CarlaMarie

Yes that's what we did and still do. When the auto grats first came about my Dad spoke to our cabin steward and waiters to let them know he would rather carry on like normal and tip in person and they were very appreciative.

When P&O started adding the gratuities for you to your account at a daily rate, which I think was around £7 pp if I recall, you could go down to reception and request the form to remove them. On the form you had the option to remove the gratiities entirely, reduce the daily rate you would be willing to pay, state a total sum you would pay, and even stipulate that you would rather tip in person. You then had to sign it and pop it back to reception. There used to be quite a queue for these forms as nobody knew where the gratuities would actually be going at the time.

Yes that's the nice cover on mine too. Your 2012 menus are nearly identical to mine from May 2013 with just a few changes on each, which just shows that the menus were often reviewed and altered.

It is amazing what you can put your hand to quickly! The main menu from the Captain's Welcome On Board Dinner in 2013, on Oceana. I believe this was before they introduced the 'always available' choices.

Hope this is allowed, here are some of the reports from passengers yesterday, amongst many other bad ones! https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/southamptonportparkingservices.co.uk

Hope you have a wonderful time @Bin man

Exactly. As the police and port security are both aware then surely something should be done to stop them from operating, or to at least make passengers aware of this situation?

This company appear to have been abandoning passengers cars in various supermarket car parks and other public car parks. Passengers have had to wait hours for their cars to actually be found; as mentioned above cars have been vandalised or stolen, and then some have received parking fines a few days later. A passenger reported that Port security are aware as it has been a regular occurrence and to avoid this company.

The business is called Southampton Port Parking Services.

That's what we saw too. Many cars missing and some vandalised also. This isn't just solely in Southampton either, these same companies are operating in other UK cruise ports. You really do feel for the passengers who have been caught up in all of this.

It is that inconsistency which is the most disappointing and frustrating.

Have heard that passengers faced major problems with a particular meet and greet service today. Does anyone have further details?

Thank you for sharing the menus. How are you finding the food @Scirocco Breeze?

It is the passengers preferred choice of travel. In many cases it is the only way a passenger feels comfortable travelling via a plane.

You are right. This next season which is about to begin will be very telling on whether the new cruisers actually come back. Until then you cannot determine their popularity or whether they are flourishing. Currently, their decision to cruise has been heavily influenced by prices, advertising etc.... but what will determine if they come back or not is whether they actually enjoyed cruising, enjoyed what P&O had to offer, the activities and amenities for children and the itineraries for example.

Sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy Arvia as much as you hoped you would. Will you be looking to go back on Iona next instead?

It can occur, for many reasons like Selbourne has mentioned and I would say a seasoned cruiser would spot things like this more so than a newer cruiser. Generally it used to be a good Captain meant a happy ship, but that is not always the case and the crew are only human! We experienced it on Arcadia and that was pre covid.

This would apply for Arcadia's J316 as well, 19th to the 23rd!

My parents had this exact same situation. My Mum has done more cruises than my Dad and moved up a tier before him, so she was also given a different boarding time but P&O told them that they could board together. Enjoy your cruise!

I think there have been quite a few glitches of late from what I have read, so I doubt it is anything that you are doing. You could try emailing P&O or giving them a ring first thing in the morning to get clarification on what is actually happening. Also, from what I know the basket information will show the lead passenger and not both names, even though it is for 2 of you.

I always thought that the British Isles cruises were popular and sold well, but I am guessing they would appeal more to the loyal P&O/regular cruiser than a new cruiser... It is concerning that this is becoming a regular occurrence with cruises suddenly being replaced with others that are a completely different cruise altogether. We saw it happen with the Lifestyle and Wellbeing cruises.

Apparently due to 'customer feedback'.

Here are some photos from Google street view. The two compounds in that first photo which @devonukposted are opposite National Tyres on the commercial road.

This is what it states on the P4C website - "There's no need to worry about your car while you're away. Our secure parking facility is monitored with CCTV, and also features steel entry barriers to prevent any unauthorised access, as well as security lighting and perimeter fencing. Our car park is under 3 miles from all cruise terminals, so we won't be added on hundreds of miles to your odometer. Unlike some other cruise parking companies, we don't park your car on the street, in public car parks, or ANYWHERE other than our secure car park - so you can be sure that your pride and joy is left in good hands".

I agree. Our family normally use CPS, but used P4C this year for the first time as CPS had no availability. They are parked incredibly close to one another, and from that photo it doesn't look very secure. Naively I would have thought they would be parked in their own parking spaces.