wowzz

Which is what we do.

Don't you just love it when the chef recommends........Pie !! Fine dining at its best.

Ah, but you will now have increased immunity !

That is not always the case. Certainly in Europe there is no need for b2b passengers to get off the ship.

Amen. And I have yet to see any proof that these bribes do provide any better service, other than in the mind of the giver. I am especially amused by those who believe that by tipping for room service, that they then receive speedier service in the future. How exactly do they know that ? It's not as if they can see that their order has received some form of preferential treatment.

Or Barcelona. Just one long queue for everyone, regardless of status, boarding time etc. We had a Club (now Reserve) minisuite, and Princess on the advertising for this category show a couple happily walking aboard in isolated splendour ! We just stood in a queue for 30 minutes, but had a nice chat with the passengers around us. We were lucky - later arrivals waited for at least an hour in the midday sun.

You will be issued boarding times a few weeks before the cruise. Boarding times are normally enforced, but I would say that planning to arrive at 13:00 is a reasonable schedule, even if you have to wait for a while to board. 10:00 at the very latest. More likely 9:30 would be the latest disembarkation time.

Fair point. I guess we would normally spend around £40 - £50 per day between us on drink, plus £100 for speciality diningduring the cruise, so, taking our shareholder obc into account, once the promotional obc exceeds the £700 or so mark (14 day cruise) we have money to "burn". But Mrs W does seem to always find something to buy, and the quality of the wine at dinner certainly improves.

Aren't the retail outlets all operated by outside concerns, and therefore not under the direct control of Princess ?

Been to Dubai twice. That was one visit too many. It's like Las Vegas, but with less style.

Exactly - there could be hundreds of saver reservations out there, which will not show when you make a mock booking, so it is entirely possible that the cruise in question is almost sold out.

We had our second cruise on her last year. The whole ship was freezing cold, and she was showing her age. We won't cruise on her again ! How about Iona or Ventura from Southampton instead?

And I would loudly shout out that I am next ! The trouble is, people don't stick up for themselves. The bar tender won't serve you again first, if I am in the queue.

Not in my world ! Yes I see that ! Whoops.

It just seems so unbelievably complicated, when everyone else uses a credit card !

But they only think they get better service. If a bar man overtly serves one customer over another, they run the risk of getting a poor report on the end of cruise comment card.

If I was waiting to be served, and that happened, I would poliitely tell the bar person, that I or whoever else was waiting, was next in line, and you should get to the back of the queue. After over 50 years of experience in ordering drinks in pubs, no one pushes in front of me, bribe or no bribe !

Indeed, and in some cases, like public transport, cash is not an option. No card, no travel !

For what it's worth, if our steward does a decent job, we tip £20($25) per week, so on a 14 night cruise we would give £40. We do this regardless of autotips, as the amount that trickles down to the steward is minimal.

As a matter of interest, when in Europe, do those of you who normally tip $1 give a €1 coin instead ?

No it won't.

We had this sort of event on a Panama transit. The ship was positioning to Alaska, and I imagine they were just getting rid of all the Caribbean tee shirts etc. The whole event was like a glorified garage sale.

Two things to consider when choosing a TA. Firstly, they should take payment from you on behalf of P&O. They, themselves should at no time hold any client monies. In other words, payment is processed by the TA, but funds are directly paid to P&O. Secondly, they should not request final payment more than seven days before the cruise line due date.

We stayed here two years ago. Well recommended, and a lovely walk into Saundersfoot. We went to Dale during our visit , where my uncle was the parish priest in the early 1950s. https://www.heritageparkwales.com/

I thought I had been sent off ! (Again!)