Tin can Posted July 14 #1 Share Posted July 14 Hello all Sorry these are real newbie questions but I have only ever booked with one cruise line so I could do with some reassurance please of where I am at with things now our Iona Fjords cruise is booked (April 2026). 1. We booked select with parking but there is no mention on anything I have been sent on how to book this, the travel agent confirmation mentions parking but not the P & O manage my booking website. 2. We booked the drinks package with the 10% off promotion, again the TA mentions it but there is nothing stated in my booking on the P & O website. 3. There is no mention on the P & O website regarding the £100 on board credit 4. I was expecting my booking to be within my P & O account but I have to go to another website to view it, is this because I haven't linked something. Any advice on the above would be appreciated, thank you 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel57 Posted July 14 #2 Share Posted July 14 (edited) Re CPS. The instructions will be on your booking confirmation and the narrative is as follows… “Subject to availability, Your booking includes complimentary car parking in Southampton. In order to secure your space please contact Cruise & Passenger Services Ltd on 0345 071 3939 or via www.cruiseparking.co.uk” you can normally book within 48hrs and I suggest doing asap as places are limited. Edited July 14 by Angel57 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalos Posted July 14 #3 Share Posted July 14 28 minutes ago, Tin can said: Hello all Sorry these are real newbie questions but I have only ever booked with one cruise line so I could do with some reassurance please of where I am at with things now our Iona Fjords cruise is booked (April 2026). 3. There is no mention on the P & O website regarding the £100 on board credit Any advice on the above would be appreciated, thank you 🙂 If you have booked online with P&O ,they should have sent you an e-mail within it is your booking reference number in bold (eg AB3C22D) also a pdf file to open /download that shows deposit paid and balance . Just before the balance you will see your OBC . If this has not been sent then phone P&O for it to be sent . Other folk will advise on the other issues you have . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bin man Posted July 14 #4 Share Posted July 14 Hi with regards parking included with cruise you have to book via cps website Southampton using you 6 figure booking ref that p and o give you ,should have been confirmed from p and o and invoice from TA which should also show obc .You should set up account with p and o and again use your 6 figure ref to see your holiday via cruise personaliser which will show bed configuration etc .The p and o personeliser doesn't show obc or parking not sure about drinks package again guessing should show on TA invoice never used it so don't know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gettingwarmer Posted July 14 #5 Share Posted July 14 50 minutes ago, Tin can said: Hello all Sorry these are real newbie questions but I have only ever booked with one cruise line so I could do with some reassurance please of where I am at with things now our Iona Fjords cruise is booked (April 2026). 1. We booked select with parking but there is no mention on anything I have been sent on how to book this, the travel agent confirmation mentions parking but not the P & O manage my booking website. 2. We booked the drinks package with the 10% off promotion, again the TA mentions it but there is nothing stated in my booking on the P & O website. 3. There is no mention on the P & O website regarding the £100 on board credit 4. I was expecting my booking to be within my P & O account but I have to go to another website to view it, is this because I haven't linked something. Any advice on the above would be appreciated, thank you 🙂 It seems you have a confirmation booking from the TA but they have not forwarded the original booking form from P&O. If the OBC was from P&O this would be on there plus details re how to book parking. You book the parking as above by having the P&O booking number. The drinks package would be mentioned on the Itinerary part of the P&O Manage my Booking (Look under day 1) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin can Posted July 14 Author #6 Share Posted July 14 Thank you everyone, much appreciated. Do P & O offer automatic upgrades, this is a golden wedding anniversary celebration and we are joining other family members all booking around the same area on the ship. I was wondering do we need to opt out of any upgrades possibly moving us? Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchi Posted July 14 #7 Share Posted July 14 12 minutes ago, Tin can said: Thank you everyone, much appreciated. Do P & O offer automatic upgrades, this is a golden wedding anniversary celebration and we are joining other family members all booking around the same area on the ship. I was wondering do we need to opt out of any upgrades possibly moving us? Thanks again We always opt out of upgrades. You have no control over location of upgraded cabin and it may be in a fwd position (possibly bouncy😂) or above a music venue or below the gym/ buffet/pool (possibly noisy). Once we have picked our location we like to stick with it. I accept there will be many who have had super upgrade experiences but we prefer the certainty. Also it is important for you to keep your group together for accommodation. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin can Posted July 14 Author #8 Share Posted July 14 17 minutes ago, Ranchi said: We always opt out of upgrades. You have no control over location of upgraded cabin and it may be in a fwd position (possibly bouncy😂) or above a music venue or below the gym/ buffet/pool (possibly noisy). Once we have picked our location we like to stick with it. I accept there will be many who have had super upgrade experiences but we prefer the certainty. Also it is important for you to keep your group together for accommodation. Yes absolutely agree, could you let me know please how you can opt out of upgrades with P & O. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted July 14 #9 Share Posted July 14 51 minutes ago, Tin can said: Do P & O offer automatic upgrades Not impossible but highly unlikely now that they have moved to bidding for upgrades. 15 minutes ago, Tin can said: how you can opt out of upgrades Your TA will have to do that as it can only be done by directly contacting P&O and if you have booked via a TA then P&O will not speak to you over the phone. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionboard Posted July 14 #10 Share Posted July 14 6 hours ago, Tin can said: Yes absolutely agree, could you let me know please how you can opt out of upgrades with P & O. You opt out of upgrades when you book. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tring Posted July 14 #11 Share Posted July 14 2 hours ago, Fionboard said: You opt out of upgrades when you book. Yes, but no problem opting out at a later stage, as long as you have not been upgraded by then. The agent we use will opt people out of automatic upgrades, unless a customer asks for it to be left on. I never trust that though, and always specify we want to opt out of automatic upgrades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalos Posted July 15 #12 Share Posted July 15 20 hours ago, Tin can said: , this is a golden wedding anniversary celebration and we are joining other family members all booking around the same area on the ship. 20 hours ago, Tin can said: could you let me know please how you can opt out of upgrades with P & O. As @Fionboard pointed out ,this should have been done at the point of booking . Maybe have a chat with other family members as you say they have booked cabins around the same area . Then have a chat with your TA to confirm that you have booked cabins near each other and all parties involved are ticked as" DO NOT UPGRADE ". 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin can Posted July 17 Author #13 Share Posted July 17 Thank you all for your advice, as a first time P & O booker we have sorted the no upgrade, the parking and had the drinks package confirmed. A quick question if I may on the included gratuities in the P & O price, having only ever cruised with US lines does nobody leave a little something for bar servers or the stateroom attendant or is this not needed/required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bin man Posted July 17 #14 Share Posted July 17 You don't have to tip at all It's all down to you if you want to. We tip our dating steward and the mdr waiters if we have the club dining and if we manage freedom dinning to get the same two waiters ,but there's no obligation to do so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bin man Posted July 17 #15 Share Posted July 17 Should have read my reply cabin steward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted July 17 #16 Share Posted July 17 4 minutes ago, Bin man said: We tip our dating steward Is that on the Love Boat?😂 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TigerB Posted July 17 #17 Share Posted July 17 31 minutes ago, Bin man said: We tip our dating steward I was going to say something about fraternising in that way with the crew, but you corrected your typo😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TigerB Posted July 17 #18 Share Posted July 17 45 minutes ago, Tin can said: Thank you all for your advice, as a first time P & O booker we have sorted the no upgrade, the parking and had the drinks package confirmed. A quick question if I may on the included gratuities in the P & O price, having only ever cruised with US lines does nobody leave a little something for bar servers or the stateroom attendant or is this not needed/required. Further to what the lad from Scunny wrote, no need other than for your cabin steward, if you feel they deserve it, or for waiting staff if they are regular servers. Our rule of thumb with the latter is, if they have served us for more than half of our meals, and they are deserving of it, they will get something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bin man Posted July 17 #19 Share Posted July 17 Should read my answers before I send them it was a predicted text god knows how that worked out .We have done 34 cruises all with P and o and I think we have missed giving something once and that was on Iona during first cruise after covid when we moved table 14 times and never had the same waiters once Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin can Posted July 17 Author #20 Share Posted July 17 Thanks for your thoughts on P & O gratuities. We have only ever sailed Royal Caribbean so tipping is part of the eco-system, so to speak, which we are used to and the additional for steward, servers and bar staff. The service though we have always found top notch, hopefully the same on P & O and we are really looking forward to trying them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harryjacobs Posted July 17 #21 Share Posted July 17 I only tip the steward if they remember to bring me ice everyday. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin can Posted July 19 Author #22 Share Posted July 19 Do people tend to tip in the busy bar areas to 'assist' with regular service. I'm assuming things are similar to Royal and you sign a receipt that has a box to add a tip if you want to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gettingwarmer Posted July 19 #23 Share Posted July 19 (edited) Del Edited July 19 by Gettingwarmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted July 19 #24 Share Posted July 19 6 minutes ago, Tin can said: Do people tend to tip in the busy bar areas to 'assist' with regular service. I'm assuming things are similar to Royal and you sign a receipt that has a box to add a tip if you want to. If you want to tip bar staff you can, but it is not necessary to tip each time you receive a drink, a little cash at the end of the cruise any bar waiter will always be appreciated, but again not needed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FangedRose Posted July 19 #25 Share Posted July 19 (edited) 51 minutes ago, Tin can said: Do people tend to tip in the busy bar areas to 'assist' with regular service. I'm assuming things are similar to Royal and you sign a receipt that has a box to add a tip if you want to. You have already paid all your tips when you paid your fare. If you have a regular seat in a regular bar with regular bar staff you may want to leave them something extra at the end. No. You don't get a receipt to sign (usually) they just swipe the card on their tablets. Tipping is definitely not a P&O (or British) thing. Tipping to "assist with service" is seen as bribery by many, and will be frowned upon if you are seen to jump the queue by offering an incentive for preferential treatment. Edited July 19 by FangedRose 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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