NauticalMiss

Are alcoholic drinks free if you have booked premium, I was lead to believe this was the case, if not why are they charging £299? , cheers David

 

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Hi DAvid

Yes they are free. And from memory, they are very generous ;)

Rather strange comments that tend to be contradicted by the facts. Over 90% of Gatwick to Barbados flights have been on the Boeing787 Dreamliner.

This maybe true in general, but we have flown 3 times out of Gatwick, heading for Barbados; once on Thomson, twice on Thomas Cook, i.e. 33% in our case.

I don't understand all the fascination over the Dreamliner. We have flown in one on two occasions; the second occasion being one of the most uncomfortable flights we have ever experienced, despite being in premium. The Cabin Manager told us it was probably due to the seating; Thomson were at that time on their 6th or 7th different type of seat, as apparently they keep tweaking the designs. IMO it is service that is most important; well, that and a safe aircraft :eek:

I presume you are doing a round trip from Southampton? Is it possible that you can provide your own cake and ask the butler to present it in your parents' suite? I realise it may be a challenge to get it onboard (run it by P&O first), but you would have control over the design, size, shape, message, etc. And it wouldn't be a last minute surprise (to you); you would exactly what was being provided. Just a thought.

We bought 2 bottles at Duty Free on our recent 7-day cruise on Britannia. Boarded Saturday; purchased bottles on the Sunday morning. We were told that we could not have them until our last sea day, which for us was the Wednesday. We did not debark until the Saturday, so one of the bottles didn't make it home with us :D

I'd agree with the stairs issue on Britannia; we too prefer mid-forward so that we can take the forward stairs. Have booked this area twice now.

If anyone is in a pickle during the Boat Show (or any other time for that matter), I can recommend the Boathouse in Hythe; huge rooms and great views of Southampton Water from rooms 2,3, 4 and 10 (family room). We always book various family members in there when they come to visit.

I would take it up with your agent for sure. The select price has always been fixed, with the saver price fluctuating according to demand. I've no idea what P&O are doing right now but traditionally, their customer service is non-existent.

 

 

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We booked a cruise (Select Fare) just 2 weeks ago, and I was considering altering the cabin choice. I noticed that the Select price has increased by exactly £1,000! I thought I was imagining it, but I checked my invoice and yes, it was £1000 more to book the same cabin/cruise yesterday than it was 2 weeks earlier. :( Decided to leave well alone.

Having previously cruised with Cunard and Celebrity, we fancied a world segment on P&O and thought we'd try a 2-nighter first (Friday-Sunday). We became hooked. It is definitely a party atmosphere; we danced all night, both nights (!) and enjoyed watching the 'stags' and 'hens' having a terrific time. The black tie night was well-attended and everyone looked fantastic. Doing a 2-nighter didn't put us off. Following this, we enjoyed a superb world segment cruise and have done 10+ P&O cruises since, on 5 different ships; just Oceana and Oriana left. Go with the flow, enjoy the atmosphere and have fun.

You may also find noise/chatter/laughter late at night, when people congregate at the end of a fun-filled evening. Don't misunderstand me, I wouldn't have a problem with noise, just smell. I think P&O have missed the point here; you would not have booked that cabin had you been aware of the impending change of smoking area. It is a very badly-located. I would seriously consider moving cabins; P&O are remiss in preventing you from doing so at no extra cost.

Even though for some of us the cruise starts in St Lucia I don't understand why that would rule out Port Seraphine as the terminal. Is is that immigration can not be undertaken there?

When on Britannia in December, we docked at Pointe Seraphine. There were new passengers joining that day, but probably not much more than 400. So it maybe fairly straightforward getting them through immigration. Not like the numbers embarking at Barbados :eek:.

What price did he buy them at? They are rather high atm; is he expecting them to go higher?

My understanding is that your IFA should have spoken with you and you should sign off on any sale/purchase within your portfolio. If your IFA failed to do this, he is non-compliant. However if he is a Discretionary Fund Manager, it's okay for him to do this within his discretionary powers. What's his status? I'd still have a chat with him though - 12 shares? No immediate benefit there. Even if they do rise, not much profit on 12 shares either. :(

Thanks for the info, I am hoping that the Britannia is going to dock near the Rum Therapy bar! On that day in St Lucia I am hoping to celebrate a very special birthday and will probably not want to walk along way back to the ship after a couple of drinks if you know what I mean? It looks like there is a Thomson ship in also, but wondered how the new passengers would be processed!

We enjoy a little Rum Therapy also! It's located at Pointe Seraphine. The other dock (town side?) is Point Careenage.

My IFA has just revamped my stocks and shares ISA portfolio, and I noticed that it now includes some Carnival shares. I briefly became quite excited, until I checked and found that I had precisely 12 shares, rather a long way short of the 100 required to get the shareholder benefit!

What price did he buy them at? They are rather high atm; is he expecting them to go higher?

We have previously docked in St Lucia at the side of the cruise terminal near the duty free shops and excellent bars. As some people are joining the cruise in St Lucia, does anyone know if the Britannia will still dock at the same place?

Hi Claire

In our experience at St Lucia, we have tendered once, docked near main cruise terminal once, and docked 'karaoke' side twice :D As there are duty free shops on both sides of the port, I wonder which duty free shops you mean. I think the main cruise terminal has the best choice of duty free shops but I can't know for sure as I don't shop.

Hi All,

 

Just about to book my first P&O cruise on Brittania.I am looking to book a Balcony cabin and was wondering if there are any locations/Decks to be avoided.eg Noisy,obstructed views or above smoking areas etc.

 

Any help much appreciated.

Re: Smoking - then don't book a low cabin (F or G?) mid-ships, starboard. We were recently on C deck, midships and we were above the smoking area; it didn't bother us, but lower down it may be a problem (depends how strong your sense of smell is!). My hubby describes himself as a smoker who doesn't smoke and prefers to keep his distance now.

Hi I need to book a hotel near the pier; must be on the Manhattan side. Any suggestions/recommendations?

 

TIA

Sorry :o forgot to add that it needs to be close enough to walk to the cruise terminal.

Thanks

Hi I need to book a hotel near the pier; must be on the Manhattan side. Any suggestions/recommendations?

TIA

Very sorry to hear this, surely all customers should be treated the same. Maybe time to try another company

Yup, you could be right. Shame really.

I have used this one in the past

christopher.edgington@pocruises.com

Thanks bee-ess. I'll give that a go :)

Hi, I have tried two email addresses already but mail being returned. The two I've tried are:

chriss.edgington@carnivalukgroup.com

and

chris.edgington@carnivalukgroup.com

Can anyone help please?

TIA

Hi NauticalMiss that's absolutely fine - in fact I spoke to a Thomas Cook cabin crew at the gym yesterday and told her the story - she was surprised that they were classed as Emergency Exit seats as they are bulkhead seats. She also said that they don't get any of the money from the seat booking, it all goes to P&O. I hope you get it sorted - I'm sure once they've done it for one it needs to be same across the board!

 

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Another communication this morning. I'm afraid to have to tell you that my request has been declined for a third time :eek:

It's not the cost (although it should be!); it's the principle. Thomas Cook passengers and Thomson passengers are being treated differently. We cannot choose our airline; it is dictated to us by P&O. If I had real choice, I would choose neither. Very disappointed :(

We usually have C deck and get 3:30. Going on Azura in a couple of weeks and have booked E deck for this one. Got 1:30 check in so very excited to be able to check in early.

This may be an interesting development. Recently we were on Azura (C Deck); had a check in time of 3:30pm. I'm wondering if the embark times are another 'nudge' factor. My reasoning? If C Deck balconies are the most popular cabins in that range, a late embark time may 'nudge' passengers to book a different, less popular balcony cabin on future cruises? This way, P&O don't have the hassle of meddling with the pricing structure (already far too complicated IMO). I'm keen to hear what others think?

Hi NauticalMiss have you got your seat price problem resolved yet?

 

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Hi Gymbod. Apologies for not replying; have enjoyed nice weekend away :). I have sent a letter to Christopher Edgington's office; am very interested to see what happens. I have been very loyal to P&O and as a shareholder I know they have to watch profits, etc, but I feel seriously aggrieved. This dubious classification adopted by TC is simply daylight robbery. I hope you don't mind, but in my letter I stated that a fellow passenger (i.e. you!) had just called her PCA and received OBC as a goodwill gesture with no problem. Obviously no names provided. But the disparity in service levels is astonishing, don't you think? Same product, same problem, different outcome. Not good enough. Will keep you posted ;)

Fully agree with you.we have always removed auto gratuities and rewarded the people who have directly helped us.furthermore in answer to another post,the staff are allowed to keep their gratuities that are given individually and this can only be correct.the tipping business only started because the salaries earned by the cruise staff were traditionally quite low,but,recently the earnings have increased somewhat so therefore they do not suffer so financially as they once did.we have friends who are employed by P&O who have confirmed this so as I said earlier,we always reward those who have helped us.

Well, I'm not sure about that. There is some disparity between cruise line salaries. I'm not sure I would work for little more than £4 per hour, even if it is tax-free. P&O salaries may have increased but £4 per hour?? Really?