FamilyCruiserUK

12 hours ago, wrldtrvllr said:

I knew I’d get in trouble for that—only use their serving utensils so no cross contamination and they have plenty of fish and fruit but I do agree I wouldn’t be eating gluten free breads if I tolerate gluten. 

Hi, im not calling you out, please dont think that i am highlighting or educating people about dietary requirements. Its great that you use the utensils, however say for example you moved your bread on your plate before using the utensils at the gluten-free section, crumbs cross contamination onto those utensils and onto a gluten free persons hands. I know people will go pfft it dosnt effect people that much but honestly it can some are very susceptible to cross contamination. Look at people with peanut allergies, just the oil on the skin can cause major issues. 

I know my mum washes her hands thoroughly before getting her food and after/before she eats it. 

As for the bread i agree, gluten free bread is like cardboard. I only mention it as a few times she went to grab some food and there was little left.

Loving the review. She does look a great ship and definitely one for us in the future when prices hopefully drop a little. Or she comes to Europe (less airfare).

Thanks for the in depth review nice to see and hear how Icon is with out coming from the TAs or you tubers.

We have studied the open decks and it does seem to be mostly covered which is disappointing for us sensible sun lovers. 

The only thing i would ask is for people who do not have any dietary requirements not to eat food from the dietary stations. Cross contamination will occur. Also they make a limited amount in the buffet and its deprivation to those who do require specific foods. My mum is a celiac and Royal is one of the best lines for her but i and her do get annoyed when people grab all the gluten free food when they do not require gluten free food. 

19 hours ago, SUgwoz said:

Making a class of ships adult only would cause so many headaches on top of the amount of marketing required to explain.  Would be like Virgin Voyages having a kids friendly ship, and watching how many adults go on the ship confused as to why kids are on it.

Not really.

It would be more down to the stupidity of the people booking. Not difficult to do a little bit of research, helps having the google web.

Plenty of other cruise lines manage it. Hold on i forgot we are talking about royals IT..... 😂

13 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I agree with this comment 100 percent. Even Celebrity doesn’t have adults only ships. 

Plenty of cruise companies do have adult only ships, Virgin, P&O, Seaborne, Viking, Fred Olsen etc. They are very popular and go to some very good destinations. 

I wouldnt want an adult only ship as i have a young child. But gives more options to Royal lovers who complain about children on their cruises. 

Will be interesting to see rhe new class and ship designs.

Will it be adults only?

Will it be for families too but without the ampd equipment. 

Finally what itineraries will the ships sail. 

Having recently been on Arvia, Oasis of the seas and World Europa.Three different companies and their three biggish ships. 

Why i like P&O positives. 

Value for money

Graturites included

Good food ( compared to my last MSC and Royal cruise) yes could be better. 

Nice friendly staff, not in your face, over the top friendly like royal. But good to chat too and be polite with

Some good itineraries.

Flights included.

Mostly British people onboard.

P &O negatives for me. 

Family ships, sorry to say but for my 10 year old Royal and MSC are just so much better with facilities..eg water slides, bigger pools, royal ships esp Oasis class have the diving and ice skating shows. 

Itinerary, Not a huge choice from P&O, Norway, carribean, malta, canaries. Yes a few other odd ones but thats P&Os bread and butter. 

So i guess when you look at that you would think P&O would be my go to choice of cruise line. However i still cannot get past the fact whilst we cruise with our daughter we prefer a family ship. P&O just seem to have had a lazy attempt with Arvia.

I will sail P&O if the itinerary is what i want and will be on Azura in July however id rather pay a little more to go on Royal, if i was just going away without worrying about the itinerary. 

Ok so i am going to go a bit radical here and out of the box ok.

Graturites/Tips. These are optional, you can pay before, pay daily once on board or cancel first day and tip who you want when you want. I imagine Graturites are costing you a lot already with the number of people going..

Now i know your US based but in the UK we can purchase add ons for our phone packages or some even allow you to use your package abroad. Not sure how american sims work. Considering you only have two days at sea is buying expensive ship wifi worth it? Can children go a day or two without wifi?

Drinks. Again depends on how much you drink? Heavy drinkers go for it, light drinkers who will be off the ship most of the day dont bother. Even the kids will they constantly be drinking? Not sure if your ship has the free style machines, they are ok for soft drinks but again its all about how much you drink. 

Ship tours. Have a look at where you port, most places in Europe the ports are near the cities so easy to get too, normally lots of taxis outside as well. Rome is a pain to get too from the port tbh a good 45-50 mins away..Athens too. Again have a good look on the itinerary and ports. Lots of helpful information out there. 

Finally, tips. Not expected to tip everyone in Europe. Kinda like the reverse of how we Europens are in the states. We have no idea who to tip or not or how much. Most european places, taxis etc no need to tip unless you want too, but always agree a price before you get in. Some have set prices as well. 

I know some of what i said is going against the grain but i thought id share a different point of view from a seasoned European cruiser and a Brit. 

Interesting that people enjoy companies reusing ship names...

But would people go on a cruise if the ship was named after a disaster?

Such as Titanic, concordia? 

Or like i feel, they should not be reused and left a memorial name. 

29 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

Ben & David they complain about P&O a lot according to other vloggers especially when they were on Arvia. They were unhappy with the balcony even though they mentioned they paid a saver fare they surely knew they could have been given the cabin on the prom deck. It could have been the plan all along hoping to get one of them cabins so they can get more views and clicks. To balance it Emma had one of them and she quite enjoyed it.

Yeah those lads attitudes not my cup of tea, Emma has done some good informative blogs without filming everwhere and anyone. 

17 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

I can't say that I have ever noticed anyone excessively filming but that could be that I rarely take any notice of what others are doing but if I had children with me I would be very upset to see some one filming the children. No one knows where they are posting their films on the internet, it could be on a site used by pedophiles.

Totally agree, if you walked up and down a beach with camera out people would rightly stop and ask question as to why and report you. Yet these influences/bloggers feel they can do what they want. We are now in a society where people get their phones out and film everything for social media "likes". 

15 hours ago, doog442 said:

They'd nail it if they followed Norwegians design on the Prima...a go kart circuit dominating the ship and drop slides but lets not give them any ideas eh 🤣...we just stared in disbelief.

 

Yet they stick a Norway and Iceland itinerary from the UK for the summer.....? 

 

'Here kids we're going to Norway and Iceland for your summer holiday but you have a race track to keep you busy'. 

Ha i wouldnt go go-karting far, but certainly what should family friendly kids ships have. A bigger pool to start, not the small ones like arvia and iona, the inside pool area is poorly designed and closed late afternoons to set up for the evening shows. Waterslides is the new must have for children as well. We just come of MSC world Europa and the pool area and waterslides a massive hit. Even had adult only pools at the back and they were slightly bigger than arvias pools. Even MSC Virtuosa had much better pools then Arvia and Iona, and they are roughly same size ship.

But yeah norway although gorgeous is not really a summer holiday destination, kids want sunshine and beaches and then parents can also chill whilst kids go play nicely.

Totally agree i dont mind people taking photos and that and showing their friends and family the ship but bloggers who usually get the cruise free or sponsored to go and then spend the whole time filming is annoying. Also you have no idea who they are and what they could be filming for their "bloggs"......

The last two summers across here in europe esp the med have been very hot. Check the weather forecast leading up to your cruise, normally the 14 day forecast is pretty accurate. 

Remember you are in Europe we walk almost everywhere in our cities, the cities are old and therefore the pavements or sometimes esp in greece and parts of italy are cobble stones, dirt tracks or gravel, so wear comfortable shoes, id go with trainers ( sneekers).

Remember to bring hats as well. 

Electrical items have been covered.

Bring euros used both in italy and greece, tipping is not really expected tbh, but as always can donif you want. 

As for maps i always use google maps its free and easy to use. Also gives you directions. 

Finally do not forget your bug spray, we do get mosquitos and other little annoying flys in europe so best ro be prepared. 

2 hours ago, pete14 said:

I appreciate what you say, but some of us of a certain age group would also like to be considered in the future. The two adult only ships in the fleet are the smallest, which is not a problem, but they are also the oldest, most expensive to travel on and probably most likely to be taken out of service and sold. Of course the family market is important and increasingly so, but so is the adult only market. This I think is a dilemma for where P&O are and where they place themselves in an increasingly crowded market.

I totally agree, and thats why P&O need to diversify more for both the adult only smaller.ship and the family markets who demand more. P&O have had  relatively limited competition esp sailings from Southampton but that is changing with NCL,MSC and Royal. 

I hope they do build modern adult only ships, or even maybe have adult only cruises certain times of the year on Iona and Arvia.  🤔

My daughter suggested Mystery of the seas......which sounds kinda alluring. Lengend....not so much IMO

Nothing much floated my boat tbh. Except prices, but i want more then a cheap cruise, for a cheap cruise id go MSC. 

I do enjoy P&O to a degree but apart from the price and some specialist resturants the ships are not that exciting for families. I know my daughter (10) has strong feelings on this, she wants more than what P&O have or offer. Slides and bigger pools for example. 

I enjoyed Arvia but found her a little unsure of her place, not fully family but not fully adult with small standing room only pools. 

P&O can easily corner the family market if they just push the boat out a bit more with future family ship designs. So much promise but again played it too safe with Arvia and Iona. 

44 minutes ago, BND said:

Cooked to order would mean everyone waiting a long time for their food.  While the quality might be better, it wouldn't make for happier guests.  It works in specialty restaurants due to minimal number of guests, but wouldn't work with 1000 or more at a time.  I think people forget that back when the food was really good, the dining experience took 2.5+ hours.  Now, it's down to just about an hour.  

Yeah totally agree with you and that's my point. Like you said you cant have fresh cooked food in the mdrs or buffet so you have to expect a lower quality food. 

Having been on royal (Oasis), p & o (Arvia) and MSC (world Europa) within the last 12 months i can honestly say the food across all three have been hit and miss. 

MSC best pizza by far, worst buffet and expensive specialty restaurants.

P & O best steak by far, but best food overall for price, but choice is limited at times. 

Royal best buffet by far and included food, but expensive specialist resturants.

Alot is simply down to the way its been cooked. Most is mass produced in the kitchens and warmed up including the food in MDRs. 

It is subjective and i get he frustrations of the OP, but thats across the board on all companies really.

On 4/19/2024 at 4:17 PM, Gettingwarmer said:

Don’t tend to find that booking from UK. Princess is more expensive. 

Totally agree princess is way more expensive then P&O cruises. 

2 hours ago, Vibe said:

The people who sign the work contracts are from a poor part of the world and have to agree to what the cruise line dictates or be unemployed. 
 

I do not agree with the cruise lines method of tip distribution and how they pay the back of the house workers, but it is what it is. It’s just not worth obsessing about it.
 

All of us here are able to afford a cruise vacation, that is a luxury in life. Holding back a few dollars a day and taking away money from someone that is not as fortunate as we are is just awful and mean. 😢  

 

 

Topping up the wages of staff via a graturite, for a multi billion USD company is surely supporting the company in paying a crap wage to their employees....🤔🤷 In effect your suporting royals business model of paying low wages and not a fair wage to start with. 

Didnt see any made to order station on world Europa last week. Like been posted before the pizza is fab. 

Just measured our world europa ones from two weeks ago. 

The height of the luggage tag when folded as suggested by MSC( along the dotted lines) is 7cm wide and 13 cm high. We used the royal tag holder and had to squeeze it in. 

👍

3 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Thanks for the review.

 

I have World America booked for 2025 so a lot  of the World Europa info will carry over. Some things will be different, obviously.

 

Since so many things have changed (improved?) from the first Oasis class ship to the last, it will be interesting to see how MSC changes (improves?) from the first World Class ship to the last. 

More then welcome. I agree, we went on oasis when she was first built and again after her refit. Much better after her refit. 

Will be interesting to hear about WA esp the food situation as this was the only real let down on our recent WE cruise. Have to say though the pizza on WE was better than Royal as it was made with proper cheese and tomatoes ( tin hat time, sorry americans)......

Having been on royal carribean oasis and having just completed a week on WE (5-12th april) in the Med i feel i have a good understanding of whats good and bad on each line, on the aspects that are similar.

Ship:  Oasis, just a better layout.

Pools: WE, pools huge, deep, warm and so much space around the pools. Including the inside pool.

Outside space : OASIS, this was close, oasis better over all but MSC better around the pools.

Waterslides. WE for me drop slide was fun, never busy.

Dryslide. OASIS, faster and better. 

Decor: WE, looked elegant. Royal sorry but not into brown colour pallet in rooms etc. 

Rooms: Inside both times, WE wins this. Better decor and more space.

Public spaces: Oasis, central park board walk just better.

MDR: Didnt use any on either ship.

Buffet: OASIS. WE food tasty but very European, even though i am a brit i really didnt like the limited selection, plenty of fish though, baby octopus stew for example. Not for me. 

Speciality resturants: OASIS, more choice and cheaper. Mexican on WE was tasty for me but royal beats it.

Price: WE so much cheaper, 

Entertainment: OASIS, diving and ice skating shows smashes MSC all day long. 

Oasis = 6

WE = 4

So over all, OASIS beats WE, if we look at same kinda class of ship. However some parts of WE are much better.

Now if WA goes down the american food route then that would be much better. As the food is what really dissapointed me about WE.

Always going to get Noro in places where there are lots of people in semi confined places. 

Reporting: very few will actually report it for a number of reasons

1. You will be confined to the room, people dont want that.

2, You may have to have a doc visit or something and thats probably chargeable. I know my travel insurance would require a docs note from the ship. If i want ro make a claim.

3, you wont get anything from royal for doing what is right, compensation etc so why bother reporting it. Human nature.

Also be honest now how many people do you actually see washing their hands now adays, and thats anywhere on the ship, buffet, toilets. Not very well enforced at all. 

So as far as royal are concerned theres hardly ever a outbreak. Except post cruise social media posts