smj777

How far ahead of your cruise was the paid for upgrade offered? We have been hopinng to have the chance to do this, but we understand that P&O only do this about 2 weeks before departure.

Get a taxi to take you to the Bordallo Pinheiro museum. Have a browse and buy a sardine -you'll see what I mean!

Then just zig zag your way back to the river. There are little side streets and squares and you can wander for hours and downhill is always the way back. You'll find lots of interesting shops, galleries, bars and restaurants. Finally have a stroll by the riverside and back to the ship.

Does P&O ever respond to these type of criticisms on here. You would have thought that they would want to reassure their prospective passengers.

Can P&O tell us what measures they are taking to deal with these hygene concerns.

Can they also say what they are doing about the declining quality of food on their ships as highlighted in this and other review sites. I think that poor food would be the one thing that would put off customers more than anything else.

All salt is simply sodium chloride. There may be some iodine in the crystals, but this is tasteless. The only difference is that sea salt crystals are larger than mined salt crystals so you get a bigger salt hit. Flavours can be added to salt e.g. 'smoky salt' but then you would be able to taste the difference.

You take your lifejackets (that are in your cabin). You carry them, not wear them. You meet in a designated place...usually one of the numerous lounges (so inside, not outside). YOU WAIT FOR THE LATECOMERS AND WAIT....AND WAIT....20 minutes later after the last dozy passengers arrive. There is a safety talk. They show you how to put the lifejacket on. You put the lifejacket on, then take it off and return to your cabin, making sure that you are not trailing any straps on the ground. That is all there is to it.

Does anyone know when the 2017 cruise brochure comes out?

Well, after my initial post, all the advice and comments persuaded me to buy 100 shares yesterday. My experience was just like Scriv's. All our buying yesterday obviously sent a message to the City and that's why the share price went up. :)

A capitalist at last!

We did this same cruise last year. We got to the ship around 10ish and after embarkation proceedure went on board and were able to drop off our hand luggage. We went for a meal and the announcement that our cabins were ready came at about 1.30pm. It depends which deck your cabin is as to how soon they are available. All very smooth. You may get to your cabin before your luggage, so if you want to freshen up/change clothes etc. have the necessaries in your hand luggage.

I see that Carnival shares are a good price at the moment. How many do have to buy to get shareholder benefits? I have a cruise booked for June but haven't paid the balance yet, will I get a discount when I do if I am a qualifying shareholder?

We ate at both Epicutrian and Sinhu on Ventura last October. Epicurian the 1st. week and Sindhu the second. We know that there are two menus for each of these, one for each week of a two week cruise. We intend to book them again for our cruise in June, but before we do we would like to make sure that we have the other menus this time.

So, can anyone tell me if the menus will still be the same in June as they were in Oct. and will they still be on the same weeks.

Complicated I know, but I'm sure some of you regular cruisers will know how it works.

The previous posters have very well covered most of the questions asked. As regards freedom dining, we have had freedom dining on Ventura as well as other ships and have had both tables for 2 and joined larger tables.

What we have found is that those people who opt for freedom dining and then a larger table are folks who are gregarious, like to meet and talk to other passengers and are genuinely good company to be with. This suits us and if it sounds like your sort of thing, then opt for a shared table. You'll meet interesting people and have lots more enjoyable meals that way.

If you don't fancy sharing then the tables for 2 are usually close to other diners and you usually end up chatting anyway. But of course if you just prefer to spend the evening gazing into each others eyes .....

Certainly in operation on Ventura in October.

We had a 6.00 am flight from Birmingham to Venice in June for a cruise on Oceana. We landed about 9.15 local time, were swept very efficiently through security and registration and bussed to the ship, arriving at about 10 30. We went straight on board and left our hand luggage at a safe check in desk whilst we went for an explore/beer.

They announced that we could go to our cabins on B deck just after 12.00 so we collected our hand luggage and went to the cabin although our luggage didn't arrive until about 2 hours later - no problem, we just went for something to eat.

Very efficient procedure all round, better than hanging around to board at Southampton.

The little side on map that they give you on embarkation isn't very useful. If you are on a P&O ship that is new to you, get hold of a P&O Cruises brochure and tear out the deckplan of the ship that you are on. They are all at the back of the brochure.

We leave on Ventura on 12th. Oct. We were informed of our embarkation time on our cruise personaliser about a month before. But we did have to look hard to find it on our tickets.

This is our first sailing from Southampton and we have been given an Embarkation time of 3.00 pm for our cruise on 12th. Oct. As we are booked into the Holiday Inn across the road from the terminal and will probably be kicked out by 11.00 we would like to go to the embarkation point as soon as possible, even if it means hanging about. What is best to do? Is there somewhere to wait? Any advice greatly appreciated.

We've never heard about future cruise credits. Is there a P&O site that explains them or can you only get them on board?

We've already paid the deposit for our cruise in June 2016. We are going on Ventura in Oct. so if I buy FCC on board will I be able to apply them to the June 2016 cruise or do they just apply to new cruises booked after you've bought the credits?

Seems we've been missing out all this while - thanks for the info.

You can also get a discount if you work for the NHS or if you are a member ofthe Civil Service Pensioners' Association.

I use a CPAP machine without any bother on P&O. They have 240v sockets near the bed on Ventura and Oceana, I don't know where the sockets are on other ships, but I suspect that they will also be near the beds. I always pack an extension lead when I go away anywhere just to be on the safe side.

If you are on a fly cruise you should inform P&O or your TA because they can arrange for you to carry your CPAP as extra hand luggage.

We did Venice to Genoa in June and the formal nights were those 2 sea days as you thought. The second formal night was the captain's gala night so you might not want to do speciality dining on that night.

We have booked a saver fare on Ventura in October, cabin grade DE. There are some cabins on E deck aft (E720 to E731) These seem to be the only DE grade available at the moment but we have heard that these are very noisy due to being directly over the Havana Show Lounge. Does anyone have experience of these cabins please.

We have friends in the USA who are flying over for a cruise starting and finishing in Southampton. They have asked us for advice as to how they can get from the airport to Southampton.

In particular they say that the ship docks at 6:00 AM on a Saturday and ideally they will be looking to get to Heathrow for a home flight the same day. Can any of you knowledgeable people help with information for them?

Thank you all, particularly LottieA! Was considering the Dolphin, but it looks like the Holiday Inn gets the vote.

We have just booked our first P&O cruise from Southampton for 14 days and we want to travel down and stay over the night before embarkation.

There seem to be lots of hotels near the port that offer overnight stay, B&B, 15 nights parking and can arrange transfers to the ship. Can readers recommend which ones are the best/ most reliable.