Sawdan

That is what is known as Sods law unfortunately. We are looking for a late deal in June but the price is still quite high so leaving it for now. We have a target price and will only book when it hits that target which it may or may not. Risky I know but not been able to book in advance due to health reasons unfortunately. If we do book I won't look again but would know anyway that we would be happy with price paid. I think the best way to know the best time to book is to constantly keep monitoring the prices so you know a good deal when you see one. Hopefully you have a great cruise and get your moneys worth anyway. Someone once said to me the more you eat the cheaper your cruise was!

Thank you all for the replies. Lots of good useful info there. Wouldn't it be nice if the price was set 2yrs in advance and didn't change. Everyone would know the price wasn't going to change and those early bookers would get the best deal and longer to pay. Like a few have said nothing more annoying than booking and then soon after seeing your cruise with big discounts or extra OBC. We like to book early normally and be organised but due to the Mrs having Long Covid it's been difficult to plan in advance. We have the 9th June in mind as it's a steady itinerary that we've done a few times before so quite easy to get around. I think we will wait maybe a couple of weeks but with regular checks in between. Thank you all

Hoping to get away at short notice in June on Arvia. Prices seem quite high still? Would anyone expect prices to drop or stay the same? I think if they are to drop at all it will be in the next week or so approx 90 days before sailing

Hi Sue. Cruise card or cash on the slots. Any money that you want to cash out of the machine goes back on your Cruise card. This can be saved for later use or cash out at the cashier at any time. Just make sure you cash out before the casino closes on the night before you disembark.

There was 5 over 2 weeks on Iona mostly enjoyable and interesting.

Yes I can confirm that on Iona last time out no ANT in MDR. Unfortunately the list of cut backs above is not exhaustive. It's difficult for the cruise lines at the moment but hopefully things can return to more near normal standards in the not too distant future!!! Anyone who hasn't cruised since before Covid please brace yourself as things are a bit different to what they were.

Club dining should still be an option imo on Iona. it would make things easier. Of course if you want to eat at a certain time each day of your cruise you can always visit the restaurant and they will normally sort this for you.

Might be the way to go from now on. We don't often sail from Soton as mainly flycruise but this has really put us off Intercruises. That said I think P&O are probably to blame for the lack of organisation in this instance. A friend of mine just returned from Oceania cruise and they had a letter 2 days before listing all the coaches and their departure times. It used to be this simple and so still should be. Yes Eavesway have been great when we have used them. In fact one of the 2 coaches that were leaving for Leeds was an Eavesway but through Intercruises. I expect they may have had the same problem!!

IMO we would be comfortable with either line as have always enjoyed both, although there are many pros and cons for both!! On Marella we do prefer the Discovery ships to the Explorers but am sure many will be the other way round. We love the Caribbean as there are so many Islands to visit and its interesting each time you go back to see how they have developed. I could see people being drawn to Marella as its AI so good if you like a tipple but TBH we are normally driven by the price and itinerary. Ref P&O we didn't like Britannia at first but grew to like her more each time. I think that was because we were fond of Ventura and Azura from new and it was different. Just back from Iona so hopefully it will be the same with that ship?? We do like the promenade decks on the older ships!! I am sure you will enjoy whoever you choose. We have always travelled between mid Jan and late Feb and have always had great weather. Casbantam

That's right Megabear2, we are just going to have to put up with less for more until hopefully things settle down. On our recent cruise on Iona 24th Sep it was really noticeable that there was a shortage of staff. Also noticeable was that some of the staff didn't seem well trained or organised. Sometimes they actually looked stressed and overworked and just fed up generally. As a frequent cruiser for many years this was the biggest change we have seen in all that time. I could list about 20 incidents on our Cruise that were not great and a couple that were actually not acceptable behaviour from staff. Again I think this is probably down to lack of training/experience of new staff. That said, we knew that in the current climate we expected a bumpy ride and so was patient and understanding where possible. We would say we had a good cruise but much room for improvement. The current situation will not put us off as we love cruising. The cruise lines have struggled with Covid and now the cost of fuel & labour and everything else is a real challenge for them as they try to repay crippling debts. Please try be patient and support your favourite cruise lines in this difficult time for all. Casbantam

TBF I would expect it to be organised better and not have to check with reception that someone has organised the process efficiently and that I was disembarking at a convenient time for the coach leaving. Obs if I get the coach again it would defo be a good idea to check the coach departure time and try arrange accordingly. When I spoke to reception they said that there was 2 coaches for Leeds. They would fill one which would leave and then the rest would go on coach 2. This wasn't the case as the drivers stuck to their manifests which is fair enough really. Oh well its all to know for next time!!

It was a trial using the booking system we were the guinea pigs. Yes it is a big can of worms but don't worry it is freedom so you can just turn up but they are trying to manage larger numbers by having them book to spread them out to avoid bottle necks.

We found the booking system worked quite well. Particularly the dining. We booked 3 a few days before sailing and then a few more once onboard. The rest we did day by day. Sometimes we got the times we wanted and sometimes when the times were not available we joined a queue. We did this around 30 mins before we wanted to eat and the table was usually ready by the time we got there. If you leave your phone on the my holiday page it notifies you and you have 15 mins to get there. TBH though wether we booked or not we got seated pretty quickly anyway. All I would say though is if you want to dine at any of the speciality restaurants book as early as you can to get the best times. My only gripe would be that the 2 smaller MDRs Aqua and Opal were always booked so didn't get chance to dine in those ones. Casbantam

Hi there, Just back from Iona cruise that returned Saturday 8th October. I will write a review about the cruise soon about all that was good and bad but just wanted to share this separately first. We had booked a Select fare that included return coach travel from Leeds to Southampton. On the return journey the disembarkation times of the passengers on the coach was shambolic. The coach wasn't full but the passengers had at least 4 different disembarkation times! Meeting times on the ship to disembark included 0730/0830/0930/1010. This meant that the first passengers on the bus 2 elderly ladies were on board for 8am and the last 2 passengers got on board around 1015 and the coach left soon after. This meant a wait time to set off of nearly 2.5 hours Sat on the coach for some passengers. This is not great. When we questioned the different meet times at reception they said that we can go to the coaches at anytime and when the coach was full it could set off. This would be OK if the disembarkation times were closer together not over 2.5 hours difference. It really just smacked of getting everyone off the ship as efficiently as possible with no consideration for onward travel. I get that it is a big ship with 5200 passengers but surely they can offload 40 or so passengers at roughly the same time so they can be on their way? Might just be worth taking into consideration for anyone travelling by coach. Casbantam