DamianG

I remember Dennis from the P&O forum, always a positive & funny poster. I really enjoyed reading his book as well.

Happy Father’s Day

It's not recent but we sailed during the main school holidays last August 2023: On that occasion Arvia sailed near to (or at) capacity and we had a lot of issues with "freedom" dining in the evenings, likely not helped by the fact that we were in a large group of seven. There just wasn't enough capacity in the two MDRs and the restaurant managers kept closing down bookings via the onboard "My Holiday" webpage. I'm not trying to put you off and a lot of recent reports, blogs and vlogs that I've seen have been largely positive, but it is worth bearing in mind that it could be a different experience near to or during the main UK summer school holidays.

As I always say to him when we are out walking and see another cockapoo “There’s another of your cousins!”

Ted looks great! Our Ted had his groom last week but his fur has grown so much already. Maybe it’s his new, expensive supplements which we started giving him recently. He’s certainly back to being full of energy and hopefully completely over his lumber injury.

I'm absolutely sure that none of the regulars on here will be offended in the slightest. As @kalos stated there are other posters who haven't sailed with P&O that contribute. There are also some who've stated that they'll never sail with P&O again. A lot of it goes back to the non-cruising Covid lockdown days when this "chat" thread started with loads of different posters coming and going since then, many of whom probably simply appreciated an avenue to chat and share life experiences. I think that the original question was simply out of interest as some may have joined this chat just to get a feel for the brand and maybe its clientele prior to taking the plunge and booking a P&O cruise.

Whilst I don't doubt this, I will be interested to read future reports of passengers' experiences during the main school holidays when the ship sails with a higher number of berths filled. As has been well documented, our experience last August was very poor, in particular with "freedom" dining where we either experienced long delays and/or the complete shutdown the My Holiday webpage for dining bookings, necessitating us having to visit the MDR reception to request a table and take a pager almost every evening (until we finally compromised and accepted a fixed dining arrangement). I really hope that it has become a "well oiled machine" and lives up to P&O's promises the majority of the time whenever anyone sails, not just outside the main UK school holidays.

Much appreciated, thank you. Have a lovely cruise.

I’ve just searched online and found an email address loyalty@pocruises.com The information could be out of date though.

I tried to view my cruise history last week and again today without success. I’ve tried clearing cache, browser history, different browsers etc. but nothing works.

When we are close enough to Southampton we try to tune the car radio to a local station. I can’t remember the name (and don’t think it’s broadcasting any more) but there used to be a station that always announced which ships were in port that day so we’d listen to the list then cheer when the host said “Oriana” “Aurora” etc. These days we follow the protocol for muster, drop our bags in the cabin, take our time over upper tier embarkation lunch, unpack then get out on the balcony or open decks for the sail away. I never tire of looking at all the sights whilst sailing down the Solent.

As folks in Derbyshire may say, “thanks duck!”

Last day in North Wales so we headed to the seaside town of Barmouth. It was blooming freezing on the beach, sure it was colder than on our last visit in October. No wonder the bloke depicted on the carved head sculpture looks miserable.

We are looking forward to our first MSC cruise in July. My wife's intrepretation of all the comments on social media is that limitations were only placed on the shorter cruises (up to five nights) and that they were intended to help reduce waiting times. There are also suggestions that it was only the Easy Plus Package that was affected?

A quick visit to Dolgellau this evening to pick up Michelle, her sister & a takeaway. The locals are very friendly.

I disagree, many can suddenly find their inner Linford Christie when the ship is about to pull in the gangplank!

Thanks for starting & updating this thread @Megabear2 & also to @Selbourne for your regular contributions. Loved the Orkney photos especially and having bands quayside must have made it even more special. The big question though is were there any pier runners? 😉

Today we walked Llwybr Clywedog. My new “waterproof” walking shoes failed, I learned a new skill in herding sheep off the path away from the dogs and we got completely drenched. It was totally worth it, even the walk back up the steep valley wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

You win a lifetime of respect from me for the correct name in Spanish & including the tilde over the “n”. 🇪🇸

We've used P4C 5 times without a single problem. We too abandoned CPS after waiting an hour to hand over the keys before boarding Britannia in 2015. On that occasion there were cars being processed before us which had clearly arrived after us (whilst we were in a holding lane).

We are back in Brithdir North Wales for a few days. Teddy had a paddle in the Afon Mawddach near the Llanlltyd Bridge at Cymer Abbey. From there we went to the beach at Fairbourne. Finally we had lunch at the George III pub beside the Penmaenpool toll bridge over the Mawddach estuary.

Including my tuxedo 😂

We’ve been on all the current P&O ships with our one cruise on Arcadia being a long time ago in winter. As fans of sitting out aft the space there (on Arcadia) is something we always thought we would enjoy on a warmer weather cruise and hopefully we’ll get to try it some day once we are no longer restricted to child friendly ships.

Arcadia: Entered service 2005, has had a few refits since then but by all accounts looking a bit dated now, especially in some of the cabins. Capacity circa 2000 passengers, very spacious in terms of pax versus the size of ship, especially on the outside decks. Very traditional as you would expect for an older ship. Fewer dining options than the modern ships. The best thing is that it is naturally a more friendly or sociable ship, i.e., you may have a conversation with a fellow passenger then see them again regularly and catch up, something that rarely happens with the larger ships. Iona: Entered service 2021, capacity circa 5200 but I believe can go up to nearer 6000 if all berths are filled. Has a very modern design which splits opinion, with a focus on the bright and airy atrium which some love for the natural light but others compare to an airport lounge. Lots of dining options including four MDRs and the excellent Quays which are a fantastic altenative to the buffet. Naturally it can get busy in terms of embarkation and disembarkation, including when visiting ports. I'd happily sail on either again. Choosing between one or the other really depends on which parts of the cruise are more important to you. If you want a more "old school" traditional cruise with a more intimate feel then Arcadia would fit the bill. If you want a big modern ship with lots of dining and entertainment choices then Iona would be the way to go. There are compromises to be made with either choice so bear that in mind and decide accordingly. Doubtless others may have different opinions and I look forward to comparisons.

Congrats on the win yesterday @Splice the mainbrace Tactically outplayed us, executed the best chance and thoroughly deserved the win. Best of luck next season. Damian