from cruise port which provides sunbeds and umbrella, must also have restaurant/café and restroom facilities. Can anyone recommend local tour company offering the above with transportation, or if anyone has done it under their own steam how easy was it and what were the costs of taxi, sunbeds etc.

Any help/comments would be greatly appreciated. Kind regards Viv

If you look closely on google maps you can see the buses parked up in the dark shadow on the north side of the railway station. Also, it's inside , not exposed to the elements.

 

Have a good trip.

Many thanks, now we've got hotel/parking sorted, and know exactly where to get taxi to drop us off I'm happy and can relax and enjoy the nicer preparations for the cruise like shopping and more shopping. Kind regards Viv.

Yes the coach station is in the same place as the train station. Although there was a long queue it was all inside, it is quite big, and there is some seating as well. There are also toilets there. I can't remember exactly how long it took to Southampton but think it was about 5 hrs. This included a comfort stop of approx 45mins at Norton Cane services on the M6 toll road. It was a very comfortable journey down as we were lucky enough to get an Ellisons coach both times and they are quite luxurious. Hope you manage to get one too.

Thanks so much, you've put my mind at rest, I thought it was the only place it could be, but on google maps it also showed a coach/bus parking which was quite a distance from the terminals and was worried that we might be picked up there.

Thanks for all info, much appreciated. Kind regards Viv.

Viv - according to the Manchester Airport Website ( http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/getting-to-and-from/coach/ )

coaches arrive and depart from the Station. They say: "a large number of coach services operate daily from 'The Station' at Manchester Airport, the integrated transport hub, linking Manchester Airport with our region and other major UK cities." I assume that this will include your coaches - someone who has done this cruise or similar will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong.

 

The station map also on the website ( http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/getting-to-and-from/train/ ) shows that the coaches and buses are accessed on the ground level part of the station.

 

Hope this helps, and have a great trip.

 

Jo

Many thanks Jo, much appreciated. Viv

Hi folks I need your help,

We are picking up the complimentary P & O coach transfer to Southampton for re-positional cruise. The only information I have is that the coach station is between Terminals 1 & 2, I've tried to find it on Google maps but can only see the train station, is it there? Anyone give me details i.e. is it well signposted, also is it under cover or open to the elements, I understand that there may be quite a queue as p & o sometimes have a large number of coaches going.

Many thanks

Viv.

I have done this cruise twice and on both occasions, it did not matter what time coach you were allocated, you all join the same queue at the coach station and the P&O staff just fill up each coach in turn. Although we were allocated the first coach out because the queue was so long we ended up on about the sixth coach ��

Thanks for info Fab1, hopefully you can answer some more of my queries, is the coach station at the railway station or is it separate, only info I have got is that it's between terminal 1 and 2. Is it well signposted. If there's a big queue does this mean you're standing outside ages ( just thinking about weather). How long does it take to get down to Southampton and do they have a comfort stop on the way down. Any info you can give would be greatly appreciated. Kind regards Viv.

No one will think of you as a hijacker - we are all here to share information and maybe in some small way, help each other. There are so many people on these boards with years and years of cruising experience and knowledge - I am very much the novice and enjoy learning from others. This will only be my 8th or 9th cruise but my first time with P&O.

I have not booked directly with P&O either but through an agent. However, the info that I am referring to is the P&O "Your Holiday Information" booklet I received a week or two ago - this came directly from the cruise line. Maybe it's because I am a dinosaur and elected for all documents to be in paper form - I don't mind printing out an eTicket but this booklet which includes baggage labels is 64 pages!!

Anyway, to address your question, I posted earlier this month and included some information I had got from a die-hard P&O supporter (someone that cruises so regularly with P&O, he is on first-name terms with some of their Captains!). Here is the "copy & paste" of my previous post:

 

I can't answer your question about formal nights but my P&O traveller friend says that on Transatlantic cruises he has done, the formal nights vary due to a number of variables and a couple of years ago, they only found out the dates for the four formal nights in their daily Horizon newspaper on the day after embarkation. With so many sea days they have much more flexibility whereas with a port-intensive itinerary, many cruise lines try and schedule their formal nights on sea days. On this sailing, P&O have a lot of sea days to choose from. I am sure if you drop them an email, it will be a question they are regularly asked.

I assume that your wish to find out which nights are formal is because you want to book alternative dining and don't want it to clash with a formal evening? Also, as you need to factor in itinerary-changes that may well need to be put in place, they most likely do not want to commit to specific dates yet because quite frankly they probably don't know where the ship will be (i.e. port day versus sea day).

Thanks, I thought for a moment I had lost the plot. I received the booklet but thought there might be further info I wasn't aware of. You hit the nail on the head, on a previous cruise we booked the Marco Pierre White for hubby's 60th which was a formal night, even although we had told waiters we would be dining elsewhere, our table companions told us they had gone to town with balloons, birthday banner and dressed the table extra nicely, plus birthday cake, felt awful.

On a lighter note we are wondering if we'll actually get to do a tropical night in the real I am, On two previous cruises with P & O around the med they had tropical theme nights on deck and each time they had to abandon them due to it blowing a gale and scenery falling over etc.

Hope you have a great cruise, Kind regards Viv.