Windsurfboy

Sorry the website which applies to both ships makes it very clear, in the opening of the section on dining. "Fine dining is one of the biggest attractions of the ship, and you can look forward to a range of contrasting restaurants, all serving world-class dishes day and night. The main dining venues are The Grand Dining Room and more informal Grill, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Here, open seating is the norm, so you can dine whenever you like within the opening hours. If you’d like a fixed table for the duration of your cruise, please call our cruise advisors to book one. Kindly note there is a maximum of 150 fixed tables available on each cruise."

I think two things are getting mixed up. But it's all simple. 1) Booking Speciality restaurants, which as said above by twotravellerslondon is very easy , must be done on board. Either ring the numbers given , or pop down to restaurant when open , or ask Pursers desk. Whichever you think easier. Not complicated. However on short/full cruises they do try to ensure everyone has a chance of a booking , so restrict multiple bookings. 2) Fixed table in Grand dining room for every night (but one can still go to speciality restaurants occasionally as you can get in). These have to be booked before you cruise, on a first come first served basis. There are fixed tables for only 150 people. They are popular and get booked early , so its unlikely you can get one after you board, you'd have to be very lucky. All as explained in brochure or website.

Thanks

The Britannia club has many benefits , but a fixed table is not one of them https://travel.saga.co.uk/cruises/britannia-club.aspx There are 150 fixed table places on a first come first served basis. So those that book first via preregistering are first in queue. Preregistering is open to everyone. Given that on most ships the vast majority of the passengers are repeat customers and Brittania Club members, giving all Brittania Club members the right to a fixed table is completely impractical.

Selbourne, fingers crossed the Epicurean is better next time. I know from your first entry you managed to do your speciality booking on App whilst waiting to board. Bur in the unlikely event that we walk straight on, was there someone at priority lunch to take bookings, or just use app once on ship. Have a great cruise.

I think the bottleneck ends up being security and only 2 X-ray machines, which is same for all ships. On the mega ships , with 6000 people in 4 hours, 25 people a minute , queue management , especially security checks must be a nightmare.

Logically the bigger the ship the more strict they need to be with timing. I'm sure that there will be no complaints if you are not held outside if things go well

What P&O should do is define exactly what is meant by too early. Some thing like , if you arrive more than X minutes before your stated arrival time you will not be allowed in the terminal and will have to join the too early queue. Whether X is 15 or 30 minutes should be made clear.

Reading Saga forum, preregistering is only way to get accessible cabins on Saga, good luck. 10 adapted on Saga , 55 on Iona , exactly same % , but demand must be relatively higher on Saga, as expected given age profile. Are there any rules about the % accessible cabins on a cruise ship.

Unless you are really prone to sea sickness and must be in middle, there are no bad cabins on Saga so guarantee are worth looking at for last minute cruise.

Saga prices go up with time as discounts sell out. They have a price promise to refund drop in price. Saga can and do get around this price promise by offering guaranteed grade cabins , which have different conditions to earlier select cabins, so don't trigger price promise. However, As lots of Saga regulars book early by preregisterng at a price. Saga don't seem to drop prices below those at launch, as this would create a lot of ill will. These guarantee fare offers are 5 to 10% above launch. However those that buy a bit later say at 15% above launch price do get undercut and are not recompensed. So if you want a standard Saga cabin, buy at launch (best) or get bargain at end. Never any reduction in deluxe or suites.

I think it varies, Cunard seems to be full and not discounting. P&O are discounting to fill up mega ships only suites seem to sell out at launch.. I expect other mega ships are discounting . Others like Ambassador it's hard to tell, as their list prices don't mean a thing. The premium lines out of UK aren't discounting. On other hand see big bargains on fly cruises. What next year will be like hard to tell, family market will be hit by mortgage inflation. Those with substantial savings will see an income boost. I think those travel agents specialising in premium cruises will be fine. I have always wondered why cruise lines don't push direct selling even more and keep agents commission for themselves. Perhaps they now relise giving away 8% or more doesn't add up.

knowing Saga if you ring them , they will sort it out and may do something special. Of course if you want a low profile tell them.

Looking at the literature, Saga adapted cabins are exactly the same size as unadapted cabins Standard 215 sq ft Deluxe 350 sq ft Suite 462 sq ft By comparison P&O are slightly smaller Balcony 190 sq ft Mini suite 270 sq ft Suite 500 sq ft Deluxe on Saga is a little more than 50% bigger than standard. I don't know if Adapted bathrooms are bigger, hence rest of cabin smaller.

Then why is Queens room empty most nights

I don't know what should be done with queens room, that's Cunard's problem , but as the biggest public space on ship it should have at least few hundred people in it every night. Which it doesn't have. If they can't think of things to attract enough people to fill the space , then that clearly means it needs a drastic redesign, perhaps into more than one venue.

I agree with the OP about the Queens room on QM2 and the music , is a minority "sport". It is the biggest public space (lounge or bar ...) on the ship, and as such should be brimming with at least a few hundred every night. It isn't, it's rarely that full. Yes many many people defend it and love their ball room dancing, but not enough.

Well said, a balanced response but please don't label older people in general as having issues with people who are different. We can't change the past, we can only act towards each other in the present, and treat everyone as you'd like to be treated yourselves . That is the way to change the future. Definitely not as in some of the earlier comments (not yours) expressing the thought that the sooner the bigots die off the better. Kindness to all, even towards bigots is the way to change things for the good.

Thank you megabear, I think most comments have been select vs early saver. Perhaps p&O nomenclature needs sorting out . Better if the had select , saver and late saver. Would be a better reflection of what they mean.

Must say Hazels talks are best on any cruise line. Great for self organisers and wanderers, not just selling trips

After the disastrous included tours on eastern Mediterranean cruise, someone said they put that exact suggestion to Nigel Blanks, but he just said no , too complicated. We're sticking to Panoramic.

I don't think there are large coaches on Isles of Scilly, so you have to walk , only enough transport for those that really need it. Mini bus.

I'm like jojo1947 a bit sceptical about favoured quests , in terms of favoured people , unless its Nigel Blanks incognito or Captain's dad, Saga do seem to treat everyone equally very well. However there are perks to a suite, a fixed tale for two by window if you want. Bultler can find tables in speciality restaurants. But then again they have paid double standard price.

One thing to think about now is you pay for saver in advance. If you book say 12 months before payment due, you can now earn 5% on your money . So that's equivalent to a select fare being 5% cheaper .

Saga policy on website and in brochures makes no mention of coming in early. "If you’d like a fixed table for the duration of your cruise, please call our cruise advisors to book one. Kindly note there is a maximum of 150 fixed tables available on each cruise".