ferretktf

16 hours ago, davecttr said:

That's capacity limits as the ship will be using a satellite link. Faster alternatives using satellite 'swarms' have been trialed but that system is designed for low latitudes so not likely to be installed in a P&O ship

Interesting … does it not use a satellite link everywhere? Or would this have been a ‘special’ one due to being mid Atlantic?

Transatlantic in April was shockingly poor. I got a refund after 3 days of dial-up speed at best (and more commonly nothing)

Right now, on virtuosa, it is an MSC tote bag….at least that is what was left earlier this week.

IIRC you have to book x months in advance to get OBC …. With the way prices are reducing as you get closer to sail date, this may be counter productive 

The ice cream included in the child’s package is from the ice cream parlour at the Atmosphere Pool.

ice cream from third party vendors was never included in the package on virtuosa

Ice cream ONLY Included in the Child’s package

23 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Possibly,  if it  is raining. 

Strange sort of question ! 

Did you click the link ?!?

On my cruise two weeks ago, the offer to stay on board was nearly double the price that TAs were offering at the same time.
 

Check before taking the plunge

Bottled water £3

coffees £3 …espressos probably cheaper though

Cokes etc, £3

lager £6 for 400ml 

bottled beer £6.50-£8 for pint

wine £6.50 for large glass

BUT all individual drinks have 15% convenience charge added

if you can get the drinks package on an offer then anything under £30 is good …you can often get it for £28pppd

If not then buying the packages in advance is still significantly cheaper than buying them onboard (and you avoid the 15% service charge)

on my recent 7 day cruise my package included the premium extra but , apart from when I deliberately chose drinks from the premium extra package, 95% of what I really wanted was in the Easy package, so if you can’t get a great deal on Premium Extra then i would plump for Easy.

we were not heavy drinkers but individually… on an average day…

coffee at breakfast … £3.50 (incl service)

Proper juice at breakfast …£3.50

bottle of water to take off boat … £3

beer with lunch after returning from excursion… £8

mid afternoon cocktail / non alcoholic cocktail … £8

hot chocolate or coke to take back to cabin before getting ready …£3.50

pre dinner vodka/coke or Prosecco …£8

wine with dinner …£7.50

post dinner baileys … £4.50

that comes to £50 per day …for non heavy drinkers!!!

4 minutes ago, ScratchTheRat said:

Do you happen to have any pics of the daily schedules? 🙂

Virtually the same every day ( the show differ of course)

here’s tomorrows

There will be one mdr open for lunch when you board. It might not be the restaurant that you are assigned to for the evening but you should still be able to get it sorted.

failing that, visit your restaurant about 15 mins before first sitting and speak to someone then.

You should, be able to “Wi-Fi hotspot” from your phone to your laptop/tablet (note that this is different from mobile hotspot and only applies if your phone has the current version of Android)

You can Google them …plenty of YouTube videos.

we didn’t go for it (on virtuosa right now) largely because when you are on a drinks package the free drink is not a benefit and so the shows seemed costly.

I would say that the main theatre shows (free) are excellent

Yes..once onboard go to the assigned restaurant ( it will be in your cruise card when you receive it…it will also have your assigned table number, which will usually be a table of 6) and speak to the restaurant manager or supervisor. They can change you.

we are on virtuosa right now and we’re assigned to a table of 6. We asked and were moved to a table of two.

they can do this as they are not full but obviously there is only a limited number of spare tables,so do it as soon as possible.

We were offered PE for an extra £200 per person each way to the Caribbean in March....Guess it is variable 

Very close...as long as there is availability of course.
 

2 days was not uncommon for the caribbean season, giving you just enough time to get covid tested.

I guess in theory it could be even the day before now (again dependent on covid constraints)

On Azura last month, the cabin steward brought an ice bucket to the cabin between 4.30 and 5 each afternoon, along with some freshly cut lemon slices.

Just ask and they are usually more than happy to oblige 

Was in Azura two weeks ago for the transatlantic back from the Caribbean.

some things may have changed fir the European Season since but….

there was no evening cabin service. The cabin steward apologised to us on the first day and said that he would only be servicing the cabin in the morning.  However, unsure whether that would also apply to the sofa bed scenario.

there was no photographer on board.  Anecdotal evidence from another passenger who asked is that the photography company who had the contract went bust and P&O had not sourced a replacement yet.

as I say, this all may have changed for the European season, so hopefully someone who had been on for the first two Malta voyages will be able to comment further

11 hours ago, Red Ray said:

Are you sure about those numbers ferret? I was told by 1 of the testing guys that there were about 30 pax and 20 crew in isolation. If your figures are correct - and I'm not doubting you, just surprised, I feel DW and myself were somewhat lucky.

The captain constantly understated the numbers…. The other place is full of horror stories ….and more people have tested positive since returning.

every single isolation cabin was full and they had to isolate some people in their own cabins until one came free ( some were “released” after 5 days which freed up space, most came out after 10 days for the last 1-2 days of the cruise, but some caught later had to go to Malta hotels to wait out the infection)

For the third cruise running for us, it turned into something of a “Covid ship” but as before we followed sensible precautions (ffp2 masks, very regular hand sanitising, social distancing etc) and managed to swerve the virus, but I can see how it would have spread easily given the fairly lax protocols on board - e.g. self service buffet, shared tables in MDR and tables for two so close to other tables you might as well have been sharing.

that coupled with a lot of non compliance with regards to the mask wearing, plus the mass mixing of passengers with the first day overlapping with the last day of the previous cruise, meant that the ship was something of a Petri dish

6 hours ago, Red Ray said:

Arrived home last week from the Azura transatlantic Barbados to Malta cruise. There were only 500 pax on board which suited us fine, but we were not allowed off at either of the only 2 scheduled stops before Valletta - Gran Canaria & Cadiz. Azura was allowed to dock in GC for refuelling and to allow crew, guest speakers & entertainers off and on, but pax had to make do with a view of the port. Cadiz was bypassed completely though I understand weather conditions would have prevented docking in any case. At least we arrived in Malta a day early and could have an evening in Valletta, and though I enjoy sea days I must admit 12 on the trot started to pall near the end. Not sure how many Covid cases were on board but evidently more than 17 if the 3.5% figure was being used.

Somewhere between 120 and 200 cases on board 

most caught by the day 2 LFT test of all passengers 

another 20 or so caught when they tested those staying on for the next cruise, 2 days before Malta

On 3/29/2022 at 9:19 PM, terrierjohn said:

There is also the lido deck burger and fried chicken station and the freshly made pizza station.

Which is now just a burger and hot dog station (just got off today)

i have done because it generates a QR code that is supposed to speed up things on arrival

HOWEVER - i'm not sure if that will make any different to bonded cruise passengers.

I've also printed things out - gone for Belt 'n' Braces!

Update to the above - adding the Covid PCR result was a little fiddly - had to "request a link" to be able to upload the PDF File - alternate was to photo the two pages and upload the photos

yes - i downloaded the BIMSAFE App onto my Android phone

For some bits it linked you into Chrome to fill out forms - for other pieces where photos were required it was very easy - you also need to photo your NHS Covid Certificate plus your Covid PCR result (that I am currently waiting for )

are you overnighting in Barbados?   I am travelling out Friday and the first night is spent on the ship and it does not sail until saturday night - so i placed 1 night down, with P&O AZURA as the Hotel

Biodata in the Barbados BIMSAFE App requires a photo of the main page of your passport (the one with all the detals and your photo)