Teddy123

And that's because the majority on a cruise ship are not part of Cruise Critic thank goodness.

It's because nobody comes up to you on the ship and asks "the dress code says only dark jeans and no trainers in main dining room, is this very strict?" - which is how this thread started.

But from your statements you clearly do not respect those who would rather not dress in formal attire. Dressing in formal attire is not respecting the dress code, it's adhering to it. One of the definitions of respect is to have due regard for (someone's feelings, wishes, or rights).

Not at all. If people respect the dress code, be it for formal or informal nights, that's fine. The problem comes when people don't respect the code and wish to wear what suits them when it's clearly not consistent with what the code says.

It IS all about respect - respect for the dress code that is well-publicised and clear in its intent, and respect for the majority who follow it. Clearly, some have the "I've paid for my holiday, I'll do what I like" attitude, while others respect the code even if it's not their personal favourite form of dress. As I've already said, I now prefer to cruise on ships where a larger majority of passengers understand this.

Cloudy Bay is another one not on the P&O list I first looked at, but OK I accept that of the 300 wines Cunard offer, 2 are also available on P&O for less (although not actually half as much). This one is available for £18 in the shops. Perhaps the three different prices (Cunard/P&O/shop) refect the respective levels of service and ambience.

PS. Readers may be glad to hear this is my last comment on wine prices. If anybody finds any more wines that are more expensive on Cunard than P&O I will believe them, but personally I am happy to pay the premium.

The wine lists on both P&O and Cunard's web sites list Chapel Down Bacchus: £17.50 on P&O and $35 (before gratuity) on Cunard, so the premium is over £14 taking the gratuity into account. I've no idea if those are the current on-board prices but the P&O prices look familiar from December.

 

Interestingly Chapel Down's own restaurant charges more than P&O: they're closer to the Cunard list price.

Perhaps typically, it seems the P&O website includes at least two different lists. The one I looked at initially doesn't include this wine. There appear to be over 300 wines on the Cunard list so perhaps there are one or two others that are common. On the face ot it, there are similarities such as in the Corney and Barrow claret - but Cunard has a C&B Reserve claret of defined vintage while P&O just has a C&B claret. However, the fundamental point that Cunard doesn't simply charge double for the same wine stands, I think.

Or inform Cunard that they are overcharging

But the original claim appears unfounded so there is no evidence they are - other than the notoriously high mark-up on wine that applies to all restaurants, cruise lines (including P&O), etc.

I dont have an accent

Everybody has an accent. Even "no accent" is an accent. And do you think somebody from Scotland or Wales would say you didn't have one?

Then end the scandal? Immediately inform P&O they are undercharging for Wine. There may be a reward for your actions.

Unfortunately, the opportunities are limited because as far as I can see, there is no example of Cunard selling the same wine as P&O for twice the price, or indeed for any price. The two wine lists are competely different with Cunard's featuring better quality wines and many more of them.

Everyone has their own opinion, but those interested in a comparison between P&O and Cunard might like to see the thread on that topic currently live, where people with more experience than 4 nights and 1 MDR dinner have contributed.

The drinks prices and gratuities are noticeably higher.

If you're used to a loyalty discount OFF drink prices on P&O, the 15% automatically added ON on Cunard will certainly be a difference!

Dining could be different depending on what you are used to and what kind of cabin you have. If Britannia, then it's fixed seating at a fixed time - early or late. If not, then you will be in a different dining room (depending on cabin type) with your own, fixed table, available to you at whatever time you go for dinner (or breakfast or lunch).

If you are in a Grills cabin, there is a special lounge you can use and a special deck (or part of deck). On Q Elizabeth and Victoria, the lounge and deck are at the top, reached by a lift that requires your Grill-cabin keycard to be inserted to get to the deck.

Opinions will vary about quality of food, service, etc. I think Grills dining offers very good food and service generally, but some of the worst meals I have had on a ship have been there!

... a half mile walk from the terminal to the dock gate where hopefully taxis will be waiting. Also it is apparently a dangerous place the wander out in the evening. Like many others on this cruise we have booked a one day tour and the second day we thought we would do NY on our on as having been there before. The prospect of this happening is fraught with the implications of finding safe and reliable transport into Manhattan and being able to return safely. [/quote]

 

What taxis there are should be next to the ship, not at the dock gate. The Cunard tour (paid) to Macy's went first thing - hence the minimal immigration delay - and came back as late as possible before sailing, so if P&O provide similar it will be the next best thing to being able to simply walk into Manhattan.

When we did QM2 a few years back it took 2 and a half hours (yes I did say that) to get through immigration. An appalling amount of time.

 

In comparison it took 15 minutes to get through immigration when we went to St. Petersburg a couple of years later.

 

This is what puts me and my husband off going to the US.

We were on QM2 and just going off for the day, but still had to go through the full immigration checks. Admittedly, we were on a tour and one of the first through, but it took no more than 5 minutes. So it obviously varies.

People will have booked this cruise in April 16.

And some will have booked last week. Booking early has pros and cons, and one con is the risk of lack of certainty about itinerary.

But to add to the OP's gloom, the Brooklyn terminal is certainly in an industrial area, a mile or so from the subway, and while taxis might be plentiful as the ship arrives, I suspect the only sure way of getting one from the ship is to arrange one by phone, and I'm told drivers hailed in Manhattan are reluctant to go to the terminal and/or don't know where it is. Further, I suspect P&O will not provide a shuttle. Since QM2 always docks there, there is more info in the Cunard threads.

There are Carnival ships from AIDA, Holland America and Carnival berthed in Manhattan while Aurora is in Brooklyn, so theories about P&O's place in the Carnival pecking order may be correct. But whatever the reason, I don't see how anybody has been misled.

The New York port's website has a schedule for the whole of 2017, which implies the schedule was published early in 2017 or before, showing where the Aurora is docked, so some research or asking P&O may have avoided some disappointment - although I accept this implies knowing there are options.

Brooklyn is certainly in New York and unless P&O specifically said docking in Manhattan, I don't see anybody has been misled - just that their assumptions were wrong. It's clear from the schedule that it's bad luck to be in Brooklyn (although QM2 and big Princess ships always got here) - but no more.

Cunard lay on a coach to/from Macy's in the centre of Manhattan - a "NY on your own" tour essentially - and I guess P&O will do the same. Not so good for evenings though.

Well from what I have heard are they not going the same way.

Actually, I fear so. On my last transatlantic, there was a guest in the theatre in the evening wearing no jacket, a T shirt and a "Vote Trump" baseball cap.

So you can't cruise a lot then.

Several times a year - but with Cunard wherever possible.

I sometimes have a problem with a Rab C Nesbit accent but do know that crew members can have difficulty understanding my English. We talk to the crew just like we would at home and all those regional variations, Idioms etc can be confusing, especially if they are peculiar to where you live.

A very good point. I have often thought how difficult it must be for crew with so many different accents that even people from the UK cannot always understand. And we all have an accent of some kind.

The intention of the dress code is pretty clear; some people choose to ignore it because that suits them; P&O make little or no attempt to enforce it. Result: a more scruffy/informal [choose your own adjective] ambience and part of the inexorable, and I think deliberate, move of P&O down market. I no longer book with them unless there is an overwhelming reason to do so.

Usually go Grills and don't use the buffet, but I've seen, and been disgusted by, the gluttony and waste on other lines and - assuming those who need help get it - this seems a practice all lines should adopt.

This was at the end of May. My card was charged the correct amount for my on-board spend, then a separate small amount as if I had made another purchase at 3am - which I hadn't. I guess this may have just been human error rather than the same problem others had - although P&O have provided no explanation.

why they retained my card details without my permission, in breach of data protection

Merely keeping card details is not a breach of the DPA. Failing to apply suitable protection to them may not be either, depending on the circumstances. However, inadequate control will be in breach of the Payment Card Industry - Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).

As it happens, I have not been affected by this issue - but have had P&O apply an erroneous on-board charge to my credit card immediately after my last cruise, which they cannot explain and which they say may take weeks to refund because of the backlog of other problems.

only smart dark jeans are allowed.

If only this were true!

In 2007 "swimming with dolphins" and "dolphin encounter" were offered on a QM2 autumn Caribbean cruise as excursions on Tortola (British Virgin Islands).

 

In 2016 on a very similar autumn QM2 Caribbean Cruise (also calling at Tortola) I did not see it offered (if it was and I missed it, apologies; but I didn't see it advertised once and was searching for it).

 

If all passengers/tourists ignore the donkeys on Santorini and the dolphins on Tortola (and other places that offer either (and more)), the human exploiters of these animals will soon give up their intolerable slavery. Can't come soon enough in my book.

Absolutely! As a bright spot, I think both Cunard and P&O now avoid offering tours that overtly exploit non-human animals.

On the UK website, that cruise is showing the following prices:

 

Cheapest Oceanview (Double): £1349 ( $1713) per person, i.e. £2698 ( $3426 ) per cabin

 

Cheapest Oceanview (Sole): £2229 ( $2808 ) per person, i.e. £2229 ( $2808 ) per cabin

 

 

So that's a 165% solo increase.

 

 

Therefor your US figures are very different from the UK figures for a solo occupancy ( $2808 v $4500 ).

To be precise, it's an increase OF 65% or an increase TO 165% - not a 165% increase, which would take it to about $4500 (as it happens).