Csardas

We're driving to Southampton for our July cruise from Ayr, a 7 hour plus stops, slog. We're not in a hurry and have booked the night before the cruise in Southampton. Any suggestions for a nice overnight en-route halfway?  I had thought of Stratford as I've never been there before but any recommendations are welcome!

We're driving to Southampton for our July cruise from Ayr, a 7 hour plus stops, slog. We're not in a hurry and have booked the night before the cruise in Southampton. Any suggestions for a nice overnight en-route halfway?  I had thought of Stratford as I've never been there before but any recommendations are welcome!

On 3/23/2021 at 3:17 PM, njpln said:

Thanks for your comments. I appreciate ALL the comments, including the kilt ones. Since we also cruise on Cunard, we have seen quite a few kilts on the gala evenings.😊

 

 

It was also interesting for me to realize that some people consider a dressy dress different than a cocktail dress. I guess to me a cocktail dress is dressy, but knee length, compared to say a dress I would wear to church. And a gown is even dressier but floor length, and I would probably refer to that as formal. Part of it’s just semantics…🤪

 

Can’t wait to cruise again…

We cruise on Cunard too. I found a huge range of dress on Celebrity( European cruises) on both Evening Chic nights and Smart Casual. There were a few men in Dinner Suits and some lovely dresses on Evening Chic nights but I saw that mostly in the Martini bar, so not related to which dining-room you ate in. I wouldn't wear the gowns I have for Cunard Formal nights but what I wear for the 'Casual' nights on Cunard was certainly dressy enough for Celebrity's Evening Chic. There were a few women in formal gowns, but just a handful.

Totally understand the distinction between floor length and gown - I have a couple of maxi dresses that I wore for Evening Chic but would only wear for  Casual nights on Cunard. Hope this helps!

I'm looking at a July '22 cruise. We've been on Reflection before and Constellation but are toying with the idea of Aqua class, mostly for the Blu dining. However, I've looked at some videos and in every one there seemed to be an overhang above the balcony. Being Scottish, warm sun is a novelty for us and I don't want a shaded balcony. 

Would any kind people share/recommend a good position on Reflection in Aqua class and their thoughts on whether is it worth the extra?

Thanks!

Gibraltar

On 9/28/2020 at 10:34 PM, Mudhen said:

I believe the same holds true with Celebrity. We had a "sky suite" several years ago and we ate in the "suite only" dining room. I don't recall the name of it, but it was fairly small and btw, very good.

Luminae. Then there’s Aqua class with their own restaurant, Blue, and then the GDR for everyone else. 
Really, the ‘class’ comments about Cunard made by some posters are so tiresome. Many of these sweeping statements haven’t considered that many other lines have separate restaurants that correlate with cabin choice and price.

Re final payment dates with TAs- I was due to pay the balance of our Arcadia 5 night New Year cruise today. Spoke to the TA ( big company) and she easily agreed to extend to the 23/9, 3 days before P and O’s date had I booked directly. She confirmed it immediately by email. Ask - it’s worth a try. 

18 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Just had an e-mail from that TA near Chesterfield about the new launch itineraries, but they only mention QM2 and QE no mention of QV at all, is this significant.

No. It's just a later, May, start.

Our balance for our 10th of July cruise was due to be paid on the 11th of April.

On the 10th of April, I called to cancel and request a FCC. To date, I haven't received any email acknowledgment as indicated and I can still access the Voyage Personaliser. I'll try again tomorrow as I assume they'll have minimum numbers working today.

What was anyone else's experience re cancelling?

Got mine 4 days ago.

Hi,

Are the laundry rooms on board where I can iron the odd shirt?

Thanks to all!

New to P and O. I've tried to find this information on the website, but it's always best to ask the experts!

Would people kindly let me know how many sockets are in the cabin and of which type?

Thank you

On 11/19/2019 at 11:23 PM, wowzz said:

Let's just hope and pray that any new contract is not won by Starbucks,  probably the worst coffee in the world!

Absolutely! It's so insipid - coffee for people who really don't like coffee.

10 hours ago, indiana123 said:

It sounds as if you are either in Amsterdam overnight  or going into town for the evening.  That sounds like great fun.

 

I hope so... we were on Cunard on a  short New Year cruise.  We all waited eagerly on deck and at midnight the fireworks started, but most of them were behind tall flats near to where we were berthed and there was so much smoke that we couldn't see anything else.

 

It was so bad that it was hilarious and everyone took it in good part.. even the captain asked us if we enjoyed the smoke and listening to the fireworks!!!!

 

That was a few years ago now so things have probably changed.  It was a never to be forgotten experience!

Last year on Queen Elizabeth and QV the year before, we had fabulous views of the fireworks. they must have sorted it!

8 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

haven’t actually got a clue what should

go on a gala menu. 
 

all I know is by the time my generation are the ones mainly filling the ships the veal and pheasant aren’t going to go down well.  
 

 

Actually, both are favourites of my 28 and 32 year old daughters.

10 hours ago, chazza9 said:

I'm also coming on this cruise for my New Year getaway.

 

Really looking forward to seeing the fireworks from the top deck. 🎆

It was great last year when we were actually docked in Amsterdam. Do you think IJmuiden (? spelling) will put some on? I don’t think we’ll see Amsterdam’s, 40 minutes away, from the ship.

1 hour ago, Fishgirl01 said:

We are on the Arcadia new year cruise, I love dressing up so will do dressy/long each evening.  I think you do whatever makes it special for you. Enjoy.

Hi. That’s great to read. Having invested in a few posh frocks for last year, I’m glad to give them another outing! Looking forward to the cruise!

Thank you Kenhem!

I read the dress code (before booking!) but wondered if anyone who has been on this cruise before could comment on the other, non-Black Tie nights? We've done this cruise for the last three years on Cunard and people were very dressy every night, more than on a usual Cunard non-formal night. 

On 7/10/2019 at 12:23 AM, Eglesbrech said:

 I would agree that Celebrity is dressy on formal nights, some amazing outfits.

We've done 2 Celebrity cruises and while there were some people very well dressed, the majority didn't wear anything different on Evening Chic nights. The man at the table next to us had 2 polo shirts it seemed- 1 navy, 1 black - and that's all he ever wore for all 11 nights.

Hi,

We're booked for this year's 5 night from the 29th of December. I assume Hogmanany (New Year's Eve) will be Black Tie but will there be any others? I have plenty of dress options and would hate missing the opportunity for another long dress.

Thanks!

Agree: totally overpriced!

7 hours ago, DWhit said:

We are frequent Celebrity cruisers at a top loyalty level.  We have only been on one Cunard cruise, which was a QM2 crossing.  My impression was Cunard was slightly better than Celebrity in food and entertainment, which really are the only things we really care about.  But we love both lines.

 

We get another chance to compare upcoming shortly, as we will be doing a UK cruise in early August, and can compare to our last year's British Open cruise on Celebrity.

Agree with you. While Celebrity's food was  fine, it was a bit too meat and potatoes, especially blasted mashed potatoes! Cunard usually offers pheasant, guinea fowl, and venison too but not in Celebrity's MDR. However, if Cunard had the Martini bar, I would be completely happy on all fronts.

Chatting to fellow passengers recently and they told me they'd transferred a direct booking with Cunard to a travel agent. The conversation moved on so I didn't get an opportunity to ask why they would bother and any possible advantages to doing so. Anyone done this? (UK booking)

As I stated in my post, both Cunard and Oceania have them.

Their clients seemed perfectly  able to read and follow simple instruction.

Both lines also have set opening and closing  times (the doors are locked outwith theses hours) so they don’t provide any disturbance to those opposite or next to them.