4 minutes ago, Riggy84 said:

Not yet. I booked with a TA so waiting to hear back from them first before I do anything else. 

It’s my understanding if you have booked through a T A The contact centre is unable to help and will just refer you back to T A . May save you an unnecessary call . 

3 hours ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha. Have been blessed to sail in her many times since 2004.  I remember when sailing in the QE2 it was said she would be the last liner so it is possible that a successor to the QM2 is possible if Cunard is able to sustain itself financially whether with Carnival ownership or another company. I could see hypothetically MSC buying them since they are private and own the massive cargo company. That would be a prestige purchase and of course secure the future of Cunard. 

MSC have just launched there own luxury brand so can’t imagine it’s on their agenda nor is there desire for CUK to sell Cunard. 

3 hours ago, GSPG said:

I can imagine, particularly on the larger ships with more people on board that rooms become available very last minute as guests have had to cancel through illness, death in the family etc.

 

If a cruise wasn’t being advertised now as it was full up, but you really wanted to go on it, would P&O offer those rooms away if anyone was interested in them very last minute?

 

Has anyone heard of a ‘reserve list’ for very late cancellations? 

If there were free cabins available  then the booking would be reopened and you would see availability online. 

If it’s a saver fare highly unlikely. You would need to book select or an early saver might get you in a similar area .

Another factor to consider is that premium soft drinks are excluded you can’t have branded cans or bottles just the fountain styles ones from the bar. 

1 hour ago, Son of Bare said:

That was no longer the case on our last 2 cruises. We had to take the bottle with us as we left the table. That was on Arcadia in November and Azura in April.

Same on Britannia 

Unfortunately I think it will be the case that you would need to all buy the package . I don’t think there is much flex on this. 

I think free upgrades will be less frequent with the new bidding system. They won’t offer anything for free if they can get payment for the upgrade. I have only had the location upgraded not up to the next category. Cunard fares let you chose and you used to get first priority for an upgrade. 

I always just drop my luggage and then take my car to where I will be parking it and then get a taxi back. I think the original question was misunderstood. There is no check on your arrival time when you drop off.

Two weeks ago on QM2 it was open on level 3 and fixed dining was level 2 .

Yes definitely as all my family hold 100 shares each but frequently if any two are sharing a cabin only 1 can have the OBC 

2 hours ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

Having recently extolled the benefits of getting shareholder OBC by owning Carnival plc shares and also receiving military OBC at the same level, I see that there is a new thread on the Princess board today saying that wef 29 Jun 23 it will no longer be possible to combine the two benefits.  I wonder if the other Carnival plc lines will follow suit?  Has anyone heard similar rumours about P&O?  If so, that will be very disappointing for those who are entitled to both (giving $500 / £300 OBC on a 14 day cruise on Princess, HAL and P&O, something from which my wife and I have benefitted many many times over the last 20 years).   I know this is something of a first-world problem, but who would turn down free money if it was available?

 

The unanswered question on the other thread at the moment seems to be whether it will be possible for one person in the cabin to have shareholder OBC and the other to have military OBC.  That would be great, but if this is a cost-saving measure, I suspect it is too obvious a loophole to survive.

I can see that working but the non military OBC credit holder would have to own the100  shares in their own right would be my understanding. 

29 minutes ago, vix2000 said:

Is it better to book directly with Cunard or through a TA?  The price with Cunard booking our own flights and post cruise hotel is the same as the TA.  We are booking inside cabins and can pick a room with the TA but not Cunard, but we would be hoping to ask to pay for a balcony upgrade onboard, as the current upgrade price is out of our budget unfortunately.  Would this be more likely if we booked direct? Thank you.

You can only bid to upgrade if you booked direct with Cunard currently in the U K. With many cruises being sold out and the new upgrade programme I think it’s unlikely you would get a cheap upgrade onboard sadly. 

Just now, runnerswife said:

We are on the eastbound t/a on QM2 2024 and then to the Fjords back to Southampton and the 

the westbound back to NY.  We are in Sohmpton twice.  Does anyone know if Cunard offers any

tours to London, or is there not enough time? Thanks, Mary

I saw a tour to Windsor Castle advertised last week on QM2

38 minutes ago, MrsPeel55 said:

@PORT ROYAL @Winifred 22 thanks! 

 

will have a look at those 🙂

 

I ws gonna say we have a Nationwide very near us but I guess these days we apply for everything online?

Oh I keep feeling old !!!  LOL

Yes I did mine online. I did have an old savings account so don’t think I had to do an in person ID check.  I opened a current and credit account purely for cruising. I only cruise with Cunard so having no charges or fees is useful for registering my card onboard. 

50 minutes ago, MrsPeel55 said:

thanks so much, @BigMac1953 & @lissie

 

and yes, I know the currency is US$, we were told when we booked on the phone and read about it on My Cunard. We have dollars left from a previous trip, hence my question... I'm not sure what the exchange rate and fees will be with our bank, will have a look at that and then the Wise... 

By any chance any of you know names for those cards that have no international fees? 

Nationwide credit or debit card have no fees or charges and exchange rates are very good too. Use my card abroad for the smallest of purchases and costs nothing. 

I don’t think they are. They have just revamped the drinks packages. Princess packages also include gratuities which P&O include in their fare price so not much point doing a WiFi and drinks only package in my opinion. 

I had to cancel a 3rd adult close to sailing and there was no refund or credit. They just took the name of the booking. 

I always ask for a table by myself and never had a problem. I have seen others on their own too. You can also join a shared table if you prefer. Some solos on know go the solo meet-ups and then dine with people they have met. I’ve never been to a meeting but a colleague at work always goes and enjoys it. 

Hi they very rarely reduce the single supplements. I don’t think they would do it for a transatlantic as they have no problem selling the berths.  The single cabins are only a fractionally cheaper anyway and sell out very quickly. It’s usually better value to pay the supplement on a standard cabin and enjoy the extra space. That’s what I do. 

Interesting article . I have learnt something new

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Well I'm clearly of great interest to P&O at the moment!  Yesterday I had a real, yes really, survey on how was my cruise, today I'm being asked to Feefo review and minutes ago I just received this.

 

Anyone else been in so much demand recently, or am I just privileged again!  I've never seen this latest survey before, is it commonly sent out if you book onboard or generally direct?

 

Quote

 

we're delighted that you have booked a cruise on Britannia and we look forward to welcoming you on board.

Our guests are at the heart of every decision we make, and we greatly appreciate the thoughts and ideas that you share with us. In this survey, we are particularly interested in understanding why you decided to book this holiday and what you're looking forward to the most. Please click the link below to provide your feedback and answer our survey: START SURVEY HERE This survey takes 15 minutes to complete on average, and will be open for the next 7 days. Thank you in advance for your participation. Kind regards, http://emails.pocruises.com/files/amf_blueberry_wave/project_514/hh-images/paul-sig.png Paul Ludlow, President, P&O Cruises

 

 

 

Unquote 

 

I have received this for nearly every P&O or Cunard cruise I have booked. If it’s the same it’s just generically general in scope and not ship or itinerary specific. 

9 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

The problem I think that does certainly exist is that the majority of people on cruise ships do not want to share tables when given the choice 

 

This was really noticeable on the Iona cruise in MDR

 

Shared tables at set times was the only way in the  past that ships could get everybody fed 

 

I think we all realise that. We all accept that. We've all shared tables. Some enjoy it. Some don't. It's almost intimidating for those who have never  experienced it before. Rightly or wrongly. We actually enjoyed it when we first cruised having been worried about it before we cruised. But given the choice we don't share now.

 

That issue may still not exist on smaller ships with lots of cruisers used to doing it and happy to sign up for it and those  cruise holidays can viably try and keep that happening for as long as people pay in enough numbers for shared dining cruises.

 

With the larger cruise ships now though they need to attract hundreds of thousands of new cruisers each year

 

It was really noticeable that MDR on Iona when people are given the CHOICE of whether to share a table or not they choose NOT to share

 

The MDRs were DOMINATED by tables of 2 or 4

 

That's what people are mainly asking for when asked what they want

 

My estimate was 60 per cent of tables  were being used for 2 

 

25 per cent of tables for 4

 

Only 15 per cent were 6s or 8s or more

 

When people are given the choice

 

And maybe half of those tables for 6 plus were family groups rather than sharing tables. So even less than 15 per cent of tables are tables where passengers are asking to share

 

Freedom dining isn't just about what time or where people choose to dine of course.

 

It's very much about whether people want to share a table or not

 

The cruise companies have to try and give their future customers the holiday experience they would want

 

So they did have a problem to fix. If they wanted to attract new customers and give  them a holiday experience they wanted to repeat. Which they need to happen to survive and flourish

 

Also people like the choice to dip in and dip out of dining in the same restaurant at the same time each night which compounds why the cruise companies needed to change. They need to know when people aren't coming in as well as when they are coming in.

 

They can't just have MDR tables waiting empty in case someone comes in or not. They need to know whether the guests are CHOOSING to eat with them each night

 

They wouldn't have changed if they didn't need to 

 

I'm sure of that. They've made it harder for their staff allowing the passengers choices they never had before

 

But the thing we hear complaints about on here has only come about due to the demands of customers and to meet those demands of those customers

 

Sharing tables is still possible every night in MDR. It's just that the vast majority aren't choosing to do it often if at all

I would never share. If that really was the only option in MDR I would chose the buffet. 

Was given them on Britannia last month. I am sad I was pleased to get them. 

Cunard Queen Victoria still does them but I have not had a P &0 one since restart.