FangedRose

It's being enforced today.

On 4/26/2024 at 12:29 PM, david63 said:

The one exception to having to wait is if you are in a suite.

Caribbean level and above also have priority boarding

At long last I have reached he dizzying heights of Caribbean. What is the dress code for the mid cruise Loyalty Lunch? I seem to remember seeing people in suits and cocktail dresses at midday but not more recently. 

Just now, david63 said:

Unfortunately some appear to be hard of hearing so just congregate at the gangway just in case they can get off sooner!

Probably the same people who can't read written instructions! 

8 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

Pretty optimistic thinking that everyone reads the paperwork.

And not see the luggage in hallways?

3 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

Those who want to jump the queue will simply leave whenever they want anyway.

 

 

No chance. At the moment the slot before normal disembarkation gives those who want to self-disembark (for whatever reason) an opportunity to do so, just they need to do it at that time which virtually all accept - and I would actually bet that a significant number of those few people disembarking with bags during the normal disembarkation are not 'self-disembarking' but new cruisers who simply didn't realise the process of leaving bags outside.

 

And if they did change and said there was no disembarkation with the 'punishment' that if you didn't you had to wait until the end, then it would just be more hassle for the staff as people argued with them.

 

As before, the crew want you gone. If that is done at your allocated time that is great, but if it isn't they still want you gone.

There is no excuse for not knowing the procedure. Letters arrive in your cabin beforehand, there are notices in Horizon. If that wasn't enough not being able to walk down the corridor for luggage would ge a huge clue.

22 minutes ago, gmac00 said:

So this will work? (Not me in the picture) 🙂 

Yeah. Will be fine on a family ship such as Azura.

4 minutes ago, gmac00 said:

Hi,

My first cruise is fast approaching in July. I am sailing from Malta on Azura with my wife and daughter and this will be our first cruise. We are all excited but I am slightly stressed about the dress code.

 

We are going to a wedding in Tuscany the weekend before the cruise and I've bought a nice light linen suit for it. My wife wants me to take it on the cruise but I'm concerned it won't be allowed on the formal nights. Thoughts?

 

Secondly, it says no trainers on the casual night but I hear loads of people saying they are fine. What constitutes "acceptable" trainers? 

I know a pair of knackered New Balance you wear to the gym won't work but will a smart pair of dark trainers be OK, would smart great trainers be ok?

 

Thanks in advance for any answers

Graham

 

 

 

 

 

Dark, smart (not old and battered) trainers will be ok. The minimum for formal nights is collared shirt, tie and jacket. Most will bs wearing a suit and tie, some tuxedos and there is usually a few dress kilts if you look for them. The only places that adhere to the dress code is the main dining room, the Crow's Nest (or equivalent Metropolitan?) and maybe one other bar.

If you don't want to dress up you can use the buffet or, one of the other restaurants that charge a supplement. 

Brilliant. Glad it's worked out for you.

25 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

You have obviously never been on Iona or Arvia..

That's what I said.

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

Yes I did say that, because it’s true. By allowing bookings within Freedom Dining restaurants, you have Freedom and Fixed operating in the same MDR. 

Booking a time in a restaurant (at a time you choose and allows you to vary it evening by evening) is not the same as fixed time dining where the the cruise line chooses your time (giving you a choice of two) and the same table and table companions every night. 

This confusion over dining times and bookings generates a lot of questions from newbies (and not so newbies) on over social media. I prefer knowing when and where I'm eating so I can conserve my energies for more important decisions about my evening.

36 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Far better than the crazy situation that P&O have got themselves in by having fixed dining, reservations, pagers and walk ins all operating in the same dining room, b

I agree with your statement as regard freedom dining. However, you clearly state that freedom and fixed dining operate from the same mdr. I was merely trying to clarify for other readers.

21 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

What a sensible idea. Far better than the crazy situation that P&O have got themselves in by having fixed dining, reservations, pagers and walk ins all operating in the same dining room, because they are too bloody minded to acknowledge that the original Freedom Dining system that they had before worked far better 🤔😂

P&O have separate dining rooms for fixed and freedom diners. I've been on all their ships (except Iona and Arvia) and fixed and freedom diners have never shared dining rooms.

1 hour ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Do you mean Intercruise

Intercruise is Cruise Connect

1 hour ago, vitrocmax said:

Has anyone any experience with booking the complimentary coach with Cruise Connect after the 35 days has passed? 

 

I had it in mind that it was 4 weeks (no idea why!) and now it's too late to book online. I'm going to try ring first thing Monday but it's only 27 days by then.

 

The website help pages says they are open 7 days a week 8 till 8 but the message I got on the phone when I rang them says Monday to Friday 8 to 6 only, and their home page says Weekdays 8.30 to 6 and Saturdays 9 to 4. 

 

This could be one very expensive error, entirely my fault. 

You can't book the complementary coach online anyway.

Cruise Connect/Intercruises don't own their own coaches but hire them. That is why they need the 35 days. If you're lucky they may have 45 passengers and hired a 52 seater (for example) so you will have no trouble. If you're unlucky they have 52 passengers. The only way to know is to phone and ask.

For future I've booked my travel a month ago for a cruise in August 2025 after being scared when their phone lines went haywire eight weeks before my last cruise and it took two weeks to get through to them!

PS: If you're unlucky you could try Eavesway. But you will have to pay and they are not P&Os "preferred partner" also, their network is not as comprehensive as Intercruise. 

6 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

We always take our passports ashore with us along with copies of our insurance because we have been on several cruises where passengers have had accidents ashore and missed the ship and had to get to the next port usually with some help from the cruise line's local contacts.

Never take my passport ashore (unless told we need too), greater chance of it get stolen or lost than an accident preventing my return to the ship. I take a copy though so I have numbers etc which may expedite matters. Insurance documents are kept on my phone (well online).

3 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Which if in a different country might be be problematic without passports.

We have only experienced this once over 40 cruises, not to us, but a coach in Panama was delayed due  to a major traffic accident. The coach was not involved in the accident but was 4 or 5 hours late getting back to port, and the Princess ship waited for their return.

If passengers don't return to the ship security staff will retrieve your passport from your cabin and leave it with the port authorities. 

4 hours ago, GSPG said:

So it seems even booking a coach through the company is not bullet proof on missing the ship!

That was an Eavesway coach so not booked through P&O who only partner with Intercruise.

27 minutes ago, oceanlad said:

Sorry to bump an old topic but very frustrated with P&O on this, couldn't see a more current one and wanted to correct a few people just blaming the banking system.

 

When a card payment is authorised, your bank will usually withhold funds from your available balance for 7 days, but increasingly popular mobile based banking apps such as Chase will withhold for upto 30 days. If the payment is released back onto your balance as the merchant did not collect it, the merchant *can still* collect that payment for up to 6 months from the original authorisation date.

 

Some have drawn comparisons to making a deposit on a hotel room. This isnt the same thing. When you pay this, you know what you're paying upfront and that it is a pre-authorisation incase of damages, it is not a duplicate of the booking itself. The price per night of the room itself will usually be higher than the authorisation.

 

What P&O is doing is charging people twice, in full, for all purchases made onboard. Yes, they may not ultimately collect the second authorisation, but making somebody wait up to 30 days to access their own funds is not acceptable, particularly in this financial climate.

 

There is nothing that would stop P&O simply collecting the initial authorisation on the day it is made or shortly thereafter, so their insistence on charging twice, in full, without clear communication prior to boarding is incredibly frustrating.

 

Another annoying factor is that P&O will ask you to contact your bank to cancel the authorisation. As somebody who works in the industry I can assure you that no bank will cancel an authorisation solely on a customer's request as they would have no assurance that, for instance, an item wasn't purchased twice and the customer wasn't trying to pull a fast one. So P&O are directing customers down a blind avenue to other organisations on a no hope quest to sort problems of their own making.

 

Incredibly poor and frustrating from P&O. While we won't struggle, we now have to wait 3+ weeks for £600.00+ spent onboard and would have spent differently otherwise, whereas others could really be financially reliant on the withheld payments.

 

Suggestions that people should take credit out just to accommodate a cruise line are nonsense - the cruise line should get their act together. 

 

 

1. Use a credit card

2. It's the bank not P&O

3. This is well known and comes third in topics after dining and dress code.

9 minutes ago, waddle said:

And they’ve gone up with inflation 😅

Groan 

12 hours ago, david63 said:

I am not personally aware of anyone having the "birthday package" but I doubt that the meal in itself would be anything different from the normal menu of the restaurant of choice - perhaps a few balloons and other decorations at the table and a couple of extra touches such as (another) birthday cake.

 

One interesting point is about the portrait - have photographers been re-introduced on P&O?

No balloons now for environmental reasons.

If you can't walk the few yards from the coach to the terminal you probably won't be able to cope with the steps on the coach. Eavesway (and Intercruise) often use Ellisons coaches which have several high steps from the door to the passenger cabin as it sits on top of the luggage hold. There is one seat on a lower level, next to the driver and, as you can imagine, needs to be booked.

4 hours ago, HMB1990 said:

But it did allow me to choose my bed configuration. There are queen beds on this ship with roof pullmans. Which would be acceptable. There are also twin bed rooms that convert to queen with roof pullmans. Either of these types of rooms would work. There are also rooms on this ship with just 1 pullman. 

 

I would have purchased select plus if I couldn't get what I wanted, but I could. It is not may fault their system isn't working properly. Now I cant have the select plus as no rooms left to choose from. 

It didn't allow to choose a bed configuration. It allowed you to express a preference.

Also, what do you mean by select plus? Never come across that before.

12 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Some questions

1. Do you have to choose the coach transfer option on booking the cruise

2. There are no coaches from Kent, London appears to be the nearest. Does it start from Victoria coach station

 

I have a cruise in July and the options are:-

Train the whole way, not keen on risking it

Train to Victoria and then coach, easy and multiple routes from home to London

Private transfer taxi, very expensive at £400 return plus hotel bills

If you wish to take coach travel instead of obc or free parking you need to say when booking. You can book and pay yourself independently. Intercruise/Cruise Connect are the preferred partners of P&O and that is who is used for the "free" option. Or, there is also Eavesway which provide the same service.

Can't help with London transfers.

36 minutes ago, david63 said:

I am somewhat intrigued as to how this could be policed. Would everyone attending these events have to provide P&O with a sworn statement that they are solo (whatever that definition is)?

Back in the day when these get togethers were hosted I did observe the host have a quiet word with some people who had entered together, sat together, only spoke to each other etc. They didn't come back.

But maybe, don't advertise it in The Horizon but give invitations to those who are travelling alone and whose bookings are not linked with another party.