Tarquin

Can anyone tell us the arrangements for passengers to get from the dock in Zeebrugge to Blankenburg?

We've only ever travelled with P&O who laid on free shuttle buses to and from Blankenburg which dropped us a few minutes walk from the train station for the 10 minute ride into Bruges.

Travelling from UK in April we have a choice of wi-fi packages and I can't get my head around them?

Why would anybody need to pay for 4 devices? OR....is this £51.75 cost for 4 people each with a device?

This is how they read......

£21.57 one device per person

£34.53 two devices - cost per person

£43.50 three devices - cost per person

£51.75 four devices - cost per person

Is there anywhere I can find or does anyone know the price of drinks packages for a 3 day cruise from Southampton?

Thankyou. We thoroughly enjoyed the late morning departure from Amsterdam via the industrial areas and lock. It looks like the cruise terminal for Rotterdam may be similarly placed for the same experience?

Looking to go away as a mixed family group of around  a dozen including a couple of babies/toddlers on a 3-4 day short break. Four of us have cruised before visiting Zeebrugge (Bruge) , Amsterdam and St.Peter Port but my last visit to Rotterdam was back in the late 70's and from memory it had no endearing features to suggest that it would be tourist worthy. What's changed?

Also, I'm somewhat gobsmacked that the 'Isle of Portland' is considered a worthy destination. Again, am I missing something?

Finally, a cheeky request on the P&O forum................any recommendations for short breaks leaving from Southampton with other lines?.

Looking to go away as a mixed family group of around  a dozen including a couple of babies/toddlers on a 3-4 day short break. Four of us have cruised before visiting Zeebrugge (Bruge) , Amsterdam and St.Peter Port but my last visit to Rotterdam was back in the late 70's and from memory it had no endearing features to suggest that it would be tourist worthy. What's changed?

Also, I'm somewhat gobsmacked that the 'Isle of Portland' is considered a worthy destination. Again, am I missing something?

Finally, a cheeky request on the P&O forum................any recommendations for short breaks leaving from Southampton with other lines?

I have to smile. It's been a while since I visited these boards which were at one time, full of posts condemning falling dress standards.

The opening poster has been serially chastised by the easily disgruntled who cannot see through the mists of honesty whilst they proffer their 'we are all the same in my eyes' blurb.  My educated guess is that you can be pretty damned certain the same folk wouldn't want their Bank Manager to have facial tattoos or Funeral Director to turn up on the big day wearing shorts and flip flops. But of course they'd never tell you that!😉

I always lose weight.

2k after a 7 dayer last June.

My daily routine at home is drive to work, sit on backside in front of computer all day, drive home and sit around most nights.

Eating like a horse and drinking like a fish is countered by walking back and forth round the ship, getting off at every port and general sightseeing.

Probably says more about by need for more exercise at home. :)

Thank you all.

This is not for me, but for a friend who could do with a cheap break with fairly certain known costs.

A few years back, on a now defunct general travel forum, an elderly gentleman put a post up about his epic journeys around the world for silly money.

With no commitments, no ties, all the time in the world and a ready packed suitcase, he would contact the cruise companies and make it known that he would happily fill an empty cabin within hours of departure........if the price was right.

He spoke of £3k month long cruises being advertised for £2k which, as the clock ticked and time ran out he would secure for a few hundred pounds.

'Better they have a full ship and my onboard spend than empty cabins' he would say.............

Does anybody know if this sort of thing still happens?

A few years back, on a now defunct general travel forum, an elderly gentleman put a post up about his epic journeys around the world for silly money.

With no commitments, no ties, all the time in the world and a ready packed suitcase, he would contact the cruise companies and make it known that he would happily fill an empty cabin within hours of departure........if the price was right.

He spoke of £3k month long cruises being advertised for £2k which, as the clock ticked and time ran out he would secure for a few hundred pounds.

'Better they have a full ship and my onboard spend than empty cabins' he would say.............

Does anybody know if this sort of thing still happens?

I think we need to move away from the suggestion that too much drink is always a problem.

Over the years i've been out groups of friends whose wives can drink as much Prosecco as you can fire at them, but within the group a couple who become possessed and behave out of character after a couple of glasses. One wants to dance, the other wants to fight. The 'sober' dancer creates problems on the dancefloor due to unsteady legs, the fighter mellows as the night goes on.

12 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Not sure, but it's a little unfair on Butlins - can't recall seeing any reports like this about Butlins. 

 

Applies more, I think, to the Magaluf/Ibiza/Benidorm louts - though these places are already banning certain types of British tourist because of the behaviour.

 

P&O should be doing the same, but money talks.

You were doing so well there Harry, but again the stereotyping of people by their choice of holiday destination is irregular to say the least.

We cannot on one hand, accuse the journalist of misleading readers about the P&O incident whilst at the same time succumbing to the same practices when other misleading stories about other places are believed!

Ibiza, for example has one or two party towns but many more idyllic getaway town and beach resorts.

2 hours ago, johnnyd57uk said:

 

Brawls on ships are shocking terrifying and totally unacceptable. Its akin to a brawl on an airplane. It puts everyone at risk and its not as if you can get off or take a taxi home. Those involved in this one on the Britannia should have been locked up and the key thrown away. I do hope they are all banned for life from cruising. I liked the Britannia but in my review I did refer to the "Butlins crowd" and sadly as many have commented thats the way things are going. P&O need to take some responsibility and try to ensure that people are not terrorised like this on any of their ships. 

What exactly is the 'Butlin's Crowd'?

We attended a Great British Sailaway on Oceana a few weeks ago and whilst i'm all for a bit of pomp and circumstance, patriotism and can see the humorous side, I couldn't help thinking that the majority of staff from overseas, guests who through age or country of origin, would feel somewhat alienated.

Somewhat ironically whilst out drinking with an old schoolmate over the weekend who was once a P&O employee, he told me that his distinctly British surname came about when his father changed his name having emigrated to England from Germany.

The point being that P&O cannot possibly know how many people they are offending when running the GBS.

Back on the topic in hand. Lots of talk of alcohol but no consideration as to whether any other 'recreational additives' were to blame here. 😉

Me......age 63, look 43, act 23 🙂

The missus, age 53, looks 43, acts 63 😉 

The Formal Nights are an eye opener! 😉

Please keep posting your experiences. We are on Oceana later this year, a first 7 dayer with P&O having been with Tui (Marella) previously...

Good to hear the modern look works, it was one of the things we weren't sure about, what with having a preference for leather Chesterfields!!

Inside, outside, back to front works for me 😉

23 hours ago, Brummijam said:

Same here.  

She definitely had a charm of her own, We spent a few great evenings in the lounge bar at the top of the ship I think it was called Horizons. The Philippino trio were amazing.

Ahh well.

We sailed on Spirit 4 years ago. The smallest ship we've been on but definitely had something about her.

One of my fondest memories. After midnight in Horizons bar, Manhattan 'cocktail' in hand, the trio were doing their final gig of the day and we requested 'Sway' the old Dean Martin number which they only knew in Spanish. A perfect end to the day...

We've done the P&O black tie nights 3 times on short cruises, the first a harrowing experience back in 2012, a thread that encouraged over 7,000 views! Things could only get better...and they did. 🙂

My current Jacket fits fine now but i'm on a mission to lose weight so by the time we travel I hope to be 3 stone lighter. 😉

Thank you all.

Looks like a bit of Tux shopping is on the horizon 😉

Am I right in thinking that P&O have or were at one time intending to relax the dress code, particularly on formal nights?

I would only have read about it on here and may be getting confused with another cruiseline?

We've recently booked a 7 nighter which we are told has 2 formal black tie nights which sort of flies in the face of my opening question.

2 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Thanks for the info everyone but I can't believe that we have booked so far out (for August 2020 Select) and have such rubbish flight times.

 

On our first cruise on Ocean Village we boarded on the Sunday and for some reason our muster was the next day.

 

On Oceana in April there was a call for those who had arrived late to an early muster the next morning. Groan.

 

Not ideal and hate hanging around on the last day --- just want to get home and leave. Oh well, at least we won't be up at the crack of dawn on our embarkation day ….

 

Alternatively we will see what the booking an overnight in Malta looks like

We've recently booked the same cruise for June 2019 although not flying from Manchester. Called to enquire and was given the single option of an early afternoon flight time. Called again the next day, spoke to somebody else and had to ask before being told there was an earlier flight. We've not found a departure time for the ship anywhere?

307 views and not a single reply!

Anyway, for the benefit of those who may have an interest in the answers. 😉

No, Oceana doesn't apparently have the facility to guarantee sunbeds in a separate area.

Yes, absolutely yes, a better deal can be secured through an agent. An initial saving of around £250, reduced to around half that as we chose cabins in better positions.