janny444

11 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

We have 2 moved cruises in 2023 and I have to say I have no interest in booking any more.  I think our cruising days are over.  Lost interest.

My thoughts exactly.....it is going to be a very changed world ....in more ways than one....so as the uncertainties escalate there could be more and more change of ports....dropped ports....possibly more days at sea .....bigger and bigger all singing/dancing ships....

We have done quite a few cruises....seen what what we want to see in a way that we want to do it knowing what we were going to get....no forever changing goalposts and hoops to jump through

Over the years we have always had one foot in cruising and one discovering what we have on our own doorstep so it is absolutely no problem to be rediscovering our own wonderful doorstep with all the varieties that it has

On 3/1/2022 at 4:56 PM, bbtablet said:

Was that with P&O, janny444? What was the name of the ship?!

Yes P&O

3 minutes ago, CRUISENSNOOZE said:

We are due on Iona this weekend. We are taking enough Lateral Flow Kits with us. We will do a test on the morning of each port and if test positive..we won't be doing the ships test. We will stay quiet and stay in our cabin. Lesser of 2 evils I'm afraid.

I suspect that quite  a few could be doing that....laying low ....so unfortunately the OP question about how many onboard with a positive covid test can't be answered.

My only experience of this situation was when on boarding the cruise I went straight to reception to see about upgrading to a balcony cabin....sorry ship full but they took my room number. Three days into the cruise we reached Madeira after an horrendous BOB crossing where the ship had listed very badly. Consequently quite a few disembarked at Madeira to make there way home. Following day I received a phone call from reception offering us a balcony cabin but the price wanted was quite staggering can't remember the exact figure but the figure wanted shocked us. I think it was double the price we had paid for our  outside cabin but we were 4 days into a 13 night cruise and they had already had the balcony fare from the previous occupants who had disembarked

12 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I suppose it's only natural, when we were young spending ten shillings (50p,) on a night out was extravagant, nowadays young ones think nothing of spending £50 on a night out.

£50!!....you must be joking....think you can practically double that figure 😃

20 hours ago, pennib said:

If anyone is looking to. Compare the standard of decoration and presentation may I suggest a cruise on MSC. We have found that the decor and cleanliness of public areas on those ships far outstrips anything on P&O. And this was pre covid.

That is what we found too.... MSC cleanliness certainly showed how it should be done and as you say that was pre covid....

Seen a reasonably priced cruise on Silhouette that we can squeeze in so looking at the cheapest inside cabins down on deck 3....do these cabins have a sofa as on the deck plan page it doesn't show any icons for the cabins ?

Anyone stayed in any of these cabins ....wondering if they " suffer" from any noise from  the white space behind them ?

Hi....we will all have our preferences  but for me  Celebrity would win hands down....I love the style of Celebrity....Azura would be the bottom of the list 

I would recommend Eavesway....always been an enjoyable experience...much better than the hassle ....and expense.... of driving down the day before....sorting an overnight hotel out...much more relaxing.

We certainly put the car in the garage every night....and during the day...we go away quite a lot in this country and more often than not go in the car so it would be an absolute giveaway to any potential burglar that no car on drive no occupants....when it is in the garage they have no idea if we are in or away....thieves look for any little clues and no car on drive when there is usually a car on drive is a big clue

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

I'm going to steal that phrase! 

Much better than Merlot Monday.

Nowt wrong with Merlot Monday....Tequila  Tuesday....Wine Wednesday....Theoria Thursday....Fizz Friday...Sangria Saturday....Sake Sunday.....anyone for a drink....cheers! 😃

Hi everyone....I never commented on the " old thread" but I lurked in the background and enjoyed reading the light hearted banter between you all....the thread will be missed  but hopefully this thread will continue so that I can still read what you are all getting up to in your daily lives and of course reading about your cruising adventures

17 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

P&O did refund on those Amsterdam changes - but it took a lot of ‘persuasion’ and effort!

It wasn't for the want of trying....many many phone calls but they didn't budge....the other cruise line immediately offered compensation/OBC or a full refund....absolutely no hassle with them....totally different approach....both cruise lines gave a lasting memory of how they treat their paying clientelle....one good ...one bad.

10 hours ago, Pippa04 said:

I can tell you exactly what will happen.  They will wait until you have paid in full then they will email to say that they appreciate you only want that cabin and do not want to be upgraded but they are upgrading you anyway as they think you'll like their rubbish upgrade cabin better.  When you try to contact them they will refuse to engage with you for nearly 2 months, then they will deign to phone you a week before you are due to sail and say your choices are to transfer to another cruise which has to be chosen within 2 hours or lose 90% of the money they have held for months.

 

Voice of experience of a previously very loyal customer.  Tread very carefully...

Most cruise lines will unfortunately try to skew things to their advantage .... they are in business to make money but I have found that some cruise companies are better at trying to put their paying " clients" first...P&O are not one of those companies. That was driven home to me a number of years ago when suddenly Amsterdam port was changed to Rotterdam. At the time I had two cruises booked ....with different cruise lines...  with Amsterdam being the POC. One cruise company immediately offered me the chance to cancel with a full refund ...the other company was hard luck....take it or leave it attitude with no refund/compensation offered....I will let you decide which was the P&O approach.

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

I already have a cruise booked for September this year and two for next January one of which is last months non cruise that P&O allowed me to replace with another one even after I paid the final balance. I really need a holiday and a cruise is the best answer for someone who holidays solo.

If your need for a holiday and a cruise outweighs your hesitations.....which I understand.... then it could be worth still going.

Speaking for myself when ....if....we resume cruising I want to be more certain that the cruise resembles cruising how we know it with a lot less hoops and uncertainty that there is at the moment.

of course everyone has a different " risk bar" ....whatever you decide hope it works out for you

It does feel like we are finally surfacing from the pandemic but to be honest I would like more light at the end of the tunnel and to be more sure that there are no more backward steps round the corner.....can you not transfer to a similar itinerary at a later date this year then it would give you more time to see how the situation is going especially if you are in a vulnerable group....you want to be relaxed and looking forward to the cruise not being anxious about every development that may occur.

I think they will charge the price it would have been when you actually booked the cruise not the price it is today so you may still be getting a good deal....if it's the same grade as the one you have booked there shouldn't be any difference in price.

Out of curiosity what deck/cabin is it....I am tempted to try an aft cabin

On P&O's website there is(was) a section which gave you all the information and photos of their obstructed view cabins on all of their ships which was very helpful in choosing an obstructed view....can't seem to find the section anymore.....has it disappeared or is it buried deep somewhere on their website ? 

Hi....we always book select ....like to choose our cabin position etc but just had a quick look at a cruise to the Caribbean departing end of this month and the price difference between saver and select is nearly a £1000 pp so for that price difference I would take a risk but possibly upgrade to a unobstructed cabin for an extra £100 pp

I would have thought 10....2 each week usually 

I too would ditch and switch....April will soon come round and yes we may all be back to normal cruising but more than likely restrictions will still be in place and do you really want to pay your final balance and then have the uncertainty and the wondering is the cruise going to be as I want it to be ....for me the uncertainty would outweigh the lovely anticipation of going on a cruise in a way that  I would fully enjoy.

9 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I would imagine all the test companies have disclaimers about not being responsible for any costs incurred if test results are delayed tbh

 

I think this will need some common sense fair play from P and O myself

 

Maybe someone higher up there to get involved 

 

 

 

Yes you are probably right but maybe worth checking

 

If you had your PCR test within the allotted time to receive your test results back in time for the cruise....do they say in writing when you should receive them back....then I would say the responsibility lies with them. If you receive no response from them I would then email them again to inform them that you are taking it further and then contact Trading Standards/Consumer Rights to see if there is any way forward with this situation. If you listen to LBC radio they have a couple of lawyers on there who you can contact with consumer problems. 

Am I understanding this correctly....if you test positive while onboard ship  you are automatically offloaded at the next port and transferred to a quarantine hotel and if you are classed as being a close contact but testing negative you are automatically transferred to a quarantine cabin on board 

Hi....welcome to the forum....I hope you find it very helpful

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