Megabear2

No, it's a standard UK charter. If I book a package holiday with TUI, Jet2, BA or Virgin my luggage is automatically included at 20kgs or 23kgs. Realistically no one would book a fly cruise on a charter if the luggage isn't included, this is not a put together package using scheduled flights. Some TUI package holidays now use Easyjet flights and are listed as hand luggage only but any "true" package has the luggage included. I have started using BA to create flight plus hotel packages as it includes 23kg of luggage automatically. Yesterday booked for Amsterdam next May where doing it this way saved over £350 on the individual prices and although I doubt we'll need it two 23kg allowances.

This will be year 4 of the online form for us. Also last year everything went electronic, no more stamp in your passport on exit.

When you enquire onboard the agent will see on his/her screen if there is a fare which includes premium economy available and give you an option at that point. There will be two fares that can be quoted, one with economy and one with PE. It is quite likely that in May the PE seats were already sold out as the cruise would have been on sale for a considerable time. The PE charge in May was £409pp. To select your seats you would still have had to pay £45pp each way, £180 in total. If you had managed to get the PE you would have needed to start trying to book them online at midnight the day they were released to guarantee your seats together. Whilst the seat booking charge can be a shock it is clearly advertised if you wish to reserve your seats in advance there will be a charge. I agree the charge is high and in my opinion out of line with other airlines but there is the option to be allocated seats at check in free of charge and if the only request is two aisle seats you would most likely have been able to have these. Whilst I understand the wish to know about the seat booking charge it is really down to the individual to ask all relevant questions about extra charges at the point of booking and if using the internet to book it is worthwhile putting in a call to research the costs if they would be of concern to an individual. Very few flights on any airline offer a free seat reservation of choice in this day and age unfortunately.

May I suggest checking with the GMC that the clinic and therapists are above board, particularly if they are not part of a private hospital group. Unfortunately there are very few rules to stop people setting up for pain management as very large part of therapy in pain management is self help with thought processes etc. Pain is an individual thing, some have very low levels of acceptance, others very high. My husband has chronic fibromyalga and ME yet manages his pain himself aided by medication and a self help group. Many of those that attend find the group therapy very beneficial. Many many moons ago I worked with the solicitors and investigators who prosecute doctors and dentists via the GMC who have an actual court to do this at their headquarters. The advice from there was if you are seeking to pay for treatment of any kind other than via NHS referral to check out their credentials and any complaints others may have raised. The GMC has a register you can check and also a help line. Good luck with whatever you choose and I hope you find some relief very soon whatever route you choose. https://www.gmc-uk.org/

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you are okay and nothing ongoing will cause problems. I assume it was reported and P&O are investigating wat went wrong on this occasion. I wish you a speedy recovery.

When you get virtual agent - she's on every number - say operator. When she asks what with say purchase X - i found a gift package or wine works even 8f that's not what you're calling about as all the agen5s are the same - ignore her after that and stay silent she should say I'll get someone to help you then put you in the queue. Unfortunately due to black Friday deals the queue is long, my last call 25 minutes. Ignoring the bot after the first question will put you in the queue. Good luck.

When you're queuing to speak to P&O at present they keep repeating a message about how excited they are Starlink is now onboard all their ships!

Indeed convenience is the reason we bought it, coupled with the fact the money is a gift and we wanted to be able to,have something we could tell the person was an extra we wouldn't normally have. We've actually added a gift package from the Black Friday sale to use the remainder of the money given to us. On this occasion any discount didn't really worry us, particularly as the wine package covers a lot of wine we actually know and will happily drink.

I've no idea why not. I asked was there a Peninsular discount and was told no as the wine is already discounted by around 20%. I have checked my bank account just to make sure and was charged £334. Before asking my question here I did some quick searches on CC and found some old 2017 posts which mentioned no discount on packages for wine having been recently introduced to t&Cs so I assumed still in place. There was talk back then about getting discount onboard once obc used up but as we have substantial amount of £780 we wouldn't get it on the wine package at that point either. From 2017: " The P&O Advice web page still shows the following: Wine Packages Various wine packages are available. Wine packages can be consumed either in the restaurant or in your cabin. Please note loyalty discount will not be applied when purchasing wine packages. Please note that these packages are non-refundable and may not be exchanged for another item, or for on board credit".

It is a lot of money and I think they're taking the Michael. However it is stated on the website seat booking carries a charge - it doesn't say how much. If you book luggage on Virgin you get the seat selection but along with virtually every other line they charge if you have no luggage, Unfortunately flying nowadays is a rip off in any way they can. You are right it is a P&O charge.

No discount I'm afraid. Bought mine on Friday - Commodore.

Yes, I've sailed on Allure Caribbean from FL many times and also a transatlantic relocation from Barcelona. I've always had the same experience wherever she was sailing from.

It's meant to be 30 minutes but as you know P&O rarely act on people abusing the sunbeds. If you are sitting there all day no problem. We choose not to sit in the sun all day, as a cancer survivor more than once I'd feel very uncomfortable doing this. Clearly it's a personal choice how people spend their time. In our case we like to go off to lectures or events when we like and therefore cannot camp on sunbeds or seats all day if we wish to play by the rules. Lunch for us is a relaxed affair being served in somewhere like the MDR or Glass House, again over an hour. This difference in holiday experience goes someway to explaining why a lot of us pay fof the balconies.

There will be a pantomime, chocolate/cake village, santa will be in his house, lots of Christmas decorations everywhere, carol concerts, carol singers in the public areas, events will be themed. Santa arrives on deck Christmas eve. The Christmas dinner is an extended traditional menu served on two fixed settings even for freedom diners. There are a couple of special Christmas themed concerts and performances in the theatre. Special Christmas themed drinks, cocktails and food are on offer.

The outside space is very much the winner. We too are out and about extremely early, more because we like the cooler air in the morning and as you know swim first thing before the rush. However we do not stay sitting on our "claimed" seats for more than a couple of hours on seadays preferring to go for a proper lunch. Following the proper etiquette (that sounds good!) we have to surrender our seats at that point which means if we want outside space later we are most likely going to struggle to find two new ones. The balcony offers that choice to sit and watch the sea, read a book or just generally have a chat and enjoy each others company. Even when I travel solo it can be difficult to find a seat after lunch outside on thr bigger ships. Funnily enough the very biggest I sailed was Allure of the Seas and the number of beds, seats and amount of room seemed far superior but it could have been an illusion!

That depends very much on when you book and the type of cabin as well. This cruise replaces an Arvia Christmas cruise booked at launch for which an ordinary deck 12 balcony cabin and economy flights was to cost £7100. Having travelled on Arvia in May this year I decided it wasn't for us and moved to the one I mention above. Yes, it's not Christmas but we booked a replacement with Celebrity for less - see above - albeit one day less, it is however fully inclusive and we were lucky there was a 75% second passenger offer at the time of booking. Looking at the Caribbean cruises released for 2025/6 the prices are high at launch again.

That's another price increase then. It was £409 for my January cruise which I booked in June.

Correct. I agree about seat booking fees. Apart from these P&O flights I have never booked seats in advance. In the past year we did book one flight in advance based on my husband having hurt his leg and wanting an aisle seat. The airlines play on the fear factor and people being worried they won't be seated together. If everybody refused to book and pay there would be little the airlines could do! P&O however have raised their charges to considerably more than the average and I would guess they'll raise the cost again for 2024. In the UK only Ryanair have an algorithm designed to actively split people up. However their standard seat reservation charge is fairly low at £4.00 with the most expensive at £15.00. There is no doubt it is and will remain contentious and until the report is finalised the airlines can cash in. P&O are able to hide amongst the confusion as the passengers automatically blames the airline for cashing in. Win win.

I assume you flew Virgin Premium Economy if your seats were free. Normal Economy seats with them are free at check in. They also charge for extra legroom seats as do most other airlines. You may of course be very high up in their loyalty club so able to get for free earlier than check in. The seat charge on the P&O flights is set by them not the airlines. Maleth seat charge is also £45pp so clearly as they are exclusively a charter company it would be too much of a coincidence. The charge made by P&O is a long way out with most other airlines, and the increase they made in charges this year put them a long way ahead of their rivals and it is obviously an easy way for them to cash in. The worst aspect of this is the Premium economy flight charge, it is extremely unreasonable to expect people to pay another £180 on top of the cost of booking for that cabin. This is an interesting site https://www.alternativeairlines.com/airlines-with-free-seat-selection

That's very interesting. Thank you. I'd best ask a few more questions as to what sort of deal it is! The quoted prices are nearly £650 less than the P&O fares which did seem a very large difference.

Since my travel agent friend retired I have generally made my cruise and holiday bookings direct with the cruise lines. However a particular cruise I want to book has appeared on a number of agent's websites with quite a large reduction so I though I might on this occasion use one. I have noticed, however, that a number of these agents are requesting deposits which are larger than the amount P&O request. Is this normal with the online travel agents?

Don't forget to fill in the new mobility form in your cruise personaliser if you haven't already done so. Have a lovely cruise.

Row 12 is the bulkhead in the middle so assumedly the lady will take the aisle seat of the three window side and the gentleman the middle aisle seat. I'm confused by the "extra legroom" situation as these are the extra legroom seats apart from the exit row 32. To Harrison6 these are actually the most sought after economy seats as there is considerable legroom compared to other seats. The front bulkhead at row 12 is far better than row 32 as the seats in that row are by a door so colder and also very close to the lavatories where people queue. The bulkhead/legroom is why you've paid extra. A "normal" seat is £45pp each way so £180 to reserve. If you were saying you wanted Premium Economy these would cost you around £1,000 to book and reserve. Hope that helps.

He does on all the ships. Mind you he has a busy night nipping from one continent to the other so let's hope the skies are clear.

Thank you. I managed to purchase today. I was the operator's last customer before he leaves P&O. No doubt the wait will be worthwhile. Hope your holiday is going well.