Cruisemeister2002

On 2/9/2024 at 2:57 AM, New2cruise2022 said:

So the Osmonds do live down the road from me. I still hear from my mom everytime she runs into Donny and she is mad everytime I fail to call her when Donny and his family come to eat at my restaurant.
 

While I’ve never noticed if they shovel their own driveway or not, it would definitely take longer to clear the length of their drive. 

Sounds like Puppy Love to me ?

Most times it's what happens on the ship. Who you meet, whether things go right or wrong. Your cabin steward etc. We for instance have had two cruises on Ventura and I can honestly say they won't see me on that ship again. The last cruise we had on Ventura I should really have been aware that it wasn't for me. Why ? because we were supposed to have sailed on her in 2021, but it was cancelled, then in 2022 they vastly changed the itinerary so that no US ports would be called at. We had the option of £400 extra OBC, to be refunded totally or to rebook on another cruise. We choose to rebook for 2023 the same itinerary as what the previous two were meant to be. What a mistaka to maka. The cruise was a disaster from start to finish. It put us off so much that I have deserted P&O to try a Princess cruise. The same ownership I know. A real pity actually as P&O have been our go to cruise line for all our cruises apart from one since 2002.

We go on a cruise later on in the year and have so far booked a couple of excursions. Some places such as New York only have two excursions which I find strange. These two are a hop on, hop off which you can get in the City anyway and the other is a coach ride around the City. No Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island, no Hamptons or 911 memorial. Not that I'm interested in most anyway as a few years ago we did Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island for 50% less than what it would have cost via the cruise line. There are a couple of other excursions we'd like to do as I know these ports don't have much going for them with regards to just wandering around. But I agree prices are high. 

On 2/10/2024 at 12:28 PM, solentsam said:

HI just returned from two weeks in Canaries on Iona was hearing quite a few pax had sickness/tummy bug on board. lucky we never had it. So anyone joining today remember to wash your hands frequently.

Think I am correct in saying that Norovirus can lurk in furniture such as chairs and sofa's. My wife caught it a few years ago on the last night before disembarkation. It wasn't handled very well either as I informed the medical staff and had a call asking if I wished for some breakfast the following morning, which I said I did. Also they arranged for a taxi to take us from Southampton to Ipswich. No breakfast and no taxi and my my wife was slumped over the handle of a baggage trolley whilst I marched back and forth to the reception at Southampton docks to see when the taxi would turn up. It didn't and in the end I asked if I got a taxi and paid for it would they (P&O) reimburse me, they said yes, so I got a taxi and we went home.  

On 2/12/2024 at 11:48 PM, CruiseLibre said:

First time cruising with my wife and daughter this summer (other daughter refuses to go, too cool for skool!) and starting to have second thoughts as the 14 day cruise which seemed like a good deal to start with now just seems like a way to extract as much money from you as possible, either before you sail or whilst you're on board.

We got one of the ports dropped from the itinerary early on after booking and an extra sea day added on (3 days at sea for one leg), that was the first disappointment as although we understand that these things can happen, this port was one of the main reasons we booked the cruise, what annoyed me is that Princess were completely uninterested and didn't want to know, didn't offer anything in recompense like some other cruise lines do like 'free at sea' etc. (Hello NCL!) and didn't really care what the customer thought, it just felt like a really bad experience for our first cruise. They also hold you to ransom with the deposit by the "You want to cancel? sure, we have pocketed your £600"...so long sucker, so I am hanging in there in the hope that something good happens, although that's not looking too hopeful right now.

The customer experience is something I feel really strongly about as I've worked in customer experience my entire life and this felt like an absolute kick in the teeth and sod the customer. I even spoke to them online and although I don't blame the online agent as they are bound by what they're allowed to do, they didn't want to know, first fail in my book, but they still want more money from me, you can see where this is heading. I totally get they can't just hand out freebies for something that is probably outwith their control but if you want more money from me, I feel I want something it appease my initial disappointment first, is this unreasonable? This experience has tainted the entire cruise for me as I feel I'm just a cash cow right now for Princess when they should be pulling out all the stops.

We are five months from the cruise and although we have paid for a balcony (not much extra tbh and got this because our daughter is not a great sailor and access to fresh air is a bonus) but the not so obvious hidden costs and up selling to plus packages et al. are taking the shine off what should be a nice cruise, but that's before you start paying for onboard services and shore excursions.

Our costs before we even step on ship are £5k approx without the Plus package or any up selling which will occur either closer to the time or on board.

The "Just get the Plus package" advice pushes the costs to £7k, not a small figure for any family and especially during a cost of living crisis, and that's before shore excursions or anything else. I just can't wrap my head about how much do you actually need to spend before it actually feels like a care free all-inclusive experience, which it certainly doesn't feel like it at the moment, it's like there's a toll booth at every turn.

I feel once I'm on board I will be forced to pay for x to fall in line with the rest of the crowd and although shows etc. are included, as are the main dining room and other advertised areas that don't include all the other things that you'll have to pay for by the end of the cruise. Yes, pay up front for Plus which tbh we wouldn't feel we would get the value for money others may get from this but feel that we should pay for it for the more inclusive experience.

What I'm saying is that a £5k cruise involves having to pay nearly half the cruise cost again to get just that little bit closer to more inclusive experience, right now it feels like an economy class experience trying to dupe you into paying more than what you will actually use on board. £5k isn't enough for a speciality coffee, really?

We paid around £600 deposit and although I can easily afford to take the hit if I want to cancel, and can well afford the cruise, I'm just a stickler for getting value for money and right now it's a £8k-£9k cruise realistically by the end with the plus package and excursions. We also have around £1k costs to get to the ship before it sails on top of the cruise cost, so make that £10k as a realistic end of cruise price. Some may say, but your getting a 14 day cruise for £x but the longer you're on a ship the more you'll spend too, and the cruise lines know this.

Some may say, just go on the cruise and enjoy it, but it's pretty hard having had the experience from Princess up to now, knowing how much extra I have to pay to try and have a nice time on board, it's all one way traffic, so to speak. I know itinerary changes happen, it's just becoming a hard pill to swallow based on my experience so far, keep paying for more disappointment later on down to the road?

 

Disgruntled? yes, it feels like a bottomless pit of money I am throwing my money into when Princess have changed the goal posts and I just have to suck it up, I just need someone to change my mind before I hit the cancel button....be gentle. 

 

If you think that's bad you should have been on P&O Ventura early last year. A 35 night cruise from the UK. First port of call fine, La Coruna Spain. Then on to Bermuda or so we thought. Not so, days before docking the Captain had consulted his crystal ball and decided the weather wasn't right to dock so we sailed on to Freeport Bahamas. That took the sail days to 10. Beside this inconvenience we had booked at inside cabin. The day before sailing I received notification via email that we had been upgraded to a sea view. Great. Pity they hadn't told anyone else. Arrived at the new cabin to find the door cards in the envelope were someone else's. I had paid £400 for a Celebration package. Days before we sailed I had contacted P&O to make sure that all the items and tickets for the package would be waiting for us and was told definitely. Nope, they weren't in the cabin and our dining arrangements were incorrect also. It took 17 days to get everything we should have received to complete the Celebration Package. Besides various other incidents that included immigration nightmare in New Orleans, an airbridge problem in Miami, both of us being unwell, probably due to so many coughing, some covid onboard and the splattering, if that's not too graphic of norovirus. Leaving Port Canaveral we then had a further 9 days to Ponta Del Garda and then a further 3 days back to Southampton. Suffice to say P&O received a letter from myself and I have now switch allegiance to Princess in the hope they they do a better job.

Must admit although having travelled mostly on P&O and done around 17 cruises I can only remember one occasion having had lunch in the MDR. I find having had breakfast I don't need to eat again until mid afternoon. Then it's a piece of pizza and fries or a burger maybe. We then retire to our cabin late afternoon, before having a shower and a drink and getting ready for the evening meal. Before the meal we go to a bar and have a drink and sometimes take one through to the MDR when we eat at around 8.15-8.30 or get a beer and a G&T or wine with our meal. Then to a show afterwards.

3 hours ago, minniegidget said:

Where do you find the smoothies on the sky princess that’s included in a plus package?

Drinking cocktails and saying "Okay ya"

On 12/18/2023 at 7:14 PM, schooner_Drinker said:

See my post #18 doing exactly what your asking 

you call room service and they will swap what you tell them 

 

Nancy 🍹

RTFM

Nice to know, thanks.

On 12/17/2023 at 3:59 PM, sandyoftheseas said:

We went on a Princess cruise July 1st -8th.  We were in a inside cabin and bid on an obstructed oceanview for $45pp.   About 4 weeks before the cruise the website showed all the oceanview rooms were sold out so I thought OK no upgrade for us.  On June 27th we got an e-mail stating we received   our upgrade bid.  We were on the Caribbean Princess and really enjoyed the extra space and the window even if the view was of a lifeboat.

Being new to this bidding process do Princess state what a bid needs to be to upgrade as when we sail late next year we would like to upgrade from an inside to a balcony cabin, thanks.

Hi, does anyone know if what you get mini bar wise you can exchange for bottles of something else. By the way, the one's shown in the photo's look good.

We have gone for the Plus Package up to 15 drinks, up to $15 plus two casual dining, although we will probably take in a few Speciality one's as well. Presumably depending on which tier you are in you then get that % off your bill ? So $14.99 minus $1.49, am I correct ? as we are Elite ( Not us personally you understand). All will depend on the standard of meals in the MDR. If anyone has recently cruised Princess would be grateful for any feedback on the standard of food in the MDR's. Thanks. 

On 11/24/2023 at 2:52 PM, Interestedcruisefan said:

I understand your post for missing things you like

 

But IMO those extras you describe above are all actually low cost albeit great extras to enjoy and shouldn't make the difference between a good holiday and a bad one?

 

Your holiday can't have been the worst in 17 cruises for those reasons can it? I assume bad things happened alongside the missing extras above? 

They certainly did. Ship docked five hours late so left Southampton at 11.30 instead of around 5.30. We received notification of change of cabin the day before travelling to Southampton. All the labels had to be reprinted. Got to Southampton and due to the ship being late the port was chocca. Passengers and baggage as far as the eye could see. So no smooth embarkation. Onboard made our way to the new cabin where the door card was obviously for the original occupants. We let ourselves in and having paid £400 for a Celebration Package which I had confirmed via P&O a few days earlier that all necessary items would be in the cabin, they were not. It took 15 days to get most of the items that the package included. The food was anything but perfect and it wasn't just myself being picky as others on our table complained or didn't eat all the food. The waiter was obviously concerned as he constantly questioned whether it was o.k. The best meals we had were one's we paid extra for in Sindu, which were superb and the Beach House which wasn't brilliant, but nonetheless better than the MDR. The entertainment was poor except for two tribute acts that were brill. As for talks well it came down to some chap talking about photography virtually every day.There were a few other problems. Immigration, but I cannot blame that on the cruiseline and a problem in Miami where the airbridge moved, so after waiting for 15 minutes in 91 degree heat we were told to go back to the terminal building, exit it at quay level and access the ship via a lower gangway. We did this, queued in a queue  of 50 people, thirty were allowed on, then told to go back to the terminal building and wait for the airbridge to reopen, which it did 15 minutes later. As everyone will be aware these airbridges aren't just a few steps they wind around and around. Being in my mid 70's and having problems with my feet and legs it was no joke, neither for myself or other elderly travellers and one young woman who was having an asthma attack. The cruise also after leaving Southampton called at La Coruna and was then due to call in at Bermuda. We missed Bermuda, because of according to the Captain, the weather. But this announcement was made several days before reaching Bermuda and many passengers along with myself believe the reason more to be because of the ship leaving Southampton late, because the weather was fine and the sea was calm. So we carried on to Freeport Bahamas. So ten days sailing out. Then on the return it was 6 days to Punta del Garda and a further 3 days to Southampton. Which I knew about, but could easily have got on a plane and flew back home from Port Canaveral, except the wife cannot fly. So no, the reason for me not liking the cruise had nothing to do with boiled sweet, steaks, late night sandwiches or toiletries. I just believe they were nice to have although I appreciate many things are changing and as we won't be cruising  for many more years they have to accomodate the new style cruiser who maybe doesn't want formal evenings, set meal times etc.

On 11/22/2023 at 7:31 PM, terrierjohn said:

TBF you were very unlucky to experience all the worst possible issues that seem to have occurred on Iona or Arvia, all on one cruise. I do agree that P&O don't seem to have enough venues for live music, and the Atrium is very dull, so maybe P&O could emulate Princess and use the Atrium routinely for their musical groups, hopefully it's acoustics would be a hundred times better than the Skydome.

Similarly the food and service in the MDRs could be much better, and some of the more recent reviews do suggest there are improvements. In addition P&O do seem to be addressing the queuing problems, or at least looking to how they can make the virtual queuing feature more suitable.

But, when you compare the pricing on P&O to most of its major competitors, then that has to be a major plus factor, and passengers cannot expect RCI, Princess or Celebrity standards at those prices.

We went on a cruise in March this year on Ventura. Can honestly say out of the 17 cruises we have taken this was by far the worst. It would take me an age to tell you everything that was not good. I agree P&O prices are very reasonable but when I started cruising with them back in 2002 everything was amazing. All those little things that really make you feel special. Little P&O bags with toiletries, a small bowl of boiled sweets, bed turndown and a chocolate on your pillow, a bottle of water in the fridge, chocoholics and sandwiches and drinking chocolate after the late show. Steak as a choice if you didn't like anything else on the menu and silver service with plenty of veg and a truckle of stilton with your biscuits, not like it is now. Sadly for P&O after the disaster of a cruise in March we are giving Princess a go next year and may never go back to P&O.

5 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

To put the discussion back on track, P&O used to leave a chocolate on each pillow every evening.They don’t now.

 

So given the choice, what would be your favourite chocolate? Thornton’s, Hotel Chocolat, Leonidas (mine), Cadbury, Hershey’s?  😇

 

 

All of the above.

I am on a Princess cruise next year and have purchased the Plus Package. Funnily enough this will, God willing, be our 18th cruise and the first one we have ever purchased a drinks package. Neither of us really being big drinkers. But the wife says as we are allowed 15 x $15 drinks per day "She'll give it a go" although some drinks will probably be coffee or maybe juice. Presumably you can order drinks to your cabin. I did notice that although you can take one bottle of champagne or wine onboard without charge you cannot, unlike P&O take a litre of Spirit onboard with you. Not that it will matter as we have the drinks package anyway.

On 11/19/2023 at 9:07 PM, Grandad John said:

I’m sure I read somewhere that chocolate flavoured knickers were all the rage in Japan😜.

Perhaps they belonged to the woman in the fur coat ?

On 11/19/2023 at 8:01 PM, Adawn47 said:

Now we all know about 'thread drift', but how on earth did we get from fur coats and no knickers to chocolate. That's some drift😂

Avril

Because the Lady loves milk tray ?

5 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

Eeee bagum, them wert days, waggon wheels fitted waggons

What comes across to me is the stupidity of Government where they ban you buying these extra large Mars Bars. What's stopping someone buying two smaller one's and eating both of them. Mind you, the normal size bars ain't as big as they used to be. Remember when I went into a local shop and got 8 chews for a penny. Liquorice pipes, jamborie bags, flying sauces, nips, pineapple junks and cola chunks, black jacks, square pieces of bibble gum with a football card, sweet cigarettes,fruit salad etc, etc. No wonder I have a mouth full of fillings. 

On 11/19/2023 at 8:29 AM, Peanut006 said:

We have already eaten a tin of Quality Street!!! You have to taste them don’t you to make sure they taste the same as last year before you buy some for Xmas?

 

Michelle

Remember my Mum buying Quality Street for Christams. They were actually tins and about four times the amount you get now and maybe it's me but they just don't taste as good. Maybe they should just call them Street now and drop the Quality bit. Cadbury's chocolate isn't as good since it was taken over either. 

12 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

The paucity of daytime activities was very obvious on Azura even before a certain virus caused all the financial problems.  Over the course of a few years we noticed that a pretty full and busy list of things to keep us happy on sea days had been cut down to the point that it was actually boring.  You could guarantee an interesting speaker in the morning and another in the afternoon on most sea days, but that had gone.  The number of new film screenings on a decent screen also dropped.

 

We always had Kindles with us, but used them mainly while waiting for lectures to start. Then we ended up using them as a replacement for the lectures.  Pleasant enough, but I can do that in a hotel or at home at a fraction of the price, and that was one of the attractions of cruising.  I don't want to play bingo, I don't want to be sold iffy 'art' and I don't want to play fruit machines.  I want some interesting talks, and they're just not there now on P&O.  

Tell me about it. We cruised on Ventura in March, a 35 nighter. The only cruise I have been on where ten days before we arrived back at Southampton I wanted to get off. The food was poor, except Sindu, the entertainment pretty moderate except two tribute acts who were excellent and the only talks given was by one chap about photography virtually every day. I won't go into details, but so much was wrong about this cruise that I have my doubts I will ever return to P&O. When you have a once a year holiday now, we used to occasionally cruise twice a year, it makes it that more gawling that the one you have taken was so underwhelming. 

Having last cruised on Princess as long ago as 2003 onboards Sea Princess I look forward to what the food will be like next year aboard Sky Princess. I know that our previous cruise on Princess was a bit of a downer for my wife as there was lots of fish, which she's not partial to and has to be a bit careful with shellfish and she can't eat salmon although I love gravlax. She spent the enter cruise eating very little other than steak. So I am hoping there's plenty of choice.

Not being an English snob or anything like I do find it amazing that a cruiseline have formal nights and then just let people dress as they wish. My first cruise was back in 2002 aboard a ship called Victoria, an old ship that P&O purchased because it was originally used for Atlantic crossings prior to the introduction of the Jumbo Jet when those that sailed switched to flying therefore making the need for the ship as purely a passenger liner. The ship was lauched in 1966 as the Kungsholm, bought by P&O and renamed Sea Princess. Once the Princess line named their ship Sea Princess the P&O version changed it's name to Victoria and 2002 which was our first cruise was Victoria's last season. Formal nights were formal. But since then most cruiselines have eased their dress codes. But for myself and wife formal is something we look forward to. Admittedly I don't want too many formals as on my last cruise which was onboard Ventura to the Caribbean when on sail days formals were every 4 days and as we missed Burmuda it was 10 days between La Coruna and Bermuda and on the return journey 6 days from Port Canaveral to Punta Del Garda and another 3 from there to Southampton. So on that occasion in my mind too many formals. Our next cruise is next year on Sky Princess and only 5 formals in 31 nights so fine by me.

2 hours ago, Jayhoaps said:

 

What about if I ordered the Grilled Jumbo Prawns With My Steak, would the prawns be complimentary or extra charge?

This may help. A man walked into a Pub (Bar), walked up to the counter and waited to be served. A voice said " Lovely shirt you have on there Sir" the man looked around and couldn't see anyone. The voice again spoke and said "Beautiful suit you have on Sir" again the man looked around and could see nobody. The barman then appeared and the man said "Someone keeps saying how well I'm dressed" The barman say's " Oh, that the nut's Sir, they are complimentary"

We are on Sky Princess next year and have taken the package that allows the 15 x $15 drinks per day. Must admit after 17 previous cruises this is our first time we have taken a package. Can't really explain why as neither I or my wife are big drinkers. But then I feel pleased I did as it takes the problem, if you can call it that, out of having to check your onboard spend as previously when going back to the cabin late afternoon I go through what I have spent and a running total because I usually try to stick to a certain amount for the whole cruise and seeing as most of our expense is drinks, alcoholic and otherwise it made sense. I will still allow a spend for onboard alongside the already purchased package. Allowed I know sounds a bit harsh. But nothing worse than coming home to a huge credit card bill that in all honesty you didn't want.

On 10/29/2023 at 10:21 PM, devonuk said:

It certainly is 👍

Maybe we'll bump into each other. Probably literally as you look a big fella and I'm 6ft 1 and around 19 stone. We are in the Estrella restaurant. Not familiar with this Medallion thing as we cruised on Sea Princess back in or around 2003 and it wasn't around then.