Mr Piano

Having done various decks on both Ventura and Azura, we found B deck most to our liking, no noise and not overlooked. If we use either ship again, we will always opt for B deck

I agree with comment it's mainly the women who adhere to the black and white theme. My wife wore black dress, pearls and a white silk flower. I wore as per normal formal night. I found the tropical theme was more adhered to on the Caribbean cruise than the European cruises I have done

We went on the 2 day Comfort Tour with Alla Tours and they were excellent. In fact, only two other people from our ship had booked so it was like having a private tour, but they don't take any more than 16 pax on their trips.

 

Alla arrange the visa and everything for you and their excursions show you more than the ones from the ship.

 

If you look on the Port's of Call for Northern Europe you will find loads of suggestions for other reputable tour operators, not only in SPB, but throughout the Baltic.

 

There is also lots of information on Tripadvisor.

 

I loved our Baltic cruise and would like to do another one.

We also did Alla tours, but on advice received on here we changed from comfort tour to Grand tour, it's 2 full on days, we saw and did it all. My advice is unless you have mobility issues take the grand tour. The highlight of our cruise, magnificent

Much of the same then I suppose :-) On Oceana last week the cruise rep. told us that the new itineraries for Oceana would probably stay for about 3 years - which is what we expected. Interesting re Turkey as we are down to go there in 2017 and are hoping that they move the port to Rhodes .....

 

:)

We are also booked on Oceana, 2017, fly out to Malta. But Rhodes is already one of the ports along with Aphesus, Turkey. But Santorini would be a nice substitute if they drop Turkey

We know all cases are weighed at the airport, but as far as I'm aware they are not weighed on the ships or the ports. So therefore 20kg is more of guide. If it's obviously over weight then they might randomly weigh your bag, but wouldn't worry about 2 or 3kg over.

I have never been on Oceana, but will be next year for first time. I have done other P&0 ships and black tie applies to every dining room, bar and restaurant, other than main buffet and upper deck bars. My understanding is it is the policy throughout the fleet. So I would be surprised if black tie does not apply to the Beach House. Black tie is usually on the evening of a sea day. So if you have booked Beach House for a sea day then good chance it will be black tie

Buy a lottery ticket - you were very lucky :D

I didn't know they were not allowed either, should have won lottery 3 times over. We took one on our last 3 cruises. But won't in future

We have just been on Oceana Genoa to Venice. The ship itself was ok and our cabin bigger than on Britannia for the same class, don't expect to get a sun bed though unless you are up at 7am. Lots of pax saving and no monitoring of the situation. The food however was a different matter, dreadful in buffet and MDR. We have made a formal complaint to P&O about it, worse we have ever experienced. The ports were lovely though and the weather mixed. We would not book another cruise on her, doubt we will do another P&O, those paying select are subsidising the saver fares and suffering for it. The cuts have now gone to far.

Oh dear, doesn't sound good. Just booked next years cruise. Fly cruise to Malta on Oceana in June. Wanted a change from our usual Ventura and Azura and really didn't fancy the Britannia itineraries, hope we've not slipped up. A golf buddy of mine said Oceana was his favourite ship, he's done most of the P&O ships

In answer to the question, how much cash for Norway? My answer would be, a lot. Considering doing Norwegian fjords, but not now. We had Oslo as port of call on recent Baltic cruise, equivalent to £17 for two small beers. But seriously my I once again recommend the Halifax clarity card, no charges for purchases or Free ATM machines. I took no cash for either Oslo, stockholm or Copenhagen

You won't even need to think for yourself. You will be shepherded from the seat on your plane to your seat on the coach by a herds of P&O guides

I was on Azura week before last on Baltic cruise. The gym is superb, with lots of modern equipment. I found it less busy in late morning. My problem with the gym was the equipment being much more up to date than my local gym, I was not sure how to properly use some of the resistance machines. I could never find any available gym staff to ask. If they were about, they were busy taking classes or giving presentations and sales pitches

Just got back home yesterday, after Baltic cruise on Azura. On the first formal night. On a table of 8, I was the only man on the table wearing a tux. One guy made the effort with dark suit and tie. The other two made no effort at all. Not even a suit, light sports jackets coloured shirts and ties. Another formal night a guy was sat at the bar in glass house in jeans and crew neck T-shirt. The stories I have heard about managers refusing entry is a nonesense. You can wear what you want. It is true that over 90% adhere to dress code, but it is not enforced

Anyway another fantastic cruise, can't wait for next

I am a regular visitor to the Channel Islands as my daughter lives in Jersey. The Channel Islands are not members of the EU, so you can get duty free under the old allowances in the duty free shop at ports and airports. I am not a smoker but bring tobacco back for a friend regularly. It's 200 cigarettes and litre of spirit limit per person. They will sell you more as the onus is on you.

I can tell you the tobacco is cheaper in duty free shop than it is in Spain, but don't know about spirits. Prices on the Island itself are UK prices or slightly higher

Can't remember number but we had R deck last year. The roof of our balcony extended quite a bit further out than the balcony itself. We were directly understand the seating area of the Lido deck, so some noise as well

We had select booking so actually chose our cabin, but in hindsight we might not choose R deck again. I am on B deck next week on sister ship Azura. Don't get me wrong, very minor issues and it no way did it spoil our wonderful cruise and you love it too

Well done Pete for reporting smokers, I would do my nut if I could smell smoke on my balcony. Have a good time and make sure you get the ship back in one piece, we are boarding her next Sunday, getting excited now :D

You have to use the cabins at the front of the ship, the bow-wow end

The thought of contracting norovirus scares me (****)less. If I took my own empty plastic bottles about 100ml size with me, would P+O refill them (with anti-bac gel) when they became empty, after all I would think that it would be in the ships interest to know that all passengers are taking precautions.

Never really enquired, but if the gel on board is just anti bacterial, then it's not going to work on norovirus, as the name suggests it's a virus, so you need anti virus.

I use boots antivirus foam when I go to the gym at home. It's anti bac and anti virus, costs about £4. I am considering taking on our cruise week after next. It's not as messy as the gel and claims to give 4 hours protection. I'll still use the gel at meal times and ships gyms as well, because I think you need to be seen to be using it. I witnessed someone on the Ventura once refuse the gel claiming they use their own. But the doubt was there

This was also my gripe, 5kg is ridiculous. Considering my empty bag weighed 2.5kg. It left 2.5kg for contents. My bag wasn't weighed on last 2 fly cruises, but it's a risk you take, you could be randomly selected although in truth never noticed anyone randomly selected. My view is if looks big and heavy you'd be more likely to be picked out

We are taking the coach to Southampton, not done so before. The information says take as many bags as you wish, but no bag should weigh more than 20kg.

I know someone who retired a couple of years who did the Cruise runs. I asked him about this and he told me it was purely a health and safety issue for the drivers, but they didn't actually weigh any bags. But I suppose he could only speak for the company he worked for. He drove for Ellisons, a St.Helens company

So has anyone actually had their bags weighed?

For Antigua I strongly recommend Lawerence of Antigua, just google the name

Halifax clarity, make it quite clear, they do not charge a fee for using ATM machines abroad, but have no control on ATMs that charge. They charge same interest as if you make a purchase. Martin Lewis confirms this. The only catch is unlike other CC's they charge interest on cash withdrawals even if you pay off in full. Martin Lewis advises don't wait for bill, pay off as soon as you get home. This is what we intend to do

I have checked on the Martin Lewis website and it recommends The Halifax Clarity as the best card to use abroad. I applied for one on line and within minutes I was informed by e-mail my card was on its way

As will I be visiting countries with different currencies on Baltic cruise, I think it will be perfect

Been doing my research, for currencies for up and coming Baltic cruise. I'm getting conflicting answers about St.Petersburg. A Russian visitors site says foreign currency cannot be used and many smaller outlets don't accept cards. The the tour company I'm using say all tourist shops accept euros or dollars and cards, even street traders. Little concerned about getting too much or too little Rubles. Do I need them at all?

I would appreciate some advice, from those who have done it.

We gets these from Amazon, perfect and very cheap

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Instant-Laminating-Luggage-Labels-Inserts/dp/B01BHXOBTE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1460460893&sr=8-4&keywords=self+laminating+luggage+tags

I'm glad it not just me who think P&O need to up the ante on sea days. Which was my original gripe regarding an unexpected 3 days at sea. Sunbathing is not a likely option on Baltic cruise, so I will be sales pitched to death at the end of 3 days