Son of Bare

Oh, I thought it might be earlier than that. 

Two per year and the last one was October.

Anyone know when this might be?

16 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Re the two different berths, in the first photo the ship closest is in the berth by the Opera House (where we’ve berthed on Aurora and Oriana). If you look in the distance behind it you will see the other berth where we berthed on Britannia (it’s Britannia in the photo). The first 3 photos are taken from the viewing floor in the new Munch museum. The pedestrianised area with the bunting is en-route from where Britannia is berthed to the city centre. Another view of the sculpture park and finally a depiction of someone trying to decide which cruise to book 😉 😂 

That 'other berth' that you experienced on Britannia is imo, one of the best places to park a cruise ship in Europe.

If Aurora wins, you could select a standard balcony of your choice after checking the deck plans and then make a cheeky offer for a balcony deluxe cabin when that opportunity arises. If you are not bothered whereabouts on B deck you are, that would be the cheapest way of securing a deluxe balcony and you'd still have the safety net of a  standard balcony cabin, location chosen by you.

We spent 30 nights in a standard balcony portside on Aurora on Lido deck on a recent trip to US and Canada.

Excellent views, sailing into and out of NY for example. Also very good for access to the riviera and cystal (coveted) pools. My wife swam every day in the riviera, prefering it, while I kept a watching brief from a jacuzzi. 

Access into and out of the front stairwell area and where the cabins are situated from the open deck is interesting. It is on starboard side and the vast majority of px use it, but there is also an emergency exit on portside which tends to be used by bridge officers, the odd smoker (one of the two areas where smoking is allowed is portside riviera bar, this is not a problem if sat on a portside balcony cabin as the riviera bar area is surrounded by perspex preventing forward movement of smoke), and the odd px in portside a cabin.

Generally, if you've not experienced Aurora before, our main grip was sound insulation or lack of it between cabins. She's an older ship and allowance needs to be made for that.

One of the issues is people don't 'saunter' anywhere anymore. Everyone has to be there as early as. Something I've never understood. Fair enough I suppose if you are in a privileged tier that gets you a lunch that you sufficiently prioritise to want to arrive at a time to attend. 

I don't understand why gaining the odd hour over a 7/14/35 night cruise is considered so important for so many people that they feel cheated if they are given a later check in time than they prefer. I'd rather leave home at a sensible time and saunter on in my own time in the knowledge there's a fair chance my cabin will be ready and wairing for me.

1 hour ago, Presto2 said:

But you had the chance to sit together if you wanted to and chose not to. 

 

Feel for the original poster on this one as they had checked with P&O and obviously wanted to be together to practical and other reasons.... basically we're a couple and want to board together please

 

Note to self - make sure you take any evidence with you to use incase it is needed.

Not quite the case. We chose not to pay extra to pick our seats, but we still expected to be sat together or across an aisle though as has happened previously. Those people we were sat next to were as surprised at the situation as we were, but as I rather sarcastically said, it wasn't a problem we managed it.

I agree with you, as said, it's a ridiculous position for the OP to be put in by PO.

Regards carrying evidence, absolutely, though I'm a bit non plussed that anyone who chooses to carry a phone does not have it on their person at all times, especially when travelling to a point of departure for a holiday with what that could potentially entail.

7 minutes ago, bbtablet said:

Not sure what you are trying to prove - we have done about 440 nights now.

We have only had a suite once, all the rest were higher-end balcony cabins. No Priority Boarding until this time.

You don't appear to have taken into account our on-board spending, purchases of artwork, and jewellery, or the P&O tours which we buy at every port on every cruise.

You also do not know about the cruises we have paid for for other people.

I did not realise I was going to be challenged on here as well as at check-in! Otherwise I would have said "at today's prices" and "I know the artwork and jewellery are not being sold directly by P&O", but hey - ho!

Not trying to prove anything.

As soon as I saw your headline figure of over 100k spent with PO I naturally compared it to our own spend. We are both Carribean tier members having mostly used balconies, spending a reasonable amount onboard, with excursions, select restaurants and bar bill and have only just gone past 50k.

I found the discrepancy startling but then we've not bought from the gallery or paid for anyone else.

1 hour ago, bbtablet said:

THE SEQUEL.

 

Readers of this thread may be interested to hear what actually happened on embarkation day – cruise R309, October 3^rd 2023. If you have not read this thread before, I suggest you start at the very beginning – the plot thickens!

 

We duly arrived outside the check-in building at 12.30pm – the Priority Boarding time given to my wife (mine was 2.45pm) – and in accordance with the email received from P&O Customer Services the previous Thursday – see earlier posting #15 on this thread.

 

The first P&O representative we met with outside the check-in building looked at the two Boarding Passes and said “You can’t come in.”

 

I told him he was wrong.

 

“Well, that’s what we’ve been told.”

 

I pointed out that I had received an email definitively stating P&O policy on the situation, but all he would say is “Well, that’s not what we have been told.” I asked him to fetch his supervisor and off he went – we did not see him again.

 

We stood to one side while waiting for his supervisor so that other passengers could pass through to the next two P&O “checkers” – two ladies. After a minute or so, with a lull in arrivals, they noticed us holding back and beckoned us forward to show them our two passes.

 

They seemed to be delighted that they had caught us! – “They are for different times so you can’t go in” in unison. I told them that we had received an email from Customer Services saying that we could both go in at 12.30.

 

“Well, they are wrong.”

 

“How can they say one thing and you say another? – don’t you communicate with each other?”

 

“Yes, we are always telling them that they are wrong, but they don’t do anything about it.”

 

“But I received this definitive statement of policy from them only last Thursday.”

 

Then this!: “P&O change the rules every day.”

 

One of the ladies, perhaps wisely, then moved away to deal with other arriving passengers, leaving the remaining one to continue:

 

 “Where is this email then?”

 

“It is on my computer at home and also on my phone which I packed in my case that has just gone through the luggage pod entrance” (I don’t use my smart-phone much so had seen no need to carry it with me at boarding).

 

“Why didn’t you print the email off?”

 

“As it was a definitive statement of policy, not a “turn up at 12.30 and see if you can wing it!” communication, it did not occur to me that its content would be challenged.” (Redabby – I did not see your post in time as we went down to Southampton via an overnight stay)

 

She then called me a liar: “You would be surprised how many people try to quote so-called communications from Customer Services just to get past us.”

 

Then: “In any case, even if you had such an email, they are wrong so you still can’t go through.”

 

At this point I told her I wasn’t listening to her anymore and my wife and I started edging forwards towards the entrance. She barred our way again and got right in my face. I decided to engage full beam and played my ace: “Tell me what you want me to do then” – no reply, just silence.

 

I asked her again “Tell me what you want me to do then” – again, no reply, just a staring silence.

 

I think she must have finally become aware of how far away from her training she was getting. The only answer she could give that fitted her stance was that my wife, late 70’s, delightfully shy, recent replacement knee, severe shingles-induced sciatica, should make her way alone through check-in, then passport control, security, boarding, muster station, then find our room (phobia of lifts), and then attend the Priority booking buffet, still alone, whilst I, 80 next month, dodgy knees and hip, should stand outside the building (there is no seating), case gone, car gone, phone gone, wife gone, for the next two and a quarter hours.

 

This silent, staring impasse was suddenly broken by the appearance of another P&O lady (the sent-for supervisor perhaps?) who, without comment, immediately ushered us through the doors and into the check-in building – we were on our way at last!

 

Our Boarding Passes were inspected a further 6 times during the process, all without any comment regarding the difference in times.

 

My wife was left shaky by the confrontation, whilst my main emotion was one of bemused astonishment that, after doing everything right by the book in asking Customer Services for advice, spending over £100,000 as customers of P&O over the years, and my wife being, at least in theory, a particularly valued priority customer, we could be treated this way.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

To play devils advocate here.

I find it interesting that by your own admission you have spent over 100k with PO but are not yet in Carribean tier (or above). If wifey has only done 'a couple more cruises' than you, a combined total of not much more than 400 nights seems a reasonable assumption?

Do the maths and that equates to a minmum of £500 per cabin pn (at todays prices). That's mostly Suite territory which have early embarkation anyhow.

And the further back you first cruised, the lower the average per cabin pn cost would be....

#confused.

I do however agree that it's ridiculous that a couple sharing the same cabin would be expected to board at different times.

As an aside, on a recent Azura fly cruise from Valletta, my wife and I were not sat together for the flight (we didn't pay the surcharge to choose our seats). She was several rows behind me.

This was not what we were expecting. It was difficult ordeal... we've only been together for 44 years, but we managed to get through it. 🤣

I think the key to this is when px are told that a process starts at 6.30 am, it's not compulsory that you get there at 6 30am. Far too many people want/need to be at the head of a queue and when it then doesn't start moving they get fidgety.

If you were on an excursion organised by PO that left at say 8.30 o'clock, that was in fact was your free ticket for a lie in. They would not have gone without you providing you were present somewhere in the queue 30 mins beforehand

1 hour ago, Sonyar said:

I'm interested in this cruise next year. Can I ask how US immigration was as I've read there can sometimes be huge queues? Forgive my ignorance, but you only have to do this once, yes?

 Was the entertainment like on other P&O ships and not for an older cruiser? My husband can't stand what he calls 'crooning'.

 

Immigration was, for us, a doddle. The queue we joined didn't stretch beyond the ladies immediately outside of Carmen's. Ten minutes max until we hit US soil.

One thing I've learned over the years, never be the 1st in a PO queue.

The entertainment is, by and large, aimed at the retired generation. So yes, plenty of crooning, songs from musicals, 60's and 70's. There's a busker, at least there has been on our last three PO cruises, this one was imo, awful. Insipid. (I'm sure he's a very nice guy). Ditto the lady who tinkled the ivories in the Crows nest and other venues throughout the cruise.

We have noticed that when we go to a major US port, PO put a local turn on in the theatre and they are usually way better than the in house offerings. On this occasion 'call me Paul' had the New York Collective entertaining us together with a fantastic tap dancer who goes by the name AC Lincoln. He was on strings. Together with our trip to Birdland a real highlight of the cruise. 

Regards PO excursions, I would add Cape Spear from St John's as a recommendation. Furthest point east in the North Americas. A kind of Dunmore Head in reverse. When in NY we ventured as far as Harlem, I wouldn't recommend that if you are of a nervous disposition, but we didn't have a problem with central NY. Every town and city has their colourful characters, the most entertaining we stumbled across was a guy in St Johns.

Oh, and yellow taxis are cheaper than Uber 😉

Just now, jeanlyon said:

I was on Aurora when it happened  She's hardly mega.

That fact simply strengthens my point and weakens any argument that it should be put down to an 'accident'.

22 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Any opinion on the similar event with QM2 in Italy the other week, or is it only P&O who do it wrong?

Equally culpable, equally at fault.

The fact that this type if incident apparently happens regularly should also be viewed as disconcerting at best.

Steps should already have been put in place to eradicate the problem, and if mega cruise ships regularly break their lines and literally nothing can be done to prevent this from continuing to happen, its obvious that they have been built too big for purpose.

3 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Exactly!

Even ROSPA acknowledges there is no such thing as an accident.

In 40 yrs in the chemical industry we would go through every incident in the year and the Safety Manager would challenge us to find an ‘accident’,we never could.

 

The P&O incident will be looked at with a fine toothed comb…..as an example.

When told of the impending storm and high winds hitting the dock side of the ship who made the decision that there was enough ropes out.

Why was a decision made not to take the ship out into the bay,,,,it would be safer.

Was the first rope to break weak or frayed,,,who checked them,,,when one rope goes they all go.

Who was checking the tension on the ropes.

At the end of the day the fact the ropes snapped proves there wasn’t enough ropes out.

 

I have to agree with this.

I doubt anyone would be excusing PO/the captain if for whatever reason one of the fleet went down. That's an extreme example, but I doubt there would be any mitigating factors in the minds of observers allowing those responsible for that event off the hook, so why is it any different for this incident?

Because this is a 'minor event' which allows the observer to retain the 'accidents happen' mentality...

36 minutes ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

Letter delivered to our cabin - deck 8

With human nature as it is, that'll be some queue at reception.

That should read, the balcony cabins that front onto the prom deck prevents me...

Thanks for the replies.

We usually choose a saver fare once we have identified a cruise and grade of cabin that suits. The cruise in question is two weeks on Arvia next spring but the balcony cabins (which we would normally choose) preventsme from doing this.

I think we will try an outside cabin. Not had one on any ship before and on Arvia they are 50% larger than a standard balcony and well placed for the public areas.

The select fare is currently £700 dearer than a saver but has £320 obs. The amount of deposit required doesn't bother me nor does specific cabin selection, so it comes down to sheer economics...Will I pay less in 3 weeks time when I'm onboard Aurora if there's additional OBS available? My own feeling is there will not be an additional £400 offered, so i will not. There's also the chance that the fares will have risen by then.

Its a lot of vacillation on my part for £400!

I'm sure this will have been raised before so apologies for asking again.

We are considering a two week cruise on Arvia next year, on a saver fare. What, if any, are the advantages of booking whilst onboard another cruise.

Having just checked the T and C, refunds are given in full in most cases upto 3 days before sailing. Once onboard a 10% fee is now taken for cancellation and once within 48 hours of the trip the full amount is lost.

I'm sure there may be some leniency shown if cancelling onboard to then book another excursion, but from what I can see, currently thems the rules.

1 minute ago, yorkshirephil said:

I would check the T&C's. It used to be that you could cancel up to 24 hours before without penalty, but things are fluid especially when it is to P&O's advantage. I have booked tours in the past and when a sold out tour had extra places added I have cancelled my booked tour to go on the new one.

24 hours.. thanks Phil.

Can I still book and cancel at a later stage if we change our minds...is there a cut off time after which PO charge a fee, or retain the full amount?

Can anyone help...

When booking one of these whilst onboard another cruise, how much deposit do PO require?

Most cruises are £50 pp but I think a larger deposit may be required for a world cruise or the grand adventure cruise.

We steamed on Iona with some friends who were in a suite. It was a 14 night cruise and about halfway through in my mate said that their butler had fallen off a ladder which meant the other remaining butler who serviced the rear suites was having to cover them all.

I don't know if that was because there was not any other 'butler' trained staff aboard or if PO just decided those that paid most should be deprived.

Being just a pleb myself, we travel in balconies

Possibly.

We are club dining on Aurora in Sept, so will see if that's still the case.

14 minutes ago, jh1809 said:

On "club dining", if you don't finish a bottle, then the waiter will write your table number on the label, take it the bottle and stopper it for you, and you will find it back on your table the following evening. I don't know if that's also possible on "freedom dining", as I don't know how the bottle would find you again.

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.