ChrisPBacon

£1800 for an inside cabin. Not that great a 'deal' but not as expensive as a balcony.

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P&O are getting ridiculously expensive. We just got back from the Caribbean on Azura and went to the cruise desk for a deal they were offering. Even deducting the extra £100 each OBC they were offering, a cruise at the same time next year was £1000 more expensive for a balcony.

It's a sellers market as far as P&O are concerned right now. Many people prefer the Britishness and they sell the whole package for the Caribbean. I think they are raking it in now, in case Branson undercuts them in 2020. But we worked out we could (if we wanted) afford three really decent holidays for the cost of one Caribbean cruise.

If we cruise again in the next 12 months, we'll be looking elsewhere.

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I see this argument put forward do often on this forum. The fact that it's in the T&Cs and we are faced with a 'take it or leave it' situation, doesn't make it ok. The fact that we still cruise with them doesn't make it acceptable when they make sure everything goes in their favour, such as loyalty discount only kicking in after OBC has been spent.

The latest manifestation of this is them still charging a Select fare, and the advertising blurb STILL saying you pick your own cabin, but you go through to pay and they say you are only getting a guaranteed cabin. I think it might have been Selbourne that mentioned the Britishness of the P&O cruises, and I guess that goes for most of us. So we are left with little option but to accept it.

But for us, we choose not to pay a price that even after deducting the increased OBC, is still £1000 higher then my last cruise, which I returned from last week. That represents around a 20% increase in one year. We can now take three one-week holidays...decent holidays, for the price of a single cruise with a balcony. So we are opting to give cruising a rest for a while and we'll see what happens to prices, perhaps when Branson enters the market and the price war starts. Perhaps P&O are making their money whilst they can?

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Just got back from the Caribbean on Azura. After being lured to the loyalty desk by a flyer for a great deal on a balcony for the corresponding cruise next year, we were left disappointed. The lady went into the system and then said that those cabins were gone. But we could have a higher grade. Ok.....but she then said those were gone because the offer had been popular. So we went onto the next grade, until we got to a price we didn't want to pay.

I know we don't tend to mention actual prices, but I'll just say this. Relative to this cruise we've just done, we were offered an extra £200 OBC, but the cost for a similar balcony cabin was £1200 more. A net increase of £1000. Now I know P&O are a commercial organisation, and they need to make a profit for their shareholders. But £1000 increase? [emoji15][emoji15][emoji15]So any discussion on 'free' OBC has to be looked at in context of the overall price you are paying. If I'd kept my bill, I'd do a little check to see what loyalty discount (%) we actually got, when you take into account that they don't discount your OBC.

Part of me doesn't blame them for taking the money whilst the going is good, but they are playing a dangerous game. I say that because as much as we love cruising, we could have three decent holidays for the cost of the Caribbean cruise. Thats where we are right now. We will cruise again and I'm sure, on P&O (among others). But we'll cruise less.

P.S. I think Branson enters the market in 2020. That will be interesting!

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The OBC is 100% discount, they then take 10% (or whatever your loyalty level is) off of that which is still zero, so not sharp practice at all :)

We are paying for the OBC in the purchase price. Anyone who thinks P&O are 'giving' us anything needs to have their head examined. I can't quite understand what you're saying about the loyalty discount, but it doesn't kick in until your OBC is spent. So loyal customers getting extra OBC when booking on the ship, are not only paying in advance for the OBC.....they are losing out on their loyalty discount. So it's a win-win situation for P&O.

I won't even get started on them only offering a 'guaranteed' cabin for a Select price. That's a pure rip off.

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Yes, it does play up on iPad sometimes.

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Also, avoid any tour in Flam that talks about magical, mystical caves. It's just a quarry with a few tea lights dotted around.

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We always book our own tours at half the price of the ship's tours. That's fine when you go to the Med or the Caribbean. But the towns in Norway are quite remote and you don't have taxi drivers lined up to offer you tours. Our biggest disappointment was getting to Flam to find the mountain train fully booked.

My advice......book the Norway tours through the ship, but elsewhere do your own thing.

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On my cruise, the Epicurean was very busy. I got in right near the end of the cruise, booking about 4 days in advance and at the only time they had available. So if it's a special occasion, make sure you book. Never known it that busy before.

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Beach house is £7.50 plus any add ons for the dishes. The glass house dishes are individually priced. The Epicurean is £28. Sindu used to be £15 but not 100% sure.

But in the first couple of days, watch for deals. We've just got back from the Caribbean on the Azura, and they offered a free bottle of wine in the Epicurean. After that, it was very busy for the rest of the cruise.

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But ONC isn't free though is it? Let's not pretend P&O are giving us something here.

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Just got back from my latest Caribbean cruise, so thought I'd share some info on the cruise and ports.

Aruba - This was a new port for us. I've no doubt that had this not been our first stop (no exposure to the sun yet) we'd have spent the day on a lovely beach. But we played it safe and explored the local town. What we found was ridiculously overpriced beer and to some extent, a rip off. One bar boasted 2 for 1 on beers. No brand was mentioned. When we got the bill and no reduction on it, we questioned it. He said, well you didn't ask for the 2 for 1 beer. $10 for a beer when you can get a bucket of 6 in other ports for under $10.

Grand Cayman - Another new port, three on this trip. Paid for a tour that boasted of taking us to all kinds of places, but never did. We were on a tour with a local driver that included Brits and Americans. At the dolphin experience place, we agreed a time for return, only for someone to exceed it by around 20 minutes. When they did finally return, they clearly wanted to show that they didn't care that everyone else was waiting, and walked very slowly to the bus. Then a little later, the driver announces he needs to stop at an ATM for a number of people. I presume he did this because our American friends had said they didn't have the cash to pay him, because most of them got off at the ATM and had us sat there for 25 minutes. Again, no rush to get back on and no apology from anyone for having us all sat there waiting, including our friend from the Dolphin experience. Maybe apologising for something like this is a British thing? The upshot was that we didn't see all we expected and it made for a rather dull tour. For this reason, I wasn't sad to see the back of Grand Cayman, although it did look to be a nice island.

Jamaica - This was the stop of the cruise. We took the catamaran 'Cool Runnings' to the Dunn's River Falls and with a guide, climbed the falls. What an experience. Yes, it's very busy there, but that didn't diminish the enjoyment factor. The crew on the boat were also fantastic. A tour I would recommend.

Grand Turk is a place we'd been to before and on this cruise, replaced Amber Cove, which apparently had a naturist cruise in.....although thanks to the cruise line for no explanation on this. This was a beach day and we ventured over to Jack's Shack. Nice little bar. Just had beers and didn't bother with food, although the aroma from the grill had your mouth watering. Could have done with some service out by the sun loungers, but apart from them collecting empties, there was none. But great beach and finally a chill day.

Tortola is an old favourite of ours. But the day before was a sea day and although it didn't rain, it was overcast. We took a taxi to Cane Garden Bay, a place I love. But as we got there, I saw a lot of erosion on the wall and figured they must have had some bad storms. When we got to the beach, there were clear signs on erosion and the beach appeared half the width that it usually is. That meant the sun loungers at the front were constantly six inches deep in water and the loungers were subsequently spread further along the beach. We ended up six feet from the bus and taxi car park and didn't really feel we were actually on the beach. We also had rain, so we left early and came back over the mountain to a very hot cruise port. Shame about the bay, because it is a big favourite of ours.

St Maarten is another fave of ours and one thing we'd never done was to go over to Maho Bay and watch the planes land over the beach. So we did that from the safety of the bayside bar, since we needed a rest from the direct sunlight that day. A few beers and a lovely sea breeze. Very nice. We went back into Philipsburg for a few beers and some shopping and the best cheeseburger I'd had for years.

St Lucia is a fave of many people and it didn't disappoint. We'd never done a tour here, so we went to a botanical gardens where we learnt all about Lushan life and what they eat etc. We even got to try it for ourselves. This visit made the tour, but I have to say that we were promised more, like the beach and shops, but it didn't happen. That's twice on the cruise and I've never had this happen before. Back at the cruise port, we had a 'couple' of beers at the Rum Therapy Bar, as we always do. A late departure from St Lucia meant that we could stay at the bar until well after sundown. Fantastic.

Finally......Dominica. I'll just say that we did the rainforest and waterfall tour once before and the island doesn't really do much for us. So we stayed on board.

Back to Barbados and a beachfront bar.

As for the cruise itself, I'm happy to criticise where I see fit, but I think many things had improved. The food was better than previous cruises. More inventive both in the buffet and MDR. Waiters friendlier and cabin steward very good. I use the £12.50 internet package and it was very good for posting pics etc. The standard niggles remain though. No matter how much they tell people, they won't regulate the sun loungers themselves. Bed-hogging was as bad as ever and with a crew of 800-900, you would think they could spare someone to monitor this....because it really does need monitoring.

The entertainment was hit and miss. Resident bands were good, but the other entertainment....not so sure. Mark Walker is always good, and this time, he had our party up on stage doing Irish dancing. The other comedians, were average. Overall, I'd say this is an area for improvement. Others have suggested the entertainment in the Caribbean this year wasn't as good and I'd agree. I missed Manuel Martinez......he's always been on but wasn't this time.

My full scorn is reserved for the badly named loyalty desk, where you can book your next cruise for a £50 deposit and usually, extra OBC. They had a special offer on for next Feb. So we go to ask about it and she looks for availability. Oh sorry, ally he balconies are gone on that level, but you can pay for for another deck. Ok. Oh sorry, all those are gone too, but you can go up a level. And so it went on, until we were at a level that would have cost us £800-£1200 more than this cruise did. What they are doing is releasing only a few cabins and releasing the less favourite ones on the cruise desk. That's the trade off for the extra OBC. It has nothing to do with loyalty. I was a bit upset that the girl on the desk played this game where she looked for cabins, knowing that they didn't exist.

All that apart, another good cruise, great weather and great company. P&O have upped their game, particularly in the dining rooms. I believe P&O have one eye on Richard Branson's entry into the market in 2020, and I'd say they should be a little worried. Over the last 2-3 years, cruising has got more and more popular and the Britannia has helped to lure families in particular. But year on year, prices are going up far beyond inflation. I understand that some would say they'd be crazy not to do this when the going is a good. But they need to be careful. We have decided not to go back to the Caribbean after four consecutive years. Partly because we feel we've seen what we want to see, but also because the price doesn't stack up. If the price was right, we'd go back. It's hard to beat the Winter sun over there. But we could have two to three great separate holidays for the price of a balcony in the Caribbean. It's a no-brainier for us.

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Just got back from my latest Caribbean cruise, so thought I'd share some info on the cruise and ports.

Aruba - This was a new port for us. I've no doubt that had this not been our first stop (no exposure to the sun yet) we'd have spent the day on a lovely beach. But we played it safe and explored the local town. What we found was ridiculously overpriced beer and to some extent, a rip off. One bar boasted 2 for 1 on beers. No brand was mentioned. When we got the bill and no reduction on it, we questioned it. He said, well you didn't ask for the 2 for 1 beer. $10 for a beer when you can get a bucket of 6 in other ports for under $10.

Grand Cayman - Another new port, three on this trip. Paid for a tour that boasted of taking us to all kinds of places, but never did. We were on a tour with a local driver that included Brits and Americans. At the dolphin experience place, we agreed a time for return, only for someone to exceed it by around 20 minutes. When they did finally return, they clearly wanted to show that they didn't care that everyone else was waiting, and walked very slowly to the bus. Then a little later, the driver announces he needs to stop at an ATM for a number of people. I presume he did this because our American friends had said they didn't have the cash to pay him, because most of them got off at the ATM and had us sat there for 25 minutes. Again, no rush to get back on and no apology from anyone for having us all sat there waiting, including our friend from the Dolphin experience. Maybe apologising for something like this is a British thing? The upshot was that we didn't see all we expected and it made for a rather dull tour. For this reason, I wasn't sad to see the back of Grand Cayman, although it did look to be a nice island.

Jamaica - This was the stop of the cruise. We took the catamaran 'Cool Runnings' to the Dunn's River Falls and with a guide, climbed the falls. What an experience. Yes, it's very busy there, but that didn't diminish the enjoyment factor. The crew on the boat were also fantastic. A tour I would recommend.

Grand Turk is a place we'd been to before and on this cruise, replaced Amber Cove, which apparently had a naturist cruise in.....although thanks to the cruise line for no explanation on this. This was a beach day and we ventured over to Jack's Shack. Nice little bar. Just had beers and didn't bother with food, although the aroma from the grill had your mouth watering. Could have done with some service out by the sun loungers, but apart from them collecting empties, there was none. But great beach and finally a chill day.

Tortola is an old favourite of ours. But the day before was a sea day and although it didn't rain, it was overcast. We took a taxi to Cane Garden Bay, a place I love. But as we got there, I saw a lot of erosion on the wall and figured they must have had some bad storms. When we got to the beach, there were clear signs on erosion and the beach appeared half the width that it usually is. That meant the sun loungers at the front were constantly six inches deep in water and the loungers were subsequently spread further along the beach. We ended up six feet from the bus and taxi car park and didn't really feel we were actually on the beach. We also had rain, so we left early and came back over the mountain to a very hot cruise port. Shame about the bay, because it is a big favourite of ours.

St Maarten is another fave of ours and one thing we'd never done was to go over to Maho Bay and watch the planes land over the beach. So we did that from the safety of the bayside bar, since we needed a rest from the direct sunlight that day. A few beers and a lovely sea breeze. Very nice. We went back into Philipsburg for a few beers and some shopping and the best cheeseburger I'd had for years.

St Lucia is a fave of many people and it didn't disappoint. We'd never done a tour here, so we went to a botanical gardens where we learnt all about Lushan life and what they eat etc. We even got to try it for ourselves. This visit made the tour, but I have to say that we were promised more, like the beach and shops, but it didn't happen. That's twice on the cruise and I've never had this happen before. Back at the cruise port, we had a 'couple' of beers at the Rum Therapy Bar, as we always do. A late departure from St Lucia meant that we could stay at the bar until well after sundown. Fantastic.

Finally......Dominica. I'll just say that we did the rainforest and waterfall tour once before and the island doesn't really do much for us. So we stayed on board.

Back to Barbados and a beachfront bar.

As for the cruise itself, I'm happy to criticise where I see fit, but I think many things had improved. The food was better than previous cruises. More inventive both in the buffet and MDR. Waiters friendlier and cabin steward very good. I use the £12.50 internet package and it was very good for posting pics etc. The standard niggles remain though. No matter how much they tell people, they won't regulate the sun loungers themselves. Bed-hogging was as bad as ever and with a crew of 800-900, you would think they could spare someone to monitor this....because it really does need monitoring.

The entertainment was hit and miss. Resident bands were good, but the other entertainment....not so sure. Mark Walker is always good, and this time, he had our party up on stage doing Irish dancing. The other comedians, were average. Overall, I'd say this is an area for improvement. Others have suggested the entertainment in the Caribbean this year wasn't as good and I'd agree. I missed Manuel Martinez......he's always been on but wasn't this time.

My full scorn is reserved for the badly named loyalty desk, where you can book your next cruise for a £50 deposit and usually, extra OBC. They had a special offer on for next Feb. So we go to ask about it and she looks for availability. Oh sorry, ally he balconies are gone on that level, but you can pay for for another deck. Ok. Oh sorry, all those are gone too, but you can go up a level. And so it went on, until we were at a level that would have cost us £800-£1200 more than this cruise did. What they are doing is releasing only a few cabins and releasing the less favourite ones on the cruise desk. That's the trade off for the extra OBC. It has nothing to do with loyalty. I was a bit upset that the girl on the desk played this game where she looked for cabins, knowing that they didn't exist.

All that apart, another good cruise, great weather and great company. P&O have upped their game, particularly in the dining rooms. I believe P&O have one eye on Richard Branson's entry into the market in 2020, and I'd say they should be a little worried. Over the last 2-3 years, cruising has got more and more popular and the Britannia has helped to lure families in particular. But year on year, prices are going up far beyond inflation. I understand that some would say they'd be crazy not to do this when the going is a good. But they need to be careful. We have decided not to go back to the Caribbean after four consecutive years. Partly because we feel we've seen what we want to see, but also because the price doesn't stack up. If the price was right, we'd go back. It's hard to beat the Winter sun over there. But we could have two to three great separate holidays for the price of a balcony in the Caribbean. It's a no-brainier for us.

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Just got back from my latest Caribbean cruise, so thought I'd share some info on the cruise and ports.

Aruba - This was a new port for us. I've no doubt that had this not been our first stop (no exposure to the sun yet) we'd have spent the day on a lovely beach. But we played it safe and explored the local town. What we found was ridiculously overpriced beer and to some extent, a rip off. One bar boasted 2 for 1 on beers. No brand was mentioned. When we got the bill and no reduction on it, we questioned it. He said, well you didn't ask for the 2 for 1 beer. $10 for a beer when you can get a bucket of 6 in other ports for under $10.

Grand Cayman - Another new port, three on this trip. Paid for a tour that boasted of taking us to all kinds of places, but never did. We were on a tour with a local driver that included Brits and Americans. At the dolphin experience place, we agreed a time for return, only for someone to exceed it by around 20 minutes. When they did finally return, they clearly wanted to show that they didn't care that everyone else was waiting, and walked very slowly to the bus. Then a little later, the driver announces he needs to stop at an ATM for a number of people. I presume he did this because our American friends had said they didn't have the cash to pay him, because most of them got off at the ATM and had us sat there for 25 minutes. Again, no rush to get back on and no apology from anyone for having us all sat there waiting, including our friend from the Dolphin experience. Maybe apologising for something like this is a British thing? The upshot was that we didn't see all we expected and it made for a rather dull tour. For this reason, I wasn't sad to see the back of Grand Cayman, although it did look to be a nice island.

Jamaica - This was the stop of the cruise. We took the catamaran 'Cool Runnings' to the Dunn's River Falls and with a guide, climbed the falls. What an experience. Yes, it's very busy there, but that didn't diminish the enjoyment factor. The crew on the boat were also fantastic. A tour I would recommend.

Grand Turk is a place we'd been to before and on this cruise, replaced Amber Cove, which apparently had a naturist cruise in.....although thanks to the cruise line for no explanation on this. This was a beach day and we ventured over to Jack's Shack. Nice little bar. Just had beers and didn't bother with food, although the aroma from the grill had your mouth watering. Could have done with some service out by the sun loungers, but apart from them collecting empties, there was none. But great beach and finally a chill day.

Tortola is an old favourite of ours. But the day before was a sea day and although it didn't rain, it was overcast. We took a taxi to Cane Garden Bay, a place I love. But as we got there, I saw a lot of erosion on the wall and figured they must have had some bad storms. When we got to the beach, there were clear signs on erosion and the beach appeared half the width that it usually is. That meant the sun loungers at the front were constantly six inches deep in water and the loungers were subsequently spread further along the beach. We ended up six feet from the bus and taxi car park and didn't really feel we were actually on the beach. We also had rain, so we left early and came back over the mountain to a very hot cruise port. Shame about the bay, because it is a big favourite of ours.

St Maarten is another fave of ours and one thing we'd never done was to go over to Maho Bay and watch the planes land over the beach. So we did that from the safety of the bayside bar, since we needed a rest from the direct sunlight that day. A few beers and a lovely sea breeze. Very nice. We went back into Philipsburg for a few beers and some shopping and the best cheeseburger I'd had for years.

St Lucia is a fave of many people and it didn't disappoint. We'd never done a tour here, so we went to a botanical gardens where we learnt all about Lushan life and what they eat etc. We even got to try it for ourselves. This visit made the tour, but I have to say that we were promised more, like the beach and shops, but it didn't happen. That's twice on the cruise and I've never had this happen before. Back at the cruise port, we had a 'couple' of beers at the Rum Therapy Bar, as we always do. A late departure from St Lucia meant that we could stay at the bar until well after sundown. Fantastic.

Finally......Dominica. I'll just say that we did the rainforest and waterfall tour once before and the island doesn't really do much for us. So we stayed on board.

Back to Barbados and a beachfront bar.

As for the cruise itself, I'm happy to criticise where I see fit, but I think many things had improved. The food was better than previous cruises. More inventive both in the buffet and MDR. Waiters friendlier and cabin steward very good. I use the £12.50 internet package and it was very good for posting pics etc. The standard niggles remain though. No matter how much they tell people, they won't regulate the sun loungers themselves. Bed-hogging was as bad as ever and with a crew of 800-900, you would think they could spare someone to monitor this....because it really does need monitoring.

The entertainment was hit and miss. Resident bands were good, but the other entertainment....not so sure. Mark Walker is always good, and this time, he had our party up on stage doing Irish dancing. The other comedians, were average. Overall, I'd say this is an area for improvement. Others have suggested the entertainment in the Caribbean this year wasn't as good and I'd agree. I missed Manuel Martinez......he's always been on but wasn't this time.

My full scorn is reserved for the badly named loyalty desk, where you can book your next cruise for a £50 deposit and usually, extra OBC. They had a special offer on for next Feb. So we go to ask about it and she looks for availability. Oh sorry, ally he balconies are gone on that level, but you can pay for for another deck. Ok. Oh sorry, all those are gone too, but you can go up a level. And so it went on, until we were at a level that would have cost us £800-£1200 more than this cruise did. What they are doing is releasing only a few cabins and releasing the less favourite ones on the cruise desk. That's the trade off for the extra OBC. It has nothing to do with loyalty. I was a bit upset that the girl on the desk played this game where she looked for cabins, knowing that they didn't exist.

All that apart, another good cruise, great weather and great company. P&O have upped their game, particularly in the dining rooms. I believe P&O have one eye on Richard Branson's entry into the market in 2020, and I'd say they should be a little worried. Over the last 2-3 years, cruising has got more and more popular and the Britannia has helped to lure families in particular. But year on year, prices are going up far beyond inflation. I understand that some would say they'd be crazy not to do this when the going is a good. But they need to be careful. We have decided not to go back to the Caribbean after four consecutive years. Partly because we feel we've seen what we want to see, but also because the price doesn't stack up. If the price was right, we'd go back. It's hard to beat the Winter sun over there. But we could have two to three great separate holidays for the price of a balcony in the Caribbean. It's a no-brainier for us.

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Just got back from my latest Caribbean cruise, so thought I'd share some info on the cruise and ports.

Aruba - This was a new port for us. I've no doubt that had this not been our first stop (no exposure to the sun yet) we'd have spent the day on a lovely beach. But we played it safe and explored the local town. What we found was ridiculously overpriced beer and to some extent, a rip off. One bar boasted 2 for 1 on beers. No brand was mentioned. When we got the bill and no reduction on it, we questioned it. He said, well you didn't ask for the 2 for 1 beer. $10 for a beer when you can get a bucket of 6 in other ports for under $10.

Grand Cayman - Another new port, three on this trip. Paid for a tour that boasted of taking us to all kinds of places, but never did. We were on a tour with a local driver that included Brits and Americans. At the dolphin experience place, we agreed a time for return, only for someone to exceed it by around 20 minutes. When they did finally return, they clearly wanted to show that they didn't care that everyone else was waiting, and walked very slowly to the bus. Then a little later, the driver announces he needs to stop at an ATM for a number of people. I presume he did this because our American friends had said they didn't have the cash to pay him, because most of them got off at the ATM and had us sat there for 25 minutes. Again, no rush to get back on and no apology from anyone for having us all sat there waiting, including our friend from the Dolphin experience. Maybe apologising for something like this is a British thing? The upshot was that we didn't see all we expected and it made for a rather dull tour. For this reason, I wasn't sad to see the back of Grand Cayman, although it did look to be a nice island.

Jamaica - This was the stop of the cruise. We took the catamaran 'Cool Runnings' to the Dunn's River Falls and with a guide, climbed the falls. What an experience. Yes, it's very busy there, but that didn't diminish the enjoyment factor. The crew on the boat were also fantastic. A tour I would recommend.

Grand Turk is a place we'd been to before and on this cruise, replaced Amber Cove, which apparently had a naturist cruise in.....although thanks to the cruise line for no explanation on this. This was a beach day and we ventured over to Jack's Shack. Nice little bar. Just had beers and didn't bother with food, although the aroma from the grill had your mouth watering. Could have done with some service out by the sun loungers, but apart from them collecting empties, there was none. But great beach and finally a chill day.

Tortola is an old favourite of ours. But the day before was a sea day and although it didn't rain, it was overcast. We took a taxi to Cane Garden Bay, a place I love. But as we got there, I saw a lot of erosion on the wall and figured they must have had some bad storms. When we got to the beach, there were clear signs on erosion and the beach appeared half the width that it usually is. That meant the sun loungers at the front were constantly six inches deep in water and the loungers were subsequently spread further along the beach. We ended up six feet from the bus and taxi car park and didn't really feel we were actually on the beach. We also had rain, so we left early and came back over the mountain to a very hot cruise port. Shame about the bay, because it is a big favourite of ours.

St Maarten is another fave of ours and one thing we'd never done was to go over to Maho Bay and watch the planes land over the beach. So we did that from the safety of the bayside bar, since we needed a rest from the direct sunlight that day. A few beers and a lovely sea breeze. Very nice. We went back into Philipsburg for a few beers and some shopping and the best cheeseburger I'd had for years.

St Lucia is a fave of many people and it didn't disappoint. We'd never done a tour here, so we went to a botanical gardens where we learnt all about Lushan life and what they eat etc. We even got to try it for ourselves. This visit made the tour, but I have to say that we were promised more, like the beach and shops, but it didn't happen. That's twice on the cruise and I've never had this happen before. Back at the cruise port, we had a 'couple' of beers at the Rum Therapy Bar, as we always do. A late departure from St Lucia meant that we could stay at the bar until well after sundown. Fantastic.

Finally......Dominica. I'll just say that we did the rainforest and waterfall tour once before and the island doesn't really do much for us. So we stayed on board.

Back to Barbados and a beachfront bar.

As for the cruise itself, I'm happy to criticise where I see fit, but I think many things had improved. The food was better than previous cruises. More inventive both in the buffet and MDR. Waiters friendlier and cabin steward very good. I use the £12.50 internet package and it was very good for posting pics etc. The standard niggles remain though. No matter how much they tell people, they won't regulate the sun loungers themselves. Bed-hogging was as bad as ever and with a crew of 800-900, you would think they could spare someone to monitor this....because it really does need monitoring.

The entertainment was hit and miss. Resident bands were good, but the other entertainment....not so sure. Mark Walker is always good, and this time, he had our party up on stage doing Irish dancing. The other comedians, were average. Overall, I'd say this is an area for improvement. Others have suggested the entertainment in the Caribbean this year wasn't as good and I'd agree. I missed Manuel Martinez......he's always been on but wasn't this time.

My full scorn is reserved for the badly named loyalty desk, where you can book your next cruise for a £50 deposit and usually, extra OBC. They had a special offer on for next Feb. So we go to ask about it and she looks for availability. Oh sorry, ally he balconies are gone on that level, but you can pay for for another deck. Ok. Oh sorry, all those are gone too, but you can go up a level. And so it went on, until we were at a level that would have cost us £800-£1200 more than this cruise did. What they are doing is releasing only a few cabins and releasing the less favourite ones on the cruise desk. That's the trade off for the extra OBC. It has nothing to do with loyalty. I was a bit upset that the girl on the desk played this game where she looked for cabins, knowing that they didn't exist.

All that apart, another good cruise, great weather and great company. P&O have upped their game, particularly in the dining rooms. I believe P&O have one eye on Richard Branson's entry into the market in 2020, and I'd say they should be a little worried. Over the last 2-3 years, cruising has got more and more popular and the Britannia has helped to lure families in particular. But year on year, prices are going up far beyond inflation. I understand that some would say they'd be crazy not to do this when the going is a good. But they need to be careful. We have decided not to go back to the Caribbean after four consecutive years. Partly because we feel we've seen what we want to see, but also because the price doesn't stack up. If the price was right, we'd go back. It's hard to beat the Winter sun over there. But we could have two to three great separate holidays for the price of a balcony in the Caribbean. It's a no-brainier for us.

Crispy, what about Thomson, they currently have 3 ships doing fly cruises to the Caribbean, and I am sure their planes will offer the same service that they gove to P&O. I have also seen MSC offering flights to Barbados with Virgin to pick up one of their cruise ships. Not to mention all the US lines that sell fly cruises from the UK.

 

Unfortunately Sterlings devaluation is going to lead to higher prices on UK based cruise lines, its just something we now have to accept.

I do intend to look around because even with the devaluation of sterling, the popularity of cruising is raising the price and making me think twice. The extra cost for our balcony is in effect, another week's holiday. It might be a Winter cruise in the Middle/Far East next Winter.

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Chris..P&O are not managing the demand, they are managing the supply. It is as simple as that. It is a common retailing strategy

Good point but the net result is the same. There is a point here because they stress the 'loyalty' aspect at the cruise desk. What they are actually doing is offering the poorer cabins in exchange for the extra OBC. They are perfectly entitled to do that and passengers can make their choice.

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I'm well aware of all the tricks and tips when it comes to cabin hunting Dai. We currently take two cruises a year with P&O and have done for the last few years.

I subscribe to info on my chosen cruise so I'm alerted on price changes.

Re the cabins being sold....they are not. I forgot to mention that after visiting the cruise desk, I went online and saw those second tier balconies on decks A, B and C ALL available....without the extra OBC of course. But that's P&O's choice.

As for the person in the know, there's a reason I don't identify them. The reason P&O are worried about Branson is because at the moment they have the Caribbean sewn up. No other cruise company can offer the all-in package with local airports flights as P&O do. Branson will change that. He already has direct flights to Barbados from Gatwick and Manchester. It's true enough. P&O are reacting to Branson.

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In the Caribbean right now on Azura, and the pricing for next year is ridiculous. They had an 'offer' on, with a chunk of OBC. So we go to the cruise desk and she goes online and says....oh no, all those cabins are gone. She was almost convincing. But we can offer you one at a higher price. Ok, what have you got? Oh no.....they are all sold out too. Ok, I can definitely offer you one at yet another higher price. They are definitely available.

Two things about booking onboard. The offer is just a hook to get you there. Not the price you are going to pay. Second.....booking a cruise onboard a year before the cruise means there are lots of cabins available. But P&O are just not releasing them yet. They are simply creating a false demand onboard to urge people to book now. The last time I booked onboard, they said, ok, which cabin do you want? They offered me a choice of five. All of which were crap.

I won't be booking onboard. They may offer you more OBC, but it comes at a price. A very limited cabin selection unless you go 3-4 grades higher than standard, at prices that are going up at a phenomenal rate.

P&O are not simply reacting to supply & demand. They are artificially creating the demand by restricting what they sell and when. That's been confirmed by a travel agent relative of one of our party. Right now it's working for them. But this new tactic of still saying (in the advertising blurb for the select price) you can pick your cabin, and then when you go to pay, saying you have a guaranteed cabin may one day backfire on them. We've also heard from, shall we say, a person in the know on the ship, that P&O are worried about Branson's entry into the cruise market in 2020 and in part, it has led them to start building the new ship.

When the cost for two of us in a balcony cabin is already £800-£1200 higher for next year than we've paid for this one, it's time to jump off the bandwagon. I may book my holidays at work and try and get it a couple of weeks before. If not, I'll do something else. If P&O keep telling me to jump and I keep asking, how high.....then I only have myself to blame. But I do see things going back to the way they were around three years ago, when many people just waited to see if the saver fare dropped.

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I think they are genuinely cheaper, but you will also see them in shops onshore I guess? But the best advice is as above. Know exactly what they cost here and what you want to pay. The onboard shops also do promotions at certain times during the cruise, so ask about those.

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I'm with you on this Selbourne. If you select your cabin, you do so being happy with it. So you say no to an auto upgrade. If you choose to pay a select fare so you can pick your cabin, why would you opt for an upgrade.

But I agree. Moving me from one inside cabin to another of similar size is NOT an upgrade IMO. Inside to outside/balcony is.

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Can you order bottles of spirits from room service for consumption in your cabin? If so how much?

I don't know, but if a single vodka costs say, £4, then you can imagine how much a bottle would cost.

We are sailing from Barbados on 4th Feb and as we check in at the port, we are going to the port duty free shops before we board and before they shut.

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That's spot on. If you are buying it from the onboard duty free shop, you get it the night before you get off.

I would think that you can buy a bottle from the bar.....more expensive of course, And probably prohibitively expensive. Best to get it from the port you are sailing from or at your first stop, and bring it back onboard. P&O allow you to do this for consumption in your cabin.There isn't a particular limit on this. Bug bring it out of your cabin and get caught, they will charge you 'corkage'.

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Well I've had my fill of TAs. I'll never book a P&O cruise through them again.

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