Selbourne

That’s interesting. Thank you. I guess that would mean that the ship would still be quite close to the quayside, so those of us remaining on board might (hopefully) be able to see and hear something ‘live’ from from the ship (albeit the back of the performers) rather than just on screen? If you recall, when we were on the Coronation cruise, QM2 was berthed with the starboard side against the quayside. When the ropes were let loose, the ship reversed back some way to the Cunard building, where she sounded her horns before progressing forward again. Could be a similar process with the ship holding in that position for the ceremony? I know that we have been told that it will all be explained once we are on board, but I don’t think that being stuck ashore in a standing only area for hours would be comfortable for us.

We are thinking of staying on board as well. My wife is disabled and whilst there is a dedicated viewing area for wheelchair users, the time that you have to be ashore is too long, especially as it’s standing only (for me) and we’d both need to use toilets at least once during that time! Does anyone know the reason why the ship is moving off the berth and whether we would be able to see anything from the ship other than on the TVs? I wonder if the stage will be open or have a backdrop (which would screen it from the ship)? We were on the QM2 Coronation voyage and when we were in Liverpool there was a music and fireworks display which we were able to watch in comfort from our starboard side balcony. We are starboard on QA as well so was hoping we could do the same, but this may be optimistic?

I suspect it’s just an error. There is no way to change it via the Cruise Personaliser I’m afraid. If you booked via a TA, a 2 minute call to them will sort it. If you booked direct I’m afraid you’ll have to phone them and endure the wait. I don’t think there’s an email address for this, but others may be able to help. I’d be surprised if P&O dispense with Club dining on Aurora, especially as a lot of us who have used Freedom from the start have been switching back to Club due to the problems that seem to have crept in to Freedom dining. I certainly didn’t hear any rumours when we were on her recently.

So would I, but I can’t see it happening. The adult only ships are mostly filled with retirees on presumably very good pensions. Sadly, that market is diminishing as the vast majority of those entering the world of retirement going forward won’t have anywhere near the same level of pension income, and those that do will have different expectations and want a more upmarket experience than P&O offers. Plus, of course, there’s the economies of scale issue that massively favours the big ships. The market direction that P&O is going in is the polar opposite of upmarket small ships. Having spent 65 nights on Aurora recently she’s looking and feeling a little unloved, which probably tells us all we need to know about the direction of travel.

I don’t think that I phrased my post very well. I was meaning that the insurers never suggested, when I specifically asked, that I needn’t worry about a medical evacuation at sea on the basis that whoever provides it (coast guard, air ambulance etc) would always do so free of charge. They said that they would cover the cost, which lead me to assume that there was one. I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that people, or insurers, have had to pay tens of thousands of pounds for such things but, thankfully, I’ve never had to find out! There have been a few on cruises that we’ve been on though, as well as unplanned port calls to drop off sick passengers.

That’s coincidental, because we’ve only been on Azura once and didn’t like her. We couldn’t put our finger on why, as we’d enjoyed Ventura the year before! We’d like to give her another go, but she only seems to do fly cruises now, which aren’t an option for us.

I think that there’s a reasonable chance that Ventura could become adult only when Aurora or Arcadia (or both) are sold in the future. I don’t think that Ventura would cut the mustard with the market that P&O is now targeting. Other adult only ships (Saga etc) are very expensive, so P&O may still see an opportunity in that arena, albeit at the (comparatively) budget end.

In a way it’s cosmetic, as there’s no way that I’d take the word of someone posting on a forum (even an esteemed forum such as this 😉) as gospel, and I wouldn’t dream of going on a cruise without comprehensive travel insurance, to cover all eventualities. I know that you are the same. However, whenever I’ve changed travel insurers I’ve always specifically asked about medical evacuation from a ship whilst at sea (in the knowledge that the cost would be devastating) and they confirmed it would be covered, never suggesting that it would be free of charge.

Interesting, although I wouldn’t like to test that theory!

As others have said, the dress code is smart casual.

It’s the ‘air fare’ off the ship that would worry me the most! 🚁💰💰💰💰💰

Personally, I wouldn’t entertain setting foot on a cruise ship without adequate insurance, whether it was a requirement or not. If one of you was taken seriously ill on board and needed a medical evacuation or transfer to a hospital overseas, you could very easily be looking at many tens of thousands of dollars.

The very fact that you care about this tells me that you will be fine. It’s a lot more relaxed than it used to be. When we first started cruising, on formal nights the overwhelming majority of gents wore proper dinner suits with the remainder wearing tuxedos. Very few just wore a lounge suit. Now the latter seems to be far more common than a proper dinner suit. When we were on Iona we went to the 710 Club on a formal night and it struck me that I was the only chap in there wearing a dinner suit. Also, it’s worth keeping in mind that some people can wear the official dress code but very badly and still look very scruffy. Whilst younger generations tend to ‘dress up’ differently from how us older ones do, IMHO they can look far smarter and tend to make far more effort.

@gmac00 Both are fine. Don’t worry. Just enjoy your cruise!

I’m not sure that’s practical in Southampton, where they use an air bridge at all terminals. We’ve not used self disembarkation but, as mentioned, one of our daughters used it disembarking Iona in August school holidays, when the ship was packed, and had no issue with it all. Any issues with regular disembarkation could easily be solved if P&O adopted the much better system that sister company Cunard use 🤔

You are wrong I’m afraid. Many folk using self disembarkation are carrying suitcases, not just hand luggage. They use the facility as they wish to get off early, not necessarily just because they are travelling light. Furthermore, as the husband of a full time wheelchair user, I can assure you that trying to get in a lift during normal disembarkation can be the most challenging time of the cruise, even when people just have hand luggage. If suitcases are added into the equation it adds another level of problems. That’s why self disembarkation is always early, to get those folk out of the way before the peak period of lift usage kicks in.

Exactly and this point has been made several times. Me thinks someone is being deliberately provocative 🤔

We had B165 on Arcadia (a corner one with wrap around balcony) and the balcony was great, as it was part shaded and part open, so usable in all conditions. We viewed one on another deck and the balcony was entirely covered, so made the suite very dark and it was like looking out through a tunnel. This wasn’t apparent on the deck plan. Just thought I’d flag this whilst you still have options.

You don’t actually register for self disembarkation and nobody ever checks what disembarkation time you have been allocated when you leave the ship during normal disembarkation, so technically this is possible. However, this would only work for those with hand luggage who are relaxed about what time they leave, given that there can sometimes be a pause between self and standard disembarkation if baggage trolleys are still being offloaded. However, if you attempted to do this with suitcases then you would rightly be challenged, as lifts are at a premium during normal disembarkation.

But presumably you applied for both within a fairly short period, which wouldn’t necessitate having to prove the shareholding twice? The interesting thing will be applying for OBC for another cruise say 6 or 12 months after providing the proof of shareholding. I’m not sure if this service has been going long enough to know, but I’d expect to be asked to confirm shareholding again.

I would assume the same. I’ve no idea who knows what, but my guess would be that if Carnival had a way of knowing whether or not people were still shareholders they wouldn’t be paying to use the services of StockPerks. After all, Carnival still have to do the work in applying the OBC, so the only way in which StockPerks could save them time is by verifying shareholdings.

I think there’s always been the risk of people selling their shares once the OBC has been applied, but prior to the cruise. I’ve not tested it personally, as my shares have appreciated in value by 50% since I bought them and, on top of that, I’ve had about 150% of the outlay back in OBC in less than a year, but given how poor the IT systems are that Carnival use I have no doubt that this would be possible.

It’s extremely rare though and I don’t think that the OP needs to worry about that with Iona. Oriana left P&O 5 years ago!

Have a great cruise Andy. Are you doing Club dining this time?

To be clear, normal disembarkation doesn’t always start as soon as self disembarkation has finished. There can be a pause, for safety reasons, whilst the porters are moving large pallets of luggage around the luggage pick up hall. During this time, nobody is allowed off the ship. If you want to self disembark (which given your train time you will) then you cannot wander off at your leisure. You have to leave within the designated time slot (it’s at least a 30 minute window, but always early). The good news is that you don’t have to register for self disembarkation, so you could wait to see what disembarkation time you are allocated and then take a view, but if you wish to use normal disembarkation then you have to put your luggage outside your cabin as you go to bed the last night. If you are travelling light and will be time limited, I would just self disembark as you are guaranteed not to have any delays in getting off the ship, trying to find luggage, getting through customs etc. We went on Iona in the August school holidays with 5,750 others and whilst the ship felt crowded, disembarkation was very good. One of our daughters decided to self disembark and was off the ship, collected her car and on the road by 7.30am. She was very impressed with it.