LondonLad60

My wife tried veggie sausages and bacon on a P&O cruise some years ago. She said the sausages were not too bad, but as for the bacon - never again.

Apparently they only do so on a Saturday or Sunday morning after a heavy night on the turps the night before...

I quite agree that's true for anyone that lives any distance from the ports, but I am fortunate in that I live well within 75 miles of Portsmouth (and Southampton when Saga used that port) and about 100 miles from Dover, so for a private car to Dover, to me it is worth he extra cost

" It is only if people decide to ignore their disembarkation time and try to leave when it suits them that the system breaks down. Again as Devon b&b has said, if you don't like the P&O system/product, then you can always vote with your feet and cruise elsewhere." Exactly. The last time I was on Arcadia, (autumn 2019) disembarkation was shambolic. My wife and I are in the Ligurian tier of the peninsula club, which (supposedly) gave us priority disembarkation. We got to our allocated venue just before the allocated time, and there were numerous passengers congregating in lift areas and corridors despite having been asked not to in a letter that had been sent to all cabins a few days previously. Whilst waiting in the venue I heard at least two couples boasting that they never go to their allocated venue - they simply wait near the exit and as soon as people start leaving they join in. Judging by the near stampede that ensued when disembarkation started there must have been many other passengers with the same mindset. That wasn't the main reason that my wife and I turned our backs on P&O; it was just one on a list of contributing factors.

I was on P&O's Oriana when rumours were flying around about her being sold. At a Peninsular Club lunch the senior officer (I think it was the deputy captain) was asked if he knew anything. He straight batted the question back with the standard reply, "We are not aware of any plans to sell Oriana". A lady on the table said, "This ship has been sold". She was asked, do you mean it's up for sale? She said, "No, it has been sold - and that's all I'm saying". Within a week or so, the sale was announced...

"Throughout the cruise there were many passenger coughing and sneezing, mainly over me I seems. After I started to get through the Norovirus symptoms got these as well, a cough, sore throat and runny nose." In 26 cruises with P&O and 8 with Saga there have only been two cruises where I have returned home without a cough and/or a cold. These two cruises were of three nights and five nights duration, which suggests to me that there was insufficient time for such coughs and colds to circulate and take hold.

After Adonia went, Oriana became my favourite ship. It wasn't perfect by any means - there again, what ship is? For example, with only one deck of balcony cabins anyone wanting a balcony had to make sure they booked early, and the noise and vibration from the propulsion system has been well documented in other threads. I hadn't cruised on Aurora at that point, so I can't compare Oriana with her, but Oriana ticked more boxes for my wife and I than Arcadia and Oceana did. Just my 2p's worth.

A white DJ will be absolutely fine. Hope you enjoy your first cruise.

We've only had a driver call us once. We had a pickup time of 11:05, and he called at 10:10 to say he would be outside at 10:30, as there had been an accident at the M25 - M20 junction and traffic was building up, so he was allowing extra time. We left home at 10:40, got to the port at 12:25 (the accident had cleared) and were on board at 12:40.

twotravellersLondon above mentioned Morrisons. We've found Morrisons to be the cheapest place in Gibraltar for duty free booze.

I asked the Saga World lady on SoA earlier this month when these cruises would be released, and she said early March.

From comments on previous threads, it would seem that suite passengers stand more chance of getting into the speciality restaurants...

If I see you, I promise I'll buy you a drink 😉🍷