Any "Yanks" been on P&O out of Southampton? How different was the Brit centric trip vs what I might be used to?

[fsufancc]

Just wondering.  Looking at going on a Norway Fjord trip next year.  There is not a lot of information about the nuances of a Brit centric trip. I'm just wondering what I might expect on P&O line where American cruisers might say "Well that was different" or "I never expected that." Not trying to be snarky, just wondering what I might expect.

[Interestedcruisefan]

Won't be as many people playing poker or the slot machines in the casino on a Brit centric trip

 

If you like the casino

[Megabear2]

No smoking in the casino. No cocktail jugglers, not many late night revellers, no champagne fountains, less poolside "entertainment", cheaper spas, extras with lower cost price eg ship excursions, speciality restaurants, on P&O no gratuities, more basic food choices in buffet restaurant. Less shade in pool areas and on the big ships less personal space around pools but lots of room in quieter areas.  On a Norwegian cruise there will normally be less children as the cruises are shorter unless you are looking at one of the cruises to the far north which are generally on Aurora or Arcadia - you do not say which ship but only Aurora and Arcadia are adult only and these tend to have an older demographic.  You may find the British reserve unusual if you are not accustomed to it! These two ships have a very dedicated group of supporters and as such are more traditional.

 

Normally very good lectures held on sea days, not just port centric. 

 

Overall I'd say a less frenetic, relaxing experience compared with the US ships I've sailed on, particularly in light of your chosen destination.  It will certainly be very different to any ex US sailings or even a European sailing on an American ship.  You'll never know unless you try it but some of my American friends regularly travel out of Southampton as they love a British approach to cruising No matter which line they're on.

[amajaa]

There was a similar thread a few months back which might be an interesting read for you 

 

 

 

 

[fsufancc]

Thank you Amajaa, that was a very good link.  What we were looking at was the Iona for a closed loop trips to see the fjords.  I'm sure there are other ships/lines offering similar trips (Holland America comes to mind).  Nothing is chipped in stone yet, so we can leave from most any port in the UK/Northern Europe. I am just now starting to get my information together.  I have a relative that is a retired airline employee, so we fly on standby passes. I can get to London, Paris, or Frankfurt and then can take a train (or Easyjet) to any port.  We did an Ireland trip 3 years back and drove around the island staying in Airbnb type places.  I don't want the hassle of that this time and would like to be on something that is more "full service" where I can sit back and relax.  A Norway fjord trip looks great.

[alpha whiskey]

1 hour ago, fsufancc said:

Thank you Amajaa, that was a very good link.  What we were looking at was the Iona for a closed loop trips to see the fjords.  I'm sure there are other ships/lines offering similar trips (Holland America comes to mind).  Nothing is chipped in stone yet, so we can leave from most any port in the UK/Northern Europe. I am just now starting to get my information together.  I have a relative that is a retired airline employee, so we fly on standby passes. I can get to London, Paris, or Frankfurt and then can take a train (or Easyjet) to any port.  We did an Ireland trip 3 years back and drove around the island staying in Airbnb type places.  I don't want the hassle of that this time and would like to be on something that is more "full service" where I can sit back and relax.  A Norway fjord trip looks great.

Check out the Princess itineraries as well.

They've certainly come up trumps out of Southampton, for this year anyway.

Also the Princess Plus add on is great value for WiFi, drinks, gratuities. 

We have a mixture of 3 x Norway/ Fjords/Denmark  cruises booked between now and August 😉 

 

[Tapi]

On 4/3/2022 at 7:33 AM, fsufancc said:

 I have a relative that is a retired airline employee, so we fly on standby passes.

Hey fsufancc:

 

I’m the OP of the thread that was linked above. I’m also an American looking at sailing on P&O for the first time to the Norwegian Fjords.

 

I’m also an airline employee. I just wanted to humbly throw in my two cents about non-revving to catch a cruise, specially on very low priority (which a standby pass from a retired employee will be). Please don’t do it, specially if planning to cruise during the summer months. From experience, you either won’t make it, or you’ll end up spending a lot of extra time and money attempting to make it work, negating any potential savings. Depending on the time of year, you may be able to get there but not back, and vice versa. For our last European cruise (Mediterranean from Civitavecchia/Rome), we could’ve made it there non-revving, but we would’ve been 50+ people deep on the standby list with all flights for the next 3-4 days oversold. I’m glad we bought confirmed tickets. 
 

I recommend pricing out flights from key cities with a lot of competition across the Atlantic, specifically New York and Boston. They’re usually substantially cheaper than from any other city in the USA. You can then purchase a separate ticket (or non rev) form your city to New York or Boston. For example, I’ve been pricing out nonstop flights from Atlanta (where I live) to London for the summer time. They’ve been over $1,500pp round trip (multiplied by 4 family members). But out of New York, nonstops have been as low as $480pp round trip. So I will buy confirmed tickets via New York to ensure that I don’t miss the ship because I couldn’t get a seat non-revving. 

[Selbourne]

Megabear2 has provided an excellent response but just to add that if you are looking for a relaxing cruise experience the Norwegian Fjords are an excellent choice. We have been on most of the round trip ex U.K. itineraries with P&O and the Fjords are one of our firm favourites. The scenery cruising down the fjords is spectacular, although the only three ‘proper’ fjords that P&O go to are Flaam, Olden and Geiranger. Make sure that your itinerary covers at least two of those (I think that all Iona cruises do) as the other locations are really coastal towns and not proper fjords, so nowhere near as scenic. 
 

Finally, Iona is very much a family ship and primarily targeting the ‘new to cruising market’ which is P&O’s new target. There will be an awful lot of children on board in the U.K. school holidays so those weeks might be best avoided if that’s an issue for you. In the summer, this means the last two weeks of July and all of August, although schools in Scotland are on holiday from earlier in July). June or September should provide decent weather with very few children on board. 

[davecttr]

The first 5 and last 2 Iona cruises this summer only cruise to Olden with Alesund substituted for Geiranger and Flam is no longer on the itinerary even for next year?

 

I was careful to choose the 21 May cruise which includes the two long fjord cruises, hopefully but you never know nowadays with P&O.

[Selbourne]

7 minutes ago, davecttr said:

The first 5 and last 2 Iona cruises this summer only cruise to Olden with Alesund substituted for Geiranger and Flam is no longer on the itinerary even for next year?

 

I was careful to choose the 21 May cruise which includes the two long fjord cruises, hopefully but you never know nowadays with P&O.

Good spot Dave. We are booked on Iona for August next year (not ideal, but one of our party is a teacher 🙄) and are due to go to Olden and Geiranger. We wouldn’t book a fjords cruise that didn’t do at least two of the three ‘proper’ fjords. 

[jaydee6969]

13 minutes ago, davecttr said:

The first 5 and last 2 Iona cruises this summer only cruise to Olden with Alesund substituted for Geiranger and Flam is no longer on the itinerary even for next year?

 

 

 

Iona will not be going to Flam due to pax capacity exceeding the ports limit.  However, I have seen that Britannia will be doing the odd trip to Flam and even Bergen in 2024.

[davecttr]

15 minutes ago, jaydee6969 said:

 

Iona will not be going to Flam due to pax capacity exceeding the ports limit.  However, I have seen that Britannia will be doing the odd trip to Flam and even Bergen in 2024.

Wow, Geiranger and Olden are pretty small ports too

[sleepingcat]

1 hour ago, jaydee6969 said:

Iona will not be going to Flam due to pax capacity exceeding the ports limit.  However, I have seen that Britannia will be doing the odd trip to Flam and even Bergen in 2024.

not much point in doing Norway cruise if you don't get to Flam and go on the railway as it is one of the most spectacular parts of the trip. I would recommend  our US cruisers to look at other British cruise companies with smaller ships which can go to all the ports mentioned above and some others too.  

[Selbourne]

54 minutes ago, sleepingcat said:

not much point in doing Norway cruise if you don't get to Flam and go on the railway as it is one of the most spectacular parts of the trip. I would recommend  our US cruisers to look at other British cruise companies with smaller ships which can go to all the ports mentioned above and some others too.  

I would agree that a cruise that does all 3 of Flaam, Olden and Geiranger is by far the best option. Sadly, P&O never cover all 3 in a 7 night cruise, so the best you can hope for (if you want to cruise with them) is 2 of the 3. Flaam is stunning, although having done the railway trip I would say that it was on a par with the West Highland lines that we have travelled on in Scotland. We have always been lucky with the weather when we have been to the Fjords and it was a baking hot day and the train had no air conditioning so was absolutely stifling. I think that a fjords cruise that takes in Olden and Geiranger would still be a very memorable one but, as I have said, I wouldn’t book an itinerary that only did one of the top 3, as it means that you only have one day out of the seven in a ‘proper’ fjord. 
 

The other thing that I like about fjords cruises is the North Sea transit, passing the huge sea based wind farm off the Thames Estuary and all the gas and oil rigs. I realise that’s not for everyone though. My wife and daughters don’t share my enthusiasm for them 😂 

[bbtablet]

fsufancc

You say potatoes and we say potatoes, you say tomatoes and......Oh!  it doesn't work in print, does it!

Please try not to say "my bad".

Some educated English people will say "less" a lot (even on this thread) when they really mean "fewer" ( I support the "save the fewer word" campaign).

Thank you for teaching me two new words: "snarky" and "non-revving" - isn't language a wonderful thing!

Whatever you choose it will be educational - as I posted elsewhere today, a lot of passengers disembarking from current P&O cruises in Southampton have been heard to remark: "Well, that taught me a lesson!".

                                                                                           "Credits to Ken Dodd R.I.P."

[fsufancc]

3 hours ago, bbtablet said:

fsufancc

You say potatoes and we say potatoes, you say tomatoes and......Oh!  it doesn't work in print, does it!

 

Thank you for teaching me two new words: "snarky" and "non-revving" - isn't language a wonderful thing!

 

Don't get the wrong end of the stick (how was that). I was more thinking about the food, traditions, cultural nuances and such.  And yes, I travel a lot as a "Non-Rev" so I know the risks. Before Covid, Mrs fan and I were the last 2 open seats to London for an eventual trip to Ireland. It's nail biting while seeing everyone board and you are the only one waiting at the gate and still have not been given a seat. I would probably buy a ticket over and then fly stand-by back.

[lincslady]

Took me a while to work out 'non-rev'.  I finally decided it means not revenue producing for the company, in other/my  words a freebie.  You must be pretty brave to use one for a cruise, unless presumably prepared to fly out several days before the cruise departs?

[Harry Peterson]

11 hours ago, bbtablet said:

fsufancc

You say potatoes and we say potatoes, you say tomatoes and......Oh!  it doesn't work in print, does it!

Please try not to say "my bad".

Some educated English people will say "less" a lot (even on this thread) when they really mean "fewer" ( I support the "save the fewer word" campaign).

Thank you for teaching me two new words: "snarky" and "non-revving" - isn't language a wonderful thing!

Whatever you choose it will be educational - as I posted elsewhere today, a lot of passengers disembarking from current P&O cruises in Southampton have been heard to remark: "Well, that taught me a lesson!".

                                                                                           "Credits to Ken Dodd R.I.P."

 

Pedants of the world unite!  With you entirely on the fast disappearing use of ‘fewer’, replaced by the incorrect use of ‘less’. I’d add ‘different than’ instead of ‘different from’ to the list, along with a particular real hate -  ‘haitch’ instead of  ‘aitch’. Where did THAT come from?

 

But (a contentious sentence starter) all languages develop and change over time, and who has the right to stop that? Some of the American words that grate with the British probably go right back to the local dialect of the original English settlers!

 

[brian1]

7 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

 

Pedants of the world unite!  With you entirely on the fast disappearing use of ‘fewer’, replaced by the incorrect use of ‘less’. I’d add ‘different than’ instead of ‘different from’ to the list, along with a particular real hate -  ‘haitch’ instead of  ‘aitch’. Where did THAT come from?

 

But (a contentious sentence starter) all languages develop and change over time, and who has the right to stop that? Some of the American words that grate with the British probably go right back to the local dialect of the original English settlers!

 

Us Cockneys say aitch Harry,we must be doing something right.

[Harry Peterson]

1 minute ago, brian1 said:

Us Cockneys say aitch Harry,we must be doing something right.

Orright mate! 😀

[lincslady]

There was an amusing little discussion recently on Countdown.  The temporary 'letters and numbers' person (apparently with at least one degree)  said haitch, and a conversation ensured a few days after this started with Susie Dent saying that nowadays school pupils are  taught that it is equally acceptable!  Obviously there had been adverse comment.  Susie, certainly very knowledgeable about the language, often says she finds most Americanisms perfectly  acceptable - some of them did go over from the UK many years ago, etc. etc.  I particularly dislike one phrase, which I have often heard on an American cruise line in the buffet 'can I get' as opposed to the to my mind much more polite 'may I have'.  I am afraid I am an old-fashioned pedant!

[fsufancc]

10 hours ago, lincslady said:

Took me a while to work out 'non-rev'.  I finally decided it means not revenue producing for the company, in other/my  words a freebie.  You must be pretty brave to use one for a cruise, unless presumably prepared to fly out several days before the cruise departs?

 

Yes.  Non-Revs are generally airline employees or retired employees and family/friends.  We fly standby and are assigned seats at the end of the line after revenue or paid ticket passengers get onboard. Once you are on, you are treated like any other paying customer.  I would not risk it for a cruise unless we were booking several days prior.  It's not for the anxious.  No checking bags as you might be bumped. Sitting and watching the standby list waiting for your name to be called. If there is a storm that cancels flights, then all of those paid folks get reassigned and are getting on ahead of you.

 

With that said, I still want to cruise on a fjord cruise.  We will look at the options. Since we are retired, we can knock around Europe or the UK for a few days prior, then go to the port city and jump on. The "Man in seat 61" website can help us figure out what trains to catch.

[gsmt47471015]

Having just yesterday found and  used "the man in seat 61" I must say it is a great source of balanced information👍👍👍

[Harry Peterson]

On 4/5/2022 at 9:06 PM, bbtablet said:

Some educated English people will say "less" a lot (even on this thread) when they really mean "fewer" ( I support the "save the fewer word" campaign).

 

[J110]

Hi There 

l know this is the p and o board but Princess are doing a really good itinerary to the fjords and north  cape this spring also from Southampton.