jh1809

Late February / early March sounds like a good time to go, as I believe it tends to be drier than the autumn, and it's also well outside the hurricane season. Having said that I'm going there in late Nov / early Dec on Aurora because (1) Aurora is my favourite ship and (2) it's no-fly, which I much prefer. Hopefully we won't encounter any hurricanes!

I've been in that cabin too, and liked it. The only downside is that noise leaks up from the theatre when shows with music are on. The corresponding cabin two decks up, A102, is better from that POV. I suppose in rough seas you would get more motion that you would amidships. It is possible to get out onto the deck, IIRC, but the entrance is via the corridor on the opposite side of the ship.

I'm surprised by the lack of afternoon tea, as I'm sure they were still doing it when I was on Aurora in April and you'd expect things to have improved since then.

That's unfortunate. I'm guessing you must live near the tip of Cornwall. I'm a lot luckier; my nearest is only about 15 miles away. As I won't need to book it until 5 or 6 weeks from now, I'm hoping that P&O might relax the rules again by then and I won't need an observed test after all.

It should do so long as they are on NHS's approved list of testers.

As the OP wants the sunny side of the ship, and the Canaries are SSW of the UK rather to the east, they'd be better off with POSH than with SOPH. Of course that presumes that they are willing to pay for two cabins - one of each side of the ship - and then move from one to the other mid-cruise. (I wonder if P&O would let someone do that?)

Same here. As I'm not confident about my technical ability to provide a video and audio feed of myself self-testing, I'm going to get an in-person test. I've found that there is a pharmacy not too far from me that's on the government's approved list of "fit to travel" test providers.

Surprise they waived the rules for a cruiser on Arcadia. I always thought it was Britannia waives the rules. Oh no, that was rules the waves.

Pity it wasn't brut champagne!

I suspect that only the adults-only ships (Aurora and Arcadia) will ever go to Iceland, as I don't imagine P&O's marketing department would view it as a very attractive destination for families with small children.

I went on a cruise with MSC about 10 years ago. I enjoyed it, though it did get a bit wearisome that all the on-board announcement were in 4 or 5 different languages, with the English version seeming to be the last. Though I don't have any children, I did form the impression that the ship was very good with kids, which I suppose you might expect from an Italian company.

He must also surely have the most memorable name of any P&O employee. 🙂

I've just done that, and it's all sorted. I'd been a bit reluctant, as I'd expected to be kept on hold for ages but, in spite of an announcement saying I might have to wait for 30 minutes or more, I only had to listen to music for about a minute before speaking to someone.

I'd thought of that, but there doesn't appear to be anywhere to do that.

Unfortunately I activated the new card without thinking as soon as I received it. Presumably if that causes the automatic payment to fail, before long P&O will be in touch asking me to pay manually. I'll also keep an eye on my credit card transactions, and if there hasn't been a payment to P&O within a few days of the due date, then if they haven't contacted me I'll contact them in order to pay manually.

Last year I booked a cruise sailing in November, with the payment of the balance being due on the 13th of this month (so in 5 days time). When I booked, I specified "auto" payment of the balance using a credit card that was due to expire at the end of this month. What I'd forgotten is that my bank sends out my replacement card about a month before the old one is due to expire. So my card, though it still has the same number, now has an expiry date of Aug 2025 instead of Aug 2022, and the 3-digit security number has also changed. Presumably that will mean that the auto payment would no longer go through, and that I need to pay "manually" using my new card prior to the auto payment becoming due? If I do that, would I be safe in assuming that P&O won't still try to take the auto payment as well?

They're giving me "up to £200", but "up to" could mean that I'll actually get £10 . They could equally truthfully have said "up to £5,000".

Yes, I suspect that now most people have smartphones P&O may have decided that ships' photographers no longer pay their way.

It may not necessarily mean that they aren't operating yet. I wasn't able to book Sindhu in advance for my April cruise on Aurora, but when I got on board found that it was operating normally, including the "tiffin" lunches in the second half of the cruise, which have always been a favourite of mine.

Thanks. I booked via a travel agent, which means I can't use MySaga (unlike with P&O where, even if you booked through an agent, you can still access their equivalent). But all is well, as the mailing arrived this morning. It contained less information about the embarkation process than I was expecting, but included the essentials.

How long before the start of a cruise does one normally receive the final mailing with info on such things as what time the taxi will be picking you up, and one's ticket and luggage labels? My cruise is the SoD one to Iceland and Greenland departing Dover on 10th July, and I'm starting to get a little nervous that the mailing hasn't arrived yet.

Thanks.

Thanks. That seems a rather bizarre policy.

Thanks. I'm afraid I couldn't afford a suite.

Thanks. My cruise is calling there too. If they're happy with US dollars, then I think I have a few left from a previous holiday.