Technoman2

So i guess the 14% is because Valentines Day is 14th feb and there are 28 Days in the month so 28% off wifi. Oh but wait there is 29 days this month it a leap year!

Not much between the two as they are sister ships. The only main difference is the Dome opens on Arvia. Both are lovely ships when they are not rammed FULL of passengers . Been on both and had a better experience on IONA when only two thirds full.

Been on the ship 3 times and never had any plumbing issues.

'btw - is it The Law that 1st Officers have to be Scottish?' Start worrying when he announces there are klingons on the starboard bow.😄

Im sure you will manage hahaha, i hope P&O profits dont take too much of a hit , the share price has only just started to go up☺️

Eddie would you offer it to someone else if you were T total 😆 What a nice gesture i wonder if anyone else was gifted it? You wernt one of the unlucky people who didnt get tickets for the Gary Barlow concert on a previous cruise were you. Have a lovely time we loved Iona when it was only two thirds full.

Also remember that you can book your main dining room meals 14 days before in your online account also the Olive grove. Times may be limited to between 5.30 and 6.30 pm but if you dont book you could wait an hour for a table.

Is it a case of hogwash Pugwash lol🥸 Good to know (i think)

We have been on both Marella (Spirit,Celebration, Majesty and Discovery) and P&O , (Ventura , Azura, Britannia, Iona and Arvia) . In my opinion there is not a lot of difference between the two apart from the newer P&O ships. I found the Entertainment as good on Marella as it is on P&O. I also found that some over indulged in the all inclusive on Marella and became rowdy and drunk even in the shows on Spirit. That said we also had a recent experience of that on Britannia but only an isolated incident. I have left a full review in the reviews section and have a look at it if you want and it is a fair and Honest report of our experience. I guess if its a 10th anniversary sailing you are going on they will try to make the trip more special.

Even in panoramic i could not get the full shot, sorry to disappoint🫢

As the saying goes , you snooze you lose😴

Im afraid you are wrong Simon unless they have changed the booking system. We booked all our evening meals on Iona including the Olive grove 14 days before in the online holiday planner not the APP . But you could only book times between 5.30 and 6.30pm, other times had to be booked on the day.

If you are sailing from southampton you will have to expect cold weather for around 6 days of the trip and also the possibility of rough seas in the bay of biscay. I think you have to balance the cost of what you would pay with celebrity against the cost of a P&O trip which in my opinion offers good value. If you book you can book the main dining room meals 14 days before travel and the theatre 15 days before. Iona is a lovely ship.

You will find it a lot more relaxing to have breakfast in the Dining rooms rather than the buffet but getting there before 9.30 am can be a bit tedious for some guests. Also some of the starters at dinner can be a bit small so i would ask for a ceasar salad with for example the tiger prawn starter. Also you can have bot a pudding and Cheese and biscuits if you a peckish. I particularly enjoyed the Stonebass fish fillet and the Turbet fish fillet was very nicely presented with the veg. Enjoy.

It was odd , the last few days of the cruise they served full pieces of toast from a basket in the dining room instead of the ususal half slices in a toast rack. They said it was an experiment. Perhaps one slice less for evey customer or reduce the weight the ship is carrying getting rid of toast racks. Have a good trip in Feb

Thanks for adding your experience to my original post its good to get a perspective of what other fellow cruisers thought about the trip. I had not used my welcome sail away drink voucher so could not use it when they run out of prosecco. Two minor things that did irritate me was the salt cellars in the restaurant would often not work and you cannot put rice in the grinder type salt cellar and what seemed like the constant painting on deck 7 on sea days where they actually put thinners on the floor with a scrubber to remove any spots off the rollers. The result of this was that the fumes funneled down to the back of deck 7 and it was so bad that it made my eyes water and i felt that if someone had walked out with a cigrarette there could have been a big bang. Also my wife being Asthmatic didnt help s we had to move up to 17 which on sea days is busy. The deck should have been completely closed.

But throwing her boobs out whilst in the ruckus should be a determining factor. I kid you not.

We will check our policy and put in a claim soon and we did get a letter from P&O. Thanks.

The holiday started with a flight on Tui Dreamliner which should have left at 11.10 am and took off at 12 noon due to fog at Gatwick. They served us free drinks just after take off including alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and tea and coffee. Then around an hour into the flight they served us lunch which was ok and you could have free wine with dinner. Bear in mind if you want to buy Duty Free on the flight they don’t accept cash, Revolute or American Express. They provide free earphones on the outbound flight and have a good selection of new and classic movies to watch. The flight out took around 8 hours 30 mins and we landed in Barbados just after 5pm local time. We then formed four lines to queue for buses to the ship (Main luggage goes straight to ship) and we were in the last queue and had to wait 40 mins on the bus to get 4 remaining disabled passengers boarded. Got to the ship at 7pm local time and the check in to get on board took 10 mins. Cases arrived at room 2 hours later so went straight to dinner in restaurant in casual clothes we wore on the plane. We were allocated room G727 (Deck8) at the back of the ship. The room itself was ok BUT it was above the live lounge and when you lay down on the bed you could hear and feel the music until 2am. We asked to move after day 3 as it was unbearable even with earplugs. Got a same grade room on deck 9 which was fine. In general we found the food to be better on Britannia than it was on Azura last Christmas. The Atrium is beautiful with its Starburst chandelier in the centre. Drinks in the bars were similar to pub prices but the cocktails were a bit hit and miss and the two I had served in the Crows Nest were like crushed ice water and very little alcohol. Brodies was good for the Quizzes and the interactive quizzes in the crystal room were fun. Entertainment in the theatre provided some variety and the 2 Ukranian Brothers performed some unusual circus acts that were great to watch. Some of the Headliners shows were good but hated Mr Tinkerton show. Centre stage was good and all performers worked very hard. Comedian was rubbish the first night but some people said his second show was better. The singer off the voice was good and his jokes and wit made up for previous comic. There were four formal nights and a Caribbean night a few days before end of cruise. We were on Freedom dining and ate most of our evening meals in the Meridian restaurant where the food and service was very good, a couple of meals I enjoyed were the Stonebass fish and the Turbet fish meals. There was Pan fried Chicken and sirloin steak on most nights excluding Black Tie nights. Vegetarian options available and special meals on request the night before. We ate breakfast in The Oriental and again the service was very good but no Grapefruit juice for 10 days. Before we came away we booked four tours from the ship. The first was Curacao which was The Scenes of Curacao and Beach which included a trip to the Curacao Drink Factory where you can sample the various drinks and buy souvenirs then onto the Mambo beach where the sunbeds were included. Drinks prices ok and some free wifi available but could have done with an extra hour there. BUY SOME WATER SHOES as some areas hard on the feet and not just this beach and in some resorts they want $30 a pair. The second place was Bonaire and here you can easily do your own thing and we walked off the ship through the Port entrance and on the left you can pick up a Taxi or Minibus to a couple of beaches. Spice Beach is best for snorkling and the other is a nice beach but more suited to windsurfing. Cost $15 for 2 people or we shared with 2 others and it was $20. Two sunbeds on the beach $20 and toilets and a nice beach bar available again with free wifi. In Grenada we booked a tour with P&O to Fort George and Grand Anse beach, DO NOT BOOK THIS TOUR its a total rip off and very poor value. The minibus takes you up to a fort passing the Prison on route . Ok there is a nice view from the top and then it takes you down to Grand Anse Beach for a couple of hours and yes you get a free drink BUT it does not include the sunbeds and parasol which added $30 to the cost. We stayed on the beach and cancelled our ride back and got the water taxi back to the ship which was $5 each or $10 return. With hindsight I would have just got off the ship gone out the Port exit and turned left and got the water taxi to Grand Anse Beach. In St Lucia we did the Catamaran to the Pitons but the weather was unkind and as we got near the pitons it lashed down for an hour and you could not see the pitons clearly. We then turned back and stopped at a bay where it was warmer in the water than on the boat. The rum punch after this lifted everyones spirts. I have to say that this visit to the Caribbean was the worst weather we had experienced in 4 visits at the same time of year 2nd 2 weeks of December. In St Vincent we just stayed in the Port Area as some people said the surrounding area was not very nice and when here previously we did a Pirates of the Caribbean tour on a sail boat which was fun. In St Kitts and Nevis again here we just walked around the town centre which has some nice bars and gift shops but here we had a very officious woman wanting to see our ‘Government Issued ID’ i.e passport (which we took a camera photo of ) and were able to show. Although we were advised to take this ID before leaving the ship no other port asked for this and I don’t feel comfortable taking my Passport off the ship. We were booked on a tour of Antigua but the sea was too rough for the ship to negotiate the access channel so we had to miss this port and the tour was refunded BUT I was disappointed that P&O did not offer any compensation or gesture particularly for port fees they did not have to pay. When we were on Marella and we could not get into Cuba we got a £40 per cabin credit. In St Maarten we just took the water taxi over to the Dutch side which is lovely and cost $10 return, prices for beds and buckets of beer vary along the promenade so worth having a walk first, the beach is lovely here and I think it was the setting for the Speed 2 movie at the end. In Barbados we booked the trip to Carlisle Beach which was a half day with a free drink and sunbeds and the beach was lovely at 9.15 am before it gets crowded. Water is warm and easy access for swimming. Pretty good value but would have preferred 2 more hours there. We enjoyed our holiday on the whole in spite of a few days of windy and rainy weather and it was the first time on Britannia and it is a ship we would consider again BUT there were a few unsavoury people on board and they should be banned from future P&O cruises particularly the girl who disrupted the quiz in Brodies laughing and shouting and generally being an obnoxious irritating bore. The flight back was well organised with screens and updates all around the ship on screens. It takes 45 mins back to the airport and inside the airport is stifling hot and I had to change back out of jeans and into shorts as no aircon and the BIGA$$ fans ( yes thats what they are called) don’t cool the departure lounge. Drinks service after take off then Chicken Dinner an hour later then Breakfast 90 mins before landing. Note we were warned by our driver in Barbados that there is 25% unemployment and some young people do not want to work.This applies to most Caribbean Islands , don’t wear jewellery ashore or any bling and probably best to use transport at night to get to and from the ship.

For us on Arvia in April it was 15 days before for the shows in the theatre and 14 days for the main dining rooms but with the main dining rooms we were only able to book between 5.30 and 6.30 pm and when i checked onboard with customer services they told me that those were the only available times you could book in advance for the main dining room and the olive grove. Things may have changed?

So we managed to fill the form in (or my wife did) but it took nearly an hour of messing about with things like having to put dates in in the american format i.e mm/dd/year then you have to take a photo of your passport and it has to be under 3.2 mega pixels which meant changing the settings on the phone camera to reduce the resolution. It would have taken 5 mins to do this on a form at the airport and god knows how people go on that are not used to filling in online forms or have limited use of a phone. We also printed a copy off of the receipt as we do not want to enable roaming on our phones for calls or data as it is so expensive. You can download oa copy of the receipt to your files on your device but again some people may not be tech savvy to do this.

Thanks, we will give the form another try later. I will let you know if it was a success.

Well my missus was trying to fill this in today (3 days or 72hours) before our flight on Saturday but the calender will only go upto 30th November so i guess we will try tomorrow and see what happens

Here is a question for you re the insurance situation. If you are booking a holiday for 2025 do you need to make sure that you have insurance in place at the time of booking or at the point you pay the full balance. I would guess that if you took advantage of the early booking option sometimes offered by the cruise line of £50 it would not be a lot to lose BUT if you were paying several hundred pounds and there is a risk of losing that would the insurance company not pay out if insurance was not in place at the time you paid the deposit. If you just have a rolling annual policy then i guess this is not an issue.

Yes in your holiday planner, Sindu Epicurian and Limelight can be booked a couple of weeks before you travel. The Glass house has to be done when on the ship.