mitooki

9 hours ago, Pine Man said:

Which is precicely what he supposed to do!

Doesn't always happen though!

I guess the point is if you're very likely to tip a little anyway, might as well do it upfront to save keeping them guessing. I've never had bad service after doing it...

3 hours ago, Pine Man said:

Which is precicely what he supposed to do!

Doesn't always happen though!

Compared very favourably to the last cruise on the same ship...

I tipped cabin steward on day 1 of our cruise last month. Worked out well, room was serviced quickly and always completed before we returned from breakfast. Plenty of smiles and efficient help when required too.

On 9/5/2023 at 11:08 AM, Megabear2 said:

A quick look shows the coming shortly P&O cruises - sailing before end of November - have dropped in price, but the obc has also dropped considerably as well.

A new offer expiring 2 October seems to be active now. Headline looks similar to the offer that expired on 4 September but slightly less generous with OBC.

On 8/19/2023 at 10:54 AM, bee-ess said:

Best tip I had from here was to book 710 from the terminal before you board. You don't need to wait to get your cruise card on board for the 6 character code, it is the same as the last 6 characters of your boarding pass. We did this when we were on Arvia.

The sessions do get filled very quickly as the venue is quite small. If you cannot get a booking they do have a queue outside the venue 30 mins before show times where you can get tickets that are available from the no-shows.

Can you reach the ship's WiFi from the bag drop off area? Our boarding time is not until 15:15 but will be dropping bags off early.

On Beyond 15-24 Sept, there were 2072 guests, so around 60% capacity.

Never felt crowded, felt sorry for the theatre performers with the sparse audiences.

6 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

Yoy will also find that people who tip extra come from thw USA. Travel with Ossies or Kiwis and you will get a lecture about tipping. Many Europeans alao.

A pretty sweeping generalisation there!

Hi @dritan, thank you for this thread, I've just head exactly the same experience. The site said booking confirmed and email sent but no email and no payment taken.

I noticed that the room I'd chosen was still available so I tried using Edge instead of Chrome. Booking confirmation details in full, reservation number and email received.

Thanks again for sharing your experience, I'd have been holding out for an email for a while otherwise.

Back on topic, we’re changing schedule again. Valencia has been cancelled due to high winds forecast so staying in Barcelona until Sunday evening 19:30.

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

It will be interesting to see how long she stays there.  If it's Covid related she will assumedly leave fairly rapidly to try to pick up her schedule.

All aboard 9pm this evening. Doesn’t need to leave rapidly as Palma is replacing Alicante as a port stop.

On leaving the Straits of Gibraltar the captain said there was a small weather window to dock the same evening in Alicante. The pilot boat joined Iona outside Alicante and after a short while left and Iona redirected to Palma.

Not sure why some passengers are mystified, the captain updated this morning that the winds in Alicante were too strong to dock last night so he’s reverted to plan C, Mallorca. In the night the sea very very choppy between Alicante and Palma.

His intention is to follow the remainder of the itinerary as planned, Barca tomorrow.

There has been no mention of Covid cases. Quite a few decks have isolated areas reserved for quarantine.

5 hours ago, Thewild_cruiser said:

Disney have announced on their website for fully vaccinated guests over 18 years of age.

 

That will make it difficult for a lot of parents with younger children, many will not have had first shot yet.

I get this error every time

18 hours ago, JKCamara said:

Are you actually able to use both promotions? I thought with the BOGO you had to use it the first two nights and with the 3 might package you have to book your first reservation on night 1 or 2. ?

I asked this very question as I wanted the 5 night package for my 26 Jan sailing but it seemed to have sold out.

First response:

We are glad to learn you are interested in our dining packages! These packages are based on availability, and it seems that it ran out for the 5 night package. However, we still have the 2 and 3 nights dining package, as well as the Ultimate Dining package which covers all nights of the sailing.

I asked about combining BOGO and 3 night and got this:

We have verified the information and you will be able to purchase both packages, but you will have to purchase them in different days, for example you purchase one package on the first days of the cruise and the second package for the rest of the days. 

I'm sure you'll agree that clears everything up...

Decided to stick with 3 night and maybe book 1 or 2 more while onboard.

We visited the Solarium Bistro at some stage for breakfast, lunch and dinner on our recent cruise. We made a reservation for our first dinner but were able to walk-up later in the week. At dinner you are shown to a table, cutlery already present and drinks orders are taken by your server. Other than that it's a really nice buffet, soups, pasta station, salads, dips, fish, meat and vegetables.

Lunch was laid back, with people wandering in from the solarium itself.

Breakfast was fairly manic when we visited with not many seats to be had but we sat a the bar in the solarium which was good to get away from the chaos.

We saw families dining in the evening too so that shouldn't be an issue.