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Only on two conditions. 1 . It requires people not spend less than they would have done had they not received the OBC, and an awful lot of people treat OBC as 'free' money and spend the same 'real' money as they would do anyway. 2. It requires people to be booking a Carnival Corp cruise irrespective of the OBC, and being persuaded to book a Carnival Corp cruise over another cruise line, another type of holiday, or no holiday at all because of the OBC. Sure some people will spend less because of the OBC and some would have booked anyway, but you really don't need that many people to be splashing thousands on a cruise they wouldn't have done just because they get a £150 in OBC, OBC which most likely will result in them spending no less cash onboard.

£150 of OBC spent in the bar is costing Carnival about £15 at most - and if someone has spent a few thousand on the cruise to redeem that OBC that costs them virtually nothing then I am sure Carnival are more than happy with more people doing so.

The figures of $250 / €200 / £150 haven't changed in years and just reflect the declining value of sterling - at £1 to $1.66 or £1 to €1.33 the OBC would be equal, but sterling hasn't been there in years.

My experience with the Stockperks app for the shareholders OBC this week. I installed the iPhone app and registered an account - pretty straightforward other than dates being mm/dd/yyyy rather than the usual UK format of dd/mm/yyyy. My share platform, iWeb (part of the Lloyds, Halifax, Bank of Scotland group), wasn't one of those listed where they can link directly, so I downloaded a single page of the pdf of my most recent statement that showed the shareholding from iWeb and uploaded it through the Stockperks app on Tuesday morning - about ten minutes of effort from start to finish. Wednesday morning the app showed that the shareholding had been confirmed and offered the opportunity to redeem the OBC, and just needed the cruise booking number, the date of the cruise, and my name - about two minutes of effort. This afternoon, Friday, I received an email from Stockperks saying that the the OBC had been applied, and then eight minutes later an email with an updated statement from the travel agent I use. Frankly it was an *awful* lot more efficient than previous cruises with P&O and emailing the shareholder team with a statement, and on more than one occasion painful lengthy calls to find out why they hadn't dealt with it.

You do surprise me.

Jainism certainly is, and it is promoted within Hinduism and Buddhism and I am not sure that P&O would want to argue in court that it is not a requirement of a particular religion. Take a read of the Equality Act 2010 and then see if the courts would agree with that view. But irrespective of whether P&O are required to do this, it would be a pretty stupid business that would deliberately exclude a section of the population that want to give it money.

You are conflating vegans by choice with vegans due to religious conviction, and the latter means it would be impossible for P&O or any other UK cruise company not to offer vegan food.

Given the amount of criticism people have for any sort of food served then perhaps P&O would be better off not serving any food at all.

That does sound a great offer compared to what any professional photographer would charge in the UK for 10 photos.

I really really hope that you don't use either online, and if you do that you have no financial or personal information on them.

I have been in some Spoons where the clientele was a bit rough around the edges, but so was the neighbourhood they were in. And I have been in plenty of Spoons where the clientele was pretty upmarket, but again so was the neighbourhood they were in. So to use Spoons as a descriptor might reveal more about the area you live than you might wish to!

It is just another example of P&O having poor systems. Don't take requests as that diminishes the value of Select fares, but simply use the information you already hold to reduce the number of people asking to change sittings. It really wouldn't be rocket science for P&O to identify that 'Bob & Sue' who book on Saver fares always ask to change to late seating, so rather than flip a coin to randomly allocate them between early and late, have the system just automatically allocate them to late. There is no need to tell 'Bob & Sue' what you have done and diminish the possibility of them upgrading to a Select fare, and if this cruise 'Bob & Sue' actually want an early sitting then they can queue up as now and ask to change.

I have never seen a baby buggy left outside a cabin, but I have seen an awful lot of mobility scooters and wheelchairs.

I suppose it depends on the definition of a "full-time wheelchair user" (the use in the cabin is an 'or' statement not an 'and' statement). Do many people take a wheelchair onboard and only occasionally use it?

If you think you are getting something for free without handing over any cash then I am not sure who is the silly one! The shareholder OBC is a discount not a free gift - buy this and it is £150 cheaper, not here is £150 free just for holding the shares. Now obviously there are those who will say "but I was going to but it anyway" and the answer to that is that it is still a discount and not a free gift.

Worse than that, you have to buy the shares AND the cruise to get the shareholders benefit!

I am sure that Carnival Corp will be more than happy to take the many thousands of pounds you intend handing over to them.

Nope. Never seen an airport make people stand outside until their flight has been called.

And even then it isn't really 'free' as you have to hand them money to get it, and as such it would be better described as a discount.

A tiny bit of rain here last night in Puerto Cruz, but still plenty warm enough to be sat outside in the evening having a drink. And this morning the wind has got up so no swimming in the sea today! It might make Azura's journey up to Madeira tonight a bit 'interesting'.

Do you never park in any sort of car park, let alone a multi-storey car park? Not even to go shopping? If you do then how do you know that a faulty diesel Landrover won't park next you and spontaneously catch fire and taking your car with it? (A faulty diesel Landrover being the cause of both of those multi-storey fires).

It did on the three times it docked when I was on it in December for a couple of weeks, and then when I returned in the new year to stay in Santa Cruz for a month it docked there every time. I only once saw a P&O ship docked on the other side, and that was when Azura was already in the ferry terminal slot. As for taking some duty free onboard, it is far far easier and normally cheaper just to buy it as you leave the UK.

That seems a rather daft move by P&O, as it encourages people not to cancel early in the day but to leave it until the reservation time to see whether they are fit and well and then just not turning up if they are still unwell so disappointing others who might have made use of the empty table. Or alternatively, even thought they are sick they turn up anyway and hang the consequences to anyone else around them.

Yes it was very breezy here in Puerto Cruz in Tenerife yesterday with a lot of white tops on the sea and the waves crashing onto the coast, so I can imagine it was bumpy out at sea. But as you say, all blown over today, and actually a bit too damn hot to be out in the sun, but then I saw the image from my doorbell camera of my post lady delivering some mail, with her in a woolly hat and gloves and thought again. As for coffee, well if P&O ships sold these... (and astonishingly that was only €1.60).

Well a month in Santa Cruz ending with the carnival - and that was crazy! I am no longer able to see Azura on a Friday because I am now in Puerto Cruz for a few weeks, and so another town and a different view, but still some nice warm weather. Plus the carnival is here in town tomorrow, although that means I need to return the hire car tonight because the streets are closed all day.