Megabear2

Difference between 2022 and 2019? The rubbish strike was over and it smelt far sweeter. On the other hand they're still trying to build a new underground line under the Colosseum ...

That's good to hear! I'm on Aurora on 26 August and have never been to any of these ports, in fact my only venture into Scandinavia was to Stockholm 15 years ago to run the marathon there. Any recommendations of what we should see in Visby or anywhere else much appreciated! At present we have one P&O excursion booked as a family which is in Skagen. Apart from that I'm lost!!

Absolutely wonderful. I love the walrus! Still on my bucket list to see a wild one and a polar bear but currently Churchill isn't on my radar due to rather busy cruise diary until April 2026. Hopefully I'll get there some time, I've far too much ski gear left over from my 2016 Canadian trip when I stayed in the Ice Hotel in Quebec on my way home.

With all this talk of medical matters, has anyone else been asked to sign up for Our Future Health? A very large mobile unit arrived in our Tesco car park a few weeks back and after receiving a letter from the NHS inviting me to take part I'm told I have to attend there next Thursday for a half hour appointment. Sounds very interesting. Sending good luck and best wishes for everyone having tests, check ups and appointments today.

With the "new" room choosing system the prices change the second you click the choose room button, sometimes by a few pounds but by several hundred on others - when looking at cabins for my recently booked Aurora cruise one outside cabin on deck E changed by £375pp making it dearer than a balcony cabin on deck C. The sceptic in me says P&O allocate the first choice cabin they recommend based on they aren’t the very worst on sale at that time but are not necessarily the most desirable. Good old deck 15 on Britannia tends to be a point in question. Some of the deluxe balcony cabins up there are diabolical for noise, never mind movement, and the ones mid forward are not far from your allocated inside cabin. After a particularly nightmare Caribbean experience with late night deck parties and the clean up early morning I vowed no more deck 15 as a result. I appreciate on a round Britain cruise the chances are slim for these to occur but I would err on the side of caution if noise can be an issue as early morning cleaning of the deck area and lavatories will have to occur regardless of where in the world the ship is. Personally I'd consider if it's possible to change room if there's little or no cost involved, not because of movement worries but more due to potential noise.

The point being I suppose that to have a private balcony on Fred you cannot get a true comparison. If the passenger is only booking to acquire a private balcony he cannot get a true comparison as it simply doesn't exist, suites being the only way to get that balcony on FO. The same applied to my aunt's Princess -v- FO cruise as Regal Princess does not have any outside cabins. I guess real comparison is only possible on insides as everyone has them in the "normal" lines, but obviously not the more luxury ones. FO is difficult to compare due to it's odd fleet.

I travelled in June last year. This link is to Marseille Tourism site - the shuttle details are half way down. I used it last year to by pass the P&O queue as I knew it existed and followed the MSC and Costa guests to the bus stop. It was about 6 minutes walk from our berth but could be more/less depending on where the ship is berthed. The boats were hired by P&O and docked in the area of the university, about 10 minutes walk to the harbour and centre. The queue for the return buses was horrendous that day and a number of white shirts were on hand at the bus stop to escort people to the boat which carried three times the number of passengers the bus could. https://www.marseille-tourisme.com/en/organize-your-stay/practical-information/access-to-marseille-cruise-port/

My one trip on Arvia Marseille had the same crowd problems. Is the ship providing the boat service to supplement the buses? This was very good and certainly helped on the return journey. The other option was the port bus which was a short walk away, this is used by MSC and Princess but P&O didn't tell their passengers of the existence of it.

In fairness TTL does not state which individual cruise they are looking at so we can't judge the availability. What we do know to be fact is that true balconies on FO are few and far between and as such they carry a very high premium. Even at your quoted £5299 based on TTL's figures FO would be dearer than Saga who are known as a premium product. My aunt was a regular on FO, Princess and P&O and over the years completed ten world cruises spread across these lines. Her take on the three lines was Princess was far superior due to the overall quality of the ships. Her last cruise was in January 2023 on Bollette in an outside cabin and the cost was high , almost double the cost for a balcony on Regent Princess in July 2022. She had booked a FO cruise from Liverpool to the Amalfi area whilst onboard Bollette and when I dealt with it's cancellation I was astonished at the cost of £4,988pp for 16 nights in an outside cabin as this was almost three times the amount of the 14 night Princess cruise to the Mediterranean for August in a balcony on an AI basis I was also cancelling.

Wine could not be kept on Britannia in January. However the Sauvignon blanc wine we particularly like was £47 a bottle or £16.50 a 250ml glass so the Commodore collection would have been good value to us if I hadn't become unwell on day 5 - P&O did kindly refund the unused portion on our return. Based on the fact TigerB heard another price increase is on the way we have taken the reduced drinks package on our Caribbean booking over Christmas as once we added it our many speciality teas, iced coffees and water plus a couple of these glasses with dinner and lunch it was a fairly easy option, plus P&O kindly gifted me my unused OBC in FCC after my prolonged illness. For our August Aurora cruise we have booked the wine package already to beat the price rise but there will be a large number of family members onboard so it will be easy to drink a bottle in one go at dinner if it cannot be kept - we have early fixed dining.

I've booked 2025 on Queen Mary 2 for two cruises one 21 night and one 7 night. I'd thought plenty of time to do so but I really struggled two weeks ago to get on the 21 night one in a balcony cabin let alone anything higher. Not to be caught out I've booked at launch for 2026 and if the P&O ones interest will definitely do so again. It's being noted elsewhere that most Princess cruises are sailing full, a large number of 2024/5 Cunard and Celebrity sailings have extremely limited availability so I don't doubt P&O aren't going to be far behind.

As mentioned previously my extended family of 23 - we've gained two more in recent days - are sailing on Aurora on 26th August. During our time onboard I will be celebrating my 44th wedding anniversary and my sister in law her 70th. We have been having a chat about a private get together for this. Two questions: (1) does P&O offer rooms on Aurora you can book for such a gathering (I have I believe seen such a thing on Britannia but not in recent times) and (2) who do I need to contact to discuss making such an arrangement? I assume if I can make any arrangement I can arrange and pay for food and drinks to be available in the same way I have previously done on Cunard ships but any advice or help on dealing with P&O would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Having eaten in Green & Co on Arvia, which was by far the best meal I ate on her, I find it impossible to understand why P&O seem to be failing so dismally for the vegetarians and vegans. They clearly can do it right and well if you are happy to pay the cost - the meal in Green & Co was pricey. I can't help but wonder if cost may be helping cause the lack of decent offerings elsewhere as I suspect the demand is probably not high overall. The ingredients the OP and others have mentioned in their sparse offerings are items the chef's can "multi task" into non vegan/vegetarian offerings whereas to make top quality vegan/vegetarian food requires many more unique items.

A sign of the times? The thread attached is trending on Google headlines ...

That sounds like a really nasty accident. I hope you feel better in the morning, and that you are soon on the mend. Take care of yourself.

Yes, sorry it was Dominica, actually one of my favourite islands but dreadful Road conditions particularly since the hurricanes in 2017.

They all seem to have driving tests, some even have a theory too.What the level of competency required is I've no idea.

This is an emotive subject unfortunately. Complaints are good, indeed I complained about a safety issue on a catamaran cruise in St Lucia, but realistically P&O will have little control over driver behaviour. The OP is on fairly safe ground as it is illegal to use a handheld phone in Norway. However the Caribbean islands are mainly third world countries and rules are frequently disregarded. Many of these places follow the US and in quite a lot of states there is no ban on phone use. Sadly a few years back a passenger from Azura was sadly killed in Tortola whilst on an excursion. If anything would have tightened things up that would have been the time but truthfully I see little difference. As passengers we have to take this into account when deciding to book excursions and make a personal choice as to whether to go or not.

I've paid £150 to see him and his mates at St Mary's this summer!

As this is the second year Gary is appearing having done Arvia and Iona performances last year, it seems very odd that this discussion has now reared its head. The previous performances were clearly well received and the terms for entering the lottery were understood by last year's bidders and no complaints appeared here or on other channels so far as I am aware. As @happy v said, all passengers received full details in advance and knew the position. As an "ambassador" for P&O, Gary seems to be doing a good job. This isn't really like the Strictly cruises which were themed exactly as that with lots of interaction as part of the offering, nor is it P&O hiring in a top entertainer for the night. No doubt these appearances are part of the agreement Gary has as music director.

As far as I know all superior deluxe cabins on Britannia have baths with shower over. We gave had them on deck A, B and C and never had anything other than a bath. The baths are quite low sided but due to mobility problems we have this year not booked one instead choosing a balcony with sofa to ensure the shower.

From the website: Seats are limited and can be won in an on-board raffle, with tickets priced at £10 and all proceeds donated to Teenage Cancer Trust and Child Bereavement UK. 

Our January 2024 cruise on Britannia in a deluxe balcony with premium economy was £7,300. This was a rebooking from Arvia which had been made on release for 22 December 2023 so over Christmas. That cruise was priced at £7,100 for an overlooked deck 12 corner balcony without premium economy flights. If we hadn't been transferring it would have been far cheaper in a normal balcony with sofa but we needed the price above Arvia. We have booked Britannia December 2024 a few months back and our identical deluxe cabin with premium economy flights is £7,600 with £360obc. Although we won't be travelling with P&O for 2026 I've just priced it: drum roll £9,358 without premium economy flights, with £420obc!

The new safety cameras which are being trialled deal with mobile phone use. https://nationalhighways.co.uk/about-us/more-police-forces-join-our-trial-of-new-safety-cameras/

Both P&O and Cunard have indicated to me in the past week that one to one assistance is now their default position for those using walking sticks onboard. As a result for the three cruises I booked last week my cruise planner shows mandatory completion of the medical questionnaire for my husband. Cunard has gone one step further and has already replied to say form acknowledged and tender/lifeboat test must be completed on boarding. I fully expect the same from P&O. Both companies stated they will be limiting the number of passengers with what they termed "walking aids". It could perhaps be that others are thinking along the same lines as you.