FangedRose

There was "free" cake at Costa on Aurora in July, but no biscotti, I had forgotten all about that until you reminded me.

Depends on availability, you would have to ask on board. If you want to choose dining preference you need to pay select fare (even then it is not guaranteed, but I've always got what I requested).

In my experience talking to non public facing crew is useless. 1. They usually have no, or very little English. 2. They take their orders from their bosses, not passengers. I will nod and smile, say good morning, but I would never dream of asking a maintenance crew member to stop work, I would always go through reception. The only exception was when I stopped (by standing in front of them) a crew member from washing the Quoits Court 15 minutes before a scheduled competition was due to take place. If the court was wet the competition couldn’t take place. I repeatedly pointed out the schedule to them but it took a passing officer to resolve the situation.

From Carlisle we usually have a pick up time of about 5am. Bearing in mind it's come from Glasgow or Edinburgh it can actually arrive between 4.45am and 5.30am. Pick up points for early starts is usually a hotel near a motorway junction and oftem people will stay at the hotel if they live a long way from the pick up point. It will wait until a good few minutes past the notified pick up time and then the driver will attempt to contact you. (Which is good if you've slept in, not so good for those sitting on the coach!)

I always use the included coach from the far North West. As others have said ths ship will wait (or if not it is up to P&O to sort things out). The drivers are in constant contact with base and each other, and often go a different route according to the info they receive. Never had any problems. There will be one or two comfort stops, and short pick up stops along the way. Yes it's an early start, but who sleeps the night before a holiday anyway? Usually arrive early afternoon (between 1pm and 2pm). You give the luggage to the driver and you next see it outside your cabin. You are more likely to suffer traffic delays driving yourself without the info that the coach drivers receive, and no staying in a hotel the night before with the commensurate luggage hauling, not to mention two sleepless nights prior to your holiday. Eavesway is classed as independent travel and P&O will not take any responsibility for problems (such as when luggage was off loaded at the wrong ship, no compensation etc). Also, their pick up points are much more sparse, (no farther north than Preston on the west side of the country, none in Scotland).

Mine was for Aradia in July 2025. I booked on day of release. I haven't heard anything from my ta about a new booking confirmation. I guess the button was pushed a month early and the email was meant to be sent in September, not August.

That only works if you booked direct.

Theme nights were massively in decline prior to covid. Passenger participation was negligible. I have not known any since cruising recommenced. On my most recent cruise my table mates all commented on the lack of theme nights in recent years. I wouldn't bother doing any special packing.

Nope. That wouldn't make an item on Radio 4 News bulletin.

I got both after my last cruise in July. Did the P&O one, not the feefo one. Have you checked your "spam" box, and/or have you declined to accept marketing emails from P&O?

I trust that you don't fill the bottles directly from the dispenser, but use a glass to transfer the water into the bottle. I've seen far to many bottles taken from mouth then jammed onto the dispensing spout to make using the water dispensers a pleasing prospect. I have started taking a water bottle with an in-built filter system. I use that to make tea and to fill my ordinary water bottle. It certainly helped with the taste of my early morning cuppa.

I never go to the solo get together (it usually clashes with the deck game competitions), but always have fixed dining on a large table of solo diners. The nearest I've got to a discussion about price is a jokey off hand comment about the solo supplement and trying to eat twice as much!

I knew there was a 6 and a 5 in the offer somewhere. 😁

That is why I never engage in any conversations about what I (or anyone) paid. If it ruined your cruise you not only lost the £800, you lost the entire price of the cruise as you didn't enjoy it.

Yes they do. Something like buy 6, pay for 5. Can't remember any details about pricing, sorry. It was on a card in your cabin.

I agree, apart from the so called silver service, on a large table the food was cold by the time everyone was served.

I had that email this morning. It is for a 2025 Round Britain on Arcadia, which I booked on day of release to use up Covid Credit. New Booking Confirmation with new price being issued tomorrow. Edit: just noticed the email says "issued tomorrow 24th September"!

Have looked at National Express and Megabus too. Both need change at Manchester, and the timings are not far short of Intercruise to Southampton. With none of the hassle of hauling luggage etc it looks like Southampton is the easiest option 🤷

If only trains could be relied on nowadays. And, if only there was a direct train from Carlisle to Liverpool.

Looking at Fred Olsen cruises mainly because of the schlep to and from Southampton. I've got my eye on one from Liverpool, and my question is how do people without access to private transport get to Liverpool with their luggage? When I was looking earlier this year there was door-to-door transport offered (but I was still outside of the distance limit) but this doesn’t seem to be offered anymore.

I may be wrong (never book saver fares) but I seem to recall that early saver fares no longer existed? I think that I read it on here?

Saver fare means you cannot choose your cabin. If you want to choose your cabin you need to have select fare. That's why saver fare is cheaper.

So it looks like the deposit required does depend on the length of the cruise.

I've just returned from a cruise. Booked two cruises, select fare, and the deposit was £150 each. They are 19 days and 21 days, if that makes a difference.

I booked on board and got an amount of OBC plus coach. Just got a leaflet from my travel agent with the same cruise this morning, and the amount of OBC is lower. They were advertising it on board that the OBC was more than if you booked at home.