supered

I sympathise with your dilemma! As you say it's a nice one to have [emoji16]

 

We recently took a 4 night cruise on Queen Elizabeth in Queens Grill in August as it was on the bucket list and would likely be the only time we could do it. It was totally fabulous and worth every penny! We said a more "affordable" way of getting most of the Grills perks would be Princess Grill and we'd consider that in future if the price was right.

 

Having said this 12 nights on board a Cunard ship in a Britannia stateroom would also be wonderful in its own way. More time in board a ship is always good. It depends on whether the extra perks in Grills would be more important than the longer holiday. We loved Queens Grill and our suite and it did make it very pampering and relaxing.

 

Let us know your decision.

 

Eddie

 

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We were on Queen Elizabeth for the recent short Netherland Escape voyage to Rotterdam at the end of August. We were sat at the Midships Bar on the Gakl night enjoying some Gin when a young couple sat next to us. They introduced themselves as being from Manchester. We then started talking about all sorts of things and time flew by!

 

It was only when the guy's wife introduced them as Paris and Tyson did we realise that it was boxer Tyson Fury. I hadn't even noticed the constant stream of people asking him for photos! Which he was very happy to do. It was very subtly done. My wife had thought he must be famous but dudn't realise who it was.

 

We saw them around the ship a few times after that. They were on holiday as Tyson was taking a break from training and to celebrate his 30th Birthday. They were such a lovely couple. We also got a scoop that Paris was pregnant with their 5th child before they officially announced it on social media the next day!

 

Quite a surreal moment thinking back on it.

 

Eddie

 

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They have self service wine on Azura but not beer I'm afraid.

 

Eddie

 

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I'd recommend getting there early as it is very popular and you may not get in. You will get a buzzer if they can't seat you straight away. It also gets more popular as the cruise processes band wire spreads.

 

I love The Beach House!

 

Eddie

 

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The official policy is that the Elegant Casual dress code applies in the MDR for children. Officially this forbids trainers but if they are dark you'll probably be fine.

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/dress_code

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Eddie

 

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We are booked on B809, the Canary Islands cruise departing 8th April.

 

It is our intention to do our own thing in most ports. However, we were looking through the various shore excusrions provoded by P&O and thought the Canarian Coffee Experience in Grand Canaria looked different and interesting.#

 

Has anyone been on this exursion and can tell us about it. Is it worth doing?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Eddie

I will be on my first ever cruise later next year.

 

I've found information regarding the more formal ballroom but wondered if anyone can provide details regarding the nightclub.

 

What sort of music is there, what time is it open until, Im assuming there is a dance floor and what is the general vibe?

 

The ballroom looks quite formal and while I'll certainly be in there I'm hoping the nightclub has a more city-chic feel to it.

 

I've looked around but can't find any images/video of the nightclub.

 

Information most gratefully received.

 

I love reading the posts on this site as they provide invaluable info for a cruise newbie.

 

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The Yacht Club is open from around 9pm in the evening until "Late". This means that it closes when all passengers have left or it is very quiet. In practice thus is usually 1am to 2am. There is a resident DJ who has access to all the hits from the last 50 years. So this means they play oldies up to more recent stuff. They encourage requests as well. Often there are theme nights such as Motown and ABBA.

 

There is also a Caribbean Party Band who play upbeat party music over 2 or 3 sets in a evening. At least once per cruise they also play a Party Night in the Queens Room.

 

I like the Yacht Club and it has a nice friendly and intimate feel as it us quite small, but perfectly adequate.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Eddie

 

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Has anyone been on the the Taste Of Madeira excursion, the one developed by Olly Smith where you visit Blandy's?

 

We are considering doing this on our Britannia cruise next April and would like to know whether you would recommend it and what the cost would be.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Eddie

 

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We had C201 the Barcelona Suite last year and loved it. It is a corner act and benefits from shares and sun in equal measure. We found that being at the aft we always got the best of the sun. It was great sitting on the balcony relaxing with a drink and watching the wake.

 

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I believe that in the new year, you will no longer be able to take unlimited amounts of alcohol on board - so make the most of it while it lasts!

That will be a shame if it happens. We take some alcohol on board but it doesn't stop us spending a lot of money in the bars. Perhaps P&O want to force people to spend more money.

 

Eddie

 

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I am gutted- having planned our first cruise for months and persuaded the OH that he wouldn't look out of place with the tuxedo and bow tie bought, not to mention the cost plus my ball gown, I have just read the Voyage Personaliser to find our 4 night cruise to Hamburg next week has NO formal nights.

 

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement !!!!!!!!!!!! There's no way I'm going to be able to persuade him to wear his suit if it's not a formal night.

In my experience on short cruises on Cunard people dress beyond the stated dress code and a lot of people dressed formally on at least one of the "Informal" nights, the second last night if I recall correctly. Of course a jacket is always required for men. So I'd say go for it! You will not feel out of place.

Hi Guys

 

I am driving down to Southampton from Scotland and it was our first time last year doing the drive.

 

I want to know has anyone had any dealings with parking at West Quay the night before. We are booked into CPS and are staying overnight so I'm looking for somewhere to leave the car overnight before we book it in and saw that the West Quay offers 24hrs for £5.

 

Just wondering if it's safe enough or if anyone had any issues?

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated

 

Thanks Kris ;p

 

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Hi Kris

 

We park at West Quay Shopping Centre when we stay at the Premier Inn next door. We have never had any issues. Being a secure multi-storey car park there are security onsite 24 hours a day. I'd highly recommend parking here.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Eddie

Hi.

 

We're thinking of taking a short mini 2 day cruise on Azura in May (and Arcadia in July) for our anniversaries. I know these are going to be party ships, in comparison to our previous two longer Christmas cruises...but it'll be a weekend away :)

 

We've decided (and I was about to book) a long cruise in 2018, but looking on here https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/before-you-sail/onboard_sales it seems more beneficial to book onboard, than online. Is this the case for mini cruises? Are the staff available for bookings?

 

Any tips?

 

Thanks

GBM

Yes you can book future cruises on a 2 night cruise. The opening hours will be in your Horizon newspaper. However as it is a short cruise they will be busy so I'd recommend getting there early.

 

The main benefits are a low deposit of £50 per person and a small amount of extra OBC. Although P&O are not that generous in comparison to Cunard in that regard.

 

Enjoy!

 

Eddie

Did you have to go to a designated area at 8:30, or did you get straight off?

 

That's fantastic news about the breakfast arrangements. Arcadia is my favourite ship, but my husband didn't like the fact there was no option but the cabin for breakfast.

 

He's really pleased now! :)

We were given a designated meeting point of The Globe on Deck 2. As it's a silent disembarkation they do not make announcements throughout the ship, only at the meeting point.

 

As for breakfast I think they started using Ocean Grill last November. The menu had some nice options. The Kedgeree was to die for! It was a nice start to the day and the crew looked after us very well. It has the same opening hours as the MDR does.

 

I'm sure you'll have a great time.

 

Eddie

My first post on here.:)

 

Unfortunately you no longer get priority disembarkation. You have to either do self-disembarkation, or choose a time like everyone else (we have written to P&O about this).

 

You do get the earliest embarkation time of 12:30pm.

 

Arcadia does not have a restaurant where you can go to have breakfast so you have to have it in your Suite (obviously not too much of a hardship!).:)

 

Agree with other 'posters' that P&O need to address the perks that Suite guests get considering how much they cost.

We got priority disembarkation at 8.30am on Arcadia a few weeks ago. You could choose later time though if you wanted.

 

And now on Arcadia they reserve Ocean Grill for breakfast for Suite passengers. We went there everyday and it was a lovely experience.

 

Eddie

We were on Arcadia for the last 2 weeks of May and found the food was very good for dinner in the MDR. It was much improved from our P&O experiences in 2008 and 2009 when the food was a lot of "meat and two veg". The choice this time was varied and interesting. There was only one dish I was disappointed with and that was a crab soufflé as it was more of a crab dumpling, but it tasted OK!

 

The rumours of bad and uninteresting food have been exaggerated :-)

 

Eddie

 

We found the choices a bit limited in the buffet for lunch but what we did have was very good. The lunch menus in the MDR looked good but we didn't have a meal in there.

 

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On our Arcadia cruise a few weeks ago we only had one speaker for the whole 2 weeks. This was disappointing for a cruise with 7 sea days. On Cunard we have been used to having 2 or 3 speakers for that number of sea days with a different speaker in the morning and the afternoon.

 

However we had Kathy McNally who gave good talks on various subjects on spies and espionage. She was funny and engaging but she was usually on at 10am, so did not get a huge audience. She referred to it as the "graveyard slot". It was a bit of a shame really.

 

Eddie

 

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We had a Suite on Arcadia recently and were very happy with what we got for the money. It was a lot less than Cunard or Celebrity for the equivalent. We looked at a cruise on Queen Elizabeth at the same time and we would have had to pay the same price as our Suite on Arcadia to get the cheapest Balcony cabin on Queen Elizabeth. Yes, Cunard is superior to P&O but you have to pay for the experience. In my opinion is that the service and food had vastly improved since we first went with P&O in 2008.

 

Being able to have breakfast in a dedicated restaurant and being able to order meals off the restaurant menu for on-site dining was a lovely perk.

 

Eddie

 

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On our recent Arcadia cruise we saw a lot of men in dark suits and ties. Although Tuxedos and DJs are in the majority. M&S do very reasonably priced dinner suits that compare favourably with hire prices.

 

At the end of the day it's up your husband what he feels comfortable with.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Eddie

 

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I think it's great that we can now book speciality restaurants online, but it could be so much better if:

-You could use OBS

-You knew which nights were formal

-You knew the buffet themes

The first thing I do when I board is look at the cruise overview and cross reference the above info and book my dining venues. If only the cruise overview was available online before boarding....

I know there are lots of obstacles but it's something I'd value quite highly, and would take the stress out of embarkation day.

Am I mad? ....don't answer that [emoji23]

Florry, I agree with you! Not about being mad though. It would make life easier to have all the info, but we usually have a stab at our initial bookings online.

 

Eddie

Club (fixed) Dining is in the Oriental Restaurant on Britannia.

 

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I don't think Sport 24tv have the live rights to Formula 1, they are showing todays grand prix at 5:30 pm, which is presumably the Sky highlights show.

Celebrity have ESPN on their ships TV which did have live Formula 1 last time we sailed.

They do have rights to show Formula 1 but it often seems to be "as-live" due to clashes with Football. On our upcoming Arcadia Cruise the Spanish Grand Prix is being shown at 5.30pm. It may be on in The Rising Sun but it will definitely be available on the in-cabin TV.

 

Some more info can be found here : https://ask.pocruises.com/help/life-on-board/sport24

 

I hope this helps.

 

Eddie

Do they have a Captain's Cocktail party on P&O ships? We have always had this on the 2 other lines we have cruised with, both offering complementary drinks. On DCL it was watered down not very nice cocktails, and on RCI it was glasses of delicious Prosecco. Just wondering if they do this on P&O and what drinks do they offer. Thank you.

They do have the Captain's Welcome on Board Party. They do have complimentary drinks like G&T and wine and if you place yourself strategically you can get more than one. On the P&O ships we have been on it took place in the Atrium and there were two to reflect the dinner sittings. If you are in Freedom Dining you will be invited to one of them.

 

The Captain gives a speech and introduces his Senior Officers. It usually takes place on the first Black Tie night. This normally the first full day.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Eddi

You're very welcome to Edinburgh and glad you enjoy your visits- there's great atmosphere around town. However, sadly, you won't be able to follow the boys on the ship, well you certainly couldn't this year. The Entertainments Manager said the company they use to supply live sport just didn't offer it, in response to the complaints he got.

That's a real shame. We really enjoyed the Rugby World Cup matches back in September on Azura. But if they don't have the rights to show it there's not a lot that can be done!

 

Eddie

 

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As much as I'm looking forward to the cruise booked a 704 it coincides with the biannual rugby pilgrimage to Edinburgh which I will now miss for the first time In 8 years Please someone tell me the games will be shown on board or at least in a bar on an island

They have a 24 hour sports channel on board. They showed all the home nations matches in the Rugby World Cup when we were on Azura in September so I imagine the 6 Nations will also be shown. Although it may be in Brodie's rather than the Sea Screen. This is a link for more information, which will no doubt be updated nearer the time. https://ask.pocruises.com/help/life-on-board/sport24

 

I hope this helps.

 

Eddie

As much as I'm looking forward to the cruise booked a 704 it coincides with the biannual rugby pilgrimage to Edinburgh which I will now miss for the first time In 8 years Please someone tell me the games will be shown on board or at least in a bar on an island

They have a 24 hour sports channel on board. They showed all the home nations matches in the Rugby World Cup when we were on Azura in September so I imagine the 6 Nations will also be shown. Although it may be in Brodie's rather than the Sea Screen.