jaydee6969

23 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I hope you have a nice day in Cadiz, MB.  I see you are docked at the slightly further out area, with a couple of Carnival ships in the nearer to the main square  area.

 

I remember doing a hoho bus here, which was very useful, including going to El Corte Ingles, which is worth a visit if the weather is not wonderful.  Otherwise, we just enjoyed walking round and maybe a people watching drink somewhere.

From the look on the cruise mapping sites, Arvia is docked next to the terminal and exit gate to walk straight out into the city.  No port shuttled needed.  Same place we have docked with Iona and Azura.

Ho-Ho's if that your thing just outside the gate.

46 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Sorry for delay guys

 

Anyway here's a summary (more detail and photos to come)

 

I was unfair in advance to Angela Hartnett. We went for lunch to Hartnett and Holder at Limewood in Lyndhurst before boarding our cruise in Southampton. I predicted it would be good not great. It was great. Way better than Rick Steins dinner the night before which itself was good.

 

Stunning place. Superb lunch and cocktails. But very expensive. Lunch cocktails and one glass of wine came to 250 pounds for 2!!!

 

You could spend the night there but seriously expensive rooms. Albeit totally idyllic and very special place.

 

But anyone looking for a special meal before boarding the cruise Its an amazing place in The New Forest. 

 

We then drove to West quay Premier inn multi storey as someone on here recommended. No pre booking parked easily. 5 pounds per night there.

 

3 mins taxi from there to the terminal. We decided to walk as we were going to be early and we like walking. The cases have wheels.

Took us 20 minutes to walk it. 

 

Handed the cases in. Joined the early queue at 3.30pm (we were due at 4pm). There wasn't any other queue we could see. 

 

Took us 30 mins to check in and be on the ship in a constantly moving queue. 25 staff on the actual check in desks. About 8 security belts I would say. Smooth and easy. 

 

On the ship went to muster we literally passed it on way to room as its the atrium for us. 

 

In the room first thing I did was book 710 Club!!!

 

What do we say on here - forewarned is forearmed!!

 

Lol

 

I was expecting1 it to be full based on previous experience and being a late boarder  but I've bagged 3 nights at 7pm. So that's a pleasant surprise. Could have had 4 but already had epicurean booked that other night for 6pm.

 

I'm a fast eater but not that fast!!!! Lol

 

Gareth Gates is Limelight all week. All fully booked before I got on. But last  night was Ray Quinn and I've heard good stuff about him being great entertainer as well as singer so booked that. Being honest we prefer the sound of him to Gareth. No disrespect Gareth.

 

Highlight yesterday was going to Bodies (which ive never done before) but I had to because my team who I have season tickets before were playing for survival v Arsenal live at 5.30pm

 

What a start to the holiday - we shocked the world and beat Arsenal and I'm watching Premier League next season. I will be on a high all week now.

 

After that we went to Headliners at 8.30pm

 

 We arrived at 8.21pm. Girl was checking people in.

 

1 guy in front of us when we arrived  without a booking. She told him you will need to use the app from now on but I can get you in now.

 

So he was happy we checked in. Plenty of seats despite this being the 8.30pm show and the first show that night due to boarding. 

 

I've taken pics of the lack of queues and the amount of seats still available at 8.21pm. No prob with queues for that. I'm mad we went 9 mins early!! Lol

 

Will go later in future!!

 

After that rushed to the buffet before it closed at 9.30pm. (We were still full from lunch earlier on)

 

Had really good lamb shoulder roast with mash and green beans. No other veg there. But what I had was really nice and just what I needed.

 

Then had 2 sticky puddings!

 

No problems with queues at all or getting seats

 

Can't remember what the wife had. Crab fish cakes I think?

 

As we left we passed creme brulees -which I love but hadn't seen before and never seen on Arvia either

 

And realised we were passing the late buffet!

 

Small area so more busy than buffet but still no queues and no problem for tables. 

 

I thought I'm not  sure this brulee can be good?

 

But tried one and was so good I took another back to the room. Better than Rick Steins the other night

 

Got to rush. Celebrating tonight. We are  going smart casual to the buffet and then to the cinema tonight

 

Did 2 great talks today. More details later and pics

 

Speak soon guys!

 

So far so good and so far no queues.

 

And the room isn't noisy. So all very good so far on Iona!!  

 

I've got some good tips though for others to come soon!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome, sound like a similar experience to us on Iona a couple of times last year.

Have a great cruise and continue to enjoy it.

7 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Being selfish and sympathetic to MB's plight, we have never had a noisy cabin , any noise normally stops when I get DW's elbow in my ribs. We normally get off early to go on a trip ,or if nothing planned, have a late breakfast and get off later. Palma sound like it was a fiasco, but Palma is never good. Food , entertainment,  quality normally suits us. So although sorry for MB's bad experiences they probably won't stop us booking an Arvia cruise if the price and itinerary are right.

 

We are booked on the same itinerary on Arvia in July 24.  Nothing has changed for us, very much looking forward to it.  Palma was busy with just Azura in March, so we had already anticipated it would be busy with Arvia and have plans in place.  The road works into Palma don't help, with a much slower traffic flow than normal.

Granted, we are in a select cabin so I know were I will be.

8 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

That’s great. Many thanks. Reading Megabears blog I don’t fancy having to use a shuttle bus when we are on Iona! Did you stop at Haugesund? I tend to recall that there was a shuttle bus when we last went, as there is a fairly steep bridge linking the dock area with the town (steep when pushing someone in a wheelchair)!

Yes, we went to Haugesund, but no shuttles provided.  There were a lot of unhappy people on the walk up into town.  The Google map extract below was taken during Covid, but that was were we docked too.

23 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

ICF - I don’t know if you’ve been to Stavanger before, but I’m keen to know if Iona berths next to the old town, just as all the P&O ships that we have been on before have (including Britannia). Reading the live blog on Arvia, it appears that she is berthing much further out than other ships, presumably due to the LPG propulsion. Whilst we have done Stavanger to death, it’s nice that the ships usually berth right in the centre with no need for shuttle buses. 
 

 

She most definitely does, here's my picture from last year in Stavanger.

Also, we berthed in the same place in Palma as Arvia did when we visited on Azura in March.  Its the berth P&O seem use, after tracking several visits.

On 5/14/2023 at 11:02 AM, jeanlyon said:

I suppose my feeling is that there are all sorts of things that could make it a waste of money.  Lots of ports when you are ashore, not feeling well, so therefore not drinking any alcohol that day/days.  Confined to cabin with Covid. etc. etc.

 

At least when you PAYG, you don't have a problem.

 

It would be interesting to see someone write down what they would consume in a day to generate £45 including soft drinks and coffees etc.  I just can't see it at all.

Many people get value from the package.  Everyone's holiday is different, as has been expressed many times on these threads.  Some passengers may spend little or no time ashore, that's up to them.

I personally wouldn't be going on my cruise with a pessimistic attitude that I would end up ill, confined to cabin or covid.  Positive that I would be enjoying myself.

If I am reading the T's and C's correctly, also a change on maximum number of drinks.  The old package was limited to 15 alcoholic drinks plus non alcoholic etc.  The new conditions stipulate

 All Drinks Packages are limited to 15 drinks per guest in any 24-hour period, starting each day at 6am.

This along with the price increase moves it out of some budgets. 

Having said that, time to speculate on bar price increases to coincide with the revised package launch.

19 minutes ago, Kevstir said:

Not a lot of info but the websites been updated.

I can also confirm that within my.pocruises for our upcoming Azura cruise at end of June, it is available to purchase.  No T's and C's as yet.

1 minute ago, Britboys said:

The attachment won't open for me (on an Android tablet)...

I hope @Fionboard doesn't mind, attached is a jpeg copy.

8 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

Pop up glass house. Very nice!20230516_111748.heic 

Takes pressure off MDR for lunch. 

Quick question, it looks like lots of tables for 2.  We will be a group of 6, and would more than likely try it a couple of times, are there larger tables?

12 hours ago, Lucysnan said:

We have booked our first cruise at the end of June to the Norwegian Fjords on Britannia and were so excited and looking forward to it, but now, having read all the posts recently, we are extremely worried and not so sure we have done the right thing booking this cruise as everything seems so negative.

Go with an open mind, as others have already mentioned, most people don't have issues or problems.  We have done the Fjords twice, on Azura in 2018 and Iona last year.  We will be going again in June 2024 on Britannia.  Can't wait to go back.

The negative posters seem to repeat a common thread over and over, and inject their mantra into any topic they can.  The neutral and positive posters tend to ignore these now.

1 hour ago, Yorkypete said:

 Why is everyone still cruising with P&O?

 

Because the majority have a great time, and do not have issues.

41 minutes ago, Babybooface said:

I don’t know what the criteria was some seemed to suggest it was people who has cruises cancelled  during covid. We had two cancelled for covid so could have been that .

We had 5 cancelled due to it, and do watch all my emails and check post.  Nothing sent to me.  Plus we were cruising the seacations including Iona maiden.

22 minutes ago, pete14 said:

Nor do I. Maybe it was for selected ex cruisers.

Maybe, I certainly never had an offer like that. Probably because we seem to have a rolling 4 or 5 cruises booked with P&O we don't qualify.

From the Princess packages, we would always take the Plus package.  The Premium adds little extra value for what we would use from it.  As a F&F passenger, we have to pay gratuities regardless, so the package is great value.

For P&O, certainly with the current no waiting policy that I have heard about, being able to select your embarkation time as Princess does would be a good addition.  Add into this the more unrestricted drink package and access to a Starlink internet service, nice little package.  But needs to be marketed at a reasonable price to give good value for money.

24 minutes ago, Zombatar said:

Just thought i would ask if anybody has recent knowledge of Arcadia. She was the first ship that I went on , back in 2007. Back then as a nearly 60 year old I was one of the younger passengers. Jenny and I have avoided cruising since Covid but feel the time is right to get back into it. There is a nice Greek Islands cruise in 2025 on Arcadia so I thought I would ask on here to get any feedback, good or bad, about Arcadia now.

 

Peter

Have a look at this thread, one passenger has been posting updates from Arcadia's current cruise.

12 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Do the theatres on the smaller ships ever get full at busy times?

 

Do you have to head to the theatre early to secure seats at popular shows or times or not on these ships?

 

That's what I remember happening on  cruises pre-covid on all the cruise lines we used

 

Comedy Clubs on Carnival you had to queue for 30 mins plus before doors opened (45 mins before the show started) just to be able to get seats

 

I would like to think Carnival use pre-booking for stuff like that now

 

 

The theatre certainly did get full on our recent Azura cruise, and yes get in early for a selection of seats.  But minimal queues to get in, as not checking everyone off on an Ipad.

We recently came back from a cruise on Azura and the pre-booking of entertainment had stopped.  Back to the old system of turn up and go in to the theatre and grab your seats.

As your Arcadia indicates above, the note for entertainment indicated pre-booking was required before the cruise but the option never went live.  It is still showing for our June cruise on Azura, but don't expect to need to pre-book.

If your booking system does not go live on the date shown, it may indicate no booking any more.  I seem to recall P&O stating a slow roll back to pre-c restrictions for the smaller ships.

6 minutes ago, Wonky said:

 

Mr Ludlow, I’m available at a very fair price if you need help with this🤣

 

 

And I live conveniently close to Carnival House and the docks, if they need product testers.

6 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

 

I quite enjoy the higher tier luncheons, and much prefer to have my OBC cover my on board spend, rather than have a meagre 10% saving.

My favourite probably would be the priority boarding along with the lunch, but am a long way off that yet.  Experienced it on a 3 night seacation in the heady post C era with a suite on Britannia, and loved it.

9 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

It is an option but only in the areas of the ship that are designated formal wear only, this can vary between ships, which might be one reason for it not be in the T&Cs.  However in brochures of old there were pages of what to expect on your cruise, and wearing formal dress in some venues would have been highlighted in here. However it does now say that essential information is now on line, and dress code is one of the items.

I may not have got my point across too well.

It still is highlighted that formal nights require you to wear suitable attire for parts of the ship.  This is not in question, or an issue.

The comments that you should not cruise on P&O if you do not want to adhere to formal nights and find a non formal cruise line are objectionable.  The actual notes in Horizon do state that smart casual is the minimum dress code on black tie nights not formal attire.  Now that is another can of worms.

41 minutes ago, halpincat said:

I asked my steward for body lotion and conditioner on Arcadia last October and again on Ventura in January, to be told on both occasions that they are no longer available.  Maybe it depends on the ship/steward.  However, I did get a facecloth which was changed most days, although some of them should have been consigned to the rag-bag long ago!

Strange, we were on Ventura 4th January to Hamburg and got body lotion and conditioner.

I don't understand why it bothers some people so much.  I do black tie on some cruises, and don't bother on others.  I am more than happy to not go to the MDR/Crows Nest etc, and use the rest of the ship.  In fact on Azura last week we used both the Beach House and Sindhu for black tie nights.  Even thought Sindhu has a black tie notice outside on Azura, it does not apply to the dining area.

I still can not find in the P&O T's and C's where it states that it is a condition of booking that you adhere to formal dress code on said evenings.  My understanding since our first cruise was that it was an option, which many enjoy and indeed look forward too.  We too enjoy them, but only when it suits us.

11 minutes ago, WestonOne said:

(Do people actually wear these pins they give out as you reach new levels of loyalty?  I can't remember every seeing one.)

Having just got our first pin on our recent cruise, I knew what I was looking for.  And I did spot a few people wearing them during the evenings.  More so on formal night.  But only a few.

6 hours ago, TigerB said:

Pump bottles on Arvia in January. If you look in the box under your bed you may also find a bottle of body lotion.

You can also ask your steward for body lotion, conditioner and face clothes.