FangedRose

Sickness and diarrhoea is a symptom of Covid. I certainly had an upset stomach in the early days of my covid infection and the others who shared my taxi home also suffered similarly to a greater or lesser degree. i also thought the food bland and tasteless for several days before I tested. My cough I also blamed on the air conditioning.

Everything described can be attributed to the covid infection. I very much doubt the op would be the only ones affected if it was food poisoning.

7 hours ago, Marmaduke said:

I believe that when booking an Early Saver Fare you can request your dining preference, although this is not guaranteed.  When I asked my TA to check that she had put me down for Freedom Dining she said that it has been years since they were able to request dining preferences.  P & O say they will e-mail me nearer departure time, is this correct and how near to departure do they email ?  I would be interested  in other peoples experiences  of booking the Early Saver fare.

Choosing your dining preferences is one of the perks of paying select fare. Even then it is still not guaranteed. (Though select fare preferences come top of the list).There would be a lot of upset select fare passengers if they didn't get their dining preference when someone on a saver fare did.

In the past everyone paid 'select' fare, everyone could choose dining and cabin. Saver fares were introduced (at a lower price) to fill empty (unpopular) cabins and fill empty dining slots.

If you want choice you need to pay select fare.

15 minutes ago, FannyLiz said:

I’d not thought of the insurance aspect. I assumed that luggage was Xrayed before boarding and, if anything suspicious was found, it would be easier for them to have access rather than calling me. Not that I intend to bring anything suspicious.

 

Yes, it is my first cruise, apart from dozens of ferry trips with our motorhome in various parts of the world some of which called themselves “ cruises” as they took several days. First holiday with a suitcase too since goodness knows when !

From my experience of several cruise lines, if anything suspicious shows up when the suitcases are scanned you get called to the "naughty room" and you open the suitcase in the presence of the security staff. Only in the most extreme circumstances would anyone open your suitcases without you there.

18 hours ago, redabby said:

 I  also had the same issue as  bbtablet, and rang P@O shoreside.  I have been told an that if you are a higher grade and qualify for the early boarding but are sharing the cabin with a lower grade and you all wish to all board  on the higher grade members earlier time that it is an  unequivocal no , you will all have to board at the lower grades later time.  As this information is different to    bbtablet's email so  I will e-mail them myself and see if the response is different to the phone response. 

bbtablet  make sure you print your e-mail and bring it with you.

Never experienced, or talked to anyone, that this happened to. If one person in the cabin is entitled to priority boarding everybody in the same cabin boarded with them at the earlier time.

I personally have boarded early as I happened to be talking to someone who had priority boarding as we entered the terminal. Despite my protestations that I was not entitled to be in that particular lane i was told "Ithink you are assisting her therefore you board with her", I stopped arguing then and went with the flow 😁.

7 hours ago, FredaFlinstone said:

I read some reports that its quite cool on the ships, especially in some of the restaurants. I'm heading to Norway & Arctic Circle late November on Arcadia.  Are long sleeves recommended for ladies - or just carry a wrap or cardigan in the evenings?

Just carry a wrap. The interior is usually kept at a constant temperature wherever in the world you are. But certain areas of the ship, and certain seats in certain venues can be chilly due to air conditioning. 

Just now, Stu UK said:

That has nothing to do with two pages of a web site giving different information. 

That has got nothing to do with the fact that even if they gave same information it could change at a couple of hours notice once on board.

Title says £70, comment by op says £10. That is not a typo, the numbers are nowhere near each other.

Drink packages are expensive when compared to paygo prices on P&O. Very rarely worth it. They are optional. If you do go for it all adults in the cabin need to purchase it.

A six month old should only drinking milk (breast or formula if necessary) or plain water.

48 minutes ago, Stu UK said:

Unfortunately that does not help when we are having to pre-book so many things. It would be such a simple thing for P&O to get their info consistent on the two web pages 🤦🏻

Only if they can predict the weather for one day, or the vagaries of port authorities, months in advance.

32 minutes ago, david63 said:

The point is that formal/celebration nights can, and do, change once onboard so the only correct information will be that given out onboard, and even that can change at the last minute.

This.

Celebration/formal nights are usually scheduled for sea days if possible. If the itinerary changes due to "operational reasons" and what was a sea day is now a port day, or if the sea is going to be exceptionally "lumpy" they will move the celebration night.

2 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Proves my point!

Not quite. It proves it was a tick box exercise. The steward was more interested in getting ratings, not by doing his job properly, but by guilt tripping the guests.

1 minute ago, Fionboard said:

Cabin stewards were desperate to get excellent on the questionnaires or they did not get the full gratuities.  

I remember being asked by a cabin steward to mark him excellent. So i immediately deducted one star. Instead of doing his job properly (which would have got him at least 4 stars) he was badgering the guests to fill the form in "properly". I made sure I put the form in the box in reception, instead of leaving it my cabin, as I didn't quite trust him!

52 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said:

 

When P&O started adding the gratuities for you to your account at a daily rate, which I think was around £7 pp if I recall, you could go down to reception and request the form to remove them. On the form you had the option to remove the gratiities entirely, reduce the daily rate you would be willing to pay, state a total sum you would pay, and even stipulate that you would rather tip in person. You then had to sign it and pop it back to reception.

 

There used to be quite a queue for these forms as nobody knew where the gratuities would actually be going at the time.

Yes, that's what I remember.

27 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

That was P&O before they did away with separate gratuities.

Thought it was P&O but not entirely sure.

22 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

E

You don't have to go down on first day to cancel gratuities you can do it anytime during the cruise and there are no forms to fill in they fill in form and you just sign it.

Maybe it was a different cruise line I'm thinking of. I remember talking to tablemates who were sitting in the atrium, near reception, filling in a form to remove gratuities. 

Different cruise lines, different procedures.

15 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

Hi Winifred. They seem to charge a daily rate, but I'm told it's optional. 

It is optional, but you have to queue and fill in forms at reception to remove them. And, I think I'm right, you can only remove them for future days, so if you want to remove them for the whole cruise you need to do so on the first day, hence the queue.

3 hours ago, majortom10 said:

One of the major declines in food on P&O since COVID was the removal of the special of the day on the breakfast menu in MDR sadly no more.

But, it does mean that Eggs Benedict is available every morning, not just on Monday

3 hours ago, Kohima said:

FangledRose, you need to give Saga a ring with your postcode and they will give you a quote for the excess above the mileage allowance. You would be picked up direct from your house.

Thanks

49 minutes ago, Denarius said:

I used to be in the same situation before the included mileage was increased from 250 to 300. You can opt for a shared car and will be charged a mileage rate (not sure what it is nowadays) in respect of mileage in excess of the included 300 in either direction. ie, if you live 400 miles away you will be charged for 2x(400-300)=200 miles. You can have a sole use car but would pay a higher mileage rate in respect of mileage in excess of 75 each way ie, in the previous example, 2x(400-75)=650 miles which would work out much more expensive.

There is also the option to be collected from home and driven to your local airport for an included domestic flight to London, from whence you would be collected and driven to the port. Not sure how this works or whether there are any resrictions as I have never spoken to anyone who has done this - it may be a fairly new option. Perhaps someone who has used it could advise, or you could always ask Saga.

 

Thanks. That's exactly what I needed to know. 😊

I am interested in doing a Saga Cruise as a refugee from another cruise line.

As can be seen from my profile I live outside the distance limits for car transfers. How does that work? Am I left to make my own way to the ship? Can I travel to a pick up point? Can I pay extra to bridge the gap as it were?

I use the buffet for a quick breakfast or lunch inbetween other activities. I can't imagine going back to the cabin before and after for my tray. On Arvia or Iona (even Britannia) that could be adding an extra 20 minutes to my mealtime (which only took 10 minutes anyway). The inconvenience would outweigh any advantage. 

I assume that gt also indicates "guarantee", there is only two spaces allocated for deck number, so it is abbreviated to two letters.

Also, cabins can be allocated at any time up to, and including, check in.

4 hours ago, paulatsea said:

Has anyone taken their own tray ? 

I saw a family on Aurora in July with their own trays. They were only half the size of the normal trays. Could only fit one large plate on it so, in my opinion, a waste of time and effort.

As a solo traveller I worried about how I would cope, but I managed fine. Got meal, left it on table with obviously unused napkin and cutlery, a nod to a neighbouring table, which indicated my intention, and got my tea and/or dessert. Never had any problems.

20 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Sorry but it is a personal thing but hand towels yes are washed more infrequently but bath towels once used after a shower or bath are only used the once and then washed.

Have you got that the right way round? Surely hand towels should be changed more frequently! If you use a flannel or sponge in the shower all skin flakes are removed then and washed away. That is not true when washing hands and therefore skin flakes are transferred to the hand towel. It is more important to keep your hands clean than other parts of your body surely?

15 minutes ago, amajaa said:

 

I'm not sure that 3 or 4 showers a day is actually good for your skin, isn't it supposed to dry it out. Apparently it strips your skin of important oils and can cause dry itchy skin.  Plus not good for the environment.

 

On the other hand having showers/baths infrequently can cause infections etc. When you think back to years ago when people got the tin bath out and the whole family used the same water, other days they just had a wash.  Thank goodness for modern bathrooms. 

I agree. That many showers a day can not be good for the individual or the environment (especially if they insist on a clean towel every time too). If you factor in the time it takes to change, shower, dry, reapply lotion etc, and dress it's getting on for the best part of two hours a day. I've better things to do on holiday!

I remember the days of one bath a week (not sharing the water, except maybe with my brother when little), and a "flannel wash" in between. I don't remember the flannel getting changed daily either!

11 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

Slide the ramekin onto a plate using a spoon, then you can easily carry two😉

If you use a big dinner plate I'm sure you could carry three or four. (More if you use both hands).