Valfan

With regard to these cruises holding their prices, that has usually been the case over the years. But not for the Aurora one this year. I managed to swap my deposit for the Aurora one to something else when the price I had been quoted for it at launch fell by several hundred pounds. When I checked the price again recently it was over £2000 less than I had originally agreed to at launch. And that was just for the cheapest inside cabin, albeit with a single supplement. So balcony and suite prices have presumably fallen by huge amounts this year.

I'm not sure if it's going to be across the fleet, but I just got off Iona on Saturday. We were told by the Assistant Entertainment Manager that, as from the cruise after ours, the solos morning group would be hosted on the first sea day of each cruise. Still no return of the "coffee" aspect of it though.

Was it easy to find possible travel insurance companies/policies for a world cruise? I've noticed, when searching for cover for sort of "ordinary" length cruises, that they cover mainly 30-31 days, and I think one company mentioned 45 or so. But none went up to anything like 99 nights. Thanks

At least they have stopped using My Holiday for bookings for freedom dining and theatre shows on all but the 3 largest, newest ships now. Maybe they are trying to bow out gracefully and gradually from the whole concept of asking people to book in advance for things. Or maybe it will be kept indefinitely on the behemoths. I'm certainly looking forward to relaxing and not playing this new game when I go on Arcadia in April.

I'm with you on all that. I'm looking forward to getting back to a set dining time on Arcadia. And the nonsense about booking entertainment is infuriating. But I must admit, for someone with no tablet or smartphone, I've found it's easy to get by. You just walk up to the "I haven't booked" queue at MDR and they take you right in, while other passengers stand all flustered on their gadgets in the other, much longer queue, wondering how you've managed to do that. As for entertainment, it's just the theatre that requires booking, all the lounges are as normal. I book the 5 or so nights they let you book before travel on my laptop at home, then get a member of staff to book the other nights' shows for me when I get onboard. But it will be better still to get back on Arcadia in April, as P&O have listened to opinion and reason and dropped the request to book theatre shows on the 4 smallest ships. In the meantime, I'm on a train going down south for my latest Iona adventure, ready to play the game of "I have no smartphone and no tablet. But this cruise is a great singles deal and I love the ship, so I'm determined to get by."

In what way? I thought Iona would be too big, too many young passengers etc. I said I'd only go on Iona and Arvia once each, as I've been on all the other current P&O ships and all those that have left the fleet in the past 29 years. But I loved my first Iona cruise so much that I'm setting off this week for my 3rd cruise on her within 6 months. I just love the size and scale of her, the choice of venues, the light bright colours, the atrium, all sorts of things. I think perhaps it's also because she's the one ship in the fleet where I can't go around bitter and twisted at all the changes and cutbacks since I was last onboard her, cos no one knew Iona before the unpleasantness. I'll be able to test out that theory in a few weeks' time when I sail on Arcadia.

It wasn't just a special offer for solo passengers for that cruise. I've done two on Iona in recent months and go on her again next Saturday, all at 0% Single Supplement. And I could have picked from lots of other cruises on her, all at no supplement at all. I just chose three with different itineraries. There were a lot of solos onboard my first two. In fact several of them are booked for the cruise next Saturday too. One chap is doing three back-to-back on her just now. So far, Iona is a solo passengers' dream. We've never had it so good!

I've got the £100 sweetener OBC on my Arcadia 19-nighter in April, booked at launch in Nov 2021, cheapest inside cabin as a solo traveller on Early Saver fare. I got the email a few weeks before my balance due date. I kept checking the price and it was consistently a bit more than I'd agreed to pay, so I paid the balance. But I had a feeling that in the current financial climate the price would come down nearer the time. And that's what's happened! But never mind. My 3 Iona cruises have all been very cheap, and 0% Single Supplement. And at least I'll have £100 OBC that I wasn't expecting on the Arcadia one.

Looking just now on P&O's website they say that afternoon tea is "once a week on a sea day ..in the main restaurant". So they are either bringing it back gradually at first, or it's yet another cutback and once a week is all we can expect!

Thanks for pointing this out. I've just checked P&O's website and right enough the My Holiday info has been updated. The request for passengers to pre-book entertainment (which has always been my pet bugbear) has gone completely on the four smallest ships. Yippee! I'll muddle along on my forthcoming Iona cruise, same as I've done on my other two on her. But my Arcadia one in April has now taken on a new significance - it will be my first cruise in four years where I've not had to worry about maybe being refused entry to a show on a P&O ship.

Yes it's lovely to have exciting choices and to get back to cruising again. And in your case it's great to have £1000 FCC that you didn't know about too! I'm having the time of my life. 5 weeks after my Iona cruise I'm off on a 19-nighter on Arcadia. Also keeping an eye on prices for Aurora's 30-night to USA + Canada. And I'm very keen to try Arvia once her teething problems are ironed out. Oops, there I go again, making God laugh by telling Him my plans.

I came across this a few times when I took early retirement and did a lot of cruising in 2012-2015. (I've only ever been on P&O). When I enquired about some cruises, particularly longer ones on the smaller ships, the TA would get back to me with "Sorry, P&O are not taking any more solo bookings just now for this one. Try again nearer the time." If I said "Not even at 100% single supplement?" they said "No. They've sold a lot of cabins to solos already. They'd like the remaining cabins to have more than one person potentially buying drinks, tours etc." Which I had to admit made good business sense. It's the old story of swings and roundabouts for solo travellers. Sometimes it costs a fortune. On the occasions mentioned above you just hit a brick wall and can't book at all for cruises you'd like to go on. Other times I've had fantastic bargains - none more so than lately. My two Iona cruises in recent months and the one on her in 2 weeks time (I love that ship!) were all at great prices with 0% single supplement.

Thanks for this. A very interesting read, particularly as I got back from the same itinerary on Iona a few weeks ago. Good to see that you got into Lisbon this time. We got a substitute port because of a port strike in Lisbon. As for Barcelona, I've been there around 10-12 times over the years on various P&O ships, and we have always docked at that same berth, furthest away from the city centre. I don't know if it's been the luck of the draw. Or maybe it's a cheaper option so P&O use it by choice. But it certainly makes for a long walk in. I look forward to reading Part 2.

I've been walking to both Ocean and Mayflower terminals from Southampton Central for years. I used to pay for taxis, then there was a free bus to Town Quay for a while, which went on to charge a pound or two. But the buses became fewer and far between. I love the walk now. It's all part of the cruising experience for me. Mind you, I'm not getting any younger, and when my longer cruises come around, with the need for more than one suitcase, it won't be practical. But a lovely memory from the first of my two recent Iona cruises is walking along the main road towards Ocean terminal under my own steam and seeing Iona for the first time. That will stay with me forever.

And write your chosen date on any particular colour of piece of paper, and show a clock displaying any particular time of day?....You couldn't make this up.

I've lost count of how many ports P&O have missed out on all my cruises over the years, but it's a lot. I never bothered about it. But now that P&O are insisting on cruise specific travel insurance I am entitled to payment for missed ports. And, as stated above, there is no excess to be paid for missed ports. So that will be a nice little earner.

I've just been looking at things in P&O's My Account, as I'll be back on Iona in 10 days' time. I see it claims that Aqua restaurant does afternoon tea: "In need of an afternoon pick-me-up? Visit us for the ultimate treat of afternoon tea, a tasty selection of sandwiches, scones and fancies." But there was certainly no afternoon tea in Aqua or any other MDR when I was on her in early Sept, just afternoon cakes etc. in Horizon buffet. And I expect that will still be the case on this next cruise. Maybe they'd planned to have it in Aqua before Iona actually launched. But in the cold light of the Covid pause, then staff shortages etc. the plan never came to fruition.

Arcadia was launched in April 2005. On cruises coming back from USA and Canada we've only ever had clocks changed around noon. Apart from one time when they tried moving clocks and watches by 30 minutes at two separate times of the day. But it proved too much of a shambles, with people getting mixed up and keeping asking other passengers and staff what time their watches should be at. So that idea was quickly scrapped.

As stated above, it depends how you booked cabins and who is in them. P&O's Booking Conditions No. 5 says "A Guest shall not have the right to exclusive occupancy of a cabin with two or more berths unless the single person supplement is paid. If a cancellation results in a guest becoming the sole occupant of a cabin with two or more berths, he/she shall be liable to pay the single person supplement. If a cancellation reduces the number of guests originally booked in a cabin together, the remaining guests shall each be liable to pay any increase in the price arising as a result of such reduction." I hope it all works out okay for you. But, as you can see, it's not as simple as the booked person just not turning up for the cruise. The last cruise that my late partner and I booked together, it looked like he might not be well enough to go. His daughter nonchalantly said to me, "Well if Dad's not able to go, you'll have the cabin all to yourself." Having studied P&O's Booking Conditions when it looked possible that Clive wouldn't be able to travel, I knew it wouldn't be as simple as she thought. In the end, he went with me on the cruise, but was very ill and passed away a few months later.

Thanks for the info. I used to wonder about that. I always used my vouchers at actual sailaways years ago. But those seem to be a thing of the past now. So on this recent Iona cruise I deliberately sought out a venue where a singer or piano player was doing "sailaway sounds" and presented it there. If there's a next time, I'll know I can use it anywhere at any time.

On Iona recently I got the voucher for a glass of fizz to use at any sailaway, as well as 2 large glasses of wine at the priority embarkation lunch. They also put 2 of the free drink vouchers for Celebration Night outside my door, even though I was travelling solo. Then another solo traveller gave me their voucher for a drink at the next sailaway. So, all in all, I did okay for free drinks on a 7-night cruise.

That happened to me too. I did a test at my friend's house down south 2 days before setting off on Iona last month, and I flung the test strip in my backpack (not sure why I did that but I did). When I eventually unpacked after returning home from the cruise, the test strip was still in there, looking exactly the same as when I did the test.

Well, there will certainly always be seats available under the present system, as long as people are doing as they obviously did on Iona when I was on - booking but not turning up. But I wouldn't like to be relying on the jobsworth guy on Deck 7 "allowing" me into the theatre. He had a determined "Thou shalt not pass" attitude. And it wasn't just the problem of hoping I'd be "allowed" in, it was that a big chunk of the day was wasted on the Wednesday, keeping on phoning the 7070 phone number, or walking to the My Holiday podium in the Atrium, only to keep being told "The 8.30 show is fully booked". I don't want to go through that again. I don't expect to be handed a guaranteed place in the theatre. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get in. I've often over the years left the dinner table before coffees were served. I've even missed out the sweet course from time to time, to give myself time to get to the theatre for 8.30. Years ago, for very popular shows, I've even stood at the back or leant with other passengers on bannisters/rails at the side of the theatre and watched from there, when all seats were taken. But this new system, particularly for people like myself who don't have smartphones and aren't very good with technology, is not a level playing field. No matter what we are prepared to do, and no matter what we have paid to be there (including, in the case of myself and many others, often huge Single supplements), our fate is in the hands of others. And that's a game I don't really want to take part in. So if this new system persists, although it will break my heart, and cost me a fortune in lost deposits, I'd rather say farewell to P&O. Especially if it is the case that other cruise lines are still operating a fairer system.

Sounds like a good idea to switch my allegiance to Princess then, which is a terrible shame after doing 36 P&O cruises, on every ship in the current fleet and all those that have left the fleet in the last 28 + a half years. But if the alternative is standing in tears outside a theatre with lots of empty seats and being told it's "fully booked" and I can't enter, it'd be an easy call to make. I sincerely hope P&O don't make me do that. But it's not looking too hopeful at the moment.

That's exactly how I feel. My otherwise fantastic cruise on Iona last week (my first cruise in well over 3 years) was almost ruined by this one thing. The 8.30 theatre show (which I always go to, except on a very rare occasion if it was a magician or something I didn't fancy) was consistently showing as "fully booked". Yet there were always plenty of empty seats. People had obviously booked, then changed their mind, or forgotten they'd booked, or whatever. If P&O persist with this system the artistes will never play to a full house. Apart from anything else it's discrimination against people who like to go to theatre shows, as there is no booking system for any other entertainment venue onboard. The Clubhouse was usually choc a block. I went there later every night and really enjoyed it, listening to the resident band Pulse and watching people dancing etc. And it was like night and day in comparison to the theatre: you could walk in any time you wanted and try to get a seat. What a difference to the "Thou shalt not pass" podium at the entrance to the theatre, with the young jobsworth saying, "Cabin number?" If enough people complain and ask P&O to change back to how it used to be, maybe they'll revert to the old way of working. We can only live in hope.