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They did when I was onboard just before Christmas.

Well that's effectively what they are offering. Currently you can book a 7 night in January for £999 and the cost of the flights there and back on the cheapest scheduled airline would £745 - so the cost of a 7 night cruise is £254.

And they will have a staff member sat at a desk just past where you scan you card as you get onboard to declare and hand over any alcohol - but the staff member will be sat there twiddling their thumbs as nobody has handed over anything at all all day. Even when they have the security xray conducted on the ship and the crew can see bottles in bags nothing is handed over.

Given the cost of scheduled flights they would have to be giving away the cruises for nothing for that to make sense to most people.

You may or may not be lucky as the Stagecoach website says it will run from "30th April until 24th September 2023 (and corresponding dates in subsequent years)" - Visit Orkney with Stagecoach Bus Now the 30th April 2023 was the last Sunday in April, so it depends whether they mean it will run from the last Sunday in April every year or the 30th April every year. Perhaps contacting them directly will give you an answer - Contact us FAQs | Stagecoach (stagecoachbus.com)

They make early morning sweeps of the decks to round up any bags that are put out later than that.

My observation is the vast vast majority of people keep to the scheduled disembarkation so to place the blame for any problems that occur on the trivial number that do not is rather a stretch. In fact I would actually suggest that those few actually reduce the issue by getting out of the way before the problems occur. I would also suggest that the main issues for any problems are that people seem to leave their brains behind when getting on a cruise ship - how long do you need to be onboard before you realise that you need your cruise card at the port gate AND at the bottom of the gangplank AND at the top of the gangplank? And that up arrows mean the lift is going up? And that the even cabins are all on the same side? Etc. Etc.

Santa Cruz, Tenerife at 6.30pm it is still 21c, so nice to sit out on the aft deck of Azura. Unfortunately flying back tomorrow, but then back here again in four weeks for a couple of months.

The only difference between the standard and formal night menu on the cruise I am on Azura at the moment is a small cup of cold spiced tomato soup. There has been nothing impressive about them at all. As a result I have opted out of the majority, choosing the Glass House instead on those nights.

I have never seen queues on stairs or around muster stations, or chaos in the baggage hall. Perhaps it is because I am long gone before that occurs.

Well there seems to be lots of people fooled by all the supermarket’s ‘increase the price to offer a fake discount with a loyalty card’ schemes.

True, but disappointing that P&O has resorted to such deceptive practices, particularly when they are making at least 20% more profit than the High Street.

I noticed today that the webpage for the DUTY FREE prices has some nice ‘weasel wording’ on it “Enjoy a saving of up to 15% on every item compared to its average UK high street price” https://www.pocruises.com/onboard-activities/shopping “Up to” - hmm… so one item could have a 15% discount and everything else 0% and that offer would still be fulfilled. Quite a change from the past when they guaranteed the 20% VAT saving on everything.

Festive scenes tonight in Funchal -

They are - we spent a month down here last year over Christmas and the New Year and we took a stroll out most evenings to see them. But the best were in December 2020 in the midst of… when we got down here for a couple of weeks, and then the display down the jetty that sticks out was fabulous.

Perhaps I am just luckier than you…

It was always in the small print on the advertising poster at the venue, but it has probably been added to the app to counter the ‘book and don’t turn up’ brigade who then moaned about the charge - which given the origin of your screenshot is pretty likely.

A410C - £1,399pp for 19 nights for a balcony cabin, so £73pppn - and that includes flights to Tenerife and back from Malta, so realistically the cruise part itself is around £60pppn.

Yes, there is a charge made if you don’t cancel any of the pay restaurants other than the Glass House with more than 24 hours notice, but that has been the case for aged.

Well it’s been a glorious day here in Funchal at a very pleasant 25c with a slight breeze to keep the heat down. As it is a 9.30pm sailing then off for a stroll these evening for the Christmas lights.

It has been a glorious 25c here in Funchal today, so I certainly hope so.

Occasionally Select are actually cheaper than Saver due to the OBC.

Yes. The explanation given to me was that due to the ship effectively being based there for a long period then it fell under the visa rules controlled by Malta / Greece and those required longer contacts for the crew from some countries to be eligible for visas (11 months was mentioned) - and the issue was that crew preferred to be on shorter contracts which were available on other ships and other lines. Hence it being an Azura specific issue.

It is - but having stayed in many for work over the years I think Premier Inn delivers a damn good product, and a far far better product than many independent hotels. Calling something a Premier Inn is praise, not an insult.

A Premier Inn price is fine for a Premier Inn, but if you choose to pay Hilton prices but book a Premier Inn… It goes to the other topic of why pay for a suite when you get very little extra for that huge extra cost.