Ranchi

On 7/16/2023 at 10:27 PM, zap99 said:

Butter, them cream, then jam

 

Or perhaps…

We had avoided Ventura like the plague…clearly total snobs! We went on her last year and must say we were very impressed. The ship’s activities weren’t up to full speed post Covid but we were more than happy with the MDR. Staff in general were keen to please. Deck games were well organise and up to schedule. Shows were similar to those on other P&O ships. We certainly found her as good if not better than Azura (big plus for Ventura is the lack of a blaring sea screen.)There isn’t a Crows Nest but the (the name escapes me) bar at the stern high up had a couple of nice nooks where you got a view forward. 

Not a cut back, more a design change. There always used to be a ship’s chart showing the past and planned passage of the vessel. We were on Britannia ‘Round Britain’ and a chart would have been most useful but I couldn’t find one anywhere. Do any of the newer ships have charts on display? I know the tv navigation page does show a map but the scales (3)  are hopeless for close coasting. On the smallest scale the ship is about 25miles long and the largest scale islands even a few miles away are off the chart (which is invariably a uniform sea-blue unless you are in port.)

I won’t even mention changing rooms for outdoor pools on newer ships! 

We were not overly impressed with Epicurean. I had to send my steak back. It was all gristle and this would have been obvious before it was cooked. It should have been rejected in the kitchen. The steak was replaced without question but my wife had to wait until I finished so it did rather spoil the evening. 

We had a great time Round Britain a week or so ago. We were really impressed with MDR (fixed). Staff were great - although I never saw our steward until I searched for him on the last day. Drawbacks of Britannia are well known but we didn’t find them a problem. The moans? Epicurean; had to send a steak back - the first time I have ever returned any course (it was replaced without question but the timing of the courses was interrupted. The coffee at one of the Costa’s was pretty ropey. Everything else was ‘top drawer’. Chefs’ parade & loyalty parties are back on. 
Enjoy yourselves. 

5 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

So we got up today at 8:30; got cleaned up and had breakfast in the buffet. While we were eating, Capt Tim came on the loudspeaker and said because we were in a pretty good storm cell, water tenders would be paused until it passed. (Fine for us because we had just sat down to eat)

so now, about 45 minutes later, he came back on the loudspeaker and announced that the cell had passed and the sun was back out and tenders were re-commencing.

So we’re going to go down and head into Dublin via the DART train.

Our plans include: Trinity College, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Jameson Distillery, Guiness StoreHouse, and maybe a lunch somewhere (I’d like to try some real authentic Irish Stew)

 

On another note; we got a note today that they completely changed our Edinburgh tour. Originally it was Royal Mile, Hollyrood, and the Castle…but this morning it was changed to Royal Mile and National Musuem (which we have no interest in) so I requested a refund, and booked Edinburgh Castle tickets on my own (£15.50 each; because the crown jewel room is closed on 4 July).

Well catch the X99 from Queensferry to Edinburgh for £1.25 each, then walk the Royal Mile up to the castle. 
The princess tour was £90 each.

£1.25 for X99 is impressive. It was £6 each way last week for passengers on our cruise last week. We used the train from Dalmeny. 

…

‘Soapgate’ was a blockbuster saga on a FB page set up for this cruise! We asked for soap and it was there within 10 mins. It was also replenished without request as the first bar finished on day eight. It was a lovely cruise.  I was impressed by the MDR food (we had last been on P&O’s Aurora last Sept & we’re underwhelmed by the MDR offerings (& the menus seemed to be on a 5 or 6 day cycle.) The general consensus in rumour control (F deck laundry) being that a shortage of staff was to blame. All seemed back to normal on Britannia good selection & quality throughout & the parade of chefs & drinks parties are back.  
The only downside was Epicurean. I was served a steak that was inedible due to gristle throughout. It was replaced without question but it meant that my dining companion had to eat her course alone & then wait for me to finish my second steak. I can accept that a steak may be cooked that has little flavour but it should have been clear to the chef  before cooking that the gristly steak should not have been used. 
An excellent cruise overall. 

On 5/31/2023 at 2:41 PM, 1160451 said:

Just back from a first time Princess Cruise round the UK.

We are in our early 70’s and are very computer and social media literate.

BUT….to prepare for the Princess Cruise was an absolute nightmare if you had never done it before.

Switching between the APP then Webb site to input and sort tickets, embarkation time, luggage labels and personnel information was difficult to understand.

On Board you had to use your smart phone to book things.

They even wanted you to order drinks on the APP then a waiter should find you by GPS.

That was a laugh.

We ditched it after three days and reverted to normal, which to be fair worked.

If P and O are following this then it’s a no no for us.

Hope the Balmoral next March is APP free 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

 

 

I thought you didn’t need tickets etc. with Princess & that all you needed apart from your passport was your medallion…or have I got that wrong ?

Apologies, I guess we are separated by a common language 😂. My query should have said ‘tux’ rather than DJ. It was the black jacket that I meant. 
Thanks for your reply. 

We have a cruise booked with Princess later this summer. It’s our first time on Princess. We usually leave our car at the dock but not this time so I’m considering lightening the suitcase load. We have cruised with other lines & I usually take a dinner jacket and sports jacket or blazer. I was thinking of ditching the DJ and replacing it with a light-weight dark suit where the jacket could be used with chinos on non formal nights. Approx what percentage of males wear a DJ on a formal night? 

On 5/26/2023 at 7:58 AM, david63 said:

There are several variables that can affect this on the day so I doubt that there is a definitive answwer but from what I have seen (don't use CPS - too expensive) I would say from arrival in the queue to handing your car over will be around 15 minutes.

We usually take the CPS offered as an alternative to extra OBC. Later this summer we are sailing on Princess & there wasn’t  that opportunity when booking so I Googled the well known alternatives and was surprise to find that two of them were more expensive than CPS - only by about £5 but still…

We are booked on Sky Princess later this summer. It’s our first trip on Princess. I was thinking of taking a light-weight, dark blue suit instead of a DJ for formal nights and if I fancy a jacket to wear with chinos for informal the the suit jacket would do. Would that seem reasonable? I guess I’m asking would it look out of place?

We’ve cashed in, lost the deposit and rebooked before but the difference was a good bit more than in your case. This was due to a £50 deposit offer. 
Our TA did it for us ( we felt a little bad as it would affect her commission but we had used her for many years and she offered to do it.) She managed to put our cabin on hold when cancelled and we were able to rebook it. 
Check that your OBC & other ‘perks’ are the same on the original and rebooked cruise. 
If you have booked direct then you will have to wait quite a while on the phone ( strangely new booking line seems to have much shorter waiting times than ‘do you wish to discuss a previously booked cruise’ option.) and you may want to take your time into consideration when deciding whether to rebook. 

If they put the price up then it will appear better value if they give a reduction as a sweetener as demonstrated by sofa companies in the ‘80s and by Princess cruises currently (50%off Princess plus.)

Enjoy your day!  We’ve cruised there three or four times…& never managed to tender ashore. 

……..

6 hours ago, david63 said:

Nope - I had an account registered and got no status. My wife had no account until a cruise was booked and she got status.

 

It is my wife you got Elite not Bogof1’s

Just a thought, David. Did you apply using your current address and did you cruise previously using an earlier address? 

………….

We have had ‘fun’ today booking with a stablemate of P&O. We were booking direct. We changed our mind about one aspect of ‘the offer’ and spent 2-3 hours with second row customer service (ie already booked as opposed to new booking.) My point is, that when we got through to someone who could help they informed us that bookings can be cancelled free of charge within 24 h of booking. We cancelled, got deposit refunded and rebooked with our preferred offer conditions. I don’t know if the same condition works with travel agent booked cruises but if so it could offer a way out & start afresh direct for the offer. 

It’s a while since we were on Britannia but I have a vague memory that the socket in the bathroom is not a standard size shaver socket. If you need one for a toothbrush or razor then it might be worth taking a standard (3-pin) shaver adapter. Perhaps others could confirm or otherwise. 

Thanks for that, David.

On 3/26/2023 at 5:18 PM, Bowtoo said:

P&O seem to offer parking with £80 OBC (£240 OBC)

just found penguin parking for £119 and it right next to the port

 

We have always used CPS and have just booked a cruise where I swithered about taking the larger obc and sort parking myself. The name that came to mind was Penguin so I logged in to their site and their quote was more (ok, only by about £5) than CPS so whilst P may often be cheaper it’s a fluid situation. It’s only a few weeks to our cruise so perhaps that was a factor. 

As I understand it ( did I really hear it in F-Deck laundrette?) it’s to make you input your passport data manually rather than just scan what’s there & click the button. 

A couple of grumbles from me re P&O food in MDR. The first, and more subjective, is the format of the lunch menu. I found the traditional menu far easier to navigate and many times I have heard table companions comment ‘oh, I didn’t see that on the menu.’

The second relates to desserts. In the past displays of desserts were placed at the entrance to the MDR. This gave some indication of the nature (& crucially) size of each dessert which isn’t always apparent from the menu. Good waiters will give further details but sometimes they are not accurate. I accept that you can always leave some dessert uneaten but…