Pollypops

Does anyone know if Fred Olsen put on shuttle buses from Rosyth to Edinburgh? If not, how do we get into the city?  Thanks.

Very interesting post, thank you. Disappointing to see that our next two cruise check-in times will be 15.30 when we booked over a year in advance at the Select fare. For us, lunch onboard was always the start of the holiday, but looks like that will not be the case in future. Annoying to think that people who paid less than us and only booked a few weeks before the cruise will be onboard at 13.00.

Hello

It sounds as if you had a wonderful trip! I hope we are as lucky next year. Thank you for all the information. Just one question, I believe I've read that you can book excursions ahead of the voyage, do you know how we would do this? It would be good to book early to make sure we don't miss out. Oh, and was the dog sledding very bumpy - thinking of my bad back!

I am so looking forward to going, but I mustn't wish the time away as I have three other holidays (just one week each) to look forward to this year. I have just put my snow boots and thick coat up in the loft, so will now forget about it for a while and hopefully enjoy some sunshine this summer. Then when winter comes I will start again thinking about Norway!

Once again, thanks for all your help.

Hello Blue Skies, are you back? Hope you had a great trip. I've been following the P&O ship Oriana on Facebook, people have been posting amazing northern lights pictures over the last 2 weeks. Do let me know how you got on.

Thanks very much. I hope you have a fantastic trip, I will be watching you on that webcam! Please get in touch when you return and let me know how it went, plus any photos. xx

Hi Blue Skies

I don't think we'll be doing the dog sledding as I have a bad back and neck, not sure it would do me any good! I want to do the North Cape excursion and the Snow Hotel. I've read a lot of reviews and most people seem to have a great time, just a few who don't enjoy it. A friend of mine has just been on a P&O cruise to Norway and unfortunately didn't see the lights, she said there was one night when they saw something that looked like bonfire smoke but on people's cameras (good cameras) it showed some red and green. Someone else posted who is still up there and two nights ago they had a brilliant show. It is all down to luck, same as weather. Look forward to hearing from you on your return.

Hello, I'm afraid I'm not on your cruise, I have another year to wait until mine - 20th Feb 2018! However I will be interested to hear all about it so hope you will post a full review afterwards. Hope you find some people on the same cruise - maybe others just don't look at this website! I'm sure you won't be the only one onboard! :) A lady has recently written a good review on Tripadvisor under "Northern Lights", she doesn't actually mention which ship she was on but I sent her a P M and it was the Finnmarken. She advised me that the most important things to take are good snow boots, ice grips, and poles, as it gets very slippery!

Floris, great to hear you've booked for 2018, but where did you find it? I'm hoping to do the same trip in March 2018 but can't find any details that far ahead yet. Thanks.

We've been given a 2.30 boarding time for our Oriana cruise next month. Not terribly happy with this as in the past we've always enjoyed being onboard by about 1 - 1.30 and having lunch before the cabins are ready. We certainly won't be leaving home any later than usual just in case we hit bad traffic, but I have to say that in 12 cruises we've only once had really bad traffic. We've never once had any problem getting on board, never had to queue for more than a few minutes. I can see that perhaps problems have been experienced with the bigger ships, but for the smaller ones I really don't understand why P&O are doing this. If we are making good progress we'll stop for a coffee when we get near the port, otherwise we'll just get there and take a seat until we can go on board.

I will be doing my 12th P&O cruise this summer, and I can honestly say I've never once had a problem with arrival and getting onboard. We always leave home at 10am and arrive at around 1pm (once hit bad traffic on the A34 and were about an hour later). Always onboard within about half an hour, having lunch straight away (sometimes a lovely barbeque on deck), then cabin ready and some unpacking before muster. Have we just been very lucky? Admittedly we've only been on the "mid-sized" ships. One of the things I love about cruising is how easy it all is, no hanging around like at airports. I have to say I'm not looking forward to the next one, if I'm going to spend ages hanging around before my holiday starts. I will be furious if I get a 3pm check-in time, especially as I booked as soon as the cruise went on sale.

It's not only on ships that this happens. We go to quite a lot of dances in our local area, and there are always the couples we call "LAMBs" (Look At Me Brigade), who want to take over the whole floor. Whilst these people are good dancers and would be lovely to watch if they were the cabaret act , they are NOT lovely to be on the floor with. We've been learning for a few years now but our enthusiasm outweighs our talent, and we do sometimes find it rather intimidating being on the floor with these types. They always seem to have facial expressions as if there is a bad smell, no sign of a smile.

We've recently been on our first Cunard cruise, on the QE, and there were some excellent dancers. An American couple and a Canadian lady who danced with the dance hosts were particularly good, they always looked as if they were really enjoying themselves and NOT showing off, smiling all the time. Myself I try to smile, but sometimes when you're concentrating hard on your steps the smile disappears!

One thing that worried me was some of the footwear worn by those who were not regular dancers. One lady in particular had heels about five inches high with horrendous spikes - I told my husband I didn't want to get anywhere near her, as those heels could cause a serious injury if she stepped on someone's foot.

I'm just back from my first cruise with Cunard, on the Queen Elizabeth. Before I went I read lots of posts about dress, and was expecting the ladies to really dress up, even on informal nights. Certainly on this cruise it was not the case and I actually felt rather over-dressed at times. Obviously some people made the effort, but an awful lot didn't. Some of the ladies (noticeably those from Japan, Taiwan etc) just looked as if they'd dressed to go shopping or something. I was very surprised by this. Even on the formal nights I was surprised that not many ladies wore the suggested colours. I have cruised with P&O several times and on Black & White Night all but one or two ladies dress in black, white, or both. On this cruise I would say less than 50% were wearing black or white to the Cunard ball.

I've recently arrived back from my first cruise with Cunard, on the Queen Elizabeth. My husband and I are keen regular dancers, although not particularly good. My husband is VERY fit (he was in the gym every day and did Spin classes on every sea day) but he also feels the heat terribly, so although he wears his jacket when walking around the ship he always takes it off once in the restaurant (he would not enjoy his meal if overheated) and as soon as he wants to dance. We were a little concerned about him doing this on Cunard, but it was fine, no-one said anything, and he was able to enjoy his evenings. I have to say that, even wearing a strappy dress, I also get very overheated myself so I would consider it extremely unfair for men to be forced to wear jackets all the time.

The dance hosts on our cruise seemed to treat the single ladies quite fairly, dancing with both the attractive and the good dancers equally with the not-so-attractive and not-very-good dancers, however the same could not be said of the dance teacher. He danced exclusively with a Taiwanese lady,who we presumed was having private lessons with him, and when they took to the floor there was little room for anyone else, they danced as if they were on "Strictly Come Dancing." It was quite intimidating for novices to be on the floor at the same time as them.

Another thing I found worrying was that some of the ladies, usually the younger ones, wore totally inappropriate footwear on the dance floor. Obviously the regular dancers had proper dance shoes, but others wore very high, spiky heels which could be lethal if they accidentally trod on someone's foot. There was one girl in particular (another of the Taiwanese party) who I avoided like the plague, I was terrified of her five inch spikes.

This is true. I know a lot of women who take their own hairdryers as they don't like the ones onboard, and plenty use hair straighteners. A couple of years ago, at home, my own hairdryer blew up on me with a loud noise and a smell of burning.

Despite the "restriction" we always take our kettle with us (it is completely tested). It is just more convenient when you want a hot drink to make it yourself - even take ground coffee and filter.

I'm glad to hear this, as I intend to take my kettle on my forthcoming cruise. I have bought a new one specifically for this cruise, as my old one(which I've been taking on holiday for about 15 years) probably wouldn't meet safety standards. If I wake up in the middle of the night, which I often do, and want to sit on my balcony with a cup of tea I don't want somebody bringing it to me and knocking on the door waking up my hubby.

We've only got 3 formals on an upcoming 12 night cruise on QE, I was expecting 4. Three years ago we had 4/12 on a P&O cruise!

On our first cruise we bought most of the pictures, but have rarely bought any since as we feel the prices are ridiculous. They also seemed to put up the prices when the change was made from printed photographs to ones that you view on a screen. On a cruise last year on Oceana I had a lovely new dress and we decided to have a portrait done on formal night, but when we came to view it on the screen it was priced at £26 for two. I only wanted one - why would I possibly want two the same? The young lady was quite rude and I had a bit of an argument with her, she even told me I could have one but would still have to pay the £26! So, of course, I didn't have any and they lost a sale. In the "old days" you just chose the one you wanted to buy and took it to the desk to pay.

This thread is interesting to me as we are going on Cunard for the first time next month and are keen dancers (we make up in enthusiasm for what we lack in talent!). We know all bar one of the sequence dances mentioned, and a few more. I guess we will probably miss the early evening dancing as we have opted for 6pm dinner, but on some nights we can dine elsewhere and plan our evening so that we can dance early.

At some of the dances we go to we have a lot of fun with the sequence dances, but I do agree that some of the "serious dancers" you meet onboard ships don't smile much. They are usually the people who obviously think they are wonderful and want everyone to watch them, those we dub the "Look at me" brigade (LAMBs):D!

We've only sailed on P&O before, first Cunard cruise coming up shortly. My husband wears a tuxedo on formal nights, but sometimes wears the white jacket as a change from the black. Is that OK on Cunard? I think it looks very smart. He usually has a bow tie to match my dress. He also has a selection of very smart waistcoats, as we love ballroom dancing and you just can't dance properly wearing a jacket and get far too hot.

Sorry to hear about your illness, hope you're feeling better now. I hope that your cabin was deep-cleaned before they let the next person in, but somehow I rather doubt it.

Everyone talks about the buffet, but what about the pens that are passed round to everyone to sign their drinks bills? And even when you check in at Southampton there is a pen lying there for you to sign the declaration that you haven't been ill. I always take my own pen. Another thing that worries me is the wooden menu covers, do they not also transmit germs?

I suppose if we thought too much about it we would all become completely paranoid and afraid to touch anything, but I do think cruise lines could do more to prevent it.

I'm sad to hear Sorrento is being replaced, we've had some really lovely meals there.

I always say to my TA "What can you give me to persuade me to book with you rather than direct with P&O?" and she always gives me some extra OBC.

I also like to receive a full brochure. If I don't get one soon I'll go onto the website and order one.

I cruise with my husband now and don't have much to do with any of the Ents team, but my first few cruises were with my mum and we enjoyed quite a bit of chat and laughs with the boys and girls, and sometimes the CD. For us it did make a big difference to our enjoyment of the cruise if there was a good team. In recent years I've noticed some of the younger team members don't seem very interested in the job - for example, last year there was a girl hosting a quiz and she just read the questions out in a really dis-interested voice, there was no banter or having a joke with the passengers. I became friendly with one of the Ents officers and have stayed in touch, I understand that a lot of the more experienced ones have now left and P&O are employing less experienced staff and, of course, paying less money.

I suffer from IBS and have done so for 25years, so I have a lot of sympathy for your wife. Mine is not food-related (or doesn't seem to be) so I just eat normally and hope for the best. I have to do things like always get a seat on the end of a row in the theatre, just in case I have to dash out. I also have to set my alarm to wake up at least 2 hours before leaving the ship in the morning (the same as at home if I'm going out anywhere.) On port days I order breakfast in the cabin. I am always nervous about booking excursions which involve coach travel, but again I just hope for the best. It is not nice, people who have no experience of IBS cannot possibly understand the stress of always having to know where the nearest loo is, just in case.

I'm afraid I can't really offer you any more advice.