snaefell

We have done one TA with P&O & are about to do another with Royal Caribbean,both Westbound,we feel that we have had enough of flying so getting it out of the way early on is nice! if it is important to you P&O tend to be a fraction of the price of RCI when it comes to things like drinks,specialty dining & shore excursions,several days at sea give you nice 'chill' time!

I can relate to that,I had a knee op back in December which has temporarily(I hope!) left me needing to use,first crutches & now sticks,it has shocked me how few people seem willing to accommodate people with mobility problems.

We have been seriously tempted by a Med cruise with RCI,we can get the cruise for a very tempting price but it is the 'extras' that put us off,in a few weeks we will be sailing on Anthem & know how expensive speciality dining,shore excursions & drinks are compared to a recent cruise with P&O,drinks with P&O were similar to local pub prices while the other two 'extras' are around three times dearer with RCI.

Almost sounds like an invasion of your privacy,do you have any choice/input into what appears on the screen?

The constant threat of industrial action has IMO made it difficult to book train travel with confidence these days,we have twice booked to travel by train only to see strikes announced nearer the travel date

We were with P&O last year,they are down to once a day BUT you had to put the Service Room sign on the outside of your door before 1.30pm,no sign no service,many had a problem with that,there were many raised voices where people wondered why their rooms hadn't been done! Also we stayed in a Best Western last Ssummer where room service was every 3 days.

Our only RCI cruise so far was in 2019,a near 3 week repo cruise on Quantum,for a while I did get C&A emails but they seem to have stopped,we are on Anthem next month,our cruise record shows no previous cruises & obviously no points,I was beginning to think our cruise was too long ago but reading this thread makes me realise different!😎

Came in handy for fetching a bottle of Jamesons when required!🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

We were on Britannia in her first Summer & saw peeling wallpaper,unpainted wood & tarnished chrome so that doesn't surprise me! In contrast we were on RCI's Quantum Of The Seas on a repo cruise as she headed to Singapore for her 5 year refurb & she seemed as good as new!

Now that has either got to be drinking one check of a lot of expensive drinks to make that work out surely!😕😕

On our last RCI cruise on Quantum in 2019 there were certainly quite a few that seemed to qualify for that description. Drunk by mid morning on sea days,as for shore days the bars were busy once people were back on board,they just had to drink their days quota!😆😆

Last year we cruised on P&O's Arcadia,loved the ship,more like a proper ship instead of a floating hotel AND adults only,wonderful BUT there were quite a few rude passengers & on a small ship it is difficult to get away from them,at the end of nearly 3 weeks we just couldn't wait to get away from them!😎😎

We are all different,we have never found a drinks package to be worth the expense for us. We both enjoy a drink although I don't drink tea or coffee,neither of us drink soda & are both happy drinking the water out of the tap. We certainly don't go short when it comes to drink & always end up with a bill way short of what we would have paid for a drink package.

They did when we were on her in 2019,didn't think it worth the money,IMO the quality really wasn't good

There are variable speed limits & 50mph speed limits all over the place these days so I guess it is possible

We have used the Ibis by Birmingham New Street,in Chinatown,clean & comfy,close to New Street Station which is only a short distance by train.

We have travelled down from Cheshire a number of times,coaches were clean & comfy,drivers were excellent & yes there were ample stops. As for how long,so far our trips down were around 4 hours,last year we arrived early &,like others,were led straight through & on board in double quick time. Our return journeys have been more mixed(cue jokes about it being uphill!),taking a lot longer,last year we were the first coach away from the ship at 0900hrs but didn't get back to our drop off point until near 1900hrs,,our previous return trip took over 7 hours,every motorway resembled a car park! Needed a holiday after both!😁,

One other thing that comes to mind is so called special foods for diabetics,i.e. Ice cream or sweets for diabetics,for my Wife at least they turned out to have laxative properties.

Just to add my Wife was given a blood sugar monitor from the start,she got a little fixated with it at first but now checks 3 times a day,the monitor she has now tells her how many units of insulin to take given the reading. You have to have a treat now & then,otherwise life isn't worth living,just don't overdo it! This thread brought up one thing I had forgotten,finding out some surprising things which are not good for diabetics,notably fruit,amazing how many people I have known been diagnosed as diabetic & given up alcohol & hit the Orange juice or Pineapple juice,we all know that's healthy don't we!?!

Just an observation as we are not avid cruisers,any we choose to do it tends to be chosen by the itinerary. We are soon to depart on our 2nd Royal cruise,on Anthem,our one previous Royal experience was on Quantum from China to Singapore in 2019,loved the ship,we should have done more cruises with Royal but IME they kept changing itineraries after we booked,very annoying. Itineraries aside the issue I have with Royal price wise mainly is the cost of speciality dining,we did try Chops one night on Quantum,good food & service,the big disappointment was the mean portions with the sides. That is something we won't be repeating on Anthem,last year we had a 3 week Med cruise with P&O,we enjoyed our best ever meals at sea in the Ocean Grill,all for around £30,the Indian themed restaurant Sindhu,gave us almost equal quality for a similar price,service & portion size were excellent in both,drinks on board were a similar price to what we would pay in bars at home,without 18% added on! Our cruise planner is currently showing Chops available at the bargain price of £55pp,tempted,you must be joking! We could be seeing a lot of the Windjammer on Anthem if the MDR turns out to be as bad as it was on Quantum!

As scary as it is being diagnosed as a diabetic really isn't the life ending event that some would have you believe. My Wife was diagnosed with Diabetes in 2001,she was terrified at first,we went to many meetings & seminars,one valuable piece of advice we were given was that it was a condition,not an illness. I have known people quit work & quit enjoying life as soon as they were diagnosed,travelling & generally enjoying life was very much the order of the day for us,my Wife carried on work until she retired two years ago,& it was a physical job,we have continued travelling,it sometimes isn't easy but life isn't,she finds plenty of choices when it comes to food & drink without asking for special diets,luckily she loves the type of food that dieticians tell us is good for her,great credit to her for not letting it ruin her life,being sensible is often what is required. Hope this helps

P&O have that in the UK

If you have a particular cabin or area that you want I guess the sooner the better. Royal changing the itinerary after you have paid the deposit can IME be annoying but could happen anytime up to & after the sailing date!

We were on Quantum OTS a few years back & after a disappointing experience in the MDR we stuck with the Windjammer,loved it,brilliant selection & we really loved dining outside at the stern,that might not be so much fun in cooler weather!

On our Britannia cruises I used to love the Kedigree on the buffet,always tasted that much better than it looked,kept hoping for it on Arcadia back in May but in nearly 3 weeks not a sign!