Cruise_Rookie_2010

Agree with a lots of the points already raised and we'd also love to see, 

(1) the new Eatery (buffet) approach on Sun Princess rolled out to all ships, it's reassuring to know that only the kitchen team have had the opportunity to handle my food before I do. A significant number of fellow passengers still feel hand washing is a chore to be avoided and that food/plates at the stations need to be sorted by hand in order to ensure the best dining experience, based on recent experience.

(2) Improvements in layouts of some venues to allow for separation of music and "enthusiastic conversation", at times we've found it almost impossible to hear the artists above the noise of those attending the show (Take 5 was the worst area for this on our recent cruise). I don't want those who enjoy a chat at the bar to be prevented from enjoying that pass time, I believe that Princess could change the layout of these venues to reduce the impact on the music being played.

(3) Option to choose a regular gelato serving (say 2 scoops) instead of "Premium Deserts" on Plus/Premier package.

(4) More consideration given to holding events in an appropriate location, quite often we found popular events are held in areas of the ships which simply cannot accommodate the numbers attending leading to frustration and poor behaviour of passengers. Alternative (larger) venues were often available at the time, yet went underutilised.

(5) comfortable (non-smoking) seating areas in the aft of each ship, some are better than others, Royal class ships are perhaps most lacking in this area in our experience and we're delighted to see Sun Princess appears to have a really nice comfortable aft space for sitting while enjoying a drink and watching the sunset. Clearing some of the sunloungers in the evening and replacing them with groups of chairs & tables would increase the usability of these areas without too much work and perhaps reduce over crowding in other areas of the ships.  

On 3/18/2024 at 4:37 PM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I received a marketing email from Cunard for the new 2026 sailings. I believe it was end of Feb but before March 5th. The verbiage mentioned a 2026 eclipse cruise.  Does anyone else remember getting that?  And if you still have it (mine is deleted from my deleted folder) would you be so kind as to post it?  Thank you in advance. 
 

Nothing on the Cunard website mentions it and my Cunard person has no information on it. The Aug 9th 2026 QA sailing is in La Coruna on the 12th (eclipse day) which is in the path. However, it is not being marketed (yet) as an Eclipse cruise.
 

 I am looking for that email to send to my Cunard person. She has also emailed marketing. TIA 

The following itineraries (currently) are in the path of the eclipse during totality.

V615D, V615E, V616, V616A & V616B (Victoria @ Tarragona)

H620 (Anne @ La Coruna)

M618, M618A & M618B (Mary @ Reykjavik)

Hope that helps.

Terminal 2 is huge, give yourself plenty of time to get from check-in to the gate. Like any airport security is hit & miss, we've experienced both, when it's good it's really good but when it's bad it's awful, we missed an early evening flight despite arriving at security an hour before the gate closed, after being in the queue for 20 mins we asked for some help & staff refused. We had to re-book the outbound flight, when we arrived back the following morning we sailed through security in less than 5 minutes, you just can't predict it.

Looks like Maleth have reached the end of their line with P&O.

https://www.travelgossip.co.uk/latestnews/maleth-confirms-it-will-not-operate-flights-for-po-cruises-beyond-march/

I suspect P&O had very little choice at the time of who they would partner with, and Ford Aviation/Maleth took a gamble on being able to serve the demand. It's a tough gig transporting any passengers by air particularly at the moment when travel is booming after the lockdowns, not enough planes, not enough staff to crew them, costs increasing, chaos in the airport terminals (I'm looking at you Manchester) leading to all sorts of delays, etc. They've had less than 6 months, which from a standing start isn't a great deal of time, to iron out the kinks & it sounds like they were starting to get their act together but too late to save the situation.

1 hour ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

I tried this and it was rejected by Princess.  I emailed them and they informed me that this is the only way to get the share holder obc benefit.  They are NO LONGER taking a redacted copy of your brokerage statement

Submit your redacted copy (print to PDF) to StockPerks via the app, they check the details and confirm (or reject) you have met the requirements of the stockholder scheme. Worked for me, took approx 72 hours from start to finish. Once you have confirmation you can then apply for the OBC through the StockPerks app. Personally, don't know why Princess have outsourced this to a third party as there are now more steps required, but there you go.

We're happy to sail inside for two main reasons

(i) savings - which we then put towards another cruise, meant we did 3 cruises in 2023 & have 3 planned this year, choosing a balcony every time would probably reduce that.

(ii) barely used the balcony when we've had one previously (4 occasions), much prefer to be out & about the ship, & dislike eating breakfast in the cabin.

Cruising is a broad church with room for all regardless of their preferences, long may it stay that way.

Our first MSC as well, think you need to check your date though, WE departs Barcelona on the 6th, would hate for you to miss sail away. 😉

On 5/11/2023 at 1:15 PM, Cruise_Rookie_2010 said:

Thought I'd post an update, it might help give an impression of the current situation.

Posted the old passport on Tuesday (9th), signed for delivery (which cost £2.60), and today got a text confirmation from the passport office that they've received it.

 

We'll see how quickly the new passport gets processed.

Had confirmation yesterday that my new passport has been printed and will be sent out to me next week. I'm not sure whether to be happy or upset by the news, it's been much faster than I was expecting and I'd been prepared for a long wait and maybe some last minute drama as our next holiday got closer & closer (I can hear the Countdown clock sound playing in my head).

We've found P&O's new ships to be comparable to anything we've previously sailed (Princess / Celebrity) but with a distinctive British flavour which we found very enjoyable. Obviously anyone can have a bad experience but that doesn't mean everyone will. At the moment it's hard to fault what P&O are providing, from our perspective having never sailed with them previously (before lockdown) we don't perhaps notice things that more experienced past passengers feel are missing. And the most obvious reason to book is that the value on offer is unbeatable, try booking a land based holiday at the same price we're paying for a cruise right now.

According to our most recent Horizon (29th March) Black Tie "Cocktail dress, tuxedo, ball gown or dinner jacket" I'm sure that's laid out incorrectly, but I'm never sure these days, "or, alternatively a dark business suit and tie, formal national dress or military uniform." this appears to apply across the following locations, Zenith & Meridian restaurants, Sindhu, Epicurean, The Crow's Nest, The Chef's Table & The Olive Grove.

Thought I'd post an update, it might help give an impression of the current situation.

Posted the old passport on Tuesday (9th), signed for delivery (which cost £2.60), and today got a text confirmation from the passport office that they've received it.

We'll see how quickly the new passport gets processed.

If you're feeling adventurous, we've used the West Quay shopping centre car park (entrance is next to Carnival UK HQ), it's monitored so reasonably secure and less than 1 mile from the dock. A taxi from there to  Ocean Terminal is about £10, parking itself costs (currently) £5 per 24 hour period.

Arriving early on the day of embarkation means you get to have a leisurely (late) breakfast in John Lewis before heading back to the car to grab cases and going to the ship. On the return it's a taxi back to the carpark, pay, and away home.

Just doing mine at the moment for exactly the same reason, we've a cruise booked for end of Oct and while GB gov are content that my passport is valid until end of Feb next year, EU countries won't accept a passport issued more than 9 years & 9 months previously. It's a pain but there you go, early renewal here we come.

As for the renewal process, it was pretty painless. Did it all online, including the photo which you can upload yourself and the site checks it to make sure it complies. Only thing remaining is to post off the old one, we'll see how long it takes before the replacement arrives.

1 hour ago, Grimsby Mariner said:

Having just come off Iona we found if you went to the club about five minutes before the show was due to start there was always space to sit even if we were not booked. Not too sure how easy it will be on Arvia though now they have Harrison playing in the 710 as word is out about how good he is. Presumably more tables have been added to the club for the demand as they did on Iona.

We were on the Arvia T/A earlier this month and I can't say I noticed any additional seating compared with our experience when on Iona last year. It's a very small venue, capacity of less than 100 would be my guess, when there's 4000+ passengers onboard you can see how that could be difficult to keep everyone happy, but then it's meant to be small to create an intimate atmosphere so would you want it to be any larger and risk losing that feeling?

Personally, I'd limit guests ability to book more than a couple of shows, that would give more opportunity to others who would like to experience a show but miss out because they don't jump onto the app the instant they are on board.

The 710 is booked in the same way as seats for the Headliners Theatre shows, on the my.pocruise "app" once you're onboard the ship (or at least connected to the ship wi-fi). Each show lasts about 45 mins. It is a small venue and has proven to be very popular so reservation slots fill up very quickly. It's first come, first served so prepare to be quick off the mark, if you don't manage to find a slot don't be too disappointed, there's plenty of live music on the ship and there are always other options.

We're going be on Iona this coming week, our 3rd time on board (previously 2021 & 2022), it will be interesting to see how she's maturing. I'm not sure that it makes much difference when the ship sails at the moment, looking at what's still available for the coming week, as an example, she's pretty much full although that may be down to the bank holiday situation.

We ought to be thankful for the positive uptake in the return to cruising, given the sums borrowed by the cruise lines during the past 2 years to stay afloat (pardon the pun). Without those passengers, old & new, our favourite holiday destination might well have disappeared forever. A little disappointment (for more experienced cruisers) may be a small price to pay, whenever we've spoken with those taking a cruise for the first time their opinion of the experience has been mostly very positive. I'm going to make an effort to see things through their eyes.

There's no easy answer when it comes to cruise pricing. We all have different priorities, for some it's the itinerary, for others it's the room location, some like a specific ship. Only you can tell if the offer represents good value or not and if it does then book and don't get too concerned about whether you may or may not have picked the right time, that's outside your control. Some you win, some you lose, it all balances out over time. I have a simple benchmark, inside guarantees for around £50/night, or balcony cabins for around £100/ night represent great value and we'll flex that for a particular destination or if we want to experience a particular ship. If the price is lower than that then it's a steal, don't forget you are getting the room, transport from A to B (itinerary), food and entertainment all in the price.

I'd echo that, we always book the most competitive rate, direct or otherwise, we've not had any problems claiming the shareholder benefit. There's nothing on the shareholder page which advises of any constraints as to the booking method, it does exclude travel agents travelling on an agent rate, or people travelling as guests of the crew (reduced rate) or the company (complimentary).

11 hours ago, daiB said:

I think the restrictions and high price of the drinks package are quite deliberate. British holidaymakers do not have a good reputation with regard to booze. I like to drink but there is no way I would spend enough to justify a package even if my wife drank the same amount as me, which she doesn’t. I know what we spent on booze on the last 2 cruises and it was no where near the price of the package. And I could drink exactly what I want.

I don't see the cost of the package as the issue, what stops most people purchasing it is the drinks themselves are such reasonable prices on-board, so you need to drink a lot to get the value. By comparison, we're on Celebrity Apex in Oct and they're asking £109 pppn for the drinks package, makes P&O's offer look like a bargain.

Was sorely tempted by the pricing on the med cruise Arvia is currently on, it dropped to under £600 for an inside guarantee. Having just disembarked the T/A from Barbados it would have been lovely to get back on-board, just enough time in-between to get the washing done and re-pack.

I hope you'll have a great time, April/May are typically some of the driest months of the year up there, but it's still likely to be chilly, particularly in the early hours if you feel like watching the sail-in.

On the subject of the ports being visited, I've found  a website called Whats in Port (not sure if I can post the link itself, just remove the spaces and add dot com) is very helpful.

Have a great cruise, you'll really enjoy Arvia, first day is always mental and tempers get frayed when they really shouldn't (it's a holiday after all).

She's a big girl, no worries about getting your steps in.

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

1. I assume that reservations for the shows and restaurants are already open so wonder if I'd actually be able to get in anywhere on Iona?

2. Would there be excursion availability or nothing available of any interest? I note Britannia goes to Flam but assumedly railway etc wouldn't be an option as so popular.

3. How wet/cold would it be normally?

4. What are the chances either ship will actually get to visit the ports on the itineraries?

 

The cruises are extremely cheap so not much to lose. Would you risk it and if so which would you choose?

 

Any thoughts/information greatly received.

We're going on Iona (G312), this will be our 3rd time on board her. Definitely wouldn't be concerned about getting into shows, the theatre is large enough that if you are a little flexible about when & where you'll get to see everything you want to. Same goes for the restaurants, but if there's something you particularly want to try (e.g. Epicurean) then you can book now before you board.

Even if the P&O excursions offered are full, you should be able to find independent operators doing the same excursion, these ports are used to having large ships and from the research we've done it appears they cater for them very well. We prefer to make our own way around, all the ports look very walkable.

Weather will be what it will be, take layers, you could need an umbrella, or a parasol.

Same situation with the ports, nothing is guaranteed, but in that regard Britannia may offer more certainty. Keep your fingers crossed & hope for the best, if you can't get off the ship then Iona (in our opinion) is by far the better place to be stuck in.

At these prices, treat it as a sampler, you can always do it again. Hope you enjoy the cruise, whatever you decide.

On 4/12/2023 at 7:05 PM, Cruise_Rookie_2010 said:

Currently it feels like 2023 will go down in history as one of the best times to book a cruise, we're just back from a T/A (Arvia) which, including flight, cost us less than £100/night per person all in (parking/insurance/on-board spend included). We've another med cruise booked for October which will be similar, if not less (depends on how much we drink), and I'm very tempted to try an squeeze in a Fjords cruise this year with the deals that are currently floating around. I can't remember anytime in the past 10 years when cruising offered such great value. I travel a bit with work and would struggle to find accommodation alone at the rates we're being offered for an all-inclusive cruise.

I caved and booked a Norwegian fjords, at these prices how could you not?