Cloudyrain

@mnpurple if you just want a cheap hotel for the night before the Ibis Budget is across the road from the Horizon and we have been able to get rooms for £35 a night by booking early: the Ibis 3* and Novotel 4* are on the same complex and go up about £20-£30 per star for early booking. You can literally see the MSC ship from there, and there is a handy retail park for any last minute things you need, or 5 minutes walk to the main town shopping etc 😊

@skings we have been twice on MSC in school holidays (and our son has mobility issues and uses a wheelchair part time) and it was fine. It was busy, 1000 kids, so areas like the arcade were busy with kids running about, but other places were not too bad (the bars around the central atrium). The dome shows and party nights get busy and popular but even there we always got seats. The evening MDR times were busy in the corridors, but the paid dining is loads quieter and they are good options. The buffet is also well laid out and we found it manageable. The only issue we had really was ports needing shuttles, there was a lot of queuing there!

We just got off from a week and used assisted boarding: it was a different process from how it was literally the other month, but it still worked great and was very smooth.

@TigerB I hope we have left the Iona in a good condition for you 😊 We basically ate every day in the Keel & Cow, but there should be something left (I think…). I hope you enjoy your week: the 90s night in the 710 was definitely the entertainment highlight for us, so I hope you get to enjoy it too!

Well last time I checked I have more than half a brain… For me it’s an easy gamble: I would be happy with any superior deluxe balcony in any location on the Ventura so I am happy to take the risk: at the right price. In that respect the “worst” location would be below Havana, but considering we aren’t usually in bed before midnight anyway it wouldn’t matter to us. I don’t really care where I am in relation to lifts, forward/aft etc. However, I wouldn’t take the same risk with a balcony room on the Iona for example as I wouldn’t want a deck 8 room. Many many people really don’t care where there are, and generally I don’t mind either (with a few exceptions) - plus I use ear plugs anyway thanks to a husband who sounds like a space craft launching when he’s sleeping, so even location noise doesn’t really matter 😂

We had a missed port and the claim was settled quickly through the holiday extras recommended insurance - you just need to click that you have tried to claim through other means already and aren’t able (i.e. the cruise line, and you have your letter to prove it).

When we booked I asked what the cost would have been to upgrade a standard balcony to a superior deluxe balcony, and at the time of booking it was around £400. The bid system has allowed me to bid £100 for the same level upgrade (for a superior deluxe I’m happy to accept any location, but I would be more picky with a balcony location). It also depends on what you have: I would be more willing to “risk” an upgrade if the current option was not an allocated cabin.

Reasonable adjustments should be made (assisted boarding, assisted dining, allocated seating etc) and provisions of equipment (in accessibility cabins and standard cabins) and assistance in emergency situations (e.g. if the emergency signal sounds and lifts are out of action, those who lack mobility should be assisted). However, I think it’s probably very nuanced and depending upon people’s personal situations. I would imagine that two blind people who ordinarily live independently and navigate the world safely would be able to cruise. However if they usually rely on outside support or assistance for day to day living they would be unable to cruise without a sighted companion/carer. My disabled friends cruise together and are able enough between them to cruise without a carer travelling: but do require assistance and adjustments in terms of cabin, equipment, someone to help carry etc.

Nothing from the last couple, but I don’t think MSC did either, except feefo maybe. I think “trends” in surveying have changed lots though (I deal with this through work) and the fashion has gone from in-depth questions of everyone, to brief short snapshots of small groups of people.

Not these days, not on an out of school holidays cruise. By 8.32am the other day all slots for the following day were booked: you have to book the day before for the following day now. Occasionally slots appear later in the day if people have cancelled etc, but only rarely. As I said, we haven’t had these issues on school holiday cruises, just out of term time when staff numbers seem to be drastically reduced.

There have always been limits on the numbers in each age group allowed on board: not related to kids club spaces. I have also found that kids club places are usually easily gained in peak holiday times as they have extra staff on for those dates, but off peak every space is “booked” by 8.32am as they have such a reduced club capacity.

First time we were fixed (7 nights), second time freedom (10 nights). I have to say the first time was a pretty poor experience (as in “I’m never going P&O again” - which I obviously retracted 😂) so maybe we just were unlucky.

Not on the 2 times pre-Covid we went on the Ventura they weren’t given to us. I’m the sort of person that keeps everything so I definitely would have taken them if offered (even if I did’t want them) but they didn’t give them to us on the 2 Ventura Cruises we did: one 7 day and one 10 day.

I haven’t been on the Aurora but Ventura 2013 and 2019 (or thereabouts) they definitely weren’t offered: although they did those ship logs then, those I miss because I thought they were a lovely keepsake. In fact I really don’t know why they don’t sell them as I am sure many people would pay for them. Rather pay £20 for that than a teddy in a T-shirt 😂

But in reality are they “abandoning the oldies”? They have 2 new large family-friendly ships, which has taken lots of families who previously had no choice but to go on the likes of Azura, Ventura and Britannia if they wanted to go P&O. I think these 3 former family-focussed ships will probably shift focus more in target audience. Plus they still have Arcadia, Aurora as adults only in addition to Britannia and Ventura and Azura: the latter really being better suited to multi-gen cruises or adults considering the bedroom layout options (especially Ventura and Azura). And I also think plenty of “oldies” like the Iona and Arvia style of cruising (excluding times where there are IT problems that no one likes, except maybe IT consultants who charge by the hour 😂)

I haven’t been on the Arvia, and wasn’t on it with you, so I can’t comment, but taking pensioner parents on the Iona wasn’t particularly difficult: once we uploaded their My Holiday app/site for them. The booking of things is literally a click of a button and takes seconds, and there were staff in the Atrium helping people set things up and book things all week. Staff in venues also took bookings in person, even the MDR was booking tables for people, and all shows had spaces for walk-ins (except Limelight). But, even if Iona and Arvia are focusing on younger ages then I don’t see the issue: different ships have different facilities for a different market. It doesn’t make either worse or bad, just different. I don’t think it’s innovation that’s marginalising passengers, but rather people feeling they are being marginalised.

There is less on it for teens/children than RC/NCL/MSC, but they do have lots of family activities (treasure hunts, films, circus skills, kids discos, crafts) and the kids clubs are very popular and “better” than the other lines in terms of the staff’s involvement with the kids. There aren’t zip lines, arcades, slides, but the Fjords is a pretty active holiday base anyway so probably those things are less important somewhere like that with quite a lot of port activity options.

I’m never knew menu keeping was a thing? They didn’t do it on the Ventura 10 years ago: in fact in 4 P&O cruises over 10 years we never had a menu (or from any other cruise on any other cruise line)

We went 10 years ago with P&O and said we would never go back because the food and general everything was poor quality and lacking. Pre-Covid we gave them another try and were impressed with the improvements. Post-Covid I think the quality of food is still good (better than 10 years ago) but the slight difference is the reduced number of items to choose on the MDR, the menus do seem smaller and less varied and a little more ‘samey’ but we still thought it was very good.

Canaries is where the good price Southampton cruises often are, especially November. We have paid under £1000 in a balcony for 2 on a Canaries cruise a few years ago, booking a few weeks before (including flights). although take me back 10 years when we got a 10 night canaries from Barcelona for £199 each 🥲

We have done this cruise with a 5 year old: there are loads of things to do at port with kids/teens that don’t cost a fortune. The Aquarium at Alesund (walk there is 45mins and relatively straightforward) so don’t pay for the excursion price as it’s a great day out and loads cheaper to DIY. Stavanger has loads of reasonably priced museums within 5-15 mins walk: the Petrol Museum is the best, but there is also Stavanger Museum, the Archeological Museum, Maritime and Canning. Olden you can walk along the Fjord and there are little waterfalls and bridges etc. The Ship has family activities that are free (treasure hunts, quizzes, crafts, circus skills, sports/games), plus the cinema and the deck games and board games. Don’t worry, there are loads of options that don’t involve Kids club (although it is a great kids club and lots of the kids of all ages seem to love it).

No facility to reserve accessible spaces for shows (although not sure if it’s different for Limelight as we have never been to a dining-show) but you can identify the need for wheelchair spaces for dining. For shows we always turn up just before they start and hope for the best and 9/10 we are fine.

That’s how it was last year for us too (Britannia), but by April this year (Iona) they had changed it to check in upstairs.

We were a party of 6, occasionally 8 if friends joined, and the table of 6 was always lots quicker than for 8. Unless it was just how it fell on the day but it was our experience very different. For 6 we never waited more than 5-20 minutes for a table, even on celebration night, for 8 it was 30 minutes both times.

Yes like TigerB mentioned, no outside snaking queue: I should have added that there is an accessibility waiting area inside with seats. They used to do check in there too, but now they escort you up to the desks in the main area, and then along to security, and then on to the ship to your muster station.