Cunard or P&O World Cruise for a solo traveller

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, Roger88 said:

I doubt that we need to expect any major world cruises any time soon as many countries are still on lock down and it might be irrational. In any case, cant wait to jump in 

2024 is hardly anytime soon, but I can hardly expect Roger to have actually read the OP!

[brian1]

On ‎5‎/‎24‎/‎2021 at 1:27 PM, GOQ said:

The problem is you might die of alcohol poisoning 🥵

This is a really interesting thread for me, if I outlive my dog it's definitely on my "List" of todo.

Bring the dog.Cunard have kennels although I think that's just QM2 on TA's.Worldies might be an exception.

[Angel57]

32 minutes ago, brian1 said:

Bring the dog.Cunard have kennels although I think that's just QM2 on TA's.Worldies might be an exception.

I suspect the fare for the dog is more expensive than a balcony cabin! 

[SargassoPirate]

On 5/22/2021 at 1:20 PM, Car59 said:

I am hoping to do a World Cruise in 2024 and I am trying to decide between Cunard and P&O. I will be travelling solo and intend to book a balcony cabin. Looking through the boards it looks as though many switch between Cunard and P&O depending on the itinerary so I welcome all input!  The last time I sailed with P&O was in 2005 on Oriana for the Christmas and New Year sailing to the Caribbean. Since then I have sailed on QM2 and QE as well as Princess, Celebrity, HAL, Disney and RCCL, however, the only solo cruise I have been on was with Crystal. Thanks!

 

An additional thought since you said you intend to book a balcony.  Take a look at the design of the balcony doors on both lines.  From my understanding and watching video tours of the P&O Arcadia, it has doors that swing out instead of sliding.

 

We found ourselves on HAL's Eurodam for a transatlantic several years ago and the swinging balcony doors became quite annoying because people would step out onto their balcony and let the door slam behind them.  Anytime we sat on the balcony we were accompanied by an almost constant boom boom boom as doors were slammed.

 

By the end of the cruise, I dubbed the ship the "Euroslam" and we swore to never sail on a ship with swinging balcony doors again.

 

Just one more thing to consider when finding the perfect cabin for you.

[brian1]

58 minutes ago, Angel57 said:

I suspect the fare for the dog is more expensive than a balcony cabin! 

A pampered pooch though.

[wowzz]

54 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

From my understanding and watching video tours of the P&O Arcadia, it has doors that swing out instead of sliding.

Now you've got me thinking ! 4 years since I was last on Arcadia, but I'm sure we had sliding doors on our balcony. Hopefully others with more recent memories will chime in.

[ann141]

6 hours ago, Glenndale said:

I don’t know whether Saga are planning a world cruise in 2024 but it might be worth your while to pre register for 2024 at a cost of £90.

If you don’t find anything to suit you, you will get your money back.

Their 2 ships are all balcony, inclusive drinks, some excursions included and gratuities included.

Single cabins available.

All the specialties are included at no extra charge and tables are organised for solo passengers which you can join or not as you wish.

Lots of activities during the day and an excellent solos experience.

By pre registering you will be called first to choose your cruise and cabin virtually guaranteeing the best price.

Prices rise in 5% increments on Saga as cabins are sold.

Mostly British guests but we have encountered some North American guests on board.

Have fun choosing 🙂

I want to try a Saga cruise (not necessarily a World Cruise..  perhaps one day)but one thing that puts me off is the 15% deposit, because in the past we have either changed our minds when something better comes up or a wedding or similar has been arranged which we don't want to miss not to mention possible illness etc.At least P and O have a 5% deposit when their cruises are first released and even better Princess who have had a £50 deposit.

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Now you've got me thinking ! 4 years since I was last on Arcadia, but I'm sure we had sliding doors on our balcony. Hopefully others with more recent memories will chime in.

Just had a look at a few videos of cabins and all those I saw had an outward-opening swing door...

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, ann141 said:

I want to try a Saga cruise (not necessarily a World Cruise..  perhaps one day)but one thing that puts me off is the 15% deposit, because in the past we have either changed our minds when something better comes up or a wedding or similar has been arranged which we don't want to miss not to mention possible illness etc.At least P and O have a 5% deposit when their cruises are first released and even better Princess who have had a £50 deposit.

I agree, that is a disincentive, especially as you need to book at launch to be sure of the best price. 

We have a September 2023 cruise with them, that was booked around 6 months ago, so that's a long time for plans to change. However, if you take out Saga's included insurance, you will at least be covered for illness.

[wowzz]

Just now, Britboys said:

Just had a look at a few videos of cabins and all those I saw had an outward-opening swing door...

I'm thinking you are correct! The joy's of old age and forgetfulness! 

[Glenndale]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I agree, that is a disincentive, especially as you need to book at launch to be sure of the best price. 

We have a September 2023 cruise with them, that was booked around 6 months ago, so that's a long time for plans to change. However, if you take out Saga's included insurance, you will at least be covered for illness.

Wowzz are you sure you don't mean September 2022? 😁

[Britboys]

5 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I'm thinking you are correct! The joy's of old age and forgetfulness! 

Don't worry - I think many of us will know exactly what you mean...😄

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, Glenndale said:

Wowzz are you sure you don't mean September 2022? 😁

Yes, of course I did, silly me.

I refer the learned gentleman to my previous post regarding old age!

[Glenndale]

12 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Yes, of course I did, silly me.

I refer the learned lady to my previous post regarding old age!

🤣 Best stop digging 🤣

We are on SoA in September 2022

[Denarius]

6 hours ago, brian1 said:

A pampered pooch though.

I believe that they have a choice of a traditional UK gas lamp and a US fire hydrant to "kick".

Edited May 26, 2021 by Denarius
spelling

[Car59]

11 hours ago, Glenndale said:

I don’t know whether Saga are planning a world cruise in 2024 but it might be worth your while to pre register for 2024 at a cost of £90.

If you don’t find anything to suit you, you will get your money back.

Their 2 ships are all balcony, inclusive drinks, some excursions included and gratuities included.

Single cabins available.

All the specialties are included at no extra charge and tables are organised for solo passengers which you can join or not as you wish.

Lots of activities during the day and an excellent solos experience.

By pre registering you will be called first to choose your cruise and cabin virtually guaranteeing the best price.

Prices rise in 5% increments on Saga as cabins are sold.

Mostly British guests but we have encountered some North American guests on board.

Have fun choosing 🙂

Thank you for the information, it makes sense to pre register.

[brian1]

45 minutes ago, Denarius said:

I believe that they have a choice of a traditional UK gas lamp and a US fire hydrant to "kick".

Bloody luuxery,that's what there paying for.

[Ahentges]

The dog kennels on QM2 are only available on Southampton to NY and reverse.  They are also booked a year in advance.  Cost $700/$750 one way

[john watson]

I think you should also look at Princess, they start in Australia and therefore run a bit later in the year.  This gives a different passenger mix.  In addition 100 plus days is a long cruise and I should consider half of that length if I were you.

 

Regards John

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, john watson said:

I think you should also look at Princess, they start in Australia and therefore run a bit later in the year.  This gives a different passenger mix.  In addition 100 plus days is a long cruise and I should consider half of that length if I were you.

 

Regards John

As a matter of interest, if you do a world cruise in 50 days, do you actually have enough time to stop anywhere, or have I just misunderstood your comment?

[john watson]

33 minutes ago, wowzz said:

As a matter of interest, if you do a world cruise in 50 days, do you actually have enough time to stop anywhere, or have I just misunderstood your comment?

 

 

What I was suggesting was to only do half of the whole world itinerary.  Whenever I have been on a cruise I have felt that after x number of days the wow factor diminishes to some extent.   If one chooses three consecutive sectors you can cherry pick the best bits and cover them in a more intensive way, i.e. greater number of excursions and the top end ones even when they are pricey if you think the experience would be worth it.. Your savings will also permit additional major voyages after a year or so

 

Regards John

[wowzz]

14 minutes ago, john watson said:

 

 

What I was suggesting was to only do half of the whole world itinerary.  Whenever I have been on a cruise I have felt that after x number of days the wow factor diminishes to some extent.   If one chooses three consecutive sectors you can cherry pick the best bits and cover them in a more intensive way, i.e. greater number of excursions and the top end ones even when they are pricey if you think the experience would be worth it.. Your savings will also permit additional major voyages after a year or so

 

Regards John

Sorry, misunderstood your proposition.

I would totally agree with you. I would think that doing a segment of a Worldie cruise, with ample time at the beginning and end of the sector,  would be far more fulfilling than just "popping in" to Sydney, say, for 24 hours as part of a world cruise.

However,  we are all different,  and others will, quite rightly, have other views. 

[Car59]

On 5/28/2021 at 1:40 PM, john watson said:

I think you should also look at Princess, they start in Australia and therefore run a bit later in the year.  This gives a different passenger mix.  In addition 100 plus days is a long cruise and I should consider half of that length if I were you.

 

Regards John

I'm Elite with Princess so that's worth looking at. Thank you!

[NSWP]

On 5/29/2021 at 3:40 AM, john watson said:

I think you should also look at Princess, they start in Australia and therefore run a bit later in the year.  This gives a different passenger mix.  In addition 100 plus days is a long cruise and I should consider half of that length if I were you.

 

Regards John

The Princess World Cruise, Sydney to Sydney is 107 days, mainly Australians on board, some just do half, i.e. Sydney to Dover, or Dover to Sydney, which is 50 odd days.  It leaves Sydney in May. Two are scheduled on Coral Princess, May 2022 and May 2023. Although the 2022 one is highly unlikely as Australian borders are closed to mid 2022 at least, plus many ports will still be closed around the world.

 

In 2012 we did half worldie on Arcadia, Sydney to Southampton, then had  about 6 weeks in UK and Ireland, driving, so we were away about 3 months all up. Had 4 nights in Hong Kong on return flight LHR to Sydney.  P&O UK are very good to sail with, having been on Arcadia twice, Aurora and Oriana in recent years. Ia couple of years ago we did a short sector on QM2, Sydney to HK, I loved the ship design and facilities, but the atmosphere to me was a bit too formal and stuffy.

 

As for Princess I have done 400 odd days on their ships, most of their fleet in fact. Very happy with Princess.  The Elite perks are good, internet, minibar, laundry is good on a long cruise, etc, etc.

Edited May 31, 2021 by NSWP

[NSWP]

On 5/26/2021 at 8:39 PM, brian1 said:

Bring the dog.Cunard have kennels although I think that's just QM2 on TA's.Worldies might be an exception.

When I was on QM2 in 2017, I asked, Dog Kennels only operate on Transatlantics. The kennels were full of excess suitcases when I saw them.