NavyPanda

P&O is very good value for the price paid. I go on Cunard once or twice a year, which is a better experience, but I do have to part with more money in exchange! I intend to book P&O three or four times a year from now on if they continue to provide such excellent value. I would go on more cruises but alas I still have to work and retirement is some way off yet!

Thank you for the update and clarification. As someone who monitors P&O pricing very carefully the post didn't seem right to me. Generally, travel agents do not sell P&O/Cunard cruises from Southampton significantly cheaper than booking direct. The only difference would be a 5% (slightly more if you are very lucky) discount which is taken from the TA's commission. However, if P&O/Cunard do a fly cruise package, and the travel agent only purchases the cruise element, and builds the rest of the package, then these can be significantly cheaper than just a normal 5% discount. Would strike me as very odd if P&O started deviating from this suddenly with only one travel agent.

Normally, the main dining rooms won't be open for lunch on embarkation day. However, Azura is special due to running overlapping 7 and 14 day itineraries on fly cruises. This means a main dining room WILL be open for lunch on the day you embark. This will probably be the Peninsular restaurant, which is on Deck 6, just off the atrium. The restaurant will probably close for new arrivals at 1:30pm, your flight may not be early enough to meet this. If not, the buffet will be serving lunch until 5pm.

Just because I like challenges involving numbers, I've worked it out. So from the 735 cruises on sale with both inside and balcony cabins available to book... The average (mean) cost, based on two sharing, is £38.95 extra per person per night, the median is slightly lower at £35.71 extra. There are three cruises with no price difference at the moment. These are Amsterdam (N316) 4 nights Ventura 20-Jun-23 Amsterdam (J316) 4 nights Arcadia 19-Nov-23 Belgium And Germany (R315) 5 nights Aurora 10-Aug-23 If you are looking at Spain Portugal And Canary Islands (B417N) 14 nights Britannia 05-Jul-24 Then a balcony will cost you an eye watering £3.57 extra pppn If you fancy a balcony on the following tropical cruise Belgium And Netherlands (J423) 5 nights Arcadia 29-Dec-24 It will be a mere £126.00 extra pppn

Here are the top 20 cheapest (per night) prices for an Inside on Aurora Cruise Nights Ship Date Amount Per Night Northern Europe And Scandinavia (R307) 16 Aurora 02-May-23 £849 £53.06 Portugal And Canary Islands (R422) 13 Aurora 22-Nov-24 £799 £61.46 Belgium And France (R306) 4 Aurora 28-Apr-23 £249 £62.25 Amsterdam (R308) 4 Aurora 18-May-23 £249 £62.25 Norwegian Fjords (R310) 12 Aurora 10-Jun-23 £799 £66.58 Northern Europe And Scandinavia (R409) 16 Aurora 18-May-24 £1,199 £74.94 Norwegian Fjords (R312) 12 Aurora 29-Jun-23 £929 £77.42 USA And Canada (R318) 30 Aurora 03-Sep-23 £2,339 £77.97 Norway (R403N) 16 Aurora 12-Mar-24 £1,249 £78.06 America And Caribbean Discovery (R401) 65 Aurora 03-Jan-24 £5,199 £79.98 Spain Portugal And Canary Islands (R323) 16 Aurora 01-Dec-23 £1,299 £81.19 Norwegian Fjords (R316) 12 Aurora 15-Aug-23 £979 £81.58 Amsterdam (R423) 4 Aurora 05-Dec-24 £329 £82.25 Northern Europe And Scandinavia (R314) 16 Aurora 25-Jul-23 £1,329 £83.06 Northern Europe And Scandinavia (R417) 16 Aurora 26-Aug-24 £1,329 £83.06 Norway (R424) 12 Aurora 09-Dec-24 £999 £83.25 Caribbean (R421) 24 Aurora 29-Oct-24 £1,999 £83.29 Mediterranean (R406) 18 Aurora 08-Apr-24 £1,529 £84.94 Amazon And Caribbean Exploration (R501) 65 Aurora 06-Jan-25 £5,529 £85.06 Norway (R420) 12 Aurora 17-Oct-24 £1,029 £85.75

With regards to the solo offers, it seems that the 'no single supplement' offer has been withdrawn. I can't see any cruises which currently have 0% single supplement. All cruises seem to have the seemingly standard 60% supplement instead. Has anyone else seen any cruises still with a 0% supplement? Updated tables as at 16th March 2023 AM Inside under £60 pppn Cruise Nights Ship Date Amount Per Night Spain And Portugal (G438) 14 Iona 23-Nov-24 £679 £48.50 Portugal And Canary Islands (N307) 12 Ventura 06-Apr-23 £599 £49.92 Spain Portugal And Canary Islands (G307) 14 Iona 18-Mar-23 £699 £49.93 Mediterranean (K308) 14 Arvia 16-Apr-23 £699 £49.93 Northern Europe And Scandinavia (B312) 14 Britannia 12-May-23 £699 £49.93 Mediterranean (K311) 14 Arvia 28-May-23 £699 £49.93 Spain And Portugal (G338) 14 Iona 25-Nov-23 £699 £49.93 Northern Europe And Scandinavia (R307) 16 Aurora 02-May-23 £849 £53.06 Mediterranean (K309) 14 Arvia 30-Apr-23 £749 £53.50 Spain And Portugal (G402) 14 Iona 27-Jan-24 £749 £53.50 Spain And Portugal (N429) 13 Ventura 05-Nov-24 £699 £53.77 Norwegian Fjords (J303) 12 Arcadia 02-May-23 £649 £54.08 Spain Portugal And Canary Islands (J420) 16 Arcadia 28-Nov-24 £899 £56.19 Spain And Portugal (N333) 12 Ventura 11-Nov-23 £679 £56.58 Spain And Portugal (G336) 14 Iona 28-Oct-23 £799 £57.07 Spain Portugal And Canary Islands (G437) 14 Iona 09-Nov-24 £799 £57.07 Spain And Portugal (B309) 12 Britannia 16-Apr-23 £699 £58.25 Spain And Portugal (N335) 12 Ventura 05-Dec-23 £699 £58.25 Spain And Portugal (J319) 12 Arcadia 09-Dec-23 £699 £58.25 Spain And Portugal (N432) 12 Ventura 05-Dec-24 £699 £58.25 Mediterranean And Canary Islands (A426C) 16 Azura 10-Oct-24 £949 £59.31 Spain And Portugal (N311) 10 Ventura 06-May-23 £599 £59.90 Caribbean Transatlantic (K306A) 15 Arvia 18-Mar-23 £899 £59.93 Canary Islands And Mediterranean (A410A) 20 Azura 08-Mar-24 £1,199 £59.95 Balcony under £80 pppn Northern Europe And Scandinavia (B312) 14 Britannia 12-May-23 £799 £57.07 Spain And Portugal (B309) 12 Britannia 16-Apr-23 £749 £62.42 Northern Europe And Scandinavia (R307) 16 Aurora 02-May-23 £999 £62.44 Caribbean Transatlantic (B306A) 13 Britannia 25-Mar-23 £899 £69.15 Northern European City Escape (G308) 7 Iona 01-Apr-23 £499 £71.29 Mediterranean (K307) 14 Arvia 02-Apr-23 £999 £71.36 Spain And Portugal (G338) 14 Iona 25-Nov-23 £999 £71.36 Spain And Portugal (G438) 14 Iona 23-Nov-24 £999 £71.36 Belgium And France (B308) 4 Britannia 12-Apr-23 £299 £74.75 Amsterdam (N308) 4 Ventura 18-Apr-23 £299 £74.75 Amsterdam (N312) 4 Ventura 16-May-23 £299 £74.75 Spain And Portugal (N333) 12 Ventura 11-Nov-23 £899 £74.92 Caribbean Transatlantic (B306) 14 Britannia 24-Mar-23 £1,049 £74.93 Mediterranean (K308) 14 Arvia 16-Apr-23 £1,049 £74.93 Spain And Portugal (N429) 13 Ventura 05-Nov-24 £999 £76.85 Mediterranean And Canary Islands (A326F) 23 Azura 12-Oct-23 £1,799 £78.22 Norwegian Fjords (J303) 12 Arcadia 02-May-23 £949 £79.08 Spain And Portugal (N335) 12 Ventura 05-Dec-23 £949 £79.08 Portugal And Canary Islands (N431) 12 Ventura 23-Nov-24 £949 £79.08 Mediterranean And Canary Islands (A426C) 16 Azura 10-Oct-24 £1,279 £79.94

Some cheap deals at the moment (these are the book direct prices). Thanks to some computer wizardry here are the cheapest cruises per night... All cruises under £60 per night based on 2 sharing for inside Cruise Nights Ship Date Amount Per Night Northern Europe And Scandinavia (B312) 14 Britannia 12-May-23 £699 £49.93 Spain And Portugal (G438) 14 Iona 23-Nov-24 £699 £49.93 Northern Europe And Scandinavia (R307) 16 Aurora 02-May-23 £849 £53.06 Mediterranean (K307) 14 Arvia 02-Apr-23 £749 £53.50 Mediterranean (K308) 14 Arvia 16-Apr-23 £749 £53.50 Spain And Portugal (G336) 14 Iona 28-Oct-23 £779 £55.64 Spain And Portugal (G338) 14 Iona 25-Nov-23 £779 £55.64 Spain And Portugal (G402) 14 Iona 27-Jan-24 £779 £55.64 Canary Islands (A426C) 16 Fly-Azura 10-Oct-24 £899 £56.19 Canary Islands (J420) 16 Arcadia 28-Nov-24 £899 £56.19 Caribbean (K305D) 22 Arvia 11-Mar-23 £1,249 £56.77 Canary Islands (A326E) 22 Fly-Azura 12-Oct-23 £1,249 £56.77 Spain And Portugal (G306) 14 Iona 04-Mar-23 £799 £57.07 Mediterranean (K309) 14 Arvia 30-Apr-23 £799 £57.07 Canary Islands (G437) 14 Iona 09-Nov-24 £799 £57.07 Norwegian Fjords (J303) 12 Arcadia 02-May-23 £699 £58.25 Spain And Portugal (N333) 12 Ventura 11-Nov-23 £699 £58.25 Caribbean (K306A) 15 Fly-Arvia 18-Mar-23 £899 £59.93 All cruises under £80 per night based on 2 sharing for balcony Northern Europe And Scandinavia (B312) 14 Britannia 12-May-23 £799 £57.07 Northern Europe And Scandinavia (R307) 16 Aurora 02-May-23 £999 £62.44 Spain And Portugal (B309) 12 Britannia 16-Apr-23 £799 £66.58 Caribbean (B306A) 13 Fly-Britannia 25-Mar-23 £899 £69.15 Spain And Portugal (G338) 14 Iona 25-Nov-23 £999 £71.36 Spain And Portugal (G438) 14 Iona 23-Nov-24 £999 £71.36 Caribbean (B306) 14 Britannia 24-Mar-23 £1,049 £74.93 Mediterranean (K308) 14 Arvia 16-Apr-23 £1,049 £74.93 Short Break (B307) 5 Britannia 07-Apr-23 £379 £75.80 Canary Islands (A326F) 23 Azura 12-Oct-23 £1,779 £77.35 Canary Islands (N431) 12 Ventura 23-Nov-24 £949 £79.08 Canary Islands (A326E) 22 Azura 12-Oct-23 £1,749 £79.50 Canary Islands (A426C) 16 Fly-Azura 10-Oct-24 £1,279 £79.94 Another 45 cruises £80-£90 per night in a balcony

I deliberately didn't book the Aurora cruise in question because of the Coronation

If you are looking to just turn up without booking in advance for whatever reason, you could park at Eastgate Street Multi-storey car park run by Southampton City Council. It is £7 for the first day and then £4/day. It is about 10-15 minutes walk from Ocean Terminal (you can drop off your luggage and any passengers first). Pay on exit Parking for cruises and long stay visitors (southampton.gov.uk) Alternatively you can book a space at the Ibis/Novotel car park (closer to Mayflower terminal or 20 minute walk to Ocean) through YourParkingSpace. You can book just before you turn up, or book in advance with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. This will cost £3.90/day + £1 booking fee. It is more difficult to get a space here recently, because it's quite popular due to the price. (For G312 there is no availabilty at 12pm on departure day, try setting it to 1pm instead) Pay on app / website https://www.yourparkingspace.co.uk/locations/show/4294958065

The one I'm thinking does give 15% on MSC. If you scroll down to the bottom of the travel agent's webpage and check the privacy policy the name of the parent company will be in the first sentence, if indeed we are discussing the same one. The parent company are a well-known cruise travel agent. Both travel agents (or trading names) use the same ABTA number. I've personally used them for an MSC booking (and successfully been on the cruise with no problems). I also have a P&O cruise booked through that website, I had the booking reference through immediately and all seems fine when logging on using that booking reference on the P&O website. Haven't had to contact them for any customer service queries, but for the MSC booking they did send my tickets as expected (unlike P&O you can't print them off yourself if you book through an agent)

Absolutely, I know one travel agency doing 5% discount for all P&O cruises. This agent is online-only and works best for cruises from Southampton (or otherwise cruise only), for some Britannia cruises the discount is 7%! Their sister company (a very well-known agent) will offer the same 5% for fly cruises as well, but you have to phone and speak to a human in those cases. If you're booking with an agent entirely based on price then don't accept any less than 5%. If you appreciate and value the service given by your current agent then the slightly lower discount may be worth the extra for you.

I asked this question when making a booking on board Cunard (I expect P&O will have an identical policy), or rather I asked, can't you just give me the 5% discount and not pay the 8% commission to the TA? I was told that they work closely with their travel agent partners who do marketing on their behalf, take payments and so on and therefore can't offer a discount when booking direct. I resisted the urge to point out that I'm already marketed to, sat in front of them and ready to make a booking directly!

On 'cruise only' deals then the price will be same (before any discount offered by a TA). If booking through a travel agent purely due to price, you should look for 5% discount. I was lucky recently that I found and booked at 7% discount through an online only agent (or at least that trading name is online only), but strangely that was only for Britannia, the other ships were 5%. On fly cruises, where the travel agent puts together their own package with flights, maybe hotel + transfer then these can vary in price significantly. I believe in the trade these are known as 'net rates'.

According to: https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/frequently-asked-questions 'Where can I find more information about shareholder benefits?' "Who do shareholder benefits apply to? Shareholder benefits apply to the shareholder and can be applied to all fare types*. Benefits will be applied to the cabin the shareholder is travelling in. Shareholder benefit is granted in addition to any on board spending money already given. There is only one shareholder benefit per shareholder-occupied cabin. You will only receive on board spending money for the cabin in which you are travelling. If there is more than one shareholder travelling in the same cabin/stateroom, benefits for only one of the shareholders will be applied to the cabin and not each shareholder *Shareholder benefit will not be granted if your booking is booked through a Friends and Family offer, TIS (Travel Industry Services) or a complimentary booking. All other fare types are currently combinable with shareholder benefits. To confirm, shareholder OBC is in addition to any OBC you already have (I can confirm this personally many times). It also applies to Late Saver fares (I have recently booked a P&O (late) Saver fare and had my shareholder OBC applied, P&O and Cunard have effectively the same rules, with the same team dealing with the benefit requests)

This isn't the case. You will still need proof of vaccination for cruises up to 28 Feb. That said, you probably won't be asked to show it!

Box ticking, I imagine.

People who have one of two options in the case of a positive result, seeing as you can test three days beforehand. Either acquire a PCR or other test acceptable for the travel insurer, or ensure the next test is negative if they still wish to cruise.

Testing policy for additional requirements cruises: All guests aged five years and over must take a self-administered COVID-19 lateral flow/antigen test in the three days before, or on the day of your ship’s departure. Over the counter COVID-19 tests will be accepted. Guests are required to take a photo which shows, all together, the negative result, a government issued photo ID (such as a driver’s licence), a clock displaying the time (a watch, mobile phone or wall clock, for example) and the date of testing (this can be written on a piece of paper). Please ensure you have this photo with you as you may be asked to show it at the terminal. In other words, the free NHS tests (if you have any left) or £2 tests from Boots are acceptable. Just take a photograph with passport, clock and date written on a piece of paper. The wording 'may be asked to show (proof)' at the terminal probably means they'll just be asking whether you took a test or not, Yes/No.

Looks like P&O have made a recent change to their website and policy. https://www.pocruises.com/cruise-with-confidence/vaccination-and-testing-policy Firstly, they have Confirmed that vaccinations are no longer required for the majority of cruises. "From 1 March 2023, the majority of our holidays no longer require guests to be vaccinated" This used to say "it is our intention that cruises from 1 March onwards will not require guests to be vaccinated unless there are specific country or voyage requirements in place at the time of sailing." Secondly, they have clarified the 'additional requirements' cruises. The following require vaccination and a test K305C, K305D, K306, K306A and N306 The first four are on Arvia, with K306A ending the Caribbean season back in Southampton. The last is Ventura's 35 nights on 2nd March. There is another set of requirements for J301, this is Arcadia's World Cruise, which has already sailed, and is presumably irrelevant now. Finally, P&O have said "Please note, we have only confirmed holidays with additional vaccine and testing requirements departing up to 31 July 2023 at this stage." Which suggest there is no more cruises with additional requirements to be added before 31 July / at all. So to summarise, I think P&O are saying. No more vaccinations needed and no more tests from 1st March 2023 except a few Arvia cruises until her return to Southampton on 2nd April and Ventura's upcoming 35 night cruise. Edit: I further note that when going to https://www.pocruises.com/ directly, there is now a banner at the top of the page drawing attention to "COVID-19 vaccination and testing is no longer required for the majority of our holidays." This says to me, P&O have changed their policy to no more vaccinations/testing from now on apart from a few exceptions in March/April

Wonderful news! Hope the other cocktail parties i.e. Senior Officers, Britannia and Grills parties make a return too.

I've not used the P&O App, but I've used the Cunard app before which I understand is the same but just with different branding. Although we were on fixed dining in the evening, at lunchtime we could reserve a table for 2, 4, 6 or 8. Since no cabins on the ship allow more than 4 guests then one assumes that people can book tables for 4, 6, 8 even if there is only two of you in the cabin.

I'm wondering if the last letter of the CWC number counts as a 'check character' for the preceding numbers and letters? The purpose of this would be to prevent errors when entering the CWC number into the system. Here is a good explanation of how this works for NHS Numbers for patients in England and Wales. An NHS Number is 10 numbers long, however one only needs to know the first 9 digits, the 10th digit can be calculated by a mathematical calculation on the first 9 digits. If the 10th digit does not match the calculation based on the first 9 digits, it is then assumed the NHS number has been entered incorrectly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHS_number#Format,_number_ranges,_and_check_characters

You may have found (another) bug in the P&O website! Out of curiosity, I looked at that cruise through a well known travel agent website, it initially showed as Cruise + Flight, but when I went to add the flight it showed as 'Sold Out'. I would suggest if you're seriously interested in the cruise with flight that you phone P&O and confirm that flights are indeed included (or not).

I wouldn't risk it, however I would double check if the cruise you are booking is actually listed as 'cruise only' or flight included. Currently in the Caribbean on Arvia I can see the following in Feb with 'Flights included' 4 Feb, 7 nights K303B 18 Feb, 14 nights K304A 25 Feb, 14 nights K304D And the following, again with Arvia, which are 'cruise only' 3 Feb, 14 nights K303 4 Feb, 14 nights K303A 11 Feb, 14 nights K303D 11 Feb, 7 nights K303C 17 Feb, 14 nights K304 25 Feb, 7 nights K304C The pricing doesn't seem that different whether or not you book with flights included or cruise only, or indeed whether you book 7 or 14 nights! In the Canaries, on Azura for February with flights included 3 Feb, 14 nights A305A 4 Feb 14 nights A305C 10 Feb 14 nights A306A 17 Feb 7 nights A307 17 Feb 14 nights A307A 24 Feb 7 nights A308 24 Feb 14 nights A308A 25 Feb 7 nights A308B 25 Feb 14 nights A308C And 'cruise only' on Azura 4 Feb, 7 nights A305B 11 Feb, 7 nights A306B 11 Feb, 14 nights A306C 18 Feb, 7 nights A307B 18 Feb, 14 nights A307C With Azura, it is certainly cheaper to go for 7 nights rather than 14 nights unlike Arvia! I'm not able to replicate your apparent ability to add flights to a cruise only booking. Are you sure you're not trying to book one with Flight included? There are departures with very similar / same dates which differ whether flights are included or not. Finally, if you're looking for a cruise for one person (or one person per cabin), you may find this page useful. Solo Travellers | P&O Cruises (pocruises.com) There is a list on there of all fly cruises and cruise from Southampton which currently have no single supplement. At the moment most Azura fly cruises to the Canaries over the next couple of months and the 18 Feb departure on Iona from Southampton have no supplement for singles. The pricing is utterly excellent for singles on those at the moment.

I had a return flight on a TUI dreamliner last year. There should be two meal services. The first meal service should be a hot meal, with starter and dessert. The second meal service will only be a snack, perhaps a small roll. The portions aren't very large so be warned! Regarding drinks, on your outward flight they will do a drinks service shortly after take off, they will probably come round a couple more times during the flight. On your return flight, mine was overnight and they only did one drinks service, they did warn us and suggested we stock up for the flight. Drinks service was included in the fare. They should provide headphones, for free. However these weren't handed out until after takeoff. Make sure to keep them because there weren't any on the return flight (although you could purchase them). The in flight entertainment was pretty standard, touch screen with a selection of films and television programmes. There was enough to occupy me for both flights, even though the available content was the same both ways.