paulatsea

Sounds like they are now enforcing the check in times more robustly.

We have always arrived as soon as it opens !! and have been prepared to wait or come back if required - but never had to - so far.

We like to get settled and have lunch on board if we can.

I think 15:30 is unreasonable so I would ignore and turn up when you want.

Understand the logistics arguments etc  about arriving as scheduled but I have found it evens itself out naturally with some who prefer later or do not arrive until later - but maybe just got lucky.

Just now, Brummijam said:

When is your trip?

Fly out 0600 LGW 11 May - 2 weeks to go !

Haven’t flown for years - usually just go from Southampton - generally hate airports and queues and cramped planes but this feels like a novelty again. 
It’s the sail 3 seas itinerary which looks brilliant.

9 hours ago, Brummijam said:

13 hours ago, paulatsea said:

Brummijam - did you use the self service bag drop on the flight out or the staffed checkin

 

Hi Paul.

We used the staffed check in, Self service bag drop wasn’t available in 2017 at Birmingham Airport.

 

Thanks Brummijam - I’ll update this when I get back - for anyone who is interested ! 


 

3 hours ago, Brummijam said:

Was just about to post that for you,it was towards the bottom of the booking confirmation email .😉

Brummijam - did you use the self service bag drop on the flight out or the staffed checkin ?

36 minutes ago, Brummijam said:

From the TUI airways online site.

 

Bonded luggage
If your cruise is sailing from the Caribbean or Dubrovnik, your luggage will be transported from the airport to the ship as part of our bonded luggage service. If this applies to you, it’ll be noted in your booking confirmation – it’s important to check, as it’s only available at certain times. You’ll receive a luggage label 14 days before you travel, which you’ll need to secure to your luggage. Once you’ve checked in, it’ll be security sealed and transported for you – you won’t need to collect it at the airport, as it’ll be delivered straight to your cabin.

 

 

The last time that we cruised from Dubrovnic this was the case.

Thanks Brummijam - I thought I had seen it mentioned somewhere - didn’t think to check the TUI airways site - although others here say it doesn’t t always happen.

Re this bit - “If this applies to you, it’ll be noted in your booking confirmation”

where in the booking confirmation does it show if this bonded transfer is applicable to the specify cruise ? 

update - just found this on my booking blurb:

9 hours ago, Pink15 said:

Flew into Dubrovnik last august, after collecting luggage the passengers went on the coach and the luggage went in a van! At Dubrovnik port, all passengers got off coach, went through immigration again, back on coach for about one minute, then off again to check in. 

I think luggage was bonded on way home, can't remember, but do remember the queue of about 10/12 coaches all from the ship to do the port immigration thing again. You literally walk through a small building, get passport stamped, and back on bus. 

 

Dubrovnik airport coming home had the longest queue for security that I had ever seen, hopefully just last year's problem. Airport was rammed. 

Thanks Pink15.

12 minutes ago, Prestonscotty said:

The standard email says the following:

 

CHECKING-IN YOUR LUGGAGE

To check in your bags in the UK you'll need to have printed and attached your Marella Cruises luggage tag from Cruise Control. Once at the airport, you need to check into your flight as normal. Once you've landed, collect your luggage and make your way through to the Arrivals Hall. A Marella Cruises Representative will meet you and direct you to your transfer coach. When you reach the port, your luggage will be taken straight to your cabin. 

Thanks prestonscotty -  I heard it was “bonded” at Dubrovnik so a possibility of luggage direct to ship - I believe some other cruise lines do this there.

Hi - going on explorer 2 flying to Dubrovnik from Gatwick - does the luggage go straight to the ship from the plane and vice versa or do we have to collect it at Dubrovnik airport ?

I think this has been asked before but I can’t find the thread.

11 minutes ago, tring said:

 

We have stayed there once or twice previously, (pre covid), as we use loyalty points, which are more worthwhile given the price of hotels near Southampton.  Price or number of points needed a bit less in Winchester than the Southampton ones and nicely situated imo.

 

The hotel is not central, but to the East of the city, not far from the M3, but very quietly situated, clearly visible on Google Earth..  We were very happy with the hotel.  We chose to eat a meal.on the way down, then pick up something for our evening meal from the Tesco Extra by the M3 junction - crunchy salads etc.  We usually have the hotel breakfasts, again fine, but this time will likely take cereal/fruit with us, have a lie in and head off to somewhere in Southampton because of potential road delays.  Even with a slow moving roads, it is not far from the port and can stop at the service station on the M27 on the way to make sure we are fresh arriving.  As IHG members, we can ask for a late checkout in their hotels, which we would do in the Southampton hotels, then go straight to the port.

 

I think there may be a pub nearby where you can get a meal if you do not want to eat in the hotel restaurant, but not been there - may look for it in June, but depends how late we arrive, which can be up to 8pm or later if the traffic is bad, since we like to stop off on the way.

 

Thanks very much 

21 hours ago, tring said:

 

Oh dear, are any of the works after the main Winchester junction?  We have booked the Winchester Hol Inn for early June as the Southampton hotels are quite pricey by comparison.

 

Hi Tring - what’s the Winchester Holiday Inn like ? Have you been before ? Looking for alternatives to Southampton but near enough - somewhere nice. 

19 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

Got off Aurora two weeks ago and back on her today. She is still as nice as she used to be with lots of new carpet, furniture, TV's, etc. I still find her the most friendly of the ships. Size does matter! Sorry, but I cannot stand the new ships. Just not my style.

Good to know - thanks Fi

Customer service much better than most hotels I have been to.

Good food and nice restaurants with a bigger choice than most hotels.

Good choice of bars and entertainment all under the same roof.

Balcony with changing views.

Easy to embark and disembark and can leave the car at the port easily.

Good excursions and knowing we won’t be left behind if we book via the ship.

Feeling safe and having a common interest with other shipmates.

Civilised.

I just love being at sea - it feels like escaping.

Have always found it easy to get any problems solved.

Not too bothered about destinations even if it’s a repeat - would go anywhere at any time if the price was right - although new is more appealing.

We like adults only so it’s only p&o Arcadia and Aurora , Marella Explorer 2, Saga and Ambassador for us(not tried yet).

Usually have had very good holidays on P&O and found the balcony prices very reasonable so far.

Saga very good but we prefer the atmosphere on others.

Marella explorer 2 has been excellent so far but fly cruise - so a bit of a hassle.

Booked on Marella Explorer 2 in May.

Aurora in late August and December.

Have not been in Aurora for a many years so be interesting to see how it is.

Very interesting thread.

Happy Easter shipmates !

How does the pre release securing work ?

Can you specify saver or select and choose cabin grade / number later?

On 3/26/2023 at 11:55 PM, wowzz said:

Sadly, I think we all know the reason for that !

Heard Aurora refurb due in 2025 and Arcadia due in 2024. Can’t remember where - somewhere in this forum recently.

🤞

Maybe a stupid question - but does the highest bidder always win  ? Or is it a lottery ? Can you increase bids ? 
like eBay - keep bidding if you want to win ! 
 

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

But it's not just about unsold cabins, it's also about maximising revenue. So, assuming that there are, say 6 minisuites available  - 6 people from deluxe balcony cabins will bid and get upgraded, meaning that 6 people from std cabins will bid and get upgraded,  and so forth. 

P&O will therefore be able to maximise revenue across all cabin grades.

Trickle down ! 

Just now, tring said:

 

Will there be any say on where you are moved to though?  We have bid for an upgrade on Azamara and did well going from an outside to a balcony, but we were aware that the rules stated you cannot return to your old cabin if you are not happy with the cabin you have been allocated, so a risky action,  since most of us would tick "no automatic upgrade" on booking in case we get a badly placed cabin. 

 

Probably only worth doing if you are saver price or inside cabin ?

I always book select and carefully choose the cabin so I wouldn’t want moving unless I knew where to.

29 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

This was announced yesterday.

 

It will be on cruises with available cabin space.

 

It’s being rolled out ship by ship across 2023.

 

You choose your bid price - per person, first two in cabin.

 

You’ll get notification to bid anytime from 12 weeks out, with winning bids announced anytime from 4 weeks out.

 

Had been really popular on other brands.

Where was it announced ? On the website ?

Did you get an email ?

Great idea .

3 hours ago, janecambridge said:

Pailatsea, , how did the cabin and lifts workout? 

It was fantastic - no noise from the lifts or from anything at all.

Walk in wardrobe was great.

Big cabin with balcony window doors and an extra side window.

Large bathroom and shower.

Loved it.

4 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I can recommend that approach.

 

I really dislike flying, but wanted to go to Australia.

 

In 2017, we did 2 legs of the Aurora world cruise. We flew out to Singapore, and boarded the ship, sailing down to Australia, where we docked at Perth, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island (tender port), Melbourne and 2 days in Sydney. Originally, we thought we’d fly back to the U.K. from Sydney, but the ship was going on to New Zealand, so we stayed on to do NZ as well. There was no way I was up for flying back from Auckland, so we sailed across the Pacific, which gave us the opportunity to stop at Hawaii for Pearl Harbour, and we ended up in San Francisco, another bucket list place.

 

This all took 7 weeks, and it was a fabulous experience. We saw a lot of the things we had always wanted to see, with flights that weren’t ‘too’ long.

 

Hope you get the chance to do something similar. 

Wow - awesome !!! Thanks dermotsgirl. 

28 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Personally,  I'm not convinced that a cruise is the best way to see Australia. 

I agree - but we just want a taste of the Southern Hemisphere and Australia  -  if you know what I mean - without to much hard travelling !

I think we will do the world cruise segment - fly  out to Brisbane and back from Hong Kong via Manila. Looks good. Arcadia feb 24.

22 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

Trawl the travel agents on t'internet, there are lots that do fly cruises to Australia.

Yes - I was interested to hear of any personal experiences from people on this forum.

5 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Princess, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, as well as some other lines, all have ships positioned in Australia during the southern hemisphere summer, generally November through to March.

We did a Princess Sydney to Auckland cruise 16 yrs ago but organised our own long haul and internal flights along with Barrier Reef, Ulhuru, Sydney and Auckland highlights through Trailfinders, and very enjoyable it was, despite BA c*****g up our outbound flight.

Thanks terrierjohn - that sounds the best option - to organise our own flights and pick up a ship there as I haven’t seen any cruise company that does flights both ways and a cruise all together - I would prefer that option in case anything went wrong with the flights etc but I don’t think it’s possible - but like you did we could do the whole package via trailfinders and have some support if needed.

The world cruise segments I have seen only seem to fly one way.

Bucket list job !

5 hours ago, wowzz said:

Your question is not clear.

Are you wanting to fly to Australia,  and then sail back to the UK? 

Sorry - I meant fly both ways and do say 2/3 weeks cruise in Australia.

thanks for all replies everyone.

Apologies but off topic - anyone done uk to Australia fly cruise ? 
don’t know which forum to look at but want do this 2024.

best time and best line etc ?

Any p&o we could do this on ?