pete14

Another thing to find out is whether they provide the minimum level of cover that P&O require.

I hope you enjoy your cruise and manage to see the lights as we did.

I agree with what people are saying about this being a common but unwelcome and in some cases misleading marketing ploy but just to say that whilst onboard Aurora recently, my son bought himself an expensive watch which was about 25% cheaper than he could have bought it for online. The 10% loyalty discount reduced the price and increased the saving further.

I don’t really know why I was not upfront about naming Times Radio but I just felt the hint was preferable. Despite the ownership of the paper, I think it gives good news coverage but the presenters are more informal than on R4 as they don’t have the apparent requirement for complete seriousness. However, as with every media outlet, selective listening could give grounds for complaints of bias if listeners have such an agenda.

I may tell you about it sometime but it is associated with a famous broadsheet newspaper that is not the torygraph. Only on DAB radio though.

Obviously neither of us are on their mailing lists. I don’t know for certain whether this is a conspiracy theory or not, but I heard it on a reputable radio news channel (not BBC) this morning.

I believe that a certain right wing party / company for which he is principal shareholder and a TV news channel for which he works both sent lots of emails to their supporters asking them to download the I’m a celebrity app and use the 5 free votes every night to keep Farage in. It doesn’t quite seem within the spirit of the programme, although I presume others had backing within social media groups.

I disagree with your logic. The speciality restaurants are there for anybody to use, regardless of their cabin grade and can fill up very quickly. Reducing availability for 95% of passengers in favour of the few who choose to have a suite is unfair. An extra restaurant specifically for those in suites would be fairer, just like at breakfast (which uses a speciality restaurant that would otherwise be closed). How easy would it be to find the space for such a restaurant exclusively for the use of suite dwellers I am not sure but that way, existing restaurants would not be affected, in fact it would increase availability for the rest. It would almost certainly increase the price of suites though.

If I were selfish, I would agree, but it is hardly fair on the 95ish% of people whose chance to experience speciality restaurants would be decreased further.

Please behave! We have had our share of ‘Mad Nath’, it must be somebody else’s go. 😱

After yesterday, it was clear his time was up. I have never seen such a dreadful game and weird substitutions. I am not sure about Mowbray, but looking at the bookies’ odds, the field is not extensive and his odds are quite short. You are further into the process than us so hopefully we won’t be squabbling over the same person. We are at home to Swansea on Tuesday and I think they are in a similar situation re a manager.

Social elite or those who consider themselves to be some sort of social elite?

I agree that suites are not worth booking if the extra cost is so high. When we book them, we are careful to choose cruises where the differential is smaller than you quote. Just to correct something, in a suite the room service is completely free and includes the cost of the food, not just the service charge. Only a benefit if you use room service.

Pyjama day watching Judge Judy? Wow, you know how to live. 😉

I think booking prior to departure has a small discount but not huge. Trips do sell out, especially those that cannot take large numbers and it may not be possible to put on more. If comparing P&O trips with independents, P&O use reputable companies to operate their excursions which lessens the chance of you booking with a ‘rogue operator’ whose attitude to health and safety may be questionable. If your P&O trip returns late for any reason, the ship will wait for you. If an independent tour operator/ taxi is delayed, you may get back in time to see the ship disappearing into the distance. My advice is to stick with the P and O trip, book in advance, especially for popular activities that may sell out quickly and enjoy whatever you choose.

Thanks for your report. All seems very positive which is good but I couldn’t help but pick up on your point about the slimmed down MDR menu in the evening. It seems as though this may be a Carnival thing because Aurora was the same a couple of weeks ago.

But sunrise in Arctic Norway at this time of year is much much closer to noon than midnight so not quite as obvious as it would appear.

Maybe it is the M and S way of persuading shoppers to use cash and not a card. Mind you, in the last month, I have tried to buy things in other shops where there are no self service tills. After waiting a few minutes for someone to come to the till to serve, I and others in the queue left the items we wanted to buy on the counter and walked out without them.

Not just discriminatory, derogatory and ageist but M and S discriminatory, derogatory and ageist. 😊

Yes there are plenty of staff but I think it is unreasonable to expect them to stand around all night waiting for people to return from where they have been, or to leave the ship, in the sort of temperatures experienced on these cruises. I guess you have never been on a winter Northern Lights cruise. I will say no more because I don’t want to become involved in a debate on this issue, especially as you appear to have little concern for the health and well being of the crew who serve us so well.

Sorry, I was not considering that. I wonder whether a full suite has ever been available to be featured in the bidding system.

Because there are only a limited number of suites, they tend to sell quickly so it is likely that an upgrade is not possible because suites are sold out.Maybe a mini suite is available to upgrade to, but it does not include many benefits, certainly not the speciality restaurant breakfast, butler nor free food service. If you do find a suite to upgrade to, the price you will pay is the price that existed at the time of your original booking which may be to your advantage.

Our recent cruise on Aurora to the north of Norway was the same but I didn’t pick up any adverse comments. I realise it says ‘overnight in port’ but it also says depart early morning’ and that this could be a bit confusing, but I don’t see any real cause for complaint. I must say that I think it is a bit unfair to expect crew members to man the gangway and scan you back onboard in the early hours of the morning in potentially extreme cold weather.

Are you sure you wouldn’t like to reconsider. If they have a youngster lined up, he will surely benefit from such an experienced mentor to work with and guide him.

Graham, if you want Alex Neal back, not many Stoke fans will raise a voice in opposition.