BouncingWheel

I love Aurora but hated Arcadia. With P&O most of their ships are different (more aligned with other versions in Carnival fleets) so it is hard to say if you like one you’ll like another. on top of that they all seem to behave differently regarding staffing levels and what they offer.

Great effort though! On our last, short, Cunard cruise we were up against “professional” quizzers who more or less won everything - took the shine off it a bit but still fun. We hope you have a fantastic cruise. We love the sail into Amsterdam, through the lock, during the day. Let us know if you see folks on the banks waving hello.

None of our cruises listed shuttles and you couldn’t book them either. It was always first come first served queuing system. As already mentioned, if you have time to kill then a wander around town is nice before catching the train.

The shuttle is from the ship to the station. How regular depends on how many the ship lays I believe and size of ship etc… We have never had any problems. train times can be found online and it probably helps with Blankenburg being the end of the line. I vaguely remember 2 an hour when we last did it and there were loads of us from the ship doing this. on the way back seats aren’t as easy to get as not an empty train but again we had no problems. The shuttle back does a stop at the port terminal for security purposes which it doesn’t do on the way out.

Totally agree. Done the shuttle plus train option 3 times plus once wandered around Blankenburg top. Very easy to do and you can control how long and when you want to be out. The painful bit is the shuttle back to the ship as you have to get off at the port gate terminal and then walk thru security and then re board again but I guess you’d have to do the same on a P&O excursion as well.

That is probably Captain Hashmi. Currently QM2 Captain. We agree that it was a strange way to sign off announcements - as if reading a script and he kept forgetting to replace Captain with his name. We loved Captain Andrew Hall who is now also on QM2.

Great to hear that everything worked out well for you. Much respect to all the companies involved for being so understanding.

Any knowledge why? Is it due to ship size/passenger numbers or something else? First they don’t stop at Gerainger and now they don’t even travel down the Fjord anymore. If this is another permanent change then they should look at sending Iona’s to other areas of the world where they can travel and dock as per the itinerary.

I think the challenge on QM2 is that there are not many large tables in the Britannia restaurant on deck 3. Most are for 2 though many can easily be set together for 4 or 6 as they are only separated by a small amount. Therefore, unfortunately, I think anytime dining is more flexible for smaller numbers but it sounds like you are still enjoying the cruise and the food despite this setback which is great to hear.

I have had to do that a couple of times now when CPS et al were fully booked and worked well both times. Got a taxi from Premier Inn once and walked it once. Good alternative IMO.

Whereas Land of Confusion seems to be apt for your current cruise.

They offered this on this year’s world cruise so I would expect the same to occur next year. Some fellow passengers took up this option and though I don’t remember the price it seemed reasonable.

Obviously fix the broken chairs in Illuminations. What I would love is if they could rip out the theatre and start again - so many bad or restricted view seats - it is the worst theatre at sea of the 10 ships that I have sailed on. If they could just fix the balcony glass seats and move the stage back a bit it would fix half the viewing issues. I guess that they could squeeze in extra cabins to increase a bit more revenue by removing the boardwalk cafe which hardly ever opens but that would only be 1 or 2 more at a push so would not generate that much extra. Generally though I really love QM2 and all it's quirks (except the theatre - did I mention that 😁) so as long as they don't mess with it I will be happy as I would hate to see changes to places like the Carinthia Lounge etc...

Personally, I have to disagree with the above statement. I find cruise critic very informative and, on the Cunard and P&O threads I follow, very balanced overall. There are people singing the praises and others highlighting faults but I have gained a lot of good, valuable insights from many posters on here and not just the bad experiences reported.

I have been on QM2 twice this year and the flexible dining, and dining in particular in Britannia, is very flexible. In theory, Deck 2 is fixed dining with two sittings and Deck 3 is open (flexible/freedom) dining. In reality, this is what happens. The Deck 2 is either oversubscribed and/or there have been "complaints" about the table allocated (location, table companions etc...) and therefore some fixed diners have deck 3 tables allocated due to lack of room on Deck 2. Similarly, some open diners end up on Deck 2 on some evenings. This has happened to us when we attended dinner shortly after the fixed dinner service started and there were no shows for tables. Quite a few couples were redirected downstairs. The thing to remember for open/freedom dining is where you sat last time so that you can tell your wine waiter where to find any left over wine you may have. We never had to wait for a table though some nights service could be slow. All in all, I think the system worked very, very well.

P&O have sent me a long list of "rules" for my segment of the January 2023 World cruise. Indeed, close contacts are a concern still. The grey area is what determines a close contact. To me, for this cruise, it is how we were about 9 months ago and they are probably covering all bases by stating the highest restrictions in place for countries that P&O visit. Close contacts of guests who test positive while on board are required by local government guidance protocols to follow these requirements for seven (7) days on board (or for the entire cruise if it is less than 7 nights in duration): Perform daily rapid antigen testing. We will provide you with seven rapid antigen tests (RATs) and kindly ask that you test yourself daily and let us know the result You are required to wear your face mask at all times when outside your cabin You are required to have your meals and drinks in your cabin Any instances of positive cases on board will be managed by our on-board medical teams in conjunction with the local authorities, to determine the best course of action. The framework of protocols for cruise ships can differ slightly to those on land and to other forms of travel. Some ports may require guests and their close contacts who test positive on board to disembark in port and continue their period of isolation ashore. The on-board isolation period is subject to change by the relevant state health departments.

Going back to itinerary. This year Iona has not been overly successfully in going to the places it was originally meant to go to - especially the Fjords. There have been numerous posts on here about that. Although you can never guarantee that the itinerary will be met on any cruise, if it was one of the more important aspect for you then maybe that will led you towards Arcadia or Britannia as I believe they have a better success rate. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I am sure that you will find it very special. We have done all 3 Queens and many P&O ships and we like both lines but in different ways. I was just trying to point out that it is still unknown if Queen Anne will turn out to be a true Cunard experience (which is why I guess you are trying them) and if, by any chance, you don't enjoy it not to instantly write off the whole fleet based on 1 ship. You probably will not be the type to do this based on your comments on research etc.. but others might.

It's interesting that you have chosen Queen Anne. Based on the information that has been released so far a lot of regular Cunarders are worried that it will be too much of a departure from the regular queens and the experience will be quite different. I think, like P&O, they are trying to evolve the brand to attract a larger group and the Queen Anne could turn out to be the Iona of the fleet and offer something different.

Hi, we were in a similar position and the 2 areas that we found challenging were: a) length of our cruise holiday; b) The amount. These led all the standard insurers to reject us. If you are in UK the standard insures will redirect you to Money Advice Service who will in turn access their database of insurers (based on your requirements) and give you at least one broker who will supply the full cover you need. I would state that my opinion is that it is best to purchase the cover just before you pay the final balance as that will greatly reduce the cost of the premium but then you are taking a risk with the deposit - the deposit can often be moved, before balance, to another cruise but the choices are limited.

Wonder if P&O will move into introducing water slides? If the Iona infinity pool and Geiranger port docking design flaws are anything to go by then they could be very interesting🤣

Removed from all ships unless you take the paid for option in a speciality restaurant OR the free option in the buffet. We miss the free MDR version too.

I have heard people in those balconies are given a free umbrella🤣

I can understand Cunard saying that anyone tested with a transmittable virus should be quarantined as that I thought that was a standard cruise ship wide procedure before Covid (used for norovirus etc...) but the room partner should either be quarantined and compensation (is that what would happen with Norovirus and I take it insurance pays for both passengers as doctor's have enforced quarantine for both) or the virus free person is moved to another cabin and allowed to roam freely and have the standard holiday experience. This in-between scenario is the worst of all options.

Is the removal of Afternoon Tea in the MDR now across the fleet or just Aurora?