DamianG

Well, it has turned rather humid here today. 🥵

No, he's working from home today too (we had a Zoom meeting earlier). At least I was wearing a collared shirt. 😁

I am sick (nothing major, just an annoying cough, sore throat and cold). I have cancelled my visit to the office in London today (but I am still working). I am freaked out by your post. #kalostheprophesier

Fingers crossed for you Michelle.

Sad news, condolences Josy.

We took the drinks package on Iona and are going to take it on Arvia on our next cruise. The tipping point for us is our son getting the soft drinks package complimentary, especially as he loves the tea from Vistas. We will likely average 5 or so alcoholic drinks each per day as well as Vistas hot drinks and plenty of bottled water but without our son it probably would not be worth it.

This picture has been posted on social media today (I believe from a MSC Virtuosa). How ridiculous. Whatever next, towels reserving seats in the theatre?

Hi Avril Yes, LB grade is the same on Iona and Arvia. My mum and sister have one of these cabins on Arvia in a couple of weeks so Michelle, Kyle & I will all be visiting it to have a nosey around! We’ve always considered ourselves small ship fans but since P&O have pushed us towards the larger vessels we have changed our opinion and now like them all.

On Iona last year the upper tier and suite embarkation lunch was open until 3:30pm. We always enjoy a free drink or two but the food has been different every time. On Iona there were various buffet choices and a curry option which we really enjoyed. On other previous cruises it was a selection of sandwiches, wraps, bitesize snacks etc. Our son usually wants to get in the cabin asap so we never spend too long in there but we appreciate the perk and always take advantage of it. It's nice to have a place to go eat where it isn't too busy or crowded in any way.

My suggestion would be to partially compromise and choose an oceanview cabin: Also, given that this is a 35 night cruise on a big ship my educated guess is that there may be plenty of availability nearer to the sailing date and a good chance of some better deals compared to those currently on offer. For example, I looked at these cabins 2 weeks back for the (school holidays) cruise on Arvia departing 6th August. I was really surprised to see that there were still 58 cabins available in LB grade on deck 4 despite being less than a month to the departure date. Obviously that does not mean that it will be the same for your cruise but 35 nights is a big commitment so I do wonder how P&O will get on with filling all the available berths. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Thanks @Selbourne I've thoroughly enjoyed reading all of your comments (especially as I wasn't expecting such detail when you originally suggested that you wouldn't be posting a full "live" blog!). Overall it seems that there were far more positives than negatives but those niggles which are ultimately caused by poor parenting sound particularly annoying. Wish us luck on Arvia in a couple of weeks' time! 😟 It seems to be the way of the world these days for some parents to prioritise holidays over school attendance. Even allowing for those who had already broken up I'd bet there were plenty who just decided that their kids could just skip the last week or two of term. That certainly appears to be the case at the primary school where my wife works with attendances down this week and some kids openly speaking of their excitement of going on holiday (this week) at the end of last week.

So sorry to hear this Michelle, best wishes to you and your family at such a difficult time.

Shame, sorry to hear that. Remember to get a missed port confirmation letter from reception to facilitate an insurance claim.

Previously I used to be able share the internet in the cabin using a TP-Link WR802N travel router which has a hot spot function. However, I couldn't get it to work on Iona last year. I'm not sure if that was down to me as I'd not used it for years and didn't have the instructions to hand, or if P&O had somehow done something to prevent this (given that they now state on internet packages that they apply to "one device" only).

Big week ahead for me, although it's not in my job description I've become an unofficial business process manager for the team and a project to bring in a new system which has been 2 years in the making will finally be completed over the next 3 days. I'm having a rare stopover in London to be in the office for a couple of days and not really looking forward to it but not complaining. Every time I have an appraisal I am asked what my goals are for the months ahead and I always state "stay employed" so things like this all help. In other news 3 weeks today we will be on the road to Southampton for our 2 week Arvia cruise. We did have a week on Iona last year but this will be our first 2 week cruise since you know what and our first time back in the Mediterranean since 2018. Counting the days? You bet we are!

I'm so glad to read that you enjoyed the Caribbean Tier lunch, we always do and I've said exactly the same as you in calling it a real benefit in return for our loyalty. If you get really lucky in future your table will be hosted by the food and beverage manager (as it once was for us) which results in the wine waiter constantly replenishing your wine glasses.

"Is it the new mentality that the ship is the destination and the ports are just thrown in as an extra?" That is definitely the case on our forthcoming Arvia Mediterranean cruise with just 6 ports scheduled over 2 weeks.

Interestingly my mum and sister have been advised that the departure time for their coach down to Southampton for our forthcoming Arvia cruise will leave Leeds at 7:45am. We've never known anything other than the coaches always leaving at 6:30am so we're now wondering if this is to assist with staggering boarding times as well.

Another great update and particularly lovely to see the photos of Vigeland Park which we’ve visited a few times in the past. It’s very different in winter but equally spectacular especially if there is snow around. We had a similar tram problem in Rotterdam until I fortunately found an actual paper ticket machine but only in a station.

Thanks @Selbourne, I thoroughly enjoyed reading that and am glad that the majority of your experiences so far have been positive. I hope that things remain the same for the rest of your cruise.

Anyone following the test match will know what kind of weather we have here today. Luckily I am a big fan of @zap99's lawn care tips so I also cut the grass last night. Happy weekend all. Smug from Leeds.

Such sad news, deepest condolences to you and your family.

Thanks for all the comparisons, a lot of them echo the experiences of my in-laws on both lines. We'd love to try Princess but their prices for school holiday cruises are way more than P&O so we'll have to hold off for now.

As above we've had G616 (standard balcony cabin complete with sofa bed) on Britannia previously.

This is a fair review of a conservatory mini suite on deck 8: