pete14

1 hour ago, amurray88 said:

Agreed... the rest is mainly compensation for unfortunate events that on the whole, are first world problems. These 2 are absolutely imperative.

I agree that those are imperative, just check that the financial level of cover meets P&Os requirements. I presume it will, but best to make sure. I mentioned the extras that cruise cover provides because I know some get disappointed when they fail to get cover for things like missed ports because they do not take out this extra cover.

4 minutes ago, zap99 said:

DW said ' can you see if you can get a Christmas radio times when you go up the shop ?.  £4.99😡. 2 days later it was free in the paper....Next year..Bah.Humbug.

For Christmas Day, you could probably use last year’s copy because it rarely changes year from year. I expect it will include Eastenders, Coronation Street, Dr Who, Call the Midwife, a couple of ‘celebrity’ game shows and a spin off from Strictly Come Dancing.

Covering cruises and cruise cover can be different things. Covering cruises can be interpreted as meaning they will cover a cruise in the same way as any other package  holiday. Cruise cover is likely to cover extras such as missed port cover along with the more basic things.

21 minutes ago, kalos said:

 I just sent five minutes looking on the t -pilot site and apart from the silly 5*reviews that any insurer gets with "they took my money with no fuss " as they would .

Others read I was stuck and no one to talk to, no help ,everything online .

As we are not allowed to advertise I will say this a few weeks ago when my Mrs took ill

onboard a ship we were landed a 2K plus bill but no worries .

As once home they contacted us with a human who sorted us out with what was required 

and could talk to them anytime . More important they paid out no stalling .

 

My advice if they don't have a UK call centre and are mega cheap I would steer clear .

When things go wrong and your heads all over the place , you will be glad of a reassuring voice and not texts and e-mail chats from your insurer .

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. 

47 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

If the radio station being referred to is the one I’m thinking of, I must say that it has some interesting features 

News article are covered in depth, not raced through breathlessly, ready for the next guest.  Always remember the publisher and where they are coming from and be prepared to pick out the non-hyperbolic reality

Ive learnt a lot from assorted half-hour *stories of our times*, available as podcasts.  
It’s good for sleepless nights.  I used to switch on BBC world service but this is much less repetitive 

 

PS - Why are we being coy?  There’s no restriction on discussing radio stations, is there?

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.

2 hours ago, Presto2 said:

 

I am in shock though re your post  ------ there is actually a reputable radio news channel !!!!! 

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.

28 minutes ago, zap99 said:

I didn't get any emails. Nor did I see any concerned campaigns on social media. We all love a good conspiracy theory.

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.

2 hours ago, zap99 said:

Farage did quite well. I thought he would go out fairly early.

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.

10 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

Following this logic then , we should have no suites , no cabins with windows  which aren't fair to insiders and one restaurant based on a works canteen 

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.

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

Perhaps the only tweak is not free speciality restaurants for suites , but guarantee of a place,  so open them up to suites a week before rest

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.

53 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

I believe that Nathan Jones is still available after setting the Saints on the path to relegation last season😡 I’m sure that he would get a good welcoming 😂

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

28 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Good evening Pete.

I just saw Alex Neil has been sacked as Stoke manager.

Tony Mowbray would be a good replacement imo.

 

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.

31 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Things may improve a bit now that the social elite are buying second homes in Devon and Cornwall.

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.

14 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Good morning.

It is 7°C and raining here.

Yesterday we got Christmas wreaths and flowers and took them to the cemetery where Pauline put them on her grandparents grave and also on her baby brothers grave.

Hopefully today we will have a pyjama day.

Currently watching Judge Judy on TV.

I hope everyone is well especially some of our regulars @SarahHben @emam who have not posted for a while.

Nice to see some nice cruise photos from@Purdey16 and @9265359.

Nice Christmas decorations @kalos.

 

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.

3 hours ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

We’re back safe and sound from our Queen Victoria cruise to the Canaries. The drive up from Southampton to Cheshire on Wednesday was easy with good dry roads and light traffic, although between Swindon and Gloucester was thick fog.

 

This was our second cruise on Queen Victoria in 5 months and found the overall experience very good. Some notes below:

- at the Mayflower terminal check in and embarkation was well organised. We arrived at the terminal at 12.15 just as Queens Grill passengers were being called, the waiting area was full with QG, PG, Diamond and Platinum (which we are). We didn’t have to wait for check in as there were several desks available, then we had to wait for only about 10 minutes to be called. For security there was another 10 minute wait but we were fortunate that we were one of the first of the Platinum category and we’re on board by 1.00 pm, it would be a longer wait for those at the back of the queue but I guess that all priority boarding would be on board by about 1.15pm.

 

- The ship is in good condition and the Christmas decorations enhanced the interior. Some minor observations were that our balcony furniture was peeling off its coating, the cabin toilet flush was hesitant at times once taking 10 mins to flush after giggling for that time. At times there was a drain smell in different parts of the ship.

 

- The staff were very good from waiting, bar, reception and cleaners. They were cheery, polite and efficient.

 

- The quality of the food was good both in the mdr and buffet. However in the mdr in the evening there was only a choice of 3 main course non veggie on menu choices but every night there was something that I wanted, I presume if there was nothing that you wanted a steak or salmon etc could be provided? The steaks were not very good though, on the first night I had steak Diane and it was very thin like a what supermarkets call sizzle steaks, it was tender though. My wife and 2 others next to us ordered sirloin steak on another evening and all were not cooked to the correct preference. Medium/rare was medium/well done and medium was well done, the replacement that my wife got was full of sinew, again the sirloin steaks were thin. The evening menu choices were a bit strange at times, no curry’s then 3 nights in a row, lamb one night then another lamb dish the next and the same for venison at another time, I like both but 2 nights in a row?

 

- We only went to 2 shows, one was a Christmas theme which we enjoyed. The Queens room had a band and ballroom dancers most nights, but other musical acts also performed there including a superb 60s style band on the last night. What is the silent disco all about though, it’s hardly silent with participants singing along loudly and mostly badly😂

 

- Disembarkation was very straight forward, we had a time of 8.20 and got straight off. We found our luggage easily, walked to the cps parking area and were on our way within 15 mins.

 

Overall a very good pre Christmas relaxing cruise, now back to tidying the garden from all of the fallen leaves and putting up the Christmas decorations.

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. 

10 minutes ago, davecttr said:

What is an overnight stay? Obvious really, when the ships departs after sunrise the next day, night having ended 😁

 

Not in P&O speak though.

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.

1 hour ago, Rupert2251 said:

Hi Josy was this at Wolstanton? We were in there yesterday and even in the main store they are now asking how you are paying. If you are paying by card you are directed to a bank of self serve tills,no explanation how to use, we had to call for someone to come because we wanted a gift receipt so an assistant came and did the transaction for us.

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.

33 minutes ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

That seems to be a dreadfully discriminatory, derogatory and ageist remark. The people who invented what she refers to as "technology" are now elderly!

 

But there is hope... with time she may develop compassion, understanding, consideration, wisdom and an attitude of fairness towards others... it tends to come with age.

 

 

 

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

49 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

There's plenty of staff available to do things like that though 

 

And it's just part of the job

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. 

56 minutes ago, david63 said:

Not necessarily if it is done via the bidding system.

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

8 hours ago, miss-heli said:

Been a while since we sailed with P&O.

Can anyone advise if the upgrade from a regular balcony cabin to a Suite is worth the extra spend ?

 

Many thanks

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.