P&O Extras

[Javert1969]

Hi all - looking at a P&O cruise from Southampton in March where I am seeing a good price of about 680GBP each for an 11 day cruise.

 

I've never cruised on P&O before so what are the extras you might have to pay?

 

- Drinks package appears to be £40 pp p/d?

- Do you have to pay daily gratuities charge?

- Any other hidden extras?

- Roughly how much is parking at Southampton?

- If we took the train, how close is the train station to the cruise terminal in Southampton?

- Oceana or Ventura?  Looking at the descriptions, seems like Ventura has more varied dining which would be one of our priorities.

Edited January 4, 2020 by Javert1969

[ann141]

15 minutes ago, Javert1969 said:

Hi all - looking at a P&O cruise from Southampton in March where I am seeing a good price of about 680GBP each for an 11 day cruise.

 

I've never cruised on P&O before so what are the extras you might have to pay?

 

- Drinks package appears to be £40 pp p/d?

- Do you have to pay daily gratuities charge?

- Any other hidden extras?

- Roughly how much is parking at Southampton?

- If we took the train, how close is the train station to the cruise terminal in Southampton?

- Oceana or Ventura?  Looking at the descriptions, seems like Ventura has more varied dining which would be one of our priorities.

Although the drinks package is £40pp p/d unless you drink a lot it is probably cheaper to pay for drinks as you go.The prices are similar to 'posh' pub prices.

Gratuities are now included

Can t help with parking costs as we usually go by train.The station is just over a mile to the terminal and the taxi fare is about £8

Both Oceana and Ventura are lovely ships.We usually choose by itinerary but prefer Ventura to Oceana mainly because the cabins seem slightly larger on Ventura

[john watson]

Gratuities are no longer charged automatically to your on board account.

 

Hotel parking is about £15 day plus a nights accommodation including quayside transfers both ways.

 

Dummy booking on CPS parking for you cruise will give an approximate cost, other cheaper operators will easily be found.

 

Train station is a sensible local taxi fare and easily feasible

 

Main costs are excursions booked on board or beforehand

 

Ventura has excellent balconies C deck being best location for size

 

Always tick "NO" to free upgrades unless you book top grade in a cabin type so they will upgrade to next type - other upgrades just move you to identical type of cabin in a "nicer" part of the ship, nicer being exactly where you do not want to be.

 

One of the cheapest per night cruises about March time is the Transatlantic sail home from Caribbean.  You fly out to Caribbean from UK (included in fare) do a week in Caribbean sail home via a single stop in Canary Islands then sail on to Southampton.  There are no excursions to pay for on the sea days and in Caribbean you can go to a beach if you do not book a ship's tour.

 

Regards John

 

Regards John

[kruzseeka]

You are probably looking at the lead-in price which is almost certainly a 'Saver' price.  Be sure to check the difference in the Select price too.  It is more, but there are 'extras' which may make it attractive.  If I'm looking at the correct cruise - Oceana 11 nights 22nd March, it does come with a £35 per person cabin on-board credit and choice of cabin and dining options as well as free shuttle buses at ports where they are provided by P&O.   It looks like £200 more overall but being able to choose your cabin location and dining is important to some people and may be worth the extra.  (Prices I've quoted are for inside cabins.)

[AndyMichelle]

Excellent advice above... 

Nothing much to add, only that I (slightly) prefer Ventura but Michelle (slightly) prefers Oceana, we have been on both recently. 

Although Oceana has less passengers, I felt a bit enclosed as all the public areas seem to run into each other, whereas Ventura feels much more spread out. 

The lack of a Crows Nest/Metropolis on Oceana and the better cabins on Ventura get my vote, but Michelle preferred the service and Atrium on Oceana. 

Just realised I have been no help at all, sorry... 😊

Andy 

[emam]

If you book select price, you can get car parking or coach travel in with the price. The coach usually picks up at service stations on the motorway (or at least the one we use does).  When you board your coach you hand your cases over to the driver who loads them onto the coach. The next time you see your cases are outside your cabin door. The coach takes you right to the terminal door and boarding is quick as the coaches get priority. 

On your return journey you collect your baggage from the hall and take to the coach.

 

You said that you have never cruised with P&O, but I get the impression that you have cruised before. P&O don't do free ice cream during the day and it is only available on a night in the mdr (main dining room). However you can buy ice cream during the day, near the lido deck. Fruit juice is only available at breakfast time.

[kruzseeka]

2 hours ago, emam said:

If you book select price, you can get car parking or coach travel in with the price. The coach usually picks up at service stations on the motorway (or at least the one we use does).  When you board your coach you hand your cases over to the driver who loads them onto the coach. The next time you see your cases are outside your cabin door. The coach takes you right to the terminal door and boarding is quick as the coaches get priority. 

On your return journey you collect your baggage from the hall and take to the coach.

 

You said that you have never cruised with P&O, but I get the impression that you have cruised before. P&O don't do free ice cream during the day and it is only available on a night in the mdr (main dining room). However you can buy ice cream during the day, near the lido deck. Fruit juice is only available at breakfast time.

 

Parking is a good offer with Select Fares though when I looked at the cruise I think the OP was referring to, l couldn't see Free Parking being offered.  May be to do with a sail out of Southampton but fly back to a regional airport??

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, kruzseeka said:

 

Parking is a good offer with Select Fares though when I looked at the cruise I think the OP was referring to, l couldn't see Free Parking being offered.  May be to do with a sail out of Southampton but fly back to a regional airport??

I always do a quick back of the envelope calculation to decide if it is better to have the obc or the parking.  Next cruise it was better value to take the parking option with CPS,  the one after we will keep the obc and use Parking4cruises. 

[kruzseeka]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

I always do a quick back of the envelope calculation to decide if it is better to have the obc or the parking.  Next cruise it was better value to take the parking option with CPS,  the one after we will keep the obc and use Parking4cruises. 

Friends have just done exactly the same thing - but also weighed up the free offer of a taxi from a local TA (but I don't suppose that's available everywhere - were not too far from Southampton). But as you say, it's worth doing the sums.

[emam]

As we usually have an inside cabin, the obc is only about £30 or £35. So the coach is definitely worth it for us.

[purplesea]

We always go for the OBC as the coaches don't come anywhere near us and I don't fancy the drive up so come by train.