FAB1

10 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Nee Moments magazine says Alan Hawkins

Hello Presto2

Would you mind telling me who the Captain is on Britannia on 18th May please ? I am still waiting for my new Moments magazine.

Many thanks

Sue

Technically and in actuality, according to the deckplan, you have two fixed single beds and two additional upper Pullman berths which will be folded into the wall for you. The fault appears to be with the agent who gave bad advice that your guarantee cabin would be like every other balcony cabin. I am amazed the agent told you the price you paid was unfair and not correct for that grade of cabin. Presumably they will correct the error and refund you what they believe you have been overcharged. Won’t change the fact your cabin is not what you want, but it may help you to cope with it and enjoy your cruise.

The moral of your experience is not to accept a guarantee cabin, even if you are booking a select fare. They are only guarantee because most of the cabin type have been sold so the likelihood is that you may be given a cabin nobody else has chosen (for good reason).

The deck plan is not strictly correct and there is only one fixed bed as per the following information on the P&O website:-

Oceana

The following cabins have fixed twin beds:

A201, A202, A203, A218, A221, A223, A316, A317, A319, A640, A641, A709, A710, A711, A726, A729, A730*, A731, A732*, A735*, A737*

B205, B207, B209, B210, B226, B231, B233, B314, B315, B317, B709, B710, B711, B726, B729, B730*, B731, B732*, B735*, B737*, B746, B751

C305, C306, C314, C315, C316, C317, C318, C319, C321, C323, C324, C326, C329, C331, C709, C710, C711

D315, D319, D320, D321, D322, D323, D324, D325, D326, D329, D330, D333, D335, D709, D710, D711

E318, E319, E321

F225, F227, F228, F229, F230, F232, F233, F234, F235, F236, F237, F238, F231, F240, F242, F244, F314, F315, F317

*Please note that cabins are longer and narrower than standard cabins (known as railway cabins). In these cabins, one lower berth is fixed, the second lower berth folds away against the wall when not in use to give more space during the day. Upper berths in these cabins also fold up against the wall.

Yes the coach station is in the same place as the train station. Although there was a long queue it was all inside, it is quite big, and there is some seating as well. There are also toilets there. I can't remember exactly how long it took to Southampton but think it was about 5 hrs. This included a comfort stop of approx 45mins at Norton Cane services on the M6 toll road. It was a very comfortable journey down as we were lucky enough to get an Ellisons coach both times and they are quite luxurious. Hope you manage to get one too.

I have done this cruise twice and on both occasions, it did not matter what time coach you were allocated, you all join the same queue at the coach station and the P&O staff just fill up each coach in turn. Although we were allocated the first coach out because the queue was so long we ended up on about the sixth coach

Thank you.Thats really helpful.We will probably get a taxi to pick us up from Terminal 2.Is there a coach drop off point that we could direct the driver to pick us up from?

The coach takes you to the drop off only area at Terminal 2. I think your best bet would be to go into the terminal building and make your way to the Arrivals hall and get the taxi driver to meet you there like they would if you had flown back.

I am not sure if the taxi driver would be able to go to the drop off area to pick you up from there as they re not allowed to wait. Maybe have a word with the taxi company and see what they suggest.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

Sue

We have done this cruise twice and usually arrived back at Manchester Airport between 3-4pm. This year the coaches departed Southampton over a period of 1-2hrs so times might vary a bit.

One thing to bear in mind is if your flight is with Thomas Cook you will fly from Terminal 1 but the coach is only allowed to drop off at Terminal 2 due to security. If you have parked your car at Terminal 1 you will have a bit of a trek through the airport with your luggage back to Terminal 1.

According to Moments Magazine the captain is currently David Pembridge until July16th then Paul Brown takes over. Entertainment manager is Tracey Clegg until 26th July and then it will be Neil Oliver.

I am sure I read somewhere that the checkin staff are provided by G4S ?

Hasn't this happened before though? I seem to recall getting a similar email after returning from a cruise saying that the final account payment had been accidentally put through again but that it was the 3rd party at fault,,I think it was this time last year after we had been on Britannia.

Yes, I remember this happening a few months ago. This thread from July 2015 also makes interesting reading. Clearly this has happened a few times.

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2240080

We were in G445 recently, more midship but cabin was great. I am sure you will be fine. This is the view from the equivalent cabin on Port side G612:-

https://carnivaluk.metafaq.com/resources/carnivaluk/fleet/BR_G612.jpeg

When I was on Britannia last month, freedom dining, I was only offered cheese on a couple of occasions, I usually had to ask for it. I do like a little stilton after dinner.

I also thought that P&O had done away with the champagne fountain as I have not seen one since our first P&O cruise in 2010. However an ex work colleague is currently onboard Aurora and has sent me photos of the one they have just had :)

I wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for a cooked breakfast on room service ;p

Hi. We're joining the TA/Caribbean on 21/10 on Britannia. We have booked a place on the Courtesy Coach from Gatwick to Southampton and it says 3rd Departure on the booking. Can anyone give me around ideal of what time that will be?

We did the courtesy coach from Manchester Airport and despite the fact we were booked on the 1st coach out, when we arrived there was no system in place and people were merely boarded in order of arrival. We had to stand in a long queue and watch others board our coach and leave before us.

What I am trying to say is I don't think it matters what coach they say you are on or what time it is supposed to leave, I would just get there at the earliest time possible.

I've also just asked for the third option with my TA and it was no sooner said than done and the phone call only took three minutes.

 

Peter

 

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Thank you Peter. I was beginning to think I had imagined it.

Sue

UPDATE

Just spoke to my cruise consultant about another matter so asked about this third option. It is not an "automatic" upgrade as such but there is an option to have your booking marked that you would accept an upgrade to another "type" of cabin if any are availabe.

Hope this clears up the confusion.

Sue

I can only repeat that I have requested "only accept upgrade to different type of cabin" and my cruise consultant confirmed that my booking has been marked accordingly. I never book through a TA always direct with P&O. Having said that I have never been given an upgrade only offered the paid for one once when they phoned me.

I don't understand why some people have been offered this third type of upgrade and others haven't but as is always the case with P&O it depends who you speak to. Whatever the question you will get several different answers.

The only other possibility is that I have been lied to twice by P&O if this option does not exist 😕

Regards

Sue

How do you choose between your option 2 and option 3? I have only ever seen upgrade or no upgrade. Nothing to specify a 'proper upgrade only'! I too would be happy with your 3rd option but have never seen it. Please enlighten me as I have obviously missed something!

I always book direct with P&O and and there is definitely an option to choose upgrade to different "type" of cabin as I have chosen this option twice. Customer service reps should be aware of the 3 options, the "Personal Cruise Consultants" certainly are. You just need to speak to P&O and they will mark your booking for this type of upgrade.

I have to say that, even having contributed to this thread, I don't feel any the wiser.

 

Part of the problem is what P&O and some passengers consider to be an 'upgrade', which I do not consider to be the case when you are moved to another cabin of exactly the same type that just happens to be in a slightly different classification and price according to P&O.

 

If, for example, I want to book a balcony cabin, I will look at where they are located and chose one based upon multiple factors, such as not being above or below public areas that may cause noise, not in high traffic areas (again, a source of noise), not being next to a cabin that has four berths and therefore likely to contain a family with young children etc etc. I will carefully select my cabin and book accordingly.

 

 

 

P&O's sub classifications within the same cabin type seem to be based mostly on distance from the centre of the ship, mostly playing on people's fear of sea sickness. Having stayed in all areas of ships, I find this to be a massively overstated issue. The notion that in a storm those in midships cabins will sleep undisturbed whilst those who are right at the front will be thrown out of their beds is, shall we say, somewhat exaggerated. I would far rather be right at the front or right at the back and away from all noise disturbance than smack bang in the middle of things.

 

My point being that if I considered that a balcony cabin in one place was better suited for me than another identical balcony cabin elsewhere on the ship, I would book it to start with. Yes it might cost a few hundred pounds more, but in the context of the total holiday expenditure I wouldn't consider it 'money saved' by gambling on a less suitable cabin.

 

So, a move from one cabin of a certain type to another of the same type but at a slightly different grade is, in my eyes, a relocation and not an upgrade and I wouldn't welcome it at all.

 

An upgrade in my eyes is being moved from an inside to an outside, an outside to a balcony, a balcony to a Superior Deluxe / Mini Suite or from a non-suite cabin to a Suite.

 

So, I am caught because obviously if I have booked a balcony cabin and P&O offered me an upgrade to a suite I would be delighted. But because I fear that they will simply move me from my thoroughly resesarched quiet cabin to one of the same type that could be noisy, simply because it is more mid-ships and deemed 'better', I tick the 'no upgrade' box.

 

Perhaps I am missing something? If so, please enlighten me!

P&O have 3 upgrade options:

1) No upgrade

2) Upgrade to any cabin

3) Upgrade but only to a different type of cabin ie inside to outside, outside to balcony etc.

I usually choose the 3rd option 🙂

I really sympathise with you Mark, it must have been dreadful. We had a sleepless 14 night cruise on Azura due to noise from a lifeboat so I know how lack of sleep can affect you and ruin a holiday. Had a little look at this family on facebook and they were a group of 28. This was not the first time they have cruised, they did a cruise a year ago as a large group and look like they plan to go again. Hope they are not on the same cruise as you or me.

So let me get this right. P&O have admitted that they oversell the cabins ? I assume then that they are being paid twice for some of the cabins and I doubt they are refunding those that have to cancel at the last minute.

I would like to think that they mean they oversell a particular grade of cabin but do not sell more than the total number of cabins available on the ship.

This is what P&O have to say about the new boarding procedure. You will see that you are still welcome to arrive earlier than your boarding time, especially if you are checking out of a hotel or due to your travel plans. They also state that they will do their best to check you in as soon as they can 😊

So, what’s changed?

In the spirit of fairness, we will be giving priority to those who arrive at their allotted time. You are welcome to arrive earlier of course, but if you do we will ask you to make yourself comfortable in the terminal until we are able to check you in. This may well be before your allotted time, we promise we won’t make you wait around unnecessarily. Please note that the earliest possible arrival time is now 12.30pm, which is reserved for our Ligurian Tier and suite guests (please see below).

What if I can’t arrive at the allotted time?

We realise that it’s not always possible to arrive at a scheduled time, especially if you’re travelling a long way, or are checking out from a hotel. So if you do arrive early, please rest assured that we will do our best to get you checked in and on board as soon as possible. There are refreshments available at the terminal and plenty of seating to make you comfortable should you have to wait. Alternatively, feel free to drop off your luggage from 12pm and come back to the cruise terminal at your Arrival Time.

We're with Thomson and the prices quoted in the P&O FAQ for Thomson actually says that their prices (as you say £70 for10kg) are based on a return flight. I'm assuming, therefore, that we would pay less for one way (in theory half, but these things don't always seem to work that way!). It doesn't make it as clear for Thomas Cook flights so I'm wondering if they are cheaper because they're one way.

This is what it says on the P&O website:-

"Thomas Cook Airlines (Fly-Caribbean)

Excess baggage: Available to book at check in. Additional charges can be found in the table below. Please note that charges are one way only."

An extra question on this subject - we're on the transatlantic next March and are thinking of buying additional baggage allowance. As it's only one way, does anyone have any idea what they change?

 

I'm assuming it will be half of the figures they quote for a return flight but it would be good to get this confirmed.

 

By the way, don't suggest we get Premium Economy - we've tried and it's fully booked!:(

The figures quoted on the P&O website are one way only so thats the amount you would pay on the transatlantic. Just looked myself, we are flying Thomas Cook so £40 for extra 10kg, Thomson is £70 😮

Last time I went on Celebrity they had this feature on the cabin TV !

We use select dining restaurants a lot and tip them very handsomely - because the service is exemplary.

When we went to the White Room, as it was then on Ventura, we were told on booking with the MaitreD on the desk that there was no need to tip as it was included in the cover charge.