Selbourne

That’s extremely interesting. We also had the incident on the way to Port Canaveral when there was a prolonged really loud noise at the back of the ship and smoke started rising and we stopped. Only those of us ‘pacing the deck’ at the time were aware of the noise and smoke, but we all stopped to look and couldn’t work out what the issue was. I’m also struggling to accept that we couldn’t have got into Key West today. Weather has been no issue whatsoever all day today. We are a small ship (without the high sides that causes issues with bigger ships) and were going to be berthing. Of course, the lack of a fulsome explanation from captain doesn’t help the speculation. I’m interested to hear that you feel the same way about the Captain. I tend to chat to people around the ship and on deck and I have lost count of how many people have mentioned this. He really does just give out the absolute bare minimum of information (in fact, I’d say even less than that) and seems to do absolutely nothing whatsoever to enhance the enjoyment of the cruise for passengers, as all the good ones do. I tend to recall that we have a change of Captain at some stage during the cruise. I can’t recall when it is, but hope that the next one treats us with a little more respect. We do pay their wages after all!

Today’s MDR menus. Apparently we are just going to float around until 5pm after which we will re-commence our journey to New Orleans.

I looked into it once and the best / quickest / cheapest way is with the RAF from Brize Norton. They have a couple of flights a week primarily for military use, but they take a certain number of members of the public as fare paying passengers as well. UPDATE - We are now on a ‘float’ rather than a cruise. We seem to have stopped but according to the navigation channel we are doing 2.5 knots. Amazing what happens when there is so much time to kill 🤔

Yes, the way that this cruise is going (weather wise) we could well end up with a whole new cruise out of it 😂

Gosh. That’s impressive. You’d think they’d use the replacement port as an excuse not to pay out. In this day and age, Nationwide seem to stand out as being exceptionally good.

That’s great. Many thanks. I assume that we wait until we are back home before claiming? Whilst we aren’t home until 8th March, which is a long time away, given how this cruise is panning out I strongly suspect that Key West won’t be our only missed port!

Exactly. As I always say, things will go wrong and we expect that, but it’s how they are handled that leaves either a negative or positive impression.

I was staggered that the cruise cover add-on was only £40. We have a long history of missed ports on our cruises, so knew that we’d get that back many times over on that aspect alone when it’s £150 compensation per missed port. I read the policy last night and it says ‘we will pay YOU £150 per missed port’ whereas with cabin confinement it says ‘we will pay each person’. I’m wondering if that means that we just get £150 total per missed port or whether, as the policy is in joint names, we get £150 each. Has anyone claimed for missed ports with Nationwide and can confirm?

I would love to visit the Falklands, but as we have bad luck with missed ports I wouldn’t risk chancing it on a cruise. Besides, I’d want a few days there. Up until yesterday I’d say that we were still enjoying it, in spite of the poor weather. The cancellation of Key West, along with the poor way with which the Captain announced it, has put a bit of a downer on things today. We cruise for ports and not sea days. The latter are just a means to an end to get to the ports. Four sea days in a row at this stage is not what we want or expected especially having woken to quite calm seas this morning. In fairness, the daytime entertainment during sea days on this cruise has been by far the best of our four post Covid cruises and, if anything, is back to what we enjoyed many years ago (today won’t be, as it’s an unplanned sea day). By tomorrow we will have had only 5 ports in 22 days and one of those (Port Canaveral) was a waste of time due to my visit to the Kennedy Space Centre having to be cancelled. Thankfully we aren’t sun worshippers, but those who do are getting fed up with the weather. It’s become the main topic of conversation around the ship (that and the uncommunicative Captain). We are due to have 11 black tie nights over nine and a half weeks. If they could manage 11 enhanced menus then I’d live with that, but as it appears that they can’t then even that’s too many. As I say, a black tie night with a bog standard menu is completely pointless IMO.

Day 20 - Monday 22nd January - At Sea Having thought that the worst of the weather was at long last behind us, we woke to quite rough seas and a fair bit of movement. Thankfully this would calm down fairly quickly. After breakfast we attended William Joyce’s next space talk, this time on the search for advanced alien life. This was quite a technical, but none the less interesting, presentation on what constitutes a potential habitable zone within galaxies etc. It took some concentration, but this concentration was interrupted some 7 minutes into the presentation by our friend with the incredibly noisy reversing beep arriving late (again) on his scooter and manoeuvring himself at the back. I understand from those who replied that the volume may not be adjustable, but there was a lady also on a scooter and the reversing beeper on hers made a fraction of the noise. If I used a scooter that was so incredibly noisy I would arrive everywhere early so as to minimise the disturbance to others, and if I was running late then I would skip the performance or talk, but maybe that’s just me? We still hadn’t received our complimentary Champagne for being Caribbean tier, so I reported it yet again at reception. They looked on their system and said that our steward had delivered it on 5th. No he hadn’t! Thankfully it arrived later in the day. At 1130 we attended the next port talk, this time on St Vincent & Barbados. We then went for an early lunch in the MDR. I had pulled pork, which was lovely, but the soft corn tortilla that accompanied it was inedible. Christopher Biggins did ‘An audience with’ in the theatre. It was a bit awkward when it came to questions from the audience as only one or two people had any! After this we went to Raffles for a drink, during which time the Captain informed us that our port call in Key West tomorrow has been cancelled. He just mentioned ‘conditions’ and the usual disclaimer about ‘our safety is paramount’ but failed to give a proper explanation as to why, which irritated not just us but others around us. My wife was particularly disappointed as, unlike me, she had never been to Key West before, and we had been keeping an eye on the weather forecast which had initially been showing a rainy day for our visit but had improved considerably. It also means that we now have another run of 4 sea days, which we thought we were done with until the final run home 🙄. At 5pm I attended the penultimate classical piano recital with Roman Rudnytsky in the Playhouse, which I enjoyed as much as the previous 3 concerts. Afterwards, to burn off some of my frustration at the cancelled port call, I paced 6 laps of the promenade deck. Tonight was the 4th (of 11) black tie nights but I am at a complete loss as to why. There was no special menu and no special entertainment, so why a black tie night? A complete waste of time IMO. My wife and I had Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner. That’s the first time that I’ve eaten a curry in a dinner suit - and I’ve had an awful lot of curries in my time. I don’t mind dressing up formally for a special night with a special menu, but this should have been an evening casual dress code. Prior to dinner we went to the Crows Nest for a drink. It was all fairly quiet until I became aware of the sound of somebody chocking and then an older gentleman got to his feet clutching his throat and staggering around as though he was about to pass out. I rushed over and asked his wife if he needed a medic and I then asked a staff member to call for one. They took quite some time to arrive (had it been a heart attack it would have been too late) but thankfully he had recovered by the time they arrived. Dinner was pleasant and although my wife was prepared to give ‘Vocal Comedy Entertainer Ben Moss’ a go in the theatre, she sensed my complete lack of enthusiasm, so we called it a night. Tomorrow should have been Key West but is now yet another sea day, but with very little happening.

It shouldn’t affect the renewal at all. The basic cover is provided free of charge, and the claim is not connected to my wife’s medical condition (which we paid extra for). The missed port claim comes from the add on cruise cover, which is a £40 flat fee for everyone.

We were the only ship due in, so would have been berthing 🤔

This Captain says as little as is humanly possible. Very matter of fact announcement and just mentioned adverse conditions and the need to maintain safety. Personally, I would have gone into more detail about specifically why the weather forecast and the nature of Key West made docking unsafe, so that people have a greater understanding and appreciation, but that’s not his style. In typical P&O fashion he mentioned that letters will be issued to all cabins for any insurance claims which, of course, is of no use to those who don’t have specific missed port cover. Thankfully, for the first time, we do and this missed port alone will allow us to recover 75% of the cost of our annual worldwide policy - but I’d still rather be visiting Key West.

Key West port call has been cancelled. Very disappointing, not least because it now means that we have 4 sea days in a row between Miami and New Orleans 🙄

It’s still 24 hours from time of purchase and you don’t need to pay for more than one device. Different people can log on to the one device package using different devices, just using the same login info. You just can’t have more than one device online at the same time, but you don’t have to disconnect. When the next person logs on they simply opt to boot you off so that they can connect. Dead easy.

The upgrade system doesn’t let you bid less than the minimum. From what I’ve seen, the minimum upgrades are no cheaper than if you’d booked the higher grade cabin in the first place, which makes it a rather pointless exercise. Plus keep in mind that the ‘upgraded’ cabins will always be the least popular ones - often for a reason!

Todays MDR menus

On the basis that I think that I am about the only person on this forum who has tried this menu, and that was as much about being able to provide feedback on it as anything else, I don’t think it’s going to take off. Maybe it’s also telling that I haven’t ordered it again since. Also, when it’s come up in conversation with other passengers, none has tried it. I wonder if the sudden big push on it is to give it one last shot before binning it. I’d put money on the fact that take up to date has been absolutely minimal.

Yes, I thought the same, especially as the ‘driver’ performed what must have been a 16 point turn as the incredibly loud beeping went on and on for quite some time during the performance! I’m genuinely curious to know though, do these scooters have a volume adjustment for the reversing beepers? There’s one in particular on here that’s so loud it could wake the dead 😂

We are currently 5 hours behind the UK and, yes, we go back another hour for New Orleans. We do two laps of the whole Caribbean and I think we might do a bit of back and forth by an hour during that time as well.

She’s too unstable for those John. Any seat needs to be fixed. She’s managing OK but the controls are at maximum stretch.

I don’t think so, for three reasons. Firstly the menu never changes, so even those who try it are unlikely to do so more than once in a cruise. Secondly, having tried all 3 courses, whilst I didn’t rate the starter or dessert, the main course was excellent and far better than any main course I’ve had in any MDR, even before the menus were slimmed down. Finally, I agree with @zap99 that rather than pay £14.95 extra people are more likely to use a speciality restaurant where there is far greater choice.

Day 19 - Sunday 21st January - Sea Day The first of two sea days between Miami and Key West. I know that it should only take one day, but I’m hoping that the extra day will result in us berthing, as it’s shown as ‘possible tender’ on the itinerary, and my wife cannot get off the ship in tender ports. We are the only ship due in, so there’s no reason for us not to berth (I believe I’ve read that Key West now limit cruise ships to one per day). As a result of having time to kill, we are barely moving at a very sedate 8 knots. Unfortunately we are unlucky with the weather yet again as it’s been force 4 rising to force 6/7 so quite windy and feeling cool, in spite of the supposed 25 degrees. As with most of the sea days so far this cruise, we managed to fill most of the day. After breakfast we attended the 0930 William Joyce talk on the search for Alien Life (micro organisms rather than intelligent life) in our solar system (tomorrow it’s widened out to the Universe). I was interested to learn that there’s a growing school of thought that the presence of water may not be a critical factor in the presence of life. At 11am we had a double port talk on St Maarten & Dominica. I didn’t learn anything from this particular talk but, as I’ve said before, it’s great that they are happening. We then did a circuit of the promenade deck but it was a bit windy and not particularly warm. The MDR lunch menu didn’t appeal, so we went for lunch in the Glasshouse. The team in there are absolutely brilliant, especially Dennis who wins the award as the most enthusiastic staff member on board. He engages superbly with customers and is a great coach for new crew members. He deputises for the manager AJ but really needs to be the permanent number 1 in a P&O Glasshouse. He is a massive asset to P&O and a great brand ambassador. He speaks extremely highly of P&O and I hope that this loyalty is eventually reciprocated. I must fill in one of those service commendation cards on him, as well as Rachel the excellent Medina MDR host. At 3.30pm we attended the Aurora Vocalists (passenger choir) in the theatre, which is always enjoyable. Their tutor, a very estuary Essex member of the entertainment team, seemed great fun and was clearly much liked by the choir. I managed to fit in a mile on the promenade deck (3.2 laps) before the 3rd Classical piano Recital by Roman Rudnytsky, which was next up in the Playhouse at 5pm. Yet another stunning performance. A brief rest in our cabin before changing for dinner and heading to Carmens for the Headliners ‘Top of the Billboards’ show. Leaving aside the few pitch issues and the fact that I wish that the people who arrange the songs for these Headliners shows didn’t ‘cruiseify’ the tunes to be different to the originals, this was a high energy performance both for the dancers and the singers. As they are a new troupe, most on their first contract, they are to be congratulated. BTW, is cruiseify a word or did I make it up? If so, I’ll claim it, as I think it reflects what I mean, especially as it sounds like crucify, which those who arrange the songs can sometimes manage to do to some classics 😂 MDR dinner was very good. My wife had the always available steak and it was cooked beautifully. We are so happy that we moved tables. All of our previous issues are resolved and our new waiters are just as helpful as our previous ones. Interestingly, for the first time in over 50 days of cruising across 3 P&O ships since the new ‘extra cost’ MDR menu items were introduced, the menus were on the tables tonight! They have also been put up outside the MDRs adjacent to the daily lunch and dinner menus. Could it be that P&O no longer wish this to be a secret? 😂 To end the day we attended the 10pm ‘A Celebrarion of John Denver’ show by Wayne Denton in the theatre. I enjoyed it, but it was a bit of a different format in that the first 5 minutes (at least) was a video about John Denver and it was beginning to feel like a special interest talk rather than a live performance. The performers faux American accent when he talked (which he did a lot) sounded daft, but his singing voice and guitar playing were both good. Around 5 minutes into the show, someone entered the theatre late in a scooter and proceeded to manoeuvre around. This scooter has a ridiculously loud beeper when it reverses and would match or exceed the volume of reversing beepers on trucks and vans designed to be heard amongst road traffic noise. Consequently, a load of people looked around wondering what it was or if it was an alarm of some description. I know that there are a number of scooter users (or partners of) on this forum, so this is a genuine question - can the volume of these reversing beepers be turned down and, if yes, why do some people have them on so ruddy loud? We both enjoyed the show but obviously benefitted from not being 100% familiar with John Denver’s voice. When we got into the lift one chap said “that was enjoyable, wasn’t it?” to which a lady replied “yes, but he didn’t sound anything like John Denver”. What do I know? 😂 Tomorrow more plodding along en-route to Key West and another full day of daytime talks etc.

Here you go. My wife says that one issue is that the shower controls are too far from the bench seat and are a real stretch (you can’t see them in the photo but they are behind the shower curtain).

Todays MDR menus