BouncingWheel

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?

Can I just say thank you again @Megabear2 for all the updates you give us regarding your fantastic proactive emails and calls to insurers and cruise companies.

Can I ask did you pre-book the Retreat or once onboard? Have you booked for the whole voyage or certain days? Thanks.

In my inside cabin there was only 1 socket

Just got off Aurora - 4 night trip to Amsterdam that never made it and we bobbed around for 3 days and popped into Zeebruggee for the last day. Agree that Aurora is still a beautiful ship though sure the main atrium feature was a water feature and it now looks a bit tired and non glistening without it. Some carpets and generally toilet areas in need of replacing as stained but the majority is still in excellent condition. The prom deck is still magnificent though Afternoon Tea is apparently a thing of the past according to the purser's desk and you have to make do with afternoon snacks (same food plus a few extras) in the horizon buffet instead - definitely not the same. All in all, I was personally very glad to be back onboard her. Finally, thought the entertainment was very good including both Headliner shows that both had a storyline - yes we also had the shrill lady vocalist previously mentioned but it didn't spoil the shows for us. Heard quite a few unhappy 1st time cruisers onboard (mainly due to the fact of itinerary changing just beforehand and then the port being cancelled) but I also felt that Aurora was not the right type of ship for many of them anyway as it is not really a booze cruise type of cruise ship.

The deals on MSC are amazingly good at the moment

Hi, it may help if you say what you loved about Iona and what you disliked about Ventura so that people can give you better advice. For better all round entertainment for kids 7-10 then RCL definitely have the most activities but it comes at a price and not all their ships have the same features. Funny enough Ventura is a popular family ship. It is older but has the arcade area which kids love and, in normal times (which we haven't made it back to) have one of the best kids clubs/teams though I have heard that Iona's is better.

Pre-pandemic I didn't think P&O could be over subscribed as they only allowed so many numbers of each age group on board. You will often see places available but once you put in the ages of children then no cabins are unavailable - change the age of the child and availability can appear again. I believe they still do this now with numbers on board but do not know if it has any impact with the current grouping system for kids clubs.

I have only noticed the big drinking on Princess or RCI (British Cruises) but that is probably because of the drinks packages and Brits love to get their money's worth. P&O drinks packages do not tend to be that good value for money so, other than the 3-4 day booze cruises, don't lend themselves to a drink fest. P&O do have a lot of daytime activities but they are more sedate such as quizzes, dancing, lectures, ship games/tournaments so a definite difference to RCI but that is the beauty of cruising at the moment - something for everyone.

Does this also mean the end of quarantine cabins? Will they still be asking people to report for a test if displaying symptoms? It seems that they are classifying the virus like the common cold but I do not know what the restrictions were onboard, pre-covid, if you had a common cold though I know it was not quarantine. Allowed free-roaming with the passenger expected to be mindful of not spreading it about?

We have travelled on both lines a bit and totally agree with @WestonOnethat there are really 2 P&Os (Smaller Adult ships: Arcadia and Aurora) and the rest. It is a really big difference between the rest of the fleet to Cunard but not as much, though still significant, from the smaller ships to Cunard. Differences (against the small P&O ships) are obviously the dollars being the onboard currency. It is also more formal and has a much bigger ship within a ship setup with the Grills area. There is more emphasis, and space, for ballroom dancing and more classical music (especially lovely during afternoon tea). Afternoon tea was a big difference in that Cunard is more elegant focusing on the music and the food whereas the P&O MDR ones are more of a social "natter" event. As previously mentioned, the food and drink quality is better, more varied though more expensive. I think entertainment and lectures work out about equal though Cunard do bring in bigger names/emphasis for their lectures whilst P&O big names are for their singing venues/shows. Hope that helps. The biggest selling point to us was we wanted to do a Transatlantic crossing and we believe nothing beats QM2 for that and I believe many others would back us up on that.