Priya2

I’m sorry if this question has already been asked and answered, but this thread is too long to read through entirely. I’m wondering when this cruise set sail?

1 minute ago, daiB said:

You do know that 99%+ of P&O cruisers are Brits. Those who are not tend to be expats.and some Anglophiles. The ones we have met love the British sailaway and quite happily wave the Union Jack.

No, I didn’t know that. It seems odd since, as far as I know, virtually all cruiselines have a range of nationalities sailing on them. I like the international experience, so maybe P&O isn’t for me.

I am British, English to be specific, but half Irish. I also consider myself European. I have not sailed on PO so far, and I’m less inclined to if ‘patriotic sail aways’ are a thing! What a hideous idea. Isn’t cruising an international thing, with part of the pleasure being meeting people from other parts of the world?  So far my cruises have been on Azamara and Celebrity. I wouldn’t have felt that I was being welcomed if the sail aways involved hundreds of people waving American flags and singing the American anthem. 

29 minutes ago, nb125 said:

What, exactly did you think Customer Relations could do other than move you to a terrace cabin which you say you don't want.?

Pentlands did not say that Customer Service offered to move her/him. She was simply clarifying the type of balcony cabin booked. I have heard this frustrating experience several times before. The answer usually is it was there in the terms and conditions. On the one hand, that is a fair point, on the other hand, since other cruise companies, hotels etc have no smoking policies which include private balconies, overlooking this can easily be done!

I feel for you Pentlands.

21 minutes ago, Scriv said:

I would never book a balcony on Fred Olsen because of the smoking policy as I would definitely be bothered by the smoke coming from next door's balcony or below me. Other people's smoke definitely travels and usually finds me pretty quickly.

As I love a balcony on my cruises, it therefore follows that I will not be considering Fred again whilst this policy is in operation.

I wonder if they lose more potential passengers than they gain with this policy. I suspect they do, since smokers are in the minority these days.

That’s great information. Thanks 👍

Hi, Hubby and I have never yet sailed with Princess. We have enjoyed both Celebrity and Azamara. Could Princess people tell me when dates for 2021 are likely to be out? They are already shown for some other cruise lines.  Also, anyone here sailed with Celebrity and/or Azamara too? Could you tell me how Princess compares? We would be sailing on one of the smaller ships since it would be an Antartica itinerary. We are looking at Princess because it starts and finishes in Santiago, Chile. We have done it previously with Azamara. That started and finished in Buenos Aires and there are other differences in some ports.

I can recommend Azamara. It’s a shame to have to fly, but worth it. 

Redjag, that is disgraceful! I wouldn’t give-up if I were you. There must be a regulator if the industry. Take it to them. Write to FO and threaten to take it to Watchdog and any other consumer TV programme and website. They won’t want too much bad publicity. The more I read about this issue, the more I know FO isn’t for us. Aside from this, they are very expensive for aging ships compared to other cruiselines.

Good luck. Please let us know how you get on.

The Butler is there to attend to your needs. If you want tables in the speciality restaurants (cost included with a suite) booked or cancelled, your butler will do that for you. If you want anything in particular in your room, they will arrange it. I like Fanta Orange, my husband Coke. Coke is left in the fridge, but our Butler arranged for more cans of it to be left, and Fanta for me.  He realised early on that I particularly liked the grapes in he fruit bowel, so ensured we regularly had fresh grapes, and he brought our breakfast in the morning on port days. He was great. We were happy to tip him (the most), the room attendant and the assistant, who was lovely and got all of the worst jobs!

Enjoy!

Thanks Tring. I worded my point badly. By ‘around the ship’, I was thinking of there being no areas with balconies where cigarette smoke can be avoided. Shame 😔

Thank you. It sounds like it wouldn’t work for us. I’m really surprised that FO allow smoking around the ship like this. It seems very out of step with everyone else.

Are there any areas of the ships where smoking isn’t permitted on the balconies? We have never cruised with FO before, but since they sail from Newcastle, which is about 10 miles up the road from us, it’s an attractive option for some destinations. We have so far sailed with Celebrity and Azamara. Both of which only permit smoking in one small area on the pool deck.  Someone was once smoking on a balcony on the floor above us and to the side. Despite the distance, it really stank. We’d love a balcony, but don’t fancy being surrounded by cigarette smoke. I’d value any feedback on the general issue.

30 minutes ago, davidandjulia said:

The difference with the laundry is that on Azamara your clothes come back neatly ironed and folded whereas on our last Celebrity cruise, everything was returned as if it had been deliberately screwed into a tiny ball and I had to rewash it when we arrived home before thinking about ironing it|

We did forget to have David's jacket dry cleaned free of charge however 😃

Wow! That’s not good. I was nervous about sending Laundry on Celebrity as I heard tales of things being ruined as a consequence of likely being washed at the wrong temperature. I didn’t chance it, but I did on our last cruise, our first on Azamara and they did indeed come back perfect and beautifully ironed :)

28 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Yet they give you two lots of internet benefit and two lots of discounts on any packages bought etc. It doesn't make sense not to do it with laundry unless they are trying not to overload the ship's laundry machines (pun intended!). 

 

Phil 

I didn’t know that they gave two lots of anything Phil. You live and learn!

3 hours ago, uktog said:

Yes we get one per room not one per person. The only time it’s 2 is on a cruise 14 nights or longer. 

I have given up commenting on the end of cruise survey that I feel all the benefits should be per person as after doing so for many years it’s made no difference. 

Yes, it’s one bag for each 7 days. Our upcoming cruise is 17 days! So 2 for us this time.

I completely agree that these small benefits should be per person since each of us have our own loyalty number and have taken the requisite number of cruises at great cost!

Thanks Arizona. Next time then!

Yep, I checked. They’re all there!

Thank you. Apparently, we’re Explorer, with 240 points. I thought we would be a little further on than that. We have taken 5 cruises with Celebrity and Azamara so far! Oh well, $70 off a full internet package and 2 bags of washing are not to be sniffed at 🙂

How can I check what loyalty level hubby and I are? I’ve lost track!

I think the term ‘fell off’ a ship, makes all cruisers cringe.

20 is a vulnerable age. The risk of developing mental health problems peak between 14 and 24. I don’t want to speculate about this particular case. Whatever happened here, it’s tragic. I feel for his loved ones.

On 12/11/2018 at 6:37 PM, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Just wanted to point out that I’m in the UK and got the price on the website - don’t know whether that makes any difference.

It is illegal in the UK to advertise a price with 50% off part of that price but do something of a ‘bait and switch’! 

A 3-day-cruise could certainly be a ‘dream vacation’ for those on a low income. In my opinion, it is foolish to travel anywhere outside of a country with high quality free health care without travel insurance. I never did so, even when young and fit! 

Awful. It’s a 20 year old British man.