J.E.C

1 hour ago, Balernocalling said:

According to the Moments  magazine  Oriana has Elaine Hussey 9Dec-10 Feb  , Hugh Taylor 10Feb - 11 May.  Ventura has Alexander Percival 7Nov - 4 Jan , Natalie Milverton 4Jan - 5 May. Oceana has Christopher Reynolds 4 Oct - 10 Jan  and Leon De St Croix from  10 Jan - 4 Apr.

None of this is written in stone because changes can happen  from when the magazine was published. Hope this helps.

Hope it is Elaine on Oriana - might get Zumba!

It may be worth looking at some cheap ski wear - I wet t Go outdoors and bought their ski set (this was last year and cost £60) but comprised of a base layer of thermals, jacket, trousers and ski socks, as I needed a decent warm winter jacket iI have had plenty of wear out of it. I also got silk gloves as liners and things like thermal snoods (as well as other thermal base layers) - the night we went out in search of the northern lights it was -25!

I felt like the michealin man but was warm and cosy so who cares, Aldi and Lidl both do skiwear specials so non of it needs to cost a fortune 

On board we found it a bit chilly at times as you get an arctic blast each time a door is opened! I also got grippers for my walking boots and they were brilliant as they gave me confidence to walk in the snow and ice. 

Does anyone have a copy of last years New Years Eve menu in the MDR. I have done a search a can't find anything.

I know it might not be the same but it will get the taste buds working....

Many thanks

J

On 10/27/2018 at 4:22 PM, kruzseeka said:

Fab picture J.E.C.  We've just come back from Norway - first visit at this time of year and loved it just as much as in the summer.  There wasn't much snow except on the mountain tops which made it very picturesque but apparently it had been exceptionally mild before we got there.  Great to hear of your experiences at a colder time of year.  Can you remember approx the cost of a taxi from the town centre to the base of the cable car?  It would be very much more convenient and possibly not much more expensive than the bus.  

I seem to think it was about £10 -12, but it all adds up as you then pay for the chair lift and entry to the church if you want to go inside. So may be worth comparing to a P&O trip if it covers what you want to do.

We found that the P&O trips whilst seeming expensive were no more so than local providers. I am not a big advocate of cruise ship tours and I know with our private Northern Lights tour we paid a little more than the cruise ship price about £10 more), but worth it to get away from the crowds.

The scenery everywhere was stunning as you would expect and the snow made such a difference 🙂

We did a private tour in Alta to see the Northern lights and loved it as there was only 8 of us up at the slate mine, and the scenery was spectacular and we also learnt a lot about the inuit community.

Also did the P&O tour to the ice hotel as couldn't find any independent tours and really wanted to see it. Glad we did as it was great (but busy)

All other ports we did our own thing. in Aldenes we tracked up to a viewing point for great views, worth a visit to the chapel in the railway carriage. (picture below)

Tromso hopped in a taxi from the shuttle bus drop off to the chair lift - spectacular views from the top (then the weather changed and we were in the middle of a blizzard 🙂. From the bottom of the chair lift we waled back to the church (worth a visit) and then across the bridge (which was interesting in the conditions).

I brought grippers for my walking boots and was so glad I did as it gave me the confidence to stride out and enjoy the snow.

The Living Room (the large sea view bar at the front of the ship, can't remember what it was previously called) does afternoon teas and tapas in teh evening - so a great place for a quick snack and a pre dinner drink before a late dinner.

We did this cruise last year and it was wonderful.

I love the hot glass shows and especially love them at night as you can see the heat in the glass.

I am lucky enough to be the proud owner of a jug with a lip wrap and roman handle that I had watched being made and then won at a raffle a day later.

If there is glass show on board and I am"missing" my husband knows where to find me, I never get tired of watching these skilled artisans.

One morning on the Quest I was being served another dried fruit breakfast bar at Mosiac. chef Fabir was next to me and in conversation I told him that they were simply delicious and i was going to personally blame him for any "excess baggage" I might accumulate on the trip.

He asked for my cabin number and the following morning with our breakfast order was a plate of these museli bars and the recipe :)

Unfortunately they don't taste as good when you make them yourself

Hello,

Are any of the coffee drinks included in the Classic package?

Thanks,

Andrea

All of the $5 drinks are i.e teas and coffees, I have the classic non alcoholic package and have as a minimum a couple of coffees each morning and tea late afternoon and then a another coffee post dinner. without adding in the soda's I am quids in.:D

Don't forget tapas in the living room in the evening - we would go fro a drink and a tapa before eating later in the evening.

Whilst the specialty restaurants are good the main dining room is also excellent.

On the sea days look out for the dim sum lunch in the MDR.

We love Mosaic Cafe and has already been said don't pay for the Nespresso capsule coffees the Barista ones are far better and free.

If you don't like the wine that is offered one evening, but like the one from previous evening ask for it and they will almost certainly find you a bottle.

Just enjoy

Ask fo A favourout spote of ours is the

All great advice, thank you. Although I have never actually been sick, there have been times when I feel quite nauseous. I find the cabin and especially the bathroom are the worst places to be for making me feel that way. Do you think you are better to lie down or keep moving around in this situation?

Personally I prefer to keep moving.

But I am in the Stugeron camp if we are warned of bad weather I take them as directed until the weather passes. We were in a force 11 coming back from Alto in Norway last March and again crossing the Bay of Biscay last June and both times were fine. I also always like a blast of fresh air, sometimes if it is really rough a lot of the external doors are closed off for safety reason and I have restored to the smoking area (if its that bad there are very few smokers around) as I find a blast of fresh air works for me.

Please don't let the thought of sea sickness put you off cruising.

Thanks- that’s worth knowing. Do we have to do this or can we sort it out ourselves the next day?

Eve

You can opt for self disembarkation where by you take your own luggage off the next day, but do not expect any help with it. It will be one of the questions you are asked on board. You will receive a disembarkation questionnaire in your cabin quite early on in your cruise, which you will need to complete and return to guest relations.

To be honest, we have always found luggage collection is really efficient and we tend to put one case out before going to dinner and the last one out when we retire nearer midnight and literally have the essentials in hand luggage. It is then easy to find the next day in the luggage area as it is arranged by your disembarkation time.

Hope that helps

Whilst the original post is about a year old there is a really good one with all the menu's photographed. They might have gone up a little in the mean time, but generally P&O are very reasonable for drinks compared to other lines

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2507620&highlight=wine+prices

We did the Northern Lights as a private tour - just 8 of us taken up to a slate mine in the mountains - actually cost slightly more that P&O (£5 more) if I recall. I arranged it by getting folk together on the roll call and booking direct with Pasketuen (probably spelt that wrongly.

The whole experience was great as there were no crowds and we got picked up at the port and dropped off back at the ship. We also got sent a photo of us after the tour of us with the lights in the background,

Well worth getting away from the light pollution.

Thanks for the comments so far.

 

I think what has hit us this year pricing wise is that we booked our cruise over a year in advance with no offers, the $ then rose against the £ meaning that after a re-price all of the subsequent offers meant we would be paying considerably more. We didn't want a similar scenario next year.

 

My main concerns related to dining, we love Blu on Celebrity (especially for the tables for 2). We have noticed a decline in quality generally in Aqua and can't afford the extra cost anymore.

 

 

We are quite looking forward to a more British feel on the ship, we do realise there will be compromises but the savings run into the thousands for the 2 of us.

 

Not sure what to make of not having a drinks package, maybe we will drink less!

We have done both (and some others) and find P&O to be good value. Drinks prices are cheap compared to Celebrity and no 18% added for your convenience.

Not been on Britannia and have to say we look to book smaller ships if we can. I like the fact that formal nights are observed on board, especially if I don't have luggage weight restrictions to contend with.

On our last P&O cruise the food in the MDR we felt had stepped up a notch - okay not up to Blu standard but then I am paying half the price (nearly).

Go with an open mind and enjoy, after all you will no doubt visiting some fantastic destinations

I’ll leave the gratuities but will try to avoid passing reception on the penultimate day and seeing the queues, just for the sake of my blood pressure

I know what you mean :D

We will be on the aurora to norway in march.

 

Presently i do have a nice suit, but it is olive/greenish in color. I dont plan to get a new DARK suit just for the 3 formal nights on this cruise. And i dont want to be fixed to the buffet.

So, will this suit ‘pass’ on formal nights?

Thanks for all opinions....

Yes - I suspect you are on a northern lights cruise and we did one last year on Oriana and they changed the dining arrangements to accommodate all the night tours whilst in port.

Even on formal nights you saw folk bundled up in coasts as they had been for a walk outside in the very chilly temperatures.

The only place I saw anyone spoken to about their dress code was in Andersons bar on a formal night when they came in after 7pm in huge coats.

Dark suits were fairly normal attire on formal nights (and I would class Olive Green as dark) although you will see DJ and highland dress and anything inbetween.

What ever just enjoy and go with the flow

We both got this survey. You do wonder why some get it and not others. I thought it was very strange and no way would I pay for "extra's" that aren't really there.

The idea of losing areas to a specific level customer is a complete turn off on a small ship.

they already do these in a way so as long as it wasn't a complete take over would we notice? On our last cruise which included Israel there were large religious groups and they do the perry golf cruises anyway.

Just struck me as seeing what extra people are prepared to pay, I think htere is a real need to be careful as the basic price is already high when you compare to other similar lines.

Julie.

Personally, once all the small ships go, so will I.

I by far prefer the small ship experience.

I understand the business model and having to think for the future.

I suspect we will end up cruising less and paying more for the privilege.

I suspect that the identity of the Hotel Manager (as I believe they are now called) is also very important, and probably the Head Chef too.

I agree 😀😀

Yes, in the Peninsula magazine, usually entitied Senior Officers over two pages.

Thank you, I had turned off the mail notifications to stop the sales stuff, unfortunately it also stops the magazine. I will go and see if it is on line. :)

Is there a list of who is the Captain and Entertainments Manager etc on future cruises.

I have never really paid much attention to this but I have more and more lately notice the impact these senior roles have on the atmosphere on board ship.

We have booked Oriana for Christmas. It will be our first cruise over the holidays, although we did a pree Christmas on Oceana a few years ago and she was beautifully decorated.

like you we are after a bit of Winter sunshine but wanted the convenience of Southampton as we will have my mother wit us.

Not sure what to expect but I don't expect it to be ear to ear Christmas, Although I am hoping for a a bit of a carol service on Christmas day kinda assuming that will be a formal night with a Christmas Dinner. but I think this elusive Christmas atmosphere is what you make it.

We will have a few decorations for the cabin and perhaps something for the door. We will join in activities and hope the entertainment crew do a few festive things, but we have always found a cruise is what you make it. We did Oriana twice last year (along with an Azamara) and the Oriana's were both great cruises.

Food wish in the main dinning room we felt had improved over previous years and drinks prices were so reasonable you never hesitated in buying what you wanted.

Entertainment was mixed, with some excellent and some dire, but then it is personal choice. Day time entertainment varied and it was obvious on the two cruises that we had two different entertainment managers and both were good in their own way.

So we are going with an open mind and really looking forward to it.

Hope to see you on board

Julie

We have been on both cruise lines and go by destination

Celebrity is good if you have the higher loyalty levels because you get really good benefits. I find the celebrity ships easy to navigate and very good at absorbing the amount of folk on board.

With P&O we will only do their smaller ships as we did one on Azura (same layout at Ventura) and disliked it. From surly staff to confusing layout and very bland decor.

Price wise on board P&O is a lot lot cheaper - drinks are uk bar prices (and no 18% tip added) and the gratuities are also a lot cheaper. Perhaps a consideration when Iceland is so expensive!

We like Oriana (did 2 last year and have one more booked) and prefer smaller ships as less crowds as you dissembark in ports etc so size wise Arcadia is similar.

Age profile wise I think P&O is slightly older than Celebrity but not a lot in it and neither make me in my 50's feel uncomfortable.

Which ever one you choose I am sure you will love the stunning scenery and amazing experiences Iceland has to offer