Slugsta

Thanks for this! We are on the same cruise and, having read this, I checked the prices. Now £1000pp cheaper and more OBC so I cancelled and rebooked. Lost 5% deposit and had to pay 10% for the new booking but we are still well ahead financially.

The only drinks offered free of payment are water with the meal, tea and coffee afterwards. The diner is always at liberty to take a pre-purchased drink to the table, or to order one from their table steward.

That's helpful, thanks, I will pass it on.

I absolutely love my powerchair! I am able to walk short distances without, but the chair allows me to get from one end of the ship to another and still be able to enjoy myself when I get there. When I first got it, I was determined to not use it until I absolutely had to, but now I know that I am better using it right from the start so that I can conserve my energy. An added advantage is that I am more stable than other people if the sea is at all rough 🙂

Thank you, I will suggest that.

I have friends who have cruised quite a lot (with P+O) and are doing Fred for the first time soon. They booked ages ago and requested a table for 2 for dinner. My BFF suffers from a lot of anxiety and is currently starting to fret about the possibility of not being allocated such a table; she is sociable generally but cannot face dining with strangers. She is also worried about being 'made' to share a table in the buffet. It's getting to the stage where she is so worried that she is considering cancelling, even though they are well past final payment and would loose the money completely. I have suggested that they check out the dining room ASAP after boarding and talk to the Maitre D if necessary. However, I will pass on any reassurance you are able to give as they both really need this holiday!

Bearing in mind that older people are known to be the main demographic of some (if not many) cruise-lines, I can't see that offering discounts would even be considered as a norm.

Same here, we get everything else but haven't had a post-cruise questionnaire since c***d. I have a suspicion that might be because we have voiced 'concerns' on the 'first impressions' one we complete onboard. . .

We have 30 days on Arcadia in September 2024, a price reduction would be very welcome! Haven't heard anything though (nor Aurora in April 24) so it looks as if we might be out of luck.

IMO, many things that wheelchair users need, are also useful for families with buggies. Bearing in mind that young families are supposed to be the target marker for Iona and 'Our Vera' one would think that advice re which exit to use at ports etc would be generally helpful. As an aside, I do like the 'disembarkation' button in the lift which saves having to remember which deck is being used today! I am not a permanent wheelchair user but absolutely love my powerchair. I hate being dependent on my OH to decide where I go and when, especially as we often do different things during the day.

@Selbourne Thanks for the live review. I'm very glad that your fears of not being able to get a table proved unfounded. We were on Iona in February, when the ship had far fewer people on board. We did find the same issue with the lifts at times though. By the time I had wheeled to the correct one, someone had jumped in ahead of me (until/unless OH got there first!). I wouldn't be in favour of a designated lift though - partly because there aren't always enough people to justify it, but also because it is a short step from 'You have priority with this one' to 'That's yours and you can't use ours'

For us, the distance from the port to anywhere also affects how often we want to get on and off (or off and on!). A quick stroll/shuttle bus is a different matter from a long shuttle or tender transfer.

Thank you for your input. We have a long cruise on Arcadia next year and sincerely hope that the state of affairs continues as you describe it.

We did Iona, out of school holiday, earlier this year. There were fewer than 100 children onboard. There are things we like less about the ship (my husband is a bridge player and regrets the lack of a card room) but still had a very good time. We tried most of the dining venues (except for Limelight and Sindhu) and enjoyed them all. We also like Arcadia, especially being adults only. Yes, the ship is older and the cabins smaller but there is a lot to enjoy (and my hubby can indulge his bridge addiction!). For us, it about the itinerary and price rather than the ship.

It has been the situation, certainly with P+O, for some years that people with mobility scooters must book accessible cabins, mini-suites or suites. Anything left in the hallways, buggies, mobility scooters etc, not only impede access for passengers (especially those using scooters, wheelchairs etc), I believe they also contravene the SOLAS regulations that are supposed to help save lives. Not only would I be complaining to reception, I would also take photographs in case nothing changed.

Sadly, I fear that you are right.

They take your cabin number at the desk, presumably they tie that in with your dining allocation?

I am so sorry to hear this terrible news and am thinking of you and your family.

I don't think that Noro is any more prevalent on FO than other lines. P+O had cases on Iona earlier this year . . .

Pearls are for daytime darling, diamonds for dinner don't ya know! 😆

We disembarked QV 2 days ago (still dealing with the washing mountain) and open dining worked well for us. Some friends had booked a time on the first night but were told they had to queue with everyone else, so didn't bother again. As it happened, the only real queue was on that first night, I think we might have waited about 10 minutes. After that, we were seated quickly each night. We tried to use the app on the first night but got a message saying that we could not be accommodated so just went along to the Britannia. We didn't even try to use the app for meals on other occasions. We like to share tables and deliberately dined with the same people several times - we all turned up together and requested a table for 8. The dining room was pretty full most times we were there, although numbers dwindled after about 9pm. We found that eating around 7.30 got us to the theatre in good time for the 10pm show. Leaving it til 8pm was a bit of a push when we had a large table but we still got seats. We didn't rush through the meal and spent a lot of time chatting, we could have been faster if we had chosen to do so. In summary, the open dining worked very well for us.

Indeed, especially as pads are not used solely for menstruation.

I was an only child and didn't get chickenpox when I was young. I did catch it as an adult (from a patient with shingles) and was quite unwell, so I really feel sorry for the crew who are affected. It's a miserable illness, even for those who don't develop complications. I have read that people, such as teachers, in regular contact with children tend to be less prone to shingles, this article seems to back that up https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2020/adult-exposure-chickenpox-linked-lower-risk-shingles-does-not-provide-full As an aside, the oldest (not immunocompromised) person I have seen with chickenpox was in her 80s!

Yes, we have taken my electric wheelchair in a non-accessible cabin on P+O, it is scooters that have to be in accessible canins. Old Stavanger is pretty hilly and has some cobbles but there is a flat path around the bay to the oil museum.

None in our cabin on Iona at the end of January. I completely agree that one shouldn't have to ask.