zoe sproodle

I’ve just had 4 of these emails, 2 for our cruise this October and 2 for a cruise in Jun 25, although nothing for the 2 we have booked next year. They do indeed seem to be about emergency assistance requirements but they don’t make it very obvious.

Another reason to take your own pods is the price they charge on board, can’t remember when it was but I’m sure I saw them charging £2 per pod on one cruise.

We did an excursion in Gib where we went up in the cable car and the tour bus met us near the top of the rock. I don’t think this is the same tour you’re looking at as we didn’t visit the garden, it was a good few years ago now so afraid I can’t remember too much about it.

Thanks for the reviews, hopefully things will be better for us on the return TA. Did anyone see BBC South Today last night? The ran quite an extensive article on Arvia prior to her departure, including some comments from a restaurant manager (I think) who said that they’d taken steps to improve. They then interviewed Paul Ludlow who managed to dodge the questions about the bad publicity very well and point out that everyone enjoyed new year and got some extra OBC.

We are on Arvia TA in March and we’re seriously considering not packing formal wear if the routine is the same as Iona.  We do usually enjoy formal nights but we’re wondering if it’s worth it for just 2 evenings.

I perhaps should have added that you can’t pick and choose what OBC goes on - everything you spend on board will come out of it until it’s used up, then they’ll start charging you for real.

You’re correct, you can’t use OBC to book excursions in advance but you can use it to pay for them once you’re on board. We’ve never used the casino so can’t help there, although I don’t think you can use OBC - I’m sure someone else can advise on that.  All the other things you mention can be purchased with OBC, plus you can use it in the shops, including duty free. We normally use ours to pay for drinks, the occasional specialty meal and duty free cigarettes.

Hope this helps.

3 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Be interesting to see whether this extended into November sailings.  Due to pay our balance next month.

We’ve got the OBC for our Aurora cruise on 30 Oct, so 10 of 12 nights in November. Balance isn’t due for another 4 weeks.

Or speculating that people will be put off flying by the current airport chaos and be seeking alternative holidays?

We weren’t keen on the glass screens on Iona, it’s nice to stop and lean on the rail. And Ventura feels more like being on a ship, walking or sitting under the lifeboats.

Just seen the email cancelling our 3 nighter on 20 June. Full refund plus 5% as FCC and £50 OBC on a future cruise so I suppose they’re trying to make up for it. Disappointing but I guess a sign of the times we’re still living in.

When we were on Scarlet Lady last year from Portsmouth they took the luggage from us at the covid test site, ticked our names off a list and made out labels there which they attached for us.  The bags were then loaded on to a van and taken to the ship while we went for our tests.

Further to Sharon’s post earlier, you can take duty free cigarettes away from the shop when you buy them, it’s alcohol that you can’t collect until the end of the cruise. That’s unless they’ve changed the rules since October. You also used to be able to buy individual packs in some of the bars, although the choice was limited to a couple of brands.

Has anyone happened to notice where the smoking areas are on Iona?  We’ve booked Deck 12, starboard side aft and are curious to know if we’ll be near one.

I had the same thing when paying a balance last week. Website just hung there saying ‘processing payment’ and after about 10 mins of that I phoned P&O who answered about 30 mins later and told me that the balance was paid.

Went down to Southsea last night to watch her sail. Looking forward to checking her out on the inside in August.

We are on Ventura on 3rd October so, as others have mentioned here, will be boarding a ‘sterile’ ship which does indeed seem a bit of a strange thought.  I say that optimistically as I’m pretty sure this cruise will get cancelled in due course, in fact that’s what I’d assumed the email about vaccines & tests was before I opened it. 

Good to be able to view the on-board account without having to go to reception. It was handy to view it through the cabin TV on Ventura and Azura before they removed the option.

Thanks for sharing your memories and bringing back a few of ours.  Our first cruise was on Ventura in 2010 and so was our last in Feb 20.  We’ve cruised on her a couple of times in between, including a visit to Vigo.  We’re booked on her in October and are just hoping we get to go.

31 minutes ago, Disney-daft said:

 Thank you.

 

We are just trying to decide whether to book now. We have a guarantee seriously suite on hold but have been told they could change that to an aft or corner suite if they so decide because it’s only a guarantee cabin. We really prefer the seriously suite and wouldn’t consider it an ‘upgrade’ so trying to decide what to do!

I’m not familiar with the cabin grades on Scarlet Lady or VV’s pricing policy so don’t know what the difference between the suites is, but I’d say if you’re not losing out financially then go for it. If I had the choice between going on a cruise and not going then going would win every time.

The android app is up and running now too.

Anyone else on the 13 Aug sailing?

3 hours ago, panamapd said:

Just booked Britannia for 29th July 2021!  Thanks for the heads up as I hadn't received an email from P&O.  

You’ll be getting on the day we get off then.  We’ve also booked Scarlet Lady, the price did seem a bit high for 3 nights but as she’ll be virtually parked on our doorstep it seemed rude not to...

Smoking on the prom deck on Ventura is starboard side forward. It used to be the whole of that side but they restricted it. The smoking areas on that deck seem to be related to the ‘pub’; on Aurora its port side aft outside of Champions and on Oceana was port forward accessible from the Yacht and Compass.

4 minutes ago, janny444 said:

Hi....it will be on the Iona

Ahh - you won’t be surprised that I can’t help with that one. 
We must be one of the few that pick cabins because they are near to a smoking area, although I completely understand why you wouldn’t want to do that

Are you looking at a particular ship, janny? I’m afraid I’m one of those smokers so might be able to help you from memory?