Mc_Cruiser

18 hours ago, caribill said:

You did not have to guess months in advance of embarkation what time to schedule dinner

Exactly, it would be useful to know, but the theatre shows only appear on the app a few days before sailing. I'm thinking the late theatre show times may have been chosen to take a bit of load off the restaurants as they are still not at full staffing yet. 

4 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

There is no such thing as too many cruises!  We’ll be in your neck of the woods in September and we can’t wait. 

Likewise we will be in your neck of the woods in September on the 24 night Sky cruise from Southampton 😍

57 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Actually, each adult passenger can bring one bottle of wine onboard with no corkage fee.  You can bring more, but it must be tagged and corkage fees paid on each bottle.  All other types of alcohol are prohibited.

Apologies, you are correct, I'm mixing it up with another cruiseline. Too many cruises this year so far if you can have such a thing 😊 Princess also say you can bring cans of soft drinks on too. 

I'm pretty sure the word Whisk(e)y on a bottle will just be a red flag once you board. A lot depends on where you board, Southampton security generally aren't interested in any bottles, just looking for other prohibited items. I've walked on with 6 bottles of wine in a carrier no problem, but got called back to security when my case had a small Sgian Dubh in it (Scottish dress small knife for your sock). 

Definately agree on 3 shows. The timings on Sky meant that there is no option of show then dinner in the MDR as the first show ends as the MDR closes. The second show finished at 11 or 11:15 depending on length, and that's late for some passengers. 

The Sky had 3850 passengers last week, and many said it would be over 4000 this week. It was very difficult to get a seat in a lounge area after 5 pm. Theatre was full for the 10:15 show most nights with many standing. The Vista lounge shows were very busy and unless you got there well in advance you wouldn't get a seat. 

Last week the Sky had cans of Heineken zero on board. There was a poor beer list in general and not all were available.

AFAIK their policy is no drink can be brought onboard, even non alcoholic drinks.

8 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

Reading all of this mishegoss reminds me of why I haven’t sailed with Royal in the last few years, which is sad because they build beautiful ships that have fantastic entertainment and wonderful staff.  Until Royal go back to a reasonable per/day price that does not fluctuate every time the wind gusts, or come out with a bundled pricing model like other lines, I will most likely not be sailing with them again. I like to be able to look at all of my expected onboard costs BEFORE putting down a deposit on a cruise and don’t like the “buy it now it’s on sale” shell games and uncertainty that come with booking with Royal. 

That's what I've found out on our first Royal cruise booking. Having already looked at the super high drink package price, then getting the message saying 'Congratulations, you have unlocked amazing discounts' only to find the pricing hadn't changed. We did book one alcohol free package which has increased by about 20% a few days before sailing. I'm no fan of demand based pricing algorithms, I'd rather know the price and pay if I think it is value for money then forget about it, not try to second guess what the price might be. 

If you need a laugh, the price for the Ultimate Beverage package on the Anthem 4 nights leaving Southampton tomorrow is £79.80 ($110) per night per person. That must be close to a record. I know there are no ports, but come on. My wife doesn't drink much more than a glass of wine with dinner so even a reasonable package price doesn't make sense for us. At least they allow one person in a room to buy a soda or alcohol free package. 

17 hours ago, Disney-daft said:

Me too… does this mean they are under the 1000 and we are going?

I expect one way or another they will get passenger numbers under the 1000, its too big a deal, I can't see any way they wouldn't sail on the first bookable cruise in 15 months. With the deadline to request a move having been Monday past, they already know the situation and may well have gone directly to some passengers to offer them a deal to move if they weren't already able to reduce the numbers. 

When I contacted the cruise line this morning, they said they hoped to start  getting the details out today and that it would now give 3 days, not 72hrs, so it's good to see that the July 4th cruisers are receiving that info now. Those of us on July 7th should get it in the next day or two. The 3 days means you can get the test in the morning 3 days before the cruise to ensure it gets couriered that day. May still just book Edinburgh Airport to be sure.

Same situation here, booked on 7th, already checked in, then today offered to move cruise and to bid on room upgrades within a few hours. 

After nearly 7 months since the cruise was cancelled in late March and numerous emails with guest relations we have finally received a cheque for the last part of our refund. This was for the extras booked on the JET2 flights included with the cruise. What a carry on though. Only managed to resolve this last part by raising a complaint online as I could not get anyone to answer the phone line within 45 minutes on several occasions. Even then it was a long haul with 28 days being quoted (and at least that being used) each time for a reply. The biggest frustration was being told in late September after 3 months of emails that my cruise fare was refunded back in May which I of course was aware of but just highlighted how messed up they still are this far into the pandemic. By now I'd have thought things would have been simplified and improved.

All I can say is if you are still due parts of your holiday costs, keep at it, remind them every time they delay longer than they say and don't give up.

I requested a refund on 16th March, the day the cruise was cancelled. I've been checking pretty much daily and I now see a full cruise refund is showing on my credit card dated Tuesday 12th May (but wasn't showing on Friday 15th which was 60 days from the request). Still haven't got the shore excursion or flight extras yet. I managed to cancel all but 1 but the online system was not working to cancel the last one. P&O initially said any excursions would be automaticaly refunded after 45 days, but then sent another refund email on 3rd April to claim excursions and flight extras with another 60 day refund policy, so now on day 44 on that one, but very happy to get the main refund. 

If anyone from P&O is monitoring this thread, please look at your communications policies, why not send some updates to your customers informing of the process of refunds, I've not had anything other that general emails on making cocktails and booking future cruises. 

1 hour ago, 2BACRUISER said:

LINK 

 

"This is something that is totally outwith our control". Absolutely agree, but what is in your control is how you respond to the situation and that response has been pitifully slow and lagging behind almost every other cruise line in offering flexible cancellations, and now in finally cancelling cruises.

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

Maybe apply for a full refund now, if Carnival go bust your FCC will be worthless and say goodbye to any of your money they have.

Thanks, already requested the refund. An extra 25% of potentially nothing in the future is no good to anyone. 

Our Oceana cruise out of Malta on 2nd April is understandably cancelled, flights were already cancelled at the end of last week. Offering 125% future cruise credit, or apply for a full refund by the end of November. They at least have a Web page to request the refund rather than having to call customer services. 

4 minutes ago, cruisenewbie1976 said:

 

Surely you're better off waiting for the announcement from P&O before you do that?  There's a good chance that you'll be able to cancel/change without losing 75% of your money. 

I agree, at least hold off till the 16 days before sailing when cancelling loses 90%. I can see no reason why they won't announce the same offer as the rest of Carnival tomorrow.