leesam

On our cruise to Bruges next week, P&O are offering what they call a (transfer to Bruges) for £22 per person under shore excursions.

Never seen this before, not badly priced either.

We have also today come off Ventura and apart from normal wear and tear thought she looked great, would definitely cruise on Ventura again.

Like also mentioned staff were brilliant.

On our last 12 night cruise we had 3 formal nights and i would say the vast majority of men wore dj's and the ladies cocktail dresses on these nights.

This link might help you with how many nights

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/dress_code_all.html

sorry I meant to comment, unfortunately it seems the Oriana doesn't but, when we were on board a couple of weeks ago there did seem to be plenty of drinks waiters walking about in the buffet.

This might help.

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/enomatic_wine

We have stayed in E730 on Azura which has the same layout and we could hear the noise from the club at night and first thing in the morning if a band were practicing!! It wasnt nice..

If your cabin is on the starboard side towards the lifts i dont think you will have any noise problems as its so far away from the stage and the speakers which hang off the ceiling.

Enjoy your cruise.

Hi

Unfortunately on a cruise on board Oriana 2 weeks ago I left a pair of dance shoes in our cabin.

I have reported this to P&O via their website but have heard nothing as yet.

My question is has anyone else left items on board a ship,reported it and been fortunate enough to be reunited with their lost items?

Hi djw40

We have stayed in E730 and the noise from the Manhattan at times was loud and annoying, when we looked closer at the position of the cabin in relation to the stage and speakers we found ourselves near enough directly above.

I would have thought and hoped E725 is far enough away from the stage area for it to affect you.

Have a great first Cruise.

Hi Scriv

Have you found there to be plenty of available seats on the train?

Leesam

Definitely yes. And you can then take the train to Bruges from the station just down the road from where the shuttle bus stops.

 

You might get your cruise card scanned on the shuttle bus, but there is no charge for any of the fares.

 

It is all very easy. The trains go about once an hour and are very punctual. You buy your ticket either from a machine at the station or from the ticket desk. There is an English option on the machine and the ticket clerk speaks English so there is no problem. It costs very little - maybe about 8 euro return?

 

In Bruges there is a walk of about 20 mins to the centre of the town and apparently there is also a bus from the station into the centre. I haven't tried this bus but I understand it is either free or a minimal fare of about 1 euro.

Sequence dancing is often derided by "proper dancers" but there is no reason it should be. If you dance correctly and to the scripts, the techniques, footwork etc. are still proper ballroom and latin dancing. The main difference is that a sequence dance is written to fit 16 bars of music before the sequence repeats itself.

 

There are so many sequence dances and they increase in number every year as people develop new dances (there are even competitions for this).

 

Generally the most popular dances can be found wherever you go to dance on ship or shore. Whilst not an exhaustive list I would suggest considering the following as we've found these are nearly always played wherever you go:-

Rumba One, Square Tango, Waltz Catherine, Melody Foxtrot, Saunter Together, Tango Sereda, Sally Ann Cha Cha, Mayfair Quickstep, Argentine Stroll. You can look these up on YouTube although the execution of these is often very varied. ;)

 

It's rare to find Sequence Jives, Sambas or Paso Dobles being played although there are numerous examples of these. There again it's pretty unusual to see a Samba or Paso Doble on board at all. :D

Thank you very much for your reply and explanation of the sequence dances, I know some people have an issue with this type of dance (each to their own) but if the footwork and techniques are similar to ballroom/Latin then I would rather be on the floor giving it a go rather than sitting down. (Making room for some more food)

Thanks again

We have only been dancing ballroom and Latin approx. 3 years and really enjoy it, but have found as others have said there is an awful lot of sequence dancing happening on certain ships therefore, we were thinking of maybe learning a couple of the sequence dances so we are not sat down all the time.

Could anyone please help with the titles of the most commonly used sequence dances please?

We used the Epicurean on Azura in September on our last evening and thought the whole experience well worth the money.

We were on the same cruise with a 3pm check-in and arrived 2.50pm at the terminal on the ship for 3.20pm unpacking cases, coming home allocated 9am slot at Masquerades got there at 8.35ish told to go straight down to the gangway and in the car approx 9am.

Could not have gone better.

Leesam

We have just come off a short sailing on board the Arcadia, we should have stopped in Zeebrugge 24/11/2015 but for safety and security reasons the captain announced this would not happen.

Unfortunately no alternative could be offered.

Had a great time in Amsterdam Though.

We took a taxi from by the ship, which took us to the start of the ride where we took the toboggan down, he then met us at the end of the ride and dropped us off in town.

Unfortunately I can’t remember the cost but, you can negotiate with the driver before you commit.

Leesam

Thank you to everyone for all your comments, we will probably give the Arcadia a try.

Thanks again.

Hi

We were thinking of inviting our daughter and boyfriend on a short cruise on the Arcadia this November but, after reading reviews I wonder if this is the right ship to take them on as the age group reported seems over 60.

I was wondering if a short cruise on the Arcadia attracts a younger age group and if anyone who has sailed on one of these cruises on the Arcadia have any comments please?

http://www.sport24-tv.com/Schedule

No chance of ITV channels at all then?

Hi

We are sailing on the Azura this coming Saturday 26th September, I know we are on holiday but, does anyone know of the chances of watching the England v Wales match on board.

Many thanks.

Leesam.

We requested one on the website by post and it arrived within 48 Hours.

we have stayed in hotels the night before cruises and have found although we may have to vacate our room by a certain time, we have always found we are welcome to stay in the hotel until we are ready to leave or travel to the ship to comply with the given boarding time.

Hi, we were on Thomas Cook and on a brand new plane on its first ever flight with passengers. Eeekk. (The Captain was really excited but I think us passengers were a little more edgy ;)) Having said that it was a beautiful plane and we had a great flight.

NEW PLANE....I think i would have been too!!

Can you prebook extra legroom seats?

Many Thanks.

Sorry to change the question slightly but, when you fly from manchester to join Oceana what airlines do P&O use and what is the transfer time from the airport to the ship please?

We have just come off the Azura and our cabin E730 was directly above the Manhattan bar/club, We chose and paid for this cabin but not having sailed on the Azura before and not doing enough home work on the whereabouts of the cabin had to endure some very late (approx until 4am in the morning) music thumping out and then hear the bands practice sessions from 9am in the morning.

We thought the cabins were great and really enjoyed the Azura and would sail on her again but obviously in another cabin, as has been said already if you were to get any noise from the theatre then it would be over before midnight.

Hope you enjoy your 1st cruise.

Hi

Has anyone on the forum stayed in a cabin on deck A, If so do you get any noise from the above Lido deck?

Many thanks.

Leesam