alpha whiskey

Know what you mean. My shifts start at 6.30 am and these past few weeks have definitely been getting more of a struggle! Lovely in the summer though. Won't be long until we have to get up another 10 mins earlier for ice scraping/defrosting the windscreen! 😭 Just keep thinking of that next cruise......

Yes, I can second that. Often meet with friends for an evening out in Southampton and wouldn't park anywhere else.

Son parks there for work, and mentioned it last week. Still good value though for a clean, safe, town centre car park.

I believe the parking charges have very recently been increased to £6 at Westquay

It would be interesting to know how much per day/voyage is rolled up in the cruise fare for tips. Does anyone know?

Definitely. P&O offer a great product, competitively priced. Love both the new ships. They have me as a future customer for sure, but will still keep my eyes on the other lines too! 😉

Yes, I agree, and guilty as charged! Thankfully there is now so much out there to choose from as well...and so many different offers to draw you in! It's nice to mix up the brands; see what others are doing. Some are better than others, but never had a bad one yet. Nearly time for Black Friday! 👀

Only 2 more pay days to Christmas! 😊😱🎄

We were all new cruisers once, and we all came back again for another go, and haven't stopped since! 😊

DD always opts for an inside as she has a toddler who loves to climb! She wouldn't want to risk a balcony. I reckon a lot of families with young children might think along the same lines, hence they sell out quickly, perhaps?

On Britannia last month Amber Leaf was £58 for 10 X 50g Also available on Arvia and Iona, but can't remember the exact price

Yes, Valencia drop off is a little far out, but the walk through Turia park (largest urban park in Spain) to town is a very pleasant 30/40 minute walk indeed. If you are unable to make it to town, a beautiful spot to spend the day, visit the amazing science museum and maybe the Mall, all within easy reach of the drop off point.

Reckon so. We are sailing with American friends on the same cruise in a few weeks time and they are getting a much better % discount on drinks and excursions than we can get.

Not keen on the one time activation charge of $14.99 for ordering drinks via medallion, if not taking a package. Do you know if that's pp rather than stateroom, and presumably gratuity will still be added? It's kind of like paying for service twice. Must say we had 4 enjoyable cruises on Princess during 2021/22 and Princess will be in the pile when looking for future cruises. We've taken 3 on P&O this year, only slightly disappointed with 1 of them. We are back on Celebrity in a few weeks, more expensive, but it will be very interesting to see how they measure up for the price. Needless to say, like you, I will be keeping my eyes open for the next 50% off Princess plus sale! 👀

Yes, much more complicated now... Shame really. Nice and straightforward in 2022 with a take it or leave it, great value package at £30pppd for drinks,coffees, tips and WiFi Instead of just putting the price up, they've added a whole lot of faff! 🤷

Shame that Alfredo's and Gigi's will no longer be complimentary unless you have a plus or premium package. Also changes and charges to room service and ordering. Plenty of details on the Princess boards if you want to delve deeper!

We also cover ours with the wide sellotape to reinforce them a bit more, and put 2 to a case - one on the top handle and one on the side.

Me too.... Sailed on Arvia in April and just back from Britannia. My vote is definitely for Arvia. So much more choice from dining to entertain. Lovely new ship too, whereas Britannia is just beginning to show her age a little.

We were also on the Britannia cruise with Skagen as a missed port. We won't be claiming as we were not out of pocket with any expenses. Different matter if we had suffered non refundable independent shore excursions. Does anyone else think like me, or am I daft?

Thank you Selbourne for all your reviews. We were also on this cruise, and couldn't have reviewed it any better ourselves. Unfortunately we also had neighbours that were vocal. Adults this time, that were obviously not getting along so well with one another. Language that even made my husband blush, and he was used to working on many a building site in London! We were also witness to some very poor restaurants habits, but thankfully also some impeccably behaved young souls, who were an absolute credit to their parents. We are off on Celebrity in a few weeks time....twice the price of P&O, but will it be twice as good?! 🤔

Just back from Britannia this morning. No hand soap in our balcony cabin. No big deal because after reading these threads I had packed my own. Cabin steward was fine in providing facecloths, replaced every day, and I didn't want to stress him out over hand soap. Plenty tea and coffee, replenished nicely each day, but no biscuits. Again no problem as digestives are available from Horizon buffet if you are fancying a dunk. Now, the effectiveness of the hair dryer....that's a different matter!! Definitely bring your own for Britannia, but they are fine on Arvia and Iona.

Yes definitely an American plug on the hairdryer on Britannia, and incredibly slow. It has the whirr of an annoying gnat! Advisable to bring your own if you have longish or thick hair.

Good to hear that you got your insurance and happy with the price too. Are you able to share who you are insured with? DH had successful vascular surgery just over 2 years ago, with no problems since, but insurance has proved to be an expensive challenge!

+1

Instead of the usual ribbon on handle, I put an identifier GB (car) sticker on my case last time, hoping they would think it belonged to Gary Barlow and treat it differently....Nope, that didn't work! 🤣