Return to cruising

[davecttr]

10 hours ago, happyglobetrotter said:

A solo pays more than double occupancy fare. On the contrary, the cruise line will love solos. 

I have cruised over 20 times with P&O as a solo cruiser and the 'single supplement' has never been higher than the low 70%. I have had supplements below 50% on several cruises. On my 'other' cruise line single supplements are commonly below 40%.

[davecttr]

10 hours ago, majortom10 said:

But a couple in same cabin will possibly have more onboard spend than a single i.e. 2 x speciality restaurants, 2 excursions and 2 lots of drinks for example therefore making the cruise lines more money.

I have experienced lots of occasions where couples were boasting about not having any onboard spend at all, leaving the cruise line to only profit from the fare itself. A study has proved, on Princess I believe, that the average onboard spend reduces as people take more cruises.

[Adawn47]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

I have experienced lots of occasions where couples were boasting about not having any onboard spend at all, leaving the cruise line to only profit from the fare itself. A study has proved, on Princess I believe, that the average onboard spend reduces as people take more cruises.

Not with us Dave. We always average an onboard spend of between £500 to £600 during a 14 night cruise, depending if we use the speciality restaurants or not. We're on holiday to relax and enjoy ourselves. We don't use the expensive onboard shops though, just bars and restaurants. Any tours we do are booked on line before we go.

Avril

[ann141]

I think P and O stopped being so generous with OBC offers when they removed tips. If you book an inside cabin at present it never includes any extra OBC apart from the normal instead of coach or car parking.

[Angel57]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

I have cruised over 20 times with P&O as a solo cruiser and the 'single supplement' has never been higher than the low 70%. I have had supplements below 50% on several cruises. On my 'other' cruise line single supplements are commonly below 40%.

The “normal” supplement that I have regretfully had to fork out for sole occupancy on AURORA for a double cabin has usually been between 60% and 75%. 
So P&O receives less money for that cabin than if two people occupied it. Plus my on board spend per cabin would be half of that of a dual occupied cabin.
On my two AZURA cruises I only paid a 40% supplement which makes sole occupancy on there even less attractive to P&O......

[AndyMichelle]

38 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Not with us Dave. We always average an onboard spend of between £500 to £600 during a 14 night cruise, depending if we use the speciality restaurants or not. We're on holiday to relax and enjoy ourselves. We don't use the expensive onboard shops though, just bars and restaurants. Any tours we do are booked on line before we go.

Avril

Same here Avril, but we have seen plenty who seem determined to spend as little as possible, drinking tap water etc and certainly would never book speciality restaurants or the Limelight club as they feel they have paid for food & entertainment.. 

Each to their own. 

Andy 

 

[terrierjohn]

32 minutes ago, ann141 said:

I think P and O stopped being so generous with OBC offers when they removed tips. If you book an inside cabin at present it never includes any extra OBC apart from the normal instead of coach or car parking.

On any select fare at launch date nowadays, there is rarely any OBC other than the coach, car park, OBC option, only after the launch discounts and cheap deposit cease do they seem to begin tempting people with reasonable OBC offers.

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, AndyMichelle said:

Same here Avril, but we have seen plenty who seem determined to spend as little as possible, drinking tap water etc and certainly would never book speciality restaurants or the Limelight club as they feel they have paid for food & entertainment.. 

Each to their own. 

Andy 

 

We always take the launch OBC offer and I have Carnival shares which give us extra OBC, and over recent years we have had a few niggles after each cruise which have resulted in extra OBC being offered, well it would be churlish to refuse it. As a result our onboard spend is generally fairly low, which is mainly due to low alcohol consumption, since her stroke Pauline rarely drinks, although she does like the occasional mocktail, and I try not to get too tipsy whilst in charge of a wheelchair.

It might increase under the new dining rules though, which look as if shared tables will be off limits, so possibly more visits to the speciality restaurants.

[jeanlyon]

13 hours ago, happyglobetrotter said:

A solo pays more than double occupancy fare. On the contrary, the cruise line will love solos. 

How do you work that out?  Our friend who travels solo pays 80% of the double occupancy.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

Same here Avril, but we have seen plenty who seem determined to spend as little as possible, drinking tap water etc and certainly would never book speciality restaurants or the Limelight club as they feel they have paid for food & entertainment.. 

Each to their own. 

Andy 

 

A couple of years ago we got £550. We struggled to spend it all, but DW managed well before the last day🤔, 

[Adawn47]

4 minutes ago, zap99 said:

A couple of years ago we got £550. We struggled to spend it all, but DW managed well before the last day🤔, 

Well of course she did zap. It's an inborn trait all women have. I'm surprised you didn't know!!

Avril

[jeanlyon]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

Same here Avril, but we have seen plenty who seem determined to spend as little as possible, drinking tap water etc and certainly would never book speciality restaurants or the Limelight club as they feel they have paid for food & entertainment.. 

Each to their own. 

Andy 

 

Hi Andy, have to say we do not buy bottled water.  We boil the kettle in our cabin and refill our water bottles when it has cooled.  I absolutely refuse to buy bottled water anywhere.  We have an inline filter at home and our water is lovely.  We don't book speciality restaurants either.  We used to go to Sorrento when it was still on board, but now the Beach Hut doesn't serve stuff that we like and quite happy with MDr food mainly.  We don't drink in our cabin though!!  So our bill is usually about £500.  I suppose when we started cruising there were no other restaurants and on Fred there aren't any, so never even consider them.

Edited October 18, 2020 by jeanlyon

[Son of Anarchy]

We don't even bother boiling the tap water, just refill the bottles direct.  There's nothing wrong with the tap water. It's the same stuff they serve from the jugs in the MDR.

 

Generally we might do one visit to the Beach House per cruise, went to Cafe Jardin in January.  I don't think that the Marco concessions seem good value for money at nearly £30 per head, but can't really comment as we've never tried them.  Apart from years ago on Oriana, when MPW was on board.  They opened Ocean Grill (I think) at lunchtime for a reduced price, about £12 i think.  On that occasion, I did think it was worth the extra compared to lunching in the MDR, but not for the £18/£20 at that time for the evening session compared to the MDR.

[Adawn47]

16 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Hi Andy, have to say we do not buy bottled water.  We boil the kettle in our cabin and refill our water bottles when it has cooled.  I absolutely refuse to buy bottled water anywhere.  We have an inline filter at home and our water is lovely.  We don't book speciality restaurants either.  We used to go to Sorrento when it was still on board, but now the Beach Hut doesn't serve stuff that we like and quite happy with MDr food mainly.  We don't drink in our cabin though!!  So our bill is usually about £500.  I suppose when we started cruising there were no other restaurants and on Fred there aren't any, so never even consider them.

We do buy the large bottled water for the cabin as we drink it a lot through the day, and have a glassful by the bed at night, so can easily use at least one bottle a day, and at £10 for 6 x 2litre bottles it isn't too expensive. Like you Jean, we don't drink in the cabin either and much prefer to socialise in the bars.

Avril

[Bazrat]

We normally just fill up at the water stations, would never think about boiling water to much hassle, bottled water on explorer 2 was part of the package we bought so we was well stocked.

[happyglobetrotter]

4 hours ago, davecttr said:

I have cruised over 20 times with P&O as a solo cruiser and the 'single supplement' has never been higher than the low 70%. I have had supplements below 50% on several cruises. On my 'other' cruise line single supplements are commonly below 40%.

I did not say how much a solo pays. What I said is a solo pays more than what a couple pays for double occupancy. Sorry if it is not clear for you. Typically, with HAL, the extra fare for solo is between 60% and 100% depending on the cruise. Except for the few single cabins on some newer ships where they pay only the required fare but they are very few of these single cabins. The good side of paying extra is that from what I have seen (friends and acquaintances) a solo who pays extra also gets double OBC 'as if they were 2 in the cabin''

  

[happyglobetrotter]

39 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

We do buy the large bottled water for the cabin as we drink it a lot through the day, and have a glassful by the bed at night, so can easily use at least one bottle a day, and at £10 for 6 x 2litre bottles it isn't too expensive. Like you Jean, we don't drink in the cabin either and much prefer to socialise in the bars.

Avril

Sorry but socializing in bars on ships will NOT happen in the near future, because of Covid.

 

The quality of the water from the tap is excellent on ships and subject to strict and frequent sanitary controls. It is the same exact water than the one served in the restaurants (cold water dispensers, tea, coffee, soups, etc) and in the bars (in the ice cubes!!!). Buying water on a ship is OK but unecessary and expensive. And it should never be because someone thinks that the FREE water from the faucet is of lower quality. In fact the ship water might well be of BETTER quality. The engineers, captains and hotel directors on the ship have explained this a few times during Q & A sessions.  

 

[Adawn47]

15 minutes ago, happyglobetrotter said:

Sorry but socializing in bars on ships will NOT happen in the near future, because of Covid.

 

The quality of the water from the tap is excellent on ships and subject to strict and frequent sanitary controls. It is the same exact water than the one served in the restaurants (cold water dispensers, tea, coffee, soups, etc) and in the bars (in the ice cubes!!!). Buying water on a ship is OK but unecessary and expensive. And it should never be because someone thinks that the FREE water from the faucet is of lower quality. In fact the ship water might well be of BETTER quality. The engineers, captains and hotel directors on the ship have explained this a few times during Q & A sessions.  

 

I was only saying how we liked to socialise onboard, not how we expected to in the future. I also never said, nor did I infer that there was anything wrong with the tap water on board. I use it for our coffees and to clean my teeth. The fact that we prefer to drink bottled water is our own personal choice, and one which I have no problem paying for.

Avril

[grapau27]

46 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I was only saying how we liked to socialise onboard, not how we expected to in the future. I also never said, nor did I infer that there was anything wrong with the tap water on board. I use it for our coffees and to clean my teeth. The fact that we prefer to drink bottled water is our own personal choice, and one which I have no problem paying for.

Avril

Pauline drinks bottled sparkling water and I drink bottled sparkling or still water in our cabin.

Like you I fill our kettle and brush my teeth with tap water.

First thing every morning we eat room service breakfast on our balcony and last thing we will have hot chocolate on the balcony.

During the day on port days we will be off the ship.

We don't sunbathe since Pauline had a basal cell skin cancer removed but we often lie in the shade.

[zap99]

2 hours ago, happyglobetrotter said:

Sorry but socializing in bars on ships will NOT happen in the near future, because of Covid.

 

The quality of the water from the tap is excellent on ships and subject to strict and frequent sanitary controls. It is the same exact water than the one served in the restaurants (cold water dispensers, tea, coffee, soups, etc) and in the bars (in the ice cubes!!!). Buying water on a ship is OK but unecessary and expensive. And it should never be because someone thinks that the FREE water from the faucet is of lower quality. In fact the ship water might well be of BETTER quality. The engineers, captains and hotel directors on the ship have explained this a few times during Q & A sessions.  

 

Each to their own . We drink bottled water ( better if you have a drinks package ) We eat in speciality restaurants about a third of the time. If folks don't want to spend much money doing that, fine their choice. We went to Guildford on Friday. We didn't eat in the Ivy, some did,some ate in McDonalds. Personal choice is.....well,.. personal.

[wowzz]

I see Royal Caribbean have released details of their new protocols. 

Of interest:

1. RC will pay for individual CV19 tests prior to transport 

2. Ship will sail at 50% capacity 

3. If a passenger contracts CV19 from 3 weeks prior to sailing date, up and until the final day of the cruise, they and their party will receive 100% future cruise credit.

Whilst these in themselves would not make me rush back to cruising, I have to say they seem pretty comprehensive,  (and genrous) and far more detailed than anything P&O have announced

[Windsurfboy]

4 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I see Royal Caribbean have released details of their new protocols. 

Of interest:

1. RC will pay for individual CV19 tests prior to transport 

2. Ship will sail at 50% capacity 

3. If a passenger contracts CV19 from 3 weeks prior to sailing date, up and until the final day of the cruise, they and their party will receive 100% future cruise credit.

Whilst these in themselves would not make me rush back to cruising, I have to say they seem pretty comprehensive,  (and genrous) and far more detailed than anything P&O have announced

I agree

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

I see Royal Caribbean have released details of their new protocols. 

Of interest:

1. RC will pay for individual CV19 tests prior to transport 

2. Ship will sail at 50% capacity 

3. If a passenger contracts CV19 from 3 weeks prior to sailing date, up and until the final day of the cruise, they and their party will receive 100% future cruise credit.

Whilst these in themselves would not make me rush back to cruising, I have to say they seem pretty comprehensive,  (and genrous) and far more detailed than anything P&O have announced

But there is no mention in your post of what on board restrictions will be and whether shore excursions will be the only way to go ashore which P&O did, and what they will do if anyone tests positive or displays symptoms while on the cruise.  The letter points which seemed to be most people's main issue with P&O.

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

But there is no mention in your post of what on board restrictions will be and whether shore excursions will be the only way to go ashore which P&O did, and what they will do if anyone tests positive or displays symptoms while on the cruise.  The letter points which seemed to be most people's main issue with P&O.

I've posted the link to the article. There is more information on there about medical protocols on board, but still a bit flimsy. Strangely, no mention at all of shore excursions.

https://cruiseradio.net/first-royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-sail-gives-glimpse-new-normal/

[Son of Anarchy]

26 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I've posted the link to the article. There is more information on there about medical protocols on board, but still a bit flimsy. Strangely, no mention at all of shore excursions.

https://cruiseradio.net/first-royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-sail-gives-glimpse-new-normal/

Interesting to see whether other operators follow suit re testing and the cruise credit in the event of testing positive.