KaththeTaff

NCL and P&O are pretty different in style. Food on the latter is much more British, with a focus on meats and sauces, though also good curries. Entertainment is similar. NCL shows are very American, while on P&O you'll see British acts, often people who are familiar to you through TV.

P&O is more formal than NCL's freestyle offering. You can have fixed dinner seating if you want, which isn't available with NCL, where you eat at a set time on the same table and with the same table mates and wait staff every night. You can also have more flexible dining, though, where you choose for yourself when you eat and with whom.

With both lines you don't have to go to the dining room at all. There are alternatives, some of which, the mast grill and the buffet are included in the fare, while others, like East and Epicurean, have an additional charge.

Ultimately, though, both lines take you to some lovely destinations, both have outside decks, bars and shows, so it could be said that they are more similar than they are different! A big plus for many on P&O is that the drinks prices are a bit lower than the American lines.

As mentioned earlier, I believe it depends on the requirements of the country in which the port is located. It shouldn't be needed in Europe, at least not in the EU countries such as Italy, Spain, France etc.

I understand the frustration of anyone who has been told they can't get on the ship until 1600. No sooner will you be arriving at your cabin and you'll be hurried off to the muster drill. No time to settle in before the ship sails!

I dare say I wouldn't be too keen either, but all we can do is to try and work around it and not let it impact too much on the holiday.

Lovely report of your holiday, and excellent pics. Thanks for posting, I now need to do a Baltic cruise!

Kath - dont know where you are staying but if in the town itself, you just tell Hotel reception what time you want the taxi and they oblige! We spent a very pleasant couple of hours strolling around Southampton in May, after a late breakfast, being very good P & O people and stuck to our embarkation time.;) All our luggage was still in our car, but others left theirs with the hotel left luggage facility.

Many hotels will also be quite happy to give you a later check out time without charge if you ask them.

Thanks, mysticalmother. We prefer to have a wander around before going tot he terminal anyway. The one time we got there early we had to wait anyway, while when we've got there at 1 or 1,30 we have always breezed straight through.

We are staying at the Mercure Dolphin. We've stayed there before but we've always booked it ourselves. This time we've added it to the cruise through P&O, so I admit I had visions of having no control over when the transfer would happen!

We'll be on the Ventura in a few weeks time. Our e--tickets have 1300 on them, which is fine by us, but we've booked a hotel and transfers along with the cruise (not something we normally do) and so I'm hoping that will be taken into account on the day. I don't really want to be transported down tot he terminal by 1100 only to have to sit around for hours!

Both were very good, but for us Le Bistro has the edge. The mushroom soup and chateaubriand that we had ticked all the boxes for us.

We haven't sailed with NCL for a few years, but we're thinking of returning to them next year to see what has changed!

We sail in four weeks. We've had a booklet with excursions details and other information inside, but no luggage labels. I think I'll contact P&O and ask for some.

Avoid Cruising Excursions./ The agent is pushing them for their commission. Either book though P&O, book an excursion direct with the operator, or DIY. We do a mixture of all three, depending on the port, and where we want to go/what we want to see.

CE are just an agent, and a pretty ropey one if the Tripadvisor comments are to be believed.

I'm not opposed to lifeboat drill, and as you say it might save one life. I'm just pointing out why some people, me included, feel it adds nothing to their own safety.

 

Obviously there comes a point where the lifeboat drill has taught you all it can. Otherwise they'd have it every week, or every day. The only issue is at what point the lifeboat drill loses its usefulness; I think it's at an earlier stage than you. That's all it is.

I can see your point. But I do think that it's useful to have a refresher unless you are lucky to be cruising every couple of months!

My main point, though, is that it's mandatory and I'm a bit of a stickler for following rules and procedures, as I have a very safety focused job myself.

We once had an inside cabin on the Crown princess and although we didn't look at the deck plans, it must have been above the theatre as we could hear everything - rehearsals in the afternoon and the performances in the evening.

I hope it won't be the same for you, and that the children are able to sleep. I have a feeling that if you ask for a change of cabin you'll be disappointed by the response. As others have said, being given whatever is left is a risk that is taken when you go for the cheaper prices. We have a guarantee cabin booked at the moment, but we don't have kids and we aren't too fussy about cabin position, so we'll take the chance of a noisy room!

We much prefer to book direct these days, but at first, as newbies, we chose to use a travel agent. After a couple of cruises, DH decided that there was no need to involve a middleman, he preferred to deal directly with the line.

He has never found a discount worth having, mostly our research shows that prices are very similar with agents and with the cruise line (not just P&O). But maybe we just don't look hard enough!

We enjoyed the HoHo bus in Bergen, but on a misty day it may not be worth doing the funicular. We went up and we couldn't see anything! DH had been before and he said it's great on a clear day.

The queues do build up. We were there for the second or third trip of the morning and it was fairly busy, when we came down again it was manic!

It is mandatory to attend muster drills and I really can't understand those who don't go. It's only a few minutes out of your cruise and it's for the benefit of everyone.

After all the huffing and puffing the crux of the matter that started this thread off is that PurpleMoonlight expected or assumed that they would have some sort of priority with their dining request. As they have discovered, that doesn't happen with P&O, rightly or wrongly.

The fact is that their expectations should have been more accurate had they read and understood the booking conditions. At least then they would have know they don't get priority by booking a suite, they just get a nicer room.

Food's very subjective, so the OP may still have found the food poor, but at least they wouldn't have made a fuss about not getting a table for two. We've gone for flexible dining, and we'll be asking for a table for two most nights, even if we have to wait. We understand that, and while we'd prefer that everyone could have exactly what they want without delay, that's never going to be practical on a mass market line at mass market prices.

We are happy to pay the gratuities up front. As we consider them to be part of the overall fare, it makes sense to us to pay them in advance. But, of course, we have never had reason to remove or reduce the daily charge for poor service, and we can easily spend all of the OBC we might have at the bar!

We have never been interested in specialty dining with Celebrity. We find the food in the dining room excellent, and we don't care much for the menu's in Murano and Qsine. Therefore, we don't think it's worth even having this package.

Those that do, though, enjoy!

I'll agree that your attitude toward the staff that are there to help you is the best way to reward them. Be considerate, ask politely when you want something, and understand what the staff can and can't do. Recognize that most of these people are stuck away from their families for months at a time.

 

The automatic gratuities handle the baseline. If someone goes above and aboard, recognize that and reward them. Basic respect for another person goes a long way.

Excellent post. Money isn't the be all and end all for everyone. Some staff will appreciate being treated as human beings rather than servants far more than receiving an extra tip. Having a little chat, asking them how they are, how long they've been aboard and so on can make their long day a little more bearable.

We had a lovely lady serve is in Bistro on Five while on the Eclipse. We had such a good and long chat with her that she always stopped to talk to us whenever we saw her around the ship. That seemed a lot more genuine to me than what is effectively paying someone to smile at you. To be honest, I've never found any difference in service whether I've given cash tips or not. It's almost always been exceptional either way.

I use IE and I've never had a problem getting in. If I've been lucky I've probably just cursed myself!

If the bag looks as though it exceeds any of the dimensions, or the weight allowance, then you could easily be asked to use the sizer. This could result in you having to pay to put your carry on bag in the hold, and I don't think you'd want your camera equipment going in the hold.

So I don't think it's worth the risk at all. Just conform to the rules and have a worry free flight. if you need a new and smaller camera bag, that's probably going to be worth the expense.

It's a good idea to remember about the public toilets but there are alternatives! On our two most recent Norway cruises we haven't used any cash at all, all our purchases have been by card, debit cards for small souvenirs, and credit cards for bigger purchases like the expensive food and drink.

We've used the toilets when they were free, or during one of refreshment calls. It's also become our habit to go just before we get off the ship!

I'm pleased with the change, just from a packing point of view. Those who want to dress in jackets or anything else still can. What others choose to wear really has a minimal impact on our enjoyment - except perhaps for looking around at some of the things in the tramps convention ;)

I think most of the comments so far about Celebrity are spot on. Drinks are expensive, the showers are brilliant, the entertainment is not so good, and so on.

Food is very subjective and we did enjoy the MDR and buffet on the Silhouette and Eclipse, more so on the latter as it seemed they served more vegetables with the main course! But the more British style food on P&O really appeals to us too. DH enjoyed the food on his previous P&O cruise very much indeed, he is still talking about it, even nine years later.

DH has fond memories of his Aurora cruise in 2006. He said he would love to do a 17 day cruise, and I love sea days as well so I think it would be something we'd do if we had the time!