JimJam39

As a first time cruiser I'm presuming on port days I'll be off the ship on excursions or just visiting the port. Next years Caribbean itinerary states there are 4 sea days, does that mean I'm looking at the cost for the retreat as approx £100 per day?

I would love a bigger room but I think paying £100pp to have a sofa in the room is ludicrous. Ideally I'd like a superior balcony to have the bath but the price difference per cabin is silly, just to have a bath and I most certainly cannot afford an extra £1000pp to have a suite which would have been a touch of luxury for a honeymoon but hey ho. I would rather have more spending money and be out of the room more then I am in it :)

So if I book a balcony room with shower (no sofa), to be upgraded to a balcony room with a shower and sofa would I need to select cabin type HA? Is HF deemed the worst cabin type in that category?

There is one thing you may wish to be aware of when booking.

 

You should be asked if you want an 'automatic upgrade'. You need to be aware that if you say yes to this an 'upgrade' will be within the grade of cabin you have booked, ie. if you have booked, say, a GC cabin on Britannia, an 'upgrade' could well be just up to a GB or GA, not up to a DC, DB or DA grade in the category above. This is a bit of a mine field as new cruisers don't realise what an 'upgrade' will actually mean and they sometimes think they will go up a category.

 

Just so that you know. :)

Thank you for this. If I say yes to a potential upgrade (I intend to pay a select fare and pick a cabin), if I'm offered something I deem worse, can I decline the 'upgrade' or am I committed to move because I've selected yes to an automatic upgrade?

Well now if I told you I would have to come and shoot you as CC do not allow that kind of information to be circulated. Sorry.

 

I think it is shoot you and then me. I get the order mixed up.

 

I am all over the Internet you may find me elsewhere.

Hahaha, I will go search for you tomorrow at a more reasonable hour :D Don't fancy being shot :o;)

I think the main time we found this was when the double on board credit promo was on.

They also don't make it clear that you can get free parking and OBC as well on the same cabin.

Double on board credit promo sounds good :D

I'm looking to book next Wednesday, I've spoken to two P&O customer service advisors recently and neither of them mentioned free parking, is this something I need to mention when booking?

2 never booked on line. Don't see the point when I have an excellent TA to do the work. And of course pay less.

Who is your excellent TA please daiB? :D

Web Friendliness - One of the reasons that I don't book online is that on board credit is never properly expressed (I usually end up with much more than the website implies when I eventually phone to book) and for the last few years the 'search for a specific cabin' function hasn't worked (it does now, at last).

How do you get extra OBC please? The price quoted for a balcony room on Britannia sailing to the Caribbean in Nov 2018 is £70pp, when I rang to pre register I was told that the OBC was indeed £70pp. I'm a first time cruiser, so maybe its that.

Jaime

Joining this post as I've just been trying to find information regarding dreamliners flying from Manchester. Wasn't sure what to google as I didn't know which airlines P&O use.

Thanks Selbourne and Vitalsign.

Thanks, I know it's a tricky question! I've never been to any of those ports so it's hard. At least it's helpful to know there probably isn't much between them! It might come down to picking Britannia over Azura or visa versa.

This is what I'm having to do, as a first time cruiser I've never been to any of the ports so I'm picking based on the dates and the ship. Just need to decide whether to choose B831 or B831a :)

Which port have they missed out?

 

 

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On Britannia this year its: Barbados, Curacao, Aruba, Grenada, St Vincent, St Lucia, Tortola, St Kitts, Antigua, Dominica, Barbados

Next year its: Barbados, Curacao, Aruba, Grenada, St Vincent, St Lucia, Dominica, Antigua, St Maarten, Barbados.

They've missed out Tortola and swapped St Kitts for St Maarten.

As an example, we did a dummy on line booking via the P&O website for a 2 week cruise on Britannia for a suite plus an adjoining balcony cabin. The website, right up to the final stage, looked as though we were getting around £400 on board credit. We decided that we were happy with the price and OBC so I called P&O to book with a person. Much to my surprise, the fare was the same but we ended up with over £1,000 on board credit and free parking worth around £160. I do wonder how many people who don't go ahead and make a booking might be tempted to do so if they were presented with the information in a much clearer way.

I've done a dummy booking recently based on this years prices just to get an idea of overall cost as we also need to filter in flying from Manchester at an additional cost. however when it comes to actually booking I'd do so over the telephone as I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions to ask.

As I can only afford a balcony room (hoping for B deck), would you suggest I select the offer to upgrade option (not the guarantee cabin as I want to pick my cabin) in the hope that when I tell them its my honeymoon and 40th birthday whilst on board they may offer me a decent upgrade?

I'm looking at these two cruises:

http://www.pocruises.com/a831/?leadmeta=b&search=true

http://www.pocruises.com/b831/?leadmeta=b&search=true

Question to any cruiser who has done the ports in the links, which in your opinion based on the ports would you say is best? I appreciate we are all different people but as a first timer I would value all opinions.

Jaime

Far too many ports.

 

 

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Do you think 9 ports with 4 sea days is better than 10 ports with 3 sea days? If so, why would that be please?

So I see I can now view the 2018 December cruises although not book yet! For some reason all the 14 day itineraries now only have 9 port stops instead of 10 this year. I wonder the reason behind that- to add extra time in port? Or the cynical answer of adding an extra sea day for P&O to make money off people being on board?

Its an extra sea day, just compared the two :mad:

Eeeeeeek, didn't know they were there to view to all, just been and looked :D

Would people suggest it is best to pick the first date or the second date, as in: The B831 or the B831a? At the moment they're the same price but as time goes on from what I've seen the price for the first date becomes dearer. Also, I've seen the prices for Nov 2018 are approx. £250pp dearer than when I looked in Feb this year to sail Nov 2017 :o:loudcry:

Jaime

Thank you so much for those last two comments, I'm really grateful. I certainly do want to book the best I can afford and would love to book my cabin on the non-smoking side also. Unfortunately I can't afford a suite but would like a balcony on B deck at least if I could. I'm not one to sit and wait for things I want and like to be ahead of the game if I can. (I'm sure you can tell by all my recent postings on here since joining, hope I'm not being too much of a pest :halo::D)

Seasoned cruisers on the top tier, I know you guys are privy to early booking of cruises. Please can anyone tell me which P&O liners are sailing to the Caribbean November 2018? I'm a first timer and would like to book as early as I can. I've been looking at Britannia to sail around the 10th/11th Nov for this year for ideas of prices. I've heard talk that it may be Azura sailing in Nov 2018, which would mean all my research of Britannia will have been wasted. I cannot view prices and itineraries until later in the month, I'd be super grateful if anyone could let me know if Britannia will indeed be sailing at my required times. I was hoping to embark/disembartk at Barbados. :D:cool:

No as you get 10% off both cruises. So if you wanted 14 nights 2 sevens Anne cheaper than one 14.

 

We have 2 back to backs booked later this year.

 

 

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I'm a first time cruiser so wont be entitled to any of the perks of seasoned cruisers so I doubt I'd get any discount :( But thank you for the replies.

Personally, if you are looking to book a specific date - which it seems you are -I would book sooner rather than later. As regards who you book with, if in doubt book through the cruise company. There are some bad Internet agents out there - Google them before paying any money.

 

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Thank you, just got to wait until the 27th now then to view prices and book (y):)

Not sure on that one.

 

So the best bet would be to ring P&O ( 08000523840) with your link request.

 

Maybe others who have tied the knot on a P&O cruise may see this post and help you .

 

If you need to print the link to the invites then it would be ...

 

http://www.pocruises.com/Documents/pdfs/H16-123%20Gift%20Collection%20180%20Final%2010NOV2016.pdf

 

Hope that helps:)

Thank you Kalos :D

Are they more expensive overall?

So is the general consensus to book asap rather then wait? I'm wanting to book a honeymoon cruise for Nov 2018 to coincide with a 40th birthday so cannot be flexible on dates. What would seasoned cruisers suggest? Another little question if I may include it is: Would people recommend booking direct with P&O, a shop TA or an online TA? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Jaime

Have any of you compared Tui Discovery ships (Thomson) for the Caribbean- these are ex Royal Caribbean ships and sail from Montego Bay and Barbados next winter. They have far more balcony cabins than Thomson smaller older ships and are standard all inclusive (drinks) Thomson ships have a very relaxed way of cruising, have open dining and the entertainment voted by this site is 5 star. You can have fine dining for a small supplement and most itineries have only one sea day a week. You can fly by Dreamliner from a number of regional airports and they allow you to choose your cabin (albeit by phone currently).

 

Thomson Spirit Oct 2005 Repo Palma to Sharm el Sheikh

Thomson Celebration Jan 2007 Red Sea Magic

Ocean Village Feb 2008 West Caribbean & Central America BtoB

Ocean Village Aug 2008 Eastern Med

Ocean Village 2 Feb 2009 Eastern Caribbean BtoB

Ocean Village Mar 2010 Eastern Caribbean BtoB

Thomson Dream Feb 2011 Eastern Caribbean & Cuba BtoB

Thomson Celebration Aug 2011 Eastern Med

Thomson Celebration Apr 2012 Red Sea Magic

Thomson Celebration Apr/May 2012 Repo Sharm el Sheikh to Marmaris

Thomson Dream Feb 2013 Eastern Caribbean BtoB

Thomson Majesty Nov/Dec 2014 Colourful Coasts Canaries

Thomson Dream Jan/Feb 2015 West Caribbean Panama & Cuba BtoB

Thomson Dream Apr 2015 Transatlantic Sunset

Thomson Majesty June 2015 Hellenic Classics

Thomson Celebration Sept 2015 Adriatic Affair

Thomson Dream Jan 2016 Mayan Treasures/Cuban Revolution

Thomson Dream April 2016 Atlantic Adventure

Thomson Dream June 2016 Iconic Islands/Adriatic Explorer

Thomson Celebration Jan 2017 Cities of Gold

Thomson Dream April2017 Atlantic Daydream

Thomson Majesty Sept2017 Med Medley/Treasures of Med

W

Do you know if this will this be for Nov 2018 and which airports can you fly by dreamliner? :)