C at Sea

What about when you got back to Genoa - did you get off straight away for the airport or could you do a trip or is it easy to get into Genoa and is it worth it?

They showed lots on Azura last couple of weeks - Im sure that theyl show a match of that importance!

When we first started cruising in 1995 on good old Canberra - I remember one of the activities laid on for sea days was a tour of the ship/bridge - classed as a behind the scenes tour. It was free and usually conducted by one of the entertainment officers. It was limited in number and first come first serve. I was shocked to see on Azura last week that a similar tour was offered - only this time it was £75pp!! I'm sure it was a very interesting thing to do but amazed that there was such a charge! Sign of the times I suppose!

Hi! Yes there were cruises going to those places - cant remember tho if one cruise went to all those ports. Only had quick look at brochure while waiting for flights to be called!

Brittania wont be in Caribbean til Nov 15/16. Azura /Ventura there from end of this year to spring '15

C (also from Stafford!!)

Thanks Tudorin! Did you enjoy cruise? We had a great time despite weather and what we laughingly called a cruise of misinformation and dodgy organisation! We especially laughed at the weather forecast at the top of The Horizon - everyday was Sunny! It rained for a lot of the first few days! Think it was just left on from previous copies! The Officer Hosted Caribbean Luncheon was lovely - really enjoyed it but shame it was right at the end of the cruise on the same day as the Penninsular party which we missed cos it was at 8pm and we were on 1st sitting and also wanted to see the show at 8.30pm. It got particularly busy in the theatres and if you weren't in there by 8.15 pm it was hard to get a seat. If you the wanted to see the cabaret after the show in Manhattan - opposite end of ship - no chance! No seats at all!

Yes I agree - but we phoned reception and they confirmed theyd been taken out of our obc on the first day. As I said in op its not a problem for us at all - just making the observation incase anyone saving their obc for a special reason.

Azura and Ventura again

I suppose if you are just putting down a deposit on the off chance its a bit risky but we will be intending to cruise sometime in 2015 so thats worth it for us. If something happens to stop us can claim it back on insurance I suppose.

The codes for each night were changed and yes we had booked Sindhu before we went but when we got onboard theyd changed that night to a formal - so we had to cancel and rebook! In our pre cruise literature it said expect 4 Black tie, 4 Jacket required and 6 Smart Casual. Onboard they replaced this with 4 Black Tie, 2 Jacket Required and 8 Smart Casual. As you say very annoying as we'd packed accordingly and had a really hard job keeping to limit! If I'd paid for extra allowance I'd have been very cross!

Just back from Azura Caribbean Cruise and noticed with our obc that it was partly used straight away with our tips! We worked out it wasnt a bad thing in a way cause obc used quicker and so anything we bought afterwards could get our 10% discount applied. But just felt that tips should really be applied at the end of cruise when you've had the service! We usually leave our tips on our ob bill but felt a little like going to a restaurant and giving them a tip before being served!! I'm also sure that we were told when P&O first starting automatically adding tips to your bill that obc wouldnt be used against them. But it definitely was and we phoned reception to check this was correct after viewing it on our tv screen. Just thought would mention it incase anyone saving their obc for anything in particular! Ofcourse if you ask to have tips removed it wouldnt apply.

Just back from Azura Caribbean cruise and put our deposit down whilst onboard. Can be used on any type of cruise with existing offers and an extra obc - £25 on 7 nights, £50 on 14 etc. Wel go anyway so might as well get a bit extra and have some deposit already on it! Have to book within a year but not actually take it within a year.

Just back from Azura Caribbean cruise. Saw new brochure whilst onboard. They said would be out in March and onsale beginning of April. Found the brochure bit complicated! Also Caribbean cruises same old same old! There seemed more choice of ports when we first started doing the Caribbean in 2010. Fly cruises still there and look interesting.

Jus back from Azura Caribbean Cruise. Had good time despite not good weather esp in 1st week! But was a little annoyed about them changing the dress codes. Looked on the P&O site and it told you what the code was for each night. Excellent, I thought - can't remember that happening before and very useful. When info etc came from P&O just before we sailed the codes were the same - 4 Black Tie, 4 Jacket required and 6 Smart Casual. Fine - packed accordingly. However when onboard these had all changed! The particular codes for each night were different - tho this didn't matter so much - but what was annoying was that it had changed to 8 casual. The trouble is on a fly cruise you are limited in weight so you pack down to a fine art to get everything right! It didnt matter too hugely to me tho I would have taken different things really! But hubby neednt have packed all he did and could have included other things!

Thought I would mention it for the sake of anyone about to travel. It is important to know at least how many nights are what dress code when you are on a fly cruise.

Thanks for that! I thought there'd probably be that Mr & Mrs thing they do - usually good for a laugh!

Have cruised before in Feb but Valentine's Day never fell during one of them! We are on Azura this year on Valentine's Day and just out of curiosity wondered if they did anything special at all - has anyone else been onboard at this time? From the dress code list it states it is a Tropical Night - so doesnt seem to any related theme as such!

You do ofcourse have to be out of your cabin by about 8/9am. But you can leave hand luggage in the theatre - they give you a ticket.

I'd like to know how they've got enough room left in their suitcase to bring it home!!

Sorry for late reply! Been super busy hospital visiting!

Thanks for the replies!

Paperwork came from TA to inform us of the 4hrs checkin.

Sagaris - yes me too! I've accepted the Manchester end - but can't understand the Barbados end!

Hope return journey arrangements are as slick as usual cos taking friends with us this time who haven't been before and we've bigged up how good it usually is!!

I've already noticed that there's been cost cutting - with only tap water free on the plane since we last went to Caribbean in Feb 2012!

We are flying to Barbados in Feb from Manchester.

We have had paperwork to say we have to be at the airport 4 hrs before flight. Previously its always been 3hrs - but I have heard that there's some sort of holdup at Manchester due to new equipment? Don't know if this is correct - but anyway that's fine, but then we noticed its 4hrs before coming back in Barbados too! We missed last year but have cruised to Caribbean for few years before and its usually been pretty quick from getting to airport in Barbados to the flight being called as there's no check in or luggage to deal with as all sorted on ship. Has all that changed? Just wondering cos seems long time before flight when its just through security to departure. Has anyone been recently to explain this long wait?

Thanks!

I'm not surprised in a Force 12!! You'd have to be strong stomached not to!!

You know its bad when the sick bags come out! And when members of the ships crew are ill!

We were in the North Sea once on the old Arcadia and our poor wine waiter was terrible!

Inbetween serving, she had to dash to the loo!

Reading through the latest threads, I noticed someone had said that Arcadia rolls about even in moderate seas!

Does anyone think that one particular ship is more stable than others?

We've sailed on most, except Ventura and Adonia, including P&Os earlier ships - Canberra, the old Arcadia and Adonia. I can't really say I've noticed much difference!

When the seas bad they all seem rocky to me!!

What does anyone else think?

Having had a balcony cabin on both ships I felt they were smaller bathrooms on Azura.

What Azura has thats better though, is the open wardrobe space instead of actual wardrobes. I think its much better and seems to give more space or the feel of it anyway.

I agree Semi-formal is not really the best thing in the Caribbean but I wouldn't like Formal to go! It is P&O you know!!

We managed (just!) with 23kg. But then I always overpack!

If you take a pair of floaty evening trousers and 2 spangly tops thats 2 of your formals sorted! Also try and double up with shoes - put these in hand luggage if you can. Buy suntan stuff on ship. you wont need many toiletries. Just take very small travel bottles that you can throw away on coming home. Double up with light trousers or skirts with floaty tops for casual nights.

At least with the Caribbean you know it will be warm so you can take light clothing. We are flying to LA for a cruise next May and the weather can be a bit unpredictable then. So will need careful packing!

Thanks for the replies - will try them!