Megabear2

Did you select an area, ie forward, mid forward/mid aft, mid or aft? There's usually only a small difference in price on saver fares for these "grades" and enormous upgrades aside an aft or mid aft balcony will avoid deck 8 problems on Arvia and Iona.

We wake very early every morning, a hangover from my 2 1/2 hour work train commute every morning, so early morning noise isn't a worry to us. What is a problem are late night Caribbean deck parties ending at one in the morning if you have a Deck 15 cabin. Having had that fun in January 2020 I try to book select in the Caribbean but outside of that area reason late night deck dancing and Queen tributes rarely occur elsewhere in the world so a saver isn't such a gamble. Our onboard spend is rarely above £500 as we book and pay for all our extra dining and excursions before travelling so that £1,000 difference is well worth the risk, particularly in Europe.

This is now a typical gap on a lot of the cruises. I think you did exactly the right thing and I will be doing the same going forward Christmas excepting.

My brother in law is currently on Ventura, in Madeira as first port. Very experienced regular cruiser on P&O, RCI and Cunard. He reports Ventura a big disappointment to date. Crew are working extremely hard and he cannot fault the service but the ship is as he put it "sad". The weather hasn't been the very best humid and cloudy so people looking for things to do and places to sit. Has been crowded with lots hitting the bottle as he puts it. He states overall condition is poor in comparison when he last sailed on her in 2019 and generally tired, he especially mentiond his television not working. He has paid for full trip wifi but it only works on his wife's phone and not the laptop. Technology guys trying their best but to date it simply isn't working. He mentions limited food choice in MDR as a disappointment compared with the last P&O cruise we did as a family on Britannia. Overall he says he did not pick wisely and wishes he'd taken the other options he had of either Britannia or Queen Victoria. Hearing this I understand your disappointment and suggest sticking with Iona or trying Arvia or Britannia. Otherwise if you can stretch to it go RCI as their great for children and there is masses to do for them.

I'm on that one. I noticed nearly every aft cabin on all decks except 12 are currently available. Was beginning to think they weren't in use but realise now that savers are only offering forward and mid forward/mid aft cabins. My guess is they'll mainly go to deck 8 until the last minute. As I want to see Mr Barlow if possible I'm happy if she's not full up as it gives me more chance in the raffle!

All mine have gone up. £200 on October one, £300 on December one and £400 on December next year. Obc is standard now at £60 on all of them. Pretty sure another offer on the horizon as current Britannia one runs out 5/9 and new testing/vaccination starts then too. I did notice £50 had come off the October saver fare though.

Thanks for your input. I spoke to Princess in Southampton. My original call did indeed go to someone in the US but the second time I insisted the operator liaised with Guest Relations in Carnival House. This was done while I was on the phone by text and email (the GR person refused to speak to me or the operator). I felt a bit sorry for the lady trying to help as she said she was dyslexic and really wanted a verbal conversation but was refused. P&O Executive Office who are of course not anything to do with the two situations with Princess have been trying to help all the way from the start. These two companies are like chalk and cheese on compassion. For instance P&O have contacted me several times just for an update on my aunt's health, Princess have not even replied to my last email of 1 August and have written to my aunt direct wishing her happy sailing in the future, not even asking if she is any better. I'm very, very close to lawyers and my journalist contact on the big issue so yes, not a good reflection on that particular company.

I hadn't thought of the credit card. I will look into that idea, thanks. The insurance is a single trip policy moved from the covid hit cruise to the one with her friend. I believe if no other cruise is booked and this one is cancelled while they say no liability the policy will lapse once the cruise sails. I've spent the morning looking at all cruise lines FCC policies. Seems if you don't use them you lose them, unless anyone knows differently? I'm learning an awful lot about cruise lines these past few years and basically most of it seems pretty rubbish!!!

Yes, that was my first question because its exactly what P&O did. The two companies are poles apart in their attitude and considering my aunt was the most travelled guest on our I'll fated cruise I thought they might be nicer. Basically told tough luck. We have family who work for BA and when I mentioned the conundrum to them they were surprised as apparently the airlines have been told any unspent vouchers will need to be refunded on expiry.

Drumroll .... the select prices appear to have risen by £200 on most cruises and we have reverted to £60 obc!! Lovely offer of £100 off selected 2023/4 Britannia cruises until 5 September.

Having spoken with them twice yesterday they have stated that as its FCC standard T&Cs don't apply. If it cancels she would lose her deposit (deducted from the FCC) and the balance is reissued as another FCC which she can then apply to her next cruise. That "next cruise" of course isn't going to happen as she's never sailing again. The cruise deposit is only £1.00 per person as it was booked on the special one day offer. Her friend who she's booked with doesn't have any FCC applied so he only loses £1. Ironically we had booked one of these £1.00 things ourselves for next year as well but no FCC involved. I never even received a cancellation invoice for that because the loss was so small. When I called Good to Go to see if they'd allow a claim on insurance they said that there is no loss on this cruise (obviously the £1 isn't covered) so no claim. The remaining £1,399 is going to sit with Princess and expire next year if not used. That's why I was wondering if anyone on here had ever got to the expiry date on a FCC and not been able to use it.

Thank you. That's what I was thinking. Currently the money is of course tied up in a cruise but of course she can't go. Once final payment is due next month it will of course revert to dead money which was why I was trying the cancellation route. I can’t get any answer from the cruise line if it just expires or whether there's some paperwork issued saying its lost. I suppose most people actually spend it okay. I know airlines have been told to refund if vouchers aren't spent in time but can't find anything for cruises. P&O were so much more helpful and offered an easy solution.

Hello, welcome. I've yet to sail Iona but when making my booking for the same cruise I was advised by P&O that deck 8 has no mid aft or aft balcony cabins. Looking at the plan therefore only the mid forward cabins will presumably be a possibility for you unless you are given an upgrade to a deluxe or conservatory cabin. This cluster of mid forward cabins are quite small, 10 in total with 2 of them being accessible cabins. If you look on the P&O deck 8 plan they are the last cabins on deck 8 coloured in pink and are grade GC.

Has anyone had to cancel a cruise where the deposit was just a future cruise credit and then tried to claim on their insurance? Currently trying to deal with one of my Aunt's bookings made using fcc from her cancelled trip when she caught covid. At the time she was barred from travelling as she failed the health questionnaire. Subsequently booked another cruise for November this year and the credit was applied for the deposit. Obviously with her circumstances she won't be travelling on this or most likely any other cruise so I've asked what options there are. Unlike P&O who made an exception and moved the fcc to me so I could reimburse her Princess have basically said tough luck, she gets an FCC which expires July 2023. As a result we get no cancellation invoice as the fcc is covering the deposit for two plus a surplus. Anyone know what happens if you can't spend the fcc for other health reasons, will she just lose the m9ney in July 2023 or will we get some sort of cancellation invoice to show her loss at that point? I've spoken to her insurance company who say she's not out of pocket as there's a fcc so therefore no claim liability on them. There's also the problem they are in dispute with her on the big claim and are saying she didn't declare her conditions correctly which I think they would use for this second policy. We are talking £1,400 so not huge but as she is £20,000 down after the last claim I'm trying to get her something back if possible. We are still waiting on angiography as there's now an argument on whether a stent will be needed and the hospitals here and Italy are having a medical disagreed about her diagnosis. Meantime the insurance company have made a final ruling on what they will pay and she is, as I said, currently £20,000 out of pocket. The ombudsman is now being asked to look at things. Any advice on the FCC matter much appreciated.

Probably because the US have a different culture and attitude to the military. I never cease to be astonished at all their special hats etc when they cruise. Living here we have many army friends both current and retirees and they are much more private about their service.

When booking your saver you should be able to select a general area/cabin grade. If you look at the plan and see how many are in the area you wouldn't like you can narrow your odds. Normally there is a slight price increase per grade with forward being the cheapest and mid the dearest.

My family are sailing Aurora Norway 9 December. They are on early saver inside fare and were notified on 18 August they were getting the £150 per cabin. We sail Britannia Caribbean balcony select fare 16 December and were notified the same day for the same amount.

As a matter of interest what sort of thing are these port gate tours offering? We take a lot of sea based tours normally but thought we might try something different this time round but most of the offerings from P&O have shrunk considerably - we had thought newer offerings were being introduced but so far only a couple seem to be there. Are these tours by taxi/minibus drives around the islands or trips to beaches or do the drivers ask you what you want to see?

Having just paid my balance for Christmas early I had a look at excursions this morning. Two things I noticed, far fewer tours to choose from and a few already sold out or limited. Managed to book two that had only 2 spaces and 6 spaces available although that second one wasn't the time we would have liked. Rest of the ports seem limited so will most likely need to book fairly soon. Had hoped to spend some OBC on some of them but most likely they'd be gone by then.

Well done. Currently a wake balcony not on 8 or 15 is £5400 with £790 obc so you've done an excellent deal.

Could well be. November and early December Caribbean are always cheaper because it's "rainy season", something I find hilarious. I just looked at 1/12/2023 - mid balcony is £5418 with the £780 obc. Saver mid balcony is £4,398, saver balcony starts at £4158. That is only £1,020 more so yes the £780 looks like a good deal but as we know it ends tomorrow and apparently the "normal" is £60.00. Compare that with my Arvia 22/12/2023 now at £7696 for mid forward balcony with £780 obc (I paid £7200 with £500 obc). Saver is currently £6196 but being mid forward risks deck 8. However that's £1,500 difference today and as Bazrat said some would be very happy with deck 8 ...

BIL sailed yesterday on Ventura. Texted to say dinner in Sindhu booked as soon as he boarded so assumedly is currently open.

Depends on whether the OBC levels remain as high as they have been. The special offer ends tomorrow. For instance a normal midship balcony on Britannia 24/2/2023 sailing is £6358 select total with £390pp obc but £330 of that is the special deal ending on 22 August. The saver fare is from £5018 with a choice of midships totalling £5418.

The Celebrity ships are stunning inside though.

Used to be but I wonder now with the ridiculous difference in saver and select fares. I think less and less people will book select.